I'm pleased to welcome Kassandra Lamb to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Kassandra writes the Aging Ain't for Wimps Mystery series. TROUBLED WATER is the first book in the series and was released last month.
Kathy: In TROUBLED WATER we meet Amy Bridges Parker, who at 71 has to resist her domineering sister’s attempts to take over where her subtly controlling and recently deceased husband left off. Have you had to deal with "loved ones" trying to run your life?
KL: For the most part, no, but there is one relative, who shall remain nameless, who occasionally calls me a controlling female dog when he’s trying to guilt me into doing something his way. We finally had a big blow-up a few years ago, and I tend to keep my emotional distance now, while being cordial on the surface.
My awareness of the nuances of controlling men comes more from my work as a psychotherapist. I had plenty of clients with supportive, wonderful husbands, but there were also quite a few with the controlling kind.
Kathy: Your Aging Ain't for Wimps Mystery series features senior citizens. As I get older myself, though a smidge over a decade younger than Amy Bridges Parker, I can attest to that sentiment, aging ain't for wimps! Why do you think senior sleuths are popular? Or do you think that they're not popular? I know I enjoy seeing older protagonists.
KL: I think we can thank Jessica Fletcher and the Murder, She Wrote TV show, from the 1980s and 90s, for the popularity of senior sleuths. I suspect it tickles people’s fancy to see an older person—who’s supposed to be slow and not all that with it—actually outsmart the bad guys.
In this series, I’m really enjoying the back and forth between Amy and the sheriff (who’s about half a decade younger). The sheriff knows his job, but Amy knows the town of Heron Shores, where she’s lived all her life. So she makes connections sometimes that he would have missed. By the end of this first story, he is beginning to respect her opinions and insights.
Kathy: Amy knows that her sister Clara was a mean girl back in high school. Did you have to deal with any mean girls?
KL: Oh yes, in junior high school. But they weren’t called “mean girls” back then. They were the “popular” girls. And if they didn’t like you, then there had to be something wrong with you. It never occurred to us less popular girls that they only liked their own friends, who flattered and looked up to them. And that there was really nothing wrong with us.
Fortunately, my county rearranged the school districts as I was entering high school, so I got a fresh start. The “popular” kids at my new school were more mature and tended to be nice to everyone, not just their crowd of friends.
Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?
KL: I’ve written three mystery series in several sub-genres now—traditional, cozy, and police procedurals—and I decided to come back to cozies. They are more fun and easier to write, I guess because the characters don’t take themselves quite so seriously.
Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?
KL: I like to challenge myself by trying new things periodically, so I did write some romantic suspense stories under the pen name of Jessica Dale. But I decided I preferred writing mysteries with a touch of romance as a subplot, rather than trying to balance the mystery and romance the way one is expected to in romantic suspense.
Kathy: Tell us about your series.
KL: This series, The Aging Ain’t for Wimps Mysteries, is about the women of my generation—those born in the 1950s—who were raised for the first decade of their lives with traditional gender roles. Then the women’s liberation movement picked up speed and during our adolescence, the messages changed dramatically. We went from hearing, “be nice, go along to get along, stick to girls’ toys/jobs” to “be strong, be independent, you can do anything you set your mind to.” I wanted to explore the inner struggle that those conflicting messages created. Some of the women of my generation are still “finding themselves” in old age, as they become less concerned about what others think and use the wisdom they’ve gained through the years to put certain things in perspective.
Also, the female protagonists of my other series were all younger than myself, in their thirties or forties when those series started. They are dealing with developing relationships, careers, and whether or not to have children. This time, I wanted to highlight the things that senior citizens tend to focus on—the increasing physical limitations of aging, how to get along with grown children, and, sadly, sometimes adjusting to widowhood.
Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?
KL: My favorite character in this series, so far, is the grumpy cat. She’s the protagonist’s sister’s cat, and she’s foisted on the protagonist, Amy, when her sister is killed. Amy starts out disliking the cat; she even calls her Nuisance instead of Misty—her sister’s name for her.
But over the course of the story, Amy realizes there are reasons why the cat is taciturn. And she begins to become attached to the animal. And in Book 2, Nuisance is going to help Amy solve the mystery.
Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?
KL: Yes. As I realized I was running out of story ideas for my C.o.P. on the Scene police procedurals (I have two books left to write in that series), I considered retiring completely, as in stop writing fiction. But when I envisioned my life without writing, I became quite bored just thinking about it. That’s when the thought popped up that I could write about what I know best at this stage of my life—old age!
Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?
KL: While attending my first writers’ conference back in 2011, I was asked a variation of that question by an established author. “Why do you want to get your work published?” (This was after he’d asked me if I was a writer, and I’d stammered out a very hesitant yes.) I thought about his second question for a beat or two, then said, “I have to publish my books. I have no choice. Otherwise, my characters will die a slow death inside my hard drive.”
We writers create these characters and they are like real people to us. But what keeps them alive is having their stories read by others. Every time a reader picks up one of my books and starts reading, she/he is bringing my characters to life again.
Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?
KL: Oh, wow, that’s a tough one. One would be Stephen King, not because of the horror stories he writes; they aren’t really my thing. But because of the book he wrote called On Writing, that was half memoir, half craft book. Reading about his writer’s journey was quite inspiring. I’d love to talk to him in person.
And I’d have to include Sue Grafton and JA Jance, two of my favorite mystery writers.
Plus, my childhood inspiration, Laura Ingalls Wilder. Not because her books were extremely well written—they’re good but not fantastic; they tend to drag in places. And sadly, she reflects the prejudices toward Native Americans that were prevalent at that time. But as a child, reading the stories of her life in that era showed me that I could write my stories. If she could overcome the limitations placed on women during her lifetime, then indeed, I could certainly “do anything I set my mind to.”
Kathy: What are you currently reading?
KL: I’m on Book 2 in a mystery series about a park ranger in Hawai’i (love that setting), by Tori Eldridge. And I’m also working my way through a series of historical mysteries set in Los Angeles in the 1870s, by Anne Louise Bannon.
Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?
KL: Besides reading, I love games like Mah Jongg and card games. Canasta is my favorite. I also play solitaire online to wind down in the evenings, before watching TV or reading.
Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.
KL: Cheese, Pure Leaf Iced Tea, whole wheat bread, and dark chocolate, not necessarily in order of importance.
Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?
KL: I have ideas for the next two books in the Aging Ain’t for Wimps Mysteries. One is a locked room mystery. And I’m sure other ideas will come to me.
And I’m also working on Book 7 in the police procedural series. It’s a Halloween novella titled The Night of the Living Bled. I’m almost finished the first draft of that book.
Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?
KL: Editing! I love seeing a first draft slowly turn into a polished story. Getting all the rough edges sanded off and such, until the story is all shiny and as perfect as I can get it.
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Review
TROUBLED WATER by Kassandra Lamb
The First Aging Ain't for Wimps Mystery
Amy Parker's seventy-first birthday was off to a good start. Her
husband, Charles, had given her a new dishwasher and was going to
prepare her a steak dinner, even though she would have preferred shrimp.
Unfortunately, her birthday dinner never happened as Charles never woke
up from his nap. While his death was bad enough, even worse was the
arrival of her bossy older sister, Clara, laden down with baggage and
her cat! Before Amy could wring Clara's neck she found her dead body.
And this time, it wasn't natural causes. Not too many people would shed a
tear over Clara's death, but who would actually want to kill her? With
two funerals to plan, an unexpected visitor who could change everything
she thought about the past, and someone trying to kill her, Amy's
seventy-first year is off to one heck of a start!
TROUBLED WATER looks at relationships and perceptions.Sometimes it's just easier to give in, to avoid the argument, make the loved one happy, and keep the peace, but as Amy Parker turns seventy one she begins to realize just how controlling her husband and sister were. She also realizes she's free to do exactly what she wants now, including having shrimp for dinner.
I really enjoyed the first Aging Ain't for Wimps Mystery. I really like Amy, despite her not being a cat person. I found all of the characters engaging, the mystery intriguing, and the themes important. There were plenty of surprises and I appreciated the balance between dealing with all of the changes in her life and considering a murder. For at first Amy wasn't investigating, until the killer set their eyes on her. I love how she brought Brent into her search for the truth and I appreciate their relationship. Even when they disagreed, they had each other's back. Of course, I love Misty.
Smart and funny with important subtext TROUBLED WATER provides an entertaining start to a new mystery series.
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Troubled Water: An Aging Ain't for Wimps Mystery
by Kassandra Lamb
About Troubled Water
What does it say about you when your coming-of-age story begins at seventy-one?
Amy Bridges Parker asks herself that question as she resists her domineering sister’s attempts to take over where her subtly controlling and recently deceased husband left off.
Then her sister Clara turns up dead! And a young man claiming to be the grandson of Amy’s first husband—the one who died in Vietnam fifty-two years ago—gives the sheriff a prime suspect. The boy had a grudge and must have gone after the wrong sister.
Amy isn’t convinced. She can’t really explain why, but she likes the young man. And she knows better than most that her sister, a mean girl back in high school, had plenty of old enemies. But who hated Clara enough to actually kill her? Or did the killer get the wrong sister after all?
About Kassandra Lamb
Kassandra Lamb has two loves: writing and psychology. In her youth, she discovered that writers need day jobs in order to eat. Partial to food, she studied psychology. Now retired from a career as a psychotherapist and college professor, she spends most of her time in an alternate universe with her characters. The magic portal to this universe (i.e., her computer) is in Florida, where her husband and dog catch occasional glimpses of her. Kass has authored over 40 books, including four mystery series and a romantic suspense trilogy.
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