How exciting to have author, Melanie Jackson on my blog today. She has written a cozy mystery series starring Chloe Boston. Take a look at this release and share you comments today on my blog. You can enter to win a $10 Amazon/BN gift card. Good luck! And what’s more exciting is that Moving Viloation is available for $.99 along with Melanie’s other popular mystery series.
Before I ask Melanie a few questions about herself as a writer of cozy mysteries, let’s learn a little more about this book.
Moving Violation
Click to order on Amazon
Welcome to Hope Falls, home of the world’s smallest but smartest detective…
“Moving Violation” is the first book in author Melanie Jackson’s bestselling Chloe Boston Cozy Mystery Series. Within it’s covers we meet the diminutive sleuth Chloe Boston, a member of the Hope Falls Police Department who is stuck in parking enforcement because at 98 pounds, 5 foot nothing, she will never be able to pass the department’s physical entrance exam to become an officer.
In the first installment of this light-hearted cozy mystery series Chloe investigates the death of a local industrialist. Of course, her efforts are hampered by her lack of official status within the department. But there may be another way to achieve her goal of someday becoming a detective. With the aid of her dog, Blue, and her writer’s group, Chloe may just be able to solve Hope Fall’s recent homicide and by so doing impress the new chief of police.
The Chloe Boston cozy mysteries are light airy reads filled with plenty of quirky characters and fast moving plot elements. And the best part is that if you become hooked on the books, as I’m sure you will, there are 21 more of them in the series for you to enjoy.
Fourth Anniversary Illustrated Edition
The fourth anniversary rerelease of this classic series opener includes illustrations by author Lisa Cach as well as bonus material originally released separately under the title the “Chloe Boston Files”.
If you’re looking to spend a pleasant evening snuggled up in a chair by the fire reading a good book then you need look no further — this is the book for you.
Let’s stay in touch…
Q&A with Melanie
JC: I’m a fan of the cozy mystery. What made you decide to write a cozy mystery versus other mystery genre?
Melanie: Though I love the whole mystery and thriller genre, the cozy is my favorite kind of mystery. Reading one—especially in a series— is like taking tea with a close friend and catching up on all the gossip from the book store or muffin shop or knitting club.
JC: I love that! Taking tea with a friend. Sounds like a perfect cozy set-up until a dead body appears! Tell us about Chloe Boston. What are her quirks?
Melanie: Chloe Boston is very smart but I suspect touched with Asperger’s Syndrome. She prefers animals to people but forces herself to human interaction because she knows that she needs to do this to have a balanced life. She is also frustrated to be stuck in parking enforcement when she is a much better detective than any on the Hope Falls police force.
JC: I have a million questions that might follow this, but I’ll hold those in the event readers might want to ask. If you comment on the blog today, you will not only have a chance to answer those questions of Melanie, but you can enter to win a $10 Amazon/BN gift card. So, let’s see some comments!
Here’s my next question: Most cozy mysteries are set in an appealing village. Tell us about your setting.
Melanie: Hope Falls, Washington is a small town but one with a lot of tourists that can bring big city problems with them. It is a composite of several of the small towns where I’ve lived only with more severe weather. Being snowed in or cut off by flooding can add a whole extra layer of suspense in a story.
JC: Indeed, having the weather play a role in your suspense is a great tool. That’s one reason I love the “cold” mysteries set in Sweden or Iceland. I know that writing a series has lots of challenges. I’m writing my own. I’m curious to know what you’d say is the biggest challenge?
Melanie: Hands down, the biggest problem is keeping the books fresh—finding new adventures for Chloe so the stories aren’t retreads. That is why Chloe sometimes travels. If she didn’t, Hope Falls would have been labeled as the Murder Capitol of the state long ago.
JC: I laughed when you said Hope Falls would be labeled a murder capital. Indeed, I thought that about Cabot Cove with the Murder She Wrote Series. And, in Midsommer Mysteries (the wonderful British television series), people die right and left in this amazingly bucolic setting. You’re smart to have Chloe travel.
Tell me how a cozy mystery reader differs from other mystery readers. I’ve been struggling with this and I’d love to hear your response.
Melanie: Sisters in Crime actually did a large survey about this and we have also been using Google analytics and other tools to find this out. Cozy readers tend to be female (though there is higher male readership than in romance) and tend to be middle aged or older.
That’s the statistics. From discussions with readers I find that those drawn to the cozies tend to want order (not always from the legal systems), a hopeful ending, and they want the sleuth to feel like someone they would be comfortable going to lunch with every once in a while. They also prefer not to peep through keyholes so that any violent murders or sex (in the event that there is any) happen off stage. For the most part, they arrive when the sleuth does and they see what she sees.
JC: Thank you, Melanie, for that nice description of a cozy reader. Now, could you share with us who are the cozy authors you especially enjoy reading?
Melanie: The ones I come back to faithfully are Krista Davis, Donna Andrews, Jennie Bentley, Jane Haddam, and the late Charlotte Macleod and Melinda Wells. But there are many more as well. If it’s cozy I pretty much read it.
Giveaway
Now, you’ve had a chance to hear some of Melanie’s answers to my questions. Why not ask her one of your own? She will respond to your comments below and you can enter to win $10 Amazon/BN gift card. Why not?
More about Melanie and where you can hook up with her…
Melanie has been writing her entire life. In fact, one of her earliest fond memories is receiving an IBM Selectric typewriter for her birthday. After publishing romance novels (Scottish historical and paranormal) for New York based publisher Dorchester Publishing from 1999 to 2010, Melanie chose to begin self-publishing cozy mysteries. Since then she has released the Chloe Boston, Butterscotch Jones, Miss Henry, Wendover House, Kenneth Mayhew and Jane Blackthorn Mystery series.
Melanie Jackson is the award-winning author of more than one hundred novels and novellas published in various languages. She lives with her writer husband and her bossy cat in the Sonoma wine country. Besides gardening, she is involved with animal charities.
Get Moving Violation, the first book in Melanie’s Chloe Boston Cozy Mystery Series, absolutely free by visiting your favorite online bookstore or by selecting from these links:
Amazon (Kindle) http://www.amazon.com/Moving-Violation-Chloe-Boston-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B003YH9JKI
Smashwords (All Formats) https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/20686
This book is on sale for only $0.99, as are the first books of Melanie’s most popular other series:
Moving Violation (Chloe Boston Cozy Mysteries 1) http://www.amazon.com/Moving-Violation-Chloe-Boston-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B003YH9JKI
Due North (Butterscotch Jones Cozy Mysteries 1) http://www.amazon.com/North-Butterscotch-Jones-Mysteries-Book-ebook/dp/B004VMOANQ
Portrait of a Gossip (Miss Henry Cozy Mysteries 1) http://www.amazon.com/Portrait-Gossip-Miss-Henry-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B007X6IL5A
The Secret Staircase (Wendover House Gothic Mysteries 1) http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Staircase-Wendover-House-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B005V0K81A
Contact information:
Email: mjjaxn@gmail.com
Website: melaniejackson.com
Facebook: facebook.com/authorMelanieJackson
Twitter: twitter.com/melaniejaxn
Don’t leave without commenting to win a $10 Amazon/BN gift card. Do it now!
Thanks for hosting!
Glad to host Melanie today. I’ll keep checking in to see if anyone has any comments or question.
Thanks so much for having me to visit. Don’t be shy about asking question. Except about calculus. I never was any good at advanced math… :-).
Hi Melanie! I hope no one asks either of us about calculus! Good luck on your tour.
Thanks. I have met some neat people and this is a nice icebreaker. Sort of like being set up on a blind date by friends rather than starting conversations strangers at Bingo or the grocery store :-).
Enjoyed reading the interview today. Don’t worry about me asking an advanced math question….I was doing good to graduate HS with a business math credit!
Phew! That’s a relief :-).
I’m glad you enjoyed the interview. It was fun to ask another mystery writer about their process and to get their thinking on writing series. That’s much more interesting than math! IMHO!
I really enjoyed the excerpt and great cover!
Hi, Thanks for stopping by the tour. We’re glad you enjoyed the excerpt and I agree, it’s a great cover. Very intriguing. Keep following Melanie’s tour!
The covers are a collaborative effort with my spouse and he does all the technical magic that makes the idea come to life using GIMP.
Which authors do you like to read?
I’m pretty omnivorous. Right now I am doing sci-fi and fantasy and have some old Barbara Hambly ready to go as soon as I finish Count Zero. In cozies I really like Krista Davis and Jenny Bentley– and almost anything with a holiday theme.
I’m turning off the machine (aka my other brain). In the words of the great one
‘Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.’
Thank you again for having me.
Melanie, It was great fun having you! Stop by again anytime.