mystery novel

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Murder on the slopes in British Columbia!

My guest today is Arthur Ellis Unhanged award nominee Kristina Stanley. Kristina has a trilogy of mystery novels set at a fictional ski resort and you’ll hear Kristina share how she was inspired to write this series.

The excerpt from Descent that Kristina reads led me to ask about the ‘confidence gap’ women often encounter when applying for jobs. And we also talk about Kristina’s writing process and her business that helps other writers improve their work.

This week’s mystery author

Kristina Stanley is the creator of Fictionary, a story editor, and best-selling author of the Stone Mountain Mystery Series, the stand-alone mystery Look the Other Way, and the non-fiction titles The Author’s Guide to Selling Books to Non-Bookstores and Your Story Editing Journey.

She is a Story Editing Advisor for the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi).

She’s published by Imajin Books and Luzifer-Verlag (Germany). Her short stories are published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Voices from the Valleys anthology.

Crime Writers of Canada nominated Descent for the Unhanged Arthur award. 

To learn more about Kristina and all her books visit KristinaStanley.com

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Mystery author Paty Jager lives and writes about life close to nature.

Paty Jager started out writing romance novels, but then shifted to her true love – writing mysteries. In this episode we discuss her Gabriel Hawke series, featuring a Fish and Wildlife trooper who is an expert tracker. Paty also shares that in an upcoming book, Gabriel travels to Iceland and solves a murder there. (Remember when we could travel?)

In the introduction I mention the successful launch of Lark Underground. The book reached #46 on the Amateur Sleuth list in Canada, which was very exciting! Thank you to everyone who has read or is reading the book. Your support means the world to me.

My next big push is to get honest reviews for the book, so if you have a moment to leave a review I’d appreciate it. Reviews provide social proof so new readers can feel confident about their purchase. And they help me to advertise the book so that I can find new readers who might enjoy it.

Such a good mystery. This story is an emotional heart-engaging roller-coaster. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. I can hardly wait for the next one.

Sandee L

This week’s mystery author

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 44 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. 

Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it. 

You can learn more about Paty and all her books at PatyJager.net

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

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

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

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