Do any of y’all remember a Sylvester Stallone movie called Stop or My Mom Will Shoot? It’s everything you’d expect from a early 90s PG-13 action movie, with cheesy, over-the-top situations and tons of camp. It was a total box-office flop, but it has always stuck with me, because it is a perfect example of how introducing a character’s family immediately changes the viewer - or reader’s - perception of them. At the beginning of the movie, we see Stallone as a tough in-control cop dealing with a breakup. His mom (played by the late Estelle Getty of Golden Girls fame, who is an absolute pistol here) comes for a visit to try and cheer him up after a breakup. She starts by washing his gun, since to her it appears dirty, and once she realizes it’s ruined, she illegally buys him a new one, which gets her involved in a murder investigation. From the minute she shows up, we see Stallone shift into little-boy mode, unable to push back against the unstoppable force that is his mother, showing a completely different dynamic than in his relationship with almost everyone else around him. Through the course of the film, he comes to understand a bit more about where his mom is coming from, and to respect her while maturing a lot himself.
It's an interesting dynamic to play with, and introducing family often gives us context to see a character as a more complete person. There’s an episode of Psych where Chief Vick, who often seems one-note as the voice of reason reigning in the unruly cast of characters, has her sister show up, disputing jurisdiction. (Her sister is with the coast guard.) And suddenly, you can see a whole other side to Chief Vick, who can’t handle the situation professionally, due to the highly competitive and somewhat jealousy-ridden relationship she has with her sister. Suddenly, she’s joining in the shenanigans. And even after that episode, you see her in a new light.
In my own work, I’ve introduced my characters’ families intentionally. In my Chocoverse (space opera) series, Bo’s mom is a celebrity chef, and Bo is forever living in her shadow (though a bit of a celebrity herself).
And of course, in my Bean to Bar mysteries, Felicity’s relationship with her grandmother and her aunt set the tone, as Felicity tries to deal with grief in the first book. Later, I introduced her mom and dad, and gave their reactions to a daughter who had suddenly gone from being a former physical therapist turned craft chocolate maker to an amateur detective solving multiple cases, seemingly overnight. And all of that has given context for Felicity’s arc towards healing from her grief and embracing friends and community.
But I also embroiled Felicity in a love triangle, and now that she’s finally made her choice. But her relationship with her new fiancé is very different from the one she had with her late husband, so obviously, his family dynamics are going to be very different too. I knew that putting his family on the page, including a competitive sister, a mother who used to be a stunt pilot, and a dour dad who believes that sleuthing is best left to the police, was going to say a lot about the guy Felicity has chosen to love.
But I didn’t think about how seeing him in context with his family would affect her. She finds herself a bit conflicted about whether she fits in with them, especially after she realizes said fiance cares a lot more about his mother’s opinions than Felicity would have thought. And she’s pretty sure his sister doesn’t think the engagement is a good match. The insecurity she feels, and the conflict over whether he’s committed to her deeply enough to overcome his family’s objections shows how far Felicity still has to arc, if she is to have self-confidence and peace. It also shows how much room her relationship has to grow.
Of course, all of this takes place in the context of the series’ mysteries, which all serve to hit different aspects of Felicity’s personality. She’s developed more empathy, and worked a good deal on her confidence as she’s moved from someone who had no clue how to go about investigating in the first book to someone who has a good handle on how to question a suspect.
I’ve said from the beginning that Felicity got into the whole chocolate making business in part because she loves to travel. (Often, craft chocolate makers find themselves visiting origin, to meet farmers and see where their beans are grown, or for sales or industry-related events.) I’ve started outlining the next book, which will finally show her traveling, to a chocolate festival in Tokyo. I’m still debating as to whether she will have to bring along the fiancé’s sister.
Bean to Bar Mysteries
Felicity Koerber is finally getting her life together. She has a fiance, her bean to bar chocolate shop on Galveston’s historic Strand has become a gathering spot for the community, and she is ready to embrace whatever the future holds. She’s ready for another launch party – despite the disaster at her grand opening, when she’d first gotten involved with solving a murder. And this time she’s embracing her status as a sleuth. She’s hosting a murder mystery weekend to celebrate the new Mystery Flavor line of craft chocolate bars. She’s held a contest to choose the attendees, who will all stay at her aunt’s flip hotel and enjoy the island. It’s all supposed to be perfectly random – only, Felicity starts to uncover connections between her guests. When one of them winds up murdered, Felicity has to keep her aunt from becoming the main suspect.
The killer is very clearly calling Felicity out, leaving clues that mean little to anyone other than her. But that doesn’t narrow down the suspect pool. Her guests are there because they love the true crime podcast she’s been featured on. And she can’t decide whether the killer wants her to catch them – or just wants to taunt her.
Meanwhile, Felicity is also playing host to her future in-laws and discovers that her fiancé’s sister, who is also a cop, is very competitive. Can Felicity hold her own and make a good impression, while keeping her business together and her aunt out of jail? And can Felicity solve it in time to protect the people she cares about from becoming additional victims?
Satchmo the retired police dog turned therapy dog returns to help her sniff out a few clues, and one of the guests brings along a ferret named Cheeseburger, who keeps showing up in the most unexpected places.
Mystery Hobbies | Mystery Cozy [Golden Tip Press, On Sale: June 25, 2024, e-Book, ISBN: 9781952854200 / eISBN: 9781952854217]
Amber Royer writes comic space opera set in the Chocoverse, where chocolate is the only thing Earth has that a hungry galaxy wants to get its hands, paws and tentacles on. She also teaches enrichment and continuing education creative writing classes for teens and adults. She spent five years as a youth librarian, where she organized teen writers’ groups and teen writing contests. In addition to two cookbooks co-authored with her husband, Amber has published a number of articles on gardening, crafting and cooking for print and on-line publications. She’s an avid reader, cook and language geek – and a fan of cheesy old science fiction films.
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