Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for A Coastal Corpse and Washed Up With the Tide (Seffi Wardwell Mysteries) by Rebecca Douglass. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
A Coastal Corpse and Washed Up With the Tide (Seffi Wardwell Mysteries) by Rebecca Douglass
A Coastal Corpse (Seffi Wardwell Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Maine
Publisher : Independently Published (August 31, 2023)
Paperback : 298 pages
Just what the doctor ordered: fresh salt air, a garden to tend… and a fresh corpse behind the dahlias?
Retired science teacher Seffi Wardwell has moved to coastal Maine looking for peace, fresh air, and an accepting community. So far, she’s enjoying the sea air.
When a corpse turns up in Seffi’s flower garden, she can’t help asking questions about the victim and his death. Police officer Miah Cox doesn’t want her assistance, but Seffi’s curiosity is what made her a scientist.
The more she learns about the dead man’s background, the more she wants to know. Estranged from his wealthy family, and a village pariah for something that happened years before, the dead man had plenty of enemies. At least one wanted to make him disappear forever, and they’re all eager to see this case wrapped up and forget about him.
The way Seffi sees it, somebody has to care about him, and as a fellow outsider, she’s it. But all of her poking around is stirring up trouble in the village. It’s up to Seffi and Miah to figure out whodunit before they strike again, and before the locals decide the handiest scapegoat is Seffi herself.
Washed Up With the Tide (Seffi Wardwell Mysteries)
by Rebecca Douglass
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Maine
Publisher : Independently Published (November 18, 2024)
Print length : 270 pages
Beautiful weather, bountiful baked goods, and… bodies on the beach?
Seffi’s pleasure in her long walks among the fall colors is more than a little marred when she encounters cantankerous fisherman Bob Hughes washed up on the shore—sodden, entangled in a net, and very definitely dead. Did the man drink too much and fall overboard in an unfortunate accident? Or was his death something more sinister? With an estranged wife, enemies in the fishing fleet, and ticked-off deckhands, there are plenty of people around Smelt Point who aren’t sorry he’s dead. But did any of them actually kill him? The scuttlebutt at the bakery raises more questions than it answers, and to top it off the fishermen gathering there have eaten Seffi’s favorite treats.
Once again Seffi needs all her reasoning and gossip-gathering talents to help village policeman Miah Cox get to the bottom of the mystery. But will Miah’s own secret tear the village apart?
Interview with the Author
Thanks for taking the time to share a bit about yourself with my readers and me!
Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m a retired mother of two grown children and a beautiful daughter-in-law. I lived in California for many years, but in 2022 I moved home to the Seattle area, where I enjoy the great outdoor recreation opportunities and being near salt water. When I’m not writing I can be found hiking, swimming (in the pool—I’m no polar bear!), visiting with family and friends, or working on my house and yard. I have a not-so-secret passion for jigsaw puzzles and high-quality bitter-sweet chocolate, though cookies will do just fine.
How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing all my life. I published my first cozy mystery (Death By Ice Cream) in 2014, after doing a couple of children’s books, and found my writing home, as it were. I wrote a lot of stories in my childhood and teens, but have spared the world exposure to those poor tales. Still, my early works, however awful, were part of the training that taught me to write a fun mystery that people will enjoy reading, and I have no regrets.
Did you always want to be an author? What made you choose the cozy mystery genre?
As far back as I can remember I wanted to be an author. I think my first genre was fantasy or science fiction, as I didn’t discover cozy mysteries (reading or writing) until I was in my late 20s. I knew I wanted to write mysteries then, and my first unpublished novel was a mystery, more on the thriller end but still character-driven. I like the process of creating and unraveling a puzzle, and I like the cozy, as opposed to thriller, because it is more about the characters and less about ramping up the tension until my head aches.
Do you prefer to read cozy mystery books, or do you have another favorite genre? What are you reading now?
I read all over the place. I still love fantasy and SF, I read lots of cozy mysteries, new ones such as Kerry Greenwood or Rhys Bowen as well as the classics—Sayers, Christie, Ngio Marsh, and that ilk—and I read a lot of non-fiction as well. I’m a fan of history and natural history, and perhaps especially of adventure narratives. Reading about what other people manage to do in the outdoors is sometimes daunting, but it also inspires me to get out there and hike! I recently finished The Curve of Time, a classic published in the 1960s but about a woman and her children on a small boat exploring the inland waterways of British Columbia, and now I’m ramping up the adventure with Adam Shoalts’ Beyond the Trees about canoeing across the Canadian Arctic.
Do you have a favorite place to write?
I do a lot of it at my desktop computer, so in my office, which is the back half of my bedroom. But I like to use the laptop as well, so I can move around the house, or venture out to the library or a coffee shop if my brain needs a change of scene. It’s amazing how much difference it can make just to shift from the office to the kitchen.
What’s on your desk (if you write at one!)?
Sadly, a lot of mess. But even when I clean it up, there’s a water bottle, a plush penguin, and a photo of my late husband, which I keep where I’m not looking at it all the time but can see it if I want to be reminded of someone who believed in my writing with all his heart.
What is the first book you remember reading as a child? What was one of your favorite books you read as a child?
Wow—no way can I remember back nearly six decades to when I first learned to read! I imagine the first book was some Dick and Jane sort of thing, or maybe Dr. Seuss (I kind of liked Dick and Jane. They read to me like anthropological studies of an alien culture, since my childhood was nothing like their midwestern suburbia). Once I was a fluent reader I developed a few favorites I returned to again and again. One of those was Betty MacDonald’s Nancy and Plum, a completely stereotypical but still charming orphan story. Another was The Lion’s Paw, a more adventurous orphan story by Robb White. That both of those books were already old even when I was in grade school probably reflects the holdings of our library more than anything else. I also loved the Narnia books, and a little later, The Lord of the Rings, which I first read when I was 10.
Do you like audiobooks, physical books, or e-books better? Why?
I like them all. Physical books are nice to hold and I really prefer them for non-fiction, the sort of thing where I might want to refer back to them time and again, stick markers on pages, or consult maps. E-books are mostly my go-to, because I can fill my device with library books at any hour, and can carry a hundred books on a backpacking trip, if I want. Audiobooks are for when I’m doing chores that don’t require much thought, or driving long distances, and for working out.
If you had the opportunity to live anywhere in the world for a year while writing a book that took place in that same setting, where would you choose?
Hmm… the obvious choice might be the coast of Maine, since I’m already writing books set there! I love to travel, though, so might want to pick… Australia? New Zealand? Scotland? Maybe Patagonia. Living somewhere they speak Spanish would help me finally get fluent in that language I’ve been studying since I was 14!
What or who has influenced you the most as a writer?
That’s a tough question. I think that Charlotte MacLeod might qualify as a major influence on my mystery style, encouraging me to go ahead and be a little goofy at times. I love the intricate plotting of Dorothy L. Sayers, and the amazing prose of Ivan Doig. I’ve continued to study books and blogs on the craft of writing, and learn something from every book I read, even if it’s what NOT to do.
Do you have any author friends who support you while you’re writing? Do you belong to any writing groups?
I’m part of the amazing Insecure Writer’s Support Group—www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com—which “meets” monthly on line with blog posts about what we’re struggling with or celebrating. Through that I’ve met lots of writers with whom I’ve exchanged advice, beta reads, edits, and more. I also have a couple of groups that I can turn to whenever I’m stuck—a cozy mystery group with several other writers, and an Accountability group that includes artists of all sorts, and has proven a fantastic way to get the backside into the computer chair. The writer Jemima Pett has been my critique partner for years and I owe her a lot.
Finally, what are you working on now? Can you tell us a bit about it?
As soon as I finished editing Washed Up With the Tide, I began plotting the next book, which is actually the 4th in the Seffi Wardwell series–#3 is ready for editing. I’m currently drafting Logged Off at the Library (title subject to change)—by the time this posts, I should be nearly done with my Very Messy First Draft. In this book, it’s late March and Seffi has been in Smelt Point nearly a year. She steps in to help keep the library open in a crisis, and finds a corpse among the books. The dead man’s an outsider who is proving to have a lot more connections to the village than anyone thought, and Seffi gets to sort out which of those connections was the deadly one.
Thank you again for taking the time to answer my questions!
It’s my pleasure—thanks for having me!
About Rebecca M. Douglass
Rebecca M. Douglass has lived and worked around the American West for more years than she’ll admit, while raising two children to adulthood and dreaming up interesting ways to bump people off. Thanks to good friends in Maine, she has also spent time on the other side of the country and has fallen in love with that coast. Since retiring from work at the library, the author of the Ninja Librarian series for younger readers and the Pismawallops PTA mystery series now lives in Seattle, where she is writing the Seffi Wardwell mysteries. She has also had short stories published in a variety of magazines and anthologies. When she isn’t writing, Ms. Douglass likes to go hiking and backpacking or to travel to discover new places or revisit old favorites, including the Grand Canyon and of course Maine, where so many of the best cozy mysteries are found.
Author Links
Website https://www.rebecca-douglass.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaDouglassNinjaLibrarian
GoodReads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5755891.Rebecca_M_Douglass
Purchase Links
A Coastal Corpse:
Books2Read Universal Buy Link
Amazon Kindle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGN9Z7ZD
Amazon Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CH23RZ5H
Amazon Large Type: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CH22JJX3
Washed Up With the Tide:
Universal Buy Link Amazon Kindle
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A Coastal Corpse and Washed Up With the Tide (Seffi Wardwell Mysteries) TOUR PARTICIPANTS
December 11 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
December 11 – Frugal Freelancer – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
December 12 – Sarah Can’t Stop Reading Books – REVIEW (BOTH)
December 13 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
December 13 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
December 14 – Jane Reads – AUTHOR GUEST POST
December 14 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
December 15 – The Mystery of Writing – CHARACTER GUEST POST
December 15 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
December 16 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST
December 16 – Novels Alive – REVIEW (1)
December 17 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
December 17 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
December 18 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – REVIEW (BOTH)
December 18 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – REVIEW (BOTH)
December 19 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
December 19 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT
December 20 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT
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Thanks again for having me visit your blog and the fun interview.
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping!
I love reading author interviews, especially when I’ve read a number of their books. Always something new to check out!