Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?

JDB: I have to go back in history to G.K. Chesterton. When crime novels were first finding their footing, they were all about clues and alibis and so on… but when Chesterton introduced Father Brown as detective, he made crime investigation human. Father Brown imagined how both the victim and the killer experienced life and what drove both to their fatal encounter. He understood people. Today, police procedurals are fascinating for sure… but I’m not terribly interested in serial killers. I’m interested in the small, domestic murders that have been brewing behind the scenes and finally manifest. The times when someone feels their only recourse, the only option open to them, is to take someone else’s life. They’re more human. They’re actually also more common. And they’re far more interesting.

Kathy: Do you write in any other genres? 

JDB: I do! My first and enduring love is for historical fiction, which makes sense when you consider that most of my academic work has been in history. The past is absolutely filled with amazing, fascinating stories. I began my first novel when I was fourteen years old (another version of it was finally published a few years ago!), and have always included a little history in everything I write, whether it’s via dual-timeline novels or just references to a place’s past.

Kathy: Tell us about your series.

JDB: The Provincetown series takes advantage of the myriad festivals and “theme weeks” that happen throughout the year in this town that has been Wampanoag summer camp, whaling center, fishing village, arts colony, and gay resort. I wanted to avoid the “Murder She Wrote” problem of killing off too many people in a small town, and Provincetown offered the perfect compromise between year-round residents and others washing through for various reasons.

A previous series takes place in Montréal, which I love both as a city and a culture. I myself am bicultural and bilingual (I grew up in France), so the city has always appealed to me. And Montréal’s history is filled with events and situations that still echo in the present, so I’ve taken full advantage of those implications.

My new series—to début next year—has a Boston-based protagonist who will travel to various places for various reasons and will end up being part of the solution to murders when she arrives. 

Want the rest of the interview? read it here….