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In an age when murder mysteries often lean into the gritty, the gruesome, or the psychologically grim, C.B. Wilson is busy delighting readers with something radically different: murder mysteries told with levity, warmth, and an unwavering love for dogs. Her latest installment, Puppied to Death, the ninth in her beloved Bark View Mystery series, is a testament to her formula of lighthearted suspense, quirky characters, and—above all—canine companionship.
Set in a fictional Hawaiian town affectionately called Hula, Puppied to Death centers on an irrepressible puppy found at the scene of a crime. For Wilson, the island setting was more than picturesque backdrop—it was a creative imperative. “I always knew I’d write a book set in Hawaii,” she said in a recent interview. “And puppies and chaos in the hula land of Hula just went together so well. I couldn’t stop myself.”
The Bark View series follows amateur sleuth Kat, whose small-town life is frequently disrupted by four-legged troublemakers and two-legged criminals. But Puppied to Death introduces a new ensemble: the Miss Marble Mahjong Mamas, a group of amateur detectives who are as adept at tile matching as they are at clue gathering. Wilson, herself a fan of the game, praises mahjong for its ability to bring diverse personalities to the table—quite literally. “It really fit perfectly with sleuthing,” she says. “You have many different personalities with different traits that are just great coming together as one.”
What distinguishes Wilson’s work isn’t just her deft mix of humor and mystery—it’s her mission. Her novels are, at heart, love letters to animal adoption and the transformative power of the right pet. The cause is personal. Years ago, Wilson’s mother—a self-professed couch potato—adopted a Jack Russell Terrier. It was, by Wilson’s own admission, a mismatch. “This dog ran circles around us for 14 years,” she recalled. But the experience ignited in Wilson a passion for helping others avoid similar mismatches. Her books often highlight how crucial it is to find the right dog for the right person.
It’s a mission that’s already made an impact. After reading Shepherded to Death, one of her readers realized that a German Shepherd might not be right for her family after all. “I felt so good,” Wilson says. “It made me realize that what I’m writing is helping people.” Her stories, while fictional, serve as cautionary tales and guides for prospective pet owners. “If you’re a runner,” she advises, “don’t get someone who sits on your lap.”
That blend of purpose and prose seems central to Wilson’s ethos. When asked what she’s learned about human-canine companionship through her writing, she’s reflective: “I truly believe there is a right dog for everyone. They are a soulmate if you find the right one. And it can change depending on where you are in life.”
Wilson’s origin story as a writer is equal parts charming and revealing. As a child, she rewrote the endings of Nancy Drew novels she found unsatisfying. “Who was I at ten, doing that?” she muses, laughing. But even now, she hasn’t lost her impulse to revise fate. In Puppied to Death, she went so far as to rewrite the ending after her protagonist’s cat “jumped up and said, ‘No, he didn’t do it.’” For readers curious about the alternate ending, Wilson encourages them to email her—she’ll happily send it along.
Like many modern mystery writers, Wilson writes by the seat of her pants. “I’m a pantser,” she confesses, using the industry term for authors who don’t outline. “Honestly, I don’t know who the murderer is until the very end of the book.” Her spontaneous method injects her stories with the same curiosity and surprise that readers experience.
The road to authorship, however, was far from linear. Wilson has long balanced fiction writing with a full-time business career and a lifelong interest in gemology. “I’m a control freak,” she admits. “And what I love about writing is that I completely control the world—until the heroine tells me otherwise.”
Her fiction is never far from the tactile world she inhabits. She rides horses, she travels for work, and when deadlines loom, she books long-haul flights—airplanes being her distraction-free writing sanctuary. “No one can call me, no one can ask me a question,” she explains. “I get so much done on those flights.”
And she’s not slowing down. While Kat, her protagonist, may need a breather, Wilson is already at work on a new series—The Diamond Detectives. It stars a wiener dog who’s been trained to sniff out diamonds, alongside a heroine who recovers stolen gems for insurance companies. The idea was born on horseback, during a dramatic encounter with a snake in Tucson. “The whole idea came together as I was getting bucked off a horse.”
Still, it’s the Bark View series that continues to captivate readers, many of whom have become emotionally attached not just to the characters but the dogs themselves. “Some people love how the dogs are involved,” Wilson says. “Others like how it makes them see dogs in a new light.” And then, of course, “there are the folks who absolutely love the characters.”
Perhaps that’s the secret to C.B. Wilson’s enduring appeal: in a genre that so often leans on the cynical or procedural, she reminds us that even amidst murder and mayhem, there is room for joy, loyalty, laughter—and a wagging tail.
Learn more about C.B. Wilson at CBWilsonAuthor.com.
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