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Cozy Corner | Eva Gates: BY BOOK OR BY CROOK – Your Guiding Light to Mystery
Patricia Salcedo
January 19, 2015
There's a new sleuth in town and she's not your average crime fighter:
She's the
new assistant librarian on Bodie Island. BY BOOK OR BY
CROOK caught my attention because of my love of lighthouses, but the story
had me hooked when I read the romantic beacon of hope contained a small town
library. Can you imagine how utterly fascinating that would be? Of course it’s
not plausible, even the author admits that in her foreword, the space is
entirely too small, but her imagination takes you to this enchanting place every
reader must see. I had to get the scoop behind this intriguing new series from
the creator herself, Eva Gates. Kym Roberts:
Hi, Eva! Eva: Hi, Kym. Nice to be here. Kym: Your knowledge of lighthouses and the Outer Banks of North Carolina
is evident throughout the book. Can you tell our readers about the inspiration
for the setting of BY BOOK OR BY CROOK? Eva: I’d love to take credit for it, but I can’t. The setting was the idea of
the editor at Obsidian, who loves the Outer Banks. I’d never even been there
before I began to write the book. But I believe in “write what you want
to know” not “write what you know” so I went down there to see for myself and
discovered a perfect setting for a cozy mystery series. Kym: I love the way you brought the classics by Jane Austen into the
mystery. Why did you choose her books as a focus in the storyline? Eva: The idea of the Jane Austen collection was initially just a background to
the mystery: someone is stealing the books. But the more I got into it the more
I got Lucy, my character into it. Lucy ended up giving lectures in the life and
times of Miss Austen, and I loved dropping bits of Jane trivia. Initially, the
library was going to have a mystery book club. But then we decided that a lot of
mystery series these days have mystery book clubs so we wanted something
different. I liked the idea of a classic novel reading group, and I’ll be
expanding on that. In BOOKED FOR TROUBLE they are reading
Pride and Prejudice and in READING UP A STORM, it’s
Kidnapped. The plot in the books will, very slightly, reflect the
novels the book club is reading. Kym: Lucy Richardson, is definitely a Jane Austenesque style heroine-
intelligent, innocent, and suddenly attracting more attention than she ever
imagined from two different, yet equally intriguing men. When creating her
character what was the most important thing you wanted readers to know about
her? Eva: That she’s intensely loyal to her friends. Lucy has only been working at
the library for a week, when the chair of the library board is murdered. The
library director, Bertie, is the main suspect. Bertie offered Lucy a job when
she was at a low place in her life, and Lucy is determined to prove her new
friend’s innocence. Kym: You've incorporated historical, fun and educational events that
draw visitors to the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library. Describe the perfect
library experience for you. Eva: To me, library means community, and I have tried to demonstrate that in the
books. In my real life I spoke to the town council against an attempt to close
several of our rural county libraries. I am now jokingly called the Margaret
Atwood of Prince Edward County, in reference to the time Margaret Atwood spoke
up against the infamous Ford brothers declaration that Toronto didn’t need
libraries. Kym: Although this is a new series, you are far from a newcomer to the
mystery and suspense genre. Can you tell us about your other novels and the pen
names you’re published under? Eva: Eva Gates is my only pen name. My real name is Vicki Delany, and under that
name I have 14 published novels and 2 novellas. I write the Constable Molly
Smith series for Poisoned Pen Press, the Klondike Gold Rush series
for Dundurn Press, and standalone suspense also for PPP. I have two novellas,
with another coming out in the fall, for the Rapid Reads imprint of Orca Press. Kym: I was so intrigued by Lucy and all of your characters, I can’t wait
for the next book in the series! What do you have in store for your heroine in
your next Lighthouse Library Mystery? Eva: In BOOKED FOR TROUBLE, Lucy’s mother comes to town determined
to bring her daughter back to Boston to marry the son of her father’s law
partner. Playing off the sort of family obligations on a young woman like in
Pride and Prejudice. While there Lucy’s mom has an angry encounter
with a friend from high school, and when the friend ends up dead… The first
chapter of BOOKED FOR TROUBLE can be found at the back of BY BOOK OR BY
CROOK. Kym: Thank you for joining us in the Cozy Corner. Can you share your
social media links for readers to contact you? Eva: Happily. Find me as Eva Gates at LighthouseLibraryMysteries.com, Vicki Delany at VickiDelany.com, and on Facebook and
Twitter: @evagatesauthor
Until next time, get cozy and read on!
 
Kym Roberts is a
retired detective sergeant who looks for passion, mystery and suspense in
every
book she reads and writes. She can be found on the web at kymroberts.com, on
Facebook at Kym Roberts (author) and on Twitter @kymroberts911. Look for her
latest release, DEAD MAN'S CARVE, A Tickled to Death Mystery on
Amazon. (All proceeds will be donated to wounded veterans)
Comments
2 comments posted.
Re: Cozy Corner | Eva Gates: BY BOOK OR BY CROOK – Your Guiding Light to Mystery
Thank you for sharing your great article with us. Really
your article is so interesting and helpful for us. Nice
article, I will keep visiting this this website to read
your more article on future.
iOS Development
(Nikon Nik 8:19am February 6, 2015)
The ability to write a book and capture people is always intriguing to me. Keep it up.
(MaryEllen Hanneman 2:37pm February 10, 2015)
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