On Writing Rhythm and Clues

March 19, 2024 | By Women Writers Women Books | Reply More

Texas is a place of extreme weather. Long, months-long dry spells are broken by torrential thunderstorms and heavy flooding. These terrifying yet exhilarating, life-threatening yet life-saving storms were a big inspiration behind Rhythm and Clues (The rhythm is gonna get you March 26, 2024 from St Martin’s Press). As a recovering ex-Texan myself, one of the things I miss most are the amazing thunderstorms. Then again, one of the things I miss the least are the damaging tornados that pop-up during storm season. I guess that’s just one of the many conflicting dichotomies behind this caffeinated cozy mystery.

While we’re on the subject of contrasts, cozies are already a study in opposites. The central theme is always a mystery, usually a murder. A person is killed but the death can’t be graphic or violent—and what is a death without a little violence? Clues are followed and a killer is ultimately revealed, but instead of relying on modern forensics (fingerprints, DNA, and other scientific evidence), clues are found through observation, gossip, and sometimes, pure luck and/or determination. The primary investigator has no professional crime-solving credentials—instead of being a trained police detective, they’re an amateur sleuth with an unrelated day job.

In Rhythm and Clues, the amateur sleuth, Juni Jessup, works in retail. Juni and her sisters Tansy and Maggie are in complete harmony, having opened up a vinyl records shop/coffee café, Sip & Spin Records. They live in Cedar River, Texas, which is a rural community but it is close enough to Austin to have access to the live music capital of the world. The record shop, like many small, family-owned businesses, is teetering between profitability and failure. When an aggressive investor swoops in and promises to save the day, his offer strikes a chord but seems too good to be true. Then the sisters find him dead outside Sip & Spin a few hours later during a violent thunderstorm. Now the Jessups must stay in tune while they figure out who killed the investor while continuing to serve up the hottest, musically-themed beverages (like I’ve Got Brew, Babe) and the coolest tunes in the aftermath of the storm that left Cedar River without electricity.

Another seemingly contradictory feature of cozies is that while they deal with a serious subject matter—murder—they do so in a light-hearted or comedic manner. Gritty crime drama has no place in the cozy mystery, but close-knit families, a town full of oddballs, and a little light romance is always welcome. On top of meeting the challenges of running her own business, dealing with family drama, and solving a murder, Juni also must face the music and choose between the two suitors who have been competing for her heart.

Rhythm and Clues is a study in extreme contrasts. Should the Jessups continue to struggle to keep up the tempo and make Sip & Spin profitable, or is the key to success selling controlling interest to a predatory investor? While investigating, they discover that other local small businesses have a record of wildly different experiences with the investor, from multi-platinum success to bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Juni is trying to reconcile the sketchy nature of the investor with his well-intentioned partner, who is lost and trackless without him. The swollen river that provides much-needed water to the town now threatens to overflow its banks and flood low-lying houses, and when it starts to receded, it reveals a macabre secret that may have never been discovered if it weren’t for the discordant storm. Now it’s up to Juni, a record shop owner/barista, to find the killer before they get away with murder.

When it rains it pours, and this time it’s raining murder.

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OLIVIA BLACKE (she/her), author of the Record Shop Mysteries and Brooklyn Murder Mysteries, finally found a way to put her criminology degree to use by writing murderously fun, cozy, and caffeinated mysteries. Olivia is a little nerdy, a lot awkward, and just the right amount of weird. A recovering ex-Texan, she resides with her husband, Potassium, and Baileycakes, their roly-poly rescue puggle. She wants to be a unicorn when she grows up. Connect with Olivia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Bsky, or check out her website OliviaBlacke.com, where you can join her newsletter for first look at updates, giveaways, and exclusive offers

Rhythm and Clues

It’s raining murder in the third book in the Record Shop Mysteries by Olivia Blacke, Rhythm and Clues. It’s been months since Juni Jessup and her sisters solved the last murder in Cedar River when disaster strikes again. After a sketchy financier dies outside Sip & Spin Records during a torrential Texas thunderstorm and the overflowing river spits out a macabre surprise, can they catch the killer without missing a beat? The rhythm is gonna get you March 26, 2024 from St. Martin’s Paperbacks.