Guest Post: Michele Pariza Wacek – ICE COLD MURDER

Good day, book people. I hope you’re all staying warm and snug during this unseasonably frigid Winter. Thanks to the internet, authors now provide us with so many tantalizing tidbits of insight into their writings, writing habits, and more on social media, their websites/blogs, and when they visit other sites/blogs. I enjoy learning about why that setting or this particular character, why they choose that time period, or what prompted them to write this particular book/series. The more I learn, the more I seem to enjoy the reading. I’m pleased to welcome Michele Pariza Wacek, author of Ice Cold Murder, the latest release in the Charlie Kingsley Mystery series. Ms. Wacek will be providing us with some insight and a behind-the-scenes glimpse to Ice Cold Murder. So, grab your favorite beverage, sit back, and let’s learn a bit more about Ice Cold Murder. Thank you, Ms. Wacek, for stopping by today. The blog is all yours.

Behind-the-Scenes Exclusive of Ice Cold Murder, a Charlie Kingsley Mystery
by Michele Pariza Wacek

 

Before I get into all the behind-the-scenes juiciness, a little background.

Ice Cold Murder is book 2 in my first-ever cozy mystery series, The Charlie Kingsley Mystery series.

It takes place in Redemption, Wisconsin, and is a spin-off of my Secrets of Redemption series, which is more psychological suspense/romantic mystery than cozy.

Wait, did I say “psychological suspense?” Yes, but it’s not as confusing as you might think. Below, you’ll find a collection of behind-the-scenes details around the Charlie Kingsley mysteries and Redemption to help clear up any questions:

1. Redemption, Wisconsin is a fictional world loosely (very loosely) based on Reedsburg, Wisconsin, where my dad has a cabin. Reedsburg is near Wisconsin Dells, and if you’ve ever seen the Wisconsin Dells area, you know how gorgeous it is. Redemption is equally beautiful, as it’s surrounded by acres of lakes and forests.

2. Redemption is a haunted town. In 1888, all the adults disappeared, leaving the children behind. No one knows what happened to them, nor does it end there—Redemption has a long history of strange things that have happened there over the years.

3. Redemption’s history is loosely based on real-life history. There were terrible blizzards in 1888, including what is now known as The Children’s Blizzard that hit the Midwest, which resulted in the death of a lot of children, not adults (hence the name). There is also a book called Wisconsin Death Trip that chronicles a five-year span of time around 1888, during which a town called “Black River Falls” was plagued by a series of terrible events—murders, arson, madness, and more. The book is full of newspaper articles from the time that detail this strange and unusual period of Wisconsin’s past.

4. Because of Redemption’s troubling past, I’ve come to think of my two series as “the light and dark sides of Redemption.” If you want more of a light-hearted peek at the ghosts, disappearances, murders, and more, the Charlie Kingsley Mysteries series is perfect for you. You’ll enjoy some humor, quirky characters, and a twisty mystery in those books. If you want a little more edge to your mysteries (maybe even just a hint of darkness), check out Secrets of Redemption.

5. However, whichever series you choose, both are clean—no swearing, on-page sex, or gore. And, in terms of the ghosts and haunting, I keep them realistic—nothing you couldn’t imagine happening in real life. (After all, we’ve all experienced the occasional odd happening we couldn’t completely explain away with logic, right?)

6. I personally never thought I’d ever write a cozy mystery. I always had a love for psychological thriller/psychological suspense stories. And I loved exploring the “Things are never as they seem” theme. But, here we are. Never say “never,” eh?

7. I also never thought Charlie Kingsley would turn into my most enduring character to date. I was in my twenties when the idea for It Began With a Lie (the first book in my Secrets of Redemption series) came to me. I had no names for any of the characters then … just a shadowy idea of the aunt who had willed her haunted house to the main character.

I had set the idea aside because I was focusing on other writing projects (mainly, my freelance copywriting career). It wasn’t until five years ago, when my mother was dying of cancer, that the idea returned to me.

And honestly, I thought it completely ridiculous to be starting a novel. I already felt stretched too thin between my copywriting company and seeing my mother. But the idea persisted, and finally, I sat down and started to write it.

I had assumed it would be a standalone book, but the initial story was so complicated, I decided to turn it into two. Of course, if I was going to have two books, why not add a third, so I could turn it into a series?

While mapping out the plot of the third book, Charlie’s story started to come into focus, and it was so rich, I decided it needed its own book. Of course, it was too long for one book, so it became two, as well.

A few months after those two books were published, Charlie nudged me again to write a Christmas mystery, which is something I’ve been wanting to do for some time. I published The Murder Before Christmas on November 9, 2021. And because everything that has to do with Charlie is always more involved than I originally thought, I now have the new spin-off series.

8. My mother loved cozy mysteries. She was an avid reader, and mysteries were her absolute favorite. Now, looking back at the twisted path I took to get here, is it that much of a surprise that a book I started when my mother was dying would contain the seeds of a spin-off cozy mystery series?

9. It’s amazing to me how effortlessly the two series came together. Pat, Charlie’s best friend, first appears in This Happened to Jessica, Book 2 of the Secrets of Redemption series. Claire (who is in Ice Cold Murder, Book 2 in the Charlie Kingsley Mysteries series) first appeared in Book 4 of the first series, The Summoning. God is definitely in charge here, as I certainly had no clue where it was all going to end up.

10. The Charlie Kingsley Mysteries take place in the early 1990s, which I’m enjoying writing far more than I ever thought I would, especially when I imagine what my twenty-year-old self living in the 90s would say. Although, in my defense, I never even dreamed that 2020 would ever happen…

But, even without the last two years, there’s something refreshing writing a mystery where the characters don’t have access to cell phones, social media, or the Internet. Hopefully, if you choose to give the series a try, you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. ♦

Ice Cold Murder (Charlie Kingsley Mysteries)
by Michele Pariza Wacek

About Ice Cold Murder

Ice Cold Murder (Charlie Kingsley Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Love-Based Publishing (January 25, 2022)
Number of Pages ~250
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09L1JN8J3

Purchase Link – Amazon

When Charlie agrees to accompany her friend Claire to her late grandmother’s reading of the will, she assumes she is simply there for moral support.

She doesn’t expect things to get so … strange.

It’s odd enough that it takes place over a weekend, but that’s just the beginning…

They also need to stay in Claire’s grandma’s supposedly haunted house with Claire’s estranged family.

Things get even worse when a huge storm snows them in. No electricity, no phone, and no way out.

Throw a dead body into the mix, and there’s no question it’s now the world’s worst family gathering. Ever.

At least Charlie brought lots of tea, which she’s going to need as she races to solve this closed-circle mystery before her friend’s dysfunctional family get-together results in anyone else being murdered.

Meet Charlie. Better known as “Aunt Charlie” from the award-winning Secrets of Redemption series. She’s back, making teas and solving cases in this funny, twisty, cozy mystery series set in the 1990s in Redemption, Wisconsin.

About Michele Pariza Wacek

When Michele was 3 years old, she taught herself to read because she wanted to write stories so badly. It took some time (and some detours) but she does spend much of her time writing stories now. Mystery stories to be exact, ranging from psychological thrillers to cozies, with a dash of romance and supernatural thrown into the mix. If that wasn’t enough, she also hosts a virtual book club you can check out and join (for free!) at MPWNovels.com.

Michele holds a double major in English and Communications from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Currently, she lives in the mountains of Prescott, Arizona with her husband Paul and southern squirrel hunter Cassie.

Author Links
Website – https://mpwnovels.com/
Facebook – facebook.com/michelepwauthor
Linked In linkedin.com/in/michelepw
Twitter – twitter.com/michelepw
Instagram – instagram.com/themichelepw

Tour Participants

January 24 – The Book Diva’s Reads – GUEST POST
January 25 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
January 25 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
January 26 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
January 27 – The Mystery Section – SPOTLIGHT
January 27 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
January 28 – I Read What You Write – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
January 29 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
January 30 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
January 31 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST
February 1 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
February 1 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW, GUEST POST
February 2 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
February 3 – Here’s How It Happened – REVIEW
February 3 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW
February 4 – Literary Gold – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
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February 6 – BookishKelly2020 – SPOTLIGHT

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