Let’s meet Kris Bock and
learn about The Accidental Detective, her humorous mystery mystery
series! Kris, tell us about yourself.
I started my writing career with children’s literature, writing
for kids as Chris Eboch and MM Eboch. My first published book is The Well of
Sacrifice – historical drama set in ninth-century Mayan Guatemala. It’s been
in print for over twenty years and is used in schools when they teach the Maya.
I’ve written over 100 educational work for hire books, and I’ve been a
ghostwriter for some popular children’s mystery series starring your favorite
young detectives.
I write for adults under the name Kris Bock. I’ve written
romantic suspense and a sweet romance series based around a cat café. I have a
humorous mystery series coming out this year, with four books scheduled. The
first is:
Something Shady at Sunshine Haven: The Accidental Detective Book 1
War correspondent Kate Tessler has followed
the most dangerous news stories around the world. But can she survive going
home?
Injured in a bombing, Kate returns to her
hometown in Arizona to recover. For the first time in her life, she’s starting
to feel her age (49), even though she’s living like a teenager again: staying
with her father, trying to understand why her sister resents her so much, and
running into people who still think of her as Kitty.
Seeing her mother in an Alzheimer’s unit is
the hardest part – until an old friend asks her to investigate suspicious
deaths at that nursing home. Is a self-appointed “Angel of Mercy” killing
patients to end their suffering? Are family members hastening their
inheritance? Is an employee extorting money and removing the witnesses? Kate
uses her journalism skills to track clues, but the puzzle pieces simply won’t
fit.
If Kate can’t uncover the truth, her mother
could be next on the killer’s list.
What inspired this mystery series?
Kate spent thirty years traveling the world as a war correspondent.
Now back in Arizona, she finds turning fifty as difficult than the mysteries
she solves. This character was inspired by my own experiences. Okay, the part
about turning fifty, not traveling the world as a war correspondent. I traveled
a lot when younger, but not to war zones. But as I faced fifty, I wanted to
create a mystery lead dealing with some of the same issues: aging parents,
concerns about financing retirement someday, and a body that doesn’t recover
like it once did. I also wanted to give Kate a reason to be adventurous and
fearless, thus the background as a war correspondent.
I didn’t necessarily intend to write humor, but both my
agent and my editor said they laughed a lot. That comes from how Kate sees the
world, which is how I see the world. Laughter helps with the pain.
Why did you set the series in the Southwest?
I’ve lived in New Mexico for over twenty years, three times
longer than I’ve lived anywhere else, so this is home. We live in a small town,
but I wanted to set the mystery series in a big city. In Arizona, I could
create a fictional city within the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. That
allows me to use this fictional city government for political issues, and make
the mayor an old friend of Kate’s, without stepping on any real toes.
Arizona also provides tons of mystery opportunities. The
large senior population attracts scams and abuse. You have the potential for
arguments over inheritance (or even murders to get that inheritance sooner).
The border with Mexico creates anxiety over immigration and various kinds of
trafficking. Plus you have all the usual potential crimes in any large
population. I’ll be able to keep Kate busy for years.
Where can people learn more about the series?
Book 1, Something Shady at Sunshine Haven, released
April 7. It’s available now at
various retailers.
