Welcome Back Susan Van Kirk #giveaway

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pmeyer2004 is the winner of Susan’s giveaway. Watch for an email from her!

I’m happy to welcome back Susan Van Kirk who is here to talk about the third book, Death in a Ghostly Hue, in her Art Center mystery series. Look for a giveaway at the end of the post.

Comic Relief in The Art Center Mysteries

Years ago, when I was a high school English teacher, I sometimes taught Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and the technique of adding a comic relief character obviously stayed in my head since I’ve used such a character with my recent Art Center Mysteries.

This series follows Jill Madison, an oil painter, who returns to her small town in the Midwest to be executive director of an art center named for her sculptor mother. It isn’t enough that a body is found in the basement, a burglary results in the loss of a priceless sculpture, and someone in the shadows is out to keep Jill from being successful. She also must contend with the art center board presided over by her nemesis, Ivan F. Truelove III, CPA.

Ivan is a micromanager, and he is constantly threatening to fire Jill since the above-mentioned disasters seem to follow her. Ivan becomes that comic relief character who adds humor to the mystery.

In the first book, Death in a Pale Hue, Ivan is introduced with Jill’s words: “What a misnomer of a name and the bane of my existence.” In this book, Ivan is constantly calling or emailing her. At one point she says, “With great satisfaction, I tapped the ‘decline’ button. Better to put off unpleasantness.” She describes him as a hissing snake of an accountant with a bald head, spindly legs, sensible shoes, and a polka-dotted tie. Her aim is to keep him from stopping by the art center.

Ivan hates to spend a nickel of the art center budget. He has a running feud with Jill about paying for a handrail for the dangerous basement stairs in the art center, and eventually Ivan falls down the stairs and breaks a leg. Jill sends him flowers in the hospital, figuring she will kill him with kindness. (I borrowed that phrase from Shakespeare too.)

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By book two of the series, Death in a Bygone Hue, Ivan has improved his phone skills and discovered capital letters for emphasis. Jill says, “Recently he’d learned to text, so he’d given up emailing me multiple times a day with advice and would now simply text whenever a random thought crossed his mind.” Fortunately, Jill can swipe across his text and destroy it instantly. “I knew that ping. Sorry, Ivan. Not now. I’m busy saving the world.”

After the art center treasurer is murdered, Jill receives increased texts from Ivan, with capital letters sure to annoy her. “Ms. Madison. Despite your recent ineptitude with locks, make sure you lock up the art center. EVERY NIGHT. DOUBLE CHECK. We CANNOT afford a new alarm system. DO NOT EVEN ASK. Ivan F. Truelove, III”

Jill tells her best friend, Angie, “My dreams are so satisfying. It’s usually Ivan Truelove the Third who’s been murdered. Then I wake up, he texts, and I realize, sadly, it’s only a dream.”

Autocorrect is even more of a problem. Ivan texts, “I understand the Spiveys [a family] being clangy, but this publicity for the PARTS CENTER is not good.” Jill explains to the reader: “He doesn’t understand autocorrect, and uses ‘clangy’ for ‘angry,’ and ‘Parts Center’ for ‘Art Center.’ I’d love to autocorrect him, but he’d turn into some other weird creature I’d have to deal with.” 

“Ms. Madison. CONGRATULATIONS on catching the art center killer. GOOD publicity for a change. I’ll add up the damages and take it out of your celery next month.” Jill replies, “He’s evidently paying me in celery now.”

Book Three, Death in a Ghostly Hue, brings the relationship between Ivan and Jill to a crisis. After all, this is the last book in the trilogy. I must resolve this conflict somehow. When the young man who killed the Madison parents in a DUI head-on collision seven years earlier returns to town looking for redemption, Andy threatens him in front of the entire town. You know what happens. Quinn Parsons, the ex-convict, is murdered and Andy is charged with the crime.

Since this is the third book of a trilogy, it is the last chance for a reckoning between Jill Madison and Ivan F. Truelove III, CPA. What should I do? Is there a clear winner in this war with text messages? Should Ivan get what he deserves since he’s an irritating gnat? Should I make him a murder victim? (He often complains that Jill finds way too many bodies.)

You’ll have to read Death in a Ghostly Hue to find out Ivan’s fate. I can guarantee he has a satisfying, if not humorous, ending.

Readers: Do you have a favorite character that provides comic relief in a book or short story? Leave a comment for a chance to win (US only) a signed copy of Death in a Ghostly Hue.

Book Blurb for Death in a Ghostly Hue:  The past never leaves us… Jill Madison and her brothers have never forgiven Quinn Parsons for driving drunk and killing their parents. When Parsons returns to Apple Grove from his six years in prison, he’s looking for redemption. But his thoughtless actions, so long ago, hurt more residents than the Madisons, and people are now taking bets on how long Quinn will survive. They’re right.

Meanwhile, the Old Friends senior group at Jill’s art center is rehearsing a radio-play of Oscar Wilde’s “The Canterville Ghost,” a ghostly story of forgiveness. Jill and Angie are convinced a ghost is haunting the art center, and they decide to investigate. That’s never a good idea with these two, who have gotten in and out of trouble together since they met in kindergarten. 

About the Author


Susan Van Kirk is a Midwest writer, living in downstate Illinois. Her writings include the Endurance Mysteries, a smalltown series republished by Harlequin Worldwide Mystery. A Death at Tippitt Pond is a standalone mystery. Her Art Center series includes Death in a Pale Hue,
Death in a Bygone Hue, and Death in a Ghostly Hue. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and is Past President of the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime.

Her website and blog are at http://www.susanvankirk.com

Social Media sites:

FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557409331724

Pinterest:  http://www.pinteret.com/sivankirk/_saved/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/586.Susan_Vankirk

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/susanivankirk/

Threads: @sivankirk@threads.net

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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.

46 Thoughts

    1. Thanks, Edith. As you know, it’s fun writing a bit of humor along with an occasional murder.

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  3. Yes, I love a comic relief character in a story! My first thought is Hannah Swensen’s mother in her mystery series: always dressing perfect as compared to relaxed-dressing Hannah, always trying to get Hannah matched up with a guy – she’s pushy but loving and comical to me. There’s other books I’ve read where the comic relief is a silly friend, a nosy neighbor, a crazy pet and they’re always fun!

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  4. Congrats on you recent release which I enjoyed reading. It is always fun when there is comic relief in the books I read.

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    1. Thanks, Dru. I’m not quite sure where my brain picked up Ivan, but he’s been fun to have around the art center.

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  6. Ivan sounds delightfully annoying. The sort of character that wouldn’t be as fun if you had to deal with him in real life. The comic relief character that comes to mind first is Inspector Lestrade in the Sherlock Holmes stories. Congratulations on your new release!

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    1. Thanks, Autumn. Yes, Lestrade is a great example, especially since he seems so inept. Ivan is not inept, he’s just stingy and a micromanager. Planning his role in the final book of the trilogy has been fun.

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  8. Congrats on the release of this book, and I love the idea of a trilogy (having done one myself LOL). Good luck with it. Great covers!

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    1. Thanks, Judy. I hadn’t done a planned trilogy before, so I really decided I liked the experience.

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  9. WELCOME back Susan, and congratulations on Death in a Ghostly Hue!!! I am always looking for mysteries with a funny element, and can think of Libby Klein’s Poppy McAllister and Laura Levine’s Jaine Austen series which have me laughing out loud! Your series being funny just made them jump on top of my TBR list! Luis at ole dot travel

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  12. Chet the dog, in the Chet and Bernie mysteries. Love comic relief as it adds to enjoyment. Congratulations on your release.

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    1. Me too, Kait, and you have a lot of possible comic characters to choose from underwater!

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  14. I have more than one character who provides comic relief in the books that I read, and they all have one thing in common. They are all cats!

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  16. Congratulations Susan!! Your book sounds very good and one that would make smile and probably laugh out loud!
    I’ve read several funny characters!! Love them all!

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    1. Thanks, Sherry. I think Ivan F. Truelove III, CPA, is any boss we’ve had who likes to keep his opinion constantly in the mix.

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  17. I love comic relief characters. There are a lot of great ones out there, but
    I really enjoy the grandmothers who are eccentric, but wise.

    Speaking of autocorrect, when I typed “wise” above, it came out “Eisenhower.” 🙂

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  18. Susan, you’re quirky character really fills the bill. I laughed out loud at your quotes above. PS: The artwork on your covers always catches my eye and draws my deeper perusal. So fitting for your protagonist ( ;

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    1. Thanks so much. I credit my publisher, Shawn Simmons, for the covers. Up close, they look like canvas paintings.

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  19. Sounds like a great series. I love comic relief characters in mysteries. I can’t think of one off the top of my head. Looking forward to reading the series.

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    1. Often pets provide comice relief. In one of my earlier, Endurance Mysteries, the dog named Eliot Ness, saved the day by a very funny trick he’d been taught.

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  20. I love Raven Marigold’s cat familiar in Kennedy Layne’s Paramore Bay series. He is so hilarious!

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  21. Well, this latest book of mine doesn’t have a cat, but it does have a ghost who is pretty darn charming but not really funny.

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  23. Ariana a ghost who can talk to the cat and also to her descendant she dresses like she did in the 1920’s and is a great character. Ghost and the Haunted House by Carmen Radtke.

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    1. Sounds like quite a mixture of times, animals, and genealogy. Thanks for suggesting this!

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    1. Yes, animals often are great characters for exactly that reason! Thanks for stopping by.

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