I'm happy to welcome Hugo Hurried to Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Hugo on the pages of Crime Quiz by TJ Stanley.
Tracy has recently published, Crime Quiz. It’s a cozy mystery set on a cruise that’s also hosting a crime writers conference. Please join with me in welcoming Hugo Hurried, one of the passengers on that cruise.
HH. Thank you. Lovely to meet you.
Q: So, Hugo, many readers here may not know you. Can you introduce yourself to our avid readers?
HH. Of course. As you can probably tell from the accent, I’m British and I’m also an author who is 88 years young. Some people say I look like Michael Caine, but I think they’re led astray by the similarity of our accents.
Q: I think you look like Michael Caine, a younger version.
HH. You flatter me. But perhaps the four-year age gap makes all the difference.
Q: Now tell us about your role on the cruise.
HH. I was the opening speaker at the Crime Writers’ conference, sharing highlights from my most recent book How to Write a Crime Story with a Kick. The Oceanic Wanderer was full, not only of readers of crime capers, but also many wannabe writers. Always pleased to share with others what I’ve learnt from my writing journey.
Q: I understand that you didn’t start writing until, until quite late in your career?
HH. Indeed. I wrote my first novel when I was 50. And haven’t stopped writing since then.
Q: Achieving a high level of international recognition and success.
HH. Yes. Terribly fortunate to have had several of my bestsellers translated into other languages.
Q: You’re too modest Hugo. Now I understand that you had other roles on the ship.
HH. Yes. To use a tired expression, there is no such thing as a free lunch or a free cruise, no matter how famous you are. When the Oceanic Wanderer docked in Hobart, I put on my tour guide hat and led a dozen readers of crime fiction, on a tour of real locations featured in several crime and mystery novels. And I may have played the role of cupid while on the bus tour. Isn’t there always a love story on a cruise?
We were also strongly encouraged by the Cruise Director to participate in all social activities associated with the conference. Must say I rather enjoyed the Crime Quiz and not just because, spoiler alert, my team won.
Q: Can I ask you a few personal questions?
HH. Of course.
Q: Do you have a secret?
HH. Hugo Hurried is not my real name. It’s the creation of a marketing consultant. You’ll need to read Crime Quiz to find out what it is.
Q: What is your biggest weakness?
HH. Goodness. Sounds like I’m in a job interview. Well honesty is a virtue of an advanced age and I suspect that some may say that I drink too much.
Q: Are you afraid of anything?
HH. At my age, absolutely nothing. Well, except perhaps the bar running out of whiskey.
Q: Do you like the way they write you?
HH. It’s more revealing than I would like, but at 88 what do I need to be worried about!
Q: What’s next?
HH. There’s another journey in my future, but you’ll need to read Crime Quiz to find out what it is.
Q: Tell me about your author.
HH. TJ Stanley, well she’s a bit of a dark horse, always sitting quietly in the corner. Never know if she’s eavesdropping on other people’s conversations or plotting someone’s downfall. Like myself, she’s quite a good observer of people and their frailties. And like me, she has a nom de plume, or a pen name under which she has written many of her novels. This name is Jane Ellyson. I understand that she started by writing romantic suspense, morphing into action-adventure, then thriller, followed by an international espionage story touching on science fiction and now into cozy mystery. Quite the evolution. I wonder where she’ll go next.
You can learn more about TJ Stanley at tjstanley.com and her alter-ego Jane Ellyson at janeellyson.com
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Crime Quiz: Cosy Mystery on a Cruise by TJ Stanley
About Crime Quiz
Setting - On a cruise from Sydney to Hobart in Australia
Publisher: Stanley Press
Publication Date: September 26, 2025
Paperback Print Length: 198 pages
Molly should be on her honeymoon, but her husband had disappeared.
Thomas should be preaching, but the bishop had other ideas.
Lynette should be in Aspen, but her doctor refused to let her fly.
Instead, they’re sailing on a five-day round trip between Sydney and Hobart.At 5.00am on the fourth day of the cruise, Captain Jonas Strong announces that five passengers have died overnight.
Were this a cruise with the usual guest profile, such news may have caused a temporary flutter of nerves before being forgotten. But the Oceanic Wanderer was hosting a Crime Writers’ Conference with hundreds of amateur sleuths who were now wondering, if there was more to the announcement than they were being told.
Was there a murderer among them?
CRIME QUIZ delivers a cosy-mystery caper in a cruisy setting.
About TJ Stanley
Tracy Stanley has been in love with storytelling since she left university in 1984. In 2017, she started publishing, and as of August 2025, Tracy has independently published fifteen books across five genres, including business books, travel memoirs, cosy mysteries, romantic suspense, and action-adventure novels. These last two genres have been written under the pen name of Jane Ellyson. Her writing approach for novels recognises that creativity in storytelling comes from mixing the familiar with a twist, combining comfort and intrigue. Tracy is Australian and lives in Brisbane.
Author Links - https://tjstanley.com/articles/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/58267368.TJ_Stanley
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracystanley1/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DrTracyStanley/
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Threads Tjstanley64
Bluesky @tjstanley-author.bsky.social
Podbean https://creativitysnippets.podbean.com/
Jane Ellyson
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/JaneEllysonAuthor
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/janeellyson/
Threads https://www.threads.net/@janeellyson
Bluesky @jane-author.bsky.social
TikTok @janeellyson
Purchase Link - Amazon
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