Murder She Reported

When it comes to the cozy mystery world, we are pretty lucky to have such wonderful authors as Peg Cochran. She has penned at least 4 of my favorite mysteries, and her newest one is certainly to be a favorite in 2018. I was quickly drawn to the charming title, Murder She Reported. This is one heck of a read, and I am excited to share a quick interview I had with Peg, and hopefully you will check out the book!

On tour with Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book, check out the link for more tour information!

Murder, She Reported

Book 1

Pickin Murder: An Antique Hunters Mystery

Purchase on Amazon

Mystery writing lets Peg indulge her curiosity under the guise of “work” (aka research). As a kid, she read the entire set of children’s encyclopedias her parents gave her and has been known to read the dictionary. She put pen to paper at age seven when she wrote plays and forced her cousins to perform them at Christmas dinner. She switched to mysteries when she discovered the perfect hiding place for a body down the street from her house.

When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading, cooking, spoiling her granddaughter and checking her books' stats on Amazon.

A former Jersey girl, Peg now resides in Michigan with her husband and Westhighland white terrier, Reg. She is the author of the Sweet Nothings Lingerie series (written as Meg London), the Gourmet De-Lite series, the Lucille series and now the Cranberry Cove series. Her newest series, the Farmer’s Daughter, debuted with No Farm, No Foul in September 2016.

<h2><span class="wrap"><span class="inner">My Interview With The Author</span></span></h2>

Bree

Hi Peg, I am jumping right in as I am so excited to have you on the blog today! What inspired the new series? I have to say the title is the best, I love it!

Peg Cochran

Thanks! My working title for the series was the Reluctant Debutante. I don’t remember exactly what sparked the idea—I think it was seeing some pictures and an article on Brenda Frazier, who was *the* debutante of 1938. I started thinking, what if she didn’t want to be a debutante? What if she wanted to do something else? I liked the idea of the contrast between her high society life and the gritty work of a crime photographer. I also loved the time period so the research has been more fun than work!

Bree

Oh, the 1930’s what a great time period! It must be interesting to create new characters. How do you get into your character’s head? Do you plot out what you want them to do?

Peg Cochran

Once I’ve created the character—looks, background, etc., I find it’s fairly easy to imagine what they would or wouldn’t say and do. I suppose it’s a bit like acting—I pretend to be the character as I write. As for plotting, it’s not so much what I want them to do as it is what they want to do based on their personality and how they go about things. I spend a lot of time thinking “what if?” What if this happened—how would my character respond? I usually create the characters first and then give them a crime to solve.

Bree

I think I would pretend to be my character as well, and I know as a reader I find myself pretending to be the character or a sidekick not written in. When writing how do you know your victim and murder scene? Does it form through the storyline or do you go into the book knowing such details?

Peg Cochran

The victim is the most important character in the book even though they are usually dead shortly after page one if not before! There’s something about them that drives the murder and the murderer. I start with the victim and then, based on the kind of person they are—a gossip? Someone with a secret? Someone who rubs everyone the wrong way? – then I create my suspects and pick a killer. The next step is to decide how they’ve been killed. The method has to be something the killer could pull off.

Bree

Now, that is neat to see the victim as such an important character. I usually love the why behind the act of crime. I know that you are a busy lady, but what do you like to read when you have down time?

Peg Cochran

I try to read a little every night. Reading is so important to a writer. I love mysteries, of course. But also women’s fiction, psychological thrillers and the odd book that doesn’t fit a genre. What I can’t read is anything too graphic or anything that involves children being harmed or disappearing. I don’t have the stomach for it.

Bree

Being a mom it is hard to read books that involve children in mysteries or harm. So, I can certainly relate to that. We have slowly been coming out of a heat wave here in Wyoming. How are you staying cool this summer?

Peg Cochran

I live in Michigan! It’s going to be in the 50s tonight! We’ve had a few days in the 90s but generally summer in Michigan is lovely. As a former “Jersey” girl, it’s one thing I really appreciate about the Mitten State.

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Murder She Reported