Flipped for an Interview & Giveaway

I'm happy to welcome Maddie Day to the blog today. Maddie, who also writes under the name Edith Maxwell, is starting a new series. Flipped for Murder is the first in the Country Store Mystery series and was released October 27th.

Kathy: When I was a kid my parents and I would often take drives out to the country. I'd love it when we'd find old fashioned country stores. We'd always stop in to look around, and usually buy something. I'd especially loved finding the old fashioned candies. What is your favorite commodity found in a country store?

MD: I like the pickle barrel and the chess board set into a table, and I incorporated both of those into Robbie Jordan's store.


Kathy: Is Pans ‘n Pancakes, the country store in your new series, based on a real country store or is it solely the product of your imagination?

MD: The inspiration is the Story Inn in Story, Indiana, which some friends bought and fixed up a few decades ago. It's under other ownership now, and isn't just a breakfast place anymore, but it gave me the idea for the series. Story is also in Brown County, where I set fictional South Lick.


Kathy: Robbie Jordan has skills as both a cook and carpenter. Do you?

MD: I'm a pretty good amateur chef and love cooking. I have done some carpentry in the past but really simple stuff. However, I live with a skilled carpenter, so I've seen those skills in action.


Kathy: The Country Store Mystery series is set in a small town in southern Indiana. Why choose this location for your new series?

MD: I love the midwest and lived in southern Indiana myself for five years while earning a doctorate at Indiana University. People are friendly, the pace of life is slower, and there's a sense of community you don't always find on the coasts. My Maxwell roots go back five or six generations in that part of the world, too.


Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?

MD: I love reading them! I got tired of reading books written by men about men, where I had to suffer through lots of comments about legs and boobs. Many cozies are written by women with female protagonists, so I decided to write one (or a dozen...).


Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

MD: My first two mysteries, the Lauren Rousseau Mysteries, also feature an amateur sleuth but are more of a traditional mystery, with darker themes. And no recipes. ;^)


Kathy: Tell us about your series.

MD: The Country Store Mysteries (written as Maddie Day) take us into Robbie Jordan's life as a chef/owner of a small town country store restaurant, her encounters with murder, and the community, both supportive and at times suspicious, of South Lick, Indiana. In the Local Foods Mysteries, organic farmer Cam Flaherty is faced with local foods enthusiasts, the vagaries of growing organic produce year round, and locally sourced murder. In the Quaker Midwife Mysteries (debuting in April 2016), Rose Carroll hears secrets as she attends the births of both rich and poor, which helps her solve crimes in an 1888 Massachusetts mill town. And the Lauren Rousseau Mysteries (written as Tace Baker) feature a contemporary Quaker linguistics professor coping with intrigue and danger in a small Massachusetts coastal town as well as the college campus where she teaches.


Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?

MD: Possibly Rose Carroll, my historic midwife. But really it's too hard to choose - just as choosing your favorite child is!


Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

MD: I wanted to reach a wider reading audience than I could if I published independently, and so far it's working. Also, self-published books are typically not eligible for awards.


Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?

MD: Anais Nin, Dorothy Sayers, Simone de Beauvoir, and Dame Agatha Christie.


Kathy: What are you currently reading?

MD: I am reading Death on the Trek, the manuscript of Kaye George's second pre-historic mystery, and next up will be Sheila Connolly's latest Apple Orchard mystery, A Gala Affair.


Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?

MD: I garden, cook, take fast walks, and read mysteries. I also love weather and maps, and have lived abroad all over the world in the past.


Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.

MD: Black beans, French roast decaf, dark chocolate, and cheese.


Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?

MD: Yes! I'm in the lucky position to have three multi-book contracts. The second Country Store Mystery, Grilled for Murder, will be out in late May, as will the fourth Local Foods Mystery, Murder Most Fowl. Delivering the Truth, the first Quaker Midwife Mystery, releases April 8. That series is contracted for at least two more, and the other two for at least one more. For now I'm putting the Lauren Rousseau Mysteries on hold.


Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?

MD: I love the magic of telling stories, especially when things flow through my fingers and the keyboard that I had no idea I was going to write. And my other favorite thing is meeting readers, and having people from across the world whom I have never met tell me they liked my book and ask when the next one is coming out!


Kathy: Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions.

MD: My pleasure. Thanks so much for having me over. I hope readers will find me on Facebook, twitter, and on my web site and keep in touch.

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Review

Flipped for Murder by Maddie Day
The First Country Store Mystery

Robbie Jordan has just opened her dream, Pans 'N Pancakes, a combination country store specializing in antique cookware and breakfast and lunch comfort food restaurant. Not only is Robbie the owner and head cook, but she restored most of the cabinetry herself, a skill taught by her recently deceased mother. Helped by her Aunt Adele and friend, Philostrate, Robbie's grand opening is a huge success culminating in dinner and dancing with her good looking real estate lawyer. However, her happy day comes to a troubling end when she finds the police waiting for her. Stella, mayor's aide and problematic thorn in Robbie's side, at least in regards to permits for her business, is found murdered...with one of Robbie's cheesy biscuits stuffed in her mouth!

The past plays a major part in Flipped for Murder, and not just the antique cookware. Old relationships, current animosities, and burgeoning friendships, all play a part in the town and the mystery. There's more to South Lick, Indiana than meets the eye. There's a backstory of intrigue which we learn slowly. We see glimpses and piece things together as Robbie does.

The opening of the Country Store Mystery series is just as successful as that of Pan 'N Pancakes. The combination of comfort food and cookware set against a midwestern background with secret undercurrents create a satisfying read.

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