Tess sits down for a question-and-answer session with dru’s book musings so that we can get to know her better.

What is your full name?
Theresa (Tess) Harrow

How old are you?
I’m in my mid-forties (an age range that includes anywhere from 42 to 48, and I will not be taking further questions at this time).

What is your profession?
Best-selling thriller author, mother to a precocious teen, and amateur sleuth

Do you have a significant other?
This question is more complicated than you think. If someone (who shall remain nameless) is reading this, I don’t want him to read too much into being my “significant” anything.

What is their name and profession?
Nuh-uh. You’re not tricking me that easily!

Do you have any children?
Gertrude, aka Gertie, is my only daughter. She’s fifteen years old in body and about eleven thousand years old in soul.

Do you have any siblings?
Like my daughter, I’m a one and only.

Are your parents nearby?
If by “nearby,” you mean my mother recently moved into my cabin to wreak havoc and question all my life choices, then yes. She’s very nearby.

Who is your best friend?
Nicki Nickerson, bookmobile librarian and super-secret FBI agent, is the (platonic) love of my life. Ivy Bell, a local deputy, comes in a close second.

Do you have cats, dogs, or other pets?
I live in a remote cabin deep in the woods of Washington State. Unless you count the deer, moose, coyotes, bears, and occasional Bigfoot who wander by, I don’t have room for pets.

What town do you live in?
Winthrop, WA, a tiny Wild West themed town that’s as cute as it is rustic.

What type of dwelling do you own or rent?
I inherited my grandfather’s ramshackle cabin a few years ago. It took a few months (and a heavy financial investment) to get it up to modern standards, but we’re happy here.

What is your favorite spot in your home?
I have an (egregiously expensive) Adirondack chair on the back porch overlooking the woods. It’s my favorite place to work through tricky plot points and/or solve whatever murder investigation I’m embroiled in at the time.

What is your favorite meal and dessert?
I’ll eat anything and everything Gertie puts in front of me (as long as it doesn’t have too many vegetables). That child is a wizard in the kitchen.

Do you have any hobbies?
Does solving murder count? Because I seem to spend a lot of time doing that.

What music do you listen to?
Don’t tell anyone, but my favorite singers are Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus. (It’s not my fault! I spent a lot of time watching Disney shows with Gertie when she was young. They sucked me and won’t let go.)

What is your favorite color?
I tend to prefer bright colors and breezy fabrics.

What is your favorite vacation spot?
Give me a big city, or give me death. Don’t get me wrong…I love the quiet life Gertie and I are building for ourselves. But every now and then, a woman needs access to a Sephora, you know?

Are you a morning or night person?
Nights are for doing my best writing. Mornings are for regretting staying up so late.

What is your idea of a really fun time?
My favorite times are when all my friends and family members gather under one roof to eat, drink, and celebrate. If there’s one thing I’ve learned amidst all the death and drama in my life, it’s to appreciate the things that matter.

If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
Fury on the Page (IYKYK)

Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
Do I have the authority to solve crimes? No. Am I just as good (if not better) at solving crimes than the official professionals? You bet. Sheriff Victor Boyd and Deputy Ivy Bell might not think I’m up to their standards, but they’d be nowhere without me.

What is a typical day in your life like?
Despite my reputation as a busybody and harbinger of death, my life is actually pretty boring. I play chauffeur for Gertie’s active social life, I write books, and I take trips into town to avoid climbing the walls of my cabin. You know, the usual. :)

Murder Off the Books, A By the Book Mystery Book #3
Genre: Cozy
Release: May 2023
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link

Author Tess Harrow is looking to get back in the town of Winthrop’s good graces after she uncovered not one, but two long-forgotten murders. With the perfect plan of combining her new book release with her bookstore’s grand opening she’ll have the chance to wine and dine the locals and some big press contacts.

But the night before the party, Tess is greeted by a surprise: her mother has come for a visit, with her much-younger new boyfriend in tow…a boyfriend her daughter Gertrude recognizes as the notorious Levi Parker, a man recently connected to the deaths of three elderly widows.

Tess immediately alerts Sheriff Boyd about Levi and his suspicious past, but it’s already too late―Levi Parker is found dead and Tess’s mother is starting to look like the prime suspect. Bernadette swears she didn’t murder Levi, and Tess is doing her best to maintain her mother’s innocence, but too many coincidences keep stacking up. With the whole town seemingly against her family, it’s up to Tess to get to the bottom of the story before it’s too late.

About the author
Tamara Berry is the author of the Eleanor Wilde cozy mystery series and, as Lucy Gilmore, the Forever Home contemporary romance series. Tamara won the 2023 MWA Lilian Jackson Braun Award for Buried in a Good Book. Also a freelance writer and editor, she has a bachelor’s degree in English Literature and a serious penchant for Nancy Drew novels. She lives in Bigfoot country (a.k.a. Eastern Washington) with her family and their menagerie. Find her online at tamaraberry.com.

All comments are welcomed.