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Today, I’m happy to welcome Jeanne Quigley to the blog to share a peek behind the scenes of her latest Robyn Cavanagh mystery, The Holiday Photo Murder. From exploring real estate listings to imagining the perfect home for her characters, Jeanne shows how even a simple house, or a grand estate like Bookends, can set the stage for suspense, drama, and a little holiday mischief.
Bookends – The Scene of the Crime
Do you enjoy browsing online real estate listings as much as I do? I’m not looking for a new home—I’m content where I am—and I don’t fantasize about living in any of the homes on the market (most of the time). Looking at listings, from the modest, older homes to the high six-figure houses, sparks my imagination. I enjoy seeing how the interiors are decorated, how the rooms are laid out, and the size of the outdoor living space. I count my browsing as research for my books; sometimes I’ll use a feature or building style of a real house for a character’s home. Most of my characters live in typical, modest residences —my Robyn Cavanagh lives in a Craftsman-style house—but once in a while I include a wealthy character in a story and get to indulge my architectural fancies and create a grand home with all the expensive amenities.
My latest Robyn Cavanagh mystery, The Holiday Photo Murder, features one of those magnificent houses. Bookends is perched high above the historic Hudson River in the small town of Garland, New York. Built in the mid-twentieth century, the estate was a sanctuary from Manhattan for the founder of Hoffmann Publishing, his wife and their daughter, Natalie. Now the head of the family’s publishing house, Natalie Hoffmann enjoys the beauty and peace of Bookends and that million-dollar river view.
Natalie opens the doors to Bookends to host charitable fundraisers, business meetings, and an annual Christmas party for local luminaries. Robyn, a portrait photographer, is hired to photograph Natalie’s upcoming holiday soirée. Robyn is thrilled to have this most elite contract of her career, and she arrives at Bookends nervous and excited to snap photos of Natalie’s high-profile guests.
It is through Robyn’s eyes and her camera’s viewfinder that readers go inside Bookends and enjoy an up-close look at all its splendor. The elegant holiday decorations. The luxurious rooms. The well-appointed kitchen. The two staircases—one in the main entry and one at the back of the house—to the second floor. Of course, Robyn also takes a long look at the gorgeous Hudson River in the glow of the moonlight.
There are also things Robyn isn’t supposed to see. A character’s stealth descent of the back staircase, and the almost simultaneous return to the party by another character via the main staircase. Two characters’ exit from the library while everyone else is in the buffet line. The same pair’s post-dinner entrance through the front door. Hmmm…Robyn wonders about these sneaky moves. Readers will too.
Estates are excellent settings for a mystery. The many rooms and quiet corners lend themselves for impromptu consultations, romantic rendezvous, and whispered conversations. Another prime location for a private moment is the expansive lawn (Bookends is a high-class place, no backyard here), where two characters can have a conversation—and a confrontation—out of the view of the other guests. The property’s size allows for undetected moves and offers plenty of doors for a killer to sneak out and then return to the party unseen.
The stone wall around the property, the guards checking identifications at the gate, and Natalie, who has turned off her surveillance cameras for the privacy of her guests, have lulled everyone into a sense of security. Including Robyn, who never imagined she’d be taking photos of the red velvet cake one minute and in the next moment be summoned outside to check if one of those guests was still breathing.
He’s not. Nor is he a mere guest. The man attacked with the poker from the fire pit is Natalie’s longtime companion, prominent real estate developer Russell Nowak.
The estate’s secluded setting means the killer was welcomed to Bookends and posed for a photo with Natalie in the sparkling entrance foyer. The guest list becomes a roster of suspects, a lineup of people of even greater interest than they normally are. Robyn’s hundreds of photographs may hold a clue to who attacked Russell with that fire poker.
Robyn examines each photo to the minutest detail, trying to read minds and moods through the expressions of her subjects in both posed and candid photographs. Is that a phony smile? Is Russell standing a little-too-close to that married woman? Why is that man frowning? She scrutinizes each shot’s background, searching for an unnoticed entrance or exit that may give a hint to the killer’s identity.
Robyn can immediately cross many people off the suspect list, but what about the many others at the party? Natalie’s assistant, who found Russell on the back lawn? The two guests who stayed in the library while everyone lined up at the buffet? The person who used the back staircase so no one would see they’d been in Natalie’s personal space?
I’m pleased to invite you to Garland’s most talked-about social event of the season. Please come for the party and stay for the mystery. All the trappings of the holiday are mixed in with the intrigue. You won’t regret RSVPing to the Holiday Photo Murder!
I wish you all happy holidays!
I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into Jeanne Quigley’s creative process and the stunning Bookends estate featured in Photo Murder: A Robyn Cavanagh Mystery. Ready to uncover the secrets hidden behind its doors? Grab your copy today and follow Jeanne on her website and social media to keep up with her latest mysteries, author insights, and more behind-the-scenes inspiration.
The Holiday Photo Murder: A Robyn Cavanagh Mystery by Jeanne QuigleyAbout The Holiday Photo Murder
The Holiday Photo Murder: A Robyn Cavanagh Mystery
Portrait Photographer Robyn Cavanagh has had a busy fall season taking a record number of client photos for holiday cards. She’s ready for a quiet December to do her own Christmas preparations, but she has one more job to close the year. It’s the best gift of the season: taking photographs at wealthy Natalie Hoffmann’s holiday party. Excited to be the official photographer at the party held at the publisher’s estate overlooking the majestic Hudson River, Robyn hopes the event will win her new clients. Everyone will want to forget the evening, however, after Natalie’s companion, Russell Nowak, is found dead in the garden. Who among the guests wanted the successful businessman dead? While everyone counts down to Christmas, Robyn’s wish list is filled with suspects. She teams with her friend Will Vonderlin to catch the killer and restore her holiday spirit in time to enjoy the festive season.
About Jeanne Quigley
Jeanne Quigley is the author of the Veronica Walsh Mysteries and the Robyn Cavanagh Mysteries. Unlike her fictional sleuths, she has never been a soap opera star, accountant, or professional photographer, but she has worked in the music industry, for an educational publisher, and in a county agency. She lives in New York’s historic Hudson Valley.
Author LinksWebsite: www.jeannequigley.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeannemquigley
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeannequigleyauthor/
Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
November 12 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR GUEST POST
November 12 – fundimental – SPOTLIGHT
November 13 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
November 13 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
November 14 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
November 14 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
November 15 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – SPOTLIGHT
November 15 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT
November 16 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
November 17 – Sarandipity’s – CHARACTER GUEST POST
November 17 – @bibliophile_foodie – REVIEW
November 18 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW
November 18 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
November 19 – FUONLYKNEW – REVIEW
November 20 – Baroness Book Trove – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
November 20 – Salty Inspirations – AUTHOR GUEST POST
November 21 – Sarah Can’t Stop Reading Books – REVIEW
November 21 – Novels Alive – REVIEW
Book Excerpts THE HOLIDAY PHOTO MURDER
Per Julia’s instructions, I did a circuit around the dining room while the guests went through the buffet and found their seating assignments. I then sat with Julia and Audrey in the smaller dining room and enjoyed a meal from the buffet. Julia and I lingered at the table a few minutes after Audrey left with her empty plate. We talked about working in the city, her job at Hoffmann, and the twenty years I spent at another publishing house in Manhattan. After we brought our plates into the kitchen, Julia and I stood in the music room’s doorway. Most of the guests had finished their meals, and several had gotten up and formed small conversation groups around the room.
Russell joined us. “Did you ladies enjoy your dinner?” After Julia and I declared we had, he said, “You did your usual terrific job, Julia. Everyone’s having a wonderful time.”
“Thanks, Russell.”
He went into the living room, and Julia approached Natalie’s table to chat with her boss. I lingered in the doorway and imagined past parties in the room. Who sat here and enjoyed the Hoffmann’s hospitality? I pictured F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, Gertrude Stein, and Edith Wharton among the luminaries, though none had been Hoffmann authors, and there was no record of any of the literary giants ever visiting Bookends. I liked the fantasy, however, that I stood in the same space they’d once occupied.
A couple in their thirties approached me. “Would you mind taking our photo by the tree?” The man held up his phone.
“My pleasure.”
The couple posed by the music room’s Christmas tree. I took two photos with his phone and then offered to take a shot with my camera. I took the picture and also a shot of the man’s business card so I could email him the photo.
Other guests followed and asked me to take their photos by the tree. After about fifteen or twenty minutes, I had over twenty shots of business cards to go with the photos I’d taken.
“One more photo, please,” Dennis said from behind me.
Tess, her cheeks flushed, stood beside him. He put his arm around her shoulder; she stroked her bare arm before encircling it around Dennis’s waist.
After I took a shot of the pair, I went back to the dining room and took photos of the head of the catering staff slicing and plating Patti’s cakes.
Julia came over and watched the woman’s moves. “I can’t wait to dig into a slice. Have you seen Russell in the last few minutes?”
“No. Not since we spoke with him.”
“I bet he’s outside smoking.”
We walked to the kitchen and while Julia went outside, I used the bathroom off the kitchen and then was standing at the island and chatting with Audrey when Julia returned.
The side door opened with a swoosh and bang, and she stumbled into the hall. Without closing the door, she rushed to the island.
“I think Russell is dead!”
“Dead?” I asked, dumbstruck.
Julia’s body gave a powerful shiver and her pale blue eyes were dark with fear. “I don’t know! Maybe! He’s lying on the patio by the fire pit. The fire poker… He didn’t move when I touched him.”
I dashed to the door, Julia close behind me. In silence we rushed across the lawn to the patio.
Russell lay on his stomach a few feet from the fire pit. His outstretched left arm reached for the cigar that was an inch from his grasp. A fire poker protruded from his backside.
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While you’re here, take a look around the blog! You’ll find more cozy mystery features, author guest posts, behind-the-scenes insights, and plenty of Salty Inspirations to spark your reading (and writing) adventures.
As always, thanks for stopping by for some Salty Inspirations!
Thank you, Michelle, for welcoming me to your blog. I’m happy for the invitation to introduce Robyn Cavanagh and The Holiday Photo Murder to your readers. I loved creating Bookends and all its beautiful features. I hope your readers enjoy exploring this grand estate! Happy holidays!
Thank you so much for joining me on the blog today! It was truly a treat to share Robyn Cavanagh and The Holiday Photo Murder with my readers. Bookends is such a beautifully crafted setting—you brought it to life in a way that feels both grand and wonderfully cozy. I know my readers will love exploring every corner of the estate right along with Robyn.
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season, and thanks again for stopping by!