It is a beautiful February day in the Midwest, a perfect day for a little book talk with cozy and historical mystery writer, Edith Maxwell, featuring her new cozy mystery release, Batter Off Dead.
Welcome, Edith!. How do you take your coffee?
EM: I drink a good dark roast coffee with a splash of whole milk, but no more than two cups every morning.
Ally: I hope you haven’t reached your limit today because my magic pot makes the most delicious brew. While I pour, please tell readers something about yourself.
Maddie Day pens the Country Store Mysteries and Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries. As Agatha Award-winning author Edith Maxwell, she writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries, the Local Foods Mysteries, and short crime fiction. Day/Maxwell lives with her beau north of Boston, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook.
Something unique/unusual that isn’t in your regular bio. “I hold a long-dusty black belt in karate, and an even dustier doctorate in linguistics.”
Find the author at EdithMaxwell.com, wickedauthors.com, Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, and on social media:
Ally: Who or what inspired your featured book?
EM: At the end of No Grater Crime, book #9, police lieutenant Buck Bird casually mentioned that his mother had been murdered when he was a teenager. My editor said he assumed I would be addressing that murder in the following book. I said, “Well, of course,” even though I hadn’t dropped that little bombshell on purpose. (This is what happens when you’re a pantser and your characters surprise you…) In Batter Off Dead, we have a murder in the present – but it oddly mirrors the murder of Buck’s mother in the past.
Ally: Are you self-published or traditionally published? How did you make the decision?
EM: I am traditionally published. I so much appreciate how my New York publisher gets the books into every Barnes and Noble in the country before the release date. The publicity Kensington Publishing does for me. The excellent editing and fabulous covers. The decent advances and prompt payment of royalties. All of that allows me to do what I do best – write compelling stories.
Ally: Why did you choose writing as a career? Is it your only career, or do you have a “day” job?
EM: I think writing chose me. I wrote lots of fiction as a child. As an adult, most of my careers have involved writing, but I only returned to fiction in the last decade and a half. I left my most recent day job – writing software manuals – nine years ago. Now writing mysteries IS my day job, and I love it.
Ally: Do you still have time for reading? How many books do you read in a month? Which genre(s)? Favorite authors?
EM: I don’t keep track – I read maybe ten or fifteen novels a month, although if I’m laid up after a surgery, I’ll read a book a day. I primarily read cozy and historical mysteries, although I snap up new thrillers from authors like Joanna Schaffhausen, Jess Lourey, and Tara Laskowski, and suspense novels by Hallie Ephron and Catriona McPherson (and readers should, too!). I just finished reading all the way through Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs historical series, getting ready for her new book next month.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
EM: The next to release is Batter Off Dead on February 22, and after that Murder in a Cape Cottage in September. I just turned in Four Leaf Cleaver, Country Store #11, which releases in March 2023. Next up to write is Murder in a Cape Bookstore, Cozy Capers Book Group #5, out sometime in 2023.
Ally: Which of the trivia questions did you choose to answer?
EM:
- Most watched tv show: “Call the Midwife”
- Favorite comfort food: Homemade sourdough bread fresh from the oven slathered in butter.
- Your pets: Our sweet cats have all left us, but Preston lives on in the Local Foods Mysteries, Cristabel in the Quaker Midwife Mysteries, and Birdy in the Country Store Mysteries.
- How long does it take you to write a book? I write three (or more) books a year, so I have four months start to finish – and I’ve been doing that for six years, with increasing sales, so I guess it’s working.
- A beer at the bar or a book on the deck? A beer on the deck with a book!
Ally: Love your final answer! 😊 It has been a pleasure to have you, Edith. Before we finish, please show us your pending release, Batter Off Dead.
Genre: cozy mystery
Release Date: February 22, 2022
In South Lick, Indiana, fine foods and classic cookware can be found at Robbie Jordan’s Pans ’N Pancakes. Unfortunately, her country store also seems to stock up on murder . . .
In Batter Off Dead, Robbie and her new husband Abe O’Neill are enjoying a summer evening in the park with fellow townsfolk excited for some Friday night fireworks. In attendance are senior residents from Jupiter Springs Assisted Living including Roy Bird, father to South Lick’s very own Police Lieutenant Buck Bird. Despite his blindness, Roy is a member of his group home’s knitting circle, spending quality time with some lovely ladies.
But when the lightshow ends, one of the knitters who sat with Roy is found dead, a puncture wound in her neck. The poor woman’s death echoes that of Buck’s mother and Roy’s wife—an unsolved homicide. To help find the killer, Robbie’s going to have to untangle the knotty relationships deep in the victim’s past . . .
Buy Link (Pre-order now – releasing February 22, 2022):
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Batter-Dead-Country-Store-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0964F6KXW/