Cozy Mysteries THE CASE OF THE ​WHALE WATCHING WEDDING PLANNER with Debbie De Louise

Cathy, Nancy, and Mildred are on their way to Long Island to plan a triple wedding. When they try to meet with Georgia Hampton, a wedding planner who leads whale-watching tours, they discover her body upon her boat.

Teaming up again, the trio investigate the crime. Suspects include Georgia’s sister who is a partner in their wedding planning business, an artist who is a naturalist and conducts whale-watching tours, several couples whose relationships ended after consulting with Georgia, and employees of the tour company.

Reuniting with her great aunt after many years, Cathy learns that another suspicious death has occurred at Captain Sharp’s Whale Watching Tours. Can they solve the mystery, or will their efforts sail out to sea?

Award-winning author, Debbie De Louise recently sat down with The Big Thrill to discuss her latest cozy mystery, THE CASE OF THE ​WHALE WATCHING WEDDING PLANNER.

Debbie De Louise

When you first created your protagonist for this book, did you see an empty space in crime lit that you wanted to fill? What can you share about the inspiration for that character?

My protagonist for the series, Cathy Carter, wears many hats. She’s a pet rescue center owner and also a photographer for the town newspaper, the Buttercup Bugle. As the series progresses, she also becomes a detective. Combining her interests in animals, photography, and detecting, she makes an interesting protagonist for the Buttercup Bend cozy mystery series.

Can you pinpoint a moment or incident that sparked the idea for this book?

Most of the time, especially with series, I come up with a title before a plot. With the Buttercup Bend Books, I need a victim and an animal with the same first letters. For instance, the first book was The Case of the Cat Crazy Lady. The second book was The Case of the Parrot Loving Professor, and the book before this one was The Case of the Llama Raising Librarian. I’d planned to have the main character, Cathy, wed in this book, so I thought of making the wedding planner the victim. I then needed an animal beginning with “w.” I chose a whale because it was summer, and I thought it would be a good idea to take a whale watching cruise to research the book.

In addition to a great read, what do you hope readers will take away from this story?

I hope they’ll learn about whales and whale watching as I did by writing the book. I enjoy researching the animals I feature in each book of this series. I also hope they’ll be surprised by the twists in the story and enjoy the quirky new characters I’ve introduced as well as learning more about the main characters.

What can you share about what you’re working on next?

I’ve already started The Case of the Reptile Rescuing Receptionist. By the title, I think you can get an idea about Buttercup Bend #5. It picks up after Cathy’s wedding and takes place on her honeymoon.