Wicked Schemes: A Chautauqua Murder Mystery received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Deb Pines.
What is the name of the book?
Wicked Schemes: A Chautauqua Murder Mystery
What’s the book’s first line?
“It was an ordinary Chautauqua Sunday, most people thought, until they went online.”
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Wicked Schemes is a fun re-imagining of an Agatha Christie classic.
When Chautauquans gather for what they think will be a harmless murder-mystery game, the lights go out. An intruder yells, “Stick ‘em up.” Three shots are fired. And, by the door, the group finds . . . the intruder’s dead body.
Was it a botched robbery? Or, wonders reporter and relentless snoop Mimi Goldman, was it something else?
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
I fell in love with Christie’s ingenious mystery A Murder is Announced and thought it would be fun to try to remake the post-war British puzzler as the ninth book in my modern-day Chautauqua mystery series.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
Read Wicked Schemes for pure escapist fun – and the satisfaction of a puzzle solved and justice delivered in just 370 large-type pages.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who real or fictional would you say the character reminds you of?
My sleuth Mimi Goldman is most like Miss Marple and Jessica Fletcher. A 60-something grandma and reporter, Mimi is often underestimated before solving apparently impossible whodunits with grit and wit.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
When I’m not writing, I have a part-time job as a copy editor for the New York Post. There I edit stories and top them with snarky, pun-filled tabloid headlines. Two prize-winners were: FLAKE NEWS (about a forecasted New York City blizzard that never happened) and THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN FREAKING (about a JetBlue pilot who had a mid-flight mental breakdown).
What motivates you?
I have a mantra, “Be who you say you are.” I tell people, “I’m a mystery writer.” So I tell myself to back up that fancy claim. In addition, I’m still having fun at this, my sales are growing (modestly) and writing gets me out of many unwelcome household chores.