As a long-time cozy mystery author, I often get asked what inspires my books. For most of my books, I usually can’t pinpoint one incident. It may just be that I’m inspired by a group of friends that get together to scrapbook and share stories of their families, like with the Cumberland Creek series. Or, with the Cora Crafts series, I saw these wonderful craft retreats I wanted to attend, but never could afford to, so I just created one myself.

But with the Beach Reads series, I can pinpoint the exact time and place.

I was visiting North Myrtle Beach with a dear friend. We were alone, having left our kids behind with the husbands. It was one of the best vacations I ever had. We had a certain freedom that moms don’t get enough of. We slept when we wanted, ate when we wanted, read without interruption, and we indulged in gorgeous, peaceful long walks.

One morning, while sitting at my laptop, because of course, I wrote during the vacation, I thought, “This vacation is perfect. The only thing it’s missing is a bookstore to walk to and pick out another book.”

And then and there, Beach Reads Bookstore was born. I fantasized about the perfect beach bookstore and the character came to me very quickly. By the time the vacation was over, I had written an outline to show my agent.

Are you surprised that it’s never the murder that inspires me? It never is. It’s always a place, people, and well, just a feeling. Of course cozy mysteries have a lot going on in them besides the mystery. But that’s the subject of another blog post.

A Killer Romance

(A Beach Reads Mystery)
by Maggie Blackburn
Cozy Mystery 3rd in Series
Setting – North Carolina Crooked Lane Books
(February 6, 2024)
Hardcover : 304 pages

Love and murder are in the air this Valentine’s day in Maggie Blackburn’s third Beach Reads mystery, perfect for fans of Eva Gates and Miranda James.

When Beach Reads bookshop hosts a Valentine’s Day event, “Romance by the Sea,” bookseller Summer Merriweather has no idea that the guest author is under investigation for her own husband’s murder. When that same author is found dead at the local bed and breakfast, nobody assumes it’s natural causes–there were plenty of people who wanted her dead.

As Summer searches for the truth about the author’s stranger-than-fiction life, Summer finds suspicious indications of shady behavior in the author’s belongings. But the casual sleuthing is quickly derailed when Summer’s friend Glads gets hauled in for the murder, and they launch a full-blown investigation to clear her name.

As Summer and company pick through the scant clues to solve the case, they may find more treachery and heartbreak than they bargained for.

Purchase Links
Amazon – B&N – Bookshop.org

Maggie Blackburn is the pen name for bestselling mystery author Mollie Cox Bryan, who writes cozy mysteries with edge. She’s the author of several bestselling mystery series Her books have been selected as finalists for an Agatha Award and a Daphne du Maurier Award and as a Top 10 Beach Reads by Woman’s World. She has also been short-listed for the Virginia Library People’s Choice Award. She’s also penned a historical mystery under the name of Mollie Ann Cox. She lives in Crozet, Va. and is the mother of two grown, nearly perfect daughters.

Author Links
Website – Goodreads – Facebook – Twitter/ X – Instagram

$15 Amazon Gift Card