by Tracy Condie

This week we have a review of the first in a brand new series from Roz Noonan, along with an interesting interview with Roz. Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book and a link to purchase the book from Amazon.

Puzzle Me A Murder: An Alice Pepper Lonely Hearts and Puzzle Club Mystery by Roz Noonan
Review by Tracy Condie

This is a series starter that starts off pretty well. Alice Pepper, former chef/restaurant owner turned librarian is someone who likes a good puzzle, literally. Alice and her friends put together several puzzles during the story as they “puzzle” out not only a murder but also a few cold case mysteries. Alice is a mature sleuth, not a Miss Marple, more of a Jessica Fletcher, and she is surrounded by friends and family who are more than happy to help with the investigation. I was quickly drawn into the story. The pace was perfect and the clues made sense, but there was still a little misdirection to keep you guessing.

This mystery is like an onion, it starts out with Alice consoling lifelong friend Ruby, who just learned that her husband George is a philandering jerk. Threats of “I’m going to kill him,” lands Ruby at the top of the suspect list. After all, George was an upstanding citizen, the city comptroller, and the man who helped with the apprehension of the Cola Bandits. George looked good on paper, which is more than can be said about the town budget.

The other supporting characters of the story are all unique and entertaining. Ruby is a sophisticated no no-nonsense business lady who has a way with words. Virginia, Alice’s sister, is a middle school vice principal by day and a bit of a free spirit in her off time. Then there are the twin granddaughters who couldn’t be more different. Now that I think of it, they are somewhat like Grandma Alice and her sister. Madison is a local police officer assigned to assist Detective Bedrosian while the Chief is out of town on vacation. Taylor, Madison’s twin, lives in Alice’s basement so she doesn’t have to pay rent because it isn’t a room with a bed. Yes, Taylor is a bit of a free spirit who hasn’t quite figured out what she wants to be when she grows up.

The list of suspects starts to grow, as does Alice’s attraction to Stone Donahue, the manager of the West Hazel Senior Center where Alice and Virginia take their Aunt Gildy for dinner night on Wednesdays. Although Alice feels an attraction to the cowboy-handsome Stone, she also has some hurts from her “amicable” divorce that left her life in need of repair of her finances, her heart, and her soul.

The stage was well set and the overall series arc has a great foundation. Alice does a good job of describing her past but I am left with some questions about Alice’s daughter “who shall not be named” and what recipe she used to make that delish-sounding Chicken Francese. Overall this is a very enjoyable cozy and I look forward to the next one in the series.

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 Roz Noonan:

KRL: How long have you been writing?

Roz: I’ve been writing since the 1990s. After college, I worked in the editorial end of book publishing. It was a valuable chance to learn the business and hone editorial skills. I eventually became an editor of mass-market romance and young adult books for a major publisher, and that work allowed me to make a smooth transition into fiction writing.

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

Roz: I would say my first true novel was One September Morning, published in 2009 and inspired by Pat Tillman, who enlisted after 9/11 and was killed by friendly fire while serving. My novel tells the story of a wife who investigates the death of husband her husband who was serving in Iraq. Being fiction, my novel takes a different turn with a psychopathic twist, but I sought to build awareness and empathy for American soldiers whose patriotism had been stirred by the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. Our family lived in New York City at that time, and we will never forget those who lost their lives or suffered other losses.

Roz Noonan
Photo by Brittainy Mather

KRL: What all types of writing have you done?

Roz: Over the years I’ve written novels in a variety of genres: young adult romance/mystery, chicklit, suspense, TV tie-ins, Amish romance, mystery, and cozy mystery. People are often excited to hear that I’ve written a Nancy Drew mystery or a Charmed tie-in, but the books close to my heart have characters and stories I created.

The books that mean the most to me are usually the ones I’m currently writing, which places Alice Pepper at the top of my list. Right now, I’m working on the second book in the series, entitled: That Missing Piece is Killing Me.

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

Roz: The seed of the idea for Alice Pepper’s Lonely Hearts and Puzzle Club came from my editor, John Scognamiglio, Kensington Books, who thought it would be fun to read about Golden Girls solving mysteries together. The notion of good friends solving mysteries together appealed to me, and when he asked for the main characters to be in their sixties, I had to think long and hard on how to depict real senior citizens of the 2020s. I adored the Golden Girls TV show, but those characters were only in their fifties when the show started, and by current standards they’re granny league.

So, I made Alice my age and modeled her and her friends after the dynamic women I know who have reached senior citizen status. I’m trying to turn agism on its ear, fighting stereotypes but acknowledging realities of age like medical issues and physical changes. No, 70 is not the new 40, and there is no Fountain of Youth. But there is no shame in aging. And you don’t have to turn cranky and stodgy.

The Oregon setting is my everyday world of sky, trees, river and valley. I grew up on the East Coast and lived in New York City for twenty years before moving west to nature’s best. Alice’s Palace, with its view of mountains and trees, is partly based on my home in suburban Portland, and partly based on a rambling property my husband and I toured when we were house hunting years ago. That place had a mazelike lower level with one bedroom after another built into the hill. Not suitable for us, but perfect for Alice.

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

Roz: Entertainment is a huge motivator for me. My goal is a book that carries the reader along with characters you’d like to spend time with. There should be a plot that pulls you in and lands some surprise twists and turns. A few laughs and a few poignant moments of empathy. And when you travel with Alice Pepper, there should be a sense that she can help many different people resolve their problems and life issues as she strives to uncover the truth and solve the puzzle of the mystery. No hard lessons here, just a chance to walk in someone else’s shoes for a bit and feel all the feels.

KRL: Do you have a schedule for your writing or just work whenever you can? What is your ideal time to write?

Roz: How I wish I could be like Stephen King, who writes in the morning and edits or exercises in the afternoon. I tool around with errands or edits in the morning, but my writer’s brain doesn’t really kick in until mid-afternoon. That pushes my writing day into the dinner hour, and I can’t tell you how many times I pop into the kitchen just before eight and ask my husband what we’re going to eat! Sometimes, he actually has an answer, good guy that he is. I enjoy going back to work after dinner, spinning ahead while the rest of the world is winding down. The night writing can be productive, as there’s nowhere else you need to be.

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?

Roz: The outline is a key element of my process. It allows my editor to see where the book is going. It points to the book’s possible scope, tone, etc. Mysteries are full of clues and paths of investigation that can be quite complicated to juggle in my head if I don’t have a plan set out in the outline.

Puzzle Me a Murder had the most detailed outline I’ve ever written. Since the series wasn’t sold when I was doing the outline, I wanted to make sure I had the tone, characters and plots nailed down. The outline let Kensington know what they’d be getting, and it gave me a strong blueprint to follow.

That said, I have at times had to throw out parts of an outline when the book took a better turn in the writing process. Lucky for me, my editor always saw those changes as an improvement. The outline can be a beautiful thing. It solicits early approval of my ideas so that when I’m writing the actual book the editor is onboard for the ride and knows where the bus is going!

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

Roz: One of my first jobs after college graduation was with Simon & Schuster. As an editorial assistant in their Silhouette Books imprint, I answered phones for ten editors, fought with the copy machine, learned to type – yes, typewriters! – and read everything I could get my hands on in the “slush” pile. The romance genre was growing in the eighties, so it afforded lots of opportunity and promotion for me.

I worked my way up the editorial ranks to Senior Editor. I made some lasting friendships there, which allowed me to move into freelance editing and then writing. My network of supportive friends gave me an advantage when I jumped into writing. I was able to start by doing “writer for hire” jobs on series like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. It was wonderful training on writing to genre while making the characters and plot fresh.

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

Roz: After years of romance editing, I put together an outline and chapters for a comedic romance that I was sure would be an easy sell. It was rejected by an editor/friend, who had it read by other editors. Thumbs down all around. The big problem was that my book did not fit in niche, which would have made it difficult to sell in mass-market publishing.

However, the editor told me that there was a new romance subgenre that was doing well – chicklit! I wrote a chicklit proposal for Party Girls (Roz Bailey) which was accepted and turned out to be the first of half a dozen chicklit novels for Kensington Publishing.

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

Roz: I once arrived at a writer’s conference without shoes. Okay, I was wearing sneakers, but my “professional” shoes sat left behind in my closet, waiting to be packed. As I remember, the conference was in Miami, so I used it as an excuse to go barefoot and stick by the pool as much as possible.

KRL: What are your future writing goals?

Roz: Right now, I’d love to continue writing one Alice Pepper cozy each year. Every time I return to these characters I enjoy their easy relationships, their inside jokes, their banter and their support of each other. It’s like hanging out with old friends. Also, I like the plucky pace of a good cozy mystery!

Outside the cozy mystery field, I’ve been working on a novel of three sisters set in the Midwest in the late sixties, early seventies. I’m fascinated by the split in society back then when many people defended traditional lifestyles while others pushed forward for sometimes tumultuous change. I want to explore the parallels between then and now.

KRL: Who are your writing heroes?

Roz: Numero uno is Anna Quindlen. Although she has so many different voices and takes on varied conflicts in her novels, there is always a kind underpinning of her love for human beings. Human nature. She released a new novel this year, and I bought it on pub day.

My new queen is Gabrielle Zevin, author of the captivating Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. That novel claims the torch for the next generation of characters. She explores creativity, independence in relationships, and the importance of a loving relationship not constrained by physical entanglements.

KRL: I love Gabrielle! What kind of research do you do?

Roz: My stories often start with a news article about an unsolved mystery or a situation that’s been underreported. I have a fat file of these. THE SISTERS was inspired by a sociopath outside London who preyed on struggling women — one a wealthy symphony musician. He lured them into his home, which was something of a lockdown facility, indoctrinated them to do his will. One woman became pregnant with his child, and she was kept captive in the house for years. Truth can be stranger than fiction.

My research of Post-Partum Depression, which two of my friends suffered from, inspired the mystery of All She Ever Wanted. I’m still concerned that PPD hasn’t properly made its way into public awareness.

My novel And Then She Was Gone was inspired by Jaycee Dugard’s captivity and reunification with her family. My novel focused more on the reunification and adjustment to mainstream society.

KRL: What do you like to read?

Roz: I’m primarily a fiction reader. I’m reading a lot of cozy mysteries these days, but my fabulous book club keeps me in touch with entertaining new releases, as well as overlooked gems from the past. Recent recommendations: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, Miller’s Valley by Anna Quindlen, Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin!

KRL: What are your favorite TV shows or movies?

Roz: Now that I’m writing mysteries, I enjoy binge-watching Masterpiece Mysteries on TV. Midsomer Murders, Grantchester, Van der Valk…and way back to others that aren’t running now. It’s easy to fall into the cozy communities they establish and the strong, quirky characters. Jane Seymour’s Harry Wild series is also addictive, with thorny retired college professor Harry and her young, smart sidekick.

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

Roz: Keep revising, and if a project goes cold on you, don’t be afraid to try something else. Writers face rejection, and sometimes it’s manuscript two or three or four that sells.

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

Roz: I hate to cook but I love to eat! In the Alice Pepper mysteries, Alice finds cooking therapeutic and she can turn out a delicious meal in thirty minutes. How do I write those scenes? I find recipes for foods I enjoy and put them in Alice’s capable hands. Some of them, like chicken pot pie and spaghetti with marinara sauce, are mine. Okay, I don’t enjoy the process of food prep, but a girl’s got to eat.

KRL: Do you have any pets?

Roz: We recently lost our beloved King Charles Cavalier named Biscuit, but since then I have become the chief dogsitter for my son’s adopted mixed breed hound, Honu, which means turtle. Born in Hawaii and brought over with a group of rescue dogs, Honu leaps out into the yard and races along with such speed that we’re all thinking he might be part Greyhound. So much energy! I wish I could grab some of it! Recently I realized he looks like the classic firehouse dog in old children’s books. Remember Spot? Run, Spot, Run! (Yes, I’m that old!) Or maybe you know him as Pepper because of his little black spots? He’s lean, adorable, and will fetch for praise.

KRL: Is there anything you would like to add?

Roz: I was fortunate to have one of my Christmas romance novels, The Secret Life of Mrs. Claus, made into a Hallmark movie. The movie is called Charming Christmas, and it featured Julie Benz and David Sutcliffe. I got to meet the actors on set in Toronto. A dream come true! Fake snow and all.

KRL: How fun! Congrats! Where can our readers find you online?

Roz: I’m on FaceBook as Rosalind Noonan Author. Also online at RosalindNoonanBooks.com

You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.

To enter to win a copy of Puzzle Me A Murder, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “puzzle” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen August 24, 2024. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include mailing address in case you win. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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