Holden native Alicia Bessette talks writing with Catherine Newman at TidePool BookShop

After Holden native Alicia Bessette moved to to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, murder was in the air.

In a very cozy sort of way.

The Outer Banks have provided Bessette with the setting for two murder mystery novels in her "The Outer Banks Bookshop Mysteries." The series debuted last year with "Smile Beach Murder," which has been nominated for the inaugural Lilian Jackson Braun Memorial Award by the Mystery Writers of America. Now, "Murder on Mustang Beach" will be published May 16.

"It's a cozy mystery," Bessette said of the novel.

Cozy mysteries are a very popular subgenre of crime fiction.

Among the hallmarks of a "cozy" is that "the sleuth is an amateur," Bessette said. The sleuth tends to have an everyday job — "They're not solving crimes because they're getting paid; they're solving crimes because it's the right thing to so," she said. The books have a PG or PG-13 category of content. "Sex and violence are implied but not graphically described." The books also have "an element of humor."

And appropriately enough for the Outer Banks series, "They're good beach books," Bessette said.

Coming to TidePool Bookshop

Bessette will be coming back to the area for a visit that includes a free program with Amherst-based writer Catherine Newman titled "Alicia Bessette & Catherine Newman: Writers Talk Writing" at TidePool Bookshop, 372 Chandler St., Worcester, at 7 p.m. May 18, with a Q&A and book signing to follow.

Newman has been a regular contributor to the New York Times, Real Simple, Oprah Magazine and many other publications. She has written a parenting memoir "Catastrophic Happiness," a memoir "Waiting for Birdy,"  the middle-grade novel "One Mixed-Up Night," the children's craft book "Stitch Camp" and bestselling how-to books for children "How to Be a Person" and "What Can I Say?" Her novel "We All Want Impossible Things" was called “excruciatingly heartbreaking, but I laughed out loud on almost every page” by the New York Times Book Review.

Bessette keeps literary company. Her husband is Matthew Quick, author of the 2008 novel "The Silver Linings Playbook" that not only became a New York Times Best Seller but was also made into an acclaimed Oscar-winning movie starring Jennifer Lawrence (Best Actress) and Bradley Cooper.

Besides being an author, Bessette has also been an award-winning reporter for The Landmark in Holden, and is a published poet, composer and a pianist. Between 2002 and 2019 she released four full-length albums of original solo piano music: "Reservoir," "Orchard," "The Great Room," and "Finding the River." All are available on iTunes and Amazon.

Bessette graduated from Wachusett Regional High School and La Salle University in Philadelphia, where she met Quick, who is also a La Salle graduate. Quick wrote "The Silver Linings Playbook" when he and Bessette lived in Holden. The couple moved to the Outer Banks in 2014.

"Smile Beach Murder" and "Murder on Mustang Beach" are published by Berkley Prime Crime Mystery Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and are available at outlets such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

'Murder,' she wrote ...

In the series, the protagonist Callie Padget has been laid off from her job as a journalist and returned to her home town of Cattail Island on the Outer Banks where she works in a bookstore.

"Murder on Mustang Beach" begins with Callie and and her potential boyfriend Toby discovering a dead body in Toby's martial arts studio. The murdered man is a newlywed, the island being a popular destination for weddings and honeymoons. But when police make Toby a suspect, Callie launches her own investigation. Meanwhile, a member of the island's beloved wild mustang herd, a pregnant mare, may need help. Callie unearths secrets not only about the murdered newlywed but also the mare.

Cattail Island is a fictional island in the Outer Banks. Bessette says on her website, https://aliciabessette.com, that "My imagination puts Cattail in the Pamlico Sound, somewhere south of Roanoke and north of Ocracoke islands (both of which are real). If you’d like to visit someplace like Cattail, try Ocracoke,"

Callie has returned reluctantly, working at the bookshop owned by a woman who is dating her uncle. Bessette said having Callie work in a bookshop became important in allowing her to develop her character.

"As soon as I put her in a bookshop she could start exploring the books that meant a lot to her," Bessette said. Among

As for Bessette, "I've always been a big mystery reader," she said. She was a "mystery fan" from age 12, reading books such as "The Cat Who Played Brahms" in Lilian Jackson Braun's "The Cat Who ..." series. Also Agatha Christie, Stephen King ... "I was reading all these mysteries for decades," she said.

Meanwhile, "I was writing women's fiction," Bessette said. However, "it wasn't getting published." She kept a precise tally of "Four hundred and twenty eight rejections to be exact."

She joked that she was "whining to my husband one morning and he said why don't you think about books that are on your night stand right now."

All the books on her nightstand were mysteries, Bessette recalled.

It was a serious suggestion, but Bessette said she responded that she didn't think she was smart enough to write mystery and develop a plot. Quick told her she could.

The next day, Bessette had a change of attitude. " 'He's totally right. I can do that.' "

She read reference books about plotting, and drafted an outline for a mystery.

"Smile Beach Murder" was accepted by Berkley.

"It was pretty thrilling. I had worked on it a lot," Bessette said.

That included working with editors. "I always tell people you have to learn not only to accept criticism but be open to other people's opinions. But it's a balancing act. You want to feel that it's still your book," Bessette said.

"But I love the collaborative process. There are lots of other people who are going to help shape it into something readers will love."

The reviews for "Smile Beach Murder" were something to smile about. Sarah Weinman, writing in the New York Times Book Review, said "Bessette imbues this familiar cozy mystery setup with a fresh shot of warmth and verve ... the first in a new series I already know I want to read more of."

Advance notices for "Murder on Mustang Beach" are encouraging. Publishers Weekly says, "Bessette’s fast-paced cozy harbors quirky characters and an intriguing plot that will keep readers guessing until the end. Fans will continue to connect with Callie and find plenty to enjoy in this brisk whodunit."

Asked if there's any possibility of the mysteries being made into a movie, Bessette said, "There's always a possibility. I have my fingers crossed. I can't say any more. We'll see."

Cattail Island’s fictional mustangs are based on the Outer Banks’ actual wild horse populations.

"Shortly after Matthew and I moved here, a new friend offered to take us in his Jeep to the 4x4 beaches (an area accessible only with 4-wheel-drive vehicles) about an hour north of our home, near the Virginia border, where you can see the wild horses. It ended up being a beautiful day, and we saw lots of mustangs galloping on the beach," Bessette recalled.

"They made such an impression on me that, more recently, when I was brainstorming ideas for book 2 in the Outer Banks Bookshop mystery series, the mustangs of the Outer Banks sprang immediately to mind. I wanted to depict their history in addition to their current plight. I also wanted to celebrate the people who are charged with caring for these animals and with making decisions about their health and their future."

The mustangs have "been here for centuries, but now, with rampant coastal development, their habitat is shrinking. There are only about 100 horses remaining in the herd in Corolla which is where I went on that fateful Jeep trip a few years back. If people would like to learn more about how they can help the wild horses of the Outer Banks, I would direct them to the Corolla Wild Horse Fund."

Bessette will be on a mini tour on behalf of "Murder on Mustang Beach" that includes the TidePool event.

A literary conversation

She said she met Catherine Newman recently at a literary fundraiser in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Newman was on a panel with Quick, and introduced herself to Bessette. "We hit it off right away," she said.

"We All Want Impossible Things" about two friends, one of whom is terminally ill, is "so breathtakingly beautiful," Bessette said.

Although "our books are very different," Bessette came up with the idea "what if we interviewed each other in front of an audience?"

Bessette thinks "Writers Talk Writing" at TidePool Bookshop May 18 will make for "a rich event."

Bessette will also be back in her local neighborhood. Her parents, sister and lots of friends live in the Holden area. "I'm excited to come back," she said. She also plans to use the visit as an opportunity to hike Mount Wachusett again, she said.

At The Landmark in Holden, Bessette's coverage of a barn fire at Heifer International’s Overlook Farm in Rutland won a first-place award from the New England Press Association (now the New England Newspaper & Press Association).

She said she was at The Landmark "just shy of two years" covering Rutland and also helping out with coverage of Holden.

"My favorite pieces were the human interest features. I really tried to let my interviewees talk. It taught me how people can give a place character. In fiction I try to convey a place through the characters. I think that's what gives the setting a vibe. I realized after moving to the North Carolina Outer Banks there's definitely a vibe here," she said.

Regarding her writing routine as a novelist, Bessette said "My routine is not to have a routine."

She tells herself to get up at 5 a.m. but "it never works out." Besides which, there's a puppy in the home that keeps her busy in the mornings.

"I write in short bursts. I'm turning into an afternoon and evening writer," she said. Sometimes she'll even write in bed at night with her laptop.

"I write three to five hours a day when I'm writing ... The revision process I could go all day."

Bessette said she and Quick know a couple, married authors, who share an office.

That would not work out in the Bessette/Quick household.

"Oh my God, no," Bessette said

"Matthew needs to be in his office, door closed, don't talk to him ... I can't seem to write in an office. I'm all over the house," she said.

Still, "I think over the years we've got good at supporting each other emotionally. It's a fickle industry. When you have two (authors) it compounds it. It can be a roller-coaster, publishing. But it's nice to have someone close to you who knows what you're going through. And he's my first reader and I'm his first reader. So that's nice. It's nice to have a live-in editor," Bessette said.

When can we await the third novel in the Outer Banks Bookshop mystery series?

"Not yet," Bessette said. "I am writing something else unrelated."

She didn't want to say more at this point.

"But there's writing going on that hopefully will result in something."

"Alicia Bessette & Catherine Newman: Writers Talk Writing" — with a Q&A and book signing to follow

When: 7 p.m. May 18

Where: TidePool Bookshop, 372 Chandler St., Worcester

How much: Free

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Holden native and mystery writer Alicia Bessette at TidePool BookShop