Marshall Field’s Christmas Memories

Last year, Entangled Publishing offered my two related holiday romantic suspense novels, HOLIDAY IN CRIMSON and NIGHTMARE IN CRIMSON, sold separately. Both were substantially revised Intrigue backlist novels. This year, they are being offered together as CRIMSON DUET at a great discount.

As a child, I lived in the Chicago suburbs. I didn’t know much about the big city, nearly twenty miles away, except that I looked forward to Christmas, when Mom took me downtown to see the iconic Marshall Field’s windows on State Street. When writing my holiday romantic mysteries, I wanted to use a department store like the one I loved as a child. I wanted to involve the Christmas windows. And I wanted the murder victim to be Santa Claus. As a matter of fact I killed him twice!

In Holiday in Crimson...
Westbrook Department Store’s Christmas party wasn’t that wild--but Santa ended up dead and now window designer Shelby Corbin suddenly finds herself the prime suspect in his murder.  CEO Rand McNabb's romantic attentions both thrill her and frighten her. Is Westbrook’s impossibly sexy co-owner really helping Shelby search for the truth about that fatal night?  Shelby wonders if Rand has a deadlier motive for courting the only possible witness to the crime...

In Nightmare in Crimson...
Last holiday, Pippa McNabb's faithless husband was found murdered in a Santa suit after a Christmas party. Another year, another Christmas party, and another dead Santa – this time, run down by eight tiny reindeer and a sleigh. And now Pippa is the prime suspect. Sexy sleigh driver Sky Thornton seems intent on helping her, but is the man who knows too much about her really trying to clear her name, or is he trying to frame her for a murder he committed?

I enjoyed creating these intricately plotted (and connected) romantic mysteries.

Marshall Field's is long gone, but for a look at my inspiration, go here:
Marshall Field’s Christmas Memories



Happy holiday memories to all our readers.

Patricia

Website: http://PatriciaRosemoor.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PatriciaRosemoorAuthor
Twitter: @Prosemoor

WRITING CHRISTMAS

HOLIDAY IN CRIMSON

There’s something about murder and Christmas that just seems to work for me. Even though they have a short shelf life, Christmas romantic suspense stories are my cup of eggnog.

I’ve actually written FOUR Intrigues set at Christmas.

In my last blog, I wrote about killing Santa Claus in HOLIDAY IN CRIMSON, published last month in Entangled Publishing’s new Dead Sexy romantic suspense line.

What you might not know is that HOLIDAY IN CRIMSON actually is an updated and editorially revised version of CRIMSON HOLIDAY, which I wrote for Harlequin Intrigue in the late 80s.

Then, when Intrigue wanted to celebrate its 10th anniversary several years later, the powers that be decided not only to reprint some of its most loved books in a leather bound edition, but to offer readers connected books to each of the ones included in the collection.

And so I wrote CRIMSON NIGHTMARE, using many of the fun characters from CRIMSON HOLIDAY. My heroine, Pippa McNabb is the younger sister of Rand McNabb, who was my hero in the original story. I revised and updated CRIMSON NIGHTMARE for Dead Sexy, as well.

NIGHTMARE IN CRIMSON is now available in digital formats:

Another year, another Christmas party...another dead Santa! Run down by eight tiny reindeer and a sleigh, was he killed by accident—or was it murder?

NIGHTMARE IN CRIMSON

At last season’s party, it was Pippa McNabb’s faithless Santa-clad husband who died—so after another St. Nick ends up dead, she’s at the top of the police suspect list. When hunky sleigh-driver Sky Thornton offers his help to find the real culprit, she accepts, and soon finds herself snuggled up with him before a holiday fire—and falling hard for the blue-eyed stranger. But how does he know so much about her...?

Suddenly she isn’t certain if her mysterious new lover is attempting to help her clear her name, trying to frame her for a murder he might have committed...or working to win her heart forever.

Writing romantic suspense doesn’t get much more fun (at least not for me) than that.
                       
The most challenging part of writing the second story was to make it different from the first. Both CRIMSON stories are set at Christmas, both at the same department store, both with a dead Santa as the central mystery. The first thing I had to do was figure out a death that would be different, interesting and leave the authorities confused about whether the hero, the heroine, or someone else did the deed. The fun for me was in having Pippa and Sky suspect one another even as they are attracted to each other. And in having Pippa discover Sky’s true involvement AFTER she falls for him. I hope that’s fun for readers, too.


In RED CARPET CHRISTMAS, a 2005 Intrigue -- the final book of the Club Undercover series -- my hero Gideon put his former lover Simone’s father behind bars for killing his own father. Now she needs his help... to clear her of a murder she didn’t commit.





And in CHRISTMAS DELIVERY, a 2010 Intrigue, part of a Holiday Mystery at Jenkins Cove series with Rebecca York and Ann Voss Peterson, my hero Simon returns from the dead after 13 years and is hell-bent on revenge. Only a Christmas miracle could reunite him with Lexie, the girl he’d once loved... and the daughter he didn’t know he had.


Take the time to enjoy a holiday read this coming week.

Happy Holidays to all and to all a good night :)

Patricia Rosemoor has written more than 90 novels for 8 publishers and has more than 7 million books in print. She writes “dangerous love,” casting her lovers against a backdrop of mystery and suspense.

                           

HOLIDAY IN CRIMSON

As a child, I lived in the far reaches of the city, then in the suburbs of Chicago. I didn’t know much about the downtown area, nearly twenty miles away by electric train, except that I always looked forward to my infrequent trips there. My mom treated me every holiday, taking me downtown to see the Christmas windows of the department stores. My favorites were always the windows of the iconic Marshall Field’s (now Macys) on State Street.

That’s why I used Marshall Fields as the model for Westbrook, the main setting for HOLIDAY IN CRIMSON (originally an Intrigue, CRIMSON HOLIDAY) and NIGHTMARE IN CRIMSON (originally an Intrigue, CRIMSON NIGHTMARE), the related holiday romantic suspense novels from Entangled Publishing for their Dead Sexy line. Both books have been updated and revised to add more deadly detail :)

About HOLIDAY IN CRIMSON:
Westbrook Department Store's Christmas party wasn't that wild--until, that is, Santa ended up dead. Now window designer Shelby Corbin is the prime suspect in his murder, and the holidays are anything but festive. If Shelby doesn't figure out who killed Santa, she'll be ringing in the new year behind bars.

Westbrook's impossibly sexy co-owner and CEO Rand McNabb's romantic attentions both thrill and frighten Shelby. But is he really helping her search for the truth about that fatal night? Or does Rand have a deadlier motive for courting the only possible witness to the crime...?

In thinking about a holiday romantic mystery, I knew I wanted to use a department store like the one I loved as a child. I wanted to involve the Christmas windows. And I wanted the murder victim to be Santa Claus. No, wait! Not the real Santa. The department store one. Rather the one dressed as Santa for the annual Christmas party. Okay, so I have a bizarre sense of humor.

Part of me is in my heroine Shelby. The Yay! It’s Christmas! part. From the time I moved out on my own until we learned my late husband was ill, I had an annual Christmas tree-trimming party. I made dozens and dozens of Christmas cookies and gave most of them away I collected a new special Christmas ornament every year, just as Shelby does, so I could experience my holiday history every time I looked at the tree.

Because I always loved Christmas, I enjoyed creating this intricately plotted romantic mystery. A fun task, and a fun story, one I hope will make readers smile.

What would make a great romantic suspense for you? Comment for a chance to win a digital copy of one of my Intrigue backlist books.