An E Z Way Inn Christmas by Sharon Fiffer

First Line: In late fall, the record man put six or seven Christmas songs on the E Z Way Inn jukebox.

Anyone who's familiar with Sharon Fiffer's marvelous Jane Wheel mysteries knows all about the E Z Way Inn in Kankakee, Illinois. This short story is part memory and part wishful thinking... and just the thing to read during the holiday season.

Sharon's parents Don and Nellie work hard each and every day at the E Z Way Inn, and it's rare for the place to ever be closed. But this year, it's going to be closed on Christmas Day. This year twenty-seven relatives will be crowded around a small table in a small house-- but they will all learn that there's always room for one more.

This lovely little story boosted my Christmas spirit and brought back memories of my own special family holiday gatherings. The author is sharing a slice of a child's life and the things that were most important to her: life at the E Z Way Inn, her parents, her siblings, surviving parochial school, and Christmas. I would imagine that this short but very evocative story will put a smile on your face as well... and perhaps remind you, too, that everyone wants to be remembered during the holidays.

"An E Z Way Inn Christmas" by Sharon Fiffer

ASIN: B00QJEY34K

Sharon Fiffer © 2014

eBook, 15 pages

Short Story

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Amazon. 

Lucky Stuff by Sharon Fiffer

First Line: "I'm so sorry," she whispered, as she struggled to close the lid of the wooden trunk.

Picker and private investigator Jane Wheel is well and truly in transition. Officially divorced, she's faced the fact that she must sell her house-- and to do that, her realtor has made her see that all those antiques and collections must be packed up and taken elsewhere. Rootless for the first time in years, Jane goes home to Kankakee, Illinois, only to find the entire town in an uproar.

A little-known comedian who calls himself Lucky Miller is in town, staging a so-called comeback. It's all part of his plan to break into the big time. Deeply suspicious of the man and all the money he seems to be throwing around, Jane's mother Nellie hires her to investigate Lucky. Wondering why she gives a hoot, Lucky also goes to Jane to find out what Nellie's up to. In the midst of all this snoop and counter-snoop, one of Lucky's crew members dies, hours after claiming that the comedian tried to kill him. What on earth is going on, and why is it happening in Kankakee?

Sharon Fiffer's Jane Wheel mystery series has been a favorite of mine since the first book. Fiffer has a way of describing collectibles and antiques that makes me want to hop in the Jeep and head for the nearest estate sale. After drastically downsizing my own hoards, I always enjoy getting a collections fix through Jane. It also doesn't hurt that I'm familiar with the Kankakee area, and the books make me feel as if I've gone back to the old homestead.

Being a witness to Jane's packing up years of collections was painful, and I was shocked that she seemed to take it so well. I should have known that the author had a few surprises up her sleeve. It is a testament to Fiffer's talent that I worried about Jane's stuff throughout the book, even though the mystery surrounding Lucky Miller is a true puzzler. For once, Jane is flying almost completely solo on an investigation. Her partner, Bruce Oh, makes very few appearances, and even her best friend Tim is busy with other commitments. No, Jane is working alone and has the most contact with her parents. Since her relationship with her prickly, no-nonsense mother, Nellie, has always been problematic, this enforced closeness adds yet another layer of interest to this book.

A Jane Wheel mystery is always a three-pronged pleasure for its mystery, its collectibles, and its wonderful cast of characters. Lucky Stuff is no exception, and now I find myself in the unenviable position of waiting for Jane's next adventure.

Lucky Stuff by Sharon Fiffer

ISBN: 9780312643034

Minotaur Books © 2012

Hardcover, 320 pages

Cozy Mystery, #8 Jane Wheel mystery

Rating: B

Source: Purchased from BookOutlet 

Backstage Stuff by Sharon Fiffer

First Line: Jane Wheel couldn't sleep.

If divorce weren't staring her right in the face, Jane could probably sleep the night and day away. But lawyers are wanting detailed lists of income and expenditures, and she's finding it much easier to learn how to check in with her son Nick on Facebook, Twitter and text messages than it is to sit down and compile everything the lawyers want.

Fortunately her best friend Tim knows just what to do to get Jane out of her doldrums. Not only is there a mansion on the outskirts of Kankakee, Illinois, that's stuffed to the rafters with treasures that need to be sorted, tagged and priced before the estate sale, Tim has also unearthed a play written by the mansion's former owner. He's directing and starring in the murder mystery and needs Jane's help with props and the like. But when the show's carpenter dies under suspicious circumstances, Jane becomes convinced that someone definitely doesn't want the show to go on-- and that someone might even be willing to kill to stop it.

These Jane Wheel mysteries are among the select few that I tuck away, knowing that if I'm in need of a guaranteed good read, Jane won't let me down. Backstage Stuff reinforced my belief in Jane Wheel and her creator Sharon Fiffer. In this seventh book in the series, Fiffer used misdirection (in the form of multitudes of creepy ventriloquist's dummies) brilliantly to keep part of the plot from being revealed too soon.

As good as the mystery was, it's always Fiffer's characters that get the lion's share of my attention. Jane has been quietly evolving throughout the series. She's being forced to change more quickly now due to her impending divorce, but she can still describe Bakelite and vintage kitchen linens in such a way that my hands start to tremble with my own desire to find such treasures. I also like to see how Jane is learning more of the art of being a private detective through her work with Detective Bruce Oh.

And-- as always-- Jane's mother Nellie continues to be one of the most contrary characters in crime fiction. Nellie does everything on her own terms. If you're lucky, you might get an explanation for something once every couple of decades, but mostly you're going to be out of luck. Nellie doesn't explain, she doesn't apologize  (in fact she can make you want to strangle her), but when all is said and done, this tiny cantankerous woman demands-- and gets-- my respect. Normally a character as mean-spirited as Nellie would be tossed on the scrap heap of my disdain. That she continues to garner my curiosity and respect is a mark of how skillful Fiffer is at her portrayal.

In fact, I could go on for paragraphs about Sharon Fiffer's characters in the Jane Wheel series because they all feel like family. If you like excellent puzzles to solve, vintage treasures to discover, and characters that make you feel as though you've come home, do what I do: open a Jane Wheel mystery.

Backstage Stuff by Sharon Fiffer

ISBN: 9780312609795

Minotaur Books © 2011
Hardcover, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, #7 in the Jane Wheel series set in Kankakee, Illinois
Rating: A
Source: Purchased through PBS Marketplace.

September 2012 New Mystery Releases!

I can already see (and feel) that summer is beginning to pack its bags and head south for the winter, but I'm going to continue reading in my favorite spot in the pool for as long as I can. I figure I can get a few books from this month's list read before the water's too cold!

It was murder trying to prune the list down to a manageable size; I hate leaving anyone out! There are some excellent books in store for us in September, and (after grouping them by release dates) I've included all the information you'll need to find them at your favorite book spots. Hopefully, I've chosen a title or two that tickles your fancy. Which of these are on your own wish lists?

=== September 1 ===

Title: Watching the Ghosts

Author: Kate Ellis

Series: #4 in the Joe Plantagenet series set in present-day North Yorkshire, England

ISBN: 9781780290270

Publisher: Creme de la Crime

Hardcover, 240 pages

Synopsis: "DI Joe Plantagenet investigates a house with a disturbing past in the fourth of this popular police procedural series. Boothgate House has a sinister past. Once an asylum for the insane, serial killer Peter Brockmeister was sent there on his release from prison in 1978. Three years later, it closed, and Brockmeister died in mysterious circumstances. Solicitor Melanie Hawkes is investigating the suspicious events when her young daughter is kidnapped. Meanwhile, Boothgate House resident Lydia Brookes is burgled. And why is a paranormal researcher fascinated by the building’s basement? As Joe uncovers the appalling truth, he faces an evil that threatens those closest to him – and puts his own life in jeopardy."

=== September 4 ===

Title: Wall-to-Wall Dead

Author: Jennie Bentley

Series: #6 in the Do It Yourself Home Renovation series set in Maine

ISBN: 9780425255568

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "Avery Baker never thought she’d leave Manhattan, until she inherited her aunt’s old Maine cottage and found her true calling—home renovation. But when Avery goes to work restoring a condominium, she discovers it’s another condo owner who’s been condemned... 

Avery and her partner, Derek, are fixing up a cute little condo in homey Waterfield, Maine, hoping for a quick turnaround and some extra money. It seems like a simple project—and Avery is looking forward to using her big-city experience with small spaces.

But they didn’t expect to have their every move watched by the resident busybody in the condo, Hilda Shaw, who loves snooping on everyone’s comings and goings. When the busybody becomes a dead body, Avery suspects foul play. Soon she’s doing some snooping of her own—and it seems everyone in the complex has a secret. Could one of them be worth killing for? Avery needs to work fast, before someone decides to fix her...for good."

Title: Last Wool and Testament

Author: Molly MacRae

Series: #1 in the Haunted Yarn Shop series set in Tennessee

ISBN: 9780451237828

Publisher: Signet

Mass Market Paperback, 352 pages

Synopsis: "Molly MacRae spent twenty years in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Upper East Tennessee, where she managed the Book Place, an independent bookstore; may it rest in peace. Before the lure of books hooked her, she was curator of the history museum in Jonesborough, Tennessee's oldest town. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine for more than twenty years, and she has won the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. MacRae lives with her family in Champaign, Illinois, where she connects children with books at the public library.

Coming in September 2012 - Last Wool and Testament, first in a new, light paranormal, mystery series from Signet starring Kath Rutledge, a textile preservationist, who inherits her grandmother's wool shop in Blue Plum, Tennessee, and also ends up with a depressed ghost on her hands. Think of it as the series that puts the woo-woo in wool."

Title: Face of the Enemy

Authors: Joanne Dobson and Beverle Graves Myers

Series: #1 in the New York in Wartime series set in New York City during World War II

ISBN: 9781464200311

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Hardcover, 250 pages

Synopsis: "December, 1941: With New Yorkers painfully aware of their vulnerability after the Pearl Harbor attack, the FBI prowls the city snatching up Japanese residents. Tension increases for a sensitive Japanese artist when she’s accused of murder as well as espionage. Is Masako Fumi guilty? Or a victim of racial paranoia? Nurse Louise Hunter is outraged and vows to help her friend.

When the murdered body of Masako’s art dealer is discovered in the gallery where he’d been closing down her controversial show, Masako’s troubles multiply. Homicide detective Michael McKenna doubts her guilt, but an ambitious G-man schemes to lever the homicide and ensuing espionage accusations into a political cause célèbre.

Struggling to focus on one man’s murder while America plunges into a worldwide war, Louise and McKenna defy both racism and ham-fisted government agents in order to expose the real killer."

Title: The Other Woman

Author: Hank Phillippi Ryan

Series: #1 in the Jane Ryland series set in Boston

ISBN: 9780765332578

Publisher: Forge Books

Hardcover, 416 pages

Synopsis: "Jane Ryland was a rising star in television news…until she refused to reveal a source and lost everything. Now a disgraced newspaper reporter, Jane isn’t content to work on her assigned puff pieces, and finds herself tracking down a candidate’s secret mistress just days before a pivotal Senate election.

Detective Jake Brogan is investigating a possible serial killer. Twice, bodies of unidentified women have been found by a bridge, and Jake is plagued by a media swarm beginning to buzz about a 'bridge killer' hunting the young women of Boston. 

As the body count rises and election looms closer, it becomes clear to Jane and Jake that their cases are connected…and that they may be facing a ruthless killer who will stop at nothing to silence a scandal."

Title: More Than Sorrow
Author: Vicki Delany
Standalone
ISBN: 9781590589854
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Hardcover, 250 pages

Synopsis: "Once, Hannah Manning was an internationally-renowned journalist and war correspondent. Today, she’s a woman suffering from a traumatic brain injury. Haunted by her memories, Hannah goes to her sister’s small-scale vegetable farm in Prince Edward County, Ontario to recover and spend time with her ten-year-old niece, Lily.

Hannah retreats into the attic full of boxes and moldy letters that have accumulated for more than two centuries. As she reads about the original settlers of this land, she is increasingly drawn to the space beneath the old house.

More than carrots, potatoes, soups and jams are down in the dark, damp root cellar. Hannah experiences visions of a woman emerging from the icy cold mist. Is the woman real?

In this modern Gothic novel of heart-wrenching suspense, past and present merge into a terrifying threat to the only thing Hannah still holds dear—Lily."

Title: Seven Days
Author: Deon Meyer
Series: #3 in the Benny Griessel series set in Capetown, South Africa
ISBN: 9780802120359
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Hardcover, 320 pages

Synopsis: "A police officer is shot dead. The next day, one of his colleagues is as well. Then the South African police receive an email threatening an additional cop killed each day until a cold case is solved. Inspector Benny Griessel is charged with reopening the file on the murder of Hanneke Sloet, an ambitious lawyer stabbed to death in her luxury apartment. There’s no apparent motive and no leads, just a set of nude photographs and a burly ex-boyfriend with a rock-solid alibi. Then more policemen are shot and the pressure mounts. Can Bennie solve the case and stay sober?

Featuring the fantastic characters from Deon Meyer’s Thirteen Hours, which won the Barry Award for Best Thriller in 2011, Seven Days is another gripping adventure from a masterful writer at the top of his game."

=== September 5 ===

Title: A Door in the River

Author: Inger Ash Wolfe

Series: #3 in the Hazel Micallef series set in Ontario, Canada

ISBN: 9781605984209

Publisher: Pegasus

Hardcover, 288 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books*

Synopsis: "Stinging deaths aren't uncommon in the summertime, but when Henry Wiest turns up stung to death at an Indian reservation, Detective Hazel Micallef senses not all is as it seems.  And when it turns out the 'bee' was a diabolical teenaged girl on a murder spree with a strange weapon, a dark and twisted crime begins to slowly emerge.  The questions, contradictions, and bodies begin to mount, as two separate police forces struggle to work together to save the soul of Westmuir County."

=== September 8 ===

Title: Hide and Snoop

Author: Sue Ann Jaffarian

Series: #7 in the Odelia Grey series set in southern California

ISBN: 9780738718897

Publisher: Midnight Ink

Paperback, 288 pages

Synopsis: "A merger at Odelia Grey’s law firm has put her job in jeopardy, and her new icy-cold boss, Erica Mayfield, has it in for her. The humiliation doubles when Erica dumps her three-year-old niece with Odelia and disappears for the weekend. The nerve! Primed for a confrontation, Odelia impulsively goes to her boss’s house in the middle of the night—and finds Erica’s sister murdered. Before she knows it, Odelia’s madcap misadventure to prove her own innocence ends up in a cuddly cradle of crime."

=== September 18 ===

Title: Lucky Stuff

Author: Sharon Fiffer

Series: #8 in the Jane Wheel series set in Illinois

ISBN: 9780312643034

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 320 pages

Synopsis: "Officially divorced, antiques picker and private investigator Jane Wheel finally faces the reality that she needs to sell her house, which means clearing out her extensive—and beloved—antique collection. While it’s a daunting task, the preemptive move proves worthwhile when her house sells in one day. Finding herself suddenly homeless, Jane heads to her hometown, Kankakee, Illinois, to find that it, too, has been turned upside down.

Lucky Miller, a little-known comedian, is staging what he calls a comeback. It’s all part of his plan to break into showbiz by making it seem like he’s always been a big name. Suspicious of what Lucky’s trying to prove and why he’s chosen to prove it in Kankakee, Jane’s mother, Nellie, hires Jane to investigate. But why does Nellie care? Lucky would sure like to know, so he, too, calls on Jane to find out. Still, Nellie may be the least of his problems when a driver on his crew turns up dead hours after claiming that Lucky tried to kill him."

=== September 25 ===

Title: Murder in the Rue Dumas

Author: M.L. Longworth

Series: #2 in the Verlaque and Bonnet series set in Aix-en-Provence, France

ISBN: 9780143121541 

Publisher: Penguin Books

Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "When the director of the theology department at a university in Aix is found dead, Judge Verlaque is dumbfounded. Professor Moutte was about to announce the recipient of both a fellowship, and his position as Director—which includes the coveted apartment in a 17th century mansion. The prospective recipients and others close to Moutte make up a long list of suspects, but Verlaque isn’t convinced any of the eager students or desperate teachers are capable of murder, and he must dig deeper.

With Marine’s help—and that of her plucky mother—Verlaque uncovers a world that proves more complicated than university politics, and doing his best to keep his love life with Marine above water."

Title: Talking to the Dead

Author: Harry Bingham

Series: #1 in the Fiona Griffiths series set in Wales

ISBN: 9780345533739

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Hardcover, 352 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books*

Synopsis: "At first, the murder scene appears sad, but not unusual: a young woman undone by drugs and prostitution, her six-year-old daughter dead alongside her. But then detectives find a strange piece of evidence in the squalid house: the platinum credit card of a very wealthy—and long dead—steel tycoon. What is a heroin-addicted hooker doing with the credit card of a well-known and powerful man who died months ago? This is the question that the most junior member of the investigative team, Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths, is assigned to answer.

But D.C. Griffiths is no ordinary cop. She’s earned a reputation at police headquarters in Cardiff, Wales, for being odd, for not picking up on social cues, for being a little over-intense. And there’s that gap in her past, the two-year hiatus that everyone assumes was a breakdown. But Fiona is a crack investigator, quick and intuitive. She is immediately drawn to the crime scene, and to the tragic face of the six-year-old girl, who she is certain has something to tell her . . . something that will break the case wide open.

Ignoring orders and protocol, Fiona begins to explore far beyond the rich man’s credit card and into the secrets of her seaside city. And when she uncovers another dead prostitute, Fiona knows that she’s only begun to scratch the surface of a dark world of crime and murder. But the deeper she digs, the more danger she risks—not just from criminals and killers but from her own past . . . and the abyss that threatens to pull her back at any time."

Title: A Lack of Temperance

Author: Anna Loan-Wilsey

Series: #1 in the Hattie Davish historical series set in Arkansas

ISBN: 9780758276346

Publisher: Kensington

Paperback, 304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books*

Synopsis: "Have typewriter will travel...and track down dead bodies. Not the usual motto for a Victorian private secretary and certainly not what Miss Hattie Davish has in mind when she responds to the latest summons for her services.  On the eve of the 1892 Election, Hattie arrives in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a booming health spa and vacation resort, hoping to hike the hills, botanize and placate the demands of her newest high-society employer.  Yet her employer is missing, and this idyllic Ozark village is being plagued by a league of temperance women attacking saloons with hatchets and bricks, a city council candidate fighting in the streets and a trail of cryptic death threats.  With her reputation and life on the line, Hattie will put more than her trusty typewriter to the test."

Title: Big Maria

Author: Johnny Shaw

Standalone

ISBN: 9781612184395

Publisher: Thomas and Mercer

Paperback,384 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books*

Synopsis: "There’s gold in them thar hills—or more precisely, in Arizona’s Chocolate Mountains, where one hundred years ago a miner stashed a king’s ransom of the stuff. But times have changed. The world has changed. And now the Chocolate Mountains are the home of the largest military artillery range in the world.

Harry’s living on disability and getting liquored up and beaten down. Frank’s a feisty old-timer battling cancer and a domineering daughter. And Ricky’s a good kid in a bad spot, doing everything for family. Together they’re staking what little they have left on a dangerous quest to the Big Maria Mine— and the gold that can offer them a new beginning.

Unfortunately a meth-dealing biker wants a piece, a trigger-happy AWOL soldier wants to play chicken in a live minefield, two stubborn burros want to go home, a starving mountain lion wants his dinner, and the US Army wants to rain on our heroes’ parade with real bombs.

When you’re all out of crazy ideas, you’ve got to try the stupid ones."


So... how'd it go? Did you add as many books to your wish list as I did to mine? Which ones in particular are you looking forward to? Inquiring minds want to know!

Scene of the Crime with Author Sharon Fiffer

It's always a treat to introduce one of my favorite crime fiction authors to you and today is no exception.

Sharon Fiffer is the author of the Jane Wheel mystery series which uses Kankakee, Illinois, as a setting for most of the stories. Jane is a picker and a collector who dearly loves showing up bright and early at garage and estate sales to find treasures to sell on to others... and to keep for herself. The dead bodies Jane finds put a dent in the amount of time she can spend on searching for treasures.

In the first three books of the series, reading about Jane's feelings toward the things she collects will bring out understanding smiles in those of us who have the collecting bug-- or they'll win over new converts who will begin their own treasure hunts.

The setting, the physical "props" of the series, and the mysteries are strong draws for me, but the characters of people like Jane and her mother, Nellie, are what keep me coming back for more. They evolve throughout the series. If you haven't  read one of Sharon Fiffer's books, I strongly suggest you do so. You're in for a treat!

There are currently seven books in the Jane Wheel series:

Killer Stuff (2001)

Dead Guy's Stuff (2002)

The Wrong Stuff (2003)

Buried Stuff (2004)

Hollywood Stuff (2006)

Scary Stuff (2009)

Backstage Stuff (2011)

If you'd like to learn more about Sharon, here are a few links for you:

Sharon Fiffer's website

Sharon Fiffer on Twitter

Sharon Fiffer on Facebook

Now it's time for the best part-- the interview!

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

I was an early reader--I had an older brother who took me on as a student before I actually started school.  By the time I was in first grade I was gobbling up books in the classroom.  Since my parents were both working long hours at the real EZ Way Inn (so similar to the one run by Jane Wheel's parents in my books--what a coincidence!), I spent a lot of time in the children's section of the Kankakee Public Library after school and I can remember finding The Cat In The Hat and thinking it was the funniest thing in the world.  I loved the word play and the story--and since I was alone a lot as a child, I probably really liked the idea of this wild, wild babysitter.  So that's the first book I actually remember reading out loud to my parents because it was so funny. When I was eight, my grandmother bought me a beautiful copy of Little Women in a slipcase--a beautiful edition that she said she'd read to me if it was too difficult.  It wasn't.  I loved that book, inhaled it, and read it again after I finished it the first time. What made it special?  Jo March--who was an actress and a writer--was a marvelous real person to me--flawed and flawless--and I wanted to be just like her.



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

I'm a knitter and a reader and a cook and although I love to write and I love to teach--a perfect weekend for me involves great yarn and a new pattern, a Saturday farmer's market and friends coming for dinner, and a new book to crack open before bed.  Oh--and I've been known to go to a few garage sales, rummage sales and estate sales on the weekend--part Jane Wheel research and part treasure hunting for real.


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.)

When I go back to Kankakee, Illinois, I always drive by Cobb Park and spend a little time staring at the Kankakee River.  It was my favorite childhood spot.  I think I might send you to Blue's Cafe for breakfast, then you could go walk the wooded path behind the Civic Auditorium (that's a location for Backstage Stuff and one of my old haunts) and then, if you were hungry, I'd send you to the Root Beer Stand on River Street OR The Dairy Queen on Station Street.  If you visit in August, you could hit the Kankakee County Fair--as a child, I looked forward to that all summer long.  By the way, if there is a guide book to Kankakee, Illinois, I'd like to see it!  Heck, I'd like to write one!


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

Nora Fiffer

Easy--my daughter, Nora Fiffer, is an excellent actress and is working a lot here in Chicago theater.  She is far more beautiful than I was at her age--with terrific red hair that I can only envy--but nonetheless, it's my movie, right?  So she could play the teenaged and early twenties me.  Kate, my older daughter has done some acting,too, and is also a beauty, but now writes and also works as a puppeteer, so she could do some flashback and dream sequences with her artistic creations--and, finally, to play me as a (ahem) more mature woman? I think I'll cast Susan Sarandon.  Yup, I'd be happy with that.



Who is your favorite recurring character in crime fiction?

I think I have to say Harriet Vane.  I was a little snobby about detective fiction when I was just out of college and thought I had put my Nancy Drew days behind me.  Then, when I was working as an advertising copywriter, a co-worker handed me Murder Must Advertise and I took off reading all of Dorothy L. Sayers and absolutely fell in love with Harriet Vane. I also have a huge crush on Adam Dalgliesh--I think the novels of P.D. James are outstanding.


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

I had a pretty lively writing career before Jane Wheel entered my life.  I wrote a biography of a young Cambodian man, Paul Thai, who fled the killing fields and became the first Cambodian-American to work on the Dallas Police Force.  That was my first book, Imagining America.  After that, I wrote a book with my husband called Fifty Ways To Help Your Community:  A Handbook For Change, published by Doubleday.  Then I co-edited three collections of literary memoirs called, respectively, Home: American Writers Remember Rooms of Their Own;  Family:  American Writers Remember Their Own;  and Body.  In between those books, I wrote a slew of short stories that were published in literary magazines.  I re-discovered my inner Nancy Drew when I started to write a memoir piece about the E Z Way Inn, growing up in my parents tavern in Kankakee--and somehow it came out as the first chapter of Killer Stuff.


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?

When I got an offer on Killer Stuff, my agent said to go ahead and celebrate but not to buy expensive wine because the advance would probably end up being quite modest!  I had been published before--and had great fun with each publication--and was proud of each of the books--but this one, Killer Stuff, my first Jane Wheel novel, was really special.  The advance was modest, but we bought the expensive wine.


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?

Sharon Fiffer

I have seen Parnell's video--I love it.  I was a few authors down from Michael Connelly at my first Bouchercon so I know the feeling of seeing a line out the door for someone else.  The thing is, I'm such a fan of other writers that I left my spot, got in line to tell Michael how much I had loved his much earlier book, The Poet.  My weirdest experience?  Signing at a vintage/thrift  store where no one could figure out why my books were full price, and my saddest experience was appearing at a library function in a public place where, while we all moved to the tables for dinner, the book tables were left unwatched and my beautiful alpaca poncho (hand knit) was stolen, but all my books remained untouched.  


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?

 My job is to write the very best books I can.  As long as I have stories to tell and tell them well--as long as I can touch someone's heart or make people laugh or make them think twice, I am doing my job.  I prefer holding a book--but I am also getting used to reading on my brand new Kindle--a birthday gift from my husband a few months ago.  I find that the story is what transports me.  I will always acquire books and I will always be a collector of books--but I will read for the story, not for the means of production.  NOW, I will say this.  I think it is extremely sad that mass market paperback versions of my books and some other authors like myself are no more.  I am being published in hardcover and electronically, but paperbacks are what many of my readers love--and I am saddened by the disappearance of many, many series paperback versions. 


Thank you so much for spending this time with us, Sharon! I hope we're able to read many more adventures of Jane in the years to come.

Don't forget to stop by next Monday when my guest on Scene of the Crime will be Irishman Sam Millar.

January 2011 New Mystery Releases!

You may think that, with the holidays and everything else that's been going on here at Casa Kittling, I may have forgotten all about keeping track of new mystery releases. Not so! I am a true bookaholic and crime fiction fiend, and looking for gems on the horizon is as natural to me as breathing.

Before getting down to brass tacks, I would like to mention something that I stumbled across last November: FictFact. Have you heard of it? It's a great place to track your series reading, and if you don't find some of the series you're following, the people at FictFact are wonderful at adding new authors and series from member suggestions. It's not just for crime fiction, and if you'd like to add me as a follower, look for "cathyskye".

Now to get back on track: The following books are my top picks for mysteries being released in January. The titles are grouped by release dates, and I've included the information you'll need to find them at all your favorite book spots. Let's see which titles have me drooling this month....

===January 4 Release===

Title: Backstage Stuff

Author: Sharon Fiffer

Series: #7 in the Jane Wheel series set in Kankakee, Illinois

ISBN: 9780312609795

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2011

Hardcover, 304 pages

Title: Double Prey

Author: Steven F. Havill

Series: #17 in the Posadas County series set in New Mexico

ISBN: 9781590587829

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, 2011

Hardcover, 250 pages

Title: Prey on Patmos

Author: Jeffrey Siger

Series: #3 in the Inspector Kaldis series set in Greece

ISBN: 9781590587669
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, 2011
Hardcover, 250 pages

===January 6 Release===

Title: Shatter the Bones

Author: Stuart MacBride

Series: #7 in the Logan McRae series set in Aberdeen, Scotland

ISBN: 9780007344215
Publisher: Harper Collins, 2011
Hardcover, 448 pages

*This is being released in the UK on this date.

===January 18 Release===

Title: World's Greatest Sleuth

Author: Steve Hockensmith

Series: #5 in the Holmes on the Range series set in Montana

ISBN: 9780312379438
Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2011
Hardcover, 336 pages

Title: The Girl in the Green Raincoat
Author: Laura Lippman
Series: #11 in the Tess Monaghan series set in Baltimore, Maryland
ISBN: 9780061938368
Publisher: Avon, 2011
Paperback, 176 pages









If someone handed me all these books to read, I wouldn't know which to pick first! Hopefully I've managed to include a title or two which tickles your fancy, too!

Scary Stuff by Sharon Fiffer

Title: Scary Stuff
Author: Sharon Fiffer
ISBN: 9780312387785
Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2009
Hardcover, 304 pages
Genre: Cozy, Private Investigator, #6 Jane Wheel mystery
Rating: B+
Source: Purchased from Bookcloseouts.

First Line: Jane Wheel, gripping the arms of the uncomfortable seat, closed her eyes.

Antique picker Jane Wheel loves old stuff that was never meant to be in a collection-- old aprons and tea towels, orphaned Bakelite buttons, other families' photos... the list is endless--and she's good at it, reselling her estate sale finds to other collectors and adding to the treasure-filled rooms of her own home. These days, she's really a P.P.I., a Picker Private Investigator, because she is also an associate to a private detective. Bakelite buttons and secrets: Jane Wheel is good at finding them both.

Making a rare visit to her brother and his family, Jane was intrigued when Michael told her about the three times he was accused by strangers of cheating them on eBay only to realize they'd gotten the wrong man once they'd taken a good look at his face. Jane agrees to look into it for her brother and returns home to Illinois.

When she's back in Illinois, one of her parents' friends is attacked, and suddenly Jane has two cases, both of which seem a little too close to her loved ones.

Jane grew up in Kankakee, Illinois, and then moved to Chicago where she became a high-rolling advertising executive, got married and had a child. When she decided to put her power suits into storage and start picking, she found herself having much more contact with her childhood best friend and her parents. But even though she spends most of her time in a much more rural setting, she's a bit too much of a city girl:

Country driving always made her nervous. All of these look-alike county roads, numbered or lettered, and no one around to answer any questions about directions. No landmarks, unless you consider the livestock, and one couldn't very well turn at the two cows or go straight past the trotting horse. Jane much preferred the anonymity of a city street to the isolation of the country road.

I've been a fan of Sharon Fiffer and this series since I read the first book, Killer Stuff. Having to wait three years for Scary Stuff was entirely too long, so when I finally managed to track down a copy, there was no way I could let it sit on a shelf.

It doesn't disappoint. There are enough treasures and picking in this book to make me start salivating and wanting to start collecting again. The two cases involving mistaken identity and the attack on a family friend are meaty and kept me guessing. More than anything else, I loved spending time with the characters again. Jane is such a blend of strength and insecurity, and Fiffer isn't afraid to shake up her private life.

Fiffer is also one of the very few writers who can have an extremely annoying character in every single book in the series and not make me want to rip out my hair. Jane's mother, Nellie, is about as exasperating as they come, but the more backstory Fiffer gives her, the more understandable she is. Now, by book six, Nellie has become a force of nature, and sometimes I can even chuckle and shake my head at her behavior, as in this scene:

When Jane had asked the typical childhood questions of her mother-- How did you meet Dad? What was it like when you went to school? Et cetera-- Nellie had refused to participate. Her answers ranged from "I don't remember" to "What's the difference? Who cares?" Michael always said their mother missed her calling. She should have been with the CIA.

Involving plots, an interesting career, characters with depth whose paths are sometimes surprising and rocky, a sense of humor... all reasons for you to pick up a Jane Wheel mystery when you're in the mood for picking with bite.

Buy from Amazon.

Buy from The Book Depository.

Buy from an Indie Bookseller.

Sharon Fiffer's Jane Wheel Mystery Series

Lovers of cozy mysteries and The Antiques Roadshow (both US and UK versions) are bound to love this mystery series by Sharon Fiffer. It definitely deserves more attention!

Jane Wheel, recently estranged from her husband and laid off by her PR firm in Chicago, is making ends meet by working as a "picker" for an antiques dealer. As someone whose kitchen is loaded with Bakelite and vintage tea towels, who's never met a piece of McCoy pottery that she didn't like, this is perfect therapy. Trouble is, she keeps finding mysteries to solve along the way.

Jane's crime solving takes her from the Chicago area further south into Kankakee, Illinois, and readers are given many tips about garage sales, flea markets, estate sales, and collectibles. (I wouldn't be at all surprised if many don't go rummaging through their attics after reading one of these books.) But the information to be gleaned about collecting "stuff" isn't the only reason to read this series. The mysteries are solid, the setting takes me right back to growing up in Illinois, and there is an excellent cast of characters.

The books in the series are:

1. Killer Stuff (2001)
2. Dead Guy's Stuff (2002)
3. The Wrong Stuff (2003)
4. Buried Stuff (2005)
5. Hollywood Stuff (2006)

Click on the book cover collage at the top of this post to be taken to Fiffer's entry on Fantastic Fiction for more information on the books and buying options. If you like cozies and collectibles, you should enjoy this series!