Guest Post - Jon Land and Jessica Fletcheer

Murder She Wrote dominated television ratings from 1984 to 1996 and continues in reruns around the world.  But when the show ended, the books continued Jessica Fletcher's legacy in print.  Donald Bain began (as the co-author with Jessica Fletcher *wink-wink*) writing the series in 1989 until he passed away in 2017. 

After Donald Bain's passing, author Jon Land was approached to take over the series as he was working on completing Bain's A Date with Murder (47th book in the series) anyway. Land agreed to continue the series.  Please welcome Jon Land as the secret guest author today.

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT JESSICA

FLETCHER

The publication of MURDER IN RED marks the 35th anniversary of the eternal Murder, She Wrote series which debuted on CBS in 1984. But did you know that Angela Lansbury wasn’t the first choice to play Jessica Fletcher? It was actually Jean Stapleton, who’d fabulously played Edith Bunker on All in the Family. With that in mind, and to celebrate MURDER IN RED, let’s take a look at some other things you might not know about Jessica Fletcher.

§ Speaking of Angela Lansbury, the fact that Jessica never got her driver’s license mirrors the fact that Angela who never got hers either.

§ Jessica was president of her Delta Alpha Chi sorority at Harrison College in Green Falls, New Hampshire where she majored in journalism.

§ Jessica first met her future husband when they were both volunteering for a production at the esteemed Appleton Theater. But Jessica was so bad at set building, she never volunteered again.

§ When her husband Frank was still alive, and they were raising their nephew Grady, Jessica was a substitute English teacher at Appleton High School.

§ The death of the Appleton High principal became the first murder Jessica ever solved.

§ On that investigation, she worked with Amos Tupper, then Appleton’s only detective who’d go on to become sheriff at Cabot Cove.

§ Jessica and Frank purchased their beloved home in Cabot Cove from real estate agent Eve Simpson who would go on to become a close friend of Jessica’s. The night Eve showed them the house at 698 Candlewood Lane also marked the first time Jessica ever met Dr. Seth Hazlitt.

§ Upon moving to Cabot Cove, Jessica got a job teaching English full time and went on to mentor any number of writers who came back for visits during the television show’s twelve-year run.

§ Writing as J. B. Fletcher, Jessica has published over 40 books from The Corpse Danced at Midnight to The Corpse Danced Alone.

§ She celebrated publication of The Corpse Danced at Midnight at a costume party put on by her publisher Preston Giles in the pilot for the series during which, of course, someone is murdered and Jessica ends up cracking the case. (The episode was called The Murder of Sherlock Holmes).

§ The books gave Jessica a romantic interest in Chief Inspector George Sutherland of Scotland Yard, who’s introduced in the very first book in the series, Gin and Daggers. But the closest she ever came to a love interest in the TV series was Preston Giles, a flirtation that lasted only until Jessica revealed him as the killer in the same episode. In a subsequent episode years later, Giles is murdered himself. (Sutherland returns in Murder in Red!)

§ Jessica left Cabot Cove for a time to teach criminology at New York’s Manhattan University where she lives in Manhattan at the Penfield House Apartments, 941 West 61st St. She ultimately gave up the position because she missed Cabot Cove too much.

§ The Murder, She Wrote series boasts more books than either Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes (4 novels and 56 short stories) or Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot (45 novels).

§ Speaking of Agatha Christie, Angela Lansbury also played her famed sleuth Jane Marple in the 1980 film The Mirror Cracked.

SPOILER ALERT! A number of the factoids above are drawn from A Time for Murder, #50 in the Murder, She Wrote series that will be published this coming November and will introduce Jessica as a younger woman, twenty-five years in the past, for the first time ever in books or television!

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I don't know about you, but I still watch an episode occasionally.  This was great information and fun to get back into the Murder She Wrote world.  

Here is an episode to watch...staring a very young George Clooney!  So many stars were on the show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8k1kbODS5s

Author Guest Post - Anna Lee Huber

I have been following the Lady Darby Mysteries since the first book hit the shelves.  We were honored to have a prior guest post by Ms. Huber (click here).  Today she shares with us answers to her most often asked reader questions.  Please welcome Ms. Anna Lee Huber to our little corner of the Blogosphere.

An Interview with Anna Lee Huber, author of the Lady Darby Mysteries

I asked my readers on social media to interview me, and these are the questions they chose as most popular:

How Lady Darby became your central character, she is so different and unusual (which is why I love her). Where did you find her?

Lady Darby is a bit of a cross between mindful intention and pure subconscious. I started out with the idea that I wanted to write a historical mystery series with a woman as my main protagonist, but I wanted her to be quite different from most of the similar series I already read. I wanted her to be awkward socially, artistic, a tad eccentric, and I thought it would be extremely interesting to give her knowledge of anatomy. Normally it’s the man, if anyone, who has this expertise, so to instead put it in the mind of an early nineteenth century woman I knew would require extraordinary circumstances. That’s how the start of her backstory emerged. I needed to find a way for her to receive anatomical training in as realistic and compelling a way as possible. However, once I had those basic details in hand and I finally sat down to write that first chapter, something kind of magical happened. I’d had this voice clambering inside my head, wanting to tell her story, and once I allowed her that freedom, she just sprang to life. It’s almost as if she lives in a separate place in my subconscious. I can feel the nerve pathways that will let me tap into her voice, where she sits quietly waiting to take her turn at the page again.

Why Scotland? It is a country that I love but I'm curious why you chose that location. Also, was writing about Ireland in book 5 challenging?

I simply adore Scotland! So that was the start. And I needed an isolated locale for Book 1, so the Highlands. And, well, it kind of just took over from there. Ireland was definitely more of a challenge to write simply because I'd done so much less research about it before I started, and I've never visited. Also, the history is fascinating but very complex in this time period. I wanted to get it right, but also not write a history paper. Nobody likes "info dumps", as writers call them. It's tricky to weave in just the right amount of history without sounding like a textbook at times.

The challenges (and how you deal with them) of writing about a place and time period that you don't live in! How do you get that "real feel" and blend accuracy with the story?

I think it starts with research. Before I delve into any time period I do an intense amount of research trying to understand the era, and not just the facts—dates, and people, and major events. I want to understand what the general mindset of the people are, how they speak and interact with one another, what is considered normal and what is beyond the pale. However, at some point you have to step away from the texts and begin to write, and for me the trick is to become truly locked inside the mind of my narrator. Since I write predominately in the first person, my stories are colored by the thoughts of my narrator. I see things through her eyes, expressing her opinions, noticing the items that interest her. If I can make the reader believe that they are listening to the narrator and not me, then I’ve gone a long way to achieving realness and authenticity. It’s definitely harder to write about places I’ve never actually been, but pictures, videos, and Google Earth help tremendously. Language can also trip me up. It’s not always easy

to find the etymology of a word or phrase, and sometimes the way they would have truly spoken would baffle modern readers. There’s a fine balance.

Do you ever get tired of any of the characters?

Hmmm. I think because I delve so deeply into their psychologies, I always have some sympathy for all my characters. I see something I like about all of them. Even the villains. So I haven't gotten tired of anyone yet, or killed anyone off because of it.

I’ve read many murder mystery series with a sleuthing couple at the helm. What I like about your series is that Keira seems to be more private than the other heroines, while Gage is the more outgoing personality. What made you pick this dynamic?

I've noticed the very same thing, so I purposely wanted to switch it up. I wanted to make the characters different from other sleuthing pairs and see what evolved of that.

Can you believe you are on book five!? Do you have an end game, which I hope isn't for a long while!!

Sometimes I have to pinch myself. Didn't I just start writing these? No end game in sight yet...

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THANK You Ms. Huber for sharing this interview.

Rice Krispie Brownie Treats

Ingredients

2 cups crumbled brownies
5 cups rice krispies
1-10 oz. package mini marshmallow
3 tablespoons butter
Instructions

*I use the microwave method, but the stovetop method would work just fine.

Melt butter and marshmallows in the microwave for about three minutes, stirring at a minute and a half.  When marshmallows are good and melted, add the rice krispies and crumbled brownies.  Mix well until all is completely combined.

Pour mixture into a well greased, or wax paper lined pan. (size is up to you, depending on how thick you want them - I used 13"x9").

Allow to cool and set for at least one hour. Can be placed in the refrigerator to speed the cooling process.  Turn over onto a cutting board and cut into squares.

Guest Post - Juliet Blackwell

I am currently reading Ms. Blackwell's newest book in the Haunted Home Renovation Mystery Series.  The review will be posted shortly.  But today we have a guest post from the author on the research pitfalls she faces.

Of Procrastination and Secret Passages

The Internet has made it difficult to be a writer.

In the olden days (ie, before the Internet), a person might come up with ideas for stories and then sit in her garret and write, while making a list of things to look up, *later*, in the library. And then, no matter how grand the research institution, the available information on any particular topic was limited due to shelf space and the librarian’s astute eye.

Not anymore. One of the easiest ways to procrastinate, as a writer, is to tumble into the abyss of the Internet. And I’m not talking about those known time-wasters like social media sites or cute films about cats. In this instance, I’m talking about legitimate research.

Case in point: in Give Up the Ghost (#6 in the Haunted Home Renovation series), San Francisco contractor extraordinaire, Mel Turner, stumbles onto secret passages in the Pacific Heights mansion she’s renovating. Do you have any idea how much time a person can spend on the subject “secret passages in old homes”? Try putting the topic into your search engine – but if you’re anything like me, only do so if you have a few days to spend reading and checking out the photographs.

There are secret passages used to escape and hide, and others used to spy on and kill people – don’t miss the “Murder Castle”, if you have a strong stomach (click here).

There are hidden bookcases (seriously, who among us hasn’t always longed for a secret passage in a bookcase?), trap doors, secret bunkers, smuggling tunnels, and hidden wine cellars (click here.)

*Honestly*. How is an author supposed to decide which kind of secret passage to use for her novel? The possibilities are endless. Finally, I turned to the architectural era of the house Mel was working on, built in the late 1800s. Fancy Victorian homes built at that time often had simple “secret” panels that led to narrow interior hallways. Usually these stretched between ballrooms or reception areas and quiet reading rooms or cigar parlors, presumably so the owners of the home (the men, mostly) could slip away from dull gatherings or noisy soirees and enjoy a little peace and quiet.

Of course, sometimes the passages were built “to confuse the spirits”, as in the case of the Winchester Mystery House (click here). But that’s a whole different web search, and another full day lost to pictures and articles, plus –in my case – a day trip to San Jose for a visit!

How about you – anyone secretly longing to stumble on secret passages every time you visit an old home? Have you ever seen – and dared to walk through—an actual secret passage?

If so, I’d love to hear about it. And if not – check out the Winchester Mystery House. They’ve got several!
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Thank you once again Ms. Blackwell for this delightful post.

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Guest Post - TV MONK vs. BOOK MONK

The Blog Carnival will be next Monday, so please send in your mystery book reviews this week (click here to submit an entry).  

This Monday, we have a very special guest post by Hy Conrad.  Hy was one of the original writers for the highly successful television series, Monk. He worked on the show for all eight seasons, the final two as Co-Executive Producer, and received three Edgar Nominations from the Mystery Writers of America for “Best TV Series.” Hy now writes the Monk book series.  We are happy, and deeply honored, to have Mr. Conrad with us today.  

Many years ago, before Lee Goldberg so graciously agreed to write the Monk novels, Penguin had approached me.  I considered it.  But I was busy with the TV show, and I had never written a novel at the time and, most crucially, I had no idea how to transform Monk and his twisty little stories into books.  I let Lee do the grunt work and he turned it into a wondrous franchise – 16 of them to date.  Fifteen for him; one for me.

It’s not as easy as it may seem to transform a well-loved show into a novel.  There are hundreds of choices to make and problems to solve along the way.

From the beginning, the most important choice was point of view.  Telling the stories in the third person seemed too impersonal for such a character.  And using the first person, through Monk’s eyes, would have been maddening.  (I can just see writing an entire chapter about vacuuming the herringbone nap on his living room rug.)  Lee’s solution, and mine, was to tell things through Natalie’s eyes.  It was the best alternative, giving the stories a “Watson” character as well as a sympathetic woman’s perspective.

But even this solution isn’t perfect.  For one thing, when Monk is alone, getting into trouble, we can’t be there with him.  We hear about it later, either from Monk or someone else.  And when Monk goes in for his private sessions with Dr. Bell…  Well, you may have noticed that Dr. Bell doesn’t play much of a role in the novels.  Maybe I can figure a way to get him in there.

Another difference is the size of our stories.  In TV, we had 42 minutes to tell a mystery.  They were clever but very simple.  When you have 70,000 words to kill – I mean fill – you either have to make the stories complex, which is not really the Monk way, or you have to throw in some fancy footwork.  The Monk books often spend the first two chapters on a “starter mystery”, one that has no connection to the rest of the book but may help set up Monk’s emotional track.

Then there may be a few fast cases thrown in along the way, things that show off his brilliance but are really just there to entertain.  Plus the novels tend to tell two mysteries at once, switching back and forth until we let loose with two climactic scenes in the last fifty pages.  I’m probably making this sound like a formula. It’s not.  We prefer to call it a template, and every mystery writer has one.  That’s also what keeps fans coming back, a feeling of familiarity, even if the story is brand new.

Another problem; visual vs. literary. In the show, the clues we used were often visual.  We even wrote them into the action lines, for the director’s benefit.  Here is one, word for word: “A television plays in the bg, showing a clip of Darryl Grant breaking the home run record.  The camera lingers on a man in the stands who catches the priceless ball.  Not really lingers.  We barely see his face.  Forget I even mentioned it.”  Obviously, you can’t do this in a book.  You have to find other ways to sneak in your clues.

Tied in closely with this visual challenge is the subject of humor.  On the screen Monk can shrug and it’s funny.  Stottlemeyer can growl and do a slow burn five times a show and it works.  But try ending a chapter with, “Monk did a funny little shrug and Captain Stottlemeyer growled in reply.”  Okay, that’s not funny.  In a novel you have to rely on situations and dialogue, along with the voice of your narrator.  It’s always a compromise to make Natalie funny but not too funny, and to keep Monk from being too talkative.  Which brings me to my last point.

One of the most important differences between the show and books is Monk’s voice.  You may not have noticed, but on the show Monk isn’t a big talker.  He rarely says more than two sentences in a speech, except when it comes to the solutions in Act Four where, for the good of the viewer, he becomes practically verbose, going on for page after page and using flashbacks.  Tony Shalhoub is an actor who does so much with his body and face that we didn’t have to give him a lot of lines.  He didn’t want them.  But it’s darn hard to get that kind of nuance across in a plot-driven mystery, at least the ones I write.

The sad truth is that the books will never be the show.  All the actors have moved on.  They've all gotten older, except for Traylor Howard.  All the writers have relegated Adrian Monk to a fond memory, except for me.  But the books are their own thing, continuing to exist because they’re good.  And because, luckily, Monk fans can read.

I was talking the other day with Andy Breckman, the man who took the suggestion, “Why not do a show about a cop with OCD?” and turned it into a phenomenon.  We were discussing the Monk novels and Andy said, “Well, you’re it, kid.  The last one.  Keeping Monk alive.”

I like to think that we’re all keeping Monk alive.  You as the reader and me now as the writer.  Here’s to many more.

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Thank you very much Hy Conrad for your guest post.  Your perspective of the unique challenges of taking the TV series to a book format are fascinating.  We all thank Andy Breckman for his initial idea that  created such a memorable character, and the series writers that showcased the talents of the cast.

We are running a special giveaway of the most recent book,

"Mr. Monk Helps Himself" to one lucky winner as well.

Single book giveaway
Entry for giveaway lasts until Wed. June 5 8:00 p.m. (MST).

The publisher will ship the book to the winner.

 

How to enter:

*** First, you must be a member (follower) of this blog.***

All entries are to be in the comments for this post.

I will accept entries for this giveaway Monday June 3 beginning at posting time through to 8:00 p.m (MST) on Wednesday June 5.

    

I shall notify the winner via the email address you provide to get your mailing address and have the prize sent directly to you.

IF you are a member of this blog, you only need to leave a comment with your correct email.

BECOME a member of this blog if you aren't already, and enjoy the celebration of all things mystery and suspense.
Thank you blog readers, and a big thanks to Hy Conrad.

 

Guest Post - Elizabeth Mahon

Today Mysteries and My Musings is pleased to welcome Elizabeth Mahon, author of "Scandalous Women: The Lives and Loves of History’s Most Notorious Women."  She is sharing with us information on perhaps the biggest mystery of of the twentieth century.  Welcome Ms. Mahon.

The Disappearance of Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart had a knack for making news. From her groundbreaking flight in 1928, as the first woman to fly across the Atlantic to her later solo flight in 1932, Amelia made headlines wherever she went. But no headline was more heartbreaking than the news that her plane was lost. The around the world flight was to be her biggest challenge and her last ‘stunt’ flight, after which she planned to retire from long-distance flying. Earhart was about to turn 40, and thinking about a life on the ground instead of a life in the air. An ill omen seemed to hang over the trip from the start. A botched attempt in March severely damaged her plane. Still determined, Earhart had the twin engine Lockheed Electra rebuilt. "I have a feeling that there is just about one more good flight left in my system, and I hope this trip is it," she said. While the plane was being repaired, Amelia decided to change her flight plan to travel west to east, leaving from Miami instead. The change in plans was due to changes in global wind and weather patterns. When she finally took off on June 1st, with Fred Noonan as her navigator, she left behind crucial equipment, including her parachute, life raft, and wireless antenna.

After numerous stops in South America, Africa, India, and Southeast Asia, Amelia and Fred landed in Lae, New Guinea, on June 29, 1937. Amelia had flown for thirty days and twenty-two thousand miles by that point. There were 7,000 miles to go before she completed her journey. Physically and mentally she was exhausted. The Electra didn’t take off again until July 2, due to adverse weather conditions. Their intended destination was tiny Howland Island, where Amelia expected to refuel. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca, their radio contact, was stationed just offshore of Howland Island. Two other U.S. ships were positioned along the flight route as markers. Radio contact between Amelia and the U.S. Coast Guard was intermittent. While they could hear her, she couldn’t hear them. The Electra never made it, disappearing somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

A search began near where they estimated the plane had gone down, 35 to 100 miles northwest of Howland Island. The search effort, authorized by President Roosevelt, cost over $4 million involving ten ships, 66 aircraft, and over 3,000 Navy personnel. It was the most extensive air and sea search in naval history thus far. Neither the plane nor the bodies of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan were ever discovered. The effort was discontinued two weeks later on July 19th. George Putnam privately financed another search but finally gave up hope and Amelia was officially declared dead on January 5, 1939. Since her disappearance, a whole cottage industry of myths, urban legends and unsupported claims have sprung up, all of which have been generally dismissed for lack of evidence. Still several unsupported theories have become well known in popular culture.

One theory, and the most plausible, is that put forth by pilot Elgen Long. Long believes that Earhart ran out of fuel just after her last transmission, the ditched plane quickly filling with water and sand. Although she supposedly had a life raft, and emergency supplies, they may not have had enough time to escape before the plane went down. Some believe that Earhart and Fred Noonan managed to land on a remote uninhabited island where they eventually ended up dying of starvation.

The most popular theory is that Amelia was actually on a mission to spy on the Japanese in the Pacific at the request of FDR’s administration. The 1943 film Flight for Freedom starring Rosalind Russell as an Amelia Earhart-like flyer and Fred MacMurray furthered that myth. After the war, both the Japanese and the U.S. Governments denied the rumors. Amelia was known to be a strong pacifist, so the idea of her spying for the military is highly unlikely. She also didn’t have the time or the fuel to make a detour over the Japanese islands, nor would she have been able to see anything of interest, since she would have been in the area at night.

Others believe that Earhart and Noonan were captured and executed when their aircraft crashed on Saipan Island while it was under Japanese occupation. More than 50 witnesses have stated that a tall, thin, short-haired woman dressed like a pilot and a man were seen on the island. In 2009, one of Amelia’s relatives stated that the pair died in Japanese custody, citing unnamed witnesses including Japanese troops and Saipan natives. He said that the Japanese cut the valuable Lockheed aircraft into scrap and threw the pieces into the ocean. Another theory is that Earhart was captured and used for propaganda purposes, serving as the infamous Tokyo Rose whose English radio broadcasts were used as psychological warfare against the Americans. George Putnam, Amelia’s husband, listened to several recordings of Tokyo Rose and concluded that none of the voices matched hers. Still the theory persisted. Even Amelia’s mother Amy believed the rumor. She told a reporter for the Los Angeles Times in 1949 that “Amelia did not die in the ocean. She died in Japan.”

One of the more outlandish theories is that that after the war, Amelia’s friend and pioneering aviator, Jackie Cochran discovered Earhart in Japan, and smuggled her back to the United States. Earhart then was given the new identity of Irene Craigmile Bolam for national security reasons, moved to New Jersey and remarried. This theory was put forth by US Air force Major Joseph Gervais whose research was used by author Joe Klass in the book Amelia Earhart Lives (1970). It was also claimed in the book that her name appeared to be a code which spelled out in degrees and minutes the latitude and longitude of the precise location of the island where Earhart and Noonan crashed after being shot down by the Japanese. Irene Bolam denied being Earhart, and sued the authors. The book's publisher withdrew the book from the market shortly after it was released, settling out of court with her. Bolam's personal life history has been thoroughly documented by researchers, eliminating any possibility she was Earhart.

All these theories (except for the last one) sound plausible in different ways. Unfortunately the mystery of what actually happened to Amelia Earhart will probably never be truly solved until human remains or the plane is found.

Thank you Elizabeth Mahon for that post.  Join Elizabeth at her blog, scandalouswoman.blogspot.com for more fascinating history.  Amelia's disappearance is a mystery that has captivated people around the world still.