Asked to accompany Mrs. Roosevelt on her Pacific Island tour, Agnes and Katherine travel by train to Washington, D.C. Agnes carries a package for Colonel Farthingworth to President Roosevelt.

Convinced the package contains secret war documents, Agnes expects Nazi spies to try and derail her mission.

She meets Irving, whose wife mysteriously disappears from the train; Nanny, the unfeeling caregiver to little Madeline; two soldiers bound for training as Tuskegee airmen; and Charles, the shell-shocked veteran, who lends an unexpected helping hand. Who will Agnes trust? Who is the Nazi spy?

When enemy forces make a final attempt to steal the package in Washington, D.C., Agnes must accept her own vulnerability as a warrior on the home front.

Can Agnes overcome multiple obstacles, deliver the package to the President, and still meet Mrs. Roosevelt’s plane before she leaves for the Pacific Islands?

Mrs. Odboddy: Undercover Courier is a hysterical frolic on a train across the United States during WWII, as Agnes embarks on this critical mission.

The Secret to Writing a Compelling Series (Elaine Faber)

Did you ever think about what goes into writing a cozy mystery series? How to keep the original readers happy in later books and creating new readers along the way? Here are some ‘behind the scenes’ secrets.

The first novel: The first novel must introduce a compelling plot and a likeable character in the very first chapter, if there is any hope that the reader will continue with the story. The author may include her own ideas, humor, personality, fears or interests into her characters, particularly the protagonist. The plot may even include some element of facts from social media or the author’s experiences. Or it may be completely fictional but based in a time or place of historical relevance, as in my humorous WWII mystery adventures.

In my novel, Mrs. Odboddy Hometown Patriot, Agnes is an eccentric elderly woman who fights the war from the home front. She is determined to thwart conspiracies and expose Nazi spies in her small town. Her accusations are usually wrong, nevertheless, Agnes is not deterred from doing her duty and exposing evil where she finds it, which she invariably does. This puts her into unusual circumstances with hysterical results.

By the last page of book one, the goal is for the reader to have developed a desire to want to continue another journey with the protagonist. We want them to clamor for the sequel.

The sequel: In the sequel, the author must engage in a clever dance, writing what follows next after the first adventure. An underlying, unresolved event has likely carried over from book one into book two but new crises must occur with which the protagonist must struggle.

The trick is to keep previous readers engaged in this new adventure, and yet hook the new readers starting with book two by giving enough information to capture their heart without boring the old readers. Ah one, and a two, side step, side step!

Mrs. Odboddy Undercover Courier takes Agnes and her granddaughter, Katherine on a train trip across the USA, as she delivers a package to President Roosevelt she is convinced contains secret documents. Sure that she will confront Nazi foes after her package, never fear, Mrs. Odboddy will cope and deliver hysterical circumstances and plenty of laughs along the way.

The third in the series: The third novel in a series has even more challenges than book two. You likely have more ‘old’ readers following the series and another batch of new readers who need to understand enough of what happened before, so book three makes sense. In the third book, usually the last in a series, all the loose ends of the underlying event must be concluded within the context of another complete and new mystery adventure. Keep in mind that you want these ‘new’ readers to go back and buy book one and two! Whew! The conclusion must leave the reader contented and yet weeping for a fourth adventure.

Mrs. Odboddy – And Then There Was a Tiger, the third Mrs. Odboddy adventure, will be published in late 2017 or early 2018. Agnes is accused of a burglary and involvement with a counterfeit ring. The plot heats up when Sher Khan, the tiger at the County Fair, become central to the mystery.

So there you have it. And now you have the opportunity to read one or both of my WWII humorous mystery/adventures. Happy reading.