by Tracy Condie

This week we are reviewing the latest Holly Swimsuit Mystery by Susie Black, and we also have an interesting interview with Susie. Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win an ebook copy of the book and a link to purchase it.

Death By Cutting Table by Susie Black
Review by Tracy Condie

This edgy cozy wastes no time with the body drop. Butch Oldham, CEO of Mermaid Swimwear, has left a multitude of disgruntled people in his wake, including our sleuth, Holly “Swimsuit” Schlivnick, president of the private label division of Mermaid Swimwear. Butch’s murder is both personal and unusual, as he was wearing lacy black panties and pinned to a table, like the butterflies he collected. Holly’s BFF Queenie Levine is the “lucky” person who found the victim. Due to the unscrupulous dealings of the deceased, one would think the police would have trouble focusing on one possible perpetrator, but Detective Josiah Jones has no problem naming Queenie his prime and only suspect, based on her off-the-cuff remark that Butch would get his.

This isn’t Holly’s first murder (We are on book 4 after all), so she has a pretty good idea of how to help her buddy. The passion Holly uses to clear her friend draws readers in as they turn the pages, shaking their heads just as she does at the inability of the police, including her “boyfriend” police chief Miguel Martinez, to get it right.

Holly comes up with several viable leads and suspects. There is the soon-to-be ex-wife, Kelly Oldham. What would she lose in the divorce but gain as a widow? Dick Green, a man Butch caused to be sent to Club Fed for embezzling while managing to keep himself out. Dick’s wife Mariana is left to deal with the aftermath; did she deal with Butch as well? David Workman, the corporate president of the company, brought his mentor, Butch, to Mermaid Swimwear and then was supplanted by him. After taking over, Butch ran the iconic southern California company straight to bankruptcy. Queenie describes David as a man who doesn’t react well to being crossed, so did David pin Butch to that cutting table? Then there is Diane, who left the company under suspicious circumstances and is now Kelly’s companion and new roommate.

Holly certainly has her work cut out for her, so thank goodness she isn’t alone. She’s been known to call on her childhood friend Sophia Cutler, the local coroner, lovingly nicknamed “Snips” by Holly because of a bonding moment over a dissected frog in science class. Snips shares helpful information and acts as a sound board for Holly, not unlike the Yentas whom Holly and Queenie (when she isn’t in lockup) meet for breakfast. Rounding out this cast is the defense attorney, a tiny powerhouse capable of getting Queenie out of the hoosegow and putting Detective Jones in his place.

This fun fourth book in the series can also be read as a stand-alone cozy. It will keep readers well-supplied with clues, misdirects, and chuckles.

Tracy Condie is a paralegal by day and cozy armchair sleuth by night. When she is not working or reading, she enjoys preparing the recipes found in culinary cozies or researching recipes of meal items described therein and sharing reviews of both books and food on Instagram and on KRL. She lives in Corona, California with her husband and dog Zoolie, and looks forward to visiting with their grown sons when their time permits.

Interview with Susie Black:

KRL: How long have you been writing?

Susie: I have been writing fiction for six years.

KRL: When did your first novel come out, what was it called, and would you tell us a little about it?

Susie: Set in the cutthroat Los Angeles garment industry, my award-winning debut novel, Death by Sample Size, was published in June of 2021. Since she didn’t think any rules applied to her, the apparel-buying office bigshot Bunny Frank had no problem breaking them all. Ruthless, driven, and power-hungry; from bribery to bullying to extortion, Bunny Frank did whatever it took to make her buying office in the Los Angeles garment center the biggest and best no matter who she had to step on to succeed. Nobody said no to Bunny Frank – at least nobody with a brain. The mystery wasn’t who wanted Bunny dead. Who didn’t?

Susie Black

KRL: Have you always written mysteries/suspense and if not, what else have you written?

Susie: While mysteries are what I chiefly write, the first book I ever wrote is Rag Lady, the semi-autobiographical prequel to my Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series. Rag Lady was published on November 15, 2023, and won Best Women’s Fiction Book of the Year at N. N. Light’s Book Heaven.

KRL: What brought you to choose the setting and characters in your latest book/series?

Susie: The mantra of all writers is to write what you know. Like the protagonist in my Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, I had a successful sales exec career in the Los Angeles ladies’ swimwear industry. From the beginning of my career, I have kept a daily journal that chronicles the quirky, interesting, and often challenging people I’ve encountered as well as the crazy situations I’ve gotten myself into and out of. The journal entries are the foundation of all my writing. All my characters are based on real people I know.

KRL: Do you write to entertain or is there something more you want the readers to experience from your work?

Susie: I’d have to say both. I write humorous cozy mysteries to entertain my readers. With the way of the world right now, giving my audience the gift of laughter is especially important to me. However, the themes of loyalty, perseverance, honesty, and having a moral compass are woven organically throughout all my stories.

KRL: Do you have a schedule for your writing or just work whenever you can?

Susie: I do not have a schedule for my writing, but I try to write something every day. Regrettably, life often gets in the way.

KRL: What is your ideal time to write?

Susie: I am a night owl, so my writing takes place starting late afternoon and sometimes continues long into the night. One thing is for sure: I never write in the morning.

KRL: Do you outline? If not, do you have some other interesting way that you keep track of what’s going on, or what needs to happen in your book when you are writing it?

Susie: I have a rough outline of the plot that details the murder victim, potential killers, where the story starts, and how it ends. However, I usually allow my characters to take the story from the middle to the end. I do have rules. The characters must write their part so that it meshes with the ending as I want it. Unless I disagree with what they are doing, I try to allow the characters to control the middle of the tale. They usually behave – if they don’t, they risk being written out or killed off from the story.

KRL: Did you find it difficult to get published in the beginning?

Susie: Yes. My type of cozy mystery does not fit into the “traditional rules” of the genre. My stories are in an urban setting with a cast of strong, professional female characters and not in a small town with the amateur sleuth a librarian, or a cookie or candy shop owner. As such, many of the publishers who publish my genre passed on my books. Fortunately, a female author colleague encouraged me to submit my debut novel manuscript to an independent, women-owned house that found my slant on the genre refreshing and different.

KRL: Do you have a great rejection/critique or acceptance story you’d like to share?

Susie: Yes. When I received the request to submit the complete manuscript of my debut novel to the editor my publisher had assigned to me, I figured I was in like Flynn…but as it turned out, my submission was rejected by the editor three times before I made sufficient enough revisions that she thought the manuscript was worthy of a publishing contract.

KRL: Most interesting book signing story-in a bookstore or other venue?

Susie: Before I became a published author, famed mystery author Harlen Coben was a guest lecturer at a branch of our local library, and I was fortunate enough to score a ticket. After his presentation, he generously gave each audience member a copy of his latest book and signed them all. After he signed my copy, we chatted for several minutes, and he encouraged me to keep at my fledgling writing adventure no matter how frustrating it got.

KRL: What are your future writing goals?

Susie: To keep growing my audience by continuing to produce award-winning mysteries and replace Janet Evanovich as the Queen of humorous cozies.

KRL: Who are your writing heroes?

Susie: Gosh, how long do I have to compile the list? Here are the authors whose works influenced me the most and to whom I attribute my writing style’s success. Female Authors – Joan Hess, Janet Evanovich, Anne George, Laura Levine, Carolyn Haines, Elaine Viets, Diane Vallere, Gemma Halliday. Male Authors – Donald E. Westlake, Carl Hiaasen, Dave Barry, Tim Dorsey, S.V. Date, Laurence Shames, Elmore Leonard.

KRL: What kind of research do you do?

Susie: Since all my plots take place in the same industry and locale as where I spent the lion’s share of my career, my research is usually going through my journal entries for reference, or I make a visit to the California Apparel Mart in Los Angeles. I spend time with sales reps, manufacturers, textile execs, and retailers to either ask questions or bounce ideas off them.

KRL: What do you like to read?

Susie: I love solving puzzles, so I generally read mysteries of every type. I also read women’s fiction if the plot is centered around strong female characters I can relate to.

KRL: What are your favorite TV shows or movies?

Susie: I love to laugh. Favorite movies: Some Like it Hot and all Mel Brooks films. TV shows: I love the old classic sitcoms: I Love Lucy, I Married Joan, All in the Family, and MASH are amongst my favorites.

KRL: Have you any advice for aspiring or beginning writers?

Susie: I do. Keep writing. No matter what, keep writing. Learn the skills needed to properly assemble a story. Trust your gut. Believe in yourself. Never let anyone step on your dreams, and never stop asking “What if?”

KRL: What is something people would be surprised to know about you?

Susie: The protagonist in The Holly Schlivnik Mystery Series is based on me. She physically resembles me. She has my personality, my history, and my values. She drives the same type of car as me and lives on a houseboat like I did for many years. I have incorporated my quirky traits like my fear of death which I overcompensate for by laughing inappropriately when I hear about someone’s death into Holly’s personality and have made them an important feature of how she deals with the corpses she discovers.

KRL: Do you have any pets?

Susie: Regrettably no. After we lost the last dog to an unexpected death, I could not put us through the stress of another devastating loss, so we decided not to get another pet.

KRL: So sorry. Is there anything you would like to add?

Susie: Yes. As my wise nana always said, regret is the worst human emotion because it is the one we can usually do nothing about. In life, we all buy our tickets and take our chances. Everyone has a story to tell. If you have a story inside you, don’t keep it to yourself. Write it and see where it takes you. The worst that can happen? Absolutely nothing. The best? The start of an incredible, unforgettable adventure that you’d kick yourself if you never took the chance.

KRL: Where can people find you online?

Susie:BookBub: bookbub.com/authors/susie-black
Website? authorsusieblack.com
Twitter? twitter.com/@hollyswimsuit
Facebook? facebook.com/TheHollySwimsuitMysterySeries
Instagram? Susie Black (@hollyswimsuit) • Instagram photos and videos

To enter to win an ebook copy of Death By Cutting Table, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “cutting” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen February 10, 2024. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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