What Happens When An Author’s Imagination Runs Wild?

Author Denise Swanson wondered what would happen if her sleuths from the Scumble River mysteries and the Devereaux’s Dime Store mysteries ever found themselves in the same room and started chatting.

Skye Denison-Boyd: Who are you?

Devereaux Sinclair: I’m Dev Sinclair, I own Deveraux’s Dime Store and Gift Baskets. Who are you?

Skye: Skye Boyd. I’m a school psychologist. Where are we? This isn’t Scumble River, Illinois.

Dev: Nope and this isn’t Shadow Bend, Missouri either.

Skye: It looks as if we’re in a big white box.

Dev: There’s something blinking in the corner. You should go see what it is.

Skye: Me? I’m pregnant. You should go.

Dev: Maybe later.

Skye: As long as it isn’t another dead body. I promised my husband that I wouldn’t stumble over another corpse until after the baby was born.

Dev: You find them too? Who knew that reopening the town library would be so deadly?

Skye: I must admit that finding the mean volleyball coach dead wasn’t as bad as some of my cases.

Dev: Good times.

Skye: Do you think the FBI has taken us into custody?

Dev: This better not be Noah’s mother attempting to get me out of his life for good.

Skye: Who’s Noah?

Dev: Long story short, he’s my ex high school boyfriend who might turn into my present day fiancé.

Skye: I bet that’s an interesting story.

Dev: It’s complicated. I’m also seeing a US Marshall.

Skye: Hussy. (laughing) Actually, I completely understand. My ex-boyfriend kept trying to win me back, too. He even gave it a shot the day of my wedding. But you are eventually going to have to choose between them. Is either of them in the lead?

Dev: They both have pros and cons, but I’m waiting until either Noah figures out a solution with his mother or Jake gets rid of his ex.

Skye: That sounds reasonable. Just don’t wait too long. Folks get mad if a love triangle drags out.

Dev: Hey! Look over where that blinking light used to be. Now it looks like there are words being typed on the wall.

Skye: If I didn’t know better, I think we were characters in a book.

Dev: (chuckling) That has got to be the pregnancy hormones talking.

--New York Times bestselling author, Denise Swanson’s fifth Devereaux’s Dime Store mystery, Between a Book and a Hard Place, debuted March 1. And her eighteenth Scumble River mystery, Murder of an Open Book came out last September. Denise also writes the Change of Heart romance series. The four book box set is on sale for $9.99.

Change of Heart box set

Between a Book and a Hard Place

Murder of an Open Book