I’m Writing What I Know Best! Welcome Back Guest Susan Santangelo

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BarbaraKay1 you are the winner of Susan’s book. Watch for an email from Susan.

Welcome back Susan Santangelo! Susan writes the amazing Baby Boomer mystery series.  Susan is giving away a copy of one of her books! Here’s a little bit about her latest book In-Laws Can Be Murder: Carol Andrews doesn’t share well. Especially when it comes to her precious, long-awaited first grandchild, CJ. So when her son-in-law’s pushy mother, Margo, arrives in town and horns in on Carol’s happiness, it’s hate at first sight. But when Margo thinks she’s committed a murder and reaches out to Carol for help, then vanishes without a trace, it’s up to Carol to put aside her petty jealousy and crack the case before the police get involved. 

I’m frequently asked at book talks, “Why do you write a Baby Boomer mystery series?” My answer is, “Why not?” There are 78.2 million Baby Boomers in the United States, according to the latest census figures. And many “senior” Boomers, myself included, are hitting the magic age of 65. There’s so much written about the financial piece of growing older – taking care of your IRAs, 401Ks, etc. – but nobody seemed to be taking a look at the emotional piece. By that I mean, how do couples who have been married for years, raised a family, and been leading fairly independent lives, now cope with the fact that the husband and the wife are no longer going out to a 9 – 5 job every day? Instead, they often get into each other’s way as they struggle to re-define their roles. Of course, nothing like that ever happens in my house! (Smile.)

My husband and I are both writers, and the original idea of the series  (I was anticipating writing no more than three) was that we would write it together. But it didn’t work out that way.

The series deals with typical Boomers Carol and Jim Andrews as they navigate the rocky way toward their golden years. In the first book, Retirement Can Be Murder, released in April 2009, Carol dreads Jim’s upcoming retirement more than a root canal without Novocain. She can’t imagine anything worse than an at-home husband with time on his hands and nothing to fill it, except interfering in the day-to-day activities and driving her crazy. Until Jim is suspected of murdering his retirement coach. The first book sold (and continues to sell) like crazy, and all of a sudden a series was born. Book 8, In-Laws Can Be Murder, was released by Suspense Publishing in late July, and I’m already working on Book 9.

My books are written in the first person, so many people think I’m Carol. I’ve even been introduced at book talks as Carol! We’re both sarcastic and like to be in charge. We value our family and our close women friends. Oh, one more thing – we both love English cocker spaniels. There are two English cockers in the books, Lucy and Ethel.

My characters have become my best friends, although sometimes Carol drives me crazy with the outlandish ideas she comes up with and I have to reign her in. And I have a sneaky suspicion that when I’m not keeping an eye on her, she gets into trouble. Or, maybe it’s the other way around?

The subhead for each book title is, “Every Wife Has A Story.” The more readers I connect with, either at book talks or via the Internet, the more I realize how true that is!

The books are available on Amazon and a number of independent book stores, as well as on Kindle, Nook, and other e-book platforms. And through the website: www.babyboomermysteries.com.

Thanks for the opportunity to make some new cyber friends. I always love to hear from readers, especially women who ask me where I met their husband!

Readers: What big life adjustments have you had to make with your family?

Bio: Susan Santangelo is the author of the best-selling Baby Boomer mystery series. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Cape Cod Writers Center, and also reviews mysteries for Suspense magazine. She divides her time between Clearwater, Florida and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and shares her life with her husband Joe and two very spoiled English cocker spaniels, Boomer and Lilly. Boomer also serves as the model for the books’ front covers, and Lilly is featured on the back.

Published by Sherry Harris

Sherry Harris is the author of the Agatha Award nominated Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery series and the Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Mystery series.

45 Thoughts

  1. Welcome, Susan, and congratulations on the new book. I write at home full time, and my guy is self-employed. Thing is, he likes to relax. A lot. And makes his work schedule around that, so he’s home. A lot, LOL. Luckily, I have my upstairs office and he has his downstairs den, but I confess to loving it when he’s away at a job for the entire day!

  2. The new book sounds interesting. I’ve been widowed eleven years now and am resigned to the fact that I shall probably never see my granddaughters as they are in Connecticut and I am on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I keep myself busy with the local senior centers and volunteer work. My one brother who remains unmarried threatens to get an RV and come camp at my place, the other three brothers are happily married and scattered across the country. My sister passed a couple years ago. Life is what it is.

    1. Hi Barbara. My two grandchildren live in Maryland, too, and I don’t get to see them nearly as often as I’d like. And the older they get, the harder it is because they’re both sooo busy. I guess we grandmas just have to hang in and keep reaching out a lot.❤️

  3. Hi Susan! Looking forward to seeing you soon in Florida! The B.B. books are such fun and your Carol has such inventive ways to get in (and out) of trouble! Husband/best friend Dan and I both work at home and seem to get in each others way mostly at the refrigerator.

    1. Hi Carol! How true it is that husbands and wives often find themselves in the kitchen at the exact same time reaching for the exact same item! What’s up
      with that, anyway? Something to ponder over coffee when I come back to Florida!

  4. I can see how two people who are home all the time would start getting in each other’s way. It’s probably best if one or both are out of the house solving murders!

  7. In the last few years, I’ve had a LOT of things to adjust to in our family life. First my Mom had cancer and then Alzheimer making my husband and I full time caregivers. With the Alzheimer the roles were reversed and I was more like the parent and my Mom the child with us tending to her ever need both in comfort and trying to make her smile. Then due to the physical needs, hubby retired to be at home to help me. He’s worked since he was 9 paying taxes (yes nine) so his adjusting to not getting up and going to work and me having him home 24/7 was an adjustment on both our parts. Then Mom went to her heavenly home and I was left with free time and not knowing what to do with it which something else to adjust to. The latest adjustment was when we decided it was now or never and completely uprooted ourselves, sold a lot of “stuff” to downsized and moved into our little dream home we designed and had built in the complete opposite end of the state where we knew no one but loved the area and all it had to offer in activities and music events. Moving for the first time in 24 years, leaving all you have known for 40+ years and moving to a mostly unknown was a major adjustment. However, we are all very flexible people if we just open ourselves up to it and with time we can and do adjust. I wouldn’t change a thing. As they say, if you change one thing then your path in life is forever changed and I’d not want to be anywhere but where I am right now. 🙂

    Thanks for the wonderful chance to win a copy of one of your books!
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

  8. Susan, nice to “meet” you! My husband is at the tail-end of the Boomer generation (born 1964) and I dread the day he retires because he is the type who always has to be doing “something.” I’m 9.5 years younger, so I’ll be working for a while and that’s hard to do with a husband underfoot!

    But our biggest recent change? We sent our oldest off to college this past Monday. Ack!

    1. Sending a “child” off to college is a profound life change. As is retirement and, my gosh, I could go on and on! I’ve found having a sense of humor helps a lot. Good luck!

  10. Hi Susan, good to see you, and best of luck with the new book.

    When is someone going to build a day camp for retired husbands? You know someplace they can go, be in charge, supervise, and let us do what we do best, unaided.

      1. And all the wives can shop and go out to lunch at leisure, with no limit on their credit card, and someone to clean the house, cook the meals, and….
        Oh, golly. Is this what heaven is like??

  11. My husband worked together in our own business for 14 years before retiring 12 years ago. We both have our separate interests as well as common ones. We totally trust and respect each other so we are free to pursue our own things. Also, I’ve always been the one who took care of the house and the yard because I enjoy it. He’s more of a putterer in his office. We seldom get in each other’s way because we make a point of not doing so. And we have plenty of time to be together doing fun things or prosaic ones like run errands. Our boomer years have been great.

    1. The key to your response is “We seldom get in each other’s way because we make a point of not doing so.” Excellent advice! Thanks for sharing.

  12. Hi Susan. Welcome back to the blog. I love your books. I dreaded my husband’s retirement because he was one of those guys whose work/hobby/social life all revolved around one thing. I thought, “This is going to be a disaster.” Happily, it hasn’t been. He has found an absorbing hobby–iPhone photography–he is very good at and it has taken him in different directions. However, you may not be surprised to hear that we just bought a new house where his study is on the first floor and mine is on the fourth. For better, for worse, but not for lunch, as my mother used to say.

    1. I knew you’d bought a new house. Just to get the geography straight, he’s on the first floor so he can prepare all the meals etc, right? And you’re on the fourth floor so you’re the queen of the castle, right? Works for me!

      1. LOL. The kitchen’s on the third floor–neutral territory. And we have an elevator. It’s mostly for stuff now, but as we get older…

  13. Adjustments with my family are different since I live hours away from them. Or should I say they are more subtle. But how much we love each other makes them so much easier.

  14. My mil passed away a few months ago and we are navigating a new, very nice relationship with my fil. Out of that sadness has come a truly good thing. Looking forward to reading one of Susan’s books!

  17. This sounds like such a fun series. I don’t know how I have not read any of the books but my TBR stack has been adjusted to correct that. As for family adjustments, When our youngest daughter died at a young age we raised her then 4-year old daughter (now 26). More recently, I think the biggest adjustment has been realizing that retirement isn’t going to be lying on the sofa eating bonbons and reading (although I do read a lot more now). In 4-1/2 years my husband has had many surgeries, we’ve done major home modifications, our oldest daughter lived with us for a year due to heath issues. Everything works out but I’m still adjusting to 24/7 with my husband!

    1. You certainly have been through a lot and I admire your courage for sharing what you’ve been through. Everything does work out in the end, but sometimes, the end seems nowhere in sight, right? Hope reading a good book helps!

  18. Susan is a new author to me. I really enjoyed the description of her books and would really like to read. I especially like that it is a “Baby Boomer” series.

  19. I live across country from my family, As my parents have gotten older, I find myself making more trips during the year to visit than I used to.

  20. My hubby & I met when I got a job in the 50’s style diner he was cooking at on Panama City Beach. We’ve worked together many times since then, so it hasn’t really been an issue for us. That does not mean I haven’t had to refrain from killing him on a regular basis. It seems the minute I go in the kitchen he needs to be in there too. He also suffers from selective deafness & selective memory. You know, He can remember a football or baseball score from 50 yrs ago, but not what I said 10 seconds ago. Otherwise, his nose is buried in a book almost 24/7, so a lot of the time I feel like he’s not even here. Pluses & minuses. That’s 27 yrs of marriage.

      1. Wow. You’ve been married 50 yrs? What a milestone. Congrats. If we make it to 50 yrs we’ll probably be in assisted living. I’ll be 80 & hubby will be 93.Hopefully too old to get into trouble!

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