Victoria Hamilton | Why Vintage; Why Kitchen?

Writers get asked all the time where we get our ideas. But in my particular case I get asked, how did I come up with the idea for the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries, in particular?

I started cooking early. When I was very young my mother was a full time
homemaker. I
well remember the set of Pyrex Primary Colors bowls on the counter—used for
everything—
the old wood bread board for kneading, the red handled tools. She baked bread
from
scratch and made the best home baked beans I have ever tasted. The kitchen was
a place
of warmth and family; it was safe and happy. I was lucky.

When I was eight, my mother went to work as a homemaker with the Red Cross,
which was
mostly day work. But from there, when I was nine, my ambitious, intelligent
mother, who
never thought she was smart enough, took training—and came through top of her
class—and
got a job at a children’s psychiatric hospital as an assistant nurse. That
meant, of
course, shift work.

Now, my father could cook. As a matter of fact, he was a cook in the army.
However,
this was a time before men were expected to cook for their families. So my mom
taught
me to cook and when she was on afternoon shift, I cooked for my dad and myself.

So cooking, and the old tools, and the kitchen warmth… it means a lot to me.
When I
started out to write cozy mysteries, where else to center it than the kitchen,
and what
else to center it on, but vintage kitchen tools, old bowls, and kitchen
furnishings
from the past?

And think about it; don’t a lot of those tools make dandy murder weapons?

About Victoria Hamilton

Victoria Hamilton is the national bestselling author of three series, the
Vintage
Kitchen Mysteries and Merry Muffin Mysteries as Victoria, and the Teapot
Collector
Mysteries as Amanda Cooper. She is also the bestselling author of Regency and
historical romance as Donna Lea Simpson.

Victoria loves to cook and collects vintage kitchen paraphernalia, teacups and
teapots,
and almost anything that catches her fancy! She loves to read, especially
mystery
novels, and enjoys good tea and cheap wine, the company of friends, and has a
newfound
appreciation for opera. She enjoys crocheting and beading, but a good book can
tempt
her away from almost anything… except writing!

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About WHITE COLANDER CRIME

In the new Vintage Kitchen Mystery from the author of No Mallets Intended, the Heritage Society is re-creating a perfect Victorian Christmas—until good tidings go bad...

Queensville has great expectations for their Dickens Days festival. A tourist-
trade
boom means a big turnout for the opening of Queensville Historic Manor and for
Jaymie
Leighton, food columnist and vintage cookware collector, a chance to promote
the manor
and give away homemade goodies. At the end of a long day of festival fun,
Jaymie
discovers the battered body of local woman Shelby Fretter.

Shelby predicted her own murder in journal entries—and all clues point to Cody
Wainwright, the troubled son of Jaymie’s beleaguered newspaper editor. But
considering
the entire Fretter family had its share of dirty secrets, Jaymie’s not
convinced by
the case against Cody. With twists all over, she’s going to have to work like
the
Dickens to wrap up this investigation before Christmas—especially with the real
killer
ready to kill again.

INCLUDES A RECIPE!