Please help me welcome today’s guest, Meg Benjamin…
What book have you read that you wish you had written?
Right now I’m obsessed with J.D. Robb’s Eve Dallas series. J.D. Robb is, of course, Nora Roberts writing under a different name. The Dallas books are detective stories set in the near future, and my fascination comes from the way Robb/Roberts juggles all the plot elements. Dallas is a quirky, introverted, solitary type who improbably marries an Irish billionaire but continues to work as a homicide cop. The books usually have simultaneous romance and crime plots, as well as a host of eccentric supporting characters you get to know as you go along. I love them, and I can only wish I had Roberts’s gift for creating lively plots and characters you care about.
Do you have another occupation, other than writer? If so, what is it and do you like it?
Once upon a time I taught English and writing at Enormous State University in Texas. I’d always wanted to be a college professor, from the time I was a little girl, so it represented a dream job in a way. There were things about it I loved and things about it I didn’t, but I will say it taught me to establish a writing routine (publish or perish is real), which has stuck with me to this day.
What do you want readers to come away with after they read The Wine Jelly Murder?
I hope you’ll enjoy the story and get involved in the characters’ lives. The great thing about writing a series with the same characters is the way you can show them growing and changing. I try to do that, and I hope readers will want to find out more about Roxy and her friends and family. There are five books in the series available now, with a sixth on the way in January.
What genre have you never written that you’d like to write?
I love, love, love regency romances, but I doubt that I’ll ever write one, just because they require so much research and attention to historical detail. But I’ll admit I actually created a regency-style hero in one of my paranormal series: The Folk. Prince Bertie comes as close to being a regency character as I’m likely to get, and I loved creating him. I hope I get a chance to revisit that world and bring Bertie back for a few more adventures.
What character in your book are you least likely to get along with?
I hate to admit it but I probably wouldn’t get along with the Shavano, Colorado, police chief, Ethan Fowler. Don’t get me wrong: I like Fowler a lot. But he’s the closest thing to an alpha male in the Luscious Delights series, and alpha males usually make me nervous. Plus he’s got that chief of police thing going on, which heightens the nervous factor. So although he’s a nice guy deep down, he’d probably not be a bestie.
Who is the most famous person you have ever met?
Back in the day, I used to go to RWA and RT conventions (both of them now defunct), and at one of them a friend and I recognized Jo Beverly standing by herself at a publisher’s reception. Jo Beverly, if you don’t know, was a terrific English regency writer and one of the publisher’s stars. My friend and I went up and introduced ourselves, and I told her I was a big fan. Beverly, who was probably in her seventies at that point, was very nice and told us she was a little nervous about the length of her skirt (sort of a mini, but not really). “You’re rockin’ it,” my friend told her. And she was.
How did you come up with the title?
I always name my books after a jam Roxy is struggling with in the story. This time I had to come up with something that was both festive (it’s for a wedding) and appropriate for the holidays. After rejecting a lot of cranberry possibilities, I went with wine jelly.
Weddings can be murder, and Roxy’s trying not to be the next victim.
Roxy Constantine and Nate Robicheaux are into weddings, both for work and family. But when the obnoxious father of the bride is murdered at the engagement party, they find out more about his business than they bargained for.
Now someone wants to stop Roxy from investigating even as she pulls out all the stops on a super New Year’s Eve wedding celebration for her uncle.
She’ll need more than wine jelly favors and wedding cake to stop the killer.
Excerpt:
As I stepped onto the landing, I heard something that sounded like a sob. “Did you hear that?”
“What?”
“That sound. It was over…” As I started across the landing toward the stairs, I heard another sob, much louder this time, coming from the stairs leading down to the lower floor. “Is anybody there?” I called.
“Roxy?” It sounded like Thalia, but a very different Thalia from the normal, terrifyingly efficient woman we’d been working with. I stepped quickly to the landing and peered toward the lower floor.
And saw Thalia Rosenberg leaning over Emerson Pollack, who lay spread-eagled on the concrete floor.
From where I stood, he looked very dead.
I ran down the steps. The stairwell was very dark although the light from above streamed down on Pollack’s body where it lay. Nate was at my heels.
Thalia knelt beside Pollack, her face the color of the snow still falling outside. “We need to call an ambulance,” she said. “He’s…hurt.”
Judging by the way Pollack was splayed on the floor, I didn’t think an ambulance would do much good. I put my hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Thalia. Step away from him now.”
Nate had climbed up the stairs and was now speaking urgently into his phone. I heard the words “accident” and “serious injuries,” which might well be true, as far as the “serious injuries” went. I was less certain about the “accident” part.
Thalia looked like she might faint or have hysterics, neither of which I wanted to deal with right then.
She leaned toward me, her brown eyes huge in her pale face. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “My God. He’s dead, isn’t he?”
Buy link(s):
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FCVCRC6S/thewildrosepr-20
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-wine-jelly-murder-meg-benjamin/1147592049?ean=2940184558462
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-wine-jelly-murder/id6747186348
About the Author:
Meg Benjamin is an award-winning author of romance and cozy mysteries. Meg’s cozy mystery series, Luscious Delights from Wild Rose Press, concerns a jam-making sleuth based in the mythical small town of Shavano, Colorado. Her Konigsburg series is set in the Texas Hill Country and her Salt Box and Brewing Love trilogies are set in the Colorado Rockies (all are available from Entangled Publishing and from Meg’s indie line). Along with romance and cozies, Meg is also the author of the paranormal Ramos Family trilogy from Berkley InterMix and the Folk trilogy from Meg’s indie line. Meg’s books have won numerous awards, including an EPIC Award, a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion from Virginia Romance Writers, the Beanpot Award from the New England Romance Writers, the Carly Crown Jewel of Books from the Mid-America Romance Authors, and the Award of Excellence from Colorado Romance Writers.
Social Media Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meg.benjamin1/ (personal)
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063609878239 (author)
Instagram: @meg_benjamin
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@meg_benjamin
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/meg-benjamin.bsky.social
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2869971.Meg_Benjamin
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/meg-benjamin
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/megbenjamin/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@megbenjamin1396
Website: http://www.MegBenjamin.com/
Author Alicia Dean 