A Multiple Series Mash-Up by Jenn McKinlay

What are the perks to writing multiple series? Oh, there are so many. Over the past eight years, I have written five different mystery series. Two under the pseudonyms Lucy Lawrence and Josie Belle and three under the name Jenn McKinlay, which is my actual name. The three under my name have nothing in common. Nothing. Except somewhere along the line I started putting in crossover mentions or Easter eggs, as they’re called in the trade, for readers to find like an inside secret for those that have read more than one of my series.

The Mash-Up

How did it start? I’m not really sure. One day, I decided to have Scarlett Parker’s parents from the London Hat Shop mysteries buy a house in Briar Creek, the setting for the Library Lover’s mysteries. And in the Cupcake Bakery series, I have them looking at Vegas showgirl hats designed by a London milliner, which of course is Viv, the proprietor of Mim’s Whims, from the Hat Shop mysteries. Theses random mentions were a hoot to write and I got a lot of positive feedback from the readers who’d read all three series.

And now you’re wondering what does this have to do with Death in the Stacks? Well, because my hat shop series ended, I thought it would be hilarious to have the London characters visit the library and its community as a last glimpse at them before they departed for good…maybe. Of course, once I jumped on that train then I had to have the cupcake bakery characters do a walk on as well. It was crazy trying to give all of these characters equal airtime. And in fact, I couldn’t. But they are all there and they are all in the scene for the murder which I had the best time writing. It felt exactly like introducing your best friends and having them all hit it off, you know, over the discovery of a dead body.

   

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DEATH IN THE STACKS: 

Lindsey Norris and her staff are gearing up for the Briar Creek Library’s annual Dinner in the Stacks fund-raiser. The night of dinner and dancing is not only a booklover’s dream—it’s the library’s biggest moneymaker of the year. But instead of raising funds, the new library board president is busy raising a stink and making the staff miserable.

Although Olive Boyle acts like a storybook villain, Lindsey is determined to work with her and make the event a success. But when Olive publicly threatens the library’s newest hire, Paula, Lindsey cracks like an old book spine and throws Olive out of the library.

The night of the fund-raiser, Lindsey dreads another altercation with Olive—but instead finds Paula crouched over Olive’s dead body. Paula may have secrets, but Lindsey and the rest of the crafternooners know she’s not the one who took Olive out of circulation. As the plot thickens, Lindsey must catch the real killer before the book closes on Paula’s future . . .

How about you, readers? Do you enjoy having characters from an authors other series do a pop in, or are you a purest and want no crossovers in your fiction?