by: Daryl Wood Gerber
Series: A Literary Dining Mystery
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release Date: October 27, 2026
Publisher: Kensington Books
Personal chef and caterer Allie Catt combines her love of fiction with her love of food in the scenic North Carolina mountains—but amid her latest themed event, based on Dickens's beloved classic, A Christmas Carol , a rare-book expert's goose is cooked...
In the charming town of Bramblewood, not far from Asheville, Allie's preparing for a special seasonal a literary-themed dinner party that's a tribute to Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. It'll take place at the Amber Lantern, the quaint inn recently opened by her best friend's mother, Noeline—and the holiday spirit has even led a Scroogelike local businessman to lend his prized first edition of the nineteenth-century novella for the event.
With the voices of carolers ringing in the air and the community theater staging a special performance, it looks like it will be a happy Christmas—until the priceless book disappears and someone murders the expert who authenticated it. And if the police have their way, Allie's lawyer friend Freddy will be dragged away in chains like Marley's ghost...
The crime has also cast a shadow over Noeline's fledgling business, so Allie feels doubly obliged to find the real killer among the gathered guests and local visitors—and put an end to this nightmare. It's time to investigate them all, every one...
I’m doing great. Lots of promotional events ahead, so it’s a bit daunting, but I’m so excited about A CLASSIC CASE OF MURDER coming out!
Congratulations on A Classic Case of Murder! I started counting how many books you’ve written, and it was more than I expected. I believe that, including romance, suspense, children's books, and cozy mysteries, the number is over 40. 42 to be exact, according to your website. How do you keep your stories fresh?
I put them in the crisper in the refrigerator! Tee-hee.
Being serious, I try to come up with a new way to kill someone. A new set of characters I haven’t written before. A new set of suspects’ motives to want the victim dead. Also, I keep a list of all the books and plotlines I’ve written so I can refer to them quickly. It’s not as easy as it was at the beginning. Then I only had one or two deaths and one or two methods. Now? Yipes! I’ve killed a lot of people on paper.
Lol. A Classic Case of Murder is the third book in your Literary Dining Mystery series. Can you please tell me about the book and what readers can expect from it?
For this literary dining party, Allie and Tegan are asking attendees to read Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, and then if they want, to dress up in the costumes of the time period. The food served will be from the time period as well. Figgy pudding, bishop’s wine, joints of meat. Fun times. The party will be held, not at the bookshop, but at Tegan’s mother’s second B-and-B, the Amber Lantern. The inn will be dressed up in holiday décor and carolers will entertain when the player piano isn’t piping out holiday tunes. As a special treat, a first edition of A Christmas Carol will be on display, donated for the occasion by the wealthy businessman, Erwin Scroggie.
Tell me about some of the characters we’ll meet in the book and series.
Allie Catt is late twenties. She is a caterer. Years ago, she moved back to Bramblewood, NC, when her fiancé left her for a younger woman. She loves to bake and has found great success with her business, selling to many of the restaurants, cafes, and local businesses. She has a Tuxedo cat named Darcy (like in Pride and Prejudice) and he is quite a character. Her best friend is Tegan Potts, owner of Feast for the Eyes bookshop. They’ve been friends since they were five. Tegan can goad Allie into doing things. Allie isn’t a pushover, but she adores her pal and has found little ability to resist Tegan’s antics. She loves Tegan’s mom, Noeline, who is like a second mother to her. Her own mother (who she calls Fern, never Mom or Mother) and her father (Jamie) travel everywhere. Allie is living in their home and has decorated it to her taste, as they never intend to move back to Bramblewood. Vanna, Tegan’s half-sister, sometimes helps Allie with her catering events. She, too, is a caterer, and though at first she was prickly, she is mellowing, and she and Allie are becoming good friends. Zach is a homicide detective and quite the charmer, and he really likes Allie (and she him), but he doesn’t want her to get hurt by investigating, so sure, there’s a little friction between them occasionally. Even so, they are quite cute together, in my opinion. She sells baked goods to his mother’s café.
Since this is the third book in the series, can it be read as a standalone, or is it a better reading experience for readers if they go back to the first book?
I try to provide enough information in each book that I write so that it may be read as a standalone novel. However, if a reader wants to learn about how Allie and Zach met, they might want to start with the first.
The theme of A Classic Case of Murder is Christmas, with A Christmas Carol. How did you get into the frame of mind to write about Christmas, when I’m guessing you didn’t write the book during the Christmas season?
I can be in a Christmas mood any time of year. I played Christmas music while writing it. Mainly instrumental music. If I play music with words, I’ll sing out loud. Also, I baked for Christmas. So what if I was eating peppermint cookies in September? They tasted good.
This works for me. As an author for a number of years, and having written so many books, I’m curious. How long does it take you to write a book from start to finish, draft-wise, and then polishing it up?
It depends on the book and whether it is being submitted to a publisher or simply self-published, which I’ve done with a few suspense novels, a romance, and my short story anthology. If I submit to the publisher, we have a due date. That’s usually around 9 months. Then they get the book, I forget about it, and I don’t see it again for 3 months with edits. In the meantime, I write something else. After edits, I might have to wait another 2 months before I get final edits that need one final polish before it goes to the typesetter. It’s an ordeal. But that gives me the chance to read it fresh, “with new eyes,” and see the issues that might need to be addressed. Right now, as a challenge, I’m trying to write a first draft of something ENTIRELY new in less than 3 months. Wish me luck!
That sounds very fast. Good luck. Daryl, thank you so much for taking the time to answer some questions for me.
Great questions. Thanks for hosting me.
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