Many thanks to guest moderator Gail Graziani for leading this discussion and providing this summary!

The group’s comments:

• Max was an unusual character.
• The book was funny and light – I liked the description of Wanda’s living room with as many patterns as possible.
• The names of the villages were great.
• Appreciated the list of characters and the map.
• I had no inkling of who did it.
• The book was a fun change of pace.
• It reminded me of Murder She Wrote and of Midsomer Murders.
• It’s funny that there were no murders in the village until Max arrived.

Notes from our conversation with Gin:

• She began writing this series when her prior publisher went out of business and she was asked about other story ideas by her new publisher.
• The idea of the village came first and was based on Agatha Christie. The vicar’s character is based on an acquaintance with a similar background.
• The village names were based on real places, and she thought “Monkslip” was a good name for the village of a vicar.
• Her favorite character is Suzanna – sister of the doctor – because she has no filters and says whatever she likes. She’s a brash person in the wrong setting.
• Gin doesn’t plot out every character – she gets an overall feel for the murder and an outline of events and then jumps around from section to section. She works in a home office from about 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Gin generally can name her books as she likes – a few times editors wanted changes.
• She has just read The Witch Elm and is a big fan of Tana French.
• She has had some interest from Hollywood about possibly turning the series into a show, but it is not at all a certainty.
• Currently, Gin is writing a standalone that has some mystery elements, but is also a comedy of errors.
• There may be one final Max book, but that is also not determined yet.

Please feel free to share additional thoughts on Wicked Autumn in the comments section below.