Author Spotlight: Amanda Ashby

Amanda Ashby has written over 30 books in a variety of genres, including romance, young adult, middle grade, and cozy mystery. She is the author of the Widows’ Detective Club books, a cozy mystery series with widows, warmth, and witty whodunits.

Cozy Crime Reads Interview with Amanda Ashby

What attracted you to the cozy mystery genre?

I fell in love with amateur detectives when I was ten and was given two Trixie Belden books for my birthday. From there I devoured Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys and The Three Investigators and loved everything about them - from the normalcy of their lives (apart from all the adventures) through to the fact they were a series, which meant I could keep getting more books!

However, it wasn’t until I started writing my own stories, most of which were paranormal, that I noticed I always had a mystery that needed solving. As a writer I found it so satisfying to have that kind of external structure available to me, and it took me back to those early books of my childhood.

What are a few of the essential elements that make a cozy stand out to you as a reader?

Like all genre fiction, cozy mysteries have their own tropes such as small towns, cats, quirky characters and fun jobs, but the things I really enjoy as a reader is how the writer gets around all the issues that go along with solving crime without a police badge! I love reading about fun ways the sleuths get dragged into the mystery, and how they manage to conduct their investigations in a believable way (and not get arrested!)

Do you have a favorite amateur sleuth?

I love Stephanie Plum, though I did stop reading the series a few books ago because of the unresolved love triangle!

What inspired your first cozy mystery?

My ideas often come after I find a title that I like and that becomes the core of the story. For this new series, the original title for book one, was The Widow’s Guide to Graverobbing. It was so over the top that it made me laugh every time I thought about it – and it really helped set the tone! And from that title, I could so vividly imagine four widows sneaking into a graveyard with the shovels and their thermos of tea, that I built the story around it.

But while the title (and the entire story) ended up changing, I think the heart of the idea stayed the same. Oh, and that fun graveyard scene ended up being so much harder to write than I ever dreamed, because once I thought about it, I realised how many things I hadn’t considered. Still, by that point I was too committed to the story so had to just figure it out!