I'm pleased to welcome AJ Skelly to Cozy Up With Kathy today. AJ's latest release, MURDER AT MISTLETHWAITE MANOR was released June 26, 2024.
Kathy: MURDER AT MISTLETHWAITE MANOR finds Lady Emma Grace Hastings at the most auspicious Christmas party of the season. Have you ever been invited to an exclusive event?
AJS: I've definitely been invited to some super cool author events, but definitely nothing as auspicious as The Event of the entire season as Emma Grace is.
Kathy: The party involves a game with a large cash prize, but in order to win secrets much be exposed. If you were involved in such a game, would that give you cause to worry?
AJS: You know, I don't know that I'd be particularly concerned. I'm a fairly boring person, and while I've made plenty of mistakes, my general philosophy is to own up to those mistakes, ask forgiveness for them from those I've wronged, and move on. Therefore, most of my shameful moments are already out in the open. Shame doesn't have nearly such a stranglehold once the shame is exposed.
Kathy: I love Christmastime and enjoy reading books set during this holiday. What makes writing during this season special and why choose this time of your for this mystery?
AJS: I've always wanted to write a Christmas book. Last year at Christmas, we all got sick, and all our plans got cancelled! I was so sad! I think to combat the sadness, I wrote. And then the story really took hold. I wrote the first draft of MURDER AT MISTLETHWAITE MANOR in thirteen days. It was a whirlwind!
Kathy: What first drew you to historical mysteries?
AJS: I have ALWAYS loved history, and so it wasn't a great stretch for me to jump into it. I've also always loved mysteries. I read every Mandy Mystery and Nancy Drew my library had growing up! Although, can I just say that planning, plotting, and writing a mystery is a lot harder than reading one. 
Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?
AJS: My first series is actually paranormal romance (The Wolves of Rock Falls). I have a soft spot for werewolves. There are elements of mystery in those, but not quite as full-fledged mystery as Mistlethwaite. I've also written a straight fantasy, OF FLAME & FROST, and have another murder mystery, A LETHAL ENGAGEMENT, coming out next spring.
Kathy: Tell us about your series.
AJS: My first series, The Wolves of Rock Falls, was written in part for my high school students. I could not find appropriate paranormal romance for them beyond the Twilight series, so I wrote a series for them. Writing is an escape for me as well, so it's one way I process stress. It's beautifully cathartic. In the Rock Falls books, each book follows one couple in a larger cast. Each book sees the whole cast. They're interconnected stand alones, but are best enjoyed read in order.
Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?
AJS: I think this is like asking to pick a favorite child...
Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?
AJS: My high school students inspired the first series, but now, I write the stories that come to me that are the most exciting to my brain.
Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?
AJS: I think I've wanted to be a published author since I was about three. I've been very blessed that my books have been picked up and that I've had the publishing experience.
Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?
AJS: Oh my heavens, what a question! I think I'd have to invite C. S. Lewis, Karen Hancock, Shakespeare, and maybe Tolkien.
Kathy: What are you currently reading?
AJS: I just started reading XOXO by Axie Oh.
Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?
AJS: So obviously, I love writing. But I also enjoy reading just as much, and I also make jewelry. I have ferocious scar tissue, to the point that I can't get my ears pierced. Because I couldn't find clip on earrings I liked as a teenager, I just started making my own. And the hobby stuck.
Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.
AJS: Sweet cream coffee creamer, basil pesto, pasta, and potatoes. What a combo, right?
Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?
AJS: I do! I actually have another murder mystery, A LETHAL ENGAGEMENT, which is another Victorian murder mystery, releasing next spring with Crooked Lane Books! It's a delicious closed loop murder mystery aboard an airship as our American heiress protagonist flies across the Atlantic to meet with her newly affianced family. But things go rather horribly awry...
Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?
AJS: I love it all. Creating the stories, writing the stories, I don't even mind editing over much. The whole process is a beautiful thing.
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Review
A dream party turns into a nightmare for our protagonist Lady Emma Grace. She makes an innocent foil to pretty much everybody else at the party. While she is innocent, she also possesses a good mind which helps her work through the murderous events. It’s interesting to follow her mind, and her heart, as she considers the actions of her would be fiancé to that of her former fiancé. As for the other guests…and the host…what a group! For the most part people you’d prefer never to engage with, all making for great suspects. And more than one big surprise awaits as the evening continues.
Depravity and devious machinations make for a complex mystery fraught with tension. I really enjoyed this thrilling mystery. Skillfully blending historical ambiance and romance this suspenseful mystery with periodic horrific events kept me reading well past my bedtime. I commiserated with Emma Grace, hoping she’d come to the same conclusion as I as to her future happiness and appreciated that she didn’t take anything for granted.
Dastardly characters and evil acts committed in a snowbound secluded manor create a powder keg that is MURDER AT MISTLETHWAITE MANOR.
Murder at Mistlethwaite Manor by AJ Skelly
About Murder at Mistlethwaite Manor
Historical Cozy Mystery
Setting – Mistlethwaite Manor, Christmastime, in 1895 England
Publisher: Quill & Flame Publishing House (June 26, 2024)
Hardcover: 252 pages
Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None meets The Gilded Age in this delicious, suspenseful murder mystery.
When Lady Emma Grace Hastings receives a much-coveted invitation to the most auspicious Christmas party of the season—one that comes with a 10,000 pound prize for the winner of a mysterious game—she cannot believe her good fortune.
But as the guests are assembled at Mistlethwaite Manor, the chilling intent of the game is revealed. Each guest has cause for alarm, because all of them have secrets, and to win the prize money, those secrets must be exposed.
Things take a sinister turn when Emma Grace finds herself caught between her old love and her soon-to-be betrothed. Suspicions abound, and old wounds are opened. The dead body in the study does not help. Nor does the raging winter storm that prevents escape from the manor. Emma Grace must battle her heart, use her wits, and put her sleuthing skills to the test to survive the weekend alive.
Because there is a murderer among them.
And no one with secrets is safe.
About AJ Skelly
AJ Skelly is an author, reader, and lover of all things fantasy, mystery, and fairy-tale-romance. And werewolves. She has a serious soft spot for them. As an avid life-long reader and a former high school English teacher, she’s always been fascinated with the written word. She lives with her husband, children, and many imaginary friends who often find their way into her stories. They all drink copious amounts of tea together and stay up reading far later than they should. You can read more of her short stories at www.ajskelly.com.
Author Links:
Website www.ajskelly.com
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/a.j.skelly/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aj.skelly.71/
Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Bookshop.org -
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