What’s So funny about Murder: Heather Haven weighs in

Heather Haven is one of the seven authors who contributed her book A Wedding to Die for to the boxed set of humorous murder mysteries.

Author Heather Haven

Here’s what Heather had to say about writing humor in murder mysteries:

Why do I write funny? Because life can be hard. Sometimes it’s damn near impossible. As we travel through this great adventure called Life, we can see the glass as half-full or half-empty. Cleaving onto the humor of it all, helps us see the glass as half-full.

When I began the humorous mystery series revolving around the Alvarez Family, I wanted to depict a family that wasn’t the traditional husband, wife, two kids, station wagon, and dog. Even if it starts out like that, Life happens. At the very least, your car breaks down and your dog gets fleas. What we discover along the way is you need to hold on to what you have with lots of love, humor, and flea powder.

The protagonist of the Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries is the quirky, thirty-four year old Lee Alvarez. She’s half-Latina, half-Palo Alto Blueblood, and 100 percent detective. She learns and grows, just like the rest of us. When she finds a Kate Spade handbag on sale for fifty-percent off, you can hear the cheer from a block away. When she gains five pounds, you can hear the shriek from two blocks away. Just like the rest of us.

Lee makes her living as the in-house PI of the family-owned, Silicon Valley detective agency, Discretionary Inquiries. Her job description states that she is paid to track down perpetrators who steal intellectual property or computer hardware and/or software. Nowhere does it mention the occasional murderer she has to find. Those are gratis.

She shares the stage with her CEO mother, Lila Hamilton Alvarez, who has never had a bad hair day in her life. Her computer nerd brother, Richard, is head of the IT Department. He keeps foisting the latest gewgaw on her while she’s hot-footing it after felons. She is not technologically savvy. She has a cat, Rum Tum Tugger. Sometimes sharing a hamburger with him is the highlight of her day. The Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries are sparkly, humorous, and positive, even when Lee is falling over dead bodies.

Other people seem to like a good laugh, too. The first book of the series, Murder is a Family Business, won the Single Titles Reviewers Choice Award 2011. The 2nd, A Wedding to Die For was a finalist in both the EPIC and Global Best Mystery of the Year Awards 2012. The 3^rd, Death Runs in the Family, won the Global Gold for Best Mystery Fiction 2013. The 4th of the series, Dead…If Only, is about to debut in early October. How many more will there be? As long as I keep laughing, I’ll keep writing.

Lesley says, Ah, yes Ican certainly relate to that half-price Kate Spade bag. And I’m with Heather when she says a writer likes to laugh as well as make her readers chuckle too. Thanks for visiting, Heather, and we hope you do keep laughing and keep writing. Here’s a bit about Heather’s work:

Heather’s 4^th book of the Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries, DEAD….If Only, can be pre-ordered at http://tinyurl.com/othvsgp. The official launch date is October 13, 2014. Here’s the blurb:

DEAD….If Only

A man who should be dead isn’t and Lee Alvarez’s very pregnant

sister-in-law, Vicki, is about to be charged with a murder he recently

committed in the Big Easy. Aided by the rest of the Alvarez Family,

Palo Alto’s favorite P.I. kicks the Voodoo in the Who Do throughout

New Orleans. With only three days to clear Vicki’s name, a child is

kidnapped, two more people wind up dead, a hurricane hits, and the

clock never stops ticking….

Heather Haven, writer

San Jose, California 95135

Heather@HeatherHavenStories.com

http://www.heatherhavenstories.com/