Meet the Author: Sally Handley

Mystery novels are one of the most popular genres in America. From Agatha Christie to Nancy Drew, the tried and true whodunit formula has created endless dedicated fans. Greenville author Sally Handley finds her inspiration in mystery, having written the Holly and Ivy series which follows two sisters with a passion for gardening and knack for investigating. Handley says she was an avid reader as a child and loved reading Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Trixie Belden, and Cherry Ames.

The heroines of these stories are the reason Handley kept coming back to the genre. "When it comes to the Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames and Trixie Belden, and these characters--these are girls, and they were doing important things and figuring things out. They were brave and courageous."

"Women are strong, women are brave. Especially women of a certain age. Don't count us out. We have something to offer. We may not have superpowers, but we certainly have much to contribute to the world...I'm realizing, in any of the books I'm thinking about, even the ones that fall outside the cozy mystery [genre]...that my heroes are women," Handley says.

The characters of the mystery genre are important to Handley as both a reader and a writer. Characters, according to Handley, are everything in writing a cozy mystery. “I find that if I pick up a book, and I read a mystery, and I’m only lukewarm about those characters, I’m not coming back to that series. You have to be drawn in.” For her writing process, Handley says she plots a few chapters at a time and writes those out before the story can progress. Once those characters come to life, the plot begins to fall in place. “Out of the suspects, I know who killed them. So we know who’s going to solve the crime, we know who the murder victim is, and we know who did it, but everything else kind of develops as I write,” she says.

For those aspiring to write their own stories, Handley says the first step is to silence any negativity and sit down and write. It is also crucial to join writing critique groups and be open to criticism from peers. “When you work with critique groups, your work will get better. You listen to what other people have to say, and you make the decision at the end as to what you will or will not change, because your writing is your writing at the end of the day. But the bottom line is, you have to have input from other people. It just makes you better.” She suggests joining a critique group that is comprised of likeminded writers that understand the ins and outs of the genre you’re writing for.

Handley has recently published the fourth novel in the Holly and Ivy mystery series, Murder Under Tuscan Blooms. Looking towards the future of mystery novels, Handley believes the timeless genre will only continue to grow.

“These are escapist in a way. And if you want to read something that’s very dark, you have the noir end of this. At the far end, you have the cozy mysteries. And in between, you have Jack Reacher, Stephen King...you’ve got such a wide range within this formula,” she says.

Handley thinks the diversity of the genre will continue to draw mystery readers in. “You’ve got police procedurals, you’ve got these hard-broiled detectives, you’ve got cozy sleuths, you’ve got everything. Within that genre, you have everything you could possibly want in terms of character types to read about. So I think it is timeless…it’s exploded into many, many subgenres, and it’s got something for everyone, and that’s why it will continue to just grow.”

Stay tuned for An Afternoon of Mystery, a live virtual event featuring Sally Handley coming in April. greenvillelibrary.org/events

CHECK IT OUT:

Full Bloom by Sally Handley

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Nancy Drew Diaries: Mystery of the Midnight Rider by Carolyn Keen

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Never Go Back: A Jack Reacher novel by Lee Childs

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