From Across State Lines with Christina Romeril!

PA Cozy Mystery Writers
Jun 24
5 min read

From Across State Lines Blog Promo Image - Christina Romeril

Please give a warm welcome to Christina from Alberta, Canada…

Christina Romeril is the author of the Killer Chocolate Mysteries. The best-selling series is set in a fictional town along the very real Echo Lake near Big Fork, Montana, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The books are filled with quirky, loveable characters, and small-town charm that’s woven together with themes of friendship and family—the ties that hold us together when life gets messy.

Christina lives with her husband and Chihuahuas, Nacho and Paco, a few hours away in a small village in Southern Alberta. When Christina isn’t writing she loves to hang out in Waterton Lakes National Park eating gourmet hot dogs. The former banker has been a murder mystery fan since third grade when she read her first Trixie Belden Mystery novel.

Favorite Book Format: Paperback

Is your book set in the same state that you live in? (please describe the setting)

The Killer Chocolate Mysteries are set in the fictional town of Harriston, Montana, about three-and-a-half hours from where I live just across the Canadian border in a small village. Harriston is inspired by the quaint towns of Whitefish, and Big Fork in Montana where I frequently visit. Harriston, tucked against the Rocky Mountains, has a permanent population of about 1200, is located a bit off the beaten path on the edge of Echo Lake, a serene, picturesque area located about five miles from real-life Big Fork, named Swanson in the series.

Instead of industrial docks, the shoreline is lined with long, weathered cedar boardwalks and many private piers. Small, colorful wooden rowboats and paddleboards dot the glassy water with noisy speed boats whizzing by during warm summers. Winter sees the water frozen over and activities like ice fishing provide entertainment for the largely tourist driven economy. Though logging and agriculture were the drivers of growth when the town was created at the turn of the twentieth century, it’s the scenic views that attract people these days.

The crisp mountain air smells of sweet ponderosa pine and fresh, spicy cedar and while the lake is not visible from Main Street, the jagged, limestone peaks of the Swan Mountain Range rise abruptly behind the town framing the Craftsman and Victorian influenced architecture that arose in the early years of the town. These days, Main Street is lined with small businesses with names like Cookies ‘n Crumbs, the local bakery and coffee shop where locals gather for delicious pastries and a side of gossip. The town also boasts its own mystery book and poison-themed chocolate shop, Murder and Mayhem. Owned by the twin protagonists of the series, Alex and Hanna, it is the hub of every investigation as the sleuths lead the reader through the tight-knit community following clues and uncovering secrets.

If your book is holiday-themed, tell us more about how you included the holiday.

I set the first book at Christmas because it’s my favorite holiday and then the publisher asked that the second book be set at Christmas, as well. I intentionally set Deck the Halls With Homicide during the town’s Christmas festival, kicking off the holiday season, and really leaned into all the festive fun. Even the crime has a holiday theme as it’s set around the town’s holiday decorating contest. I loved taking the reader around town to the various festive activities including a snowman building contest, Christmas market at the community center, and town tree lighting.

Does your story come with a recipe? (if so, explain a little more about it)

When I created the poison-themed chocolates for the first book to go hand in hand with the mystery book shop, it never occurred to me that I would have to make chocolates. Something I’d never done, and had no intention of ever doing. But when my editor requested that I include recipes for the back of the books, I had to put my theoretical knowledge from my research into play.

Molded chocolates, or bon bons, are a somewhat intricate undertaking, but I did my best to make the process and recipes user friendly. Each recipe has been created and tested by me for a chocolate mentioned in the book. Book three is a bit longer than the other books, so I decided to put the recipes on my website to keep the page count down. I only created one recipe for a new chocolate in this book and included a dessert recipe mentioned in the book on the website as well. The Nicotine Noel recipe from book three is poison-free, I promise.

One Silly Thing About You: When I was in elementary school, I read so many mysteries I really wanted to be a sleuth, specifically Nancy Drew. I would even put on a dress and drive around town on my bike looking for mysteries. As a mature adult, I still want to be a sleuth, but I’m torn between wanting to be Agatha Raisin and Elizabeth from the Thursday Murder Club (because I really wish I’d been a spy instead of a banker).

Deck the Halls with Homicide: A Killer Chocolate Mystery #3

A Little Bit About the Book:

Alex and Hanna, owners of Murder and Mayhem book and chocolate shop, are hoping for a quiet holiday. That is, after Alex is finished judging the Deck the Halls contest organized by Vanessa, nicknamed “The Dragon.” The whole experience has turned Alex’s usual festive spirit a little grinchy. Instead of inspiring holiday cheer with fun lawn displays, the contest has turned cutthroat and decorations have started disappearing. After Alex’s beau, Tom, is seen in a heated argument with the Dragon about his stolen trimmings, Alex finds him dressed as Santa, kneeling over Vanessa’s dead body…with one of his missing candy cane decorations buried in her chest. It’s no surprise he becomes the sheriff’s top suspect.

Alex and Hanna quickly amass a cast of suspects deeper than Santa’s reindeer roster, including an old family friend tasked by their mother with romantic interference; a nosy reporter eager to reveal Alex’s previous murder-y exploits; and the victim’s psychologist-to-the-stars husband with a spicy secret. But as they try to catch a crafty killer, Alex also grapples with the escalating wrath of Tom’s daughter, and a mysterious psychic dropping cryptic clues, while Hanna deals with her own Christmas crisis.

Murder puts a bitter spin on the twins’ sweet confections and they must find the killer and wrap up the case to keep Santa off the naughty list.