Making a Mystery with Clea Simon, Joanna Schaffhausen, Kate Flora, and Julie Hennrikus at Porter Square Books

Please join Porter Square Books in welcoming mystery writers Clea Simon, Joanna Schaffhausen, Kate Flora, and Julie Hennrikus (aka Julia Henry or Julianne Holmes) for a panel event where a mystery story will be written before your eyes. But the authors won’t be the ones making the mystery – you will!

If you haven’t participated in one of these Sisters in Crime events, here’s the deal: Four authors from thrillers to cozy mysteries lead YOU (the audience) through the process of constructing a plot that’s to die for. You come up with character names, motives, and, of course, a murder weapon. We’ll then explain how we think – and what those names and methods might imply for us. You’re a full participant all the way as we draft an outline for the perfect mystery!

Julie is one woman with three names and many books. Pruning the Dead was the debut of her Garden Squad series, written by Julia Henry. Tilling the Truth was released last August, and Digging Up the Remains will be released later this year. As J.A. Hennrikus she writes the Theater Cop series. With A Kiss I Die was released last April. As Julianne Holmes, she wrote the Clock Shop series. Julie blogs with the Wicked Authors (www.WickedAuthors.com) and Killer Characters (www.Killercharacters.com). You can find her on social media as @JHAuthors. JHAuthors.com

Joanna Schaffhausen has a doctorate in psychology, which reflects her long-standing interest in the brain―how it develops and the many ways it can go wrong. No Mercy is her second novel featuring police officer Ellery Hathaway and FBI agent Reed Markham. Her debut, The Vanishing Season, won the Mystery Writers of America/St. Martin’s Minotaur First Crime Novel Award. She lives in the Boston area with her family and a boisterous basset hound puppy named Winston.

The author of more than two dozen cozy/amateur sleuth mysteries featuring cats, three nonfiction books, and one punk rock urban noir, World Enough (Severn House) (a Mass Book Awards “must read”), Clea Simon likes to keep busy. The Boston Globe best-selling author’s latest is An Incantation of Cats, the second “Witch Cats of Cambridge” cozy mystery series from Polis Books. Clea lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, with her husband and one (1) cat. She can be reached at www.cleasimon.com and on Twitter @Clea_Simon

Kate Flora’s fascination with people’s criminal tendencies began in the Maine attorney general’s office. Deadbeat dads, people who hurt their kids, and employers’ discrimination aroused her curiosity about human behavior. The author of twenty-one books and many short stories, Flora’s been a finalist for the Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, and Derringer awards. She won the Public Safety Writers Association award for nonfiction and twice won the Maine Literary Award for crime fiction. Death Warmed Over, her 8th Thea Kozak mystery, was a finalist for the Maine Literary Award. Her most recent Thea Kozak mystery is Schooled in Death; her most recent Joe Burgess is A Child Shall Lead Them, in June. Her new crime story collection is Careful What You Wish For: Stories of revenge, retribution, and the world made right.