Murder Trims the Tree by Deb Baker

Title: Murder Trims the Tree, a Gertie Johnson Christmas Mystery
Author: Deb Baker
Format: eBook
Genre: Novella, Cozy, Amateur Sleuth, a Gertie Johnson mystery
Rating: B+
Source: Purchased at Barnes and Noble.

Gertie Johnson has an investigative service she calls The Trouble Busters. Problem is, The Trouble Busters have run afoul of the law. Just a little thing called obstruction of justice, you see. Ordered to perform community service, Gertie and her gang wait until the last second to pack into the vehicle and head for Applegate Senior Living, an assisted care facility nearby.

A bad snowstorm is headed their way, but Gertie is certain that they can put in their full day of community service. If they don't get this done, they'll all be behind bars come the new year. Grandma Johnson is hoping to kindle a flame with Earl (one of the Applegate residents), Cora Mae is prepared to do a shampoo and set for anyone who wants one, and Kitty's going to make sure that all the residents have every bit of legal advice they could possibly need or want. Of course with this gang, nothing is going to run according to plan, and you know they're going to stumble over at least one body and one person up to no good.

If you've never read any of Deb Baker's Gertie Johnson mysteries, this novella is an excellent place to start. If you're already a fan, you're going to love Murder Trims the Tree. It's fun to try to piece all the clues together as to what's going on at Applegate, the characters provide plenty of laughs, and there's plenty of holiday spirit. Plus the length is perfect to start a new holiday tradition of reading this story aloud on Christmas Eve. How can you resist?

Murder Trims the Tree at Barnes and Noble.

Murder Trims the Tree at Amazon.

Scene of the Crime with Author Deb Baker

I first learned about author Deb Baker when I stumbled across her series about sixty-something sleuth Gertie Johnson. I tried to find the first book in the series, Murder Passes the Buck through my favorite indie bookstore, but was told that it had gone out of print, and it would be a good idea for me to look for a secondhand copy.

I learned that Gertie was a popular woman because used copies were few and far between and often cost more than a new copy. I bided my time (because my to-be-read list has enough books on it to circle around the block a few times) and instead sampled another of Deb's books, Dolled Up for Murder, which is the first in the Dolls to Die For series.

Wouldn't you know it? Murder Passes the Buck was then reprinted, and I snatched up a copy, quick as a bunny. Two enjoyable series, and I haven't even gotten to the third that she writes!

Here is what Deb has to say for herself. It's much more interesting than anything I could come up with!

Deb Baker

I’m a Yooper, defined as someone lucky enough to have been born or who lives in the Michigan Upper Peninsula.

My publisher let Murder Passes the Buck and Murder Grins and Bears It go out of print. Rights reverted to me and I reissued the print editions through Amazon’s Createspace and through Kindle, Nook, etc. eBook sales have been higher than I ever dreamed possible. (The publisher still retains rights for book 3 - Murder Talks Turkey, and won’t release them, claiming that its still selling too well.)

I’m writing book 4, Murder Bites the Bullet, and it will be available in May. Gertie has enough of a fan base that I plan to self publish it.

I also write under a pen name as Hannah Reed for Berkley Prime Crime. The first in the Queen Bee mystery series, Buzz Off, came out last September. Mind Your Own Beeswax will be on shelves May 3rd. 

Deb Baker on Facebook
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Deb Baker's Website 

Here are Deb's books in each series (in order):

Murder Passes the Buck (2006)
Murder Grins and Bears It (2007)
Murder Talks Turkey (2008)
Murder Bites the Bullet (May, 2011)

Dolled Up for Murder (2006)
Goodbye Dolly (2007)
Dolly Departed (2008)
Ding Dong Dead (2008)

Written as Hannah Reed:

Buzz Off (2010)
Mind Your Own Beeswax (May 3, 2011)






Let's get right to the interview!

What was the very first book you remember reading and loving? What makes that book so special?

The Secret of the Mansion, the first in the Trixie Belden series. That book established my lifelong love affair with mysteries. It also influenced my decision to create characters that readers would like to hang out with. I desperately wanted to be a Bob-White and have friends just like Trixie and Honey. The best thing I can hear from someone who has read my books is that they want to be just like my protagonist or they want to have friends like them.


Outside of your writing and all associated commitments, what do you like to do in your free time?

I’m pretty addicted to writing, but I also love to experiment in the kitchen and I’m an avid gardener. Composting is my latest thing. And I read. Right now I’m fascinated with young adult fiction.


If I were to visit your hometown, where would you recommend that I go? (I like seeing and doing things that aren't in all the guide books.) 

Stonely, Michigan is loosely based on the area where I grew up, and Herb’s Bar, which is in the Gertie Johnson murder mysteries, really exists in Rock, Michigan. So you should start with a beer at Herb’s. Then drive to Escanaba for a Yooper pasty (our version of a pot pie). Eat it with ketchup like the locals do. After that, a short drive to Gladstone’s beautiful beach to wade in Lake Michigan and dig your toes into the white sand. Oh, and stop at the Dairy Flo for ice cream.

Ruth Gordon

You have total control over casting a movie based on your life. Which actor would you cast as you?

We would have to go back in time because this amazing woman isn’t with us anymore, but I’d want Ruth Gordon to play the part. Harold and Maude is my all time favorite movie. She’s my heroine.


Who is your favorite recurring character in crime fiction?

I’m an English major so I shouldn’t even tell you this, but Stephanie Plum cracks me up. I love the laughs she provides.


Before your very first published mystery, what else had you written (short stories, articles, unpublished manuscripts)?

Short stories! I realized that mystery was my genre when my husband pointed out that all my short stories involved women killing their husbands.


What did you do the first time you saw one of your books on a shelf in a bookstore? How did you celebrate when you first heard you were to be published?

I took lots and lots of pictures.  Murder Passes the Buck was the first book I ever wrote and it took forever to see it in print. It won awards. I had an agent with connections to New York. But at that time, none of the publishers wanted a story set in the backwoods. And even though I’d never kill animals in any of my books (humans are open game though), they didn’t like the hunting season aspect. So when we finally got the news, I was speechless with joy for days. If I remember right, I cried.


You've written three different series set in three different parts of the US-- Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin. How important is setting to your writing?

A reviewer once called me an atmospheric writer. My settings are always important characters in my books. I’ve lived in all three states and love to introduce local hidden treasures to my readers. 


I don't know if you've seen it, but I love Parnell Hall's video about book signings. What is the most unusual experience you've had at a book signing or author event?

I’ve seen that video! He’s so funny. And everything he says is true. My most unusual signing happened in Marquette, Michigan at a bookstore near the university. The only staff member on duty that Sunday was a college kid who decided he was hungry. So he bolted for the door, telling me he’d be back in a little while. The phone rang off the hook, customers lined up, and I didn’t have a ‘clue’ what to do. So I explained about the lunch break. Surprisingly, the customers didn’t seem bothered at all. They hung out and waited. I sold a few books to them.


The way some people talk, the only way to read now or in the future is with some sort of electronic device, like my husband's Nook. What is your opinion of eBooks, and how will they affect you as a published author? 

I don’t know about eBooks being the only way to read in the future, but my electronic book versions outsell my paper by double digits.  I’m finding that most eBook fans are incredibly avid readers, most of them reading print as well. I love the Kindle I got for Christmas, but I also buy books. I’m releasing my next Gertie story as an independent author, bypassing the tradition publisher without even offering it to them. A few years ago that would have been unheard of. But I can get the book out much faster and for a lower price. I have control over the cover and the title this time. I’ve hired a wonderful designer to redo all of the books’ covers. Can’t wait to see what she comes up with. I’m doing it my way. And it feels great.


Good for you, Deb! I wish you all the success in the world. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us-- I really appreciate it!

Don't forget to stop by next Monday when I'll be talking with Christy Evans, author of the Georgiana Neverall mystery series. See you then!

Murder Passes the Buck by Deb Baker

Title: Murder Passes the Buck
Author: Deb Baker
ISBN: 9781448635405
Publisher: Createspace, 2009
Paperback, 274 pages
Genre: Humorous, Amateur Sleuth, Cozy mystery, #1 Gertie Johnson Backwoods Adventure
Rating: B+
Source: Purchased from Amazon.

First Line: If my grandson Little Donny hadn't taken so long getting out of bed this morning, I would have been at Chester's hunting blind in time to see them haul Chester out.

It's been a little over a year since Gertie Johnson's husband died, and she's finally perking up a bit. She's sixty-six and is level-headed enough about her age to know she's going to let the gray hair and wrinkles slide while she focuses on life's more important matters. Listening to her police scanner is making her feel connected to the world again, and when Chester Lampi's body is discovered in his deer blind, Gertie decides to investigate:

The thought of investigating Chester's death appealed to me. The more time I spent listening to my police scanner, the more I thought I'd make a pretty good investigator. After all, I had three kids to practice on while they were growing up. If nothing came of my efforts and it was a stray bullet that killed Chester like Blaze and Cora Mae thought, I'd chalk it up to on-the-job training.

Of course it doesn't help that the local sheriff (who's got nothing but retirement on his mind) has declared Chester's death an accident and a no-investigate zone... and it also doesn't help that he's Gertie's son. That's not about to stop Gertie, and soon she's on the case with the help of her friends-- man-hungry Cora Mae and bodyguard Kitty.

Everything becomes further complicated when Gertie learns that that self-same son has petitioned the court to become her legal guardian, but she and her two cohorts continue to investigate-- even when the killer starts to target them.

A previous reviewer of Murder Passes the Buck said, "Fans of Janet Evanovich, imagine Grandma Mazur with a shotgun." I wouldn't go that far. Yes, Gertie has a shotgun, but she's not as cuckoo as Grandma Mazur. I'd go hunting with Gertie; she knows not to point a gun at anyone unless she fully intends to shoot them. Where Grandma Mazur is concerned, I wouldn't be on the same block as her when she's packin' simply because I trust her to do something stupid, and I can't drop flat to the ground as quickly as I used to.

Deb Baker makes it clear that the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is another place in America where bonafide characters live and prosper. Gertie is an original and a bit eccentric, but far from being a danger to herself or to others. It was a mark of how much I'd come to care for the old girl when I learned that her son was wanting to become her legal guardian. I wanted to aim one of my boots at him and kick him to the next planet!

If you're in the mood to read about some eccentric folks doing their thing in the backwoods, by all means become acquainted with Gertie Johnson and her friends. I know I'll be reading her next adventure very soon!

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Dolled Up for Murder by Deb Baker

Title: Dolled Up for Murder
Author: Deb Baker
ISBN: 0425212637, Berkley Prime Crime, 2006
Genre: Cozy, Amateur Sleuth, #1 Dolls to Die For mystery
Rating: B
Source: Paperback Swap

First Line: Head buried under a mound of pillows, Gretchen Birch struggled to ignore the phone's incessant ringing.

I've been waiting for someone to cough up the first book in Baker's Yooper mystery series for months and months. It seems as though this series is so good that no one wants to turn loose of their copies. I wasn't quite ready to buy my own, so I ordered Dolled Up for Murder instead, and I'm glad I did.

That sounds like a very strange thing to say right about now when I tell all of you that I almost stopped reading the book a few pages in when I identified the Bad Guy. (The author and I like the same Peter Sellers films.) What kept me reading? Oh... things like Baker's writing style, the Phoenix metropolitan setting, and the "doll angle". My grandmother collected antique dolls, and I picked up a lot of knowledge by osmosis.

Anyway... Gretchen Birch gets a phone call from her Aunt Nina in Phoenix. A homeless woman who had previously collected dolls was found dead at the base of a cliff. She was clutching a note in one hand that certainly seems to implicate Gretchen's mother in her death. To make matters worse, Gretchen's mother, Caroline, has disappeared. Gretchen packs a bag and catches the next plane to Phoenix. (Why do I feel as though I'm about to channel Glen Campbell?)

One of the first things Gretchen does when she settles down in her mother's house is to hike up Camelback Mountain. In July. In the afternoon. I began to think this young woman had a few too many screws loose. Then her Aunt Nina who trains purse dogs made an appearance, and the two of them were off to the races, driving all over the Valley checking in with other doll collectors and trying to avoid the detective who's following them.

I'm very glad I didn't stop reading when I figured out whodunit. I'm very glad I remembered that it's not always all about WHO; many times HOW and WHY are every bit as important in a mystery. Gretchen, her Aunt Nina and her mom Caroline were all engaging characters, and I really enjoyed all the information Baker shared about doll collecting. However, I hope that the next time I read about Gretchen hiking up Camelback Mountain, it's not on a July afternoon. Just the thought of it makes me feel a bit woozy.