You may have heard writers describe moments when their characters take over the story. This has certainly happened to me. I’ll think I know which way a scene needs to go, only to have the folks on the page inform me they have other plans.
Something that gets less attention is what happens when a book’s setting starts taking over the plot.
I certainly didn’t expect Geneva Bay, the charming Wisconsin lakeside resort where my books take place, to start murdering people. But—surprise!—it did just that.
When I first pitched the Deep Dish Mysteries, I had no intention of setting the books in small-town Wisconsin. The books feature deep-dish pizza and a detective descended from Al Capone, so obviously they belonged in Chicago. I envisioned my fictional pizzeria in Hyde Park, where I could draw on the neighborhood’s fascinating history and the city’s unseemly connection with organized crime.
My publisher had other ideas. They loved the concept, but wanted it set in a small, tightly knit community—a place where readers could take a mental vacation.
I tried to argue that Chicago is, in fact, a great place for a vacation, but finally relented, moving the whole shebang to “Geneva Bay,” a lightly-fictionalized version of Lake Geneva.
As it turned out, my publisher had done me a huge favor and the books took a direction none of us could have expected…
At Death’s Dough is the only installment of the Deep Dish Mysteries that doesn’t take place entirely in the present day.
The book includes a brief prologue that sweeps readers back 100 years, to the time when the mob held sway in the Windy City and Prohibition was in full swing.
I’m so excited that the audiobook is finally in production — now more readers will be able to catch up on the series in their chosen medium. The book will be out later this summer, but my fabulous narrator, Holly Adams, shared this exclusive sample to wet your whistle.
The long-ago mystery revealed in the prologue comes to the fore later in the book, so listen carefully for clues!
This post is reprinted with permission from Chicks on the Case, October 29, 2025
At Death’s Dough, the fifth installment in my Deep Dish Mystery series, was inspired by the long, cold winters of my Chicago childhood—and by one of the biggest unsolved heists in U.S. history.
My sister put me on to the story of the Rondout Train Robbery after seeing an article commemorating it in her local paper. We were both struck that the largest train robbery in U.S. history happened not in the Wild West—but just north of Chicago in the 1920s. Millions in loot vanished, mob ties helped the robbers evade justice, and the truth remains a mystery. What better set-up for my clever, pizza-slinging sleuth and her detective boyfriend—who happens to be the great-grandson of Al Capone?
If you’re like me and love a mystery where the past refuses to stay buried, here are five more fabulous cozies (and cozy-adjacent mysteries) that mix history, humor, and heart.
1. How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristin Perrin Wealthy widow Frances Adams has spent sixty years preparing for her own murder—and when she’s finally found dead, her great-niece Annie has to solve it. Set in an English village full of eccentric characters and long-dormant secrets, this witty debut is a perfect pick for readers who like their tea hot and their corpses cold.
2. Mischief Nights Are Murder by Libby Klein Halloween hijinks and historical secrets collide when gluten-free baker Poppy McAllister’s B&B becomes the center of a deadly prank gone wrong. Add in a paranormal researcher, a pet psychic, a century-old diary with Prohibition ties, and Klein’s signature laugh-out-loud wit and you’ve got the ultimate cozy comfort read—assuming you can read while snort-laughing.
3. More Than Sorrow by Vicki Delany This beautifully atmospheric mystery from Canadian mystery-writing powerhouse Vicki Delany (aka Eva Gates) intertwines the story of a modern war correspondent recovering from trauma with the stories of 18th-century Loyalist settlers. It’s a timely reminder that the past is never really past.
4. Murder Once Removed by S.C. Perkins A genealogist with a love of tacos and a nose for trouble discovers a murder from the 19th century—and accidentally ignites a modern political scandal. Perkins’s genealogical series is clever, funny, and full of Texas twang. It’s proof that some families have actual skeletons in the closet.
5. The Study of Secrets by Cynthia Kuhn English professor Lila Maclean’s sabbatical turns sinister when a Victorian mansion, a missing manuscript, and a small-town legend converge to spell murder. Smart and funny, this book showcases the talents of its Agatha Award-winning creator.
Whether you’re chasing gangsters across a frozen lake or uncovering secrets in a dusty archive, these mysteries will keep you turning pages long after your cocoa goes cold. Hope you’ll check out these great reads and pick up At Death’s Dough—out now anywhere books are sold!
Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by CanvasRebel Magazine. Read below for my take on Eighties parenting, Norman Lear, and writing lessons learned (and unlearned)….
CR: Mindy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
MQ: My childhood spanned the 80s and 90s, when benign neglect was the dominant parenting style. My mom and dad didn’t micromanage my schoolwork or bog me down with organized extra-curriculars. For a good portion of my childhood, they probably didn’t even know where I was.*
That parenting style freed me to read and watch TV for countless hours every day, unfettered by parental expectations. The fact that they worked the kinds of jobs people without college degrees tend to work—secretary, restaurant server, auto parts store manager, etc.—was also a blessing. When it came time for me to get a job, I chose work that interested me, with no fear that my parents would judge my choices and no expectation of making giant sums of money.
*Definitely not climbing into that broken storm drain by Jenny’s house! Nor “borrowing” Christine’s brother’s chinchilla and trying to make it live in a Barbie camper van! Those things for sure didn’t happen.
My favorite kind of reader feedback is when someone tells me they laughed out loud at something I wrote and scared their dog/spit their soda/made fellow passengers on the subway doubt their sanity.
LOLs are my love language.
So I was especially heartened when Holly Adams, the awesomely talented narrator of my Mount Moriah Mysteries and my Deep Dish Mysteries, sent me this outtake of her recording a scene from Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust.
For reference, the dialogue in question involves sous chef Sonya talking to her uncle Avi, an attorney who has come to Geneva Bay to help a friend caught in a sticky situation with the local police. The scene is supposed to read as written below.
“Why did you let her talk?” Sonya said. “You named your dog Miranda, for God’s sake. The only dog in existence named after a constitutional procedure. You always told me not to answer questions if I ever got arrested.”
Avi threw up his hands. “So I’m supposed to tackle your lady friend and stuff a gag in her mouth? I told her to shut her yapper. She didn’t listen to me. Just like your Aunt Ruthie, or little Miranda for that matter. She ate a full tube of your aunt’s red lipstick, did your mom tell you? Now I gotta buy new carpet for the rumpus room.”
Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust
I admit that I, too, sometimes get a giggle out of my characters. The reaction is weirdly detached. I don’t feel like I’m chuckling at my own cleverness or patting myself on the back. I’m laughing at this hilarious group of people who happen to be fictional and live inside my head.
My husband walked by my office one day and caught me in the act–alone, laughing at my computer screen. “You won’t believe what Butterball did!” I said, pointing to the Word document. When I set out to write that scene, I had a vague idea of where it was going, but I had no inkling that Butterball the cat, out of nowhere, would decide to pull off some guffaw-worthy acrobatic antics. That scene is near the end of book three in the series, Public Anchovy Number One, which hits bookstore shelves on December 26th. Hope you’ll find it as LOL-able reading as I did writing.
When I’m thinking up a new character for one of books, I tend to give a lot of thought to how the person talks. In the Deep Dish Mysteries, for example, you know that if someone says, “For Pete’s sake…” that’s Wisconsin farmgirl Melody Schacht. And if a character busts out a witty play on words that makes you laugh and groan at the same time, that’ll be straight from the mouth of sous chef/BFF Sonya. I’m also fascinated by accents, especially unusual ones like the dialect of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, which features heavily in A Death in Duck, from my Mount Moriah Mysteries Series.
As I’m inventing this panoply of distinctive voices, I should probably spare a thought for my longtime collaborator, audiobook narrator Holly Adams. Over the years, Holly has gamely voiced whatever characters I’ve thrown her way. From a gravelly old man on his deathbed to a toddler squeaking out her first complete sentences. A lesser narrator might balk, but not Holly. Bulgarian accent? Sure. Mobster with a pro wrestler physique and a hockey mom inflection? Bring it on. I’m lucky to have her talent at my disposal. Holly has previously shared some of her secrets for giving each character a unique voice. But coming up with accents and voices isn’t the only challenge audiobook narrators face.
In addition to cozy mysteries like mine, Holly records a lot of non-fiction and a LOT of fantasy books. It never occurred to me how challenging it is for a narrator to cope with page after page of made-up names and places. Can you imagine being handed a book from the Game of Thrones series and having to say DaenerysTargaryen five times fast? Harder still, in her non-fiction work, she has to cope with real people’s names in languages that she doesn’t natively speak. In those instances, she has to be even more diligent about getting things right, because there are actual people (besides the author) who’ll know if she gets it wrong.
A few weeks ago, I sat down on Zoom with the extraordinary actor and performer Holly Adams. Holly has narrated almost 200 audiobooks, including both the Mount Moriah Mysteries and the Deep Dish Mysteries. Holly and I covered a lot of ground during our chat, from the challenges of pronouncing made-up place and character names in epic fantasy novels to ways to subliminally make your audience hold their breath.
I “met” Holly in 2014, when I heard her audition tape for the Audible recording of A Murder in Mount Moriah. You can hear an excerpt of her performance here. Her vibrant personality just zinged out of my computer speakers. There was no question of hiring anyone else once I heard that audition. Everything about that audition tape was great, but one thing that absolutely blew me away was Holly’s ability to give each character an instantly-recognizable way of speaking.
I’ll be posting more soon, but here’s a sneak preview of Holly showing how she moves sound around her mouth to create distinct character voices without changing her accent.
First off, if you don’t understand the title of this post, ask a millennial.
I sat down today to do some forward planning for the coming semester and realized with horror and excitement what a crazy hectic travel and event schedule lies ahead of me. Horror because somehow, I still have a day job to do. 😬 And, like, kids and a husband and a dog that I’d like to see occasionally. Excitement because Yay! It feels like I’m a real author doing real author things!
I’d love for you to keep me company IRL or virtually at these events. Or you could stand on the side of the road and hand me an Energy Gel Aqua Caffeine Pouch as I zoom past. 😉
