A Wicked Welcome to Mindy Quigley *giveaway*

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by Julie, easing into 2024

I moderated a panel at the Midwest Mystery Conference last November. Mindy was on the panel, and in preparation I read her first Deep Dish Mystery. Then I read the second, and the third is on the TBR pile. What a fun series. Welcome to the blog, Mindy!

When I pitched my Deep Dish Mystery series, I wanted to set the books in the birthplace of deep-dish pizza—Chicago. One of the main characters, police detective Calvin Capone, was conceived as the great-grandson of the legendary Chi-town gangster, Al Capone. The series, I proposed, would take place in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, a Capone hangout.

The publisher loved the pitch—the characters, the vibe, Butterball the chonky cat, and the deep-dish pizzas. The only thing they didn’t love was the setting. Cozy mysteries, my editor said, should take place in small, tightly-knit communities where readers can unwind and take a mental vacation. I balked. How could I do a deep-dish murder mystery series without setting it in Chicago? But in order to close the deal, I needed to figure out a new setting, fast.

Enter Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, or “Geneva Bay” as the thinly-disguised locale in my books came to be called.

Lake Geneva is nestled in rolling countryside about 90 minutes’ drive north of Chicago. The Chicago connections are myriad. A big driver of the area’s growth was the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. The fire, which urban myth attributes to the errant kick of a lantern by one of Mrs. O’Leary’s cows, killed 300 people.

Although the bovine origin of the fire is almost definitely false, what isn’t disputed is the devastation caused by the blaze. It destroyed more than 3 square miles of the downtown and 100,000 people were left homeless. As parts of the city would be uninhabitable for years after, many of Chicago’s wealthiest families shifted their operations to Lake Geneva. By the time Chicago was back on its feet, the reputation of Lake Geneva as a ritzy resort getaway had been cemented.

One of the well-to-do weekenders was none other than Al Capone, who’d become a billionaire in today’s money by controlling the illegal booze supplies that poured into the Lower 48 from Canada during Prohibition. Capone also ran any number of other criminal enterprises, from brothels to casinos to protection rackets, and the availability of booze underpinned those businesses as well. The vast majority of Chicago’s alcohol came via routes through Michigan and Wisconsin. Lake Geneva and its surroundings proved a convenient pit stop along this smuggling route, and a great place for gangsters like Capone, Baby Face Nelson, and Bugs Moran to lay low when things in the big city got too hot.

Today, the Chicago-Lake Geneva connection is as strong as ever. About 80% of the tourists that the lake’s economy thrives on are visitors from the Windy City.

After I got over my initial reluctance to move the Deep Dish Mysteries out of Chicago, I realized that I could keep all of the Chicago elements I loved (pizza, mobster history, characters’ backstories, etc.) and still make the setting a small town. I hope readers agree that glamourous, idyllic Lake Geneva/Geneva Bay is the perfect place for a murder spree. 😊

PUBLIC ANCHOVY #1 is available now, wherever books are sold.

Readers, answer for your chance to win a print copy of PUBLIC ANCHOVY #1. US winners only. Winner will be chosen by midnight on 1/6/24: Do you like your mysteries served with a side helping of history?

About the Book:

While Geneva Bay’s upper crust gets ready to party down at a Prohibition-themed fundraiser, pizza chef Delilah O’Leary is focused on seeing her struggling restaurant through the winter slow season. The temperature outside is plummeting, but Delilah’s love life might finally be heating up, as hunky police detective Calvin Capone seems poised to (finally) make a move.

But Delilah’s hopes of perfecting a new “free-from” pizza recipe for a charity bash are dashed when a dead body crashes the party. Soon, Capone, Delilah, and her entire staff are trapped in an isolated mansion and embroiled in a dangerous game of cat and mouse.

To catch an increasingly-desperate killer, Delilah will have to top all of her previous crime-solving accomplishments, and a few pizzas, too.

About the Author:

Mindy Quigley is the author of two cozy mystery series, and her short stories have won awards. Her non-writing career has been stranger than fiction—she worked as the personal assistant to the scientist who cloned Dolly the sheep and as project manager for a research clinic founded by J.K. Rowling. She lives in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Web: https://mindyquigley.com/
Instagram: @minty_fresh_books
Facebook: @mintyfreshbooks

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Published by J.A. Hennrikus

One woman, three names, many books. As Julia Henry I wrote the Garden Squad series for Kensington. As J.A. Hennrikus I wrote the Theater Cop series, and as Julianne Holmes I wrote the Clock Shop series. I've been an arts administrator for my entire career, mostly in the performing arts. Currently I'm the ED of Sisters in Crime, a wonderful organization that promotes and supports crime writers. www.sistersincrime.org Connect with me on Facebook and Instagram! @JHAuthors

78 Thoughts

  2. Waving a big hi to Mindy! You and I were on a short story virtual panel together a few years ago when you said your first cozy was coming out soon. I’ve loved this series ever since, and can’t wait to pick up my copy (waiting at my local indy bookstore)! I didn’t know this backstory, though – thanks for sharing it.

    Of course I love history with my mystery!

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    1. Hello, Edith! Very glad to be here today. PUBLIC ANCHOVY had the same publication date as DEEP FRIED DEATH. I hope your book is selling like (deep-fried) hotcakes!

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  3. Excited to read it! I love some history with my mysterious, especially around fun topics like pizza and Al Capone. How could you not?

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  4. Hi Mindy! Congratulations on Book 3 in the Deep Dish mystery series. I got my copy of PUBLIC ANCHOVY #1 just a few days ago. Sent you a pic of it as a matter of fact.

    You can always include history as a side part of a mystery, that’s never a problem. The balancing act is to make sure the history flows through the narrative without overwhelming the main murder plot or becoming a dry academic treatise instead of enhancing the entertainment aspect of the book.

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    1. Totally agree, Jay! I love a light sprinkling of details like backstory, food descriptions, interesting factoids, but the plot has to keep moving! Thanks for purchasing PUBLIC ANCHOVY! Hope you enjoy it. A signed bookplate is on its way to you.

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  8. I do find history interesting in a book, helps to add “realness” to the story. And a book about deep-dish pizza sounds right up my alley lol! Does it include recipes?

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    2. Yes! And the recipes are written in the voices of the characters, so you get to learn a little bit more about them. Hope you enjoy the books, if you decide to take the pizza plunge! -Mindy Q.

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  9. Oh, how I love finding new to me authors! And then finding her books immediately placed on my TBR after checking her out – both on Facebook and her website.

    I love books with history thrown in. If the authors done the research, it makes the story more realistic at times. Face it, nothing today really happens without some sort of connection to the past often explaining things of the present.

    Thank you for the chance to win a copy of PUBLIC ANCHOVY #1! I look forward to the time when I can read and review it.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  10. Congratulations, Mindy! So glad you were able to move the story and keep the Chicago connection. I love a little history as long as it doesn’t overwhelm the story.

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  11. congrats on the book – a bit of learning on the side is always nice

    fruitcrmble AT comcast DOT net

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  12. Congratulations on another book! Yes, some of my favorite series include historical information. ckmbeg (at) gmail (dot) com

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    1. Thank you! I really like Alexia Gordon’s series because I learn so much when I read those books. Not just history–she weaves in a lot of interesting information about music, Irish culture, language, and even baseball! -Mindy Q.

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  13. I love a side of history in my mystery reads. I always learn something, which makes the reading experience that much richer. Congratulations on the new release and thank you for the giveaway.

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  14. Thanks for sharing the “story behind the story” with us, Mindy! Can’t go wrong with Chicago style pizza.

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  15. I am so glad that Mindy is here!! This series has become one of my favorites. I always leave having gained something more than just having read a great story. I love how cozies offer extras like history, locations, and recipes. I believe this is an undervalued aspect of the genre and the process the writers go through to write them.

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  17. A mystery combined with history makes the story come alive for me. So fascinating and captivating.

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  18. A mystery is always interesting when the history is involved. I enjoy learning about the era and the setting.

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  19. Congratulations on the birth of your third Deep Dish Mystery! I hope to read mnany more books in this amazing series. I love your settings and your senese of humor, which I can sense by your writing, as well as your online posts! I do like a bit of history on the side of a cozy mystery, because you learn something new or are reminded of asomething you hav e forgotten. I akso love a side of food on the side, and what better than deep dish pizza (Chicago style)? Happy and Blessed Nw Year, Mindy! Luis at ole dot travel

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  21. Congratulations on this release. I enjoy mysteries very much which contain history since that is an important aspect of the book. History is vital and makes the book meaningful.

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    1. Thank you, Kait! It’s a fun concept, for sure, although I sometime wish I’d done a plain, old pizzeria instead of deep dish. The pizzas take a long time to make, so when things go wrong during recipe development, they go REALLY wrong. LOL. -Mindy Q.

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  24. I love any book (especially mysteries) with a side of history. I really enjoy learning about anything while reading a good book. aprilbluetx at yahoo dot com

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  25. I love a side of history with my mystery. I am so glad you found a historical way to keep the Chicago connection to deep dish pizza and set the mysteries in such a wonderful locale. I well remember the exodus of many families from Chicago to cabins and resorts Up North on Fridays in the Summer when I was young and a nanny in a a suburb.

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    1. Yes, it’s a crazy phenomenon! I-80 and I-94 are bumper-to-bumper with traffic on summer weekends as everyone escapes to their cabins in Wisconsin or Michigan. -Mindy Q.

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  26. Welcome to the Wickeds, Mindy. I love the title Public Anchovy #1. My cousins (Chicagoans born and bred) live in Lake Geneva and I have visited them there. I’m seeing them in February and will definitely mention your books!

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    1. Very cool, Barbara! There’s a cute little indie bookstore right downtown (Dust Bunny Books) that carries the series. Thanks for having me on the Wickeds! -Mindy Q.

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  27. Oh, absolutely!! I love the mysteries I read served with a side of history. It makes the story unique and I might learn something new!!

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  28. For sure! I love mysteries with a side helping of history. The main dish will be the deep-dish pizza with history as a side dish. Count me in!

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  29. I enjoy some history with my mystery, but it’s not a must have either way. In the case of this series, it definitely adds something. I read the first one last month and loved it. Looking forward to catching up on the series. (And yes, please enter me in the giveaway.)

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  31. I hated history in school because it was dry and boring. I’ve come to love history partly due to cozy mysteries. As long as it is well researched, it adds so much depth to a story. Congrats on book three. Would love to win a copy

    BTW, lots of us seem to come up as anonymous. I learned that if I comment on my iPhone, my name shows up. Not so on my desktop or iPad. And I can’t figure out how to contact Word Press to get an answer.

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  32. Part of the lure of cozies from my initial reads to the current day is the opportunity to learn about such a variety of things I didn’t even know I was interested in. As an author of a 65-year-old Nancy Drew wannabe series, I find researching plot points one of the many fun parts of making up stories.

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  33. Hi Mindy, I do like history included in a story as long as it’s accurate and doesn’t interfere with the storyline.

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    1. Agreed, Dianne! I like learning new things about history, food, places, etc., but it has to be “digested”–i.e. I don’t want big chunks of exposition that sidetrack the story when I’m reading a novel. -Mindy Q.

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  36. Yes, I always love to learn history. Thank you so much for sharing. Happy book birthday. God bless you.

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  38. I like historical elements in cozy mysteries. This series sounds fascinating. The 1920s-30s are one of my favorite eras to read about – so much social change.

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    1. Indeed! I’m doing a Prohibition-themed cocktail party book launch on Jan. 17th with Katharine Schellman, who writes historical mysteries. One of her series is set in NYC in the 1920s. It’s not a cozy, but it’s very interesting. -Mindy Q.

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