A Wee Murder in My Shop at the Cozy Corner With Author Fran Stewart

March Madness has brought a ton of new cozies to my bookshelf, but this one really caught my eye. A great new cozy series, the Scotshop Mysteries, by author Fran Stewart. I had the pleasure of connecting with Fran on social media after I read A WEE MURDER IN MY SHOP, and she graciously agreed to an interview.

Kym: Hi, Fran! Welcome to the Cozy Corner ;)

Fran: I’m delighted to be here. Thank you for having invited me.

Kym: Your Scotshop Mystery series is wonderfully different from any other cozy on the market. Can you tell our readers where you came up with the idea?

Fran: Once upon a time (isn’t every good story supposed to start like that?), I opened my email one morning and found a note from a New York agent who had found some of my writing online at the Sisters in Crime Atlanta Chapter website. He said he had an idea for a new cozy series “with a Scottish flavor” and thought I’d be the perfect person to write it. When we spoke he asked me what would happen if somebody bought something, like a kilt, in Scotland and then found out it had a ghost attached to it. “Could you take just that idea,” he continued, “and craft a three-book series out of it?” So, I changed the kilt to a shawl, made the ghost from the 14th century, and the ScotShop series was born as soon as he sold the idea to Berkley Press.

Kym: In the series, shop owner Peggy Winn buys an ancient plaid shawl while traveling in Scotland and discovers it to be linked to a handsome Scotsman. The only problem—he’s is a ghost. I have to say, I pictured him like a hero in a historical romance set in the highlands. Were you trying to achieve that image, or was it just your love of a Scottish burr coming through the pages?

Fran: I’ve visited Scotland twice—and absolutely fell in love with the country and the people. One of the many joys of creating a mystery series is that I can fill the pages with the people I want in there. Of course, some of them stand up and argue with me. I’m not short, Peggy’s friend Karaline told me; I’m tall. And Dirk very pointedly informed me that his name was Macbeath (pronounced MOCK-bey-ATH in Middle English), so I had to argue with him a bit to let Peggy call him Dirk. I finally convinced him that Macbeth has been a name with a lot of negative connotation ever since Shakespeare wrote that play. I love the rrrrr’s he rolls around in his speech, but I also must admit that his broad shoulders, shown to best advantage by the homespun poet shirt he wears, had a great deal to do with my enjoyment of developing his character.

Kym: Peggy owns a Scottish shop in a Hamelin, Vermont that is the setting for Peggy’s life and the murder of her ex-boyfriend. Was there an actual store that inspired the setting? Can you tell our readers about the store so they can fall in love with the ScotShop as much as I did?

Fran: The ScotShop is patterned after a lovely little place I found in Pitlochry, Scotland. The first time I walked in that store, the smell of the old floors, the wool of the kilts, the bright patterns of the tartans and the muted shades of the hunting plaids captured my imagination. I wish I could recall the name of the store, but it’s certainly alive on the pages of the ScotShop. The store had a tall pointy roof, (can be seen in the link below) although there were others up and down the street that could have served as a model just as well. The only difference (other than the dead body) is that Peggy has laid out her store with more room between the displays since she’s very aware of the needs of people who use wheelchairs. Her twin brother Drew has used a wheelchair ever since he fell off a dinosaur.

Kym: A dinosaur? I know the story because I’ve read your book, but you might want to explain this to our blog readers.

Fran: Well, it wasn’t really a dinosaur. It was the framework around the dinosaur. Believe me, it makes sense in the context of the book!

Kym: Besides the dinosaur, you’ve done a few other things differently in your novel than the typical cozy mystery. For one, the body doesn’t appear until a third of the way through the book and at one point, you tell the story through the victim’s eyes. Both techniques worked perfectly with your story-line and gave the reader a fresh perspective. Did you have to sell those points to your editor?

Fran: Funny you should ask that. I didn’t have to sell the idea to her. She sold it to me. My first version of the book had Mason getting killed in chapter two and discovered by Peggy in chapter three, after which Peggy flew to Scotland on her buying trip, bought the old shawl, discovered her ghost, and returned to Vermont to find that her cousin had been arrested. It was my editor who said she wanted Peggy and Dirk to develop their connection early on and then discover the body together. This way I could have Dirk walk across the bookcase that the murderer had turned over onto the body, and Peggy could wonder how much a ghost weighed. I did have to sell the idea of having Mason’s point of view in there, but she liked the way it pushed the story forward and added some suspense.

Kym: Yoga is a big part of Peggy’s life, although she struggles with making the breathing exercises do the trick while under stress; do you participate in Yoga classes?

Fran: I’ve taken several of those beginning Yoga classes. The last one was called something like Yoga for Life. I love the idea of Yoga. I love the positive difference it’s made in the lives of a number of my friends. I don’t, however, love lying or kneeling on a cold floor (even with a mat!) If I could do all the yoga on my bed, I think I’d like it a whole lot better. That said, there are a couple of poses that work quite well on a soft surface. Those are the ones I stick to. For the rest, I’m perfectly happy to watch Peggy doing them.

Kym: I saw on your blog that you hope to visit Scotland with your choir. How many times have you been there, and do you have any photos you’d like to share that inspired A Wee Murder in My Shop? Readers who love Scotland, want to see pics ;) I’m not referring to myself—really, I’m not.

Fran: OH YES, YOU ARE! I’M THE SAME WAY. I LOVE PHOTOS IN BLOGPOSTS. I’ve been to Scotland twice, although it was long enough ago that I’d never heard of a digital camera and the Internet didn’t exist yet. Luckily there are now so many sites where photos of Scotland abound, that I’ve been able to pull up a site that has photos of places I remember with great fondness. This, for instance, here is the main street in Pitlochry. (And the business with the pointy roof that inspired the ScotShop).

You mentioned the Scottish Highlands. This link shows a picture that is very close to one I took myself years ago. You can see how the road we just traveled curves as it ascends.

Kym: The ScotShop Mystery novel isn’t your first publication, but I fell in love with your story telling while reading it. Could you tell us about your Biscuit McKee Mystery Series?

Fran: The library was always a constant in my life as I grew up in a military family that moved often, sometimes twice in one year. When I began writing about Biscuit McKee, she simply had to be a librarian. Marmalade, of course, is the library cat who adopts Biscuit. I’ve chosen, too, to deal with specific social issues in each of those books—bipolar disorder, suicide prevention, the long-term effects of child abuse. My own sister is bipolar, and I wanted to give my readers information without preaching at them. If someone recognizes herself, a friend, or a relative in the actions of Biscuit’s sister, and if that person then gets help or passes on the information, then I feel I’ve fulfilled some of my responsibility as a writer. That’s why I give toll-free numbers and websites at the end of each Biscuit McKee book where people can go for help or for more information about each of the issues I write about. I give a portion of my royalties to libraries and humane societies.

Kym: Thank you for joining us at The Cozy Corner. Could you tell us what you’re working on now and give your social media links for readers to contact you?

Fran: I’m finishing the final corrections on the second ScotShop book (I can’t tell you the title yet, but it also starts with A WEE…), working on the third book in that series, and writing the eighth book in the Biscuit McKee series. When I get stuck on one, I just shift gears to one of the other two projects. And I love hearing from my readers. They can follow me on my Facebook author page, and can sign up to receive my newsletter announcing new book releases at my website http://FranStewart.com. My Twitter tag is @writer_Fran, although I must admit I’m so busy writing I don’t spend a lot of time on Twitter. Readers are welcome to message me through my Facebook author page. Thank you again, Kym, for the opportunity to talk to the cozy community. I’ve enjoyed this time thoroughly.

Kym: 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)