An avid reader of mysteries, Vanessa Westermann is a former Arthur Ellis Awards judge, holds an M.A. in English Literature, as well as a Bachelor of Education, and has taught creative writing. Her debut mystery, An Excuse for Murder, was published in 2019. At the heart of all of Westermann’s stories are strong female protagonists inspired by the heroines in her own life. Cover Art is the first Charley Scott Mystery.
It’s all about perspective
Vanessa said that she wanted her amateur sleuth to be an artist because she addresses the role that perspective plays in a murder investigation. “Artists use perspective techniques to create effects that trick the eye, such as the illusion of depth on a flat surface. It’s natural instinct to want to find the meaning behind an artwork, to raise questions and search for answers. To understand an artwork, you have to pull it apart and figure out how the pieces fit together to make a whole, the same way you do when solving a mystery. Every painting is a combination of choices the artist has made, the same way a murder is about the choices the killer made.”
Vanessa believes that when we look at a painting, we’re trying to uncover the artist’s truth. “When a sleuth gathers clues, she or he is trying to uncover the criminal’s truth. All it takes is a shift in perspective, to empathize with a murderer, to understand the motives, the mistakes, that lead someone to take another person’s life.”
The genesis of Cover Art
“I believe that every story is a living organism that grows when fed on words. I started with the idea of death by poisoned chocolate in Canada’s Kawartha Lakes, and this developed into a mystery about art, Inuit legends and engineering fraud.”
Like Charley in Cover Art, Vanessa once had a summer job as an assistant librarian in a seasonal lakeside library. “Only open for a few months out of the year, the library, located in a repurposed one-room schoolhouse, caters to summer cottagers. The eclectic collection of yellowed paperbacks is crammed onto mint-green shelves, bookended by regatta trophies and rocks. While working there, I discovered that the gateway to that magical world, filled with stories, is art. The best book cover designs have this quality to them that goes beyond words, that speaks directly to the reader. They charm and make a promise of thrills and happily ever afters. I couldn’t resist writing a mystery about an amateur sleuth who paints pulp fiction covers that feature female heroines and the everyday acts of kindness and courage that so often go unnoticed.”
A pest finds its way into the story
“Unfortunately, the scene in which Charley has to call pest control to remove a squirrel from her art gallery was based on personal experience. In rural areas in Ontario, it’s not uncommon for squirrels to chew their way into cottages. Cottage Life Magazine has even dubbed the destructive red squirrel as the devil in animal form.”
When Vanessa found herself dealing with an unwelcome rodent, she called pest control—and was surprised at what happened. “The man arrived, eating a late breakfast of Cheetoes straight from the bag, accompanied by a blood-thirsty Springer Spaniel and a pet hawk that he kept in a dog kennel in his car. As you can probably guess from his entourage, he did not promise humane solutions. When I found that out, I paid the mandatory service charge and sent him on his way. I noticed afterwards that he’d scrawled, ‘good luck’, at the bottom of the invoice.”
Vanessa recalls that she was lucky. A neighbor recommended sealing off the entry points with steel wool and spray foam while the squirrel was out foraging. “That did the trick. In Cover Art, however, Charley’s fictional pest control provider does not have a pet hawk, because sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction.”
The wonders of chocolate
Whenever writers need to do research about chocolate, they seem to enjoy the work. Vanessa is no different. “Eating chocolate and reading cookbooks were two of the most enjoyable things I’ve done in the name of research. I learned about the process of making chocolate from David Lebovitz’s The Great Book of Chocolate and about cooking as both an art and a labour of passion from Marco Pierre White’s White Heat cookbook. For the sake of research, I stocked up on handcrafted artisanal chocolate from Warkworth, Ontario’s award-winning Centre and Main Chocolate Company. In fact, readers can purchase a Gin & Tonic white chocolate bar, like the one I describe in Cover Art, from their website: https://centreandmainchocolate.com/shop/white-chocolate/gin-tonic/ Infused with botanicals, the chocolate does taste just like the cocktail.”
Learn more about the Vanessa Westermann at www.vanessa-westermann.info. Did you like this interview? If so, click here to read more Behind the Story interviews from your favorite authors.
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Diana Hardt says
It sounds like an interesting book. Thank you for sharing.
Marion says
Sounds like a great book.
Marion
Vanessa Westermann says
Thank you for the lovely interview about Cover Art!
Terry says
You’re welcome!