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.
Welcome to It's Raining Books. Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?
I'm drawn to spicy cozy mysteries because they let me explore the darkness in human nature while still offering hope and resolution. After 33 years of teaching, I've seen how people navigate conflict, greed, and moral choices—and I've also seen the power of community to heal and support. The cozy mystery framework lets me examine serious themes (like "Radix malorum est cupiditas"—greed is the root of all evil—from Chaucer's The Pardoner's Tale) while keeping readers in a space that feels safe enough to explore those darker questions.
What research is required?
Setting A Pilgrimage of Whispered Truths in 1997 Virginia Beach meant I had to remember (or rediscover) a world without smartphones, social media, or easy internet access. I spent hours verifying what technology existed, what music was playing, what slang people used. I researched local Virginia Beach geography, the kinds of businesses that existed in the '90s, even what kind of answering machines people had. My husband, who was a radio announcer in the '90s, became my go-to source for period-specific details. I also dove deep into Chaucer scholarship to make sure my literary connections worked. For the sequel, A Masquerade of Truth, I'm researching old hotels, ghost lore, and the specific challenges of investigating a crime in a location with a complicated history.
Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.
Dani Jones taught me about agency. When I started writing her, I thought I knew exactly who she was and how she'd react. But she kept pushing back against my plans, insisting on making her own choices even when they complicated the plot. She showed me that characters with real agency don't always do what's convenient for the writer—they do what's true to themselves. Now I listen when my characters rebel instead of forcing them back into line, and that's made me a better writer.
Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?
I have to write chronologically. I can't jump around in the manuscript. Even if I know exactly what happens in chapter fifteen, I have to write chapters one through fourteen first. It's maddening sometimes, but my brain won't cooperate any other way.
Are you a plotter or pantser?
Hardcore plotter. I outline extensively before I write a single word of the actual manuscript. I know where every scene is going, what each character's arc looks like, how the mystery unfolds. Some writers discover their story as they write—I discover mine in the planning phase. The actual drafting is where I discover the voice and the emotional nuances, but the structure is locked down before I start. My teaching background probably has a lot to do with this. I spent decades creating lesson plans and curriculum maps. Turns out plotting a novel uses a lot of the same organizational skills.
Look to your right – what's sitting there?
My tabby cat, Gino, is sitting on the arm of the chair, staring at me with very wide, hungry eyes. There's a cold cup of tea I forgot about two hours ago, and a stack of sticky notes covered in cryptic reminders like "Fix chapter 7 bring more heat" and "Research Victorian séance etiquette."
Anything new coming up from you? What?
I'm currently writing Budget Cuts and Midnight Lust, the next book in The Marchfield Series—my spicy teacher rom-coms featuring middle school teachers. This book follows Max Harrison and Emma Bennett as they navigate middle school drama, forced collaboration, and their own complicated feelings. These books let me draw on all those years in education while adding heat and humor. There's something deeply satisfying about writing characters who understand the insanity of teaching—the budget battles, the parent emails, the way a fire drill can destroy your entire lesson plan. It's due out in May 2026.
I'm also deep into plotting A Masquerade of Truth, the second book in my cozy mystery series, and a continuation of Dani and Gavin’s story. This one ups the ante with an old hotel, a ghost with a grievance, a deeper romance arc, and yes, another murder. Basically, I looked at my writing schedule and thought, "What if I made everything more complicated?"
Do you have a question for our readers?
If you could set a cozy mystery in any time period, when would you choose and why? I'm genuinely curious what eras call to readers—for me, 1997 hit that sweet spot between familiar and foreign, recent enough to remember but distant enough to feel historical.
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.
Website: https://mjladow.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/M-Jayne-LaDow/61559414725278
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mjladow/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/59810192.M_Jayne_LaDow
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@m..jayne.ladow
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@mjladow
Books2Read: https://books2read.com/Pilgrimage-of-whispered-truths
Crew Fiction: https://crewfiction.com/m-jayne-ladow
