1--What is the title of your latest release?
MURDER AT THE PUMPKIN PAGEANT
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Running a bakery in a hunted lighthouse, Lindsey Bakewell loves fall baking but dreads Halloween, and this year the Halloween antics are ramping up. Someone keeps hanging hideous dummies from her tree, kids keep trying to break into the lighthouse to see her resident ghost, and her best friend, Kennedy, surprises her by announcing a livestream ghost host hunt on Halloween night. Just when Lindsey believes she’s successfully made it through Halloween, the ghost hunt takes a deadly turn, and a body is discovered.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant is the 4th in my Beacon Bakeshop mystery series. In the first book my protagonist, Lindsey Bakewell, is a Wall Street investment banker who desperately needs a change of pace. She ends up purchasing a lighthouse in Michigan on the internet and decides to move there and open her dream bakery. That’s basically the gist of the series. When I was trying to come up with this series, I knew that I wanted to set it in a lighthouse in Michigan. I live in Michigan, and I love our gorgeous lighthouses and feel that a lighthouse would be the perfect setting for a cozy mystery. Also, I realized that from time-to-time lighthouses go on sale and you can buy one on the internet! I thought that was so interesting, so I used it to start this series. The lighthouse that is the model for my fictitious bakery, is the Point Betsie Lighthouse in Frankfort, MI. It is so spacious and lovely that the moment I took a tour of it, I thought, “Wow, this place would make a fabulous bakery!” Regarding the baking aspect of this book, I love baking so I thought writing about a baker would be more enjoyable than actually opening a bakery. I also get to share some of my favorite recipes in these books. The setting for this book is a fictious town called Beacon Harbor, which to me is a combination of all my favorite charming towns on Lake Michigan.
4--Would you hang out with your sleuth in real life?
I sure would. Lindsey Bakewell is easy going, good natured, loves dogs, and is a hard worker. She also makes amazing baked goods and loves a good cup of coffee. We’d be best friends!
5--What are three words that describe your sleuth?
Intelligent, curious, and kind.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
That making laminated dough is not worth the time! Honestly, running a bakery would be very hard, and the hours aren’t great either.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I prefer to edit as I go.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Culver’s Turtle Sunday. It’s so decadent and I don’t have to make it!
9--Describe your writing space/office!
At the moment, it’s a bit sparce, because I’ve just painted the walls and gave it a makeover. My husband is promising to make me loads of bookshelves, so I’m waiting for those, and I have a pile of photos that need to be hung. On my left is a large picture window that overlooks a lot of trees, giving you the feeling of being in a treehouse. There are lots of birds and squirrels that come to visit. Behind me is a table with 3 microphones and recording tech, because my sons thought it would be fun to start a podcast together. I couldn’t say no! So, that’s in here too! And my dogs are also here. They’re always here when I’m working. To me, my office is a calming, tidy, creative space with just a hint of chaos. I love it!
10--Who is an author you admire?
There are truly so many authors that I admire. In fact, nearly every time I read a book by an author I love, or discover a new author, I’m utterly filled with admiration for them and the stories they’ve created. However, a few older authors stand out for me. For cozy mystery, I truly admire the late M. C. Beaton and Agatha Christie. For historical fiction, I admire the late Dorothy Dunnett, and Patrick O’Brian. Also, Diana Gabaldon. Whew, that was a hard question!
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
There have been many from every stage of my life. However, I’m going to say that the first book in the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon was the book that inspired me to write my own stories. She is such a brilliant storyteller, and I loved her style. After I read Outlander, I thought, “Wow, I love to be able to tell a story like that.”
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)
For me, the first book I got published was a work of historical fiction. I worked so hard on that book, and really wanted to see it become published that when I got the call from my agent, I was literally speechless. Part of me truly didn’t believe it, and part of me was freaking out! In the end I hung up and started screaming the good news to my family. Then we celebrated!
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I am really reading a lot of cozy mysteries right now and love them. I’ve always loved a good mystery, but there is a special place in my heart for historical fiction. My guilty pleasure is the old stuff, the sweeping historical epics! Also, I love nonfiction too and have been known to go on NF binges.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
A Knights Tale, Princess Bride, and Braveheart
15--What is your favorite season?
Summerfall. I squished those together to make one glorious season. I like winter too, but I think we can all agree that it’s not as awesome as summerfall!
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I like a quiet celebration with my family. I cherish a good meal that I don’t have to make and love it when one of my sons makes my birthday cake. My sons have become excellent cooks/bakers, so that’s a real treat for me!
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I love the AWE’d Life podcast by Hallie Sawyer. It’s very inspirational for middle-aged women like me. And for irreverent humor and interviews, the Motherboy podcast, which I host with my millennial sons. (Thanks for letting me give a shout out on that one!). As for books, I highly recommend The Diva Delivers on a Promise, by Krista Davis. I love her entire Domestic Diva Series!
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Italian is my guilty pleasure.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Hiking, traveling, golf, kayaking, reading, connecting with friends, and other silly things like that. I am easily entertained.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
Murder at the Blarney Bash, which is the 5th book in my Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, will be out January 23rd, 2024. I am so excited about that one as well! There are lots of shenanigans in that one, so get ready!
Beacon Bakeshop
The latest installment in Darci Hannah’s delicious Beacon Bakeshop Mystery series set in small-town Beacon Harbor, Michigan, featuring a baker heroine who lives in the local lighthouse with her beloved Newfoundland dog, Wellington.
Lindsey prefers to keep her bakeshop’s Halloween decor light and autumnal, rather than gruesome and ghoulish. But everyone knows her lighthouse home is haunted. Some intrepid teens have even tried to break in to witness the resident ghost themselves. Dreading Halloween night, Lindsey reluctantly allows her influencer and podcaster best friend, Kennedy, to host a live ghost hunting investigation in the lighthouse, conducted by a professional team. Protective of her ghost, Lyndsey is understandably nervous about what they might uncover . . .
The segment is uneventful—until things take a terrifying turn. The team freaks out. As Kennedy joins the mad dash outside, she bumps into what looks like the prankster teens’ creepy clown costume hanging from a tree. But when Lindsey’s dog, Wellington, begins to whine, they make a grim discovery: the clown is no dummy. It’s a corpse.
Now Lindsey and company will need to keep their cool if they want a ghost of a chance to solve the murder—and see another Halloween . . .
Mystery Cozy [Kensington Cozies, On Sale: July 25, 2023, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781496741721 / eISBN: 9781496741738]
Grab A Pumpkin-Spiced Latte and Enjoy This Highly Entertaining Halloween Themed Mystery
Darci Hannah, born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago and a graduate of Indiana University, has skied, paddled, sailed and hiked a good chunk of North America while toting her favorite, dog-eared works of historical fiction along with her. As a self-proclaimed student of life who is “far from passing the test,” Darci continued her self-education after college by indulging her passion for travel, history (Scottish history in particular), as well as her interest in those mysterious happenings, myths and tales that challenge the imagination. Shortly after graduation, Darci married her college sweetheart. It wasn’t until after the birth of the couple’s third son that she finally decided to combine her adventurous spirit with her life-long passions and put pen to paper. Many years and rejection slips later, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, was finally published in 2010 by Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, followed by, The Angel of Blythe Hall, published in 2011.
It isn’t surprising that Darci Hannah’s works, combining her unique interests and storytelling ability, don’t fit neatly into any one genera. While being firmly rooted in history, they are unwinding journeys of adventure, romance, mystery and suspense that deftly bring the reader to the edge of belief and beyond. Hannah’s stories are filled with palpable emotion, richly drawn characters, evocative settings, visceral historical detail and intriguing, unpredictable plots. They speak to the romantic—to the adventurous soul looking to be whisked from the twenty-first century and transported to Scotland of the past. Whether to a forlorn lighthouse teetering on the edge of Cape Wrath, or to the tumultuous Borders in the reign of James IV, Darci Hannah’s inspired historical tales will continue to linger in the imagination long after the last page is turned.
Darci Hannah currently lives in Michigan with her husband and three teen-aged sons.
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