Fiction Writing and Other Oddities

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Guest Author: Alyssa Lyons

We are extraordinarily lucky to have Alyssa Lyons with us. She's a fabulous writer and is the author of some of my favorite cozy mysteries.

Not Your Mother’s Cozy Mystery


Hi, all. I’m Alyssa Lyons and I want to introduce you to Chick Mystery. When most readers think of the amateur sleuth mystery, commonly called a “cozy,” images pop up of Miss Jane Marple or Jessica Fletcher.

Ta-ta, Miss Marple. Go back to Cabot Cove, Mrs. Fletcher. Welcome Jordan Ashley Davis, amateur sleuth extraordinaire. On the sunny side of thirty, instead of a sensible dress, she might be tooling around her hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia in a red leather catsuit on a Triumph motorcycle. Forget a nice pot of chamomile tea, Jordan is more likely to quaff a venti soy chai latte from the Boonsboro Road Starbucks. No purring cat curled up around her legs, instead, she has a miniature schnauzer with his own helmet and leather motorcycle jacket, all the better to ride behind Jordan on her bike. Her day job is the unique funeral boutique, Last Wishes, where she plans and executes custom funerals and memorials for her clients. “You envision it, I make it happen.” This means skirting around a few laws and regulations—and running into murder.

Jordan doesn’t mind bending a few rules, but the same isn’t true of Judge Grayson Trent. Another Lynchburg native who escaped to San Francisco, is a little bit of a stick in the mud, but a gorgeous one. You can’t imagine Miss Marple as anything but a confirmed spinster and Jessica Fletcher lusting after Sheriff Amos Tupper—Heaven forfend. But when Jordan and Gray get together, sparks fly. Becca Morrison is Gray’s godmother and Jordan’s client and when Jordan discovers her death wasn’t from natural causes, it sets in motion a hunt for a serial killer trying to purify the town of its more unholy elements. And he’s added Jordan to his hit list.

You’ll meet Jordan, Gray, and a host of the type of characters you really only find in small Southern cities, because the city of Lynchburg is as much a character as any of the people, in Last Wishes.

In Clubbed to Death, Jordan and Gray must discover who killed the president of the Junior League and exonerate Jordan’s half-sister. In their search for the real killer, they run into a plot that introduces you to three terrific children who will change their lives.

And coming soon, Stabbed and Slabbed, where Jordan and Gray, on a Caribbean cruise, must discover who murdered the ship’s master of ceremonies when they are two the of prime suspects.

If you want to read excerpts, as well as see photos of Lynchburg, please go to my website, http://www.alyssalyons.com/ . If you like what you read, there are links to buy the books, which are available for all ebook devices. Last Wishes will also soon be available in paperback.

A hip chick solving crime Southern style. Definitely not your mother’s cozy mystery novel.

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Thank you so much, Alyssa!

2 comments:

Ann Summerville said...

I don't think I've ever seen Jessica Fletcher on a motor cycle, definitely a different slant on cozies. Interesting post.
Ann

David R. Willis said...

Great genre idea. I'll be interested to see if it catches on. Stellar story ideas!