Your Next Favorite Author—Susie Black  

Fourth down…you’re dead.

There wasn’t an honest bone in Buzz Bixby’s body. The Encino High School’s head football coach was an equal-opportunity scoundrel. Bixby cheated and lied his way to the top and screwed anyone and everyone in his wake. So, the question wasn’t who wanted the bastard dead. The question was, who didn’t? Student reporter Hannah White’s interview with the coach is a nonstarter when she discovers varsity football hero Dean Snyder standing over Bixby’s battered corpse holding a bloody trophy. Despite how guilty Dean looks, Hannah is convinced he’s innocent. When Snyder is arrested for Bixby’s murder, the wise-cracking, irreverent amateur sleuth jumps into action to flesh out the real killer. But the trail has more twists and turns than a slinky, and nothing turns out how Hannah thinks it will as she tangles with a clever killer hellbent on revenge.

Named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, multi-award-winning cozy mystery author Susie Black was born in the Big Apple but now calls sunny Southern California home. She has published seven books in four years and book eight is slated for release in May 2025. 

She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an accent that sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the locals. Since life without pizza and ice cream as her core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she’s a dedicated walker to keep her girlish figure. A voracious reader, she’s also an avid stamp collector. Susie lives with a highly intelligent man and is the mother of one incredibly brainy but smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited genetic defect. 

Avis: Welcome to Your Next Favorite Author! Today’s guest, Susie Black, has joined us several times and is already a favorite! Her newest novel, The Case of the Croaked Coach, released February 17, 2025. It is set on the campus of Encino High School in California and introduces a new hero in The Hannah White Mystery Series.

            I can’t wait to find out more! Our first question today is:

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

Susie: Yes, I do. I have several personal characteristics, physical traits, and personal history details that I have purposely infused into my protagonist that I hide in plain sight. Only close friends and family will recognize them.

Avis: That’s fun! I bet they love finding themselves or recognizing the traits! As a writer myself, this next question is one I love to know the answer to:

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

Susie: I always know how the story will begin and end, but I have difficulty with “the mushy middle.” I overcome it by allowing the characters to take the story from the middle to the end. Of course, if I don’t like what they have done, they know I can change it. Or, if I absolutely HATE what they did, they know I can either write them out of the story or kill them off…so they are highly motivated to do a fabulous job.

Avis: LOL! Your characters have a life of their own! It’s sometimes difficult to rein in the unruly character, but the threat of murder probably works well! Here’s another writerly question:

What is your writing Kryptonite?

Susie: I have two: Overusing certain words and using cliches that can make the stories unintentionally dated. For The Case of the Croaked Coach, thankfully, several of my YA authors guided me away from the cliches that would not fit in a high school today.

Avis: I do the same things! Thankfully my critique group lets me know when I’m wading into cliches and overusing words. My editor at Wild Rose Press does as well! Thank heavens for revision, right? It takes me so long to get a book from inception to final draft, so that’s our next question:

How long, on average, does it take you to write a book?

Susie: From inception to submission, about four months.

Avis: That’s amazing! You are so disciplined to make that happen! Your fans surely love it, though, to have a new read so quickly! I love this next question so much, because we all began as readers, right:

What is your favorite childhood book and why?

Susie: Hands down, the books in both the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series. I credit an early interest in solving puzzles and mysteries and the development of a sense of curiosity and asking questions learned in those books to my now writing cozy mysteries. 

Avis: Well, that explains a lot! Especially your chosen genre! I thought this book read like a Nancy Drew, and I mean that as a compliment! Next question please:

What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

SUSIE: I am friends with several author colleagues, both men and women-including the interviewer- who write in various genres, mostly different from the one I write in. These authors have given me some great suggestions, especially on how to write a YA story that will appeal to both young and adult mystery readers and how to keep my series relevant to readers.

Avis: Excellent answer, friend, and I agree! Other writers give a different type of critique that is so helpful to our writing and makes it stronger. 😊 Here is our last question of the day:

Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?

Susie: While I write my books as a series with a continuing cast of characters and setting to build a bodywork with connections between each book, I’ve written each book with enough information from earlier books in the series that each one can stand on its own.

Avis: That is so difficult to do, but you manage to do that so well! I’ve enjoyed so many of your books, and I love the characters, but a reader could pick up any one of them, and enjoy an excellent read without beginning with book one!

            Thank you so much for joining us again, Susie! Good luck on your new venture into YA mystery! I know your books will be well received by young and old alike! For a review of The Case of the Croaked Coach, keep reading beyond Susie’s social media links. 😊

Blue Sky: https://www.hollysusiewrites.bsky.social

Facebook: Susie Black, author of The Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series | Facebook

Facebook: https://facebook.com/TheHollySwimsuitMysterySeries

Instagram: Susie Black (@hollyswimsuit) • Instagram photos and videos

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/authorsusieblack-61941011

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hollysusie1_saved/

Twitter/X: http://twitter.com/@hollyswimsuit

Review by Avis M. Adams

Susie Black has done it again, this time with her new series for YA readers! The Case of the Crooked Coach, the debut title of the Hannah White Mystery Series, takes us to Encino High in sunny Southern California where we meet our teenaged protagonist. 

Hannah White, a typical high school student, is an investigative reporter on the school paper, The Coyote Weekly Chronicle. When Hannah is sent on assignment to interview Buzz Bixby, the scandal-ridden, womanizing head football Coach, she expects to get the inside scoop on his new coaching job for a college team. Instead, Hannah discovers Bixby’s crumpled body sprawled across his desk, and varsity football star Dean Snyder holding the murder weapon, a blood-drenched state championship trophy. Despite how it looks, Hannah believes in Dean’s innocence, but the cops disagree and arrest him. Hannah’s pursuit of the real killer takes her on a trail of intrigue and danger. As she closes in on her suspects, whoever murdered Coach Bixby now wants Hannah dead.

Black’s distinctive voice is ever present in this fast-paced murder mystery with her trademark touch of humor to keep readers on their toes. Black’s masterful development of this plot thickens with more twists and turns than the Mosquito Ridge Road. Black weaves another cozy mystery with murder and suspense creating tension on every page. Readers will be wondering until the final pages whodunnit! Highly recommended to Black fans, cozy mystery lovers, and anyone looking for a great YA mystery!