Today I am THRILLED to announce the publication of my debut cozy mystery, Murder by Milkshake! If the title seems familiar, that’s because I first published it in installments years ago on Amazon’s serialized story platform, Kindle Vella. Murder by Milkshake did well on Vella—in seven weeks it earned more than my traditionally published book earned in seven years—but I always imagined it as a mass market paperback (and ebook, of course!). Today, that dream comes true.
The idea for the Sweet Dreams series goes back to the winter of 2019. Back then I was reading a lot of cozy mysteries, and also a lot of young adult fiction. It occured to me these two categories could be combined. Most YA at the time was pretty dark; the only lighthearted options tended to be romance. There were dark academia mysteries, and plenty of thrillers and horror, but nothing like a Scooby-Doo type mystery—something short and sweet, a little silly, and a lot of fun.
I started scribbling down ideas for a series that would feature a sprightly teenage heroine, her bookish best friend, and their charming small mountain town in northern Arizona. The teenage characters would solve crimes when not at school or working at their parents’ respective downtown shops.
The boy’s shop, I knew, would be a bookstore with a cafe, but I wasn’t sure about my main character. She was spirited, cheerful, energetic, and definitely not bookish. I considered a 50s-style diner, or a quirky antique store. And then, later that year, my daughter got her first job—at Baskin Robbins. She looked so cute in her pink uniform hat, and she always came home smelling like ice cream and waffle cones. So I gave my main character an ice cream shop, and I called it Sweet Dreams.
Like I’ve said before, I have never had as much fun writing a book as this one. Obviously it is very different from my usual work, which is literary in nature and melancholy in tone. Cozy mysteries in contrast are bubbly, plot-driven, humorous, and fun. It’s been a blast switching gears and writing commercial fiction, and I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. If you do, you’re in luck, because the next entry in the Sweet Dreams series comes out in October!
I loved reading this as a series, and I’m looking forward to rereading it as a book. 🍦
Thanks, Heidi! I think it’s a much better experience. Vella was fun, but most readers just want the whole book at once (including me!).
Congrats- so excited for you!
Thanks, Trish! Great to hear from you!