A Wicked Welcome Back to Valerie Burns #giveaway

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Patti Borgognoni is the winner of Valerie’s giveaway. Watch for an email from her!

Sherry here looking forward to a great read on a hot summer day! Look for a giveaway after the reader question!

Valerie: Thanks, Sherry Harris and all of the Wicked Authors for inviting me back to spend time with all of you today to celebrate the release of my new cozy mystery A Cup of Flour, A Pinch of Death, the third book in the Baker Street mysteries.

The Smelly Truth About Red Herrings

Two important features in a cozy mystery are clues and red herrings. Before I started reading mysteries, I thought a herring was just a fish. Which of course, it is, but mysteries, especially cozy mysteries have a lot of red herrings. I’ve read a lot of mysteries over the years, but I have yet to read a mystery involving herrings. So, what’s the connection?

I turned to Google for answers, and I learned a lot about herring, too much. I will scale things back to prevent herring overload, by pointing out two critical facts. First, herrings have a very strong scent. Second, herring are in the same family as Sardines, which is probably why the strong scent. I saw a lot of pictures of herring (Atlantic herring, Pacific herring, Araucanian herring, etc), but none were red. However, when herrings are smoked and salted, they turn a brownish-red color.

These are all interesting fish facts, but they still didn’t answer the question. Why are herrings so important to mysteries? To the cozy mystery lover, a red herring means a lot more than a smoked fish. In mysteries, red herrings are false clues intended to challenge the reader and divert them away from the real clues. So, why are these false clues called red herrings?

According to Wikipedia, the idiom “red herring” originated from an English journalist, William Cobbett, in 1807. As the story goes, a young Cobbett claimed to have used red herrings to train hounds to track. He used the strong-scented fish to lay a false trail for the hounds.

This made sense to me. Years ago, I competed in canine obedience with my poodles. One of the more advanced tests involved teaching my dog to find my scent. There were metal and leather dumbbells called articles. I placed my scent on one of the articles. Someone else’s scent was placed on all of the others. My dog was expected to ignore all of the other smells and find the one article that contained my scent. How does this tie in? As a mystery writer, I leave clues that the reader can follow to figure out Whodunit. However, I’m also laying false clues, red herrings, to make the puzzle harder to solve. Those potent (smelly) false clues serve one purpose—to distract the reader from the real scent. It’s important to have all of the clues needed to solve a mystery, but the red herrings provide the challenge. That’s what makes the reader excited when they see through the lies and avoid the missteps. As Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe says, “Any fool can solve the most difficult of cases if everyone told the truth.” (Three Doors to Death).

Readers: Do you like lots of red herrings in your mysteries? Or do you prefer when writers stick to the clues and stay on the straight and narrow? Let me know in the comments. One commenter will be randomly selected to win a copy of A Cup of Flour, A Pinch of Death. To be entered in the giveaway, please type YES in the comments and include your email address. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only until midnight on July 29th. The winner will be announced on July 30th.

On the shores of Lake Michigan, influencer Maddy Montgomery has turned the bakery she inherited from her great aunt Octavia into a destination. There’s just one thing she won’t post: the body in the freezer . . .

Thanks to Maddy’s social media savvy, Baby Cakes Bakery is becoming a huge success—so much so that she’s attracted the attention of her former nemesis, the fiancé-stealing Brandy Denton. When Brandy blows into New Bison like an ill wind and disrupts a vlog Maddy’s filming, their argument goes viral. After Brandy’s body is found in the freezer at Baby Cakes, Maddy instantly goes from viral sensation to murder suspect.

As Maddy is still reeling from the murder, a stranger shows up in the bakery claiming to have been a friend of Octavia. He believes Maddy is in danger. When a second body washes up on the lake shore, it seems clear someone’s out to kill to keep a secret—and it may have to do with her great aunt.

Maddy rallies her aunt’s friends, the Baker Street Irregulars; Sheriff April Johnson; and her veterinarian boyfriend Michael—not to mention her English mastiff Baby—to do some digging and root out whoever’s behind the killings . . .
With Bailey’s sharp senses and Pris’s hometown know-how, can they prove to the community that they’re all barking up the wrong tree?

Buy Link—- Amazon, B&N

Bio: Valerie (V. M.) Burns is an Agatha, Anthony, and Edgar Award-nominated author. She is the author of the Mystery Bookshop, Dog Club, RJ Franklin, and Baker Street Mystery series. As Kallie E. Benjamin, Valerie writes the Bailey the Bloodhound Mystery series. She is a mentor in the Writing Popular Fiction Program at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA. Valerie grew up in the Midwestern United States. She now lives in Northern Georgia with her two poodles. Connect with Valerie at vmburns.com.

Connect at:

Website: http://www.vmburns.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vmburnsbooks/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/v-m-burns

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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.

50 Thoughts

  1. I LOVE red herrings in the mystery. Anything to keep me from seeing the clues is wonderful, especially if the author does a fair job of hiding the clues so at the end I can see where I went wrong.

    (No need to enter me in the giveaway.)

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    1. Hi Mark, I love red herrings, too. I also love to flip back and see all the clues I missed. Thanks for the comment.

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    1. Thank you so much, Edith. I love hanging out with the Wicked Cozy Authors. You guys are the best. And, I appreciate your support.

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    1. Kathy, thank you for commenting. Sometimes, I get so caught up in the story, I forget to pay attention to the clues and red herrings. That’s the best. Thank you and good luck!

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  7. Red herrings for the plot twists! Love the extra time our main characters live in my head as they decipher the truth.

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  8. YES! I like red herrings because they make the mystery more challenging to solve. And may I say, I love the phrase “herring overload.” Congrats on your new release!

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    1. Autumn, thank you so much. I appreciate the support and I agree with you. Red herrings definitely add to to challenge. Gotta love it.

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  9. Congratulations on the new release, Valerie! I love a few red herrings in my mysteries. I think the misdirection makes figuring out whodunnit even more fun. Cheers!

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  10. Yes I Love it when authors put red herrings in their stories for it makes guessing more fun.

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  11. Congratulations on the new release! I enjoy red herrings, especially when I can reread the mystery with an eye for how I got tripped up by the author.

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    1. Delia, I do the same thing, which is why I reread Agatha Christie so much. Thank you so much for the kind words. Congrats to you, too.

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  12. The red herrings are what make the mystery fun. What to pay attention to, what to ignore, what is misleading. Otherwise, it’s just a straight, boring line.

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  13. YES. I like red herrings – it’s more enjoyable for me and keeps me engaged. (ddddfacebook05 at gmail dot com)

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    1. I couldn’t agree more. Red herrings do keep the reader engaged. You have to stay on your toes and be on the lookout for them. No passive reading in a mystery. Thanks for sharing and good luck!

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  14. YES ckmbeg (at) gmail (dot) com Congratulations on another book! Thanks for explaining red herrings having to do with dog training. That makes a lot of sense. I like stories that are tricky with red herrings.

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    1. Carol, Thank you for the kind words, well wishes, and for sharing. I like those tricky stories, too. So much fun. Good luck!

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  15. Red herrings help keep me reading, figuring out what is true and what is misleading is all part of a good mystery in my opinion, so YES! Curiosity and willingness to dig in to find answers is definitely a trait of all my favorite authors. Thanks for the history of red herrings. makennedyinaz at hotmail dot com

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    1. I love the puzzle and trying to determine if a clue is important, mere description, or if its a red herring intent on throwing me off the scent. Thanks for the comment and good luck!

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    1. Pearl, thank you. I couldn’t agree more. Red herrings are so much fun both for the reader and the writer.

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  17. I like a book that has many red herrings! Red herrings make the story more interesting. Usually, the story gets juicy when you encounter red herrings. It’s up to me to look through the juice and figure out what are the real clues!

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  18. Congratulations on your latest, Val! yes, red herrings make the reading fun, and I love to try to tease them from the real deal clues as I read.

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    1. Thank you so much. I agree red herrings make the reading fun. Sifting the red herrings from the real clues is the fun.

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  19. Thanks for the origin and reason behind the red herring expression. Funny how we use expressions all our life and often never put any thought to what or why we are saying them. As I’ve gotten older, I wonder and explore why more.

    Any mystery, especially the cozies I so love to read, aren’t much of a challenge without the “red herrings” to me. It’s what makes you think beyond getting from point A to B. We all know how little detours ofter turn into the best adventures on a trip. Why not in a good mystery? So YES, I love them in mine so I can if I can sniff out the real clues.

    Thank you for the fabulous chance to win a copy of “A Cup of Flour, A Pinch of Death”. Love your books!
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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    1. Kay, I agree that Red Herrings provide the challenge (and the fun). Best of luck with the giveaway!

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  20. Welcome back, dear Valerie! I just love your writing style, and the fun characters and intriguing plots.
    Red herrings do provide more complexity to the plot, and I love speculating on whodunnit. It is nice when an aothor does mention the red herring at the end, so everything is nicely tied up. I am definitely a fan. JOY Luis at Ole Dot Travel

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    1. Luis, thank you so much. I am so glad you enjoy my books. That makes my heart happy. Thank you!

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  21. Welcome back to the Wickeds, Valerie. Sign me up as a person who loves red herrings. The fictional ones. The actual fish not so much.

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    1. Hi Barb, Thanks for allowing me to be here today. I always love hanging out with the Wickeds. I have to agree with you. I prefer the fictional red herrings, not the real ones.

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  22. I really like red hearings in a mystery. I like to be surprised who the perp is at the end other than the one I was sure was the bad guy.
    YES
    diannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com

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  24. Yes! I enjoy some red herrings in my books. I enjoy a good challenge. cherierj(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  26. Yes! I like cozies the way you write them!! Congrats on your latest book! lindaherold999(at)gmail(dot)com

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