Nancy Lynn Jarvis reveals The Corpse's Secret Life, a new PIP Inc. Mystery

 

Welcome to fellow Sister in Crime, Nancy Lynn Jarvis!

Nancy Lynn Jarvis left the real estate profession after she started having so much fun writing the Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries series that she let her license lapse. But after seven books, she was ready for a new adventure and is currently working on the fourth book in her PIP Inc. series which features not-quite-licensed private investigator, downsized law librarian Pat Pirard. She has also edited crowd pleasers Cozy Food: 128 Cozy Mystery Writers Share Their Favorite Recipes and Santa Cruz Weird.

The last year-and-half have been difficult, not only because of Covid 19, but because Nancy spent eight-and-a-half months out of her damaged home following the CZU Fire. She’s happy to be home again, writing, redecorating, and enjoying being a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and Santa Cruz Women of Mystery. 

My website is www.nancylynnjarvis.com

Facebook is https://www.facebook.com/nancylynnjarvis

Goodreads is https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard?ref=nav_profile_authordash

To buy any of my books please go to my author page https://www.amazon.com/s?k=nancy+lynn+jarvis&i=stripbooks&sprefix=Nancy+Lynn+Jarvis%2Caps%2C450&ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_17

What would you say are your strengths as an author?

I love Agatha Christie because, if you are paying attention, you can solve the mystery right along with her protagonist. I try to do the same for my readers. In one of my Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries, I even wanted readers to figure out who the murderer was a chapter before Regan did so they would be yelling, “Regan, no, be careful. That person is a killer and you’ll be next!” I thought it would be fun to give them a jump on her in solving the crime.

How often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine?

I’m the most undisciplined writer you can imagine. I know my characters like they are old friends and I only write when they have something to say or some adventure they are eager to follow. If they aren’t working with me, I stop writing for a few days. The Corpse’s Secret Life was difficult because I was displaced for eight-and-a-half months following the CZU wildfire in California and, when I was finally able to go home, it was to a construction zone full of air compressors and workmen constantly distracting me. Like me, my characters were overwhelmed during that time, so I didn’t write.

Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

Hopefully still having fun writing. The more I do this, the more I enjoy the writing and the less I enjoy the necessary marketing. In five years I’d like to have someone like a personal assistant who does that for me. I also hope to have some audio books recorded.

If you could offer once piece of advice to a novice writer, what would it be?

Do whatever it takes to finish writing your first book. Allow yourself to declare your book done knowing that your first book probably won’t be your best work, but that you’ll get better with practice. Then get good editors, not well meaning friends or family, and take most of their advice, especially your copy editor’s advice.

What would you consider to be the best compliment a reader could give your book?

I once had a woman tell me she was reading one of my books to a dying friend. The woman told the reader she would try to hang on until the book ended because she was enjoying it so much and wanted to know what happened. I consider that effort a remarkable compliment.

What are you working on now?

I’m just starting to outline the forth book in the PIP. Inc. Mysteries series. So far I know many of the characters and who did it, although a few red herring murderers still aren’t clear. The book, which begins immediately following The Corpse’s Secret Life, will go into the Christmas season. The working title is Murder of a Christmas Groom. I’m not yet sure about that title, so if any of your readers have suggestions, I’d love to hear them. The best title will get an acknowledgement in the book and, of course, a free copy when the book comes out.

 THE CORPSE’S SECRET LIFE

Pat's fledgling private investigation company, PIP Inc., has a promising new case. Pat is still wearing a wrist cast after breaking her arm in a confrontation with a killer, so when she's hired by the City of Watsonville to unearth the identity of an older woman who died in her bed, she's delighted that her next job promises to be a simple computer-based research project.

Why is it that things are never as simple as she thinks they will be? Pat soon discovers nothing is as it seems, beginning with a corpse who had secret identities, murder, and a post-death ritual thought to have last been performed decades ago.

“I love this series, and this particular mystery is very entertaining.”
        Janice J. Richardson author of The Spencer Funeral Home series

“Captivating from the start! The Corpse’s Secret Life transports you into a realm of page-turning mystery… a must read”
          Maryanne Porter, author of Haunted Santa Cruz, California.