with Lauren Carr
We are delighted to welcome back mystery author Lauren Carr to Omnimystery News today.
Lauren is the author of the "Mac Faraday" mystery series, the latest book of which is The Lady Who Cried Murder (Acorn Book Services; October 2013 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we asked her to tell us a little more about cross-genre series, for which she writes, "Want a Little Grit with Your Cozy?"
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Photo provided courtesy of
Lauren Carr
During a recent interview with Omnimystery News, the question came up about how I feel, as both a publisher and an author, about the labels that are frequently applied to mysteries, i.e. cozy mystery, mystery thriller, police procedural, etc.
I responded that there are both advantages and disadvantages to labeling an author's books:
The Advantage: Readers know where to look for your books and have a certain expectation of what they will get before reading it.
The Disadvantage: Traditional publishers and bookstores sometimes have trouble knowing where to place your book.
This is especially true when the author writes outside the rather small box that some traditional publishers have created for the various genres and sub-genres.
My Mac Faraday Mystery series is one example.
It was only after I started seeking a publisher for my books that I discovered how many subgenres there were within the mystery genre. One website, Writing to Publish. lists no less than twenty-one subgenres. Each of those subgenres break down into further categories.
I was unaware of these rules when creating my detective, Mac Faraday. Thinking back, I simply wanted to create a series that included all of the elements that I like to read in mysteries: a challenging mystery, humor, fast-paced adventure, and maybe a little romance.
Mac Faraday is an underpaid homicide detective who, on the day his divorce becomes final, inherits $270 million from his birth mother who he did not know. He also inherits an estate in Spencer, Maryland, a small resort town, on the shore of Deep Creek Lake.
Upon moving into Spencer Manor, Mac Faraday meets Archie Monday, his late mother's lovely assistant who lives in the guest cottage on the estate. Yes, romance is in the air!
Mac Faraday also inherits Gnarly, an overly intelligent German shepherd, the only canine to be dishonorably discharged from the United States Army. (Don't ask them what he did to get kicked out!)
Boy, did I break a lot of rules in labeling when I created the Mac Faraday Mysteries!
Since Mac Faraday is retired, officially he is considered an amateur investigator, but he's not really since he has in inside line into the investigation through his half-brother David, who becomes the chief of police in Spencer in the first installment in the series, It's Murder, My Son.
It was only after It's Murder, My Son was published that I discovered cozies usually have female protagonist. Too late! Mac is a man and I like men.
Then, there's the budding romance between Mac Faraday and the emerald-eyed Archie Monday. This could place my mysteries in the romance mystery category. However, since my protagonist is a man, a hero not a heroine, then it does not qualify. Unless we consider Archie a co-protagonist — making her a heroine. But that won't work because the focus is on Mac.
The inclusion of Gnarly could place the Mac Faraday Mysteries in the furry mystery subgenre. He is furry. But he's Mac's sidekick, not the protagonist, even though readers had indicated that they think he should be because he is so loveable. I have made him the protagonist in a few short stories, though.
How about a hobby mystery? Mac likes to say that he solves murder mysteries because he needs a hobby, and doesn't like golf.
Since Mac has become a contract employee of the Spencer Police Department, Amazon has placed the Mac Faraday Mysteries under police procedurals. However, this series has more of the cozy charm than other police procedurals that I have read. One reviewer says that my books have "a touch of crime drama to the cozy without losing the cozy charm."
When I started writing my mysteries, I called them whodunits. Only later, I learned that in a real whodunit, the detective happens upon the crime or is already present when it happens off-stage. Sometimes, in my books, the murder happens onstage, sometimes it doesn't.
Since I didn't see that as being realistic, I usually have Mac called into the case after the crime is committed. For example, in The Lady Who Cried Murder, Mac is called in after David O'Callaghan, the police chief, discovers the body of Khloe Everest during a welfare check on her home when she doesn't answer the door for a television interview.
Do I regret breaking all these rules? Not in the least. The labeling of books into genres and subgenres is a means of organizing books for publishing and bookselling.
When it comes to the writing, and reading, of a challenging mystery novel, I don't care about the rules and I don't think my readers do, either.
"In which category do you place your books?" you may ask me.
After a blank stare, I will usually stammer out, "Would you like a little grit with your cozy?"
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The owner of Acorn Book Services, Lauren Carr is also a publishing manager, consultant, editor, cover and layout designer, and marketing agent for independent authors. This year, several books, over a variety of genre, written by independent authors will be released through the management of Acorn Book Services, which is currently accepting submissions. Visit the Acorn Book Services website for more information.
Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She also passes on what she has learned in her years of writing and publishing by conducting workshops and teaching in community education classes.
She lives with her husband, son, and three dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
For more information about the author and her work, please visit her website at MysteryLady.net, read her Literary Wealth blog, or find her on Facebook. (Her next Mac Faraday mystery, Twelve To Murder, will be published in February, 2014, and she's provided us with a sneak peak at the cover, above right.)
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The Lady Who Cried Murder
Lauren Carr
A Mac Faraday Mystery
Fame comes at a price. Some pay with their privacy. Others pay with their pride. Khloe Everest paid with her life …
Determined to get her pretty face in front of the cameras, Khloe Everest fakes an abduction only to make a grand entrance in the midst of a press conference held by Spencer's Police Chief David O'Callaghan.
Three years later, after failing to catapult her notoriety into a long-lasting celebrity, Khloe Everest returns to Spencer upon her mother's sudden death and seemingly finds another weapon to propel herself into the spotlight. Unfortunately, someone kills her before she can make this entrance.
Mac also finds himself face-to-face with an old foe from his past who had managed to escape arrest during their last encounter. Now, Mac sees that his adversary has only become more powerful, and dangerous, with the passage of time.
Intent to not let this killer escape again, Mac and his friends need to put all of their talents together to put a stop to a cold blooded lady killer.
