Shéa MacLeod, here, and I'm so excited to share my first post for Murder in the First! The road to writing mysteries was a rather winding one for me. Let me attempt to (briefly) share my story.

I've always wanted to be a writer, ever since the first time my mother took me to the library to select a stack of picture books. By the time I was ten I'd moved to Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. By twelve I'd read all those and was begging for more mysteries. My mother handed me my first Agatha Christie. The first time I read it, I knew. I wanted not just to write fiction, but to write mysteries just like my hero, Agatha Christie.

Fast forward more years than I'd care to think about...

I still loved Agatha Christie. I binge watched Murder, She Wrote, CSI, and Criminal Minds. I still dreamed of writing mysteries, my first love, but first I thought I'd try my hand at paranormal romance (I also love PNR!) first. I'd just finished my first book and my parents were visiting me (I lived in London at the time). We decided to tour England a bit. Our first stop? Well, Agatha Christie's house, naturally!

Once again, my love of mysteries was piqued. The ideas flew fast and thick. So many ways to commit murder! Could one get away with it? How would the detective figure things out? I jotted some of the ideas down, thinking I would finally write one. But then my paranormals took off, becoming bestsellers in several countries. The mysteries went on the back shelf. Still, my love of mystery can be seen even in my paranormal romances. They all have just a splash of mystery in them! 

Still, in the back of my mind a character was emerging. A sassy, snarky, bold woman who would find herself smack dab in the middle of a murder investigation and decide nothing would do but to solve it herself. 

Finally, in 2015 I was at a writers' conference in sunny Florida when a friend of mine suggested I should really write that cozy mystery I'd been talking about. And so Viola Roberts and The Corpse in the Cabana was born. 

Viola is definitely sassy, most certainly snarky, and not about to lie down and take it when a certain detective accuses her of murder. The setting is the stunning resort where I stayed when I was in Florida (I love tossing in real places when I write). And the murder... well, I don't want to give too much away! 

All I can say is that, at last, the dream I had at ten years old has finally come true. With The Corpse in the Cabana releasing on Feb 9th, I'm finally a cozy mystery author!

Want to be notified of the release of The Corpse in the Cabana? Be sure and sign up for Shéa's mailing list HERE.