Author Spotlight: Vicki Delany
Bestselling Author of More Than 50 Mystery Books
By Book or By Crook is the first book in the Lighthouse Library Mysteries (written as Eva Gates); Elementary, She Read is the first book in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mysteries, Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen is the first book in the Year-Round Christmas Mysteries; and Tea and Treachery is the first book in the Tea By the Sea Mysteries. Image credit: Vicki Delany.
Vicki Delany is an award-winning Canadian crime fiction writer and a national bestselling author of five cozy mystery series, including the:
Vicki is also the author of the Constable Molly Smith Mysteries (police procedurals), the Klondike Mysteries (historical mysteries), and several stand-alone suspense novels.
Cozy Crime Reads Interview with Vicki Delany
What attracted you to the cozy mystery genre?
I'd written several novels of psychological suspense and a police procedural series. When I got the chance to write a cozy mystery, I found I loved the sense of fun to be found in a cozy. I enjoyed laying out the clues to create a genuine puzzle mystery – that can be a challenge, but also very rewarding.
What essential elements make a cozy stand out to you as a reader?
I love the sense of community, the way people work together to solve a problem. Most cozies have a cast of characters I’d like to get to know, and they often live and work in a fun or interesting place. I love the 'puzzle' aspect of cozies: the clues to the mystery laid out in such a way that the astute reader has a chance to solve the crime themselves.
The first ten books in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery Series by Vicki Delany.
Do you have a favorite amateur sleuth?
I love Elizabeth and Joyce from the Thursday Murder Club Series.
What inspired you to write your first cozy mystery?
I was asked. It’s as simple as that. I had a solid career writing psychological suspense and police procedurals, when I was asked if I’d like to try for a work-for-hire Penguin was shopping around. That was the Lighthouse Library series, written under the pen name of Eva Gates, which is still going strong. After writing that, I decided I liked writing cozies and went on to develop other series. Of which, so far, I have written five.
How do you research and create the "cozy" elements in your books, like the settings and community?
Almost all my research for the cozies is location. My books are set in places where I don’t live, so I’ve traveled to Cape Cod and to the Outer Banks to check them out. You can do plenty of research online these days, but I do believe you have to physically visit a place to truly get a feel for it. Other than researching poison and other killing methods, I don’t do much research for the cozies, unlike when I was writing a realistic Canadian police series and wanted to get it as right as I could.
Books 1-12 in the Lighthouse Library Mystery Series by Vicki Delany (written as Eva Gates).
What is one key step in your writing process that helps you transform an idea into a finished book?
Key step? I can’t think of a key step, because it's all part of a process from an idea, and an idea can be as little as a word or two (e.g. Séance, headless doll) to final edits. I guess the most important step of all is opening that new file on your computer and typing Chapter One.
What advice would you give aspiring cozy mystery authors who want to start writing their first novel?
The same advice I give to any beginning writer. Read, and read a lot. Read outside your preferred genre as well as in it. Reading is how an author learns and improves their craft.
Connect with Vicki Delany
You can find more information about Vicki on her website, VickiDelany.com. You can also follow her on Facebook and Instagram and connect with her through the Mystery Lover's Kitchen and the Cozy Mystery Crew Facebook Group.
The first six books in the Tea By The Sea Mystery Series by Vicki Delany.
Get a Recipe From Vicki Delany
Vicki Delany includes recipes in her Tea By the Sea Mystery books, which feature an amateur sleuth who is also the proprietor and head pastry chef at Tea by the Sea, a traditional English tearoom in Cape Cod. This soft chocolate chip cookie recipe comes from the second book in the series, Murder in a Teacup.
Explore Vicki Delany's Cozy Mysteries
You can find Vicki Delany's books through many booksellers, including (but not limited to) Amazon, Audible, Barnes and Noble, Bookshop.org, and Kobo.
Vicki Delany Cozy Mystery Bookshelf
The following digital bookshelf features book cover images from Vicki Delany’s many 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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