Mars Murder Mystery Series

Yep, you got it. During National Novel Writing Month, I’m working on a hard scifi murder mystery set on Mars in 2218, Earth years. Book one is outlined, and book two has a premise and some characters. Book three? Beats me. Maybe none. Right now, I am itching to start writing book one.

I’ve been wanting to do a hard sci fi novel for years, and I’m taking this opportunity to try it on for size. By making it a murder mystery, I’m tapping into a genre I know well so I can bridge to the new-to-me genre.

For the non-sci fi folks out there, there is soft and hard sci fi. Soft is when the science takes a back seat. In hard sci fi, the science is upfront and prominent. For soft sci fi, the author can take a lot of deviations from real science, sometimes it feels like fantasy. Hard sci fi, however, is rooted in the science we know. And though the author can (and indeed should) extrapolate from current science, still there are traceable science elements in hard sci fi.

Think the “Mars trilogy” of Kim Stanley Robinson, Larry K. Collins' McGregor Chronicles, or Andy Weir’s The Martian. Real science was the jumping off point in all these books, and then they extended the science to what could be true in the future. Of course, the story line must be engaging. A novel filled with science-only wouldn’t be a novel.

Striking the balance, addressing real life conundrums posed by the science, and informing the reader about real science makes writing hard sci fi daunting. But, oh, so much fun! (I hope.)

My protag is new-to-Mars Police Chief (Alexandra Rhebekkah, Iskos) who goes by the name Ari. Chief Ari was Executive Assistant Chief of Police in Phoenix before applying (under pressure) for a transfer to the U.S. Mars colony, New Washington. She is escaping some personal issues, and Mars seems like it will be far enough away to resolve them.

She is faced with a death before she even exits the shuttle to the planet’s surface. Her immediate world is populated with no detectives and only two police officers for the territory of the United States colony. Dr. Robb Otts, the colony’s doctor/dentist/surgeon/medical examiner and more becomes a close friend whose mind challenges her to look at alternatives.

What happened to Dr. Anh Nguyen, the colony’s climatologist and acting-geologist? Suicide? Murder? If murder, who in this ultimate closed door mystery setting, could be responsible? The mining executive? A jealous lover? A scientist who disagreed with her findings? The politician aiming to secede from the U.S.A. and  govern the colony? A rogue AI miner? The space jockey who shuttles passengers from space station to the surface? Or is it someone else?

And are the AI miner robots developing sentience? Is that why the mining company erected a force field around the mine sites? Add in the growing unrest with being a colony instead of a recognized separate state, and you have a lot of issues about freedom, independence, and legal rights emerging.

When Chief Ari discovers that another likely-murder happened a month before her arrival, she starts to fear that she won’t be able to handle the investigation. How come nobody told her that collecting forensic evidence on Mars was a whole different ball game? And that there are a lot of ways to murder people on Mars.

National Novel Writing Month, 2018 Version

Yes, I know. I've been gone a long time. I've been busy, okay?

What, you've been busy, too? Well, then you probably didn't have time to read these musings anyway.

But you knew I'd be back for NaNoWriMo, right?

I'm not going to share much today about it since we begin the madness next week at 12:01 am on November 1. However, let me tease you. At the top is the main setting. Can you figure out where I'll be all month?

Here are two more clues for you. Yes, it is a mystery (but of what?). And the non-culinary mystery shares a genre with one I've not tried to write before.

Hmm! Come back next Monday for an update on the this NaNo mystery. Oh, and if you want to speculate, comment below. I'll be sure to respond to you!

Book Review: IN A JAM by Cindy Dorminy

One of the wonderful and unexpected happenings that resulted from signing with Red Adept Publishing for my culinary mystery series was the introduction to some fabulous new authors so I could fill up my Kindle even more. I will NEVER live long enough to read all the books this baby can hold. But enough about that.

Cindy Dorminy is one such RAP author I encountered. With a title like IN A JAM, how could a foodie-mystery guy like me not pick it up? Well, it’s not a mystery. But that’s okay. What’s not okay is not including the recipe for this fabulous, award-winning strawberry jam that Andie has to figure out. C’mon, Cindy! Give!

But I’m getting ahead of myself. The story premise is one we’ve seen before: the protagonist can only inherit fabulous wealth if certain conditions are met. If not met, xxx inherits, in this case, the small church in small-town Georgia.

But this is not a trite retelling of a trope. Andie is, ahem, shall we say a flawed character. The opening lines of the book hooked me immediately:

“Some might consider waking up in the drunk tank rock bottom. I call it Thursday.”

Andie has all sorts of issues that need sorting, but she is content enough with her life and acquaintances. Her only real friends appear to be the cops who pick her up on Wednesdays and deposit her in the drunk tank and who bring her Dunkin’ Donuts’ dark roast coffee with a double shot of caramel. They like her and worry about her, especially Officer Tinsley, who sees in Andie what she can’t see in herself.

Yes, Andie is content enough until an attorney shows up with the news that her grandmother (whom she hadn’t seen in 20 years or so) died leaving her a coffee shop and her lottery winnings—her considerable lottery winnings.

All Andie has to do is stay sober for six weeks while running the coffee shop, attend church several times a week, fit in with the community, and enter the local fair’s jam contest. Easy peasy, Andie thinks. Breeze into town, put in her time, collect the money, sell the coffee shop, then breeze out of town.

Uh, not so much. That pesky jam recipe, for example, that she just can’t figure out with the clock ticking down to the contest. And “fitting in” is challenging when most of the town wants her to fail so the money goes to the church, the rightful beneficiary, in many minds.

Andie learns a great deal about herself during her six week “sentence” in Smithville, Georgia, and she comes to realize that that was her grandmother’s plan all along. To help and hinder Andie in the plan is a delightful ensemble cast of quirky, supportive, gossipy, toxic, and thoroughly engaging characters. Oh, and the handsome town police officer, directed by Officer Tinsley to monitor Andie, is just the gravy on the biscuit.

Confronting obstacle after obstacle, Andie builds her character pretty much from the ground up. She goes from an anchorless party girl to a caring and thoughtful young woman deserving of the respect she garners.

Cindy Dorminy, I hope there is a sequel and that we learn more about Andie and her renewed life. Oh, and the sequel better have that strawberry jam recipe with the secret ingredient!

Culinary Mystery Writers to Read

It is no surprise that I enjoy reading mysteries. I love puzzles of all sorts. Well-conceived and written mysteries allow me to think along as both true clues and red herrings are strewn in my path. It’s such fun to get a two-fer book: an engaging story with its requisite sub-plots and a puzzle to solve along with the sleuth.

When you add recipes, à la culinary mysteries, I am the most thrilled. Now it’s a three-fer: engaging story with its requisite sub-plots, a puzzle to solve along with the sleuth, and a cookbook! I can never have too many recipes, even though I almost never follow them as written. Weird, huh?

My first culinary mystery author was one that got many of us started on the sub-genre: Diane Mott Davidson. Loved reading about Goldy Bear Schulz and her horrible-then-wonderful life and how she kept tripping over bodies in her small town. My eyes (and brain) flew open.

I was writing other fiction and why it never occurred to me to put my cooking interest into a mystery is beyond me. Let’s just say that “Ah Ha!” experience re-focused my writing.

I tend to read more cozy mysteries these days. I have lost patience with the traditional mystery in which “the great reveal” comes at the end, and in which it is often hard to think along with the sleuth. I’ve read a bunch of traditional mysteries over the years and still read some on occasion, but my interest has shifted. There is something so fun about cozies. They don’t take themselves over seriously. Sure, they want to write well and tell a good tale, but cozies are about entertainment.

Part of my interest is because I’m also a word guy. I love the punny titles that are characteristic of many culinary mysteries. What’s not to love about Assault and Pepper (Budewitz), The Long Quiche Goodbye (Aames), Dying for a Taste (Karst), Scene of the Climb (Dyer-Seeley), and One Foot in the Grape (O’Neil)?

Left Coast Crime panels have introduced me to some new culinary mystery writers, and being on panels with these women (yes, all women) has been fun, enlightening, and engaging. They are smart, funny, and they love food and adult beverages, too! Here are some you may not know, but I urge you to read them if you haven’t.

Avery Aames/Daryl Wood Gerber

Sometimes, when you have more than one series, you write under pen names. This author has three series! Avery writes the Cheese Shop Mysteries. You learn about cheeses and get some recipes, too. Daryl writes the Cookbook Nook Mysteries, the soon-to-be-published French Bistro Mysteries with recipes. She also has written a number of stand-alone suspense books.

Catherine Bruns

Catherine writes the Cookies and Chance Mysteries. Book one gives the recipe for the fortune cookies that connect to the Chance part of her series. There are some weird fortunes that are pertinent to the recipient, advancing character development.

Additionally, Catherine writes the Aloha Lagoon Mysteries (culinary) and the Cindy York Real Estate Mysteries (non-culinary.

Leslie Budewitz

Leslie writes the Spice Shop Mysteries (Seattle setting) and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries (Montana setting) with delicious recipes! She uses her books to teach us some very interesting stuff! For example, not only do we learn about herbs and spices, but her descriptions of how to use herbs and spices in food sound luscious! Delicious recipes included. She’s a past prez for Sisters in Crime, so you know she knows her way around a mystery!

Kate Dyer-Seeley/Ellie Alexander

Another multi-series author hails from the Northwest. As Kate, she writes writes the “Pacific Northwest Mystery” series and the new “Rose City Mystery” series. As Ellie she writes the “Bakeshop Mystery” series also set in the Northwest. Both series include amazing recipes you’ll enjoy along with the mystery that keeps you guessing.

Leslie Karst

Leslie’s background as an attorney served as the basis for her protag’s previous career also. Then Leslie went to culinary school. Her “Sally Solari Mysteries” are set in Santa Cruz, California. Leaving law to return to the family Italian restaurant business is more of an escape than a life-long dream. Then she inherits a restaurant. Leslie’s recipes are delicious and elegant. Very sophisticated food here.

Kathy Krevat/Kathy Aarons

Here’s another author with more ideas than one series can hold. As Kathy Krevat she writes the “Gourmet Cat” series. Kathy Aarons pens the “Chocolate Covered Mysteries.”  Both have delicious delectations for you to make, too. Kathy Aarons worked with a professional chocolatier to make sure her chocolate candies were perfect.

Nadine Nettmann

Nadine writes the Sommelier Mystery series. She is a certified sommelier and uses that knowledge to teach us about wines while twisting our minds around her engaging mysteries. No recipes, unfortunately, but lots of wine-food pairings are mentioned throughout. Her wine-speak (descriptions of wines) set my tongue a-quiver.

Carlene O’Neil

Carlene’s “Cypress Cove Mysteries” are set along the Northern California coast in wine country. Cypress Cove is a town very like, I mean, very like, Carmel. Her MC comes home to run the family winery she inherited. With an extensive background in alcohol (Carlene is accredited by the Wine and Spirits Education Trust), she teaches us about wine production while spinning a tale for us to unravel.

The culinary mystery field is ripe with authors and their tales of mystery and food beyond these few I’ve highlighted. If you haven’t already bitten into a culinary mystery, take a nibble of these.

Left Coast Crime, 2018

I am headed to the annual Left Coast Crime conference in Reno next week. What does that entail? Part of it is prepping enough food for DH so he is nourished while I’m gone. I know, I know. Don’t go there. This is what I do, okay?

Another part is picking my clothes. You gotta look good at these things, right? I mean, there are famous people there I will interact with. So I went shopping, which I am not wild about. And I ordered stuff online, which I do like to do. And I’ve laid out clothes possibilities in the guest room so I can select the best of the best.

A third conference-prep thing is reading books by authors on my panel. Four panelists and a moderator will share perspectives on writing culinary mysteries. Our title is “Days of Wine and Roses: Culinary Mysteries.” I want to have read at least one book by each woman so I can let them know what I thought. And there are some really great recipes in the novels. I love collecting new recipes!

I went through the program and circled sessions I am interested in attending. The night before, I will select the final ones (where I have more than one highlighted) to attend. I expect, as always, to learn bunches of new stuff. The worst thing is that there’s a session I really want to attend but can’t. It conflicts with my panel. Bummer! In cases like that, I make sure to connect with the panelists to find out what I can about their presentation.

I am also doing some reading about a side trip I am taking prior to the opening of the conference. We’ll be visiting the Donner Party site and museum. I want to bone up on the event (even though I know a good bit already) just so the info from the tour guide has slots to slide into.

Oh, and did I mention I’m on a panel? Yeah, that. In my spare time, I think I should give a bit of thought to what will happen in that hour, don’t you think?

Book Review: The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries

The “Mrs. Jeffries” books may be one of the longest-ever cozy mystery series. If there is a longer one, I am unfamiliar with it. I was introduced to these books by a fellow Red Adept Publishing author earlier this year. If you’re someone who gets into series books, start with book one and work your way through. That’s what I’m doing. The most recent book is Mrs. Jeffries and the Three Wise Women (October, 2017).

Delightful. Inspector Witherspoon, a kindly employer of an assortment of quirky household help, is a Victorian-era police detective at Scotland Yard who is an example of the Peter Principle in action. Inspector Witherspoon is not a very good detective. Not at all. But with the help of his housekeeper, Mrs. Jeffries, and her sleuthing, he is made to look like a good detective. His superior, Inspector Nivens, is thoroughly mystified as to how this bumbling detective manages to solve so many crimes, having no idea of the shadow investigations that go on unbeknownst to Witherspoon or Nivens.

The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries, published in 1993, is the first in the 36-book series by author Emily Brightwell. Each short cozy features the clever Mrs. Jeffries, widowed wife of a police officer, nudging the Inspector toward the clues she has assembled with the help of the household staff she directed. The ensemble cast of cook, footman, maid, and driver aid her in searching out information she can assemble into a coherent theory for each crime.

The crimes in the books I’ve read are tight little mysteries that allow you to think along with Mrs. Jeffries as she puzzles out each murder, modeling her thinking and her deductive methods. The characters are engaging tropes who each fill a slot. The books remind me a bit of the “Miss Fisher” mysteries and her ensemble cast of amateurs who manage to solve crimes before the police can.

I also enjoy the peek into Victoria society, sensibilities, and scenery. Historical mysteries put together two of my favorite things.

If you’re a cozy fan, take a look at the “Mrs. Jeffries” Victorian mystery series. I predict you will find them fun and a bit different from others you might be reading.

Worldly Wednesday: Lo Mein and Coconut Shrimp

Welcome to my annual recipe crush. Each February I choose a theme, and provide one or two recipes each day for the whole month. This year the theme is Weekly Menu Planning. What are the categories, you ask? We have Sunday Special, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Worldly Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Fishy Friday, and Celebrate Saturday.

Here we are. End of the month. End of the daily recipes for another year. I really hope you found this month an interesting journey. Making life easier—for myself and others--is a goal of mine. And systematizing meal planning is one way I made my life easier. I make calendars for meals so I know what to buy and what I’ll be cooking. I hope you will have an easier, less stressed cooking life, too.

Being Worldly Wednesday is a great way to end the month since I have readers from around the world. I hope you enjoy this last offering. This year. Next year will be a whole new category for February recipes.

I hope you will stop in again, even if it’s not February, to see what’s going on here. The normal posts are about mysteries, recipes, or recipes in mysteries. You just never know!

And if you come back regularly, you’ll find out when Pastabilties is released from Red Adept Publishing this fall as well as the other books in the series. On to the last recipe for February’s Month-of-Recipes.

Half of our current household loves foods of the Pacific Rim. Half does not. The “does not” half will eat Asian foods if served, but the “does not” half never requests them. Too bad! I served this lo mein with shrimp since I knew “does not” wanted more to eat than the noodles. You could make this a Meatless Monday meal without the shrimp.

 

You’ll also note in the picture below that I roasted EVO coated Brussel sprouts that baked alongside the shrimp. Same time! Easy way to cut down on the pans needed for dinner.

Did you ever wonder about the difference between chow mein and lo mein? In chow mein, the noodles are fried first and the sauce added. In lo mein the boiled noodles are tossed with a sauce and done. Lo mein is the easier, quicker dish, right? Also, a more healthful option.

One thing about cooking with rice noodles for this dish is how easy it is compared to cooking wheat-based pasta. After the water comes to a boil, you add the noodles, and take the pot off the heat and let it sit for 8 minutes or so. Drain and use immediately or they get too soft and gushy.

Lo Mein (serves 6-8)

1 pound rice noodles

¾ cup soy sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 teaspoons fresh ginger (raw or Gourmet Garden in produce aisle)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, rough chopped

3 celery stalks, thinly sliced

½ head cabbage, rough chopped

In a small dish, mix soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. Set aside.

Cut up onion, celery, and cabbage as the water comes to a boil for the rice noodles.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add celery and cook for three minutes, stirring so it doesn’t brown.

Add onion and cabbage to the skillet and stir to mix up vegetables.

Put rice noodles into boiling water. Cook according to package directions by removing boiling pot from the heat.

Stir veggies in skillet and cook for another five minutes until onion is tender and cabbage is wilted.

Drain noodles and dump into skillet on top of veggies. Pour sauce over the top and toss to coat veggies and noodles. Serve immediately.

Coconut Shrimp (serves 6) 

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/c cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups flaked sweet coconut

3 egg whites, whipped to foamy

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Rinse and dry shrimp.

Mix cornstarch and salt in a shallow dish for coating the shrimp. Put coconut in a separate shallow dish.

Beat egg whites until foamy and put in a shallow dish between the cornstarch and the coconut.

Dredge shrimp in the cornstarch and shake off excess. Dip into the egg white and roll in the coconut. Place shrimp on baking pan. Repeat with all the shrimp.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Check for doneness and toasting of coconut. Serve alone or with your favorite dipping sauce. One good sauce is orange marmalade, horseradish, and Dijon mustard combined to your taste. More marmalade if you want it sweeter; more horseradish for more bite.

NOTE: I cheated this time. I always keep frozen appetizer-style foods in the freezer in case someone drops by, and I need to serve something with drinks. One of those is breaded shrimp. I used a box of the breaded shrimp and dipped them into whipped egg whites and coconut before baking. Not as good as my recipe above, but very fast to do.

DH’s Rating: 4 Tongues Up

DH: “You know I don’t particularly like Asian food. This is tasty, it’s just not my favorite. And it was too salty.” Me: “So should I make it again? Use low-sodium soy sauce?” DH: “Mmmm. Maybe.” Me: “What did you like best about it?” DH: “The shrimp.”  Sigh.