Episodes

Jenny: Welcome to the 100th episode of The Joys of Binge Reading podcast. Yes! We’ve reached 100 episodes. I can hardly believe it! Hi there. I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and when I started this podcast two years ago, my first modest goal was to reach a respectable number – 50 in fact – and now look at us! I’m absolutely thrilled. We talked to a hundred fantastic mystery, thriller and romance authors, recording their wins and losses and giving you, their readers, a chance to discover new boo...

Tracking Game with Margaret Mizushima – a new K-9 police procedural Margaret Mizushima’s police-procedurals-with-heart mysteries feature K-9 Deputy Mattie Cobb and her very smart partner, a highly trained German Shepherd called Robo. Hi there. I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today Margaret talks about the remarkable real life dog that Robo is based upon, as well as telling the truth of writing what you know, from her experience. Six things you’ll learn about Margaret in this Joys of Binge Read...

Critics rave about the unexpected and clever plot twists in Fiona Davis’s historical bestsellers, dual timeline stories set in the Big Apple’s most iconic buildings, from the Chelsea Hotel to Grand Central Station and the Dakota building to the Barbizon. Hi there. I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today in the 98th episode of The Joys of Binge Reading, Fiona talks about the famous and sometimes eccentric people who bring New York – and her books to life. Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of...

Harriet Steel’s Inspector de Silva historical crime series takes us back to the exotic sights, sounds and smells of 1930s Ceylon under the British Raj, in classic Golden Age mystery style. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today Harriet talks about how an encounter with Chocolat author Joanne Harris changed her life, and her passion for the remarkable Lola Montez, who in her time was second only to Queen Victoria in fame and notoriety. Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge...

Kirsten McKenzie’s time travel series The Old Curiosity Shop has been likened to ‘Antique Road Show Gone Viral’ – and that’s appropriate, because Kirsten is a former antiques dealer who is fascinated by the power of previously loved objects. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and Kirsten talks about historic time travel and her passion for unearthing ancient objects from archaeological digs. Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: Kirsten’s passion for digging up ...

Ames Sheldon’s Second World War novels explore how war impacts family life long after the guns have stopped firing. Writing them realized a life long dream when her first book – fifteen years in the making – won the Benjamin Franklin award as the Best New Voice in Fiction. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and Ames talks about the challenge of balancing personal dreams and family life and why she loves the creative process. Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading ep...

Sara Rosett’s High Society series features Olivia Belgrave, an impoverished ‘lady’ who solves upper crust scandals in a fabulous 1920’s world of fur coats and fashion, cocktails and country houses. Hi there. I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and Sara talks about getting started in writing as a military wife, her three other contemporary cozy mystery series, and the favorite famous places that appear in her books. Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: Why the 1920s is a f...

Tony Park’s 17 African thrillers are international best-sellers wrapping high octane action set against a background of safari park politics and wild life protection. Hi there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler . Tony gives the true story of the undiscovered Australian who’s a key protagonist in his latest book, Ghosts of the Past, and talks about living his dream life, split time between Australia and South Africa. Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: The importance o...

Renee Rosen’s latest book has been described as “Mad Men meets The Devil Wears Prada,” and explores Helen Gurley Brown’s first brazen year as Cosmo editor. And while the most scandalous woman in 1960s New York dares to talk to women about all things off-limits, her young PA Alice is pushing boundaries of her own. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and Renee Rosen talks about what Gurley Brown would have made of Me Too, the legendary brothers who created the Chicago Sound, and the thing s...

Georgina Clarke’s heroine Lizzie Hardwick trades her life in a bawdy house to go under cover in a Drury Lane theatre in her latest 18th century mystery, alive with the sights and sounds of London. Hi there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and Georgina talks about why she chose a well-born woman fallen on hard times as the brave and determined protagonist in her historical crime series, and her double life as an ordained priest and novelist. Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading ...

Marilyn Todd’s latest Victorian thriller introduces England’s first crime scene photographer, Julia McAllister, and offers readers the same racy pacey action that was the trademark of her 13 book Ancient Rome mystery series. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Marilyn explains why she loves resilient heroines and her life on a French hilltop surrounded by chateaux and vineyards. Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: Marilyn’s wildly fertile childhoo...

Leslie Karst’s Sally Solari foodie mystery series are spiced just right to tempt readers back for second helpings, with razor sharp plotting, a vibrant Santa Cruz setting, and the bonus of some great recipes! Hi there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Leslie talks about Murder from Scratch, the fourth book in what she calls her “snarky cozies.” Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: Why Leslie is passionate about Santa Cruz What the law taught her about myst...

Tammy Robinson’s emotional stories are heart-warming and heart-breaking in equal measure and will appeal to readers of Jojo Moyes and Nicholas Sparks. Initially indie published, she’s now signed with an international publishing house and is set for world-wide distribution. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today Tammy talks about the personal tragedy she had to overcome to keep writing and tells how living through her characters helped her overcome tough times. Six things you’ll learn...

Alissa Callen’s wide-open-space romances – whether set in the Australian outback or Montana mountains – give a bright lift to the darkest day. That’s what her readers tell her, and she couldn’t hope for a more rewarding response. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today USA Today Best Selling author Alissa talks about what she loves most about writing rural and small-town fiction, and why she’s thrilled her books are in school libraries. Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge ...

Danielle Hawkins is a qualified veterinarian and busy farmer’s wife who writes popular rural rom coms set in New Zealand. She got started, she says, because she needed a new project and she’d “already painted the house.” Hi there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today Danielle talks about how popular vet James Heriott inspired her and writing “unromantic” romance. And for fans – or people who’d like to be fans – we’ve got a great Giveaway: two paperback copies of Danielle’s latest book, wh...

Sharon Maas celebrates the diversity of publishing today because she’s been one the writers who has challenged the old formula. Her early 20th century Quint family series set in her homeland of Guyana and based on her own family story of a white woman marrying a black man was not seen as “commercial.’ Hi, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today Sharon talks about how the decade of rejection she faced before she won through made her a better writer, and tells us about a magical day she spent with ...

Australian best seller Karen Brooks’ latest book The Chocolate Maker’s Wife is a historical thriller set in the time of King Charles II when chocolate was regarded as “sin in a bowl” and the commercial houses that served it were hotbeds of revolution. Damnation never tasted so sweet. Hi there, I’m you host Jenny Wheeler and today Karen talks about the lush, fascinating world of Restoration London and of a beautiful woman drawn into a world of riches, power, intrigue – and chocolate. And we’ve ...

Deanna Raybourn’s motto in life and writing is “expect the unexpected” – and her best-selling historical mysteries are the perfect expression of that – they are plotted with the intricacy of a symphony. HI there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Deanna talks about writing for a very long time before she got published – and what she learned from that experience – and why we’ve totally misjudged Victorian women. Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: Why Deanna fi...

Soraya Lane has an impressive backlist in contemporary romance, but she’s hitting the Kindle best seller lists with her most recently published work, World War II fiction centered on women’s stories. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Soraya talks about the road to being a successful international author and why she’s not going to apologise for treating writing as a business. Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: How many novels Soraya finished b...

Chanel Cleeton’s two richly imagined dual time stories of Cuban America are break through best sellers, with the first, Next Year in Havana, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club choice. But Chanel’s put in a full apprenticeship writing contemporary romance before she enjoyed “overnight success.” Hi there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Chanel talks about the family history behind her books and how a note on a CIA file inspired the plot for her most recent book, When We Left Cuba. Six things y...

Rebecca Rosenberg’s fascination with women who challenge convention has led her to write historical novels celebrating glorious women of past days – Charmian London, the unsung collaborator of writer Jack London’s work, and Baby Doe Tabor, once the richest woman in America. Hi there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today Rebecca talks about losing everything in last year’s California’s fires, how writing helped her pull through, and her latest project, the story of the five remarkable widows who...

Nicole Alexander is an acclaimed voice in Australian rural fiction, with her new book Stone Country, her ninth historical novel, hitting the Top Ten best seller lists within days of release. Hi there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today Nicole talks about giving up a career in fashion to become a fourth generation grazier, the vivid and visceral landscapes that give her work such a strong sense of place, and the passionate emotion that drives her characters. Six things you’ll learn from t...

Mystery author Becky Clark’s cozy mysteries tease and entertain with subtly dropped clues, masterly red herrings and lashings of humor, much of it poked at the publishing world she loves. Hi there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today Becky talks about the value of networking, her fascination with synaesthesia, and how being number seven in a family of eight influences her writing; Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: Why she jokes she’s a ‘teenager in a middle ...

Bart Casey discovered the Monica Lewinsky of the Elizabethan age and turned her already incredible true story into an enthralling dual time line tale of historic intrigue and contemporary greed. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Bart talks about his passion for forgotten stories, explains why Will Shakespeare continues to fascinate movie makers, and reveals how a mystery involving three famous Romantic poets is his work in progress. Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of ...