Chatham author releases first book in spin-off series

Kelly Young, the author of the popular Travel Writer Cozy Mystery series, is releasing the first installment of the Travel Writer Day Trips Cozy Mystery series, titled Wines and Whines, on February 28.

The new book contains the same mix of humour and mystery found in the original series, but instead of one longer storyline taking place over a week at a location in Ontario, this book features two shorter stories, each taking place over a day, in two different Ontario locations.

“Writing shorter tales is a different challenge than writing a full-length novel,” Young said recently. “You have to get all of the elements of the mystery, elements you would have more time to flesh out if you were writing a full-length novel, into the shorter format. As a result, every occurrence and every conversation carry more weight than they might otherwise. The challenge is to still have those things come across as natural.”

Young is not a stranger to shorter fiction, however, and has two different collections of short stories published.

Along with the change to day trip length storylines, the settings of the book have moved from the Bruce County area predominant thus far in the first series to locations in southwestern Ontario. As well, Young opted to use chapter titles instead of merely numbers for this series.

The book is titled Wine and Whines and the first of the two novellas in it is called Wine and Crime. It follows the main character, Casey Robertson from the original series, along with her friends Myrna Holmberg and Ilene Anderson, as they go on a wine tour of the Windsor-Essex area. The story features real wineries within the plot, which centres around a missing piece of jewelry belonging to another participant in the tour, along with the usual Traveling Klutz features about the locales visited in the story ahead of each chapter. Most of the chapter titles consist of related wine-based puns.

The second half of the book features the tale Dognapped and Trapped and takes place at Rondeau Provincial Park, where Casey and her husband Jim have gone for a day of cycling. There they unexpectedly encounter retired detective Ed Wolsey, also from the original series. The detective has started his own private investigations business and is at the park looking into a slew of dog thefts. Casey and Jim get involved, and typical shenanigans ensue. Information on the park and area precedes each chapter, which are titled with canine-related puns.

The cover of the book features a photo of one of the wineries in the book on the top and of Rondeau Provincial Park on the bottom. Both photons are taken by Young herself.

Young said she is pleased how this first book in the Day Trips series turned out.

“This book took me a little longer to complete,” she admitted. “I wanted to get it just right, without losing the light-hearted dialogue that the first series became known for.”

As for what’s next up for her, Young said she plans to start work on the second full-length book in the Haunted & Harassed Paranormal Cozy Mystery series, and has been making plans for a cross-over between the two series to be set in the town of Tilbury.

“I feel that we need at least one other book in the paranormal series before the crossover, so that readers can truly get to know and enjoy those characters,” she said. “Then we can have the two groups meet up and see what kind of mayhem that creates.”

Young has completed research trips to other Ontario locations for the main and spin-off Travel Writer series, including to Huntsville, Orillia, and Welland, and has both long and short stories set in each location solidifying within her mind.

“There are always at least five storylines or more fighting for dominance in my head at any time,” she joked.

Young’s Travel Writer books are currently available at Turns & Tales in Chatham, and at the Chatham-Kent and Bruce County libraries. She plans to donate a copy of the new book to the local library when it comes out, and reminds readers that they can request her books at any library in the country if they are interested.

A member of Crime Writers of Canada and Sisters in Crime, Young has also written the mystery/thriller Flurries Ending, the Sci-Fi thriller The Six Thousand, and more. With the addition of this new book, Young will have a total of 16 books published, all of which are available at Amazon, as she self-publishes through Kindle Direct Publishing, and at the Chatham-Kent library. You can find them from her author page at https://www.amazon.ca/Kelly-Young/e/B00927WCK8/, where you can get the books in e-book, paperback, or hardcover formats.