I'm pleased to welcome Valerie Taylor to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Valerie writes the Venus Bixby Mystery series. A WHALE OF A MURDER is the first book in the series.
Kathy: In A WHALE OF A MURDER we meet Venus Bixby owner of the music store Oldies and Goodies. Does music play a big part in your life? What's your favorite musical style?
VT: I’ve loved music for as long as can remember. My interest in music emerged when I was a child in 1959; the year my father died. That was the year “Mack the Knife” by Bobby Darin hit the radio waves and Elvis Presley was shaking, rattling, and rolling. A year or two later, my mother enrolled me in a co-ed dancing class. Shortly thereafter, I was chosen for ballroom competition. Very different than Dancing with the Stars! Such memories, though. Not surprisingly, Venus owns an oldies music store, clearly my favorite kind of music.
Kathy: Chatham Crossing is a historic whaling town between Providence and Cape Cod. Were you interested in the history of this area or familiar with whaling prior to writing this book?
VT: Chatham Crossing is loosely based on New Bedford, Massachusetts. After I retired in 2016, I spent a day there and was so impressed. I especially loved the whaling museum because it opened my eyes to an important historic industry I knew virtually nothing about.
Kathy: In addition to playlists you also include cookie recipes in this book. Do you enjoy baking? Do you create your own cookies? Do you have a favorite cookie?
VT: I am the world’s worst baker. It took me years to accept the fact that, when baking, to ensure the recipe wasn’t a flop, the ingredients needed to be measured exactly. Except perhaps for the chocolate chips in my favorite cookie!
Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?
VT: Other than perhaps Agatha Christie novels, cozy mysteries were rarely on my bedside table. I can thank readers of my romantic comedy series for raising the prospect of my trying my hand at writing a cozy mystery. After I’d heard that suggestion from multiple readers, I figured they must know something I hadn’t thought of. The rest, as they say, is now history … or should I say cozy.
Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?
VT: My debut novel in 2020, WHAT’S NOT SAID, was my first romantic comedy that evolved into a series I fondly call the What’s Not trilogy. WHAT’S NOT TRUE was published in 2021 and was followed by WHAT’S NOT LOST in 2023. I’d intended the first book to be my one great American novel, but readers had other ideas. They wanted more. So I obliged.
Kathy: Tell us about your series.
VT: Set mainly in Boston with side trips to Venice, Paris, and Greece, the What’s Not romantic comedy trilogy tells the story of Kassie O’Callaghan who has been in her dysfunctional marriage way past its expiration date. When she’s ready to escape with a younger man she met on a solo vacation to Venice, she discovers her husband has a serious illness. This unexpected dilemma sets off a series of events where Kassie has to decide whether to uphold her marriage vows, to fight for what is legally and rightfully hers, and to figure out how to balance her career ambitions with her desire for happily ever after. Question is: can Kassie have it all?
The VENUS BIXBY MYSTERY series will consist of three cozy mysteries set in Chatham Crossing, a fictional whaling village. The first book, A WHALE OF A MURDER, introduces retro-music store owner Venus Bixby. On the morning of her 50th birthday party, Venus stumbles over a pair of orange platform shoes in the gardens of the Sofia Silva Whaling Museum and breaks her thumb. When it’s discovered the shoes are attached to the dead body of the manager of the museum’s gift shop, Venus becomes both a suspect and a sleuth. Will she sing and dance at her party, or will she and her broken thumb be hauled off in handcuffs?
Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?
VT: Not sure if this is strange, but my favorite character in the What’s Not trilogy is Topher, the cat. He’s an orange tabby that appears in the first book and then has a cameo in the second. Consistently, readers demanded more of Topher. Hence, in the third book, WHAT’S NOT LOST, Topher purrs a whole lot more.
One of my favorite characters in A WHALE OF A MURDER is Helen Davis, a minor character with a feisty attitude. She’s one of the bakers in Bixby’s Dozen, which is the bakery within Oldies & Goodies. In her mid-sixties, Helen assumes the world revolves around her. She reminds me of Ouiser Bourdeaux in Steel Magnolias. Like Ouiser, she also has a man who trails behind her and is at her beck and call.
Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?
VT: Venus Bixby inspired me to create a mystery series in her name. After I created her as a minor character in WHAT’S NOT LOST, I loved her so much I decided she needed her own story and series. Only recently did it occur to me that this cozy mystery series is actually a prequel to the What’s Not trilogy, especially WHAT’S NOT LOST. Talk about unintended consequences!
Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?
VT: While I was drafting WHAT’S NOT SAID, it never occurred to me that I wouldn’t publish it. The question eventually became How? As I was exploring the different publishing paths, I discovered hybrid publishing. After I published the first two books in the What’s Not trilogy with She Writes Press, I decided to shift to self-publishing for the last book in the series. Logically, I self-published A WHALE OF A MURDER and will continue in that direction going forward.
Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?
VT: I’d invite two women and two men to my dinner party. Two of the four are dead, two are living. Number one invitation would go to Charlotte Bronte, the author of my favorite novel JANE EYRE. I’d want to know what it really was like to be a female writer in her day. Next would be Ernest Hemingway because I study his writing. The third invitation would go to Maggie O’Farrell, the author of THE MARRIAGE PORTAIT and HAMNET, so I could learn to be a better storyteller. Lastly, I’d fill the last chair around the table with Walter Isaacson. What an amazing prolific writer he is. I’d want to know how he can write historical biographies and then pivot to contemporaries who have influenced our current society.
Kathy: What are you currently reading?
VT: Several years ago I read Sharon Dukett’s memoir, NO RULES, based on her life experience in the sixties. Her latest book, THE SHUTDOWN LIST, just came out mid-June. It’s a fast-moving and exciting thriller, showing the true breadth of Ms. Dukett’s talent. A must read.
Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?
VT: If I could roll back the calendar to my childhood, I’d learn how to play the piano or take up a sport, like soccer. One can dream, right? But since I can’t go back and change my future, I have to admit to being an exceptional sports spectator. I enjoy watching most sports either live or on television, even golf. Strange, huh?!
Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.
VT: Cheerios. Tea. Ice Cream. SmartWater.
Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?
VT: Currently, I’m writing the second book in the Venus Bixby Mystery series. I’m expecting there to be three in all. I’m about half way through the messy first draft. And then the fun begins!
Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?
VT: My most favorite aspect about being an author is creating a story out of whole cloth. My protagonists — Kassie O’Callaghan and Venus Bixby — are a figment of my imagination. They and their stories are as unique as each new flower that blooms. And that’s what gets me up in the morning!
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A Whale of a Murder: A Venus Bixby Mystery by Valerie Taylor
About A Whale of a Murder
Cozy Mystery 1st in Series
Setting - Chatham Crossing, a fictional whaling town situated between Providence and Cape Cod
Publisher: Aspetuck Publishing (April 23, 2024)
Paperback: 358 pages
First in the Venus Bixby Mystery series from award-winning author Valerie Taylor.
Sea breezes and fireworks fill the air in cozy Chatham Crossing, the peaceful and historic whaling town situated between Providence and Cape Cod.
Venus Bixby, owner of the forever popular music store Oldies & Goodies, is counting on the festivities over the Fourth of July weekend to propel her to a position on the prestigious Town Committee.
After years of living in the shadow of her late husband, Venus will finally be the center of attention this holiday weekend: starting with her fiftieth birthday celebration and ending as the parade’s Grand Marshal.
Faster than a cookie crumbles, her dream collapses on the morning of her party when she trips over orange platform shoes in the gardens of the Sofia Silva Whaling Museum and breaks her thumb. When it’s discovered the shoes are attached to the body of the manager of the museum’s gift shop, Venus becomes both a suspect and a sleuth in Chatham Crossing’s first murder in decades.
Given this unexpected turn of events, will Venus ever sing and dance at her birthday party, or will her fractured thumb end up in handcuffs?
Includes cookie recipes and playlist!
About Valerie Taylor
Valerie Taylor tried to retire in 2016. But life had other ideas. After enjoying some of the best years of her life in Boston and Seattle, she moved back home to Connecticut and embarked on a second career as an author. Her first romantic comedy trilogy What’s Not Said, What’s Not True, and What’s Not Lost won multiple awards. Encouraged by her readers, she created a new cozy mystery series, spinning one of the secondary characters in What’s Not LOST into the role of amateur sleuth in A Whale of a Murder: A Venus Bixby Mystery. When she’s not writing or reading, Valerie enjoys practicing tai chi and being an expert sports spectator.
Author Links:
Website: https://valerietaylorauthor.com
Facebook: facebook.com/valerietaylorauthor
Twitter/X: twitter.com/ValerieEMTaylor
Instagram: Instagram.com/ValerieETaylor/
Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Bookshop.org -
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