Friday, 7 November 2025

Coming April 11!

THE PHARAOH'S CURSE MURDERS!

Book 3 in the Merry Widow Murders series

Now available for preorder on Amazon, Indigo, B&N

Saturday, 25 October 2025

My colleague and pal Lisa de Nikolits is guesting here today, with a fun post that features a literary heroine who might actually fit into my own family...or rather, Gina Gallo's family from The Goddaughter series!

A NeoNoir Cinderella

by Lisa de Nikolits

Write what you know. Isn’t that what they always say? If I were to write what I know, I’d write about a daydreamer with her head in the clouds, a butterfly struggling to survive in the corporate world, an avid reader with a fondness for all things that glitter and sparkle.

She’s a romantic, a believer in fairy-tale happy endings, a woman who’s not afraid to get her hands dirty while keeping her stylish hat firmly in place, with her sunglasses perched on her nose and her lips full and glossy.

So I wrote what I know into Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon, a noir, darkly comedic gangster caper written as a 1950’s hard-boiled suspense thriller but set in current time. The central plot is a series of age-old cons playing out in real time. The reader isn’t sure who to trust. Is our stylish heroine an unreliable narrator? And you don’t want to mess with our mob boss antagonist, Vincenzo Esposito, whose love for 1950’s crime scene photographer, Weegee (Arthur Fellig), finds its way into his business dealings. Greed drives the stakes higher and higher, complicated by sibling rivalry, doomed love affairs, familicide and enough cocaine to build a replica of the Roy Neary’s mashed potato’s mountain in Close Encounters of the Third Time (1977).

As a young child about seven or eight, I had a playdate with a friend. We discovered a discarded box of her mother’s fancy cocktail dresses and I thought it would be absolutely fabulous to dress like that all the time.

I wondered what people would think of a woman dressed like a 1950’s heroine and, even more importantly, why would someone day dress like a 50’s heroine? I needed to create the right backstory for Jessica Wren and she soon became one of my favourite characters.

Jessica is a modern-day feisty Cinderella and her backstory is an unusual one. I don’t want to give away any spoilers because you need to read the book!

When it came to Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon, there were myriad inspirations for the book apart from Jessica Wren. There was a leafy sea dragon at Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto, a gallery exhibit of Weegee photographs, a pressing need to write a short story for Thirteen Claws, a Mesdames of Mayhem anthology (2017), and a bunch of characters who’d been floating around my brain for some time and who desperately wanted out.

Thirteen Claws needed to feature an animal of some kind, and I fell in love with the leafy sea dragon, so that was a given. And Mad Dog Esposito, as photographed by Weegee, was completely irresistible. And what about Jessica? I’d had her in mind for ages, ever since I played dress up in that small suburban house near a veldt in Johannesburg, South Africa, all those years ago.

Sometimes it’s good to take stock of one’s own life and our own Cinderella stories. We live in a world where everyone’s social media looks so wonderful and polished and successful that it’s hard to remember back how far one has come.

To all writers out there, one of my favourite tips is “write what you know, with a twist.” I could have journalled about that day with my little friend Lorna, but instead, I dug deep into a fictional character, using the seeds of that day to grow an entirely different garden.

We all carry those seeds, thousands of them, in our memories and our minds and there is no greater resource for a writer than the lives we have lived. I’m all for journalling for therapeutic purposes but if you want write what you know in a crime novel, it will need to have a twist and that’s where all the fun begins!

So here’s to Mad Dog and Jessica Wren, and a day from a long time ago, in a veldt far, far away, and here’s to all our Cinderella stories and, like Jessica Wren, let’s be feisty when we have to be, strong and quiet when we have to, and ever glamorous, sparkly and shiny!

BIO:

Lisa de Nikolits is the award-winning author of eleven novels (twelve, with Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon) as well as numerous short stories and poetry, garnering five-star reviews and a strong international fanbase. Originally from South Africa, Canada has been her home since 2000. Forthcoming works include That Time I Killed You (2026, Level Best Books). She lives and writes in the Beaches in Toronto.

LINKS:

Facebook author page:

https://www.facebook.com/lisadenikolitsauthor/

Twitter:

https://x.com/lisadenikolits

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/ireadsomewherethatbylisa/

Author website:

https://lisawriter.com

Friday, 10 October 2025

"Christie-meets-Wodehouse" - EQMM

Bless Steve Steinbock and EQMM! Christie and Wodehouse are my heroes.

Sunday, 7 September 2025

Then and Now - Author photos! 30 years, and 20 books later...

Friday, 22 August 2025

Join me at Word on the Street TORONTO!

Monday, 11 August 2025

Terrific Review from The Historical Novel Society!!

What a gorgeous surprise today! From the Historical Novel Society - review of The Silent Film Star Murders!

"Campbell’s writing displays talent and wit, and her cozy mystery is an absolute delight from England to New York, along with Elf, who is quite unforgettable!"

"Details of the luxurious Victoriana are expertly woven in, putting readers amongst the silks and satins and heady Hollywood vibe, and dining upon the chef’s sumptuous creations. Campbell’s writing displays talent and wit, and her cozy mystery is an absolute delight from England to New York, along with Elf, who is quite unforgettable!"

The entire review found here:

The Silent Film Star Murders (The Merry Widow Murders, 2) - Historical Novel Society

Saturday, 5 July 2025

Murder, Death, Kill* (Or what happened earlier.)

Happy to see that my dear friend and colleague Alison E. Bruce has a new book out! Many readers have been waiting for this continuation of the Carmedy and Garrett series. Alison writes PI thrillers, and believe me, this one will stay with you long after you finish it.

Alison gives us the backstory today. Read on!

Murder, Death, Kill*
(Or what happened earlier.)

By Alison Bruce

A crime novel doesn’t always need a murder. Death isn’t always a crime. And kill is often an empty threat.

The Carmedy and Garrett series started with the death of Joe Garrett, retired police detective, and senior partner in the detective agency, Garrett Investigations. Even though his death wasn’t a crime, it influenced the investigations of two other murders, and not just because his business partner, Jake Carmedy, and his daughter Detective Garrett were involved. (Deadly Legacy)

Kate inherited half her father’s detective agency which she decided to rename Carmedy and Garrett Investigations, as a gesture of goodwill to her new partner. She was given an extended leave of absence from the City Police so she could decide whether to be a police detective or a private investigator, and to wrap up her father’s estate. Her boss, who also happened to be her father best friend and her godfather, facilitated her leave and referred a client to her in the next Carmedy and Garrett mystery.

Someone was killing cats with a poison dart gun. The Neighbourhood Watch wanted help finding the feline assassin. Killing cats is also not murder, though a few of the cat owners might have been driven to murder if they found the culprit on their own. However, looking at her father’s old case notes, Kate found a connection between her current case and a domestic violence case that ended the career of one of her father’s rookies.

Was Kate looking for connections because she missed her father? (Deadly Season)

In Deadly Art, Kate will be dealing with one of the hardest parts of the death of a loved one, the part where life goes on. And, because this is mystery is a MDK, life ends too.

*MDK, Murder Death Kill, is my most indelible take-aways from the movie Demolition Man, even more than the shells and Taco Bell becoming a fine dining establishment.