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Tuesday, June 6, 2023

It’s Locked! A Cozy Mystery Celebration: Interview With Vicki Delany!



Hi, everyone! Today I'm happy to present an interview with Vicki Delany, the author of multiple cozy series, including the Tea by the Sea Mysteries, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mysteries, and the Year Round Christmas Mysteries! She also writes the Lighthouse Library Mysteries under the name Eva Gates.

The next book in your Tea by the Sea Mysteries, STEEPED IN MALICE, releases in July! Would you like to tell everyone a little about it?

I’d be happy to.  This is the fourth book in the series, set on Cape Cod in a traditional afternoon tea room. The protagonist is Lily Roberts, culinary trained pastry chef, who has come to Cape Cod to fufill her dream of having her own restaurant, and to help her Grandmother, Rose, with her B&B. In Steeped in Malice, Lily buys a charming set of a Peter Rabbit tea service in a wicker hamper to use for her children’s tea. It turns out that two sisters are desperately searching for the tea set and will do just about anything to get it. 

You write the Lighthouse Library Mysteries under the name Eva Gates, and the newest book in the series, DEATH KNELLS AND WEDDING BELLS, released June 6th! Can you tell us a little about it?

The series is set in Nags head, North Carolina, at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library. This is the tenth book in the series and it begins at the wedding of series protagonist Lucy Richardson to her love Connor McNeil. The wedding is wonderful, and it goes off without a hitch, aside from some inter-family bickering. But the next morning, one of the wedding guests has disappeared and another is found murdered and stuffed in a closet. It’s up to the curious and brave Lucy to figure out what’s going on. 
3 Random Question! Do you listen to music while you write?
Always. And always very soft classical, instrumental only.  

If you’re able to talk about it, what are you currently working on?

Today I finished the next Lighthouse Library mystery, still untitled.  I write four books a year, so next on my desk is final edits to the 9th Sherlock Holmes Bookshop book, The Sign of Four Spirits, and after that I’ll begin the next Year Round Christmas mystery (to follow the sixth book, Have Yourself A Deadly Little Christmas coming in September). 

What are some of your favorite cozy mysteries? And what are some you’re looking forward to reading?

I’m a member of the Facebook group, Cozy Mystery Crew, and I love everything my crew-mates write. In particular I love the hilarious Catering Hall series from Ellen Byron and the Poppy McAlister books from Libby Klein. I was at Malice Domestic recently and heard about plenty of cozies that are getting good buzz. I plan to start the Caribbean Kitchen mysteries from Raquel V. Reyes soon. For some reason, I overlooked them, but I plan to catch up. 

Thank you so much to Vicki Delany for participating in this event!


Author Bio: Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than forty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing four cozy mystery series: the Tea by the Sea mysteries for Kensington, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series for Crooked Lane Books, the Catskill Resort mysteries for Penguin Random House, and the Lighthouse Library series (as Eva Gates) for Crooked Lane. 

Vicki is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It Crime Writing Festival. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards. Vicki is the recipient of the 2019 Derrick Murdoch Award for contributions to Canadian crime writing. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario. 

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