![]() I loved so many of the elements that I didn’t know how to fit them all together: The challenge was that because I was still experiencing the survivor’s mentality of wanting to do EVERYTHING, that included throwing every single idea I wanted to write into a single book. That’s where I began work on UNDER LOCK & SKELETON KEY. I rented a large flat in Edinburgh, Scotland, for my writers group to join me on a writing retreat. ![]() It was my 40th birthday, and a couple of years beforehand I’d survived a full year of cancer treatments and promised myself that if I made it through, I’d take my writers group on a spectacular writing retreat to celebrate my 40th. ![]() What was the biggest challenge this book presented? What about the biggest opportunity? I started writing this book six years ago. The characters are fun to spend time with, including plenty of humorous banter, plus the clues are fairly presented yet ingeniously hidden, so it’s enjoyable to try to work out the solution and slap your forehead at the end when you realize the truth. Traditional puzzle plot mysteries are so much fun when done well, because they work on multiple levels. ![]() I’ve always loved mysteries from the Golden Age of detective fiction, and this book was my opportunity to pay homage to those puzzle plot novels I adore but bring that style into the 21st century with a multicultural cast based on my own family. ![]() UNDER LOCK & SKELETON KEY is a locked-room mystery in the traditional sense, presenting a seemingly impossible crime with “fair play” clues. ![]()
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