Màiri is a Scots Irish teacher whose home is Glasgow as it was in the 1970s, a time and place Kate recalls fondly. Passionate about Accessibility, Kate insists that all her writing is published in Large Print and Dyslexia Friendly editions, in addition to standard print, eBooks and audiobooks.
What kind of books do you write?
I write funny, frothy, action-packed Cozies, escapism pure and simple. Yes, I know Cozies aren’t usually action-packed – but mine are. Màiri, the reluctant sleuth heroine of the Death in Paris and the Màiri’s Home for the Holidays series, is endlessly escaping from one dire peril only to fall into the next, as frighteningly danger-prone as the heroine of that old silent film The Perils of Pauline Hunt, the British consulting detective in my Huntingdon Hart Investigates series, is an ex-MI5 operative, with a unique skillset and billions in the bank. The man can hardly draw a breath without being in ferocious physical danger, yet he finds time almost every day to rescue someone from something, even while obsessively pursuing the love of his life, the Dowager Duchess Sophia Lovely ditsy Erin, the heroine in the Found Money series, attracts criminals like a magnet. The Scotland Yard detective pursuing her around the globe soon finds himself in a sticky situation - he’s fallen in love with her. How can he save Erin from the bank robbers and drug dealers who have her in their toils?
Can you describe your writing why?
We all need a good laugh in these troubled times, I think. I try to give my readers a laugh.
In the 15 months I’ve been writing my little stories, I have received over 1800 emails from readers, more than half of whom have been going through some ghastly life crisis and need some escapism. Not to mention the war in the Ukraine and spiralling prices for everything (except my eBooks).
My desire to take people to a better world, if only for a few hours, is what sends me to my keyboard every day.
Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most
My fave is the first train sequence from Death in Paris, my debut novel, which has won 15 international book awards, including the Readers Favorite Gold Medal for Humor and Incipere Awards for Best Christian Fiction and Best Clean Mystery. It also came a close second in the 2022 Cozy of the Year contest, chosen by Cozy Readers’ Tribe Votes.
Màiri, the reluctant sleuth heroine, who narrates, is a Scots Irish teacher. Lianna is her Glaswegian BFF. They are on a train from Le Havre to Paris
Seizing his cane with a wordless roar, the military man brandishes it like a weapon (despite very obviously needing it to steady a gimpy leg), over-balancing his hot water jug as his other hand grabs at his tabletop to haul himself onto his feet. His dishes all go flying.
He has managed to jump up – only his fury lending him the ability to stand without falling – and attempts to bring his cane down hard on the little man’s head.
The little man dodges away from the blow, but he can’t get past the roaring lunatic, who is shouting at him with tremendous passion, thrashing about him with his cane in the most astonishing surge of violent energy, even though he can hardly stay upright and looks as if he’ll fall any second.
“You damned scoundrel! You double-dyed liar! You little sneak! You embezzling skunk! I’ll skin you alive! I’ll break this cane over your lying skull, see if I don’t!”
And with another startling lunge he actually manages to connect his cane with the little man’s shoulder, quite a vicious blow. The little man screams. Lianna screams. The attacker is still roaring.
And over it all, in sweet, measured tones yet as penetrating as any sergeant-major’s on the parade ground “Charlie, what have you done now?” blares out the Glasgow-accented voice of the grey-haired woman.
I see it all in a flash. I’m not going to get any cream cakes; and bringing Lianna to Paris has been a mistake.
But I’m giving myself too much credit. I don’t yet know the full dimensions of this fiasco, because it happens that I’m sitting by the window, and Lianna’s seat gives onto the central passage-way. As she rises, shaking, there is nothing to prevent her from moving anywhere she likes – and I don’t even want to think about what Lianna might like to do to Charlie Stout.
Ferghal looks from my agonised expression to Lianna’s contorted face, and proves himself a man of action.
He moves smoothly into the passage just behind Lianna and catches at her arms. “Wheesht,” he murmurs, “Sure I think they’ll get on better without a lady in the mix.”
Lianna’s last vestige of control slips. The hated enemy is in front of her, and she is going to get him where it hurts, even if that means hurting someone else first.
Forgetting for a moment that she is a lady, Lianna elbows Ferghal viciously (I really can’t bring myself to say where) and screams “Let me at him.”
Ferghal, to his credit, somehow manages to absorb the blow and stay on his feet, and he hasn’t let go of Lianna. In fact he tightens his grip.
Lianna is beside herself, screaming at poor Ferghal. “Let me at him! I’ll strangle him! I’ll cut his lying tongue out and stuff it down his throat! I’ll kill him! I’ll break every bone in his rotten body! I’ll throttle him!”
Obviously she can’t cut his tongue out (there are no sharp enough knives in the carriage) but I wouldn’t wager a groat on the chances of her not doing the rest.
Not while Ferghal has a good hold of her though.
The lunatic by the entranceway has Stout trapped, he can’t get out and he can’t get past. And even although Stout is leaping about nimbly, and the military relict can hardly stand, every now and then a vicious blow from the cane connects.
The military gentleman is still roaring insults and threats. Stout screams every time the cane hits him. Lianna never stops screaming about how she’s going to strangle Stout and/or break him to bits (her precise intention isn’t fully clear, though not from want of poor Lianna trying to make her wishes known).
Ferghal is still murmuring soothingly to her. He might as well save his breath.
The noise level is indescribable.
It’s almost as bad as when 3C first pour out into the playground after double period maths.
Tell us about your latest project
I’m currently working on a “forever” series of Huntingdon Hart consulting detective stories. Hunt is ex-MI5, a retired hitman in his early 30s, independently wealthy. He enjoys propping up the bar at his local and going to the races at Newmarket. People are always coming to them with their complicated troubles, and usually he makes life good for them again.
His happy carefree existence is disrupted when he falls in love with a woman 23 years his senior, who leads him a merry dance; and simultaneously his old boss in British Intelligence wants him back on the job. As if that weren’t enough trouble, he soon encounters his old enemy The Stingbat, the CIA are gunning for him, he is struggling not to become a victim of office politics, and he gets embroiled in a complex plot against the British throne.
A different animal is featured in each Casefile, and two of them, an adorable pekingese puppy and a baby kitten, become a part of Hunt’s life.
The individual cases are released as a serial, and collected as Casebooks. Eventually, there will be Collections of Huntingdon Hart’s Cases, 10 cases per paperback, also available digitally and as audiobooks. The first audiobook is currently being created, and I hope that the first full length novel To Serve My King will have been released by the time this blogpost appears.
What is your favourite cake?
Coffee sponge with buttercream filling, chocolate icing and walnuts. Second fave, any kind of cream cake.
Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with Dagmar Rokita.
You can support my writing endeavours and buy me tea & cake on Kofi - it's what makes the world go round!
Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find out more about her books on her website clairebuss.co.uk. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. Never miss out on future posts by following me.
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