From Across State Lines with Lisa Q. Mathews!

Oct 7

3 min read

From Across State Lines Blog Promo Image - Lisa Q. Mathews

Please give a warm welcome to Lisa from New Hampshire…

Lisa Q. Mathews began her publishing career as a Nancy Drew editor. She wrote for other kids’ series, including Mary-Kate and Ashley and the Lizzie McGuire Mysteries, and became an executive editor at Random House. She now writes feel-good mysteries with family and women’s friendship themes, including the Ladies Smythe & Westin series and the recent Irish Bed & Breakfast Mysteries. Her short story “Fly Me to the Morgue” in Malice Domestic16: Mystery Most Diabolical was an Agatha Award finalist. A regular blogger at Chicks on the Case, Lisa is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America and the Short Mystery Fiction Society. She lives in New England, where she is sadly allergic to seafood. The “Q” in her name stands for Quinn. https://www.lisaqmathews.com/

Favorite Snack: I mainline iced tea via IV drip, 24/7 and year-round, and bribe myself through tasks (and word count) with frequent helpings of Nestlé chocolate chips.

How does your main character differ from you/is similar to you?

Family is everything to my single-mom sleuth Kate Buckley, and she is definitely her family’s point person. Like me, she tends to “borrow trouble,” as my grandmother used to say, so she’s always on the lookout for things to go wrong. And then she jumps in to try to fix them. But Kate is an accountant rather than a writer like me. Safer, entirely practical, and much more lucrative.

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

BURIED IN SHAMROCKS is set in the (fictional) Irish-themed tourist town of Shamrock, Massachusetts. Think Salem, MA, but with (fake) leprechauns instead of witches. I now live over the border in NH, but the true community spirit of Shamrock stems from the Irish neighborhood in Brooklyn where I raised my kids.

How did you come up with the title of your book?

My working title for BURIED IN SHAMROCKS was “Crimson in Clover.” Since the story includes music, that was a play on Joan Jett’s cover of “Crimson & Clover” (original: Tommy James & the Shondells)—and also the fact that the murder victim is found lying in a field of clover. My publisher didn’t think the title sounded “Irish” enough, so I switched to BURIED IN SHAMROCKS. (I still miss “Crimson in Clover,” though.)

One Silly Thing About You: My sister and I grew up in New England, 16 years apart—and we both married guys from the same town across the country: Vancouver, WA.

Buried in Shamrocks: An Irish Bed and Breakfast Mystery #2

A Little Bit About the Book:

Kate Buckley returns to her Irish-themed hometown for the summer, but when her ex becomes the prime suspect in his fiancée’s murder, she must clear his name for the sake of their daughters, perfect for fans of Elle Cosimano and Carlene O’Connor.

Kate and her daughters, Maeve and Bliz, are back in Shamrock, Massachusetts, and Kate faces a big decision: Should they move back to their hometown for good? As she contemplates the idea, all the businesses in town, including her family’s B&B, the Buckley House, are busy preparing for the annual Great Shamrock Fair in hopes of luring back tourists after a murder during St. Patrick’s Week.

But when Kate’s ex, Ian, arrives in town from Ireland to perform with his band at the festival and his new fiancée, Fallon, is found dead at the fairgrounds, any chance of a fun and peaceful family summer goes up in green smoke.

Much as she wants nothing to do with her ex, Kate knows Ian is innocent. Amid the swirl of activity in town and her sister Colleen’s determination to keep the annual Miss Shamrock contests alive, Kate enlists her devastated eldest daughter and her father, the former Shamrock police chief, to help her unwind the trail of evidence.

With clues—and danger—piling up, can Kate find Fallon’s true killer and save her ex, before the Great Shamrock Fair and the town’s chances for a summer full of green go bust?