Cozy mysteries got me through cancer. Maybe medical intervention did most of the work, but I spent over a year exhausted, foggy, and barely functioning. I’d lie on the couch devouring cozy mysteries about aristocrats, ancient Roman informers, or butterfly...

1) Motivation. Until I reach a critical mass with a project, there’s always the risk that I’ll lose interest or find napping to be a much more appealing activity. (Well, to be honest, it always is). So I needed to push through the first part of my mystery until...

When I first heard about the Galápagos Affair, it felt like a well-kept secret—a mystery that is romantic, dramatic, and, most intriguing of all, still unsolved. In the 1930s, a group of European settlers moved to a remote island in the Pacific to escape...

Setting in a story is as important as ingredients in a recipe.

1. All the Fiends of Hell by Adam Nevill Karl, unremarkable, middle aged, and recently divorced, wakes up from a nasty bout of flu to discover his suburban neighbourhood deserted and a strange red glow in the sky. The overwhelming silence is broken only by the...

True confession time: I live for a great twist. There is nothing I love more than thinking I know where a story is headed and discovering I am completely wrong…and the more jaw-dropping, the better.