Kathy: Survival of the Fritters has the perfect base for a person who is going to be involved in mysteries and murder: a donut shop with plenty of police, and former police, presence. Was this a conscious decision?
GB: Yes, I thought it would be the perfect place for an amateur sleuth to pick up clues, gossip, and rumors.
Kathy: Even before she opened Deputy Donuts, everyone loved Emily Westhill's donuts. Are you a donut lover? My favorite is a Boston Creme, what's your favorite donut?
GB: I love donuts! Choosing is hard, but my favorites are probably plain raised (i.e. made with yeast) topped with a little granulated sugar.
Kathy: I've heard that publishers believe that US readers are less likely to buy a book set in Canada than in the US. I know that some Canadian authors do set their stories in the US, including you. Was it your decision to set the story in Wisconsin? If so, was it more to do with the plot, or marketing? As you know, I'm a US citizen who enjoys books set in Canada too. I actually live near the border of Southern Ontario.
GB: I set it in Wisconsin because when I wrote the proposal, I’d just returned from vacationing there. I visited so many beautiful waterfalls that I named my village Fallingbrook and put a waterfall outside it. And then I put forests all around the village. The northwoods are amazing. And just a little scary . . . They’re perfect for mysteries, no matter what country they’re in. As a reader, I like mysteries, wherever they’re set.
Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?
GB: For me, it’s the characters—ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. The characters in cozies feel real, and like friends.
Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?
GB: I’ve written short stories and humorous personal essays that were published and suspense novels that weren’t. But at the moment, I write only cozies.
Kathy: Tell us about your series.
GB: Deputy Donut Mysteries-- Coffee, donuts, cops, danger, and one curious cat.
As Janet Bolin, I wrote the Threadville Mysteries—Murder and mayhem in a village of crafty shops.
Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?
GB: My favorite character is always the main character in whatever I’m writing at the moment. That person insists that I have to tell her (usually it’s a her) story. And finish it . . .
Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?
GB: Yes, and it’s such fun. A bakery in Clare, Michigan, was going out of business, so the local policemen bought it, renamed it Cops & Doughnuts, and kept it going. Now people come from all over the world to visit the bakery and adjoining diner, and I had to stop there last summer on my way to Wisconsin for another research trip, er, vacation. Now, those cops in Clare know how to make a doughnut! New franchises keep popping up, too. Yum! https://copsdoughnuts.com/
Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?
GB: I always liked to write, so publishing seemed like a logical step.
Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?
GB: William Shakespeare
Georgette Heyer
Daphne du Maurier
Elizabeth Peters
Kathy: What are you currently reading?
GB: I’m rereading Georgette Heyer’s Regency Romances. I hadn’t looked at them for many years, and I’m enjoying the humor and the details.
Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?
GB: In addition to writing and reading, I like sewing, knitting, and crocheting.
Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.
B: Milk, eggs, flour, yeast. Donuts, anyone???
Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?
GB: The next Deputy Donut Mystery, Goodbye Cruller World, comes out August 28, 2018, and I’m working on the third one.
Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?
B: I would have expected it to be writing, which I love, but it’s been a joy to meet so many people, either in person or online.
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Review
SURVIVAL OF THE FRITTERS by Ginger Bolton
The First Deputy Donut Mystery
Everyone in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin loves Emily Westhill's donuts so after leaving her job as a police dispatcher she, along with her father-in-law, the former Chief of Police, opens Deputy Donuts, a donut and coffee shop. Concerned when a regular customer fails to appear, Emily joins her friends to check in on her. They find the elderly patron home, murdered. Who could have killed her? Did it have something to do with the death of her son five years earlier? And what about her old friend who just returned to town. She certainly has secrets. Emily must look to the past or else lose her own future!
Ginger Bolton has an ingenious idea for the setting of this new series. It is set in a donut shop, and not just any donut shop, but one owned by the former Chief of Police and a former police dispatcher, who also happens to be the widow of a police detective. What a way to gain police presence and loosen lips!
Multiple threads run through this first Deputy Donut Mystery, including a prior murder, old relationships, new friendships, and more, but they are skillfully woven to a satisfying conclusion.
I like the camaraderie of the characters. As a former police officer, I understand the ties that bind all manner of first responders, of which there are many in this book. The author understands and capitalizes on this.
With plenty of humor, an intelligent protagonist, a cute cat, and plenty of donuts, SURVIVAL OF THE FRITTERS is an engaging start to a new series.
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