The cover of “Four Leaf Cleaver,” the 11th book in Maxwell’s Country Store Mystery series.
Something dark lurks in the shadows of the sleepy community of South Lick, a fictional town based on Brown County.
The latest installment of the 11-book series, Country Store Mysteries, is “Four Leaf Cleaver,” and a chef must find who is responsible for the death of a cooking contest producer.
Though the series dons the byline Maddie Day, it is penned by Edith Maxwell, who has ties to the area that inspired her fictional works.
Maxwell
Maxwell took some time to answer questions for the Democrat about her new thriller.
Q: In 25 words or less, what’s this book about?
When an Irish cooking contest producer is bludgeoned by a heavy cleaver, chef Robbie Jordan must sniff out the killer before the murderer cooks someone else.
Q: What inspired you to write it?
This is the eleventh book in the popular Country Store Mysteries series. My editor suggested I might want to feature St. Patrick’s Day or a cooking competition in Robbie’s Jordan’s store, Pans ’N Pancakes. I found the thought of combining them irresistible.
Q: Have you written any other books?
Four Leaf Cleaver is my 29th published mystery, and I’m working on No. 35 right now. All three of my current contemporary series are written as Maddie Day, but three prior series were authored as Edith Maxwell, as is my short crime fiction.
Q: What’s your day job?
I have been a full-time fiction writer for ten years. Prior to that I did different kinds of writing, most recently penning user instructions for software companies.
Q: What are your connections to Brown County?
In 1977 I began a doctoral program in linguistics at Indiana University in Bloomington, which my great-great-grandfather David Hervey Maxwell founded (and a Maxwell in each generation has attended, including my father and grandfather), although I am a native Californian.
A fellow student, Benjamin, dropped out and bought the Story General Store in the late 1970s with his partner, Cindy Schultz. A bunch of us headed to Brown County on weekends to help with the renovation and to celebrate the grand opening.
Decades later, inspired by that Story story, I proposed the Country Store Mysteries to my editor at Kensington Publishing. Robbie Jordan and her staff serve up delicious breakfasts and lunches in the country store in fictional South Lick, and Robbie sells antique cookware – when she isn’t solving murders. The Country Store stories have proved to be my most popular series, and it makes me happy to renew my Hoosier roots, even though I moved to New England in 1982, brand-new PhD in hand. Nashville and the current Story have appeared in various books in the series, but South Lick is firmly imaginary.
Q: What’s your writing ritual? In what environment do you work best?
I have a lovely second floor office on our quiet street in northeastern Massachusetts. I bring up my coffee, close the door, take about an hour to catch up on the internet, and start work by seven every morning. Whether writing first draft or revising, I’m at my desk with only necessary breaks until late morning. Then I go for my power walk, eat lunch, and spend the afternoons on other author tasks like promotion, marketing, writing blog posts, and answering interview questions.
Q: What’s the last book you read? Do you have a favorite?
I recently finished “Rum and Choke” by Sherry Harris, her fourth Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Saloon mystery, set in the Florida panhandle. It’s a great read, as is Sarah Polley’s amazing memoir, “Run Towards the Danger.” I mostly read crime fiction and can highly recommend anything by Hoosier-native Lori Rader-Day, now a Chicago resident.
Q: Where can people buy this book, and for how much?
Four Leaf Cleaver is available wherever books are sold. The paperback retails for about $8.99, the E-book for less. Readers can ask their local independent bookstore to order it or find it online in paper, ebook, and audio. If anyone wants a signed copy, they can order from Jabberwocky Books in Newburyport, Mass. with a note that they’d like it endorsed (and to whom). That’s my local indie, and they’ll call me to stop by and sign it for the purchaser (who will also receive a bookmark).
Q: Do you have any book signings or related events planned?
I don’t have any Indiana or New England in-person events scheduled this winter. I wish! The “Appearances” tab on my website lists any upcoming virtual or face-to-face events.
Q: Anything else you’d like to say that I haven’t asked?
I hope people love reading about South Lick, Robbie’s village in Brown County, and I look forward to getting back to the area for a visit sometime before too long.
Information about all my writing, including a historical series and my short fiction, can be found at EdithMaxwell.com, where readers can sign up for my monthly newsletter. I can also be found on Facebook and Instagram and on two group blogs, WickedAuthors.com and MysteryLoversKitchen.com
