Author Spotlight: Maddie Day
Award-winning Author of Mystery Books and Short Fiction
MURDER UNCORKED and DEADLY CRUSH are the first and second books in the CeCe Barton Mysteries, MURDER AT THE RUSTY ANCHOR is the sixth book in the Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery series, and DEEP FRIED DEATH and SCONE COLD DEAD are the twelfth and thirteen books in the Country Store Mystery series.
Maddie Day pens the Country Store Mysteries, the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, and the Cece Barton Mysteries. As Agatha Award-winning author Edith Maxwell, she writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries and short crime fiction. Day/Maxwell lives with her beau and their cat Martin north of Boston, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook.
On EdithMaxwell.com, you can learn more about Maddie, her writing, and her event appearances. The website also offers information on how to invite Maddie to speak with your book club.
Cozy Crime Reads Interview with Maddie Day
What attracted you to the cozy mystery genre?
I love reading cozies and grew up reading them. My mother had an extensive library of mysteries, and she wouldn’t read anything with profanity or sex on the page. As a writer, I knew I’d be spending a lot of time in that kind of world. I wouldn’t want to be immersed in a dark story day after day.
What essential elements make a cozy stand out to you as a reader?
The main element is that justice and equilibrium is restored to the community in the end. I like that I can tell readers, “You won’t feel worse about the world when you close my book.” Life is hard enough out there – crazy, messy, and scary. I want my stories to provide a respite from that. I also love creating and nurturing that community of core characters around my protagonist.
The first six books in the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries
Do you have a favorite amateur sleuth?
I’ve now written six amateur sleuths, and I like all of them for different reasons! Cece Barton, being a Californian like I was originally, is one of my favorites.
What inspired you to write your first cozy mystery?
See above. I was reading a lot of cozy authors, and I particularly loved the ones who included food, such as Katherine Hall Page, Dianne Mott Davidson, and Susan Wittig Albert. When I started, I knew that was the kind of book I wanted to write. My Cece Barton series doesn’t include recipes, but there’s plenty of food writing in it.
What is one key step in your writing process that helps you transform an idea into a finished book?
I no longer have a day job, so every morning I check in at about seven with a group of writers from all over the country and Canada. We were originally brought together by writing advocate, editor, and author Ramona DeFelice Long. Before she passed away a few years ago, she arranged the Ramona’s Sprint Club Facebook group. We all check and pledge to sprint for an hour, that is, write or revise without interruption. It starts my writing day in the best of ways.
Books 1-10 in the Country Store Mysteries.
What advice would you give aspiring cozy mystery authors who want to start writing their first novel?
Write the book. Imagine a sleuth you love and can live with, create her world, and get the bones of the story on the page. You can fix it later. Carve out sacred writing time in whatever way works best with the rest of your life and honor it. Find your community of fellow writers, particularly Sisters in Crime and the Guppies online chapter. And have fun!
How can readers connect with you online?
Readers can find both Maddie and me at EdithMaxwell.com, wickedauthors.com, Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, and on social media:
Get a Recipe From Maddie Day
Maddie Day includes recipes at the ends of the books in some of her cozy mystery series. She recently shared this Ode to Summer Fruit Tart recipe from her Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, Murder at the Rusty Anchor.
Explore Maddie Day's Cozy Mysteries
You can find Maddie Day's books through many booksellers, including (but not limited to) Amazon, Bookshop, Books-A-Million, and Barnes and Noble.
Maddie Day Cozy Mystery Bookshelf
The following image gallery features book cover images from Maddie Day’s cozy mystery series. Use the arrows on either side of the image to cycle through all of the pictures in this image gallery.
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