How Marvel is Behind My New Mystery Series (No, Really)
HOW MY SLEUTHS WERE BORN
As you know, the third book in my Sleuths of Last Resort series is now alive and kicking — grab your eCopy here (paperback out soon) — but how did it come about?
I'm telling you, it's all thanks to Marvel.
There I was, minding my own business…
One day I received a lovely Zoom call from a young agent in the UK. She'd had a chance to read my Murder Mystery Book Club (formerly the Agatha Christie Book Club) and thoroughly enjoyed it but wondered — as agents often (frustratingly!) do — what else I had in my kit bag.
Could I create something similar but anew?
Does Thor have killer pecs? Of course I could! And so I sat down and began to conjure up a new series. Around this time, my two sons, then still in their teens, were mad about those endless superhero movies featuring the likes of Iron Man, Black Widow, The Flash and, yes, Thor, and that really sparked my “leetle grey cells”.
Why not create a team of “supersleuths”?
I didn’t want my amateur detectives to have actual superpowers, though, because it’s so much harder for real people with real bodies, fears and foibles to triumph, don’t you think? But I did want them to each bring something special to the group, and it all started with my bumbling, seemingly clueless Clue/Cluedo champ Merry (no points for guessing MY favourite entertainment).
Boom! Bang! Kapow!
I’ve had a ball giving birth to this eclectic team, and even more fun lobbing impossible mysteries—and personal obstacles—at them and seeing how well they fare. I hope you enjoy what I've conjured up in this third adventure. This will not be the last in the series, but it does resolve a trilogy of mysteries that I put in place from the very first sentence.
But start with Book 1
While each book can be enjoyed as a stand-alone whodunit, I recommend reading this series in order as this third story contains spoilers for the first two—Blind Men Don’t Dial Zero (Book 1) and Smart Girls Don’t Trust Strangers (Book 2). If you have picked up Book 3 inadvertently, might I suggest you pop it aside and check those out first? Not only do they introduce the characters but each book contains glittering nuggets that will help you solve the mystery at the heart of this one—if you’ve got your cape handy and X-Ray vision for clues, that is!*
Happy reading everyone, and thanks for coming on the journey with me.
xo Christina
*NB: This blog is an adaptation of the Author's Note in the front of Book 3
