by J.M. Landon

This week we have a review of Murder on U.S. Rte. 116: An It’s Never Too Late Mystery By DonnaRae Menard, and an interesting interview with DonnaRae. 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 from Amazon.

Murder on U.S. Rte. 116: An It’s Never Too Late Mystery By DonnaRae Menard
Reviewed by J. M. Landon

Murder on US Rte 116 introduces a plethora of named characters from the main character to extended family and neighbors, right down to the cats, dogs, geese, and a pig. All these characters create a sense of family that can only be found in a rural farming community.

The mystery starts out with the reader experiencing this community through the eyes of an interloper who watches the occupants of a home. Why? The voyeur has found clever ways to pilfer food from surrounding farms and stays in various barns and sheds without being discovered. He seems harmless, but his behavior causes the community to start looking over its shoulder.

After the death of her grandparents, Katie Took finds she is now the owner of an historic farm and an overwhelming pile of debt. Her imaginative ways for the farm to be profitable include a roadside produce stand, a thrift store, and adding her property to the historic registrar. She also takes on a second job as an animal control live-capture technician in addition to her full-time job at the feedstore.

As if Katie needs more to fill her time, an acquaintance from high school, Merideth, is murdered. Katie’s amateur detective genes kick in to help her covert partner/deputy solve the mystery. Is the killer the voyeur or one of the victim’s boyfriends whom she was blackmailing? Things are spiraling at such a furious rate that the reader wonders how Katie will pull everything together. But she saves the day, solves the murder, and even throws in a basket of kittens at the end.

This book touches on many aspects of life: animal lovers, farming communities, LGBTQ, blackmail, mystery, and murder. It was a good read with several subplots to keep you guessing!

DonnaRae Menard, born in upper Vermont, has a finger in many pies, like Katie. She writes cozy/caper, thriller, historical fiction, and fantasy as well as belonging to many high-profile writer organizations in the US and the UK.

J.M. Landon is retired and blissfully at work on the ‘great American novel.’ She’s worn many hats through her career including: wife, mother, piano teacher, middle school teacher, university professor, painter, jewelry maker, and dragon tamer. She has eight published short stories.

Interview with DonnaRae Menard:

KRL: How long have you been writing?

DonnaRae: I started writing in the early 1970s for self-preservation. I was in a bad place and mental health wasn’t available unless you were certified as seriously incapacitated. I was mostly just depressed, so I’d get over it, right? On 4/28/2008, I was diagnosed with stage 4 squamous carcinoma, and told I was a short time. I became part of a test group for an experimental drug. Metamiacin 5Fu. I lived. It took years for me to recover, but Dr. Roland challenged me to do something I had always wanted to do, so I got serious about writing. My first book came out in 2015.

KRL: Oh wow, glad it all worked out okay. When did your first novel come out, what was it called, and would you tell us a little about it?

DonnaRae: My first novel, 2015, was a historical fiction. In the Shadow of Pharoah. I spent five years working on getting it right. No one would touch it. But I self-published, and it’s always been my flagship. It’s a historically correct era, 2200bce, a fictional character, and is suspense in that its part hardship/recovery/romance and political dirt. You follow the main character from the time her father sells her into slavery to feed his son until the day she finds someone not of her same station/ethnicity/background who is willing to accept and love her.

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

DonnaRae: I’ve pretty much always written suspense/mysteries in that I like puzzles. It doesn’t matter if the main character is a Miss Marple, Father Brown, or a hardened detective. I’m into the uncovering of small clues, the reason why, how to reach the end one needs to see beyond the sidelines of the here and now. Then, too, I write where my mind is at that moment. I have historical fiction, thrillers – that are all but falling into horrors – cozy/capers, traditional mysteries, fantasy, and children’s books. If your heart says that following the line that says you write only one thing, you never have any fun, and you won’t ever reach your potential.

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

DonnaRae: My current WIP takes place is a small Vermont city that I’ve heard described as quaint and cozy. But there’s a mess of Payton Place action happening around here. All you have to do is peek around the corner or see who’s washing multiple pairs of sheets in a week!

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

DonnaRae: I write to entertain myself. My kids keep telling me to stop giggling when I’m working. This should be serious stuff! Ha. Fooled you. But I also write to entertain others. I’m always giving away books, sharing ideas I probably should hold close to my chest, and I have to force myself to stop talking when people ask what the book is about. Ask anyone, they’ll tell you that I’m a talker and I just love the whole crazy industry.

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

DonnaRae: I write all the time. It doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing. If I get a thought, I’m scribbling. But from 4 to 11:30a.m. is my most organized time. That’s when all the little puzzle pieces become the perfect picture. After that, it’s coffee and breakfast.

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?

DonnaRae: No, I do not outline. I write scenes, relevant interplay with where I think I want to go. When the stack is high enough, I print, spread them out on the floor, and rearrange my timeline. Then I write the bridges, all the little boring (Ha) pieces that tie it together. Sometimes I need to create a few more scenes, sometime pieces get jettisoned toward a different story. My cheeks feel soft and my chest full, I know I’m done.

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

DonnaRae: Getting published in the beginning was a nightmare. My first real interaction with published authors happened at a writer’s convention in Green Bay. Those three women I met the first day were nasty pieces of work. But a kind lady from Guppies found me and offered a lifeline. I gave up on finding an agent and did my own thing. I learned all about self-publishing and now I help others. Bruce Robert Coffin, who I met while telling pig stories, introduced me to Harriet Sackler, and then Verena Rose. Level Best Books took me on. I still work with them, and Of Metal and Magic Publishing, and I still self-publish. People ask why. My answer is why not? I have a lot to say, and I’m old. LOL.

When I was trying to get Pharoah published. I sent out 400 agent queries. I got less than seventy back, and they weren’t kind. I didn’t have a lot of money, and no formal training in what I wanted to do. I was at a library event and Joanne Clarey was talking about New England Crime Bake. From where I lived, I could drive to Dedham, Ma, so I did. I pulled into the parking garage, walked up to the front desk, and told the young lady that I had lost my name badge. She wrote me out another one. For three days I attended workshops, lectures, slept in my car, and snuck into the buffet line. I went away happy. Now, I’m the registrar for NE Crime Bake, and nobody sneaks past me.

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

DonnaRae: Not a bookstore or signing venue, but I was in Costco in Charlotte, Vermont, in the frozen food section. Suddenly, I heard my name called. This man came over and told me he’d read my books. I had no idea who this dude was. He said my photo was on the back of a book he’d read, and he took a chance it was me. I was totally flabbergasted. But it was so cool! On top of that, this man had been a friend of my father’s. The last time I’d seen him was over fifty years ago. Now I have a posse of one!

KRL: What are your future writing goals?

DonnaRae: Like many other writers, my goals include maybe a little recognition. But for the most part, I want to just be able to write, and to share what I’m doing, maybe figure out commas.

KRL: Who are your writing heroes?

DonnaRae: I have lots of writing heroes, some of them are long gone, many of them walk the streets today. Because I read all sorts of books, they aren’t even in genres I write. Lori Duffy Foster, Victoria Holt, Samuel Dashiell Hammett, Gabriel Valjan, Bruce Robert Coffin, Ellen Byron. There are just so many.

KRL: What kind of research do you do?

DonnaRae: If I want to know how something happens, I go to the source. I like face-to-face and am not averse to walking up to a doctor, lawyer, etc., and saying can you explain this to me? I’m a notorious note taker and I keep everything. Experience is huge. You want to know how it really feels to jump out of a second-story window so that your writing is true? Do it. I did.

KRL: What do you like to read?

DonnaRae: I’ll read almost anything. Maybe only once, but it’s like eating broccoli. You can’t say you don’t like it if you won’t try it.

KRL: What are your favorite TV shows or movies?

DonnaRae: Right now, I’m bingeing all the Brit mysteries. I enjoyed Dark Winds, love old movies, old villains and monsters. Oh, and Venom. Blood Diamond, but I don’t like some of the new sci-fi stuff. No Predators or Chuckies for me.

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

DonnaRae: People come up to me all the time and say they have a book they want to write; I encourage everyone. I’ll give them my business card and tell them, send me line and let me know what you’re doing. If you get really hung up, maybe I can offer some advice. Don’t stop. Don’t let people tell you what you’re doing is trite and of no value. You are your own best advocate. Step up to the plate. If you feel the need, carry a big bat.

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

DonnaRae: I cry a lot. For all the people who get trod on trying to make their dreams a reality. At all the sad parts in the books and the movies, but I always hold out for a small ray of sunshine.

KRL: Do you have any pets?

DonnaRae: Right now, I’m down to my own personal rescue and only a few ferals, but that can change at a moment’s notice. I’d really like a fainting goat! Of course, the goat probably wouldn’t like it.

KRL: Is there anything you would like to add?

DonnaRae: Be true to yourself but listen as well. Even nay-sayers might have a gem of wisdom to offer. Be open.

KRL: Where can our readers find you online?

DonnaRae: I invite everyone to find me online at Facebook, BlueSky, Goodreads, Bookbub,(links to these can be found on her website) and of course if you want to know what I’m throwing out there new and fresh, you can sign up for my blurts, not blurbs or blogs@donnaraemenardbooks.com. Be generous, be happy, and write like mad!

You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.

To enter to win an ebook copy of Murder on U.S. Rte. 116, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “murder on route” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen August 9, 2025. 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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