Helping me wrap up the week is cozy mystery author Diane Bator and we’re chatting about The Conned Lady.
Bio:
Diane Bator is a mom of three, a book coach, and the author of over a dozen mystery novels and many works-in-progress. She has also hosted the Escape With a Writer blog to promote fellow authors and is a member of Sisters in Crime Toronto, the Writers Union of Canada, and a board member of Crime Writers of Canada. When she’s not writing and coaching authors, she works for a professional theatre. No surprise she’s written her first play, which may lead to more.
Welcome, Diane. Please tell us about your current release.
Eccentric romance novelist Mimsy Lexington has a secret.
When she approaches Katie Mullins to help find details around her late husband’s death, Katie and her boyfriend Danny Walker are drawn into a web of lies and deceit. The deeper they dig, the more they realize the biggest dangers may lurk close to home and need to suspect everyone—including Mimsy.
What inspired you to write this book?
My most recent book, The Conned Lady, is the fifth book and conclusion of my Wild Blue Mystery series. Where the first book, The Bookstore Lady, tells readers how Katie Mullins and Danny Walker first arrived in Packham, The Conned Lady wraps up their story and puts an end to Katie’s struggles with the bosses she’s been evading.
Excerpt from The Conned Lady:
From Chapter One
“Hey, isn’t that your friend on television?” Hilda Clayton interrupted Katie’s thoughts as she scanned through the thirty emails that had popped up like daisies overnight.
Katie peered at the screen but didn’t see a familiar face. “Who?”
Her landlady turned the volume up to a nine despite normally keeping at a seven this early in the day.
The news anchor announced, “As we reported earlier, all charges against Gerard Maddox, the former CEO of DMR Architectural have been dropped due to a technicality. He and two of his cohorts, Alphonse Duvall and Chevalier Duvall, were arrested last summer after an altercation in a small bookstore in the small town of Packham an hour west of Newville. Maddox was charged with murder after his partner Kenton Dunnsforth was found dead near his Newville home. The judge declared there was not enough evidence to try the men and dismissed the case. A third partner, Joseph Roland has managed to elude police for over a year.”
Katie dropped her phone in her lap as a still of her former boyfriend stared back at her from the television. “Are they kidding? There was plenty of evidence. Danny and Leo dug through every waste basket, file cabinet, and garbage bin to get it. The police gave boxes of paperwork to the District Attorney’s office.”
“It sounds like the judge didn’t think so,” she said. “Do you think Danny knows Maddox is on the loose?”
“I’d bet on it.” Her eyes welled with tears she refused to let fall. “He was supposed to be in the court room for the hearing. If he wasn’t, the D.A. would’ve called, right?”
“Then why didn’t he call you?” Hilda asked.
Katie blinked away the tears. “Maybe he didn’t want me to panic. Either that or he’s waiting to talk to me in person when he gets back from the city.”
“Then he should’ve told you not to watch the morning news.”
Her heart raced and her palms grew damp. If he didn’t want her to panic, he was too late. Since he’d taken away her gun last summer, she’d need to find a different way to protect herself. Maybe buying a big, snarling dog would help.
“I have to get a few groceries this morning. Would you like me to drop you off at work?” Hilda asked turning off the television as she stood. “I know it’s not far to the bookstore, but I’d feel better.”
Katie nodded. “I would, too. At least until I talk to Danny and he tells me there’s nothing to worry about.”
“I’ll go get dressed while you call him,” her landlady said. “What time does Laura get to the store?”
“When we open at ten. She needs to get in her workout before she shows up or she’s cranky all day. Ray shows up whenever the mood strikes him.”
Katie picked up her phone then blew out a breath to calm her nerves. Maddox and his cohorts were supposed to be in jail for the next hundred years. How could they possibly have ducked beneath the legal radar? Maddox had likely paid off the right people in the right places. Bribery was nothing new at DMR.
After sending Danny a quick text—she didn’t trust her voice not to break just yet—Katie gathered her belongings. She followed Hilda to the garage beside the house to her landlady’s shiny new Honda and got inside. Once she got to Tales and Retales, she’d do some digging to see if she could find more information. She’d call Danny once she wasn’t on the verge of bursting into tears.
In her old life, she worked as Kenton Dunnsforth’s secretary at DMR. Last April, Dunnsforth handed Katie half a million dollars to leave town and never look back. Since her boyfriend, Maddox was one of the big dogs at DMR at the time, she’d lived like a queen until he hired the Wild Blue detectives to find her.
What exciting story are you working on next?
A couple things. One is Dead Man’s Doll, the second book in my Sugarwood Mysteries, which features voodoo dolls, a coven of witches, and a former butcher.
The second is a whole new mystery I’m editing right now called Carved in Stone. Once my deadlines are out of the way for this year, I’ll focus on submitting it to a few different publishers just for the fun of it!
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I’ve always thought of myself as a writer ever since I was a kid. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t write or have stories going through my head. Of course, it felt even more real when I held my very first book – Murder on Manitou – in my hands!
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I would love to write full-time, but right now I work in the box office of a professional theatre which has also inspired me to become a playwright. Time to write is usually while I’m having lunch or if things are very quiet.
I also belong to a couple fabulous online writing groups and have a specific 4-6 hours set aside weekly to work on any projects. That comes in handy some weeks when work is a bit hectic. There’s always time set aside on my calendar specifically to write.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
That I can write anywhere! Seriously, I’ve written while waiting for doctors and dentists, while my kids did karate classes, in coffee shops, on the beach, while cooking dinner…you name it!
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Either an actor or a writer. I currently work for a professional theatre and write books as well as plays!
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
The Conned Lady just came out in March 2022 and my second book in my Sugarwood Mystery series, Dead Man’s Doll, will come out in September 2022. There’s always another story to tell!
Links:
Website | Facebook | Books2Read | BWL Publishing Page