The Joy! The Relief! On Birthing Ghostwriter 7 and Discounting the First 6 ($5 for all!)

ON THE EVE of her 10th birthday, Phoebe Fisher wakes to find her entire family has vanished. Twenty years later and ghostwriter Roxy Parker is hired to write 'Forgotten Phoebe's memoir, but is she getting the whole story, the true story of what really happened that fateful day…?

It's such a hackneyed phrase, forgive me, but writing a book really is like having a baby—the pain, the promise, the missing months—that I can't help but trot out that old chestnut again. 

Not only do you get 'mummy brain' (just ask my family—they're so thrilled to have me back), even the stages of pregnancy are the same, starting with the queasy first trimester when you're building the story's skeleton, blood and bone. Then there's the blissful middle bit where you get to pad it all out, followed by the difficult final trimester when you have to squish it all together, hope everything's in the right place, and bring this baby home!

We're not quite at the birthing stage yet folks, but boy we're close. My seventh Ghostwriter Mystery is officially with my editor (hey Annie!) and I'm in the throes of creating the cover with my lovely designer Stu. So put the champagne on ice and get the cigars out, because we're almost there! Ahhh...

Meanwhile…

It's been a while between Ghostwriter mysteries, so get familiar with Roxy and her crew. While each book is a stand-alone adventure, knowing the back story always makes for a much richer and more immersive read. 

Which is why I'm discounting all six of the previous books (well, the first one's free so that's even better!) For ONE WEEK ONLY every Ghostwriter Mystery is on SALE for just 99c each. And you can still get Book 1 for zip.

That's six ebooks for less than $5! But get in quick. SALE ENDS FEBRUARY 21.

Next newsletter you'll get a sneak peek of the new cover, and a title reveal. And there'll be free copies, too. Until then, happy (ghostwriter) reading!

xo Christina

The true story behind the real SS Orient

“The SS Orient, kiddoes! It’s a sign from Dame Christie herself!”

Missy Corner, Murder on the Orient (SS)

At last, here it is... 

If you enjoyed the first book or are just looking for a classic whodunnit, the Agatha Christie Book Club is back, this time on a nautical adventure called Murder on the Orient (SS), now available for pre-order at Amazon.

Murder on the Orient (SS) follows our beloved book lovers as they embark on a "quiet cruise" (cough, cough) between Sydney, Australia and Auckland in New Zealand.

Naturally, the first dead body shows up within 24 hours, but it's not really until a second body goes missing—this time with a loud squeal and an ominous splash overboard in the dead of night—that the club decides to pull on their Poirot mo' and investigate.

Based on a real ship

Like all my mysteries, this one was a lot of fun to write, but it was even more fun to research. Anyone who knows me, knows I love to sink my teeth into crusty old documents, dusty old reference books, and pages and pages of web material to get at the truth.

I'm a research junkie with no desire to kick the habit.

And this book was research (Acapulco) gold. The SS Orient really does exist. Or it did, back in 1879 when it was first built. And while the steamship only sailed a mere 30 years or so, mostly between London and "the colonies", it was also literary gold as far as I was concerned.

I quickly created a modern-day replica of the SS Orient and lured my book club aboard.

Not only does the ship have the perfect name—“The SS Orient, kiddoes! It’s a sign from Dame Christie herself!”—it was the ideal setting for an old-fashioned style whodunnit, the kind of ship Dame Christie (Miss Marple or Poirot) might have voyaged on had the opportunity come up.

It's elegantly designed and decorated and has few mod cons like CCTV and WiFi to get in the way of a good story. After all, there's no chance of sneaking into someone's cabin to bump them off on the Pacific Princess what with all those pesky cameras catching your every move.

Based on a favourite story

Now that I had the setting I just needed a great plot and I may—or may not—have borrowed from the Queen of Crime. I wanted there to be echoes of the original Murder on the Orient Express without being a carbon copy. Some elements are similar, some are wildly different, and Agatha Christie aficionados will enjoy a little trainspotting as the story progresses.

Just don't expect it to be handed to you on a silver platter. Like Christie's books, I provide a stack of clues and some fishy red herrings to keep you guessing right until the 'great reveal' at the end.

Or at least that's the plan.

I'd love to hear your thoughts once you've read the book. For now, jot me a line and let me know what you think of the cover, the setting and the basic premise of the story. Or simply sign up for your early copy at Amazon here.

Murder on the Orient (SS) will be officially launched on Friday, May 13. Yep, that's black Friday.

Unlucky for some.

If you haven't read the first in the series, The Agatha Christie Book Club, grab a copy now or look out for future discounts. There'll be plenty of those.

Until then, happy (retro) reading, everyone!
xo Christina

How cozy am I?

I'm often described as the author of 'cozy mysteries' and I have no problem with that. I've always celebrated that title because it sounds about right. I love cozy mysteries myself. I like to snuggle up in front of the fire and read/solve a good mystery without having my wits terrified or my stomach turn from all the blood and gore.

Give me a tiny dagger wound and a good riddle any day over a sleazy serial killer who tortures his victims and scares the bejesus out of his readers. No thank you!

And I guess I write that way, too. My murders are not prolonged bloodfests, there's no Mr Evil lurking on every page, stringing out your nerves or startling you under the bed covers. There's a quick death and a lot of clues to help you work out whodunnit.

There's just one problem...

My characters tend to swear a lot. I mean, A LOT. And that's largely because most of my books are set in Australia. I've discussed this before, but it's important to remind everyone that profanities are a regular part of the Australian discourse. Love it or loathe, Aussies are a pretty foul-mouthed bunch. It's just part of who we are. An adult conversation is rarely completed without the odd 'bloody', 'shit', 'crap' and—dare I say it—f-word.

Doesn't bloody matter who you are or what friggin' class/wage bracket you're in, most of us swear. We don't give it a second thought. It's the laid-back, laconic image we have manifested and can't seem to shake off, even when no one's listening. Most of us don't have a problem with it, either, it's just a cultural thang.

But is it a 'cozy' thing?

Therein lies my conundrum. Because some of my characters cuss regularly and are quite gritty, does this negate the cozy title? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. I know that many American readers of 'Cozy Crime', want the writing to be as benign as the murders and that's fair enough. Yet, as I tell my critics, to erase all the bad language in my books (which are largely set in Australia) would be like taking out the big hair, guns and the word 'ya'll' from a mystery set in America's deep south.

It just wouldn't ring true.

Yet to say my books are not cozy would be like calling Agatha Christie's work 'Thrillers'. We are what we are, give or take a few f-bombs.

What do you think? Does it even matter? Perhaps all this labelling is a bloody big waste of time? I'd love to hear from you. Jot me a comment below or email me directly: christina.larmer@gmail.com

Happy reading, everyone.
xo Christina

Can you pick it?

I just got paid the biggest compliment a mystery writer could ever receive. The words were like finding the cold spot in a hot pool on a boiling day. Like discovering a lone chocolate TimTam sitting in the back of the fridge, forgotten by your greedy husband and just waiting for you to pick it up and dip it into that steamy cup of Darjeeling. Luscious. Rewarding. The kind of stuff that keeps you going, even when you feel like you're failing at it and wonder why you bother.

"I couldn't pick the killer."

Yes, yeeees, YEEEEEEES!

My sister just read Words Can Kill, the fifth Ghostwriter Mystery, and my mother before her, and both said the same thing. They had a few ideas, a vague inkling, but the murderer came as a wonderful and very satisfying surprise. And that's all you can ask for in a murder mystery. Well, that and a good ride along the way.

I think I can, I think I can ...

Before I started writing crime fiction, I was a voracious reader of the stuff. Still am, of course. (How can you not love crime fiction if you write it?) I can never seem to get enough but I always veer towards books and authors where I have a good chance of picking the killer. I don't necessarily want to succeed at it, and it's always so much more thrilling if I don't, but I need to be able to have a red hot go.

I don't read crime because I love murder and mayhem. I read to solve a puzzle.

For that reason, I can't stand books where most of the vital information is deliberately withheld, where there's no chance in hell you'll ever pick whodunit. (And don't even start me on books that end with, 'And then I woke up ...' No, really?!)

In my novels I always enable my readers to work it out. I don't want them to, please understand that, but I need them to know they can. If they're extra vigilant and super smart, they absolutely can.

I think that's crucial, and it's only fair. I don't hide any important truths (not forever, anyway) and I always embed the text with subtle clues. I might dazzle and distract as I plant those clues, and I might throw in a couple of stinky red herrings to put them off, but the point is they CAN solve my mystery if they want to.

Because of that, however, there is always the grave risk that readers will solve it long before it's over, and some of my readers get quite cranky with me when they do. It's as though I've robbed them of a rare gem, evacuated the gourmet restaurant just before dessert arrived. I feel their pain, really I do, but walking that tightrope between hiding the clues and making the book solveable is a tricky one. And apparently I've got the balance right this time (or at least that's what Michelle and Mum tell me, and believe me, very little gets past those two!).

How about you?

So how did you go? Have you read Words Can Kill yet and did you pick the culprit? I'd love to hear if you did solve the mystery and at what stage along the way.

And if you didn't solve it, I'd love to hear from you, too. Oh who am I kidding, I especially want to hear from you! Please get in touch; your comments are always welcome, below or straight to email.

In the meantime, happy guessing, everyone, and may the red herrings nip at your heels ...
xo Christina