Blog

Murder, Memoir, and Music in Tokyo with Michael Pronko

03/30/2020 By Alexandra Amor Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:51 — 34.7MB) | Embed

There’s always something new to learn about the world.

Murder memoir and music in Tokyo with Michael Pronko

Author Michael Pronko wears many hats. He’s a professor. He’s a music fan who writes about jazz in Japan. He’s written essays and memoir about living in Tokyo. And in this episode of It’s a Mystery Podcast we’ll talk about his Detective Hiroshi mysteries.

As you’ll hear Michael and I discuss, Detective Hiroshi could be thought of as someone who represents the flip-side of Michael’s experience. Hiroshi is Japanese, but was raised in the US, and is now back in Tokyo working for the local police force. (Where Michael is an American who has long lived and worked in Tokyo.)

After Michael reads to us from The Moving Blade, the first in the Detective Hiroshi mysteries, our conversation ranges from talking about sumo wrestlers as detectives, the secretive American military presence in Japan, and why April is the start of the year in Japan.

This week’s mystery author

Michael Pronko is an award-winning, Tokyo-based author of the Detective Hiroshi mystery series. His first mystery, The Last Train, was selected as the winner of the Shelf Unbound Contest for best independently published book of 2018, and his second novel, The Moving Blade, won the Independent Press Award for Crime Fiction and was named by Kirkus Reviews as one of the best Indie Mysteries and Thrillers of 2018. He also writes about jazz for his own website, Jazz in Japan, and teaches American literature and culture at Meiji Gakuin University.

To learn more about Michael and his books visit MichaelPronko.com

Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher, Android, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, and Spotify.

You can also click here to listen to the interview on YouTube.

[Read more…]

Share94

Pin1

Buffer

95 Shares

A Conspiracy of Bones with Kathy Reichs

03/23/2020 By Alexandra Amor Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:40 — 29.9MB) | Embed

Temperance Brennan is back!

Author and screenwriter Kathy Reichs needs no introduction. She is back with her latest mystery novel featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. It was a thrill to interview Kathy and to hear her read from A Conspiracy of Bones.

At this challenging time, when so many of us are spending more time at home, we can be comforted in the knowledge that there are always great books to read. It’s always a joy for me to bring you these interviews with mystery authors, but these days I am especially grateful for all the writers who create riveting stories for us. Long may that storytelling tradition continue!

This Week’s Mystery Author

Kathy Reichs is the author of 20 novels in the bestselling Temperance Brennan series, which was the inspiration behind the long-running television series Bones. She is also co-author of the Virals young adult series with her son, Brendan Reichs.

From teaching FBI agents how to detect and recover human remains, to separating and identifying commingled body parts in her Montreal lab, Dr. Reichs has brought her own dramatic work as a forensic anthropologist to her mesmerizing thrillers. She is a native of Chicago, where she received her Ph.D. at Northwestern, and now divides her time between Charlotte, NC and Montreal, Quebec.

To learn more about Kathy Reichs and her books visit KathyReichs.com

You can also click here to listen to the interview on YouTube.

[Read more…]

Share4

Pin1

Buffer

5 Shares

Texas Charm and a Tiny Canine Sleuth with Cat Clayton

03/16/2020 By Alexandra Amor 2 Comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:55 — 21.4MB) | Embed

Deep in the heart of Texas there’s a tiny canine sleuth on the case.

I loved talking to Texas cozy mystery author Cat Clayton about her mystery series featuring dog groomer Steely Lamarr and her loyal companion, a Chihuahua named Cuff. The Steely and Cuff mysteries are perfect for mystery lovers who like a dash of romance and a splash of quirkiness in their books.

Cat’s interview is perfectly timed because I think we all need a dose of the comfort that comes from reading about dogs, their loving owners, and mysteries that have a tidy resolution!

In the introduction, I mention some of my favorite comforting mystery novels, podcasts, TV shows and movies with the intention of providing suggestions for comfort if you need it in these challenging times.

This week’s mystery author

Cat Clayton writes from somewhere deep in the heart of Texas, crafting a literary crossroads where mystery, humor, the paranormal, and a dash of romance intersect. She adores her family, spoils her (half-dozen +1) pets, is a self-proclaimed coffee snob, and a thrift store junky. When she’s not writing, she’s thinking about writing, and when she’s not doing either, she attempts CrossFit.

You can also click here to listen to the interview on YouTube.

[Read more…]

Share86

Pin1

Buffer

87 Shares

Cozy Mysteries on The Isle of Man with Diana Xarissa

03/09/2020 By Alexandra Amor Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 41:24 — 37.9MB) | Embed

When you can’t visit a place you love, the next best thing is writing about it.

Cozy mysteries on the Isle of Man with Diana Xarissa

Prolific author (with several pen names) Diana Xarissa joins me for a chat about her cozy mysteries set on the Isle of Man. Diana lived on the island at one time and uses her Aunt Bessie series as an excuse to go back and visit in her imagination.

You’ll hear Diana and I touch on her many series of mysteries, and other books. This is a writer who gets her work done!

In the introduction I mention that I am thrilled to be back into podcasting. This episode is the fifth since I relaunched the show. I am loving the new format of having an author read to us for the first half of the show. And I hope you’re enjoying it too. Let me know! Reviews and ratings on your favorite podcast app are always appreciated and they help the show to find new listeners who are avid mystery readers, just like you.

This week’s mystery author

Diana Xarissa published her first cozy mystery in 2014. Aunt Bessie Assumes, set on the Isle of Man, was just the first of what has become her most successful series. The twenty-third book in the series, Aunt Bessie Wonders, was released in January. There will be three more books in the series in 2020, culminating in the final book, Aunt Bessie Zeroes In, which will be released in October.

In addition to the Aunt Bessie series, Diana writes the Markham Sisters Cozy Mystery novellas, which are set in the fictional village of Doveby Dale in Derbyshire. While they are mysteries, there hasn’t been a murder in the village yet. Diana also writes the Isle of Man Ghostly Cozy series, which features an American protagonist who happens to share her apartment with her dead aunt’s ghost. She also writes two romance series, one set on the Isle of Man and the other set in a fictional town in the state of New York.

To learn more about Diana Xarissa please visit DianaXarissaDunn.com

You can also click here to listen to the interview on YouTube.

[Read more…]

Share69

Pin1

Buffer

70 Shares

Family Funny Business with Ellen Byron / Maria DiRico

03/02/2020 By Alexandra Amor Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:14 — 34.1MB) | Embed

Author, TV writer, and playwright Ellen Byron reveals her distant connection to the mob!

‘Writers write what they know.’ That’s the adage and it’s true. We pull from our real lives and mix our experiences with imagination and creativity and create something that is both grounded in reality and imaginary at the same time.

Ellen Byron is doing just that with her new Catering Hall mystery series, set in Astoria, Queens, a place she is very familiar with. On this episode, Ellen reads from book 1 in that series, Here Comes the Body, and in the interview shares with us the fascinating story of one of her grandfather’s possible connections to the actual mob. (Yes, really!)

It was a delight to talk to Ellen about this new series. If you’d like to know more about Ellen’s writing, you can also find our conversation about her Cajun Country mysteries in episode 61 of It’s a Mystery podcast.

Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher.

You can also click here to listen to the interview on YouTube.

This Week’s Mystery Author

Ellen Byron’s Cajun Country Mysteries have won an Agatha award and multiple Leftys for Best Humorous Mystery.

Her new series, the Catering Hall Mysteries, written as Maria DiRico, was inspired by her real life. She’s an award-winning playwright and non-award-winning TV writer of comedies like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly Odd Parents. But she considers her most impressive credit working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart.

You can learn more about Ellen and all her books, including the Catering Hall series, at EllenByron.com

[Read more…]

Share31

Pin1

Buffer

32 Shares

Roaring ’20s English Mysteries with Clara Benson

02/24/2020 By Alexandra Amor Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 40:05 — 36.7MB) | Embed

If you’re a Downton Abbey fan, you’ll appreciate this introduction to Clara Benson’s English mysteries set in the ’20s and ’30s.

Roaring '20s English Mysteries with Clara Benson

In the introduction I mention that I’m deep in revision territory on the next Freddie Lark mystery. Then I jump right into this interview and reading from the delightful Clara Benson.

Enjoy!

This week’s mystery author

Clara Benson is the author of the Angela Marchmont mysteries and Freddy Pilkington-Soames Adventures – traditional English mysteries in authentic style set in the 1920s and 30s.

One day she would like to drink cocktails and solve mysteries in a sequinned dress and evening gloves. In the meantime she lives in the north of England with her family and doesn’t do any of those things.

To learn more about Clara Benson and all her mystery novels go to ClaraBenson.com.

Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher.

You can also click here to listen to the interview on YouTube.

[Read more…]

Share70

Pin1

Buffer

71 Shares