with Caroline Taylor
We are delighted to welcome mystery author Caroline Taylor to Omnimystery News today.
Caroline's second mystery to feature P.J. Smythe, a wannabe private eye from Annapolis, Maryland, is Jewelry from a Grave (Five Star, April 2013 hardcover).
We recently had a chance to talk to Caroline about her books.
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Omnimystery News: Why did you decide to write a mystery series featuring a recurring character?
Photo provided courtesy of
Caroline Taylor
Caroline Taylor: Readers have to care about the person investigating the crime, which means that the main character has to have quirks and flaws and persistence and courage and other qualities that make him or her come to life on the page. P.J. Smythe is a bit like Stephanie Plum, but without the Jersey attitude. I plan for her to develop as the series progresses, but it will be more along the one-step-forward, two-steps-back model. Two examples: She's very clear about what she doesn't want to do — trace loan skips or teach high school history — but not so clear about achieving what she does want to do — become a private investigator. She has a boyfriend in Jewelry from a Grave, but they have "issues." Her heart's in the right place, and she doesn't lack for courage, but common sense? Judgment? Maturity? Not quite yet.
OMN: How did the character of P.J. Smythe come about?
CT: P.J. Smythe first appeared as a full-fledged private eye in two short stories that inspired me to write the later novels. In the process, I discovered that, to obtain a private investigator's license in Maryland, you have to have at least 10 years of relevant experience. In What Are Friends For?, P.J. is too young, so I changed the initial story to one that involves her best friend Alicia filming a documentary about a private eye learning on the job.
OMN: Tell us about your writing process.
CT: I have detailed character profiles of P.J., Alicia, P.J.'s uncle Alex, and various other major characters; it helps me maintain a consistent approach. However, I do only a sketchy outline of the plot. I've learned that the plot can change radically as the story takes on a life of its own.
OMN: Your books are set in Annapolis. Do you take liberties with that setting, or do you try to be true to its geography and/or local environment?
CT: I didn't exactly throw a dart at a map, but choosing Annapolis as the setting wasn't completely rational, either. I don't know the city and have only visited it a couple of times for the obligatory look-see at the Naval Academy, the State House, and City Dock. Having lived in D.C. most of my life, I know that the vast majority of Washington novels tend to be about "corruption and conspiracy at the highest levels of power." P.J. doesn't have a political bone in her body. She might eventually stumble onto some kind of conspiracy, but it won't be at the apex of power. She needed a smaller, more intimate setting than the nation's capital. Another reason for choosing Annapolis was simply that I didn't know of any novels that were set there. I had big plans to visit Annapolis to scout the neighborhood where P.J. lived in What Are Friends For? and the apartment where she and her roommate live in Jewelry from a Grave. I wanted to dine — or at least have a drink — at 29 West and Cantler's and Chick and Ruth's and other local eateries. None of this happened, thanks to Hurricane Isabel. Plan B turned out to be a former colleague who worked at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. He introduced me to two friends of his. One of them knew all the "in" places to eat and all the local customs like the annual burning of the socks in March (when sailors, who've been wearing socks all winter, can finally get rid of them) and the perennial tug-across-the-water rivalry between Annapolis and Eastport. The other friend knew all about sailing and was quick to enlighten me that one does not go downstairs to use the bathroom in a boat.
OMN: How do you fact-check your books?
CT: Internet research – what a boon! Otherwise, I'd be spending hours in a library searching for every little detail. The antique jewelry described in Jewelry from a Grave all comes from the Internet. Road maps are also vital. I consulted with an expert on skip tracing, who happens to be my ex. I also consulted experts on the setting (Annapolis) and the sailboat in the first novel. Real-life experience definitely plays a role. I once worked at a finance company, for example; and in What Are Friends For?, I based the reception scene in Washington, D.C. on real-life experience where the moment the person you're talking to realizes you're not a congressional staffer or lobbyist, he/she starts looking over your shoulder for someone more useful to cultivate.
OMN: You mentioned a sailboat was featured in the first book of the series. Do you sail?
CT: Alas, I do not sail, which is why I had to enlist a sailor to advise me on correct nautical terminology. (P.J. doesn't sail either, by the way.) Readers of both novels will find references to swimming, tennis, various makes and models of cars, politicking in a minor way (you can't escape it living in D.C.), all of which are based on personal experience, and locations that include Washington, Maryland's eastern shore, Baltimore, and Bethany Beach, Delaware.
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Over the course of a twenty-year career in publications, Caroline Taylor has received numerous awards for editorial and design excellence for publications and videos produced for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, BoardSource, and the Aeras Foundation. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and the North Carolina Writers' Network.
A longtime resident of Washington, D.C., she now lives in North Carolina where she is hard at work on the next P.J. Smythe mystery.
For more information about the author and her books, visit her website at CarolineStories.com.
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Jewelry from a Grave
Caroline Taylor
A P.J. Smythe Mystery (2nd in series)
P.J. Smythe's roommate Yolanda claims that two former roommates‚ both addicted to antique jewelry‚ might have died under suspicious circumstances …
Then Yolanda disappears. Or was she kidnapped? The guy last seen with her looks like the thug who's just trashed their apartment and whose handiwork now decorates the side of P.J.'s face.
In searching for clues to Yolanda's fate, P.J. unearths a file‚ written in some kind of code, that eventually reveals a jewelry-fencing operation involving several former and current employees of Chatham Confidential Investigations‚ where P.J. works. Before she can connect the dots linking the stolen jewelry to one or more Chatham insiders‚ she's forced to go for a midnight swim — losing her car‚ her clothes‚ and almost her life.
Crime novels by Benjamin Black reviewed by 
