Murder, She Wrote by Terri Farley Moran

In addition to Murder, She Wrote: Killing in a Koi Pond, award-winning author Terrie Farley Moran is the author of the beachside Read ‘Em and Eat cozy mystery series and is co-author of Laura Childs’ New Orleans scrapbooking mysteries. 

Murder, She Wrote returns

“When I was asked to pick up the Murder She Wrote series,” Terrie said, “I would be writing book number fifty-three.  I immediately reviewed the previous fifty-two books. I noticed that books forty-nine to fifty-two all were set in Cabot Cove, so my first decision was to take Jessica on the road.  In June 2019 I attended the Mystery in the Midlands conference in Columbia, South Carolina. It was such a lovely town, I decided to have Jessica visit a friend who lived there and then oops! the murder is committed just after she arrives.

“I don’t deliberately create an issue in my writing, but it lands right in front of a character, she or he has to address it. In Murder, She Wrote Killing in a Koi Pond Jessica Fletcher is visiting her old college friend, Dolores, who has been recently married. When Dolores’ husband is murdered, she becomes the chief suspect in the mind of the county sheriff. While we are used to Jessica trying to solve murders, in this case, she is able to provide a unique level of comfort to Dolores because Jessica herself is a widow. That was not intentional on my part, but Jessica’s kind nature took over and developed that part of the story.”

The nitty gritty of writing for a popular series

“I have been a book addict since childhood. I love to read, I love to talk about books. I really enjoy hearing other people’s opinion about books they have read. (Especially if I have read them too.) And in the past fifteen years it has become apparent that I also enjoy writing short stories and novels. As with all mystery fiction, I enjoy conversation about what I have written and no one has to worry about offending me because I take criticism really, really well.”

Terrie also said she keep her work and writing lives separate. In writing for a series as popular as Murder She Wrote, she faced several challenges that she needed to conquer for the sake of the project. For instance, two other writers had written more than fifty books before she came on board. She also noted that there were more than two-hundred-fifty television episodes of Murder She Wrote. 

“The books don’t necessarily follow the television series because some of the books were written while the series was still in production. Over the years people have changed, for example Sam Booth is no longer the Mayor of Cabot Cove. He has been replaced by Jim Shevlin. Sheriff Metzger is no longer married to Adele. His second wife is named Maureen. Things like that need to be checked and rechecked. I would hate to put a character in book fifty-five only to find that he died in book twenty seven.”

Research can be tons of fun

“When I was writing one of the books in the Read ’Em and Eat series, I sent two characters off exploring in a kayak. When I asked a friend who is an experienced kayaker some technical questions, my friend insisted I try it out for myself. So off we went on the Caloosahatchee River in Southwest Florida and it was great fun!”

Learn more about Terrie Farley Moran at www.terriefarleymoran.com. Did you like this interview? If so, click here to read more Behind the Story interviews from your favorite authors.