I’m so glad to have Victoria Hamilton here today to talk about her new book, Bran New Death, which is the first in her new series. Victoria writes the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries, which is one of my favorite mystery series at the moment. I hope everyone will check out this new book.
Merry’s Romance
By: Victoria Hamilton
As a mystery writer I often wonder whether readers really want to see romance in a mystery. The answer appears to be mixed, but I’ve always wanted my books to reflect real life, and a significant part of life is relationships. So my protagonist should have friends, enemies and…well, lovers.
In the case of Merry Wynter, I started with the premise that she was a widow of seven years, and still in love with her late husband. But when I wrote the first chapter, it turned out that there was (surprise, surprise!) a hunky sheriff in Autumn Vale, New York. I know, as most writers do, that it is a bit of a cliche’ to have a handsome and available cop in a mystery. However….why not indulge Merry a little and give her a romance to bring her out of her seven year funk.
Or will that happen? A lot of the fun – and agony! – of romance is the unknown stage, where it’s uncertain how the other person feels and so the dance of flirtation and doubt takes place. In my Vintage Kitchen Mystery series my heroine has a geeky millionaire after her, but she, too, is drawn to the good-looking cop. Even I’m not sure how that one is going to turn out!
But I’ll let you in on a not-so-secret secret of mystery writing. I don’t know about other writers, but I put a cop in there as a romantic lead (sometimes) because….it makes it so much easier to have him involved with the heroine, and have her bounce her mystery-solving ideas off of him! Also, it adds tension to the relationship, and makes her wary of telling him too much…or too little.
And I’ll say it right up front, I’ll never let the romance overtake the mystery. So, readers, what do you say? Do you enjoy a little romance in your mystery, or does it put you off?
Merry Muffin Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/MerrysMuffinsMysterySeries
About the Author:
Victoria Hamilton, nationally bestselling author of the Vintage Kitchen Mystery series, is the pseudonym of Donna Lea Simpson, bestselling author of romance and historical mystery novels.
Victoria started reading mystery novels at the age of 12 and devoured Agatha Christie mysteries, as well as those of Dorothy L. Sayers and Ngaio Marsh. She still adores mysteries, especially the cozy mysteries of Janet Bolin, Krista Davis, and others.
She loves to cook, and collects teapots and teacups, as well as vintage kitchen utensils and bowls. She also enjoys crafts, especially cross-stitching and crocheting, and spends summer days in the garden, drinking tea or wine. Besides the Merry Muffin Mystery series (Bran New Death – September 3rd). Victoria writes two other mystery series for Berkley Prime Crime, the Vintage Kitchen Mystery Series (Book 3, Freezer I’ll shoot debuts November 5th) and the Teapot Collector Mystery series which debuts with Tempest in a Teapot, out June 3rd, 2014.
Jennifer’s Review of Bran New Death
TITLE: Bran New Death
SERIES #: Merry Muffin Mystery Series #1
CHARACTERS: Merry Wynter, Virgil Grace
AUTHOR: Victoria Hamilton
PUBLICATION DATE: 09/03/13
BOOK SYNOPSIS: When Merry Wynter discovered that she inherited a genuine American Castle in the “wilds” of upstate New York, her first reaction was to contact a real estate agent to sell it, sight unseen. Things were a little complicated, what with a lunatic employer making her life miserable. But after losing her job and with the castle not sold, Merry decides to trek to Wynter Castle to see what the problem is.
One barrier to selling is immediately evident; someone is digging giant holes on the property! Merry accuses local Tom Turner of being her late night gopher and warns him to stay off her property, or else, but it happens again. Merry storms out to confront whomever is doing the damage, but doesn’t count on finding a dead man at the bottom of the hole.
What is going on at Wynter Castle and in Autumn Vale? How can Merry convince hunky sheriff Virgil Grace that she is not the one who bashed the victim over the head?
REVIEW PROVIDED BY: Jennifer NUMBER OF STARS: Four Stars
REVIEW: Merry moved to upstate New York to make a fresh start after the death of her husband and the loss of her career as a plus-size model/assistant. When she moves into Wynter Castle, she finds that the property is in desperate need of a renovation and has large-sized gopher holes in the front yard. She also finds that the townspeople are avoiding her and one of the locals, Tom Turner, believes that her deceased uncle killed his father and buried the body in the front yard of Wynter Castle. Merry catches Tom in the act of digging up holes in her yard and threatens him in front of a crowd of people. The next night, Tom, is found dead in Merry’s front yard and everyone believes that she is the culprit. Now, Merry has to find the real killer and convince the town that she isn’t to blame or her vision for Wynter Castle will go up in smoke.
This book was very cute and charming and a great start to a new series. I liked Merry instantly because she was the type of person that didn’t let anything stand in her way and was determined to make a new start in Autumn Vale with her inheritance from her estranged uncle. The mystery kept me guessing and there were so many suspects that wanted Tom dead. Shilo was great as Merry’s best friend and held many secrets of her own. The townspeople of Autumn Vale were a very quirky cast of characters and it will be fun learning more about them in future books. I thought that Bran New Death was an enjoyable mystery and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Giveaway
Great review, I can’t wait to read the book.
Thank you for being part of this tour!
This sounds like an awesome book. I’m looking forward to reading it. I enjoy a great mystery.
Thanks 🙂
I like cozy mysteries because they are interesting and keep my attention.
I just love whodunits in general!