Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles give the inside scoop on their new Molly Murphy book, IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW.   RHYS: Last year I blogged with my daughter Clare to introduce you to her and to our co-written Molly Murphy books.  This year we are celebrating the publication of IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW, which is book 20. TWENTY books in a series is something of an achievement in the cut throat world of book publishing. To keep a series fresh and new and attract new readers all this time is an achievement. We are patting ourselves on the back! In 2001 the first Molly Murphy book was published. It was called MURPHY’S LAW and if you check on Amazon it is still selling remarkably well. It also came out with a bang, winning the Agatha award plus three others and being nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark award. Molly was an Irish immigrant who had to flee from Ireland in fear for her life, arrived on Ellis Island using another woman’s name only to find herself, under that name, accused of murder. So her arrival was not auspicious and through the first books in the series her life…

RHYS BOWEN: Last year when our first book came out I was doing an interview and the person asked, “So how did you find your co-writer?” My answer was “I made her.” Because Clare Broyles, my co-writer is also my daughter. I had put the Molly Murphy series on hiatus after seventeen books, reluctantly, but I simply could not write three books a year and the Royal Spyness series and stand alones were thriving and more important to me. Clare came to me one day and said, “I think I’d like to write the Molly Murphy books with you.” I was a little hesitant. I knew she was a good writer. I knew we had a smooth and easy relationship, but I wondered how much extra work I’d be taking on. I thought I’d have to walk her through the first books together, do a lot of re-writing and I balked at that amount of time. Also, I wondered what would happen if I found it wasn’t working out. How would it change our relationship if I had to tell her no thank you? But I gave it a go and it was pure joy from day one. Clare reread…

Danielle Jackson: Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Rhys! We are so happy to have you here to chat about your long-running series, Royal Spyness. What are some of your favorite things about writing about Lady Georgiana and all of the mysteries she gets involved in?   Rhys Bowen:  I have become so fond of these characters, it’s rather like going back to a high school reunion and reconnecting with old friends. And who wouldn’t want the chance to spend time with the royal family and eccentric aristocrats? The newest book, GOD REST YE, ROYAL GENTLEMEN, is a holiday mystery novel! Did you do anything fun to get in the mood while writing a Christmas novel? Were there any unforeseen challenges writing a mystery with some added holiday cheer?  I was actually writing this last October to December so it was a good time of year as the stores already had all their Christmas items. Also, I usually spend my winters in Arizona where it isn’t cold and Christmassy. Because of Covid, I stayed home in California so there were cold winds and occasional rain. It would have been harder to write it in July. The big challenge about writing a holiday mystery…

Christmas—the time for exchanging gifts with those we love.  But sometimes, the greatest gift we can give is to ourselves, sorting through the clutter of everyday life and conventional expectations to discover who we really are—and having the courage to pursue that.  In this month’s selections, we look at four women who manage just that. We begin chronologically with ENCHANTRESS OF NUMBERS by Jennifer Chiaverini.  Ada Byron Lovelace was the famed Romantic poet’s only legitimate child, who grew up estranged from the father her bitter mother thought deranged.  Because of her mother’s fears that she might inherit her father’s “insanity,” Ada was from childhood kept away from tales of fantasy and make-believe and led to pursue mathematical and scientific studies, subjects in which she excelled.  Though she debuts and makes the expected society marriage, she never gives up her intellectual pursuits, maintaining contacts with a number of leading scientists and philosophers. Through one of her former tutors, she meets inventor Charles Babbage and becomes fascinated by his “Difference Engine,” one of the earliest versions of a computer.  She will eventually write for Burbage’s machine an algorithm that some consider the first true computer program.  Before her tragic early death, she…

Lady Georgie has certainly come a long way since I met her in that first book called HER ROYAL SPYNESS, ten years ago. Then she was a naïve, unsophisticated person, unsure of herself and her future. She was brave enough to make the decision to flee from the family castle and come alone to London where she had to learn the most basic of skills: from making tea to lighting a fire. For the first few books, she tried various ways of earning money, from cleaning houses, to running an escort service, to modeling clothes–all disastrous. But the one good thing that happened to her was that she met Darcy. And in spite of the fact that she was not the sort of sophisticated girl-about-town he normally associated with, he fell for her.  She certainly played hard to get, didn’t she?  It took twelve books before he got her into bed and then it was after they married. Now we come to the thirteenth book in the series, called LOVE AND DEATH AMONG THE CHEETAHS. You’ll guess from the title that it might take place in Africa. The book starts exactly where the last one left off, with Georgie and…

It’s my favorite time of year…I get to choose my favorite cozies released in the past twelve months!  And yet, it’s the hardest thing to do, almost like looking at all of the ornaments on my tree and trying to decide which ones I like the most. Since they all belong to my kids and were gifts from my parents who have been gone for too many years, it’s a monumental task, emotional and heart-warming. Like our ornaments, each mystery I’ve featured, along with the books featured on the Cozy Corner by guest authors, has a special place on my bookshelf. Whether it be the hardback, paperback or the ebook, I tend to keep more than I should so that I can go back and reminisce about the wonderful experience. Maybe I should start a tree with book ornaments—my very own Charli Rae and Scarlet would love that in the Book Barn, don’t you think? Princess the armadillo, however, would probably root through the ornaments and knock over the tree. Goodness, but I do see a holiday novella scurrying through my brain for next year! Without further ado, I give you my favorite mysteries and blogs of 2018! Teen Drama…

It has taken twelve books but I think Georgie is finally learning to stand up for herself. When we first met her in HER ROYAL SPYNESS she was stuck in dreary Scottish Castle Rannoch, supposed to make a good match with one of those “half-lunatic, buck-toothed, chinless, spineless and utterly awful princes who still seem to litter Europe.” The family had singled out Prince Siegfried of Rumania as a potential spouse. It is this that pushes Georgie into her first real rebellion. She bolts from Castle Rannoch down to London to make her own way in life. There is no way she is going to marry a man she and her friends call Fish-face. And how lucky that decision was. At later meetings he makes it clear to her that if they marry she only has to produce the heir and he will never trouble her again. No thank you, Georgie says. And as the books progress it seems she has a chap of her own in mind. Not royal, not even English. An Irish rogue, living a shady life. But irresistibly handsome and oh so naughty. Then it turns out he is the son of a lord, and his…

Whoever said these were our golden years, was either living on martinis on the beach or hadn’t reached the gilded age when every bone and joint in their body screamed for attention. I’ve ignored the screaming for a few years, but the noise is now coming from a woman in a white lab coat with the initials DR imprinted in front of her name. The fun of my youth (and beyond) has a price to pay, and it’s time to pay. So I’ll be taking a few months sabbatical from blogging, podcasting and writing and working on physical fitness. Unfortunately, surfing is on doc’s ‘no-no’ list for the next year—grrr. The best part of that news, however, is that I have lined up some amazing guest bloggers from July to October! As soon as I put the news out, authors came through for me in overwhelming numbers. That’s how awesome the community is;) Here is your line-up for the Cozy Corner for the rest of the summer—until we meet again in October, get cozy and read on! Rebecca Adler Karen Rose Smith Rhys Bowen Krista Davis Olivia Matthews Tina Kashian Sofie Kelly Libby Klein Jenn McKinlay Winnie Archer Lena Gregory…

It’s hard to pick the best mysteries of the past year, especially when I’m limited on space. I don’t feature a book I don’t love, so if you’ve seen it on the Cozy Corner, you know I adored it. Yet each year I torture myself by trying to list the best mysteries, and considering I never come close to reading all of the books in my to-be-read file, it’s an impossible task. What if the best is still at the bottom of that pile?! This year the challenge seemed even more difficult and my pile even bigger, which led me to choose books that resonated with me, for one reason or another, throughout the past twelve months. I hope you enjoy my picks for 2017’s best mysteries. ON HER MAJESTY’S FRIGHTFULLY SECRET SERVICE ON HER MAJESTY’S FRIGHTFULLY SECRET SERVICE by Rhys Bowen Royal Spyness Mystery #11 In the new Royal Spyness Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Crowned and Dangerous, Lady Georgiana Rannoch juggles secret missions from the Queen, Darcy, and her mother. But it’s all in a day’s work when you’re thirty-fifth in line to the British Crown. When Darcy runs off on another secret assignment,…

CROWNED AND DANGEROUS by Rhys Bowen A Royal Spyness Mystery For the first time in paperback, the latest Royal Spyness Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Malice at the Palace. Nothing is simple when you’re thirty-fifth in line for the British crown, least of all marriage. But with love on their side, and plans to elope, Lady Georgiana Rannoch and her beau, Darcy O’Mara, hope to bypass a few royal rules. Their plans are thwarted when they learn that Georgie’s future father-in-law has been arrested for the murder of a wealthy American. With the elopement postponed, they head for Ireland where Darcy’s father insists he’s innocent, and it’s up to Georgie and Darcy to prove it—for better or worse. Mystery Private Eye | Mystery Historical [Berkley Prime Crime, On Sale: August 1, 2017, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book (reprint), ISBN: 9780425283493 / eISBN: 9780698410244] Buy CROWNED AND DANGEROUS: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | iTunes/iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Ripped Bodice | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR About Rhys Bowen Rhys Bowen is the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Royal…