The Cemetery Club, the first Darcy and Flora cozy mystery, was written as a joint effort between my friend Barbara Burgess and me. You see, it happened this way: Barbara and I had a mutual friend, Levern, who introduced us. We three were in Rogers one beautiful Arkansas day, in an upstairs tea room in an historic building which, I think, was once a hotel. Over delicious orange rolls and coffee, we discussed writing. With Levern’s encouragement, Barbara and I decided it would be fun to collaborate on a book written in our favorite genre, a cozy mystery.
Barbara and I are both of Cherokee descent and we know about small towns, she in Arkansas and I, in Oklahoma. We had heard stories and legends involving hidden treasure and old-time outlaws. We knew the beauty of wooded hills and clear-running streams, and the customs passed down through generations; for example, the yearly observance of Decoration Day at area cemeteries. As we talked and reminisced, and planned, the idea of a book was born with Darcy Campbell and her mother, Flora Tucker as the main characters.
The title, The Cemetery Club, came about for several reasons. Flora Tucker was part of the governing board which oversaw the yearly business and upkeep of Goshen Cemetery in northeast Oklahoma. And, the murders which happened in the course of the story all seemed to be centered around the cemetery. What was the connection? All a part of the plot!
After the first book, Barbara and I kept wondering what Darcy and Flora were up to. Were they in danger again? So, we checked in with them. Sure enough, they had just received a letter and a strange request. Grave Shift waited to be written and, after that, Best Left Buried and Grave Heritage. Writing these cozies was like eating salted peanuts or vinegar and sea salt potato chips.
Another “What if” question kept rolling around in my mind. I could see a white Victorian house which looked strangely like one in my home town of Tahlequah. I wondered what would have happened if I inherited that lovely home. Seeing as how that wasn’t possible, I created another middle-aged woman with a knack for mysteries who actually did inherit a similar house. Houses that have been around a while sometimes shelter the secrets of past lives. This was true of the house called Granger Mansion. Moonlight Can Be Murder, a new series with a new heroine joined the first four Darcy and Flora cozies. Sure enough, Ned McNeil, who inherited the house also inherited its mysteries. The idea that weird happenings seemed to coincide with moonlit nights led to By the Fright of the Silvery Moon ,
When curiosity and the intriguing question, What if, take over, there’s no telling what will happen. Characters emerge from the shadows into the sunlight. Adventures abound, Excitement swirls in the breezes and a cozy mystery appears where there was none before. lt is all intriguing and satisfying and…well, cozy mysteries are a great deal of fun!
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