Interview about short story, Death by Memoir

In 2025, Beaches and Trails released Signed, Sealed… Deceased, an anthology featuring twelve short cosy mysteries. My story, Death by Memoir, is one of them. If you’re looking for a quick Jade Riley fix, look no further, as she is the protagonist of this story.

A writers’ retreat turns deadly when a memoirist is found dead from an insulin overdose – but was it suicide or murder?

Check out this interview about my inspiration for the story and more.

What was the proposed theme?

The submission call out asked for, ‘Postal, delivery, and communication-themed mysteries. Stories involving letters, missing packages, messages from the past, or unexpected deliveries—each leading to a mystery.’

Can you share the book blurb?

When the mail arrives, murder follows.

From mislabeled 1940s love letters to rare stamps worth killing for, these twelve mysteries prove that the most dangerous deliveries are the ones you never expected.

What awaits you:

• A mail carrier discovers Prohibition-era treasure and modern murder on a remote island
• A wheelchair-bound historian uncovers deadly stamp fraud in historic Quebec City
• Threatening letters reveal organized crime secrets in New Orleans
• Time capsules, missing packages, and messages from the past—each hiding deadly secrets

Perfect for fans of Louise Penny, Agatha Christie, and Elizabeth Peters.

Twelve stories spanning Canada to New Orleans, featuring amateur sleuths, postal puzzles, and the cozy mysteries readers crave. Whether it’s a retired teacher’s embroidery circle solving cold cases or a postman’s impossible delivery to a haunted house, each tale delivers murder, mystery, and satisfying solutions.

Your special delivery of murder and mayhem awaits.

How does your story fit with the proposed theme?

In ‘Death by Memoir’, the murder victim is memoirist Harry Davidson. His memoir gives the link to the theme of communication. The retreat facilitator, journalist Jade Riley, receives an email Harry sent the night before he died asking her to edit his memoir, which is attached. She suspects it will hold clues. Did someone kill him to prevent it being published?

Tell us a bit about the inspiration behind your story or how you approached writing it.

I have a holiday house in Mansfield, gateway to the Victorian High Country, and have always wanted to run a writers retreat there. A home in the Australian bush is also an ideal setting for a closed room mystery. ‘Death by Memoir’ combines these two ideas.

How did you choose your characters?

The amateur sleuth character is Jade Riley, the protagonist of my mystery novels. To mix things up for me as an author, I wrote in first person (I), where Jade’s perspective is third person (she) in my novels. I also used present tense rather than past, which I use in the novels. I often use short stories to test out ideas before I commit to them in a novel. My latest work in progress, a standalone climate change thriller, is also in first person present.

The rest of the cast members are authors, and I loved developing their characters based on their genre: romance, fantasy, historical fiction, poetry and memoir. This gave plenty of scope for a bit of fun and tongue-in-cheek humour.

Can you tell us a bit more about the setting?

I love Mansfield, a thriving town perched between Mt Buller and Lake Eildon. The story takes place on a property similar to ours that has a view over the lake and hosts kangaroos, wombats and cockatoos. After using this setting in this story, I used it for a complete novel, Book 3 of the Jade Riley Mysteries, The Man in the Dam. A book length story gave the opportunity to explore more facets of the town and surrounds.

Was it hard to fit a whole mystery into 5000 words?

Absolutely. For perspective, a novel is typically 65000 to 85000 words, so 5000 is relatively short. I had to limit the amount of backstory for each character and be very selective about where to focus the reader’s attention. The plot had to move along at a cracking pace without appearing rushed.

Have you considered developing this story into a novel?

I’ve toyed with the idea, but what really appeals is the idea of turning it into a stage play. I’d love to get more humour into my writing, and this could be a fun avenue to test that out.

What are you working on next?

I’m working on my next novel and have a number of other ideas I’d like to pursue, such as the play. Time will tell which ones get oxygen.