Behind the story of The Sign of the Calico Quartz by Jan Drexler

Jan Drexler is the award-winning author of several historical romance novels. The Sweetbrier Inn Mysteries is her first cozy mystery series. The Sign of the Calico Quartz is the first book in the series.

Beginnings of The Sign of the Calico Quartz

A few years ago, Jan and her husband were looking for a new home in the Black Hills of South Dakota. She said that someone suggested they open a bed-and-breakfast for tourists. “The idea stuck. We decided not to open our own B&B, but stories about a mystery set in one started swirling in my head. The setting—a place where tourists come, stay for a few days, then move on to their next destination—gives me the perfect opportunity to provide my stories with the cozy feeling of stability through my main characters, while still giving me a fresh batch of victims, bad guys, and red herrings for each story in the series.”

As she wrote the story, Jan kept her thoughts about the value of human life in mind. “Even though this is a murder mystery and the victims’ deaths propel the plot to its conclusion, my intent is that Emma, my sleuth, will treat each death as a tragedy. Her goal is to bring the murderer to justice. To avenge the wrongful death. To be the nemesis, as Agatha Christie called her sleuth, Miss Marple.”

It’s all about books

Jan said that one of her favorite quotes is from Andrew Lang: “One gift the fairies gave me: (three, they commonly bestowed of yore) the love of books, the golden key, that opens the enchanted door.” In fact, she calls books ‘her favorite companions.’

“My book collection has been the bane of moving companies for years—we moved often with my husband’s job before landing in the Black Hills. In 2020, I set a goal of reading through my collection of children’s books. I made it through the Swallows and Amazons series, Louisa May Alcott’s books, L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series, and many others…but only made a slight dent in my collection. It was a great reading year!”

Jan is fortunate that her setting for The Sign of the Calico Quartz, the Black Hills, is right outside her office window. “My view of the mountains includes Mount Rushmore and Black Elk Peak. I love every mood this view offers to me throughout the year, and it inspires my Sweetbrier Inn series.

“Of all the places we’ve lived, this is my favorite. When we think of mountains in the West, we usually think of the towering peaks of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Wyoming. But the Black Hills are beautiful in their own way, and very accessible. My husband and I go hiking in the Hills at least once a week and enjoy the climbs to spectacular views. There is nothing like it.”

New to writing mysteries

“Early in 2020 (before Covid hit,) I was feeling restless in my writing career. My previous books had done fairly well, but it was time for a change. I had been wanting to write a mystery for a long time (Agatha Christie is one of my favorite authors) but knew it would be a daunting challenge.”

Jan knew that writing a mystery wasn’t like writing other books. “The author needs to be clever, but not so clever as to frustrate the reader. I knew I needed to construct a puzzle, one that could be solved, but not too easily. So, I spent most of 2020 learning how to write a mystery. I also read tons of cozy mysteries and watched entire series of television mysteries.”

One of her first choices was how to tell the story. First person, or third? “I realized that I needed to tell it in first person. That has put a different perspective on the character for me and it restricted how much of the plot I could show my readers, since every detail is seen through Emma’s eyes.”

Jan said her biggest challenge was learning new ways to outline the plot (she works from the end to the beginning) and new ways to construct scenes. “I learned to write the on-stage plot line and the off-stage plot at the same time so that I could keep track of what the murderer was doing while Emma, my sleuth, was being distracted by other clues. The biggest surprise about writing this book was how satisfying it was! I start every writing session with the anticipation of discovering what is going to happen next.”

Murder, murder, everywhere

“Once I started writing mysteries, I started finding ideas everywhere! Last year, our new neighbors were building their house. One day, the excavators dug a pit for the underground propane tank that was going to be installed the next day. That evening, while walking one of our dogs, he led me over to investigate the new digs. I stood there looking into that massive square hole while Jack sniffed around and I mused on how easy it would be to hide a body there, just how I would do it, how a sleuth would discover it…and a story was born. It hasn’t worked itself into a book yet, but it will eventually!”

Learn more about Jan Drexler and The Sign of the Calico Quartz at www.JanDrexler.com. Did you like this interview? If so, click here to read more Behind the Story interviews from your favorite authors.