1--What is the title of your latest release?
WRITTEN IN STONE
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Little did Kansas to Edinburgh transplant Delaney Nichols know that accepting an invitation to artist Ryory Benningan’s studio would lead to a horrible murder. Delaney will have to dig deep to understand if the artist’s eccentricities regarding the Picts, an ancient people covered in tattoos and topped off with bright red hair, are clues to a killer or just smoke and mirrors.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I set the series in Edinburgh, Scotland because I’ve always been fascinated by the country. I had the chance to visit back in 2014, and it was even more spectacular than I imagined.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Absolutely.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Curious, smart, grateful.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned about the Picts, a civilization about which we know very little but were still fascinating. Covered in blue tattoos and topped off with bright red hair (well, not all of them, but many of them), they were probably a ferocious bunch in Scotland from about 300AD to 900AD.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
Edit later – my second draft is tough.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Hmm. I’m pretty food-boring. I like most anything, but I love Ruffles potato chips and French Onion dip. I can’t allow chips and dip in my house anymore or I eat them all, but it’s fun when friends serve them.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
My office is in a spare bedroom in the back of my house. It has a desk, bookshelves, and a giant beanbag chair for when I get tired of sitting in my office chair.
10--Who is an author you admire?
There are so many, but one of my first favorites is Phyllis A. Whitney. Growing up, I couldn’t wait to hurry to B. Dalton’s in the mall to pick up her latest.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Lots, but one is Interview with a Vampire. It’s a fabulous story, of course, but it made me realize that you can write about absolutely anything at all.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
It was 2008. My husband, son, and I were leaving Disneyland, heading for the airport, when my agent called to tell me she sold Farm Fresh Murder, my first book. It was pretty darn magical.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Mystery or thriller, but I read science fiction, women’s fiction, and some romance. I read just about anything.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
It changes all the time, but my current favorite is The Martian.
15--What is your favorite season?
Before we moved to Arizona, my favorite season or time of year was anything but January or February. Now, in Arizona, those are my two favorite months, but there’s something to love about every season.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Quietly.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I loved The Pitt with Noah Wylie, and we saw The Accountant 2 at an early promo Tax Day showing. It was fun.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Junk food. Hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, and shakes. Yum.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Read, ride my bike, yoga.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
WRITTEN IN STONE – the mass market version will release on December 30 of this year.
Scottish Bookshop #9
Written in Stone, the tenth installment in the Scottish Bookshop series by Paige Shelton, set in a specialty bookstore in Edinburgh called The Cracked Spine.
When Delaney wins a special Hidden Door Festival invitation to artist Ryory Bennigan's studio, she isn’t sure quite what to expect. What she finds is an elusive fellow obsessed with the Picts—complete with his own versions of their blue tattoos and vibrant red hair—recreating the stones they left behind. She also meets a visiting paleontologist, Dr. Adam Pace, from the University of Kansas attempting to sell an artifact that might just explain what the Picts' language really sounded like.
Or at least that’s what he claimed the artifact was for. Before the deal can close and Ryory can get a closer look at it, Dr. Pace is found dead.
With the police dragging their feet in the investigation, Delaney takes it upon herself to dig into Dr. Pace's past. Her research goes murky as she quickly discovers Pace’s shady background—selling fake dinosaur bones and running into some 3D-printing trouble back in Kansas. Could his past have come back to bite him in Edinburgh? And what does his questionable background mean for the mysterious Pictish artifact he was trying to sell to Ryory? Delaney will have to dust off her magnifying glass to uncover the truth behind this case… or risk becoming a pile of bones herself.
Thriller Crime | Mystery Cozy [Minotaur Books, On Sale: April 1, 2025, Hardcover / e-Book , ISBN: 9781250336613 / eISBN: 9781250336620]
Paige Shelton was born in Nevada, Missouri, but wasn’t there long. After a childhood full of many moves, and high school and college in Des Moines, Iowa, she landed in Salt Lake City, Utah. There she met and married her husband, had a son, and worked at a variety of advertising-like jobs. She can’t remember a time when she didn’t want to be a writer and loves every moment she spends with her characters and their mysterious ways.
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