M.M. Gornell's Margot Madison-Cross

Day 14 of the Murder We Write Blog Tour and Margot Madison-Cross is my next victim, err interviewee. Margot is called to the California desert in LIES OF CONVENIENCE, BY M.M. Gornell. Margot, you live across the pond shall we say from me. You live on one side of Lake Michigan and I live on the other in Grand River, Michigan. You must love the changing seasons and weather shifts, which make me wonder how you came to be embroiled in a desert mystery. Can you tell me about it?

Margot: Oh, Mr. Malone—a fellow Midwesterner—how delightful! Indeed, young man, Chicago has been my lifelong home, and the center of my universe. So when my brother Graham called and requested me to come to Palm Springs immediately, of course I went. From there I visited my niece in Newton on Route 66. Little did I know Camille was embroiled in a murder investigation and I would have to confront family secrets. Some of those secrets are based on lies that could destroy all our lives. I’m sure you’ve had to deal with lies in your line of work. I surmise the people you interview are not always forthcoming with the truth.

Are you kidding?

 
Margot: I seldom kid, Mr. Malone.

(Mitch clears his throat) I understand your niece is cute. Do you think she might like to visit a certain eligible bachelor and award winning journalist who lives near Lake Michigan?

 
Margot: Oh, dear, I seriously doubt that! She is a doctor you know, and now quite smitten I’m sure with the Newtown Police Chief. (Margot narrows her eyes) And, may I ask, what are your intentions toward my niece?

Hey, I didn’t mean to offend, but there aren’t a lot of eligible girls out there. Back to the questions. How do you spend your time in the Midwest? Hobbies, jobs?

Margot: I am a widow, Mr. Malone, and fortuitously of independent means at this point in my life. Your question regarding my time is very good one. I’m sure if I seriously look at my motivations, my lack of purpose in life might have influenced my willingness to rush to the West Coast without questioning my brother more thoroughly. Though I have to admit, my excursion into Graham and Camille’s world was quite exhilarating. Of course, it was definitely different not having my butler George at my beck-and-call—though he did come through regarding my derringer. You understand, we were all in quite serious danger.

What was your time like in the desert? Did you do some sightseeing? I’ve never been to the desert but am thinking about a trip to Vegas. What do you recommend?

Margot: Sightseeing? Come now, Mr. Malone, do you really think I had time to “sightsee” while embroiled in a murder investigation? And there was my brother’s urgent request, reliving college day traumas, sand storms, rain storms, a dark and mysterious Quonset hut—

Whoa! I get the picture. Care to share any of those family secrets? Could make an interesting feature article.

Margot: Hardly, Mr. Malone.

Well, thanks anyway, Margot, for the interview. Let me know the next time Camille comes to visit and I might take a ferry across the lake and maybe change her mind about that desert-rat Police Chief.

Margot: You could come to tea. Darjeeling, Earl Grey? Oh my, I can see from the look on your face, Mr. Malone, eighteen-year-old Jameson Pot Still Irish Whiskey might be more to your taste?

I’m beginning to like you, Mrs. Margot Madison-Cross. For more on Madeline and her books, check out her blog:

  http://mmgornell.wordpress.com

Madeline (M.M.) Gornell has three published mystery novels—PSWA awarding winning Uncle Si’s Secret (2008); Death of a Perfect Man (2009); Eric Hoffer Fiction finalist and Honorary Mention winner, the da Vinci Eye finalist, and Montaigne Medalist finalist Reticence of Ravens (2011); and PSWA award winner and Hollywood Book Festival Honorary Mention Lies of Convenience (2012). Both Reticence of Ravens and Lies of Convenience are both Route 66 mysteries. Madeline is also a potter with a fondness for stoneware and reduction firing. She lives with her husband and assorted canines in the Mojave Desert in a town on internationally revered Route 66.

 

Joyce and Jim Lavene's Dae O'Donnell

Mitch Malone here on the 10^th day of the Murder We Write Blog Tour. Today I’m interviewing the honorable mayor of Duck, North Carolina, Dae O’Donnell. Dae is a rather unique mayor featured in A HAUNTING DREAM by Joyce and Jim Lavene. She has a bit of an odd streak but I’m going for a soft opening here. I’ll get to the hard questions at the end. There you are Mayor. Thank you for joining me. Can you tell me a little bit about Duck? Is it really named after a Mallard?

Dae: Yes, Mitch. Duck IS named after the water fowl in question. It was a famous place to hunt ducks long before there was a town here. It’s very quiet here in the winter. Stores are closed and many people drift away. We have a population of about 500. During the summer months, the population goes up to about 25,000. It’s a problem for us sometimes, as I’m sure you can imagine. Those of us born here, love it, even through hurricanes and other issues.
 

Now as mayor, you get to make lots of decisions about things that should be done. I understand you help out the police and others. How do you do that?

Dae: Actually, I don’t get to make many decisions. A mayor is a figurehead in a small town like Duck. I can help influence the council, but they make all the decisions. I help the police from time to time with my special gift – the ability to find lost things. Right now, I’m helping on a kidnapping case that involves the FBI. I’m not sure they really want my help, but I have had dreams about the missing girl, Betsy Sparks. I’m not going to quit until we find her.

Drat. My pen just ran out of ink. I can’t take notes for my exclusive, if I don’t have a pen. Where is that spare of mine?

Dae: Here, Mitch. Hold my hand a second. No, I’m not making a pass at you. It’s how I find things. Poking around in someone’s head is a lot like rummaging through an old attic. Ah! There is is – in the pocket of your jeans!

You are pretty good at finding things. You could make some money doing lost and found. Have you ever considered opening your own business?

Dae: I have a small thrift store I call Missing Pieces. It’s located on the Duck Shoppes Boardwalk. My grandfather (I live with him) said I was bringing home too many things. The house wasn’t big enough to hold all my treasures. So I opened the shop. It pays the rent and gives me some spending money.

Duck has had some pretty major crime lately what with that murder of Chuck Sparks. Do I understand as well as finding things you now are talking to the dead? Is this for real?

Dae: Chuck’s death was a tragedy. I hope we can find his killer and that will lead us to his little girl. As far as talking to the dead, it seems to be something new for me. I hope it doesn’t happen again. My friend, Shayla, is a medium. She says sometimes your abilities change when you’re too emotional. Right now, with my boyfriend’s ex-fiance in Duck, the mayor’s election, and trying to find Betsy Sparks, it’s a little hard to dial it down!

No need to get testy. I’m looking for my next exclusive story and I think this might just be it. Would you be willing to give me access to the police department so I could get some verification and all the details?

Dae: I’m afraid I don’t have that authority, Mitch. You can ask our police chief, Ronnie Michaels.

The FBI is involved. I have a pretty good relationship with one hot agent. I could work with them. Well maybe my relationship isn’t so sound but I don’t want to talk about that. Would you give this reporter the scoop?

Dae: I’m afraid that’s all I can say for now, Mitch. It was nice talking with you.

 

Thanks, Dae for dropping by and answering my questions. To read more about A HAUNTING DREAM that is out today, visit www.joyceandjimlavene.com . You heard the scoop here first. Get A HAUNTING DREAM hot off the press. Find out all about Dae and her gift, gift for murder that is.

To win a copy of A Haunting Dream, the fourth book in the Missing Pieces Mysteries, leave your name at my blog: http://romanceofmystery.blogspot.com

 The mayor of Duck, North Carolina, Dae O’Donnell, is a woman with a gift for finding lost things. When her boyfriend Kevin’s ex-fiancée Ann arrives in Duck looking for a second chance, Dae suddenly finds herself facing certain heartache. And while her romantic life is in shambles, she’s even more concerned by the sudden change in her gift. After touching a medallion owned by a local named Chuck Sparks, Dae is shocked when her vision reveals his murder—and a cry for help. Dae doesn’t know what to make of the dead man’s plea to “Help her,” until she has another vision about a kidnapped girl—Chuck’s daughter, Betsy. With a child missing, the FBI steps in to take over the case. But Dae can’t ignore her visions of Betsy, or the fact that Kevin’s psychic ex-fiancé might be the only person who can help find her.

Joyce Lavene writes bestselling mystery with her husband/partner Jim. They have written and published more than 60 novels for Harlequin, Berkley and Charter Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications. She lives in rural North Carolina with her family, her cat, Quincy, and her rescue dog, Rudi. Visit her at www.joyceandjimlavene.com, Facebook/JoyceandJimLavene.com. Twitter: @authorjlavene, http://romanceofmystery.blogspot.com.

Purchase: A Haunting Dream at: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-haunting-dream-joyce-and-jim-lavene/1111363964

Jean Henry Mead's Kerrie Compton

Day 9 on the Murder We Write Blog Tour. I must say I’m excited to interview Kerrie Compton. I think it will be a cake walk seeing she is a journalist like myself. She doesn’t have anything to hide and I understand she is pretty easy on the eyes. Kerrie’s mother is Dana Logan who drives a motor home with her friend Sarah Cafferty and seem to find a lot of dead bodies along the way. Let’s see what she has to say about the latest mystery, GRAY WOLF MOUNTAIN by Jean Henry Mead. Kerrie, I’ve met your mother. Are you just like her or what makes you not quite a chip off the block?

Kerrie:  Few women like to be compared with their mothers, but I'm proud of Mom, who's sixty and still attractive and like a bloodhound in her amateur sleuth investigations. I guess I'm a true chip off the old block, both in appearance and risk taking. We share a love of adventure and bringing villains to justice--along with Mom's best friend, Sarah Cafferty. But Mom's a bit prudish when it comes to romance. Why Sheriff Grayson continues to pursue her through each novel in the series is a mystery in itself.

As a fellow journalist, you serve as a staff writer for City Magazine in Denver. What do you like most and least about your job?

Kerrie:  I enjoy writing about investigations with my mom and Sarah, such as our latest adventure, Gray Wolf Mountain, where someone shooting wolves starts killing people as well. I don't enjoy being shot at or tied up and sprinkled with ants as happened in the first Logan & Cafferty novel, A Village Shattered. Premature gray hair took up residence on my head.

Do your bosses ever get upset when you have to take time to investigate stories that they don’t seem to see as worthy? Do you have to take a lot of time off to rescue your mother?

Kerrie:  I don't take much time off to "rescue"Mom. She'd have a fit if she heard you say that. I've always managed to turn each investigation into a noteworthy story when I return to the office, even just a feature story about one of the people involved. Such as Gus Blake, an 85-year-old man who rescues wounded wolves and nurses them back to health. He's also romantically involved with a tiny 85-year-old sharp-shooting woman, which provides some humorous anecdotes. 

Are you single? Would you consider dating a fellow journalist in West Michigan?

Kerrie:  Sorry, Mitch. I'm currently engaged to an FBI agent whom I met in Murder on the Interstate. But he's always gone on assignments so I'm considering breaking off the engagement to begin a new relationship with a handsome Iraqi War veteran that Mom hired as my bodyguard.

Fine, I can keep it professional. Tell me about your latest exclusive.

Kerrie:  I've already told you about the wolf shootings, but my "exclusive" is a little known fact that wolves are being shot en masse from helicopters in Canadian provinces, primarily the Yukon Territory, to increase Caribou herds for big game hunters. They're also being killed in the Northern U.S. Rockies by gassing wolf puppies in their dens. The government doesn't seem to realize that killing off Keystone predators such as wolves and grizzlies unbalances nature. Few wolves mean big game animals increase in number and consume most of the vegetation that birds and small animals need to survive.

To hear more about this journalist and her mother’s travels in an RV, check out this website: wwwjeanhenrymead.com

 

And to learn more about Gray Wolf Mountain, check out: Amazon

Jean will be giving away a copy of her recent release, Gray Wolf Mountain, fourth novel in the Logan & Cafferty series, to a visitor who leaves a comment during the blog tour. The winner will be announced at her blog site: http://mysteriouspeople.blogspot.com/ December 12.

Jean Henry Mead is the author of 18 books, including the Logan & Cafferty series, Hamilton Kids' mysteries, Western historicals and nonfiction history and interviews books. An award-winning photojournalist, she's published domestically as well as abroad. She also served as a news, magazine and small press editor.