Live, Local, and Dead - An Interview & Review

I'm pleased to welcome Nikki Knight to Cozy Up With Kathy today. You may also know her as Kathleen Kalb. As Nikki she writes the Vermont Radio Mystery series. LIVE, LOCAL, AND DEAD is the first book in the series and will be released February 8, 2022.

Kathy: The Vermont Radio Mystery series is quite different from your Ella Shane Mystery series. Why did you decide to add a modern day series to your repertoire?

NK: I’ve been working on a Vermont radio mystery story off and on for at least seven years. A much earlier version of this story – think Stephanie Plum meets Northern Exposure -- was the first manuscript I queried. After my agent signed me and found a home for Ella at Kensington, I was drawn back to the Vermont story. This time, though, I was a much more mature writer – and person, because of a family health crisis.


Kathy: While your new series is marketed as a cozy, I consider it a traditional mystery. What are your thoughts?

NK: Crooked Lane considers it a cozy, and I defer to them. But I also absolutely respect readers who have their own views. As you know, “cozy” covers a very wide spectrum of mysteries these days. My big influences as a mystery writer are Elizabeth Peters, Joan Hess and Dorothy Sayers, and I’ll leave it to the publishers to decide my exact spot on the shelf. Call it whatever you like, I just hope people will read and enjoy it.


Kathy: Location plays an important part in mysteries, why chose Vermont for your new series?

NK: I love Vermont. I worked in Springfield for several years, and I just loved the place and the people. Vermont is unique – it’s a very small state, and folks move in a network of connections that doesn’t exist in most of the rest of the world anymore. Plus, it’s gorgeous. There’s this stark, honest beauty about the place. And I say that as someone who really doesn’t like snow and cold!


Kathy: Was there a specific inspiration for this series?

NK: Absolutely. My first on-air news job was at WCFR Radio in Springfield – I was the whole news department! The station was the heart of the town, and we were public property, in a good way. When I started writing my first mystery, I knew it would take place at a tiny local station. Then, years later, I came up with the character of Jaye Jordan, who ends up as a struggling single mom when her husband survives cancer but their marriage doesn’t. And there was only one place for her: WSV Radio.


Kathy: When it comes to writing I understand there are 2 general camps-plotters, who diligently plot their stories, and pansters, who fly by the seat of their pants. Are you a plotter, a panster, or do you fall somewhere in between?

NK: I call myself a semi-pantser, which sounds like something out of my eleven-year-old son’s favorite book series. But it’s true. I get the beginning, end, and a few key scenes first…then come up with a synopsis, and later an outline, as a roadmap for the story.


Kathy: Authors are required to do a lot of their own marketing, especially for a new release. What's your favorite part of marketing your work? What do you dislike about marketing?

NK: Hands-down favorite: talking about my work. Once I get warmed up, I’ll bend your ear all day about the place, the story – and especially the characters, most of whom are real, and beloved, to me! The hardest part of marketing? My shyness. In real life, I’m painfully shy, and pretty much terrified of everyone. So I have to overcome that every time I make a pitch or do an event. Irony alert: I swore I’d get past it in the run-up to my debut…and thanks to Covid, I STILL haven’t been in a room full of readers!


Kathy: Will you share any other upcoming books?

NK: The third Ella Shane, A FATAL OVERTURE, is due on March 29th from Kensington…and I’m happy to tell you it’s the best story yet. (And the cover is pretty sweet too!) The next Ella, and the next Vermont story are both sitting on my computer…and I’m working on a few more ideas, but it’s too early to say where they might go.

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Review

LIVE, LOCAL, AND DEAD by Nikki Knight
The First Vermont Radio Mystery

After a fairly amicable divorce, Jaye Jordan moved to Vermont with her tween daughter and bought a small radio station, the first one she ever worked for. Getting rid of a syndicated hate mongering talk show in favor of an evening of love songs has two militia styled townsfolk protesting her station. Relieving one of the men of his musket, Jaye beheads a snowman with one shot. When the snowman starts crumbling it reveals a surprise, the dead body of none other than Edwin Anger, the hate mongering talk show host himself. Jaye soon finds herself confronted by fans of the show as well as feelings for her former crush, who happens to be the current governor. Will this radio jock and mom be able to spin her love songs live to the Vermont locals, or will she wind up dead?

Although the publisher is marketing LIVE, LOCAL, AND DEAD as a cozy, I consider it a traditional mystery. The atmosphere is a bit darker, the sarcasm heavier, and the sex more active. The first portion of the novel is a bit laden down with radio details and technical jargon. It's obvious that the author knows what she's talking about, but the information doesn't really drive the plot. About halfway through the author hit her stride and I found myself turning the pages quicker, eager to see what happened next.

Jaye is a mother determined to raise her daughter and run her radio station. Unlike other mystery protagonists, she doesn't actively sleuth. In fact, she doesn't even inactively sleuth. I liked her friends and family and I love Charlemagne. I appreciate the little details too, like the governor's fun ties and love of Champ (I'm a fan too). While I never found a sense of neighborhood, I did find a sense of community. In the end people who didn't know each other well, with different belief systems, still came together in support.

LIVE, LOCAL, AND DEAD brings real world issues to a mystery embroiled in today's political climate.