What was your inspiration for FLIRTING WITH MURDER?
FLIRTING WITH MURDER was born from my love of outspoken women, colorful living arrangements, and mysteries that don’t take themselves too seriously.
In the description, it says that Virginia and Felix go “from rivals to co-detectives”. How quickly would you say their relationship evolves? How high is the snark factor?
The initial hostilities fall by the wayside as soon as they have to unite against a common enemy (or three), but the banter never stops. Teasing is their love language. Snark-wise, they are on par with most of the teens of my acquaintance, which is to say: devastating.
FLIRTING WITH MURDER is described as a “comedic mystery” (which I love). Is there kind of an even balance between comedic elements and suspense?
I think if you put the comedy on one side of a seesaw and the suspense on the other, comedy would have its feet on the ground and suspense would be dangling in mid-air calling for help. But I did try to throw in some aha! moments amid the jokes, and I hope that the puzzle pieces of the mystery are satisfyingly twisty.
What do you like most about writing YA fiction? Is there another genre or subgenre you’ve thought about getting into?
While I would never want to be a teenager again, I can appreciate in hindsight that those years were rich in thinking and feeling and wondering time, before adult responsibilities and distractions set in. There’s a lot of stress in periods of flux and uncertainty, when you’re trying to figure out who you and what you care about, but the other side of that is the thrill of yearning and dreaming and hoping.
For my next act, I’d like to try writing a main character my own age or older, to dig a little deeper into the concerns of a very different stage of existence, full of its own kind of change.
Other authors I’ve interviewed have told me that the kinds of books they enjoy reading are different from the kind of books they enjoy writing. What do you like to read? Favorite books? Favorite author?
I’m a pretty eclectic reader, but for someone who writes exclusively realistic contemporary fiction (thus far!), I am a huge fan of fantasy. Robin McKinley, Katherine Arden, and Naomi Novik are some of my favorites in that space.
If you could pick one of your books—other than FLIRTING WITH MURDER—to recommend to a reader unfamiliar with your work, which one would you pick? And why?
BY THE BOOK is probably the most “me” thing I’ve written, between the big family, copious references to 19th-century lit, and small-town coziness. The ratio of jokes to serious moments is also a fair warning to readers of any of my books. Plus, it has an utterly lovely cover, so it’s worth seeking out for Monique Aimee’s swoon-worthy art alone.
What are you currently working on?
Right now I am up to my eyeballs in the sequel to FLIRTING WITH MURDER. It’s called TICKET TO DIE, and if you’re thinking it sounds like the Castle Claude crew might be heading for an adventure on a train, you are on the right track! Pun very much intended.
FLIRTING WITH MURDER by Amanda Sellet
The Agathas meets Thursday Murder Club in Amanda Sellet’s latest YA novel, a cozy mystery with a splash of romance.
Some people visit Florida for theme parks and beaches. High school junior Virginia Tillis is there for murder. Accidents, electrocution, tainted hand lotion: every victim meets a different end at her grandmother Lainey’s rococo pink condo. Such is life (and death) when you roll with a crew of theater retirees who roleplay murder mysteries from the comfort of their own home in a game they fondly call Killing Me Softly.
But this summer, fictional murder has given way to the very real death of the building’s beloved owner and his dramatic last testament has the vultures circling, from estranged relatives to sleazy property developers, dead set on getting the most from his will.
Adding to the tension for Virginia is the appearance of Felix, the cute guy she met at the airport who turns out to be the grandson of one of the condo’s residents. With his charm and musical theater chops, he’s the person Virginia most wants to beat at Killing Me Softly. That is, until the day they discover an actual dead body while playing the game, forcing them to work together to figure out whodunit.
In this comedic mystery about finding the Watson to your Holmes, Virginia and Felix must banter their way from rivals to co-detectives in time to save their eccentric grandparents from a shocking disruption to the community they’ve always loved.
Mystery | Young Adult Romance | Young Adult Suspense [ Wednesday Books, On Sale: April 21, 2026, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781250360199 / eISBN: 9781250360182 ]
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About Amanda Sellet
Amanda Sellet had a previous career in journalism, during which she wrote book reviews for The Washington Post, personal essays for NPR, and music and movie coverage for VH1. She has an M.A. in Cinema Studies from NYU and spent a year in England as au pair to an actress who has played in her share of period dramas. These days she lives in Kansas with her archaeologist husband and their daughter.
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