What is the title of your latest release?
THE BARN IDENTITY. It was fun to spoof the movie title “The Bourne Identity.”
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Carpenter Whitney Whitaker Flynn is ecstatic to renovate an antebellum barn that once served as a livery stable and a station on the Underground Railroad, but when a local journalist reporting on the renovation is found dead on the property, she’ll also have to nail a killer.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I lived in Nashville from 2014 - 2016 and felt so at home there. The people are friendly, the rolling hills are gorgeous, and the region offers four seasons to enjoy. I loved it so much I knew I had to write a series set there.
Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Definitely! I would love to help her scout potential flip properties and work on the renovations. She’d have a lot to teach me.
What are three words that describe your hero?
Creative. Tenacious. Down-to-earth.
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned that prior to the Civil War, people would hang quilts outside ostensibly to air out, but that the quilts were actually intended to send messages to escaped slaves. The patterns on the quilts meant different things. For instance, a wheel pattern meant the slaves should be ready to move soon.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
At each writing session, I start by editing what I wrote during the last session before moving forward. This helps remind me where I am in the story and gets me in the groove.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
I love avocado rolls and inari nigiri (tofu sushi). I’m lucky to have an all-you-can eat sushi place near me that makes the sushi to order. I often treat myself to lunch there when I finish a project.
Describe your writing space/office!
Even though I have a couple of desks in my house, I rarely write at them. If the weather is nice, I sit out on my deck on a chaise lounge to work. When it’s cold, I’m either on the couch, which has built-in recliners, or on an indoor chaise in what I call the “cat room”, which is a bonus room with a lot of cat trees at the windows for our cats to enjoy looking outside.
Who is an author you admire?
Dave Barry. He does over-the-top humor so well, and his novels provide entertaining escapes from the real world.
Is there a book that changed your life?
The book that changed my life the most was my first published book - Death, Taxes, and a French Manicure. Not long after it was published, I quit my day job and began writing full time. It was a dream come true to get to write all day, every day!
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.
I was at work at my day job as a tax and business advisor when the editor I’d pitched my work to at a recent conference called me on my cell phone. I didn’t recognize the number, so I didn’t answer it at first. But when she tried again just a few minutes later, I thought “maybe I should answer this call.” I’m so glad I did!
What’s your favorite genre to read?
Humorous crime fiction.
What’s your favorite movie?
“Grease.” I’ve seen it more than two dozen times.
What is your favorite season?
Autumn. I find the cool air invigorating, and I like that life seems to slow down a little.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Dinner out with a nice cocktail.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I’m reading Finding My Way by Malala Yousafzai. It’s very insightful and gives a unique perspective. It made me realize how easy it is to make assumptions about other people’s lives but to be very far from the truth.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Thai.
What do you do when you have free time?
I enjoy walking my dogs. It’s relaxing for me and fun for them. I live in North Carolina and there are a lot of wooded areas near me with trails that are great for walks with dogs.
What can readers expect from you next?
I’ve got a new cozy series in the works that will feature three sisters taking over a family business when their father retires. The series will be on brand for me, with women in non-traditional roles. I love writing women who blaze new trails.
A House-Flipper Mystery #8
The eighth in the House-Flipper mystery series set in Nashville, where the real estate market is to die for.
In Nashville, carpenter Whitney Whitaker is ecstatic when the owner of an antebellum livery stable approaches her about rehabbing the barn and offers Whitney free rein with the design. While unproven, it’s rumored that the building once served as part of the Underground Railroad. The project presents a unique opportunity to work on a site of significance and help preserve history, and she convinces her cousin to take a chance on the old property.
When a local journalist reporting on the renovation is found dead on the property, investigators suspect he might have been murdered for any one of several exposés he’d published about local politicians, movers, and shakers. Whitney wonders if there’s more to the story and whether the journalist’s fate might be tied directly to the stable renovation. Can she solve the murder and bring a killer to justice? Or might this goal be too lofty?
Mystery Cozy [ Minotaur, On Sale: March 31, 2026, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781250359346 / ]
A former tax advisor and assistant state attorney general, Diane Kelly is no stranger to white-collar crime. When she realized her experiences made great fodder for novels, her fingers hit the keyboard and thus began her award-winning Death and Taxes romantic mystery series. A dog lover and Citizens Police Academy graduate, Diane also writes the hilarious K-9 cop Paw Enforcement series. Her love of vintage homes and renovation shows was a natural segue into her House Flipper mysteries, which feature a fabulous feline. Diane’s other series include her Busted female motorcycle cop series, her Southern Homebrew moonshine mystery series, and her Mountain Lodge Mysteries series, which is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains not far from her home in North Carolina.
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