Behind the story of Laughing Can Kill You by Maggie King

Maggie King is the author of the Hazel Rose Book Group mysteries. Her short stories have appeared in various anthologies, including the Virginia is for Mysteries series, 50 Shades of Cabernet, Deadly Southern Charm, Murder by the Glass, and Death by Cupcake. As an author, Maggie loves talking about books and writing with readers and other authors. She says she’s always learning and growing as a writer. Laughing Can Kill You is the third Hazel Rose Book Group Mystery.

Three writers, three situations

Laughing Can Kill You three writers who are in different stages of their careers. Maggie said, “One of my characters just ‘wants to write.’ How can one carve out time to do that and grow a following on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc? And there are those blog posts … and the newsletter … and the day job! Another character has enjoyed success as a best-selling romance author, only to be dropped by her publisher after her latest release flopped. A third author is still riding high with a lengthy bibliography and ever-growing fan base.

“How do writers cope with the unpredictability of the publishing industry? How do some writers stay on top, book after book? Do writers really need to spend every waking minute on social media? Laughing Can Kill You poses these questions, but has no easy answers.”

Ripped from the headlines

Maggie started thinking about this book after she saw a headline about a Utah man was charged with killing his 39-year-old wife aboard an Alaskan cruise ship. “When asked by a witness why he had attacked his wife, he responded: ‘She wouldn’t stop laughing at me.’ I’m bursting with questions after reading this article. What kind of life did this couple lead at home in Utah? Did the wife often laugh at her husband? Their stunned neighbors described them as the ‘perfect’ couple, celebrating an anniversary at sea. They gave no hints of the horror to come. Really?”

In a way, the answers to Maggie’s questions don’t matter because, as she put it, “I can spin my own story around this tragedy. People don’t like to be ridiculed. Laughter has been the motive for many a murder. In Laughing Can Kill You, the victim was given to freely laughing and may, just may, have laughed at the wrong person.”

Research can be dangerous

“In one scene in Laughing Can Kill You, Hazel Rose and her cousin Lucy attend the victim’s memorial service, hoping to ferret out who killed the man. The service was held at one of the stately homes on Richmond, Virginia’s Monument Avenue.

“If you’ve kept up with events of recent years, you know that a number of Confederate statues on Monument Avenue (except for the Arthur Ashe one) were taken down in 2020 and 2021. The statues remain a hot-button topic, regardless of one’s position. I’m not looking to get readers riled, I simply want to give them an enjoyable story.

“Monument Avenue is not important to the plot, but I could hardly feature it in a scene without mentioning the famous statues that give it its name. So I needed a different, but similar, location. I decided on Richmond’s Northside neighborhood.

“One day I drove there to scope out the area for sights, sounds, traffic patterns, etc. to add authentic detail to my story. I walked up and down streets in the area, looking around, not looking where I was going. In an instant, I fell off the curb, landing splat on my shoulder. My research trip ended in the ER where I learned that I’d fractured my shoulder.”

And sometimes research is just fun

“In Murder at the Moonshine Inn, Hazel Rose agrees to investigate the murder of a high-powered executive who died in a pool of blood outside the Moonshine Inn, one of Richmond, Virginia’s most notorious redneck bars.

“To investigate, Hazel needs to visit the bar—undercover. How does she act? How does she dress? How does she speak? In the interest of authentic detail, I needed to visit a redneck bar that would become the model for the fictitious Moonshine Inn (not undercover, though.). 

“My friend Marie served as my consultant. She assured me that she was an expert on redneck culture. She advised me on dress, dialogue, and any number of details. She sent me links to databases of redneck baby names. There is a wealth of online sources for redneckiana (not a real word, but perhaps it should be).

“My husband and I visited three bars, and I combined the three in to one for my story. Interesting experiences, believe me. I tried to capture the mood and Marie helped. Between these visits, Marie, online sources, and my vivid imagination, I put together a passable scene. Definitely my most enjoyable research project.”

Learn more about Maggie King at maggieking.com . Did you like this interview? If so, click here to read more Behind the Story interviews from your favorite authors.