Terrie Farley Moran has been a cozy mystery writer for quite a while. She’s also written with author Laura Childs. But, it’s her current co-writer who may be most familiar to many of you. Terrie is co-author of the Jessica Fletcher mysteries. She took the time to answer some questions for me. Thank you, Terrie.

Terrie, your writing partner, Jessica Fletcher, is well-known to readers, but some might not be as familiar with you. Would you introduce yourself?

Hi Everyone! My name is Terrie Moran and I am a life-long New Yorker. About eighteen years ago I decided I wanted to write mysteries. I had no idea how difficult that would be but I kept plugging away.  Eventually I got an agent and received a contract with Berkley for my Read ‘Em and Eat cozy mystery series. The first book, Well Read, Then Dead won the Agatha award for Best First Novel. Shocked me, I can tell you!

While I was writing my second Read ‘Em and Eat cozy, the magnificent Laura Childs called and asked if I would like to join her in writing the New Orleans Scrapbooking mysteries.  So far we have written four books together. And now, as you know, along with Jessica Fletcher, I co-write the Murder She Wrote mystery series. More about that later! I also love to write short mystery fiction and have had stories published in Ellery Queens Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly and numerous anthologies. You can find me on Facebook or Instagram or on my website at www.terriefarleymoran.com . I must confess the website is a bit outdated, but I promise to get around to updating it any day now!

Tell us about Debonair in Death, without spoilers.

As a long time fan of Murder, She Wrote I am always happiest when Jessica is at home in Cabot Cove, Maine. On page one of Murder, She Wrote Debonair in Death Jessica is in my favorite Cabot Cove location, Loretta’s Beauty Parlor, getting a haircut.  In addition to Loretta the other “beauty parlor girls” include Coreen the manicurist, Ideal Molloy and the ever popular Eve Simpson. Very soon a shop keeper in town in bludgeoned to death in his store, and all of Cabot Cove is a-buzz with possible reasons for the murder, including his wandering eye when it comes to the ladies and how badly he treats his business partner. Shortly after the body is discovered Sheriff Metzger’s deputies, Floyd and Andy, catch a man climbing through the window of the murdered man’s home. The fact that the burglar is MI 6 secret agent Michael Haggerty adds an entirely different spin to the investigation.

How does it feel to take over the writing of a series that you did not originate?

I was ecstatic to be asked and determined to do justice to Jessica Fletcher. I have been a huge fan of Murder, She Wrote since I watched the very first episode of the television show which aired in September 1984, so I am thrilled to be writing the series now. But there are issues to be considered. By the late 1980’s the spin–off books began to be published regularly.  Both the television series, which lasted for twelve seasons and is still broadcast daily around the world, and the books continue to have a long, successful life. Fifty-two books were written before I came on board. Since the early books were written while Murder, She Wrote was still on prime time television, the content is not a direct follow-up to the television series. Over time there have been many changes. For example, in the books, Sam Booth is no longer the mayor of Cabot Cove. He has been replaced by a man named Jim Shevlin and Jim’s wife, Susan, is now the town travel agent, replacing Phyllis Grant. Also somewhere along the line in the books Sheriff Metzger and his first wife Adele became divorced and he now has a second wife, Maureen. So I have to be extremely careful to keep my facts straight. From a writer’s perspective a significant issue is that in the television episodes there are many scenes without Jessica present. Although the viewer sees what is going on, Jessica may or may not learn what happens in those scenes later on in the episode. However, the MSW books are written completely in first person so Jessica either has to see what happens or someone has to tell her what they witnessed in order for her to have the information she needs.

Because I was familiar with Florida’s Gulf Coast, I enjoyed the books in the Read ‘Em and Eat series. Would you describe those to readers?

Thank you for asking. The Read ’Em and Eat is a bookstore cafe owned by Sassy Cabot and Bridgy Mayfield located in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. Each table in the café is dedicated to an author, and the table top is decorated with snippets of that author’s work and maybe a picture or two—everything laminated. Menu items have bookish names, “True Grits”, for example. Readers will often have a drink or a snack as they read. And as cozy mysteries would have it, in each of the Read ’Em and Eat books, Well Read, Then Dead, Caught Read-Handed and Read to Death, there is a murder. Fortunately Sassy and Bridgy have some entertaining friends and family who pitch in to help see that justice prevails.

Let’s turn to a few personal questions. COVID and isolation affected authors differently, just as it did the rest of us. Some were paralyzed, while others found a burst of creativity. How did the last year affect you and your writing?

Well as you know, America began to pay serious attention to Covid and finally went into quarantine in mid-March 2020. On St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2020, while I was dancing to Irish music, baking soda bread and bemoaning that there were no parades, my agent called and asked if I would be interested in writing the next few books in the Murder, She Wrote series. I jumped for joy, shouting YES, OF COURSE.” My contract is for four books, two a year or basically a book every six months. Book number fifty-five, Killer on the Court (that is a tennis court) will be released in May 2022. My contract ends with book fifty-six, although there is always the possibility of renewal. I had to hand in my first book on September 15, 2020, six months after that phone call. So, although I was Covid-careful and dearly missed my children, grandchildren and friends, I didn’t have a lot of time to let Covid interfere with my writing. And, truthfully, I am a “roll with the punches” kind of gal. Things happen in life, if they get in my way, I work around them.

Why did you decide to write cozy mysteries?

I write what I read. When I read fiction, it is likely to be written by the Golden Age authors like Christie and Sayers, or the more modern cozy authors, whose writing is in the same vein. The other books I love are non-fiction about American History. Since I am not a learned historian it is best for all concerned that I write fiction, hence cozies.

If you had to recommend 5 books to a person so they could get a feel for your reading taste, what 5 would you pick?

Adams vs Jefferson, the tumultuous election of 1800 by John Ferling

Six American Poets, edited by Joel Conarroe

The World of Mystery Fiction edited by Elliott L. Gilbert

Any one of the twenty plus books in the Faith Fairchild series by Katherine Hall Page

Any newly released cozy by an unfamiliar author. I have found many hours of reading pleasure by jumping into the unknown cozy pool.

What’s on your TBR pile?

What the Cat Dragged In by Miranda James

An Irish Hostage by Charles Todd

The Mother Next Door by Tara Laskowski

A Game of Cones by Abby Collette

 Mimi Lee Reads between the Lines by Jennifer Chow

And I could go on forever….

Terrie, I’m a librarian, so I like to end with this. Tell us a story about a library or librarian in your life.

This could take pages, but I will try to be brief. Just before I started second grade my family moved and our new apartment was within walking distance of the Fordham branch aka the Bronx Regional Center of the New York Public Library. Two years later we moved even closer, so whenever I wanted to, I could go to the library by myself. During my childhood and teenage years, my friends and I spent a lot of afternoon and evening hours in the library and the librarians were always welcoming. Even when we were whispering and giggling in the reference room or running up and down the stairs, they were gentle and kind in their reprimands. And when we really misbehaved, they never asked us to leave, probably knowing we were better off there than on the streets, especially at night. When I say the librarians in the Fordham branch kept a lot of street kids out of jail, I am only partially joking. Is it any wonder that I still love libraries today?

About the author

Jessica Fletcher is a bestselling mystery writer who has a knack for stumbling upon real-life mysteries in her various travels.

Terrie Farley Moran is thrilled to be co-author, along with Jessica Fletcher, of the long running Murder, She Wrote series. She has also written the beachside Read ‘Em and Eat cozy mystery series and is co-author of Laura Childs’ New Orleans scrapbooking mysteries. Terrie is a recipient of both the Agatha and Derringer awards. Learn more online at terriefarleymoran.com.

Debonair in Death will be released on November 2.

Debonair in Death by Jessica Fletcher and Terrie Farley Moran. Berkley, 2021. ISBN 9780593333624 (hardcover), 288p.