In 2004, I was honored to give a talk entitled "Why Mysteries" at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. It's a fond memory, and I'm so thankful to Kay Sherriff for letting me know that the video of that presentation is freely available at the Library of Congress site.

In 2007, I again gave a talk at that wonderful event, this one about where my writing comes from and--yes--where I get my ideas. That video can be found here.

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Bailey Ruth  returns this July in GHOST BLOWS A KISS.

This time she aims to rescue a woman who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and may just end up jailed for a murder she didn’t commit.

Also on the scene was an artist who cares only for his paintings, his ditzy wife, and a clutch of relatives who know time is running out for their plush bank accounts.

And love is in the air. A police detective is very interested in the prime suspect but not because of crime . . .       

You can get a preview of Ghost Blows a Kiss by clicking here or on the 'Newest Releases' tab on the left of this screen.

2020 was a very good year for Bailey Ruth. The rest of us are hoping for a cheerier 2021.

1. At this point, you’ve published so many books that I’ve lost track.  Which was the most fun to write?

I have written 61 books. The 62nd, Ghost Ups Her Game, will be out in August. The  WWII books are the most important to me and perhaps the best, Escape from Paris, Brave Hearts, and Letter from Home, but by far the most fun I’ll ever have in writing a book was the first Bailey Ruth, Ghost at Work. As my  favorite priest said at the time, ‘Carolyn, until Edward R. Murrow returns with a first hand report, your version of Heaven is as valid as anyone’s.’” And Bailey Ruth always makes me laugh. 

2. Was there a moment when you knew you wanted to write books, or did it happen gradually and surprise you?

I always knew I wanted to write. I intended to be a reporter.  I discovered I like to write but I don’t like to interview people. I also always loved mysteries. I saw a contest for a mystery for girls age 8 to12. I wrote The Secret of the Cellars. It won the contest and was my first published book.I was 27.

3. What warning can you offer to help aspiring writers avoid trouble?

Write it your way. There’s only one you and you can weave stories that reflect what matters to you. There are a thousand ways to write novels, but there’s only one you.

The rebel of the Department of Good Intentions bypasses the rules once more to help those in need.
Though Oklahoma-born Bailey Ruth Raeburn has often tried the patience of Wiggins, her heavenly boss, the redheaded rule breaker has a long and successful record of solving crimes back in her old hometown. Assigning herself the newest problem in Adelaide, she drops down from heaven to see Robert Blair and Iris Gallagher standing over a dead body. Iris is holding a homemade sap but denies killing fundraiser Matt Lambert. Robert ditches the murder weapon while Bailey Ruth converses with Iris, that rare person who can see her and admire her fashion sense. Since Iris refuses to call police chief Sam Cobb, who’s worked with Bailey Ruth before, Bailey Ruth is forced to protect both Iris and Robert, a fledgling lawyer who’s the boyfriend of Iris’ daughter Gage, while researching Lambert, who, despite all the money he’s raised for Goddard College, is not universally beloved. Aided by her ability to go anywhere unseen if she desires or appear to people and take on any persona that suits the moment, she interviews everyone from Lambert’s family to his girlfriend and business acquaintances. Despite all her tips and hints to the contrary, the police chief targets Iris. So Bailey Ruth must be extra creative this time in winkling out the killer.

A charmer of a detective, a twisty mystery, and a feel-good story that’s balm for our troubled times.


GHOST UPS HER GAME E-Book edition is now available. The hard cover will be released in August.

Bailey Ruth Raeburn and the Rescue Express are en route to Adelaide, OK, in GHOST UPS HER GAME thanks to a wonderful new publisher.  Severn House will publish the UK edition in April 2020 and the US edition in August 2020.

Bailey Ruth and I are thrilled, and especially delighted to connect with British readers.
 
In GHOST UPS HER GAME, Bailey Ruth explores the home of a wealthy woman who recently died. In a quiet bedroom, she watches as the hall door opens. A reflection in the mirror spells MURDER.         

A smudge of smoke on the ocean’s horizon is the first sign of a faraway vessel. A sailor knows a craft will eventually hove into view.   I hope that readers, like the sailor, will be pleased to know there are stories coming.
 
I am thrilled that my short story "All Kinds of Fear" will appear in the March-April 2019 issue of Ellery Queen Magazine.  A distraught widower begs a homicide detective for help after a psychic contacts him with news that his wife’s drowning was murder, not an accident.  The detective suspects fraud, but the psychic won’t be denied.

A new edition of Miss Pinkerton by Mary Roberts Rinehart will be published June 18, 2019, by Penzler Publishers under the American Mystery Classics imprint. I loved writing the introduction about one of my and America’s favorite authors, the irrepressible and amazing Mary Roberts Rinehart.

I’ve just turned in GHOST UPS HER GAME, the ninth in the Bailey Ruth mystery series, and hope it will see publication in 2019. Bailey Ruth and Police Chief Sam Cobb rustle up a very special posse as they try to trap a dangerous, clever, and unsuspected murderer.
 
Mystery Writers of America will celebrate its 75th anniversary at the 2020 Edgars. Edgars will mark publication of the MWA anthology, Deadly Anniversaries. Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller edited the anthology and Laurie King collected the stories. In my story, "Case Open,"  a vibrant woman dies in a fall from a cliff. Did she jump? Did she fall? Was she pushed? Rumors still swirl a year after her death. Her sister is determined to confront the ugly gossip. She invites all who were present the night Evelyn died to gather on the terrace. Death is the uninvited guest.
 
This year Oconee Press published an e book edition of Peril Off Padre,  the first and only publication of a long ago suspense novel that explores the dangers and passions  when Spanish gold is found in a galleon that sank in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Published in 2017 by Berkley were Walking on My Grave, the last in the Death on Demand series, and Ghost on the Case,  8th in the Bailey Ruth series.
 
On the horizon . . .         

WALKING ON MY GRAVE is the 26th in the Death on Demand series which began in 1987 with Annie Laurance, a young bookseller, and Max Darling, the handsome suitor who follows her to the sea island of Broward’s Rock. I always picture them standing on a grassy bank of a lagoon in the shade of a live oak draped with Spanish moss. All is beautiful but the alligator half submerged in the murky water hints at the possibility of danger.

My 60th novel – GHOST ON THE CASE, a Bailey Ruth mystery – will be published in October. Bailey Ruth arrives to hear a terrified young woman agree to rifle a safe to save her kidnapped sister. Is safe cracking a Heavenly attribute?

I am always and ever grateful to the wonderful readers who have made it possible for me to be a writer.

From Death on Demand to Walking on my Grave, I've loved spending time with Annie and Max on their sea island. Walking on my Grave is their last adventure and I will leave them as I found them, young, happy, always there for each other. My thanks to the wonderful readers who welcomed them. It's been fun.  _ Carolyn