I'm pleased to welcome Mark Waddell to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Mark writes the Crescent Cove Mystery series. The Body in the Back Gardens is the first book in the series and will be released next week.
Kathy: Out-of-work investigative journalist Luke Tremblay travels from Toronto to Crescent Cove, a small hamlet on Vancouver Island in the first Crescent Cove Mystery. Why choose this small hamlet across the country for your series?
MW: I started writing The Body in the Back Garden shortly after moving to Vancouver Island, a beautiful little paradise off Canada’s west coast, and I decided to set the book in my new home. Crescent Cove is a fictional town that exemplifies so many places here on the island—it’s full of friendly people and surrounded by stunning examples of natural beauty. At the same time, like Canada itself, it’s a diverse and inclusive place where everyone is welcome.
Kathy: Luke inherits his aunt's estate, including her seaside cottage and the antiques shop. Do you enjoy antiques and/or antiquing?
MW: Antiques are like little windows into the lives of people in the past, and as someone who worked as a history professor for many years, that really resonates with me. Every object has a story attached to it. I’m not an antiques expert by any means, but I certainly did my research when I wrote those scenes in the antiques shop!
Kathy: The Body in the Back Garden is a quozy mystery. While there have certainly been queer characters in cozies before, there is more recently a specific subgenre specifically for cozy mysteries whose main characters are queer. Do you prefer this delineation or would you rather it be known as just a cozy?
MW: Words like “queer” might make some potential readers uncomfortable, but I think it’s important to claim some space within such a popular and, sometimes, overcrowded genre. There are lots of people who don’t read cozies because they assume they won’t find themselves reflected in these stories. I want queer readers and their allies to know that this really is a genre for everyone.
Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?
MW: As a kid, I fell in love with the stories written by Agatha Christie. I also watched a lot of Murder, She Wrote. I have such fond memories of watching Mystery! on PBS and seeing my favorite stories brought to life. (To this day, the only Miss Marple I will acknowledge is the incomparable Joan Hickson.) Eventually, I began reading more widely in the genre. I love the juxtaposition of quaint, idyllic settings with brutal murder, and I have a real soft spot for the plucky amateur sleuth who relies on intuition and instinct rather than training and procedure.
Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?
MW: Apart from mysteries, the genre I love the most is fantasy. I’ve recently finished writing a darkly humorous fantasy story that I hope will land on shelves someday in the future.
Kathy: Tell us about your series.
MW: The Crescent Cove Mysteries follow Luke Tremblay, an out-of-work investigative reporter who has returned to the seaside village he loved as a child. In doing so, he finds everything he was lacking—a real home, close friends, even the prospect of true love—along with a surprising number of dead bodies.
Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?
MW: Luke is something of a surrogate for myself, so I do have a certain fondness for him. Deep down, though, my favorite is Jack Munro, Luke’s childhood friend who is now in charge of the local RCMP detachment. Jack is a complex character who suffered racist abuse growing up in Crescent Cove and is now determined to make the town a better place than the one he knew. He’s calm, extremely competent, and of course he looks amazing in a Mountie’s dress uniform.
Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?
MW: Not really. The series leans into many of the familiar tropes from the cozy genre and is really a homage to many different stories. Geographically, though, I do take a lot of inspiration from life here on Vancouver Island.
Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?
MW: I’ve wanted to write and publish stories since I was a kid. I got a little sidetracked by a twenty-year career in academia, but once I retired, I decided to give this a try.
Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?
MW: Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, together, would be a hilarious duo with hours of fascinating stories between them. Oscar Wilde, of course, would be the most entertaining person I’ve ever met. And Margaret Atwood’s incisive and wry perspective on things would leave us all simultaneously inspired and humbled.
Kathy: What are you currently reading?
MW: I’ve just finished The Grimoire of Kensington Market by Lauren B. Davis, a lovely reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen. It’s dark and sad and also very beautiful. Now I’m diving into the latest book from TJ Klune, In the Lives of Puppets. The first couple of chapters have me excited to read more.
Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?
MW: I adore classical music, especially from the Baroque period, and I play the viola in the Civic Orchestra of Victoria. I’m also a lifelong nerd and geek. I’m fascinated by cosmology in particular, but I love learning obscure things from the realms of philosophy, science, history…you name it, I can find something interesting in it. As well, I enjoy roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, where I’ve been known to hurl a fireball or two.
Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.
MW: Good bread, chocolate, kombucha, and sriracha.
Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?
MW: I always have plans for future books! I’ve already written book 2 in the Crescent Cove series, a fantasy story is currently with my agent, and I’m now plotting a thriller based in the history of alchemy and magic, which I studied and taught for many years as an academic.
Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?
MW: I love the experience of watching ideas flow out of my brain and onto the screen. Half the time, even I don’t know what’s going to come out!
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The Body in the Back Garden (A Crescent Cove Mystery)
by Mark Waddell
About The Body in the Garden
In this queer cozy series debut perfect for fans of Ellen Byron and Ellery Adams, Luke Tremblay is about to discover that Crescent Cove has more than its fair share of secrets…and some might be deadlier than others.
Crescent Cove, a small hamlet on Vancouver Island, is the last place out-of-work investigative journalist Luke Tremblay ever wanted to see again. He used to spend summers here, until his family learned that he was gay and rejected him. Now, following his aunt’s sudden death, he’s inherited her entire estate, including her seaside cottage and the antiques shop she ran for forty years in Crescent Cove. Luke plans to sell everything and head back to Toronto as soon as he can…but Crescent Cove isn’t done with him just yet.
When a stranger starts making wild claims about Luke’s aunt, Luke sends him packing. The next morning, though, Luke discovers that the stranger has returned, and now he’s lying dead in the back garden. To make matters worse, the officer leading the investigation is a handsome Mountie with a chip on his shoulder who seems convinced that Luke is the culprit. If he wants to prove his innocence and leave this town once and for all, Luke will have to use all his skills as a journalist to investigate the colorful locals while coming to terms with his own painful past.
There are secrets buried in Crescent Cove, and the more Luke digs, the more he fears they might change the town forever.
Excerpt from The Body in the Back Garden
The drive back to the cottage took no more than five minutes, and when I got there, I found a Jeep Wrangler with RCMP markings waiting for me. My heart sank. I really didn’t want a third encounter with the police today.
With some reluctance, I trudged around the side of the cottage and found Jack Munro waiting for me, brawny arms folded across his tactical vest as he gazed out at the sea. My heart sank even further, but also fluttered a little as well. I had no idea how to behave around him now that I knew he was my old friend.
As I approached, shoes crunching on the stone path, he turned to face me. I paused. Jack looked mad. His square jaw was clenched and his eyebrows were drawn downwards in a fierce glower.
Uh oh.
“We need to talk,” he informed me, and I nodded jerkily after a moment’s hesitation.
“Sure. Okay. Do you want to come inside?”
With a shake of his head, Jack then advanced towards me until he was close enough that I had to look up into his face. “I want to know why you lied to me.”
I had to work moisture back into my mouth before I could reply. “What do you mean?”
“I spoke with Aleesha Perkins.” At my blank stare, he added, “Her mom runs the greengrocers in town. She delivered some groceries here yesterday.”
Oh yeah. I nodded again, mutely.
“Aleesha claims that she witnessed you assault Joel Mackenzie and then threaten him.” Jack’s resonant baritone was tight with anger. “Is that true?”
“I wouldn’t say assault, exactly,” I hedged. “I did push him, that’s true.”
“She says you pushed him off the front porch and that he landed on his back on the ground.”
“Uh. Yes.” Jack’s eyes narrowed and I added hurriedly, “But he provoked me. He called my aunt a thief and said she got what was coming to her. I…I got upset and pushed him harder than I intended.”
“And then threatened him.”
“No!” I protested. “No, I just told him that if he came back here he’d regret it.” I paused. “Okay. That sounds bad, I admit. But I didn’t mean anything by it. It wasn’t a threat.”
Jack said nothing. His features, familiar and yet not, were completely blank.
On a rising tide of panic, I reached out involuntarily and grasped his forearm. “Jack, please. Please believe me. I did not kill Joel Mackenzie. I didn’t see him again until I found his body this morning. I know how this looks, but…”
Jack stepped back from me, breaking my hold on his arm. “You assaulted and threatened a man who later turned up dead on your property, Luke.” His voice was cool now, dispassionate. “And you have no alibi for last night. How this looks is extremely bad for you.”
My feeling of panic increased as I stared up at him. “But you know me. You know I would never—”
He cut me off with brutal finality. “I used to know you. I’m not sure I do anymore.”
I had no response to that. There was nothing left to say. My panic slowly subsided, leaving hurt and fear in its wake.
A deep silence fell between us. Waves crashed in the distance and gulls screeched overhead. “Is there anything else you want to tell me?” he finally asked. “Because if there is anything, you need to tell me now.”
I shook my head once. “There isn’t anything,” I said, barely able to speak through the tightness in my throat.
He nodded without taking his eyes off me. “I strongly advise you to stay put here at the cottage while we continue our investigation.”
I said nothing, and after a long pause Jack brushed past me as he headed back to his Jeep. I watched him go with something close to despair.
I was now the only suspect in a murder, and the person in charge of investigating that murder clearly disliked me. I wanted to trust that Jack would figure out who the killer was rather than pin this on me, but given our recent interactions, that seemed far from certain. If I didn’t want to end up in prison, there was only one option left.
I needed to solve this myself.
About Mark Waddell
Mark is originally from Calgary, Alberta, and grew up on the cold, windswept Prairies of western Canada. Fleeing southward, he earned a Ph.D. in the history of science, medicine, and technology from the Johns Hopkins University and then worked as a professor at Michigan State University for fifteen years. Finally, he persuaded his amazing husband to move to Vancouver Island, where they now live.
When he's not writing stories about murderous Canadians, he plays the viola in the Civic Orchestra of Victoria, walks his dogs along the seashore, and thinks up interesting ways to kill people.
Author Links:
Website: https://markwaddellbooks.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MWaddell34
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markwaddellauthor/
Purchase Links:
PenguinRandomHouse - U.S.
PenguinRandomHouse - Canada
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B&N Amazon
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