A Moment With…Florence Wetzel

I’m pleased to be welcoming Florence Wetzel to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, Dashiki: A Cozy Mystery.

A cozy mystery with a dash of romance set in the vibrant world of jazz.

During an interview with reclusive jazz singer Betty Brown, journalist Virginia Farrell is shown priceless tapes from the iconic 1957 Thelonious Monk-John Coltrane gig at the Five Spot. When Betty is found murdered, Virginia is determined to recover the tapes and uncover the truth behind Betty’s death.

In the spirit of Nancy Drew, Virginia teams up with her six-foot blonde roommate to investigate the various suspects. Detective Robert Smith from the Hoboken Police Department joins the case, quickly becoming absorbed by an unsolved murder possibly linked to Betty Brown’s death, as well as an undeniable attraction to Virginia.

Dashiki is a cozy mystery laced with romance, immersing readers in the captivating world of jazz, where musicians, journalists, scholars, and enthusiasts intersect in an entertaining whodunit.

The author of Dashiki has joined us today to talk about  The Healing Power of Reading and Writing Cozy Mysteries. Over to you, Florence. 

While at Barnard College in the 1980s, I studied English literature and creative writing. From that time on, I devoted myself to reading literature with a capital L, including authors such as Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Doris Lessing, Albert Camus, and Virginia Woolf. The more challenging the book, the more I enjoyed it. I had also decided to become a writer myself, and those were the kind of books I aspired to create.

My mother, on the other hand, was a big fan of mysteries and spy novels. It was clear those books made her happy, though I doubted they delved into serious matters the way I believed true literature should. As a result, I never took her up on the many recommendations she made to me over the years.

I carried on like that for two decades without straying from my literary tastes. Then 9/11 happened. Anyone born before 1995 remembers the gravity of that day. At the time I lived in Hoboken, NJ, just a stone’s throw from Ground Zero. And since I worked in Manhattan, I found myself in the center of the horror, sorrow, and confusion.

As often before in my life, I turned to books as a place to find solace. Unfortunately I found it impossible to read the kind of dense literature I preferred. Partly because the continuing shock of 9/11 left me struggling to concentrate, but mostly because I sought to avoid physical violence or emotional pain. I was already surrounded by those realities daily, and I wasn’t looking for books that compounded my burden.

Hoboken has a charming library in a historic brownstone, and I went there in search of something to read. I don’t recall exactly how it happened, but I picked up a book by Agatha Christie. I was almost 40 then, but I had never read a single one of her mysteries. I decided to read just one light novel before returning to the literature I normally enjoyed.

The book I took out that day was The Secret of Chimneys. Just a few pages in, I found myself utterly transported. There were charming characters, witty dialogue, a budding romance, interesting scenery, and a clever plot. It was a literary souffle, a concoction both light and nourishing, entertaining yet sharply intelligent.

Discovering Christie was a gift that kept on giving. I went back to the library and eagerly checked out four more of her books: The Seven Dials Mystery, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans, Death in the Clouds, The ABC Murders. After finishing those, I went back and got four more. And that’s how it went for the next several months.

And you know what? I got through that dark time. There was still a pall of sorrow over Manhattan, but by the time spring arrived, I was able to take a full breath. I owe much of this recovery to Christie; her books captivated and comforted me without asking a lot in return. The worlds she created soothed my soul and steadied my nerves, allowing me to gradually heal.

In June 2003, I moved to upstate New York to have a little distance from the city, which still hadn’t fully recovered from that devastating day. I also wanted to start a new writing project, namely my first cozy mystery. If reading a cozy was healing, surely writing one would help me as well.

That turned out to be true. As an homage to Christie, I wrote Dashiki, a story with all the elements I enjoyed in her books. I can’t claim that my plot is as masterful as hers, but it was certainly fun to work out the intricacies. Every morning felt like an adventure as I joined my characters within the safe bubble of their world. And as I wrote, I held the hope that my book could one day offer the same solace that Christie’s books had given me.

Now it’s January 2024, and I’ve just released the second edition of Dashiki. I spent many months making small edits and enhancing the book’s readability, and I think those changes have strengthened the story. Diving back into that world was an enormous pleasure, and it’s once again helped me find my balance in difficult times. My hope for the new edition remains unchanged from the first version: to provide a

About Florence Wetzel –

Florence Wetzel was born 1962 in Brooklyn, NY. Her novels include the thriller The Woman Who Went Overboard and the Swedish mystery The Grand Man.

She has also authored horror short stories, a book of poems and memoir essays, and co-authored jazz clarinettist Perry Robinson’s autobiography.

In July 2024, she published Sara My Sara: A Memoir of Friendship and Loss.

Say hello to Florence Wetzel via Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. 

Click to buy Dashiki: A Cozy Mystery on Amazon UK and Amazon US. 

*****

Win a copy of Dashiki by Florence Wetzel. 

If you’d like to win a paperback copy of Dashiki by Florence Wetzel, here’s your chance.

All you have to do to enter, is click on this link.

This competition is open to people from the UK, US and Canada only.

Terms and Conditions –

UK / US & Canada entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box above.

The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner.

Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information.

This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I (Novel Kicks), am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.