A Conversation with Mystery Author Wendy Tyson

We are delighted to welcome author Wendy Tyson to Omnimystery News today.

Wendy starts a new mystery series with A Muddied Murder (Henery Press; March 2016 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we recently had the chance to catch up with her to talk more about it.

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Omnimystery News: Introduce us to your new series character.

Photo provided courtesy of
Wendy Tyson

Wendy Tyson: A Muddied Murder features Megan Sawyer, a disillusioned environmental attorney who leaves her big-city practice to return to her small home town of Winsome, Pennsylvania when her ne're-do-well father takes off for Italy, leaving Megan's grandmother to fend for herself on the family's run-down farm. Megan has suffered a tragedy in her own life, and the move to Winsome provides the opportunity for healing and a new career — running an organic farm and café.

Megan is tough, down to earth and vulnerable all at the same time. When she returns to Winsome, she has to confront and cope with not only the very tangible obstacles presented by farming, but also elements of her own past that continue to haunt her. She must draw on her own determination and strength to start the farm and café, and the journey is one of self-discovery as well as discovery about her family, the town she'd left and the challenges of small-scale farming. I love this character because of the opportunities she presents. She's not perfect — far from it — but she's still evolving and growing. She understands that the world is complex, but despite the lack of black and white answers, she's willing to put herself out there, to have faith in the future.

OMN: Suppose Megan were to interview you. What would be her first question?

WT: Megan would ask me why I wasn't living on a small organic farm yet! My answer? Someday, Megan. Someday.

OMN: Into which genre would you place this series.

WT: James Ziskin, the author of the fabulous Ellie Stone Mysteries, said, "Wendy Tyson's A Muddied Murder combines the finest traits of the classic British mystery and the best of the modern-day cozy." I absolutely love that quote. I think A Muddied Murder is a cozy in the best ways possible — small town setting, an amateur sleuth who is connected to the local population, not much violence or sex on the page. But I did strive to keep the pace quick and the mystery complex enough to be satisfying.

There are always advantages and disadvantages to labels. One advantage is that readers know what they are getting when they pick up my book. They won't be expecting extensive blood shed or torrid sex scenes, and they won't find these things either. A disadvantage, of course, is that some readers may have decided they don't like cozy mysteries, and the label may be enough to dissuade them from giving the series a try. In that case, I hope they opt to look beyond the label and read the first book.

OMN: How true are you to the overall setting of the story?

WT: The book takes place in the fictional town of Winsome, Pennsylvania. If you're familiar with Pennsylvania, you may recognize the area of Bucks County. It's a beautiful region in Eastern Pennsylvania characterized by quaint, historic towns, old stone farmhouses and rolling countryside. I grew up nearby, and I loved driving through places like Doylestown and New Hope as a child. Winsome is more rural than these towns but captures much of the agrarian, historic flavor.

OMN: What kinds of books do you like to read for pleasure? Any particular favorites?

WT: I love mysteries and thrillers, especially a good series! My favorites? Jonathan Kellerman's Dr. Delaware series, Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli and Isles series, Donna Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti series, and Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley series. I'm like a junky — I can't get enough of my favorite authors' work.

OMN: What's next for you?

WT: I just signed a contract for the next three books in the Greenhouse Series, so for now, I will be writing the Allison Campbell series and the Greenhouse series. In fact, the next book in each series will be coming out in 2017.

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Wendy Tyson's background in law and psychology has provided inspiration for her mysteries and thrillers. Originally from the Philadelphia area, Wendy has returned to her roots and lives there again on a micro-farm with her husband, three sons and three dogs.

For more information about the author, please visit her website at WATyson.com and her author page on Goodreads, or find her on Facebook and Twitter.

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A Muddied Murder by Wendy Tyson

A Greenhouse Mystery

Publisher: Henery Press

When Megan Sawyer gives up her big-city law career to care for her grandmother and run the family's organic farm and café, she expects to find peace and tranquility in her scenic hometown of Winsome, Pennsylvania. Instead, her goat goes missing, rain muddies her fields, the town denies her business permits, and her family's Colonial-era farm sucks up the remains of her savings.

Just when she thinks she's reached the bottom of the rain barrel, Megan and the town's hunky veterinarian discover the local zoning commissioner's battered body in her barn. Now Megan is thrust into the middle of a murder investigation — and she's the chief suspect. Can Megan dig through small-town secrets, local politics, and old grievances in time to find a killer before that killer strikes again?

— A Muddied Murder by Wendy Tyson. Click here to take a Look Inside the book.