Secrets get revealed in the Tessa Wegert confidential Dossier -

Tessa Wegert
The Coldest Case

News of a missing Instagram celebrity brings Senior Investigator Shana Merchant to a frozen island community of just eight people. When the visit turns deadly, her hunt for a killer collides with a cold case she’ll never forget . . .

The Writer’s Dossier 8/27/2024 – The Tessa Wegert interview

DOSSIER: Writers don’t always have the opportunity for a hands-on experience with all the topics they write about (especially crime writers, we hope!), but you’ve taken up adult karate lessons, and some of what you’ve learned has ended up in your Shana Merchant novels. How grateful are you for jumping into the dojo, and if you could expand your first-hand experience into something else for your books, what would it be—extreme sky diving, hands-on autopsy participation, or bomb disposal?

WEGERT: Yeah, I still remember that “oh damn” moment when I realized the mystery I was writing was largely a police procedural, and that online research wasn’t going to cut it. My background in journalism came in handy for interviewing sheriffs and state police investigators, but I knew I’d need more authentic details to give the stories color. Drawing from personal experience seemed like a logical place to start, so I’ve got characters who are martial artists, newspaper reporters, marketing strategists, and mothers—all jobs and experiences I’m familiar with. I’d love to take a class in forensic analysis someday, but I definitely don’t have the stomach for observing an autopsy.

The Family Theme

DOSSIER: With DEVILS AT THE DOOR, your fifth Shana Merchant novel, (out in paperback on August 27, 2024) how important is it for you to keep a tight focus on creating stories about big events you thrust onto a small community, especially when it involves family?

WEGERT: Family’s a big theme in this series—or more specifically, complex family dynamics—so you’ll find everything from sibling rivalries to black sheep, inheritance wars, and breaches of trust. It’s especially fun to explore those in a tight-knit community or locked-room setting where there’s no escape from blood ties, which can sometimes get bloody.

Seriously … The Wiggles

DOSSIER: When and where do you write, and what kind of environment do you prefer? (Music/silence/in a karate dojo/peaceful lakefront?)

WEGERT: Because I started writing fiction in earnest when my kids were very young, I trained myself to maximize every opportunity, whether that meant typing to a soundtrack of The Wiggles, in an ice rink during hockey practice, or in a car while waiting for dismissal from school. Let me tell you, those manuscripts needed a lot of editing. These days I can be a bit more selective about my writing environment. When I can swing it, I go up to the Thousand Islands where my series is set and sit by the river with a glass of wine. Those moments feel like a gift, though I do sometimes miss the frenetic urgency of drafting on a nap deadline.

Tessa is listening to you

DOSSIER: You’re originally from Canada, you’ve lived in Mainz, Germany, and now you live in the US. Back to the topic of personal experiences, how deep do you need to go in your book research to create a uniquely Tessa Wegert mystery/suspense crime thriller? You can do a lot online, but how much weight do you give to getting out there and living it yourself?

WEGERT: The living piece is huge—I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on a train or plane and heard a snippet of conversation that sparked an idea for dialogue or a plot twist. My books tend to lean into setting, and I always try to deliver a vivid sense of place, so travel and boots-on-the-ground experience are key. I spend a ton of time in Upstate New York, just immersing myself in the community and marveling over the historic homes and castles (there are actually two!).

That fictional body count

DOSSIER: With your acclaimed debut novel, DEATH IN THE FAMILY, you used the Thousand Islands area located along the border between New York State and Ontario, Canada for the setting of a murder. Since Thousand Islands is such a peaceful area for idyllic vacationing, one which you’ve enjoyed for years, why did you want to take such a nice place and turn it into such a frightening mess? Did the local chamber write to thank you for the extra exposure?

WEGERT: Honestly, I did wonder how locals would react to the rising fictional body count in their real-life towns. I’m careful not to associate crimes with actual businesses, or write anything that could jeopardize someone’s livelihood. If anything, the series seems to be generating tourist dollars…I’ve had a ton of people reach out to say they discovered the area and visited because of the books. At this point Shana Merchant definitely has a case of Cabot Cove syndrome going on, haha. Like Jessica Fletcher from Murder, She Wrote, she attracts crime despite the small, seemingly tranquil community.