Cover Reveal: COLD-BLOODED MYRTLE, by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Hi there, Elizabeth! Thank you so much for stopping by the MG Book Village to chat about COLD-BLOODED MYRTLE and reveal the book’s cover. This is the third book in the Edgar Award and Agatha Award-nominated Myrtle Hardcastle Mystery Series! What’s in store for Myrtle this time?

I am delighted to be back! Thank you for continuing the tradition for Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries cover reveals.

In Cold-Blooded Myrtle, our Investigator encounters her first cold case. Years ago, a student at the local college vanished under Mysterious Circumstances and no trace of her was every found. A murder in the opening pages of Cold-Blooded Myrtle recalls this old mystery; and Myrtle, Miss Judson, and Peony set out to unravel a twisted tale of secret societies, cryptic messages, long-buried secrets, and a killer bent on revenge.

This installment takes place during the holiday season. Tell us what inspired this festive setting! 

A holiday mystery is a crime fiction tradition, and many of our modern holiday customs have their origins in the Victorian era, so I knew from the start one of the books would have to take place during an Exceptionally Victorian Christmas. The Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries also tend to be inspired by real-life happenings, and Cold-Blooded Myrtle is no different. This time, it was an incident with some family friends’ Dickens village display. Somehow, a harrowing tragedy befell the miniature townsfolk (my chief suspect is a cat): figures knocked over, overturned vehicles, objects scattered through the snowy streets, absolute carnage. Their daughter—a young woman after my own heart!—was visiting at the time, and instead of setting everything back to rights, she turned it into a crime scene, with blood trails, footprints, and crime scene tape! Instantly I realized I had the perfect setup for a Myrtle story.

In what ways has Myrtle grown and changed since Book 1?  

Well, she hasn’t changed too much, thank goodness! She’s still as impulsive, determined, and Irrepressible as ever. But having encountered several murders now, her perspective on human nature is definitely growing. In some ways, I think she’s more understanding, but at other times, she’s become even more suspicious of everyone! Anyone she encounters, it seems, might have murderous intentions. In Cold-Blooded Myrtle, the story draws Myrtle into her most personal case yet—one involving her late mother. Myrtle is at an age where she’s starting to see her parents as people, with pasts and secrets and perhaps less-admirable qualities. She’ll get to know her mum from another perspective.

What do you hope your readers–especially the young ones–take away from this book?

In addition to introducing young readers to the fun of classic detective stories, the Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries share my love of research and historical curiosities—this time, readers will enjoy a journey into the strange origins of our holiday traditions. This book is also chock full of some of my favorite subjects, plus new characters, new looks at familiar members of the cast, and more fabulous 19^th century settings!

And as always, I hope that young readers see Myrtle’s determination and curiosity as an invitation to be bold and curious in their own lives. Myrtle is a heroine who doggedly pursues her own path, despite outside pressures trying to define her.  I want kids to see that it’s ok to embrace their own passions and interests too, whatever they might be.

Many of our site’s readers are teachers of Middle Grade-aged kids. Is there anything you’d like to say to them – in particular those planning to add COLD-BLOODED MYRTLE to their classroom libraries?

I am so excited to share the news that the classroom guides (yes, guides!) are now available. They have been months in development, but they’re finally here! Teachers interested can sign up for a special mailing at this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd2yGwahFDVdWpmP8QBSDhzYj30gNKYRUJZFEMIjaJx1s9FYw/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0&gxids=7628

They’ll also be available to download at my website (elizabethcbunce.com).

I am also always thrilled to talk to students, either at full class school visits or small writing groups. Just drop me an email at my website!

All right — I’ve got some questions about the cover. But before we start discussing it, let’s take a look…

WOW! Can you tell us how this gorgeous cover came to be?

Well, first, I just want to say how absolutely THRILLING this particular cover is! I am beyond excited that Myrtle’s partner in sleuthing, her unflappable governess Miss Judson, has joined Myrtle on the jacket. My publishers were very coy about this, not breathing a word of their plans, and they sprung it on me as a complete surprise. Seeing Miss Judson alongside Myrtle made me stand up and cheer!

For the Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries, I have had the privilege of helping to plan some of the cover imagery, including planting small objects throughout the story that can be singled out for the jacket corners and the chapter spot illustrations. This time, I suggested the image of Myrtle looking in through the shop window at the holiday display, and I love how artist Brett Helquist realized this—there’s so much intrigue there: what are they looking at? What’s happening? What do the olives and the overturned wishing well signify? Readers won’t have to wait long to find out….

I can’t help but notice that there is a cat sitting behind Myrtle and her governess, Miss Judson. Tell us about her!

That would be the third member of the team, Peony the Cat! Peony has been a key part of the crew since her own origin story in Premeditated Myrtle (MHM #1), and she features prominently in How to Get Away with Myrtle (MHM #2)–you can spot her tucked away on the covers of the first two books, too. Anyone who’s ever known a cat can tell you, it is impossible to keep them out of the action, and new readers will discover that Peony is just as irrepressible as her fellow human sleuths. 

When can readers get their hands on COLD-BLOODED MYRTLE?

October 5!

Can we expect more adventures with Myrtle?

I have just turned in the manuscript for In Myrtle Peril. That will come out Fall 2022, and I’ve thrown even more hard-to-believe real-life Victorian drama at Myrtle this time.

Where can readers find you online, and how can they learn more about you and your work?

My website (with all social media links) is elizabethcbunce.com. On Instagram, follow the hashtags #MHDS (Myrtle Hardcastle Detective Society) and #MyrtleMondays for regular updates. In addition, I blog weekly on topics about life in Victorian England, sharing the influences behind Myrtle’s world and her cases. I love to hear from fans, so my contact information is at the website, too.

Thanks again for returning to the MG Book Village, Elizabeth! We hope you and Myrtle will join us again soon!

Thank you so much for welcoming Myrtle back!

Elizabeth is a fan of all things fantastical, mysterious, spooky, and old. She writes historical fantasy, mysteries, and ghost stories for young readers, and discerning not-so-young readers. Her books are inspired by real places and cultures of the past, often with otherworldly or magical elements. She’s been writing as long as she can remember—even before she knew it was a job. She’s always been interested in literature, folklore, history, and culture, so she studied English and anthropology in college. But she’s only ever worked as a writer (although not all her writing jobs were as interesting as being a novelist). She’s a native Midwesterner, living in the tall grass prairie near Kansas City with her husband and their feline supervisory staff. When she’s not writing, you’ll usually find her Making something—cosplay, needlework, historical costuming, quilting… but not cooking. In 2009 her first book, A Curse Dark as Gold, won the inaugural William C. Morris Award for a Young Adult Debut, further cementing her affection for librarians everywhere! You can read her acceptance speech on the Making Page, and learn more about the Morris Award from YALSA.