I’ve been reading Paige Shelton’s mysteries for about seven years now, beginning with her Cooking School mystery, If Fried Chicken Could Fly. I read every one of them, and all of her Scottish Bookshop mysteries. She’s kicking off a new one now, a darker series, beginning with Thin Ice. That means it’s the perfect time to ask Paige some questions.
Thank you, Paige!
Paige, Would you introduce
yourself to readers?
you, Lesa. It’s always great to talk to you and your readers.
I’m a mystery writer, with about twenty published cozies. Thin Ice is my
first non-cozy suspense and is the first in the Alaska Wild series. Other
series are: Farmers Market, Country Cooking School (paranormal), Dangerous
Type, and Scottish Bookshop. My first book, Farm Fresh Murder published
in 2010.
I moved around the Midwest a lot as a kid but ended up in Salt Lake City after
college. I met my husband there and we raised our son. About five years ago,
and after son was in college, my husband and I moved to Arizona. Though I miss
my Utah friends, I am head-over-heels for Arizona. I can’t believe how much
I’ve come to love the desert and am very glad to be here.
us to Beth Rivers, please.
She’s a successful thriller writer – but that’s a secret. After being abducted
by a fan who’d stalked her for a couple of years, he kidnaped her and kept her
in his van for three long days. She doesn’t remember much about that time, but
she did get away. After brain surgery to clear a blood clot on her brain, she
decided to run away and hide until her kidnapper was found. She escapes to a
remote area of Alaska, hoping she’s run far enough.
might be tough without spoilers, but tell us about Thin Ice.
Beth tries to find a way to deal with her past trauma as well as assist the
local police in solving a mysterious death. She grew up around law enforcement,
so she knows a few things. Every day she moves forward though, some of her past
sneaks in and tries to pull her back to that place, that time locked in her
captor’s van.
known as a cozy mystery writer. Why the departure with Thin Ice?
I think it’s as simple as writers love to write. When I first found my
wonderful agent, Jessica Faust, I didn’t even know what a cozy was – I just
wanted to write mysteries. I would love to write all different kinds of
stories, and I have an agent with a big vision, as well as a super-smart
editor, Hannah Braatan. I feel very fortunate.
a fascinating cast of characters in Thin Ice. Introduce readers to a few of
them, please – Gril, Viola, Donner, any others you’d like to mention.
Gril – the grizzled police chief. He moved to Alaska from Chicago, where he was
tired of watching so many people die. He’s smart in an old-school way.
Viola runs the halfway house where Beth accidentally rents a room. She’s quite
the character, having run away from Juneau with her sister when they were kids.
I just finished book two of the series and got to know Viola even better. I
really like her.
a local Park Ranger, so he’s part of Gril’s law enforcement team. He tries to
help Beth, but he’s got a few secrets of his own.
In fact, it seems that most folks around Benedict, Alaska are running or hiding
from something. Lots of secrets to uncover.
little about Beth’s mother.
Millicent Rivers is a mess. She loves her daughter, Beth, but when Beth’s
father disappeared when she was a kid, Mill’s already obsessive ways took over
and she hasn’t stopped looking for Eddy Rivers since. She thinks all police are
idiots, and she thinks she’s above the law. Now, after what happened to her
daughter, in her mind she has even more to avenge.
so much left unknown at the end of Thin Ice. Can you tell us anything about the
next book, or even Gril’s next investigation?
Hmm. There’s more than one dead body in the second book. One: a frozen body is
found in a previously hidden shed that becomes exposed after a mudslide. That’s
truly all I can say. Oh! Also, two mysterious little girls appear and though
they don’t speak, they sure seem to “say” a lot. There’s lots more about Beth’s
captor and Beth’s mother.
picked a remote park of Alaska as a setting. Tell us about your research, and
what you loved about Alaska.
in-laws lived in Anchorage for years, and my husband and I took our honeymoon
up there. I was shocked by the state’s beauty as well as its vast
primitiveness. I mean, it is still really, really primitive, and that’s around
Anchorage, a big city. Last summer, Charlie and I visited an even more remote
area around Glacier Bay National Park – Gustavus, which is the town I used to
create Benedict. It is, unquestionably, a different world, a different sort of
life. As much as I loved the trip, I would find it difficult to live so
primitively. However, I hope to go back someday.
It’s an Olympia typewriter in Thin Ice. Your Dangerous Type mysteries
feature a typewriter repair shop. What fascinates you about typewriters?
I can’t get enough of them. I only own a couple of old ones because I’m not a
collector, but I love looking at pictures of them, reading about them, pushing
their keys. They changed the world – the way we communicate. And they make cool
clacking noises.
your TBR pile, Paige?
I’m currently reading The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. It’s
extraordinary.
The next three on the ever-changing pile are:
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
(research for Scottish Bookshop six)
Thanks to you and your readers, Lesa! Happy holidays to everyone.
Loved the interview and nice to hear more about this book and also about Paige. I have a real partiality for books set in Alaska, though I've never visited. Dana Stabenow got me started on my Alaska mystery reading. In any case, I've now recommended that our library get THIN ICE because it wasn't listed yet in the catalog. They usually buy pretty much anything I suggest so I'll watch for it. Happily, they also notify me and put me on the hold list after my recommendations.
I think your library will be happy if they order Thin Ice, Kay. Our copies came yesterday for the library. I think you're going to enjoy it. (If they don't get it for some reason, and I suspect they will, let me know. I have extra copies.)
"And they make cool clacking noises."
So true. I've always been happy I learned how to type in junior high school. Nice interview. I must admit, Alaska has never been on my bucket list, though I've enjoyed reading books (and series) set there. Dana Stabenow is the obvious one, but also Marcia Simpson and Stan Jones, as well as THE YIDDISH POLICEMEN'S UNION by Michael Chabon.
I'm with you, Jeff. Alaska has never been on my list, either. I think a number of women would mention Kristin Hannah's The Great Alone as the Alaska book that stuck with them.
I miss her cooking school mysteries.
I loved those books, Sandy. My favorite series by her.