A Tale of Two Castles is my first mystery.

Naturally, it comes from a fairy tale, very loosely from "Puss 'N Boots," one of the most charming fairy tales. I'm utterly won over that a cat threatens a bunch of peasants with cutting them up as herbs for the soup and they're scared. A cat against people?

I'm not sure anyone will get the connection between my book and the original, but look for it. Here's how I began: I was searching for a fairy tale mystery, and I realized it is one. If you remember your "Puss 'N Boots," you'll recall that Puss marches into the ogre's castle and challenges him to shape-shift. In response, the ogre turns into a lion and then turns back. When Puss recovers from his fright, he challenges the ogre again, this time to turn into a small creature. The obliging ogre becomes a mouse, and Puss eats him. That's the story according to Puss, but notice, there are no witnesses. All anyone can be certain of is that a cat walks in; a cat walks out; an ogre vanishes. So what really happens?

A Tale of Two Castles was published May 10, 2011. Check out the cool book trailer.