Apr 7th Interview with Kris Bock Author of The Accidental Detective Series

Give a warm welcome to Kris Bock, author of The Accidental Detective Series, Something Shady at Sunshine Haven, 1st book ! just released on April 7, 2022!

Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choic from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookies from the plate and let’s meet Kris Bock and
learn about The Accidental Detective, her humorous mystery
series! Kris, tell us about yourself.

I started my writing career with children’s literature, writing
for kids as Chris Eboch and MM Eboch. My first published book is The Well of
Sacrifice – historical drama set in ninth-century Mayan Guatemala. It’s been
in print for over twenty years and is used in schools when they teach the Maya.
I’ve written over 100 educational work for hire books, and I’ve been a
ghostwriter for some popular children’s mystery series starring your favorite
young detectives.

I write for adults under the name Kris Bock. I’ve written
romantic suspense and a sweet romance series based around a cat café. I have a
humorous mystery series coming out this year, with four books scheduled. The
first is:

Something Shady at Sunshine Haven: The Accidental Detective Book 1

War correspondent Kate Tessler has followed
the most dangerous news stories around the world. But can she survive going
home?

Injured in a bombing, Kate returns to her
hometown in Arizona to recover. For the first time in her life, she’s starting
to feel her age (49), even though she’s living like a teenager again: staying
with her father, trying to understand why her sister resents her so much, and
running into people who still think of her as Kitty.

Seeing her mother in an Alzheimer’s unit is
the hardest part – until an old friend asks her to investigate suspicious
deaths at that nursing home. Is a self-appointed “Angel of Mercy” killing
patients to end their suffering? Are family members hastening their
inheritance? Is an employee extorting money and removing the witnesses? Kate
uses her journalism skills to track clues, but the puzzle pieces simply won’t
fit.

If Kate can’t uncover the truth, her mother
could be next on the killer’s list. 

What inspired this mystery series?

Kate spent thirty years traveling the world as a war correspondent.
Now back in Arizona, she finds turning fifty as difficult than the mysteries
she solves. This character was inspired by my own experiences. Okay, the part
about turning fifty, not traveling the world as a war correspondent. I traveled
a lot when younger, but not to war zones. But as I faced fifty, I wanted to
create a mystery lead dealing with some of the same issues: aging parents,
concerns about financing retirement someday, and a body that doesn’t recover
like it once did. I also wanted to give Kate a reason to be adventurous and
fearless, thus the background as a war correspondent.

I didn’t necessarily intend to write humor, but both my
agent and my editor said they laughed a lot. That comes from how Kate sees the
world, which is how I see the world. Laughter helps with the pain.

Why did you set the series in the Southwest?

I’ve lived in New Mexico for over twenty years, three times
longer than I’ve lived anywhere else, so this is home. We live in a small town,
but I wanted to set the mystery series in a big city. In Arizona, I could
create a fictional city within the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. That
allows me to use this fictional city government for political issues, and make
the mayor an old friend of Kate’s, without stepping on any real toes.

Arizona also provides tons of mystery opportunities. The
large senior population attracts scams and abuse. You have the potential for
arguments over inheritance (or even murders to get that inheritance sooner).
The border with Mexico creates anxiety over immigration and various kinds of
trafficking. Plus you have all the usual potential crimes in any large
population. I’ll be able to keep Kate busy for years.

Where can people learn more about the series?

Book 1, Something Shady at Sunshine Haven, releases
April 7. It’s available for preorder now at
various retailers.

You can get a free short story and bonus material when you sign
up for my newsletter. This collection starts with a humorous ten-page
mystery short story set in the world of “The Accidental Detective” series. It
includes information about the books in the series, with the first chapter of
book 1. After that are three fun, short stories originally written for
children. Newsletter subscribers will also get a thirty-five page novella set
in the world of my cat café sweet romance series, and “22 Recipes from the Cat
Café,” if they choose. 

Why did you write the cat café sweet romance series?

I’ve noticed lots of sweet, small-town romance series
involving dogs, but few with cats. I think it’s because dogs clearly bring
people together – think dog parks, walking your dog, obedience training – while
cats don’t.

Until you consider cat cafés. These are a relatively
recent trend, but you can now find a few hundred cat cafés all around the
world. Typically they partner with a shelter, so all the cats you can visit are
available for adoption. This gives visitors a chance to spend more quality time
with the cats before they choose one. Those of us who can’t keep a cat in the
home for whatever reason can at least visit some.

The cat café series is lighthearted sweet romance. Readers
call it heartwarming, fun, and delightful. Visit the Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series page on Amazon US or Amazon UK.

What else do you have in the works?

I’m writing a series with my brother, scriptwriter Douglas J
Eboch, who wrote the original screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama.
These are prequel novels set when the movie characters are teenagers. Follow
the crazy antics of Melanie, Jake, and their friends a decade before the events
of the movie.

Sign up for our romantic
comedy newsletter and get Felony Melanie Destroys the Moonshiner’s
Cabin. These first two chapters from the novel Felony
Melanie in Pageant Pandemonium stand alone as a short story. In
the future, you’ll get fun content about upcoming Felony Melanie novels
and other romantic comedy news and links. Or find book 1 at Amazon US or All E-book retailers.

Kris Bock:

Kris Bock writes novels of mystery, suspense, and romance
with outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. She has lived in ten
states and one foreign country but is now firmly planted in the Southwest,
where many of her books are set. Kris writes for children under the names Chris
Eboch and M. M. Eboch. She has published over 100 books for young people,
including ghostwriting for two children’s mystery series.

Website
Blog

GoodReads Author Page
BookBub
Amazon US page or Amazon UK page
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram

It’s been great having you with us today.  Good luck with The Accidental Detective Series and the first book Something Shady at Sunshine Haven.

 

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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Kris Bock, Mystery, Something Shady at Sunshine Haven, The Accidental Detective by Tena Stetler with 2 comments.