Featured Author - Yvonne Rediger

BWL Publishing Inc. author Yvonne Rediger,  https://bookswelove.net/rediger-yvonne/

I am Yvonne Rediger, the author of the Musgrave Landing Mysteries series for BWL Publishing LLC. If you like a good mystery, give us a try. You can find the links to my books from my author page:  http://www.bookswelove.com/rediger-yvonne/

While there really is such a place as Musgrave Landing on the west side of Salt Spring Island, my version of the village is much larger, older, and has a higher population count. And the inhabitants in real life don’t end up deceased under questionable circumstances.

My version of this village in British Columbia is a colourful place full of interesting characters. The choice to use a village as the setting came about because of the ferry. The aspect of bringing people onto the island meant I have the option to bring all sorts of people to the village who have many types of motivations and histories. This appeals to me, and allows me to do all kinds of 'what if' scenarios.

Another thing which stimulates my imagination is the fact there are core characters who live in the village and interact with the visiting characters. While these villagers were centre stage in Death and Cupcakes, they step back a bit in Fun With Funerals, but are necessary for Alicia, the main character, to interact with. They view her mother, Olivia Frost Highmere from a much different perspective.

In the next and third book in the series, Condo Crazy, Arlie Birch is back and so are Jane, Ann, and Jack along with my favourite K9, Vimy.

Gladys Wyatt, a villager mentioned in book one, has a much larger role in book three and we find out her life and what she and Arlie get up to that tweaks Ann Westcott's nose, who is now the mayor.

In Condo Crazy, Gladys is a widow who sold her tiny house and bought one of the spacious condos in a brand new building across from the marina. She likes the large open kitchen which works well for her cottage bread baking business. There are eight condos, each with an interesting character in residence.

On the second floor of the building is Lara Finkle, who lives in the luxurious number eight. Not all the money that went missing from the village coffers in book one was found. Lara May have have used the missing money to buy her own unit. It’s possible Lara just might get the comeuppance some people think she has coming.

In life, as in the fiction I write, everything is connected. In a village, much like in the condo building, everyone knows everyone else. The smaller the area however, the more detailed that knowledge can be, whether we want it or not. As building manager, Enid Lindquist knows a lot about all the condo owners. Probably more than any of them can guess. Easy to do when your apartment is beside the elevator and you can track everyone's comings and goings.

Even Linda Leekie, also on the second floor or Leaky Linda as Dwayne Davis calls her, knows things about her neighbours. Much more than she would ever let on.

Then there's Dwayne, the condo board president. He too not only knows things, but he acts on that knowledge. Dwayne needs to careful. Some of his action might get him killed.

I love puzzles of all types. Crafting a mystery is like building an intricate puzzle. Each character, location, clue, and red herring are pieces of the puzzle. So too is the timeline, the weather, conflict between the characters, their motivations, all with a touch of humour.

Fun With Funerals Excerpt:

With every passing second, the ferry’s throbbing diesel engines drew Alicia Highmere closer to her childhood home, Highmere House. Possibly, for the last time.

In the gathering twilight, she caught only meagre glimpses of the three-story sandstone monstrosity among the trees. As the vessel traveled down the coastline, the slate roof, darkened to black by the misty rain, was only partially visible.

The ten-acre property had grown even more wild and uncontrolled over the past weeks. Logically, something should be done about the over-growth, but her mother never allowed it. Was it Olivia Frost-Highmere’s intention to obliterate their old home from current memory? The thought wasn’t a shock if it were true.

Alicia wasn’t exactly sure how she felt about going back, especially now. There would always be a thread that tied her to the old place, no matter what happened in the next few days. Past images of her life in the house surfaced. Some were not pleasant and those she pushed aside.

“Alicia, are you cold?” Bryce’s words pierced the steady noise of the boat engines and the churning water.

He woke her out of the light trance she’d fallen into while staring across the open expanse of Sansum Narrows, the body of water that separated Salt Spring Island from Vancouver Island.

She blinked, and only then did Alicia feel the slice of the November wind against her cheeks. She turned to face her driver. “Yes, a bit,” she said and opened stiff fingers to let go of the metal railing. It didn't matter her hands were encased in soft leather gloves. The cold was generated from within, not by the elements.

Book trailer: https://youtu.be/qJH8XPCvXfg