Author Spotlight: Tom McAndrew

Tom McAndrew writes cozy crime mysteries. He is the author of Doocey Half-Sees Whodunnit, a cozy mystery featuring a scruffy, oddball detective named Doocey, who starts losing his sight just as he’s assigned his first big case. Talk about bad timing! Doocey Half-Sees Whodunnit is the first book in the Detective Doocey Mystery Series published by the US-based publisher Camel Press.

Cozy Crime Reads Interview with Tom McAndrew

What attracted you to the cozy mystery genre?

I love how you can escape to another world with a good cozy mystery. Go anywhere, do anything in the footsteps of your sleuth. Hop on the Orient Express or even find yourself in Ireland with Detective Shamie Doocey. Take a break from seeing the world through your eyes and see it through the world of this funny little figure who can’t see very well. Or that is, he just can’t see physically very well. Because don't be fooled—he has a 20/20 mind's eye.

What is the most essential element that makes a cozy stand out to you as a reader?

Humour is the biggest one for me. If an author can make me laugh—or better still, belly laugh—then I'm sold. And often people can find humour in even the worst of situations. Especially us Irish. We’re famous for not taking life too seriously.

Do you have a favourite sleuth?

It changes. I used to like Agatha Christie's Poirot a lot. His eccentricities used to make me chuckle. But I’ve got a bit tired of him, like even Agatha Christie did. She apparently was longing to kill him off! There is only so long, I suppose, you want to spend time with such an arrogant individual, no matter how brilliant a sleuth they are. Which is why I'd much prefer someone humble like Jessica Fletcher, Columbo or my Shamie Doocey.

What inspired your first cozy mystery?

I couldn’t find many cozy mysteries that I really loved, so I decided to have a go at writing one.

I wanted my first cozy mystery to be three things:

1. A fun page-turner: with a wicked sense of Irish humour.

2. Mysterious in more ways than one: where the underdog main character does not just want to find out "whodunnit," but wants to find fulfilment.

3. Uplifting: A story to give hope. Like my sleuth, I have been through my own sight troubles, so I wanted to show that whatever challenges you experience, you can get through them—and you can still see the funny side!

How do you research and create the cozy elements in your books, such as the setting and community?

I’m originally from a small village on the very edge of the West of Ireland. It was a great place to grow up. Picture a remote mountainous landscape bordered by the wild Atlantic. A place where you came across all sorts of interesting characters. I later moved to the city, to Dublin, where I met even more interesting characters and witnessed the different ways country and city people saw the world. So with the Doocey books set in Ireland, I wasn't short of inspiration.

What is one key step in your writing process that helps you transform an idea into a finished book?

Well, it’s not really a step, more a mindset. I would tell any aspiring author to stick with it. Don’t give up. Believe in yourself. Keep going even when people say you’re never going to make it. Let their negativity spark a fire of determination within you. Because who are they to say you won’t make it? Plus, isn’t “happiness in the journey?”

What advice would you give aspiring cozy mystery authors who want to start writing their first novel?

In my book, I quote that old saying, "Wisdom is knowing you know nothing." And I truly believe this.

But if you pushed me, I’d say it’s very important to be able to sum up your book in a few, and hopefully intriguing, words. I find this really helps me to keep my writing focused and mostly stops me from going off on tangents.

I tried doing this in the title of my book: Doocey Half-Sees Whodunnit. “But how can the sleuth only end up half-seeing whodunnit?” I’m pretending to hear you ask. Well, you must read the book to find that out. That’s the book’s hook.

Keeping the four words of the title in mind helped me to cut any unnecessary prose, no matter how beautiful I thought my darling words were. Because if it wasn’t relevant to the theme or the plot of Doocey Half-Sees Whodunnit, it had to go. Oh yes, I just cold-bloodedly murdered my darlings!

How can readers connect with you online?

Readers can contact me at my website: tommcandrewwriter.com. I’d love to hear from them. The website also includes links to where the book, Doocey Half-Sees Whodunnit, can be purchased (Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble). And if you do like the book, I would be so grateful if you could leave a review. Like Doocey, I’m also on a journey of transformation—to establish myself as a cozy mystery writer.