Genre Hopping with Elizabeth Bunce

by Posted on

Edith/Maddie writing from a summery north of Boston, but at least the worst of the heat and humidity have broken for now.

It’s never too hot to welcome an author who is excelling in writing for a partly different audience than the Wickeds do. Elizabeth Bunce writes children’s/young adult mysteries, but she also authors books in other genres for other audiences.

Listen to this blurb: It’s Scooby-Doo meets And Then There Were None in the fifth volume of the Edgar Award-Winning Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries, Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity. When her governess inherits an estate on a Scottish island, amateur detective Myrtle Hardcastle couldn’t be more excited. Unfortunately, the ancestral castle is both run-down and haunted. Ghostly moans echo in the walls, and there are rumors of a cursed treasure lost on the island—an ancient silver brooch that may have cost the former lord his life. But who had the motive, means, and opportunity to kill him? 

Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity has garnered the series third Edgar nomination, fourth Agatha Award Nomination, and fourth Anthony Award nomination, making it one of the most-honored children’s mystery series of all times.

I was delighted with her answers to our set of genre-hopping questions.

What genres do you write in?

          I began my career writing young adult fantasy, veered into middle grade mysteries, and am kicking off my first mystery series for adult readers! But the one thing that hasn’t changed is my love for historicals.

What drew you to the genre you write?

          I always considered myself a fantasy writer—it was all I ever considered writing, from the time I first realized that being an author was an actual job. But when my first editor and I were working on on our third book together, she informed me that I was actually a mystery writer, that I was writing “mysteries in fantasy dress.” (Isn’t that a lovely turn of phrase?)—stories with fantasical settings, magic, and paranormal elements, but with mystery plotlines. So I think it must be in my bones! I also have a deep and abiding love of things that are a little dark and spooky—ghost stories, murder mysteries, all the things going bump in the night…

What sets your books apart from what is out there?

           I spend a lot of time trying to answer this question for myself (and for queries!). One of the things is my voice—why use a sixpence word when a £10 one will do? Another is the way I gleefully play with genre tropes—I really love digging into the essence of story types, figuring out what makes us love a particular familiar setting or theme, and then throwing everything I have at it. The Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries have allowed me to do that with my favorite mystery milieux* (murder on a train, murder in the English countryside, an Exceptionally Christmassy Murder, etc), viewing them through young sleuth Myrtle’s very specific (and fun) lens. 

*That would be a ten franc word, I guess?

Do you write a series or standalones? Why?

          Both have their appeal, and it just depends on what the story calls for. My fairytale retellings, for instance, don’t really have much to say past the happily ever after, so those are intended to stand alone (mostly 😉 ). But there’s such joy in writing a series, watching your characters grow from book to book, and it’s so much fun to get to know your cast and their world so well that you can’t wait to put them in this or that scenario, just to see how they’ll react. I love having the option to work on both—just as I enjoy hopping genres.

That’s great news! What are you working on now?

          I’ve just finished a draft of a YA historical fantasy, and as mentioned above, I’m working on a new adult Victorian mystery series (featuring some familiar characters…). And there are only about fifteen other ideas in various stages of development on my desk…

What are you reading right now?

          I’ve had an unusual string of great reads recently. I absolutely adored Melinda Taub’s The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch, a saucy, irreverant spin on Pride and Predjudice. Matthew J. Kirby’s Edgar-nominated Star-Splitter is a terrific classic sci-fi yarn, with a fabulous YA voice. And Jeremy Bushnell’s Relentless Melt was one of the best mysteries I’ve read in ages—I think Myrtle fans will enjoy getting to know another young investigator (it’s an adult novel but the content is YA friendly).

Do you have a favorite quote or life motto?

          I’m going to have to quote my first editor again (grumble): She said that a good protagonist must take Positive Forward Action to solve her problems. This is not only good writing advice, it’s so true in life, as well. I find myself muttering those three words to myself whenever I’m faced with an overflowing inbox (or laundry hamper) or a particularly thorny revision.

Favorite writing space?

          Underneath a cat!

Elizabeth and her cat accepting her Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Fiction.

Favorite deadline snack?

          Sadly, I try to inspire myself to work hard by promising myself a treat when I’m finished (NO CHOCOLATE UNTIL THE BOOK IS DONE!!), which usually leaves me with nothing interesting in the house. Consequently I end up scrounging through stale cereal or saltines. But in a perfect world it would be hunks of bread and some really good cheese…

What do you see when you look up from writing?

          Usually a cat. 😊

Readers: What genres do you read in, and does your reading include juvenile fiction?

Elizabeth C. Bunce writes historical fantasy, ghost stories, and mysteries for young readers (and discerning adults), including the Edgar-winning Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries beginning with Premeditated Myrtle; the Thief Errant series; and the Morris Award-winning fairy tale A Curse Dark as Gold. She’s an accomplished needlewoman, historical costumer, and cosplayer, and blogs about Making and life in the Victorian era under the hashtag #MyrtleMondays. A lifelong Midwesterner, Bunce lives in Kansas City with her husband, pop culture journalist C.J. Bunce; their underemployed cats; and a boggart that steals books.

Unknown's avatar

Published by Edith Maxwell

Agatha Award -winning author Edith Maxwell writes the historical Quaker Midwife Mysteries (Beyond the Page) and short crime fiction. As Maddie Day she writes the Dot and Amelia Mysteries, the Country Store Mysteries series, the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, and the Cece Barton Mysteries (all from Kensington Publishing). She lives north of Boston in an antique house with her beau and cat Martin, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook.

27 Thoughts

  1. I confess, I haven’t read a lot of juvenile fiction, but Elizabeth’s Myrtle series is definitely on my TBR list ever since I met her at Malice this spring. She’s an absolute delight!

    Like

    2. Really? Now that surprises me! You would love what’s out here in kids’ mysteries! (But I have to confess: I think Myrtle’s real, core audience has turned out to be book-loving grandmas and aunties who want to introduce the young folks in their lives to the fun of a classic mystery… and end up falling for the series themselves. 🙂

      Like

  3. Elizabeth Bunce is a delight to read and to know in person. Thank you, Elizabeth and Edith for sharing this fun interview. I always read MG and YA mysteries!

    Like

  4. Oh, the Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries series sounds amazing and I will be checking it out!

    Love an genre except sci-fi, which I just can’t seem to get into. Also love to skip around in reading them too. And yes, juvenile fiction is among them. After all, aren’t we all just kids at heart? 🙂
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

    Like

    2. (I think some of us were adults at heart when we were kids! LOL Myrtle’s kind of like that. No, scratch that: she’s DEFINITELY like that! *grin) But I do hope you’ll try them!

      Like

  5. Nice to meet you, Elizabeth, and thanks, Edith. I really enjoyed this interview. I write mysteries, as you know, Edith, and I have always read mysteries, but I’ve also read lots of science fiction (think Lois McMaster Bujold or Ursula LeGuin), fantasy (Robin McKinley, Naomi Novik), romance (just finished an Emily Henry), and lot of YA, which is usually just as entertaining for OLD adults as young ones. I guess I’m not a big horror fan, but Stephen King has written many outstanding books, including some that are pretty horrifying. My mother was a children’s librarian, so I kept reading great children’s books long after I was no longer a child. I regularly reread ROLLER STATES by Ruth Sawyer and the Melendy family series by Elizabeth Enright.

    Like

      1. I am especially enamored of Le Guin’s writing on writing. THE LANGUAGE OF THE NIGHT, essays about science fiction and fantasy, is a classic of literary criticism. (I used to live near Portland, OR, and always hoped I’d just happen to run into her… maybe at Costco or the Saturday Market… but it never happened, alas!)

        Like

  7. How fascinating to meet you, Elizabeth! Thank you for introducing Elizabeth to us, Edith! It has been literally ages since I read a juvenile fiction or YA book, but when I read your description of the Myrtle Castle series, I want to read all of them!! The cover of Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity is most enticing, and to have a young sleuth and friends has to be fun. Thank you for visiting us, and for giving me a new series to read. 90% of my reading consists of cozy mysteries, and the other 10% is WWII Historical fiction novels. JOY! Luis at ole dot travel

    Like

    1. Thank you so much for the kind words on the cover! This one was a collaboration among the artist, Brett Helquist, our amazing art director, Laura Williams, and a little from me. I’m a cat person now, but for many years we had a large canine family, and people have been begging me to write about them. I just needed the right book to come along, and this was it. I turned my pack of unemployed Kansas coonhounds into a pack of Scottish foxhounds, and Brett did an amazing job painting them!

      Like

  9. I loved Premeditated Myrtle! I’ve recommended your books to so many people. And it was delightful meeting you at Malice one year. Relentless Melt sounds amazing.

    Like

    1. Oh, thank you for spreading the love for Myrtle! RELENTLESS MELT was such a fun and refreshing read! Artie, the main character, is older than Myrtle but approaches the role of aspiring investigator in such a novel way. I loved the voice.

      Like

  11. Welcome to the Wickeds, Elizabeth. I will look into this series for my granddaughter who is visiting now. Positive Forward Action–I LOVE that advice. Lack of same is one of the two most common issues I see with cozy mystery manuscripts I am asked to review by pre-published authors.

    Like

  12. I love this series! Retired children’s librarian, here. The juvenile mysteries being published today are smart and fun, and yours are top notch.

    Like

    1. Oh, thank you! There is a GREAT crop of them, for all levels and interests, and it’s wonderful.

      Like

Comments are closed.