A warm welcome to author Chris T. Kat stopping by here @ Love Bytes to talk about the right balance between mystery and romance , offering a excerpt on the new release “Swordplay” and there is a giveaway to participate in
Welcome Chris!
Balancing Mystery with Romance
Hello, I’m Chris T. Kat, visiting Love Byte Reviews. I’m here to talk about my new release, Swordplay (A Jeff Woods Mystery). Swordplay is the third and last book in the Jeff Woods Mysteries series, and was published by Dreamspinner Press on December 22nd.
In the first book of the series, Attachment Strings, Jeff and Alex, the two main characters, meet and fall in love. In the second book, Sacrifices, they have to overcome some obstacles and solidify the foundation of their relationship. In the new book, Swordplay, they’re in a committed relationship, and do everything to make it work between them.
That’s the romance aspect of the story, but since it’s a mystery there’s also a case. Jeff and his work-partner, Parker, invest a lot of time in figuring out who did it and why. I needed to do both aspects justice so that romance readers would get their HEA and mystery readers would be satisfied as well.
Now what’s the difference between a romantic suspense and a mystery with romance?
- In a romantic suspense story, the main focus is on the love story between two characters. There’s also a suspense element, something dangerous that’ll up the ante for the main characters. In the end however, they’ll find love, and at least a happy for now if not a happy ever after.
- In a mystery with romance, the protagonist of the story actively seeks to solve a crime. The main focus is on finding the answers to the mystery, the whodunnit. The romance is a subplot and adds emotional depth. Maybe the lead character has to leave his comfort zone, or he discovers new truths about himself.
I admit that at times it was hard to balance the mystery with the romance. There’s added tension in Jeff and Alex’s relationship due to Sean, Alex’s disabled little brother’s new health issues, which cause some conflict between them. I tried to alternate relationship/family scenes with investigating scenes to keep the mystery solving moving and hope I was successful.
If you’ve read Attachment Strings and/or Sacrifices, how would you classify these stories? As a romantic suspense or a mystery with a romance subplot?
Blurb:
After leaving his dream job as an Atlantic City detective, Jeff Woods has moved to Washington DC with his life partner Alex Fisher and Alex’s disabled little brother Sean. Parker Trenkins, Jeff’s ex-partner on the force, has made the move as well, along with his significant other David. Jeff and Parker partner up once again, but in a new way, as owners of their own detective agency.
Life is difficult at the best of times. Sean loses sight in one of his eyes, a direct result of being pushed into the Atlantic by a homicidal maniac a year ago. In his struggle to deal with everything, a restless Alex enrolls in Tai Chi classes at a nearby school.
As it happens, a murder case Jeff and Parker take involves the head of that very Tai Chi School, Charles Cooper. Cooper is a suspect in the murder of a financial corporation official. He appears to have motive. Jeff and Parker’s investigation arouses the real killer’s interest, and if they don’t uncover his identity soon, it may be too late for them.
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Excerpt from Chapter Two:
“What’s wrong?” Alice asked.
Parker paced the room, muttering, while I clenched my hands on the armrests, forcing myself to stop hyperventilating. When I thought I had my voice under control, I addressed Parker. “He’s a weirdo magnet.”
“What? Who? What are you talking about?” Alice’s voice rose in frustration.
“I’m still saying it’s the combination of you two. Somehow you must emit those weirdo vibes and attract them.” Parker stopped and turned toward Alice. “Alex is taking tai chi lessons at Mr. Cooper’s school.”
Alice put her poker face on. “Will that pose a problem during the investigation?”
“Other than me forbidding Alex to go back there? No, I don’t think so,” I replied.
Alice actually recoiled. Parker snickered. “Can I come and watch when you forbid him to go? Please?”
I rolled my shoulders to ease some of the tension. “Don’t be a prick. He can’t attend his lessons as long as I don’t know what’s going on. Don’t tell me you disagree. You’re usually the first one to point out anything dangerous.”
Parker flushed and crossed his arms. He’d become quite protective of Alex, which in the beginning had amused Alex but now was starting to annoy him. Parker flipped me the finger. “You said you’re going to forbid it. I’m just curious how you’re going to proceed.”
“Ass.”
“Oh dear, it’s insult the poor, worried friend time again.” Parker pressed a hand over his heart and expelled a long-suffering sigh.
Alice chuckled and I groaned. “Parker,” I whined. “Maybe I’ll try to talk him out of going instead of forbidding it, okay?”
“Can I watch your futile attempt, then?”
“No!”
“Bummer.”
Alice was still chuckling when she said, “Can we get back to business now?”
I’d rather have gone home and broken the news to Alex so he didn’t have to learn about it via TV or when he went for his lesson. I frowned as I tried to recall if Wednesday was one of his usual training days, but I couldn’t be sure. I thought he usually went on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but sometimes he changed his schedule for whatever reason.
Parker jostled my elbow, and I yanked my mind to the here and now. Alice crossed her legs and spared me a disapproving look. She’d have to try harder to intimidate me. Or evoke any kind of reaction, really.
“As I said already”—she gave me a pointed glare, which I ignored—“the victim was beheaded with Mr. Cooper’s favorite sword.”
“Then it’s pretty cut and dried, isn’t it?” Parker asked.
Alice shook her head. “That sword was in a cabinet in Mr. Cooper’s school. Anyone could have taken it.”
“I see a ‘but’ coming,” I said.
“But—” Alice flashed a grin at me before she went on. “—Mr. Cooper is the only one with a key.”
“What did Eller want at Cooper’s school? Was he a pupil?”
“No, he wasn’t,” Alice replied. “Forensics already proved Mr. Cooper’s sword to be the murder weapon, and only his fingerprints are on it. The signs all lead to Mr. Cooper, but anyone could have taken the sword out of the weapons cabinet, though it didn’t seem to have been tampered with.”
“You believe he’s innocent,” I stated. “Why?”
She sighed. “I took lessons, years ago. He’s one of the most upright people I’ve ever met and he’s a tai chi master. He abhors violence and is a deeply spiritual individual.”
“He abhors violence? He practices martial arts,” Parker said.
“That’s different,” Alice and I protested in unison. I lifted one shoulder in a halfhearted shrug at her raised eyebrow. “Alex keeps explaining this stuff to me. Some of the things I even remember.”
“He’ll be thrilled to know you remember some things,” Parker drawled.
“Fuck you.”
“No, thanks. You’re too much of a caveman for me, but thanks for the offer. I’ll make sure to inform Alex of it.”
“Is he always like this?” Alice asked, sounding a little bit scandalized though she tried to suppress it.
“Oh, no. Sometimes he’s worse,” I replied.
Parker sighed but couldn’t keep up the façade for more than a few seconds. His face split into a grin. “All right. So this Mr. Cooper is a master in a martial art, but he’s against violence. Go on.”
“You’ve missed your calling. You should’ve become a lawyer. Everyone would fear your tongue.” Alice collected her thoughts. “Cooper denies having killed Eller. Also, Cooper claims he only uses this particular sword for performances. Nothing adds up.”
“What about a motive? Any clues?” I asked.
“Nothing so far.”
I exchanged a glance with Parker, and when he gave an almost imperceptible nod, I said, “All right. We’ll take the case.”
Chris T. Kat lives in the middle of Europe, where she shares a house with her husband of many years and their two children. She stumbled upon the M/M genre by luck and was swiftly drawn into it. She divides her time between work, her family—which includes chasing after escaping horses and lugging around huge instruments such as a harp—and writing. She enjoys a variety of genres, such as mystery/suspense, paranormal, and romance. If there’s any spare time, she happily reads for hours, listens to audiobooks or does cross stitch.
Links:
Blog: http://christikat.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/christi_kat
GoodReads:http://www.goodreads.com/ChrisTKat
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ChrisTKat
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Chris-T.-Kat/e/B008FQQH2Q
Chris is giving away a set of all three books in the “Jeff Woods Mystery” series (Attachment Strings, Sacrifices and Swordplay) as paperbacks to one lucky winner! Comment on any of the Swordplay blog tour stops for your chance to win.
Here’s the list of participants:
December 23rd: The Novel Approach
December 27th: Love Byte Reviews
December 30th: The Blogger Girls
December 31st: Joyfully Jay
Chris will pick the winner on January 3rd and contact the winner via e-mail. Winner has 48 hours to respond. Good luck!
I would love to have these in paperback. I have read the first two and now must get this one.
I too loved the first two and winning the whole set would be fun.
I would love to read this series.
I would love to read this series! Thanks very much for the giveaway.
I love finding new to me authors!!!! Can’t wait to read this series!
IT sounds like a series I’d enjoy!
Wonderful offer. Please count me in. 🙂
Looks and sounds fantastic. I’m looking forward to giving it a read.
Sounds interesting 🙂
sounds great! please count me in
This sounds like a wonderful series.
I can see how you would find it hard to choose between a romantic suspense or a mystery with a romance subplot. I think there is a fine line. The books so far have been great. Would love to have paper back copies
Thank you so much for this lovely chance to win this amazing giveaway! Count me in, please
I love Chris’ books but I still have to read this series. Plz, count me in and happy holidays
Loved the post and ty for the giveaway. Count me in pls
It sounds pretty great. Count me in, please
Really liked the excerpt and thanks for the great giveaway <3
Great post! I would really love to read this series. Thank you for the chance at the giveaway.
juliesmall2016(at)gmail(dot)com
The excerpt was pretty great. Thank you very much for thinking about us with this terrific giveaway. Happy Holidays
This sounds great! I loved the excerpt. Thanks for the great giveaway too!
Thanks to everyone for participating and leaving a comment. Good luck in the draw! 🙂
Sounds interesting, thank you for the giveaway!!!
Sorry the double post 🙁
I’ve read Attachment Strings and thought there was a good balance. I think I might classify that as romantic suspense since the building of the relationship and Jeff’s change in his outlook was such a major part of the story.
debdeege (at) optonline (dot) net