Monday, May 8, 2017

A Perfect Manhattan Murder by Tracy Kiely Interview & Giveaway

A Perfect Manhattan Murder (A Nic & Nigel Mystery)
by Tracy Kiely

A Perfect Manhattan Murder (A Nic & Nigel Mystery) by Tracy Kiely
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Midnight Ink (May 8, 2017)
Paperback: 240 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0738745244
E-Book ASIN: B01LXJQVDI

Synopsis

The play’s the thing, but it’s the star-studded after-party that sends sparks flying
Thrilled that their friend’s Broadway debut was a rousing success, Nic and Nigel Martini, along with Nic’s college pal Harper, are trying to enjoy the exclusive after-party. Unfortunately, all the champagne and repartee in the world aren’t enough to overlook the churlish behavior of Harper’s husband, Dan. Nic is shocked the next morning when she learns that Dan’s been murdered. Nigel thinks the world may be a better place without him.
Still, Harper’s their friend and they’re intent on helping her any way they can. The Martinis will stop at nothing—with the possible exception of cocktails and walks with their bull mastiff Skippy—to see that the killer ends up behind bars.

About The Author –

Tracy Kiely is a self-proclaimed Anglophile (a fact which distresses certain members of her Irish Catholic family). She grew up reading Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, and watching Hitchcock movies. She fell in love with Austen’s wit, Christie’s clever plots, and Hitchcock’s recurrent theme of “the average man caught in extraordinary circumstances.”
After spending years of trying to find a proper job that would enable her to use her skills garnered as an English major, she decided to write a book. It would, of course, have to be a mystery; it would have to be funny; and it would have to feature an average person caught up in extraordinary circumstances. She began to wonder how the characters in Pride and Prejudice might fit into a mystery. What, if after years of living with unbearably rude and condescending behavior, old Mrs. Jenkins up and strangled Lady Catherine? What if Charlotte snapped one day and poisoned Mr. Collins’ toast and jam? Skip ahead several years, and several different plot ideas, and you have her first mystery Murder at Longbourn.
While she does not claim to be Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, or Hitchcock (one big reason being that they’re all dead), she has tried to combine the elements of all three in her books.
Interview

Where are you from?
I grew up in Northern Virginia, but now live outside Annapolis, Maryland.


Tell us your latest news?
The third book in my Nic and Nigel Martini series, A Perfect Manhattan Murder, comes out May 8th. Here’s the official blub:
Thrilled that their playwright friend’s Broadway debut was a rousing success, Nic and Nigel are trying to enjoy the A-list after-party with their pal Harper. Unfortunately, all the champagne and repartee in the world aren’t enough to overlook the churlish behavior of Harper’s theater-critic husband, Dan. Nic is shocked the next morning when she learns that Dan’s been murdered. Nigel thinks the world may be a better place without him.
Still, Harper is their friend and they’re intent on helping her any way they can. Invigorated by the thrill of the hunt and fortified by a flood of cocktails, catching the killer becomes the Martinis’ top priority . . . with their behemoth Bullmastiff Skippy along for the ride.

When and why did you begin writing?
I’ve wanted to be a mystery writer for as long as I can remember (well, after a brief flirtation with tap dancing and becoming a cartoonist for The New Yorker crashed and burned). However, it wasn’t until I was around 30 that I sat down and said, “Well, if you want to be a writer then shut up and do it.” I titled my first mystery An Ostentation of Peacocks and – not surprisingly – it went the same route as my tap dancing and cartoonist dreams. I put aside the book for a few year before I tried again. This time I had better luck (and a better title). My first book, Murder at Longbourn, came out in 2009.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I think I’ve always considered myself a writer; but I suppose it wasn’t until I actually got published that I felt that I could publically call myself that.

What inspired you to write your first book?  (FIRST BOOK OR THIS BOOK?)

(FIRST) The plot for Murder at Longbourn, is something of a mishmash of my favorite forms of entertainment. I grew up reading Agatha Christie, Jane Austen, and watching Alfred Hitchcock movies (I am something of an Anglophile, much to the consternation of my Irish Catholic family). I love the twisty, deviously clever plots of Christie, the sublime wit of Austen, and the “average man caught in extraordinary circumstances” themes of Hitchcock.  When I began to think of writing my own mystery, I realized it would have to have those elements.  I began to wonder how the characters in Pride and Prejudice might fit into a mystery.  What, if after years of living with unbearably rude and condescending behavior, old Mrs. Jenkins up and strangled Lady Catherine? What if Charlotte snapped one day and poisoned Mr. Collins’ toast and jam?  While I had fun with these ideas, I realized that I wanted to write about my own modern-day characters.

Then one day I was watching the news and - I kid you not - there was a story about a woman who killed her husband at a B&B after they attended a Host-A-Murder Dinner.  I was off to the races!


(THIS BOOK) I recently came across the old movie Please Don’t Eat The Daisies with Doris Day and David Niven (which, if you don’t already know, tells the story of a Broadway reviewer whose popularity increases with the vitriol of his reviews) and thought it would be fun to have a similar character. In  A Perfect Manhattan Murder, I theater critic finally goes too far with his scathing reviews and pays the ultimate price. We writers have notoriously thin skins, which is perhaps why this idea appealed so much to me. 
Here’s the official blurb:
Thrilled that their playwright friend’s Broadway debut was a rousing success, Nic and Nigel are trying to enjoy the A-list after-party with their pal Harper. Unfortunately, all the champagne and repartee in the world aren’t enough to overlook the churlish behavior of Harper’s theater-critic husband, Dan. Nic is shocked the next morning when she learns that Dan’s been murdered. Nigel thinks the world may be a better place without him.
Still, Harper is their friend and they’re intent on helping her any way they can. Invigorated by the thrill of the hunt and fortified by a flood of cocktails, catching the killer becomes the Martinis’ top priority . . . with their behemoth Bullmastiff Skippy along for the ride.


Do you have a specific writing style?
Is overly chatty and a little sarcastic a style? If so, then that’s me. If it’s not a style, then it should be.

How did you come up with the title?
Actually, this is the first time that my title wasn’t accepted. I had hoped to call it Killer Hangover but was overruled by Midnight Ink. They felt the title was too similar to the previous book, Killer Cocktail

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Um…don’t kill people? My books are generally message free – I just hope to provide a few hours of light entertainment and some laughs. You know, the usual emotions associated with a dead body.

What would you like my readers to know?

That if they enjoy this series, they really need to read my inspiration for it all; Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man. It’s brilliant.



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1 comment:

  1. This is a new author and series to me. Would enjoy reading.

    ReplyDelete