BLog Tour Stop/Giveaway: A Pilgrimage of Whispered Truths by M. Jayne LaDow

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. M. Jayne LaDow will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Interview with M. Jayne LaDow

Tell us about your latest book, who are the main characters and what we can expect when we pick it up.

A Pilgrimage of Whispered Truths is a cozy mystery set in 1997 Virginia Beach—back when solving crimes required actual shoe leather instead of Google. Dani, a teacher with terrible luck and excellent instincts, stumbles into a missing persons investigation. There's Gavin, her love interest who's almost too good to be true (spoiler: he's not), and scene-stealers Chanice and Dot Swan who absolutely steal every scene they're in. Expect murder, romance, Chaucer references (after 33 years teaching 8th grade English, it was inevitable), and absolutely zero cell phones to ruin the mystery.

Taking the story from a concept to a published book is a long and involved process. How does that usually work for you?

I'm a chronic revise-as-I-go writer, which my writing friends find deeply offensive. I can't move to the next chapter until the current one "feels done," which is inefficient but apparently how my brain works. Then comes the fun part: endless editing passes where I hunt down every overused word (I'm looking at you, "just"). My experience editing artist interviews for Creative Footnotes taught me to be ruthless with my own work—if it doesn't serve the story, it's gone.

Which of your books would you recommend for readers to choose first if they're new to you and your books?

Start with A Pilgrimage of Whispered Truths—it's my debut cozy mystery set in 1997 Virginia Beach. If you like your mysteries with a side of '90s nostalgia and romance, you'll feel right at home. But I also have a series of teacher rom-coms coming (The Marchfield series), so whether you're Team Cozy Mystery or Team Rom-Com, I've got you covered!

We are very curious about your writing process. What is a typical writing day like for you?

I'm lucky because I can write from home after all my people—husband and two kids—head off to work. I do have to fight the cats off first (Gino, Jonesy, and George have strong opinions about lap usage), but once I get started, I can crank out a thousand words or so a day. I'm a ridiculous planner—I have spreadsheets and plot boards, aka murder boards. My family finds this either impressive or deeply concerning, depending on the day. I also have daily book chats with my best friend, which I absolutely count as research since we read spicy romance novels.

What trope have you not written yet but want to?

A ghost mystery! I'm fascinated by The Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach and its legendary hauntings—Adeline Moffett supposedly still roams the halls. I love the idea of blending a cozy mystery with paranormal elements: Is the ghost real or is someone using the legend as cover for murder? Are the "hauntings" clues or distractions? Plus, a historic hotel setting is basically a character itself, full of secret passages and decades of stories. The challenge would be keeping it cozy while adding that supernatural twist.

How do you approach character development in your stories? Do you have any specific techniques or methods that you find particularly effective?

I let my characters hijack scenes. Chanice and Dot Swan in A Pilgrimage basically wrote themselves because I stopped trying to control them and just listened. Also, after 33 years teaching middle schoolers, I learned that real people are gloriously contradictory—so my characters get to be messy, funny, and flawed all at once. I act out dialogue to myself (don't judge me for talking to myself), and I borrow quirks from real people shamelessly.

What do you believe sets your writing apart from others in your genre, and why should readers choose to read your books?

I'm a recovering English teacher, so literary references sneak in whether I want them to or not, but I promise they enhance the story instead of feeling like homework. I also love calling my story historical. It's set in 1997, not all that long ago, but still long enough to feel like a completely different world. No cell phones, no GPS, no social media—just good old-fashioned detective work and characters who have to actually talk to each other. Plus, I write characters who feel like people you'd actually want to hang out with (except maybe the murderers). If you want cozy mysteries that are smart but not pretentious, romantic but not sappy, and nostalgic without being preachy, I'm your writer.

Can you discuss any upcoming projects or books that you're currently working on? What can readers expect from your future works?

Right now, I'm working on a rom-com for my Marchfield series. Two teachers—Max Harrison, a nerdy science teacher, and Emma Bennett, a purple-haired PE teacher—are forced to work together due to budget cuts. At first there's a lot of arguing (love, love, love enemies to lovers), but then they got locked in a closet during a fire drill, and boom, sexy energy. There's also a scene-stealing parrot named Darcy and a meddling jerk named Jason... Are you getting any Pride and Prejudice vibes? Because my English teacher brain couldn't resist.

 

She set out to solve a mystery, not to fall in love.

In 1997 Virginia Beach, some truths refuse to stay buried…

Dani Jones is used to lesson plans and late-night grading, not murder. But when a student’s uncle confronts her after class and then disappears, her world tilts. Days later, during a Chesapeake Bay cleanup, she is there when his body is found, hidden in the marsh. As the last person to see him alive, Dani is suddenly at the center of a mystery that rattles the quiet coastal town.

Enter Gavin Larkhurst, a sharp-tongued radio newsman with a protective streak. His feelings for Dani make him desperate to keep her safe—even when she refuses to stop digging. But trust is fragile when danger lurks around every corner, and someone will do anything to keep the past buried.

Equal parts mystery and romance, A Pilgrimage of Whispered Truths is a spicy whodunit about uncovering secrets, risking your heart, and the lessons that change everything.

Read an Excerpt

The ocean had always been her refuge. Even now, with storm clouds bruising the horizon, Dani walked the shoreline barefoot, the wind tugging strands of hair across her face. The water hissed over the sand like something whispering secrets it could no longer keep.

She tried to quiet her mind—to let the rhythm of the waves wash away the questions still circling like gulls. But the past few days wouldn’t let her rest: Carl Rendell’s fury, the burned church, Brian’s haunted silence. Each memory rose and fell with the tide, reshaping itself into something sharper.

A flash of color caught her eye—a shard of glass half-buried near her foot. She bent to pick it up. Red, warped by heat. A fragment of stained glass.

Her breath hitched.

She turned it over in her palm, the edges cutting faintly into her skin, and for a moment she imagined the flames reflected there, licking at the sky. The wind howled, cold and certain.

Whatever she’d stumbled into, it wasn’t finished with her yet.

She slipped the shard into her pocket, the salt wind stinging her eyes, and kept walking toward the dark line of the pier, where the sea met the secrets she could no longer ignore.

About the Author:

M. Jayne LaDow is a playwright and author who leapt into writing romance after thirty-three years wrangling middle school English students. Her rom-coms and spicy cozy mysteries are inspired by her years in education, where she was regularly pied in the face, sang classroom karaoke, and dressed up like characters from novels.

She’s the author of The Marchfield Series — One Night Stands and Lesson Plans, Learning Goals and Dancing Poles, Pop Quizzes and Stolen Kisses, Tardy Pass, No Questions Asked, and the upcoming Budget Cuts and Midnight Lust — and the Tides of Truth Series, beginning with A Pilgrimage of Whispered Truth: A Steamy Cozy Mystery set in 1997 Virginia Beach.

She firmly believes every great story starts with a dash of trouble and a happily ever after.

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