P.D. Workman: Culinary and Paranormal Cozies

Get to know P.D. Workman, author with over 100 books, including two popular cozy mystery series. With a knack for crafting characters with rich backstories and a flair for mixing humor with suspense, Workman's stories are a delightful escape into the world of culinary and paranormal mysteries.

Could you share a little about yourself and the cozy mysteries you write?

I am a prolific author and have two cozy mystery series with 21 or more books out (as well as other series and books totaling over 100.) I write Auntie Clem’s Bakery culinary cozy mysteries, and Reg Rawlins, Psychic Investigator, a paranormal mystery and adventure series. Reg Rawlins was a spinoff from Auntie Clem’s Bakery, and the two protagonists are former foster sisters.

How do you develop your characters, particularly your amateur sleuth?

I like characters with interesting backstories and plenty of flaws. They are not superheroes who know everything and make all the right choices. But they are also not “too stupid to live” amateurs who recklessly throw themselves into danger, jumping into gunfights, breaking into suspects’ houses, or entering a house that has been broken into rather than calling the police either. But they still make plenty of mistakes and misjudgments that put them in harm’s way, so there’s no danger of things getting too boring.

Cozy mysteries often feature unique settings or themes. Can you tell us about the setting/theme of your latest book and what drew you to it?

I am just about to publish Lunar Lies, which may be published by the time this interview is posted. It is book #21 in the Reg Rawlins, Psychic Investigator series. The series is set in Florida, in the fictional town of Black Sands. I wanted to give Reg, a con woman acting the part of a psychic/fortune teller, a logical place to go to ply her trade. I did not want to set it in Salem, a popular setting for paranormal mysteries. As it turns out, the town in the USA with the highest density of psychics is in Florida, so that’s where I sent Reg as she decided to put out her shingle as a psychic. Of course, she finds out that Black Sands is also home to many witches, warlocks, and various magical races and species that she never actually believed existed. And that’s just the beginning of the fun.

What do you find most challenging about writing cozy mysteries, and how do you overcome it?

There are a few challenges to writing cozies, one of the biggest of which is—how does this amateur sleuth keep stumbling over bodies (or other crimes)? And how does she solve them as an amateur, without the tools that the police force has at its disposal?

Luckily, readers are willing to suspend disbelief to some extent. In the Auntie Clem’s Bakery series, I have “mixed things up” as much as possible, with a combination of cold cases and new ones, organized crime and family feuds, a variety of crimes, and a wide selection of suspects. The protagonist cannot be the suspect all the time, but she has to have some reason for pursuing the mystery as well. Erin Price is a reluctant sleuth, who tends to get pulled into investigations by circumstances (and friends), rather than being a naturally nosy person or Sherlock Holmes wannabe.

Reg Rawlins, being a psychic/magical person, is often pulled into mysteries because she has some sort of insight into the crime, is the only one who can see/hear what is going on, or is pulled in by some kind of magical means.

Cozy mysteries often incorporate humor and wit. How do you balance the lighter elements with the seriousness of the mystery?

One way is through the relationships between the characters. Even when they are caught up in something very serious, they still tease and buoy each other up. Other ways are through puns, characters who find themselves in ridiculous circumstances, or gallows humor. In real life, people often make light of the macabre or make inappropriate jokes in order to get themselves through dark and difficult times, so it’s not hard to reflect that in a story.

Can you share any interesting research experiences or fun facts you discovered while researching for your books?

I have a lot of fun with research. In the Reg Rawlins series, I often do a deep dive into a magical species and all the legends surrounding such creatures in various cultures around the world. There are legends in almost all cultures, for example, of zombies or other creatures risen from the dead. I have also included fairies, pixies, dwarfs, Bigfoots, goblins, dragons, and other species, magic from various traditions and cultures, Egyptian mythology, and more in the series. There is always something new to discover! It is fun to look at my topical research files and see these paranormal and mythical topics mixed in with much more serious and real-world subjects like poisons, police procedure, diseases and disabilities, human trafficking, etc.