Nancy Martin is the author of 48 popular fiction novels in the mystery, suspense, historical, and romance genres. In 2002, she created The Blackbird Sisters Mysteries about three impoverished Main Line heiresses who adventure in couture and crime. She has also written the Roxy Abruzzo mystery series and Miss Ruffles Inherits Everything.
Martin and her husband split their time between their home in the Pittsburgh area and a home in Florida.
She has served on the board of Sisters in Crime and is a founding member of Pennwriters.
Nancy’s answers to our questions for Mystery Month:
1. What made you decide to write in the mystery/action-thriller genre?
I was always a big fan of the mystery genre, but for a long time, I was too intimidated by the complexities of a mystery plot to try writing one. It also takes a lot of courage to write books that might sit on the same shelf as greats like Dorothy Sayers or Ngaio Marsh or Josephine Tey. I started my writing career writing romances—it’s lucrative if you can keep up the pace—but I got bored with the formula. And I always joke that my daughters got old enough to read Mommy’s books, so I decided I better stop writing about sex and write about killing people instead. When I was a teenager, my favorite books were the romantic suspense novels of Mary Stewart, which were a blend of romance and light mystery. Those seemed less intimidating to write, so that’s the niche I chose to try. My books are still light on both mystery and romance.
2. How do you balance the use of technology and good old-fashioned sleuthing in your books?
When I first started writing the Blackbird sisters in 2001, cell phones weren’t quite as necessary then, so I allowed Nora Blackbird to be a dunderhead about technology so the plot wouldn’t be shortened by the speed of cell phone communication. That wouldn’t work today. Then came the era when characters were allowed to forget to charge their phones, or they dropped their laptops in the bathtub, but I don’t think anybody can get away with that now. Sleuthing must include all possible methods, including technology. (I once sealed up a plot hole by having the morgue close for a workers’ strike. Could morgue workers really do that? I dunno, but it avoided having technical information come too soon in the story.) To write believably in the present day, writers have to be on top of it all. I guess that means I’d better get a handle on TikTok.
3. How important is research for this genre?
Oh, boy, if a writer gets one detail wrong these days, you’re going to hear about it. For MISS RUFFLES INHERITS EVERYTHING, I wrote about a character going to a grocery store called Tejas, which is real in Texas. But the book had been in stores for about five minutes before I got blasted in an email from a reader who assumed I’d made a typo. She was very rude, too. As a careful reader myself, however, I know what she was feeling. Because she thought she found a mistake, she probably questioned everything else in the book. Author Reliability is a thing. You must be excruciatingly well researched, or your readers won’t trust you. The only difference now is that readers feel entitled enough in their opinions to insult and abuse an author.
4. Who are your favorite authors? Favorite mystery/action thriller author?
I confess I’m not a thriller reader. I prefer a slow-paced book with fully fleshed characters who act and feel like real people. I’m attracted to literary novels more than high concept genre books because I like elegant writing and deep themes. Which isn’t intended to sound snobby. I just don’t want my heart to be pounding along with a tense plot. During the pandemic especially, I wanted quiet books. I’m a wimp. I loved Margaret Maron’s mysteries, and I miss her. But I have Ann Patchett and Anne Tyler and Elinor Lipman on my TBR stack. I loved A Gentleman in Moscow so much that I’m still trying to find a similar read. If you know some, let me know!
5. What can you tell us about your latest work in progress?
Before the pandemic, I started down a deep rabbit hole and began to study art. Are art mysteries remotely marketable? I don’t know, but it’s what I’m attracted to.
6. Do you have any upcoming book signings or video chats?
Nope. I’m getting to be more of a loner now than ever.
Mysteries by Nancy Martin:
How to Murder a Millionaire
Dead Girls Don't Wear Diamonds
Some Like It Lethal
Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die
Mick Abruzzo's Story
Have Your Cake and Kill Him Too
A Crazy Little Thing Called Death
Murder Melts in Your Mouth
Slay Belles
No Way to Kill a Lady
Little Black Book of Murder
Mick Abruzzo: The Second Wire
A Little Night Murder
Lady Be Good
Bye, Bye Blackbird
Miss Ruffles Inherits Everything
For more information visit https://www.nancymartinmysteries.com/