Contesting the Wool Book Release!

PA Cozy Mystery Writers
Oct 27
3 min read

Updated: Nov 8

For those of you who are new to this author...

Diane Vallere is the national bestselling author of multiple entertaining, character-driven mystery series. She edited the Agatha Award-winning essay collection Promophobia: Taking the Mystery out of Promoting Crime Fiction. Diane worked in luxury retailing before trading fashion accessories for accessories to murder. She currently lives in Pennsylvania where she spends her free time organizing her shoes.

What is this new book about, you ask? Check out the back blurb here:

It’s curtains for somebody at the reading of the will...

Poly Monroe never expected to inherit anything from Reginald Villamere, the recently deceased millionaire who preserved San Ladron’s historic movie theater. As the owner of the town’s fabric shop, Poly never knew the theater owner—but her relatives, who left her the fabric shop—did. When his thirty-year-old will names them among the beneficiaries, Poly finds herself thrust into a mystery—one that turns deadly when one of Villamere’s lawyers is found murdered in a theater storage room after the will reading concludes.

Town residents are more abuzz over the will than the murder of a stranger, and rumors ensue. The historical society contests the will, determined to wrest control of the theater for themselves. The Villamere’s most devoted employee, who spent years tending to the old playhouse, has been snubbed. Another staff member is keeping his past neatly folded away, hoping no one pulls at the wrong thread. And the murdered lawyer may have had his own secret: a hidden connection to an heir no one saw coming.

As suspicion stitches into every corner of the small California town, Poly must rely on her eye for patterns and her knack for unraveling the truth. But the closer she gets to mending the gaps in this case, the more she risks becoming the next victim in a plot tailored for murder.

Now Onto the Interview...

Contesting the Wool: A Material Witness Mystery #6

What was the inspiration behind this new mystery?

Short Answer: Wool.

Longer Answer: Each book in the series surrounds a different fabric, and I thought this one would be about cotton. The problem? No ideas came. I remembered the original title for the first book in the series (not ultimately chosen) and it had “wool” in it, and I thought, okay, years have passed, now is the time! I wrote the better part of the book before learning there was another cozy mystery being published this year with that same title. So, wool stayed, but the title changed.

Who is your main character and what to do you like about him/her?

Polyester Monroe—Poly to her friends—is curious and open to new ideas, which makes her a good sleuth. Since she is a new business owner (of her family’s fabric shop, which had been closed for a decade before she reopened it), I get to explore business ideas for her fabric shop through her, which allows her to interact with other small business owners in her small town in a fun way.

How does this book differ from your others? Or how is it the same?

Overall, this series has a heavier emphasis on family and community than my other series. The cast spans ages from twenties to seventies. The romance subplots are sweet.

Bonus Question: Describe one of the local businesses mentioned in your storyline.

One of Poly’s friends runs a French-themed tea shop called Tea Totalers. While not the main setting for the mystery, Poly inspires her friend to seek out unique business propositions and keeps Poly and others fueled with her proprietary tea blends and muffins.