I always make playlists as I start a new project. Noise cancelling headphones and a good playlist can transport you from your workspace to the haunted mansion or magical underwater battleground that serves as your setting. (I used so much Florence and the Machine for the underwater battleground. Something about their music just makes me think of mermaids.)
So for A CUTE LITTLE MURDER – a mystery set at an isolated Prohibition-era hotel, featuring two former crime-fighting friends who graduated from high school in the 2010s – I needed a several different styles of music to find the mental path to Bantam Island. And it turns out most of them are throwbacks or restyled throwbacks, and I think it suits me just fine.
I do have a Spotify list of thirtyish songs under this link, but the five that I think serve as the best example are
TOXIC (Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox) – The original Britney Spears release was a little before our main character, Lainey Piper, former sidekick to online teen sleuth Harlow Drake, graduated from high school. But the chanteuse crooning about toxicity, when Lainey’s unsteady dynamic with her friend (Frenemy? Parter in crime-fighting?) – it just fits. Harlow needs Lainey to help recapture her true crime TV success. Lainey needs money to pay off mounting debts. It gives the “not quite BFFs” energy I needed.
JUST A GIRL (Florence & The Machine) – This song was an anthem of my girlhood, but I love the way Florence Welch’s voice gives it whole new life – desperate, wistful, a little angry. It expresses how Lainey feels about her “glory days” with Harlow. They might have built up a fandom solving small-town cases, but they didn’t make a lot of friends. And their most notorious case left Lainey holding the bag full of blame. This song is full of turmoil and uncertainty, which is just how Lainey feels, spending time with Harlow again.
HIT THE ROAD JACK (2WEI feat. Bri Bryant) – It’s such a cool jazzy standard but with a brooding note of “Something is not quite right” under the surface. The Crossings Hotel is dilapidated, but it would be all too easy to relax into what was once a stately, luxurious retreat for the wealthy and privileged. There is so much wrong – the legend of a hidden speakeasy somewhere on the property, a historic archive full of turn-of-the-century household poisons, the oblivious tech bros who bought the place and expect Lainey to solve mysteries in real-time like a live show. This song has a really unnerving quality that I needed to capture the dangers of nostalgia.
SHAKE THAT THING (Abe Lyman and the California Orchestra) – This is one of the few truly “old” songs on the list. First released in 1932, the blaring, staccato horns were exactly what I needed when writing scenes set in a long-abandoned underground speakeasy. It sounds sort of muted and faraway, like time has eroded the notes. You can imagine forbidden cocktails being served and fortunes being lost at the card tables. I experimented with various 1920s mixology recipes during the writing process, so I could best describe the (possibly poisoned) drinks served to the characters. I discovered that while I do enjoy a nice Bee’s Knees, the Last Word is not for me. There’s an irony there.
ZOMBIE (Wednesday Soundtrack Version – Nevermore Academy Orchestra) – With most projects, I find a mostly instrumental song to play on repeat, that won’t draw me out of a marathon writing session. This orchestral version of a Cranberries classic is contemplative and majestic. I could see Lainey running through the darkened hotel corridors after everything has gone wrong – and being genuinely frightened for her.
If you’d like to read about Lainey’s misadventures through secret passageways and social labyrinths, A CUTE LITTLE MURDER will be available in print, ebook and audio on April 21. Amanda Ronconi will narrate the audio book.
A CUTE LITTLE MURDER by Molly Harper
Narrator: Amanda Ronconi
She used to be the sidekick. Now she might be the only one who can survive.
As teens, Harlow Drake and Lainey Piper built an online fandom solving small-town crimes. Harlow was the star, Lainey the behind-the-scenes genius (and often, Harlow’s scapegoat). Years later, Harlow’s hosting a hit true crime tv show. Lainey? She’s working in forensics. Well, forensic accounting . . . from home. In pajamas. With her cat.
But when Harlow faces significant backlash over fumbling a case, she needs a quick win—like a special investigation into the decades-old disappearance of a starlet from a once-glamorous, now decrepit island hotel. The catch? It’s bankrolled by Deke and Bryce of DBag Games, who are looking to shed their “frat bro” reputations. As long-time fans, they have one requirement for their funding: Lainey has to play the sidekick again.
Lainey is wary, but the offer is a lifeline in a sea of unpaid student loans. After reaching the Crossings Hotel, she realizes she’s not content to be Harlow’s helper anymore. As the cold case heats up, a crew member falls over dead, presenting Harlow and Lainey with a more modern mystery: what secrets does this hotel hide within its walls?
With sabotage, hidden staircases, and a killer in their midst, Lainey steps into the spotlight and takes charge of the investigation. It’s up to her to crack the case—as long as she can stay alive.
Women’s Fiction Contemporary | Mystery Woman Sleuth [ Berkley, On Sale: April 21, 2026, Paperback / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9780593817346 / eISBN: 9780593817353 ]
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About Molly Harper
Molly Harper is the author of more than thirty paranormal and contemporary romance titles, including the Half-Moon Hollow series, the Southern Eclectic series, and the Audible exclusive Mystic Bayou series. Molly lives in Michigan with her family.
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