Your Next Favorite Author—Cyndi L. Stuart

This Killer Won’t Let You Run Away!

A letter, sealed with blood red wax, arrives in a small coastal town. Samantha’s hopes of a new, quiet life are shattered. The killer is back. Like years before, the crime scenes mimic classic mysteries Samantha once taught in her English Lit class—The Art of Detection. Is one murder staged from an Ellery Queen novel? P.D. James? Sherlock Holmes? Maybe more. 

Five years ago, strangers died. This time—friends. As the body count climbs, this menace must be found, or the killings may never stop. What’s hidden in the tiny details? Why is the killer taunting her? As the killer closes in, does she once again cut and run or stand and fight? What will Sam risk to bring this nightmare to an end?

Cyndi didn’t start out life as a mystery writer. But one day something unexpected happened—she became a woman of a certain age.

“What in the world are you waiting for?” said the voice in her head as she woke up on her fiftieth birthday. “That novel isn’t going to write itself! And YOU, sweet pea, are NOT getting any younger.” 

So, after years spent as a naturalist on the north Oregon coast and PNW garden speaker, Cyndi dusted off her old Comm degree, left technical writing behind and got to work on short stories, flash fiction, and personal essays. But in secret she tapped away on her first mystery novel, Deadly Yours, which has now been published by The Wild Rose Press.

The challenge of creating stories from her own imagination, current events, history, and things she might have overheard at the local coffee shop is what makes her happy and where her passion for writing began. She now lives on a small island in south Puget Sound where she and her husband, a potter and artist, run an artisan business. When not reading, writing, or procrastinating, Cyndi can be found hiking, biking, or swimming in the local lakes, streams, and even Puget Sound (in a wetsuit).

Cyndi is a member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association and Sisters in Crime.

Avis: Welcome to Your Next Favorite Author! Today’s guest is Cyndi L. Stuart! Her debut cozy-mystery novel, Deadly Yours, released April 17, 2024, and is set on the Oregon Coast and in Portland, Oregon! Two of my favorite places. 😊

            We are all excited to talk with Cyndi and find out more about her writing life. so let’s get started! Our first question is: 

Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

Cyndi: Yes, and I’ll be interested to see if anyone figures them out. It would probably take a real mystery buff who has read some of the classics to find them.

Avis: Oh no! I think I missed some for sure! That is fun, so all you readers out there, if you find them, you’ll have to let Cyndi know!

            Here’s our next question:

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

Cyndi: Getting past the first 20,000 words. I seem to run out of steam at that point (even with a solid storyline) and I’m forced to have a “come to Jesus meeting” with my characters. I remind them that they are smart and should be able to get me to the end of the story. I end by telling them, “Buck up and get moving!”

Avis: LOL! Way to get after your characters! I never thought of bossing them around, and it seems to have worked because you’ve published a wonderful read! I’ll try that next time. 😊

            Our. next question is:

What is your writing Kryptonite?

Cyndi: Just about anything. I’m an Olympic Procrastinator and have the medals to prove it. I can dink-a-doo the day away with the best of them. To combat this, I have to set a specific writing time every day. I also placed my desk facing away from the window. I live in the forest and could stare out into the canopy, watching the world go by for hours.

Avis: Your place sounds idyllic! That would be distracting! 

If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?

Cyndi: I wish I would have ignored that infamous line every writer hears. “You can’t make a living as a writer.” If I had refused to listen, I believe I would have found a writing community early on and really tapped into my creative side BEFORE I turned 50. So, to all the striving and struggling writers out there, young or mature…Don’t You Believe A Word Of It! KEEPING WRITING!

Avis: Excellent advice for young writers, Cyndi, and a wonderful note to end today’s blog on. 😊

            Thanks so much for visiting YNFA today, and for all you readers out there, see below for Cyndi’s socials, and for a review of her wonderful cozy-mystery, Deadly Yours.

Until next time, keep reading and writing! 😊

Cyndi’s social media links

• https://www.instagram.com/cyndilstuart/
• https://www.facebook.com/CyndiLStuart 
• https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14772105.Cyndi_L_Stuart
• https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cyndi-l-stuart 
• https://www.amazon.com/stores/Cyndi-L.-Stuart/author/B0CTD5CNSP?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
• your web site link – www.cyndilstuart.com

Review by Avis M. Adams

Cyndi Stuart’s cozy mystery Deadly Yours takes us on a journey through the double life of Samantha McMican, a life that she finds herself in peril of losing. 

As a reporter for the Cove Beach Chronicle in a small town on the Oregon Coast, Sam’s life is bucolic at best restful at most, but her book clubbers keep her on her toes. That all disappears with the arrival of a letter from an anonymous person who knows about her previous life, the one she is hiding from, the one that still haunts her dreams.

Stuart’s masterful story telling unravels a cast of wonderful well-crafted characters who support Sam as she works with Portland detectives to solve the mystery of who would want to kill her friends and ultimately her. The race against time creates a delicious tension as Sam’s past is revealed to her new friends in Cove Beach. With their help, she unravels the mystery before she loses to the mystery writer. 

Stuart’s pacing is impeccable, and as she unfolds the clues and possible leads, we turn the pages rooting for Sam and sitting on the edges of our seats! 

Murder mystery fans will devour this book, as will cozy mystery lovers, and anyone who wants a great summer read! Pick up Cyndi Stuart’s Deadly Yours and curl up in your beach chair, this book is a five-star read!

Released – April 17, 2024