Goodreads asked Leslie Nagel:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Leslie Nagel THE BOOK CLUB MURDERS is a cozy mystery about the Agathas Book Club. It is set in the very real Oakwood, Ohio, my hometown. One of the unique aspects of the book is that most of the scenes, including the first 3 crime scenes, are all actual locations in Oakwood.

The second kicker is that the crime scenes being copied by the serial killer are lifted from actual murder mysteries by real female authors. This is the Agathas Book Club’s raison d’etre.

So, the idea: Several years ago, I belonged to a book club filled with desperate housewives, much like the Agathas. We read literary fiction, but one of the members pushed to read more genre fiction and mentioned that some clubs had themes, like murder mysteries. I thought, what fun! That’s what I’d rather be reading.

(And writing, although with 2 kids still at home, I’d been pushing that dream back and down for a long time. I think I just needed an amazing idea to get my derriere in gear.)

I was out power walking on the old train tracks later that evening (Crime Scene #1 and mere blocks from my house), and as twilight gathered, the hair on the back of my neck literally stood on end. What a great place for a murder, I thought. No one would hear or see me down here if I screamed and screamed. And there you have it.

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