Music speaks to writers in a way that few other mediums can, creating a vibe and an emotional state that perfectly captures what they’re trying to accomplish within a scene. These five songs really tell the shape and trajectory of the journey that Kate goes through during my debut murder-mystery/rom-com mash-up, SHE DOESN’T HAVE A CLUE. By turns funny, zany, sexy, and serious, these songs are the perfect backdrop for your CLUE read-a-thon.
Mother, Mother - Tracy Bonham
When we first meet our intrepid amateur sleuth, Kate Valentine, she's trying her absolute hardest to be fine. Her fiancé has left her, she's six months overdue on her next bestselling mystery novel, and now she's got to attend her ex's lavish weekend wedding at his new bride's private island (yes, the whole damn island). And what has she got? An apartment of increasingly questionable leftover take out, a brand new dress that she's hoping will hold in a whole lot more than just her cleavage for the weekend, and the personal mantra that "everything is FINE." I can well imagine the chorus of this song literally screaming through Kate’s head as she hops on the yacht to Hempstead Island.
Stick Season - Noah Kahan
He might be talking about a state on the opposite side of the country from the Pacific Northwest where SHE DOESN'T HAVE A CLUE takes place, but the idea of missing someone - or rather, the idea of someone - was so central to Kate's old relationship to the love interest, Jake, that I had to include this song. Kate hasn't seen Jake in two years, but that hasn't stopped her missing the shape of him, the idea of him - everything about him. Being left behind by someone who presumably went on to something bigger, better - even if it was only in the perspective of the person left behind? Yeah, Kate can definitely dig that.
Yes I'm A Mess - AJR
It takes two body drops - literal bodies, literally dropping - for Kate to recognize that she might not be as fine as she's proclaiming to be. And it's only by embracing that mess - or embracing the chaos, as Jake tells her - that she can truly become the version of herself she's meant to be. This song perfectly embodies her feeling of truly blowing up her life, the life she so carefully crafted and thought she wanted, to find the life she truly wants.
Falling Into You - Celine Dion
Listen - when you're looking to set the mood for an intimate, romantic scene, you need the right song. And there's a reason why Celine Dion is an international bestselling artist whose career has spanned decades, continents, and blockbuster movie soundtracks. The woman knows her way around a sensual ballad, and this one was in constant rotation for the Jenny of an impressionable age. So of course it had to make a special guest starring appearance in my first adult romance scenes.
Next to Normal - Lucius
I could tell you that this song syncs to a specific scene and really gives the fun, chaotic, party vibe I was going for. OR I could tell you that if you play this song in your headphones loudly enough, on repeat, while writing, you can't hear your children fighting in the background during summer break when you're on deadline. Either way, the song is a total banger.
With a colorful cast of characters and a cellar full of wine, anything can happen—from murder to a second chance at love—in Jenny Elder Moke's half mystery, half romance adult debut set at a lavish destination wedding.
A high-end wedding on a private island off the coast of Seattle sounds like something out of a magazine. But for bestselling mystery author Kate Valentine, it’s more like a nightmare.
Why Kate agreed to attend her ex-fiancé’s wedding is its own enigma, but she’ll plaster on a fake smile for two nights, with the aid of free champagne, naturally. And because the groom happens to be her editor, she’ll try to finish a draft of her latest Loretta Starling mystery as a wedding gift.
When the bride is poisoned and Kate stumbles across a dead body, she finds herself in a real-life mystery that eerily echoes the plot of her latest novel. And the only person who seems willing to help Kate catch the killer is Jake Hawkins, aka: the Hostralian; aka: Kate’s biggest romantic regret.
As the wine flows and the weather threatens to hold every guest hostage, bitter resentments and long-held grudges surface amongst the colorful crowd. Anyone could be capable of murder, it seems. What would Loretta do? Unfortunately, Kate doesn’t have a clue.
Romance Comedy | Mystery Amateur Sleuth [Minotaur Books, On Sale: January 21, 2025, Trade Paperback / e-Book , ISBN: 9781250354969 / eISBN: 9781250354976]
Jenny Elder Moke writes young adult fiction in an attempt to recapture the shining infinity of youth. She worked for several years at an independent publisher in Austin, TX before realizing she would rather write the manuscripts than read them. She is a member of the Texas Writer’s League and has studied children’s writing with Liz Garton Scanlon. She was a finalist in the Austin Film Festival Fiction Podcast Competition in 2017 for her podcast script, Target. When she is not writing, she’s gathering story ideas from her daily adventures with her two irredeemable rapscallions and honing her ninja skills as a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Jenny lives in Denver, CO with her husband and two children.
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