Tuesday, October 30, 2012

My Cozy Writing Place

I was away the last Tuesday I was supposed to post, at the Big Family Wedding in Oklahoma. It was a smashing event, right down to the photo booth with faux mustaches. To view me, in said mustache, you must visit my blog. (Fabulous Mustache Picture)

But as much fun as the wedding was (Cakes! In Jars!) it is great to be back home at Cozy  Mystery Magazine.

And thanks for the invitation to share our writing spaces, Deb! I'm glad yours has a dog in it. Dogs make everything cozier.

So, about my cozy writing place. Now that I have my spandy-dandy netbook, I can write anywhere. I like the fourth floor of our downtown library because of the sweeping views of the Portland, but I mostly write from home.

I have a proper office area, a nice nook with a sliding door to the deck and a window that overlooks the yard. Before I had fully committed to the writing life I kept my sewing machine in the nook. Now the sewing machine is in the craft closet and the netbook gets the place of honor.

While I do work in my office, the cozier place to write is the den. (a den and an office, you ask? Is this another McMansion? By no means, it's just a 50 year old ranch house, creatively arranged.)

Here are a few pictures of me in my cozy den. Key features that make the den a great place to write: the electric fire box with real-ish flames, the big cork board for keeping track of things, and the fuzzy, warm mutt, Dr. Watson.



(I'm in all of these pictures because they were from a home-photo shoot for Christian Women's Voice Magazine.)


Do you have a place at home where you can be creative? If you aren't a writer, what satisfies your creative passions?



Traci Tyne Hilton is a mom, Sunday School teacher, novelist, and award winning playwright from Portland, Oregon. She is madly working on her next mystery series which has finaled in the Books of Hope Contest at Write Integrity Press and has an impending deadline.

Traci earned a degree in History from
Portland State University and lives in the rainiest part of the Pacific Northwest with her husband the mandolin playing funeral director from Kansas, their two daughters, and their dog, Dr. Watson.

More of Traci's work can be found at
tracihilton.com

Monday, October 29, 2012

Terrier Troubles--by Linda Kozar

My dog Patches needed her teeth cleaned--and it happened to coincide with an out of town trip my husband and I planned this past weekend (to celebrate my mom's 80th birthday). So we boarded our pup and headed out of town with the satisfaction of knowing we'd come back to a more pleasant doggie breath.

But I got a call on the way to New Orleans. The Vet's office. It seemed that Patches would have to undergo surgery to remove two infected, molars. Wow. Of course we agreed.

Then we received another call a couple of hours later. . .

"The surgery was a bit more involved."

"What do you mean?" I asked, concern rising.

"Well, we had to remove seventeen teeth."

I envisioned my dog--a senior citizen being fitted for dentures, and me extolling the virtues of Polygrip. What would be next? Dog food the texture of pate'? Would her bark sound the same or sort of gummy and weird.

"WHAT? Seventeen teeth?"

"Yes, they were rotten and infected. There's no way we could leave them in. We're only going to charge you for the original molars though. No charge for the other fifteen teeth."

"WHAT? How many teeth will she have left?"

"About ten."

"How's she going to eat?"

"Dogs don't chew half of what they swallow. She'll eat, no problem."

* * *

My husband and I returned home last night. Eager to see her, I woke early in the morning and went to the vet to pick her up.

"Patches just vomited," said the vet. "She's been doing fine, but this morning, she threw up. You can either leave her here or take her with you."

I opted to take her home, figuring life at home would be a far better place to feel miserable. And they soon brought her out, the cone-of-silence wrapped around her head to prevent her from pawing at the wound sites. Drugged to the intense pain, she was docile and limp in my arms. Poor baby!!!

The fact that she'd just lost her cookies in mind, I was thankful I'd brought an old towel along in the car in anticipation of a situation like this. I sat her on my lap and arranged the towel under her head in case she got sick again. The ride home would be relatively short. No problem.

And there wasn't a problem, at least until we were a few blocks from home. That's when I felt something warm on my thigh. "Uh-oh. Not good." I figured she's lost control of her bladder on all the meds. Thank goodness for the towel! I wrapped it around the other end of her.

However, when we pulled into the driveway and I opened the door, I noticed that the warm liquid was not urine . . .

She's curled up in her little bed right now. Sleeping, though definitely not comfortable.

Please keep my little doggie in your prayers if you have a heart for animals. If Patches could thank you, she would. I will keep you all updated.

Thanks for letting me share.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Just Me and the Tiger

by Nancy Jill Thames


"Romeo"

Writing cozies for you, dear readers, is such a pleasure for me. Together, we can journey to fabulous resorts, amazing restaurants and experience exciting adventures tracking down the killers! Now, some of you may wonder where our inspiration comes from. For me, inspiration comes from my neighbor's Yorkie, Romeo - cutest little dog you ever saw! And from the white tiger that sits on the floor of my office.

 





The tiger was a birthday gift from a friend for my 18 year-old daughter at the time. After she left for college, there wasn't room to take him along, so I keep him in my office as a reminder of her. Not only do I think of her when I look at him, I'm also reminded to keep my writing a little on the fantasy side of life. In my books, the killer is always caught, personal issues are resolved and hopefully, I've taken the reader into the lovely world of Jillian Bradley and her Yorkie, Teddy.





My desk is where I write plots, create characters and their back stories and work on my outlines. The computer chair swivels, making it easy to move back and forth from writing to checking important details like Facebook, Twitter, blogs and sales. When I've finished the outline, I move to write each chapter, sitting in a recliner by the front window. Occasionally, throughout the day, my husband comes in and sits with me whenever he needs a break. He works at home, too, and has his office directly in back of mine. We share a wall. Isn't that romantic?






The recliner is where I edit and create blog posts for "Queen of Afternoon Tea" Celebrity Author Interviews, Cozy Mystery Author, Nancy Jill Thames blog, and Cozy Mystery Magazine blog, like I'm writing right now.

 

 

 So there you have it! Thanks for joining me in my office. The only thing that would make it better is if you were really paying me a visit and I could offer you a nice cup of tea! Well, I suppose the next best thing would be to read my books and enjoy the life and times of Jillian Bradley. I'll be thinking of you!

See you next week on Cozy Mystery Magazine! Don't forget to visit the Cozy Kitchen and try some of the yummy recipes posted this week.

~Nancy Jill

Nancy Jill Thames is the author of the Jillian Bradley Mysteries - stories often set in exclusive hotels and resorts, based on real life travel adventures with her husband of 44 years. Her mysteries incorporate her love of afternoon tea, which has earned her the title of “Queen of Afternoon Tea.” She holds a music degree from UT Austin and lives in Leander, Texas where she is a member of the Leander Writers Guild. She has won awards for her blogs, a pie contest for her Chocolate Chip Cream Pie, and has been on the Author Watch Bestseller List numerous times. Nancy Jill is busy working on book 6 Waiting for Santa, a murder mystery taking place on Christmas Eve near Jillian Bradley’s home in Clover Hills.

To check out her books, Murder in Half Moon Bay, The Ghost Orchid Murder, From the Clutches of Evil, The Mark of Eden, and Pacific Beach, please visit the Cozy Book Store and her blogs: 


Thursday, October 25, 2012

A Cozy Kitchen Kinda Day--By Linda Kozar

When we're not writing about sinister characters, foreboding settings, murder and mayhem, cozy authors like cooking . . . and eating. Here's an easy recipe for a chilly day of writing mysteries or reading them. Pile the ingredients in, curl up in an easy chair to read and dinner will be ready whenever you're ready to pry yourself away from your book:)


Broccoli/Cheese Crockpot Soup
Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 cup onion, chopped
  • tablespoons butter or tablespoons margarine
  • 1 (10 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • lb Velveeta cheese, cubed
  • 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli
  • Directions:
  • Sauté onion and green pepper in butter.
  • Combine all ingredients on low in crockpot for 3-4 hours. Do not add salt.  Add pepper to taste

    Linda Kozar is the co-author of Babes With A Beatitude—Devotions For Smart, Savvy Women of Faith (Hardcover/Ebook, Howard/Simon & Schuster 2009) and author of Misfortune Cookies (Print, Barbour Publishing 2008), Misfortune Cookies, A Tisket, A Casket, and Dead As A Doornail, (“When The Fat Ladies Sing Series,” eBooks, Spyglass Lane Mysteries, 2012). Her latest novel Strands of Fate released October 2012 (Hardcover/Ebook, Creative Woman Mysteries). She received the ACFW Mentor of the Year Award in 2007, founded and served as president of Writers On The Storm, The Woodlands, Texas ACFW chapter for three years. In 2003, she co-founded, co-directed and later served as Southwest Texas Director of Words For The Journey Christian Writers Guild. She and her husband Michael, married 24 years, have two lovely daughters, Katie and Lauren and a Rat Terrier princess named Patches.

    Represented by: Wendy Lawton, Books & Such Literary Agency

    Member of: CAN (Christian Authors Network), RWA (Romance Writers of American), WHRWA (West Houston Romance Writers of America), ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers), Writers On The Storm, The Woodlands, Texas Chapter of ACFW, Toastmasters (Area 56) The Woodlands, Texas. WoodsEdge Community Church

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

In The Life Of A Writer

Thought you might be interested in seeing what my little work area looks like. I sit on the couch with my laptop in my lap and type. That is where I am now. Anway here are pictures of the little area I work in including my dog Pepe who keeps me company. Maybe we can do more authors writing areas just to get to know them a little better!

 

My little writing area.




 
This is a table where I keep some of my supplies.
 

 
Here's my little dog Pepe.


Monday, October 22, 2012

Looking for a Cozy to Read?

Cozy Mystery List

A Guide to Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books and DVDs
 

Cozy-Mystery.com Just wanted to share this link with all you cozy mystery lovers. The lists are amazing! Feel free to check it out. The site has mysteries organized every which way so you can find whatever flavor of cozy you wish. Enjoy!

~Nancy Jill

Nancy Jill Thames is the author of the Jillian Bradley Mysteries - stories often set in exclusive hotels and resorts, based on real life travel adventures with her husband of 44 years. Her mysteries incorporate her love of afternoon tea, which has earned her the title of “Queen of Afternoon Tea.” She holds a music degree from UT Austin and lives in Leander, Texas where she is a member of the Leander Writers Guild. She has won awards for her blogs, a pie contest for her Chocolate Chip Cream Pie, and has been on the Author Watch Bestseller List numerous times. Nancy Jill is busy working on book 6 Waiting for Santa, a murder mystery taking place on Christmas Eve near Jillian Bradley’s home in Clover Hills.

To check out her books, Murder in Half Moon Bay, The Ghost Orchid Murder, From the Clutches of Evil, The Mark of Eden, and Pacific Beach, please visit the Cozy Book Store and her blogs: 
 

Friday, October 19, 2012

Wedding Bells

by Nancy Jill Thames

Tomorrow is the big day! Our son Mike is marrying Catherine, his beloved. For those of you who've happily experienced passing the baton of mothering to your son's new wife, you'll understand my feelings of joy and relief! She'll take good care of him, I believe. God has been so gracious to provide wonderful mates for three of our four children. We trust Him to provide for our youngest daughter Holly as well. As I posted previously on my Cozy Mystery Author blog, the many details of preparation seem like happy steps toward the wedding. Instead of feeling burdened with huge lists of things to do, I feel energized by the thought of God's answering our prayers for mates who are believers. And guess what else God did? He spurred me on to get "Waiting for Santa" rewritten and into the hands of my editor before the week got carried away with all the things to do. "We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28 HBP).

See you next week here on Cozy Mystery Magazine!

~Nancy Jill

Nancy Jill Thames is the author of the Jillian Bradley Mysteries - stories often set in exclusive hotels and resorts, based on real life travel adventures with her husband of 44 years. Her mysteries incorporate her love of afternoon tea, which has earned her the title of “Queen of Afternoon Tea.” She holds a music degree from UT Austin and lives in Leander, Texas where she is a member of the Leander Writers Guild. She has won awards for her blogs, a pie contest for her Chocolate Chip Cream Pie, and has been on the Author Watch Bestseller List numerous times. Nancy Jill is busy working on book 6 Waiting for Santa, a murder mystery taking place on Christmas Eve near Jillian Bradley’s home in Clover Hills.

To check out her books, Murder in Half Moon Bay, The Ghost Orchid Murder, From the Clutches of Evil, The Mark of Eden, and Pacific Beach, please visit the Cozy Book Store and her blog:
Queen of Afternoon Tea ~ Nancy Jill Thames.



Thursday, October 18, 2012

A Reveiw: The Birds by Daphne du Maurier

Real Birds Wouldn't Pose Again, But Even The Fake Ones Look Like They're Up To No Good
Okay, technically the short story The Birds is not a cozy mystery. However, I do recall post a while back about The Birds the movie, and since that got me curious about the short story it was based on, and the author Daphne du Maurier (of Rebecca fame) did write mysteries I figured it was the blogs’ fault in the first place so I’m posting it.
First question I know you are going to ask. Was it as scary as the movie? No.
It was way scarier.
Of course my state of mind might be a little off (yeah I know isn’t it always?) when a few days before I read The Birds an Angry Bird of some sort swooped down at me, for no reason whatsoever (really!) while I was minding my own business just going into a store. I actually felt its little belly rubbing against the top of my head, and it was so fast that I didn’t even see what kind of bird it was. Don’t worry, no damage done, but isn’t it the wrong time of year for them to be defending their nests or whatever their excuse is for swooping at people?
You’d think it had read my post where I call birds creepy. Of course that would mean that birds can read, and have access to a computer and know how to surf the web…
Did I mention birds are creepy?
Creepiness aside, you may wonder how a story about birds could possibly be scary. I mean we don’t really take them all that seriously as a threat now do we? Well I do, but then I have turkey vultures hanging around the creepy trees in the back of my place. I know, life is conspiring to give me a bird and tree phobia. Still aside from those neighbors what could possibly make our feathered friends scary?
How about this. What if the birds all got together, I mean all of them, got organized, and decided to take over at the top of the food chain? This means they decided that we would make for good eating.
See what I mean about creepy?
Well this is supposed to be a review, so here’s the plot in brief. Farm laborer notices that the birds are acting strange. Farm laborer and children are attacked in their home that same night by swallows. Wife thinks he’s exaggerating the whole thing. Why do wives always think that? Anyway, the next day the birds are amassing into large groups, and flying every which way as if they have a specific purpose in mind. Farm laborer senses the birds are up to no good. He’s right but no one takes him seriously. Do they ever? Their lack of concern is explained by one character asking what can birds do? A heck of a lot as it turns out. Well at least the wife is taking him more seriously. The laborer is determined to protect his family from the bird threat, but the situation does not look good for humanity.
What I really liked about the short story, and I liked it a lot, is it better explains what is going on with the birds than the movie did. Now I say this as a fan of the movie. Hitchcock was a master filmmaker, but the movie shows the birds running amok, but the explanation, or theorizing, of the behavior is not clear enough. At least I never got it.
But in the short story the birds are a ruthless, invading army dedicated to total annihilation of the enemy. Us.
There is this one description of a gannet, a really big seabird, preparing itself for an attack that will definitely take out our hero which was terrifying.
See? I told you birds were creepy. No one ever listens to me.
So if you like the scary (but not gross) stuff The Birds is good reading.
Although you might want to reconsider that bird feeder.


 
Mystery writer C.L. Ragsdale is the author of The Reboot Files a Christian Mystery Series. A California native, she loves to "surf" the web to research plot details for her fun, quirky stories with just a bit of whopper in them. She has a degree in Theatre Arts which greatly influenced her writing style. Working in various fields as a secretary has allowed her to both master her writing skills and acquire valuable technical knowledge which she uses liberally in her plots. She loves to embroider and knit and is a big fan of the old Scooby Doo cartoons.
Current E-Books
THE REBOOT FILES:  The Mystery of Hurtleberry House, The Island of Living Trees, The Harbinger of Retribution, and The Wrong Ghost.


Friday, October 12, 2012

The Cozy (Crazy) Fall Season

by Nancy Jill Thames

Watching a lot of television is not in the cards for me, but I do get snippets of news from online friends all over the country. Posts of early snowfalls in the Northern regions, photos of crock pots plugged in with tasty stews and soups simmering, and glimpses of plans for celebrating Halloween pop up on my screen indicating Fall is here. In Texas, the seasons are unpredictable. I've been here when the temperature is 90 degrees one January, and ice storms rage the next. For now, though, the temperatures are settling into the lower 80's with 60's in the evenings. Nice. Finally, I can say we're coming into the cozy fall season! 
Or should I say the crazy fall season? 

This fall our youngest son is getting married to a lovely young lady whom we are growing to love more each day. What a blessing! And what a crazy time getting the wedding together. Maybe it's just me, but when I have company coming, I want everything in my house to be just "so." In order to accomplish this major feat, many shopping trips are needed. Yesterday I went to four stores and came home with a sleeper sofa, ottoman, bed linens, new bathroom shower curtain and accessories, and a sack full of table toppers for the rehearsal dinner we're giving at our house. Whew! Crazy! But oh, so much fun. And what better excuse to buy all the things I've been wanting for the past couple of years? The best thing about this crazy cozy fall season, though, is that my family and friends from California will be coming to visit for a few days. I'm even throwing in a family reunion luncheon for my mom's side of the family - one cousin she hasn't seen for 75 years! Crazy! Well, maybe, but the memories of this particular fall will be precious, especially when our son and his bride walk down the aisle next Saturday evening and say, "I do."

~Nancy Jill

Nancy Jill Thames is the author of the Jillian Bradley Mysteries - stories often set in exclusive hotels and resorts, based on real life travel adventures with her husband of 44 years. Her mysteries incorporate her love of afternoon tea, which has earned her the title of “Queen of Afternoon Tea.” She holds a music degree from UT Austin and lives in Leander, Texas where she is a member of the Leander Writers Guild. She has won awards for her blogs, a pie contest for her Chocolate Chip Cream Pie, and has been on the Author Watch Bestseller List numerous times. Nancy Jill is busy working on book 6 Waiting for Santa, a murder mystery taking place on Christmas Eve near Jillian Bradley’s home in Clover Hills.

To check out her books, Murder in Half Moon Bay, The Ghost Orchid Murder, From the Clutches of Evil, The Mark of Eden, and Pacific Beach, please visit the Cozy Book Store and her blogs: 




Thursday, October 11, 2012

There Are Even More Rules! I've Got To Stop Doing Internet Searches.

A while back I posted the 10 British rules of writing a mystery. I thought that was a lot, until I discovered that there were 20 American Rules which a writer named S.S. Van Dine came up with 1928. You know us Americans, we have to do everything BIGGER. The fact that he also repeats the 10 rules laid down by the British helps makes his list really, really long, so I won’t comment on every rule because it would make this post really, really long, which it is going to be anyway (sorry). So I'll just comment on the ones I can’t resist.

Rule #1: The reader must have equal opportunity with the detective for solving the mystery. All clues must be plainly stated and described.
Commentary: What? No red herrings? There goes most of the mysteries in the past, I don’t know, FOREVER!
Rule #2:  No willful tricks or deceptions may be placed on the reader other than those played legitimately by the criminal on the detective himself.

Rules #3: There must be no love interest. The business in hand is to bring a criminal to the bar of justice, not to bring a lovelorn couple to the hymeneal altar.
Commentary: I don’t think this one went over really well with writers, seeing as everyone mostly ignored it.

Rules #4: The detective himself, or one of the official investigators, should never turn out to be the culprit. This is bald trickery, on a par with offering someone a bright penny for a five-dollar gold piece. It’s false pretenses.
Rule #5: The culprit must be determined by logical deductions – not by accident or coincidence or unmotivated confession. To solve a criminal problem in this latter fashion is like sending the reader on a deliberate wild-goose chase, and then telling him, after he has failed, that you had the object of his search up your sleeve all the time. Such an author is no better than a practical joker.

Rule #6: The detective novel must have a detective in it; and a detective is not a detective unless he detects. His function is to gather clues that will eventually lead to the person who did the dirty work in the first chapter; and if the detective does not reach his conclusion through an analysis of those clues, he has no more solved the problem than the schoolboy who gets his answer out of the back of the arithmetic.
Commentary: It wouldn’t be much of a mystery if it didn’t have a detective, in fact would it be a mystery at all?

Rule #7: There simply must be a corpse in a detective novel, and the deader the corpse the better. No lesser crime than murder will suffice. Three hundred pages is far too much pother for a crime other than murder. After all, the reader’s trouble and expenditure of energy must be rewarded.
Commentary: Well there goes every mystery where somebody didn’t die.

Rule #8: The problem of the crime must be solved by strictly naturalistic means. Such methods for learning the truth as slate-writing, ouija-boards, mind-reading, spiritualistic seances, crystal-gazing, and the like, are taboo. A reader has a chance when matching his wits with a rationalistic detective, but if he must compete with the world of spirits and go chasing about the fourth dimension of metaphysics, he is defeated ab initio.
Rule #9: There must be but one detective – that is, but one protagonist of deduction – one deus ex machina. To bring the minds of three or four, or sometimes a gang of detectives to bear on a problem, is not only to disperse the interest and break the direct thread of logic, but to take an unfair advantage of the reader. If there is more than one detective the reader doesn’t know who his co-dedutcor is. It’s like making the reader run a race with a relay team.

Commentary: This guy sure likes Latin doesn’t he?

Rule #10: The culprit must turn out to be a person who has played a more or less prominent part in the story – that is, a person with whom the reader is familiar and in whom he takes an interest.
Rule #11: A servant must not be chosen by the author as the culprit. This is begging a noble question. It is too easy a solution. The culprit must be a decidedly worth-while person – one that wouldn’t ordinarily come under suspicion.

Commentary: A worth-while murderer? Now there's a concept.

Rule #12: There must be but one culprit, no matter how many murders are committed. The culprit may, of course, have a minor helper or co-plotter; but the entire onus must rest on one pair of shoulders; the entire indignation of the reader must be permitted to concentrate on a single black nature.
Commentary: There is room for only one evil genius at the top.
Rule #13: Secret societies, camorras, mafias, et al. have no place in a detective story. A fascinating and truly beautiful murder is irredeemably spoiled by any such wholesome culpability. To be sure, the murderer in a detective novel should be given a sporting chance; but it is going too far to grant him a secret society to fall back on. No high-class, self-respecting murderer would want such odds.

Commentary: A beautiful murder? Uh…okay.
Rule #14: The method of murder, and the means of detecting it, must be rational and scientific. That is to say, pseudo-science and purely imaginative and speculative devices are not to be tolerated in the roman policier. Once an author soars into the realm of fantasy, in the Jules Verne manner, he is outside the bounds of detective fiction, cavorting in the uncharted reaches of adventure.

Rule #15: The truth of the problem must at all times be apparent – provided the reader is shrewd enough to see it. By this I mean that if the reader, after learning the explanation for the crime, should reread the book, he would see that the solution had, in a sense, been staring him in the face – that all the clues really pointed to the culprit – and that, if he had been as clever as the detective, he could have solved the mystery himself without going on to the final chapter. That the clever reader does often thus solve the problem goes without saying.
Rule #16: A detective novel should contain no long descriptive passages, no literary dallying with side-issues, no subtly worked-out character analyses, no “atmospheric” preoccupations. Such matters have no vital place in a record of crime and deduction. They hold up the action, and introduce issues irrelevant to the main purpose, which is to state a problem, analyze it, and bring it to a successful conclusion. To be sure, there must be a sufficient descriptiveness and character delineation to give the novel verisimilitude.

Commentary: Unlike this paragraph you mean?
Rule #17: A professional criminal must never be shouldered with the guilt of a crime in a detective story. Crimes by house-breakers and bandits are the province of police departments – not of authors and brilliant amateur detectives. A really fascinating crime in one committed by a pillar of a church, or a spinster noted for her charities.

Rule #18: A crime in a detective story must never turn out to be an accident of a suicide. To end an odyssey of sleuthing with such and anti-climax is to hoodwink the trusting and kind-hearted reader.
Rule #19: The motives for all crimes in detective stories should be personal. International plottings and war politics belong in a different category of fiction – in secret-service tales, for instance. But a murder story must be kept gemuetlich, so to speak. It must reflect the reader’s everyday experiences, and give him a certain outlet for his own repressed desires and emotions.

Commentary: What’s a gemuetlich?
Rule #20: And (to give my Credo an even score of items) I herewith list a few of the devices which no self-respecting detective-story writer will now avail himself of. They have been employed often, and are familiar to all true lovers of literary crime. To use them is a confession of the author’s ineptitude and lack of originality:

(a) Determining the identity of the culprit by comparing the butt of a cigarette left at the scene of the crime with the brand smoked by the suspect.
(b) The bogus spiritualistic seance to frighten the culprit into giving himself away.
(c) Forged fingerprints.
(d) The dummy-figure alibi.
(e) The dog that does not bark and thereby reveals the fact that the intruder is familiar.
(f) The final pinning of the crime on a twin, or a relative who looks exactly like the suspected, but innocent, person.
(g) The hypodermic syringe and knockout drops.
(h) The commission of the murder in a locked room after the police have actually broken in.
(i) The word-association test for guilt.
(j) the cipher, or code letter, which is eventually unraveled by the sleuth.

Commentary: So not only did this writer make the rules, he’s kindly going to tell you how to write your book!

That’s the American rules, can you spoke where he stole…I mean repeated the British rules? And which ones don't you don’t follow you rule breakers you?
Mystery writer C.L. Ragsdale is the author of The Reboot Files a Christian Mystery Series. A California native, she loves to "surf" the web to research plot details for her fun, quirky stories with just a bit of whopper in them. She has a degree in Theatre Arts which greatly influenced her writing style. Working in various fields as a secretary has allowed her to both master her writing skills and acquire valuable technical knowledge which she uses liberally in her plots. She loves to embroider and knit and is a big fan of the old Scooby Doo cartoons.
Current E-Books
THE REBOOT FILES:  The Mystery of Hurtleberry House, The Island of Living Trees, The Harbinger of Retribution, and The Wrong Ghost.