Author Interview: Sandra Kay Vosburgh

Feeling mysterious today? Well, we have another mystery author joining us today. Sandra Kay Vosburgh is here, chatting about parts of her life that sneak into her books and why she loves mysteries. She's offering her first two books to a lucky reader, so be sure to leave a comment at the end!

What first led you to want to write mysteries? Why that genre?
I was introduced to Agatha Christie when I found my mother’s copy of Halloween Party. I love the mental challenge a mystery presents, and Christie’s plotting was so complex, I rarely picked the right suspect. I attribute my suspicious nature to her.
 
Does your life as a pastor's wife incorporate itself into any of your writings?
Working in women’s ministry had a great impact on my current novel, which is a women’s contemporary with a bit of mystery. The theme is the effect of negative fathering on the soul of a little girl—how a father’s failure to affirm and value his daughter impacts her adulthood. I’ve seen women well into their later years weep when they spoke of their father’s absence or indifference. This moved me to write The Girl in Her.

With a history of a farm girl, do any of your stories take place in a setting similar to your roots?
The male character in The Girl in Her lives on the farm he worked with his grandfather. I do incorporate the setting of fields and woodlots, the pond, the gravestones in the south lot, etc. I grew up on a dairy farm, but the only animal on Clark’s farm is a lazy yellow lab.
 
Where do you get your ideas for mysteries?
My Sackets Harbor Mysteries sprang from news reports. I’d heard of a fight breaking out at a nursing home Bingo game over a chair. Out of that simple bite, I imagined a senior living village where conflict could lead to death, or where conflict could present a red herring. The Bingo game scene crept into The Death Collector, and yes, the one who claimed the chair soon after died from unnatural causes.
 
What's one of the most interesting facts you've discovered while researching?
A good part of The Girl in Her is set in Pawleys Cove, Nova Scotia. I based this area on Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia. In my research I discovered that on September 2, 1998 Swissair Flight 111 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Halifax. All 229 people on board perished. The crash site was five miles from the shore of Peggy's Cove.
 
Is one of your characters more like you than another? In what way?
I’ve had to overcome some of the same issues my main character in The Girl in Her, Olivia, had to overcome. That sense of not belonging, feeling alone, knowing God loves me but believing He loves others more. Yet, like Olivia, I’ve been freed from these weights through my relationship with Jesus Christ.  
 
What's one fact about you that very few people know?
I’ve traveled abroad, both on mission trips and as a tourist. My most profound experience, besides being mugged in Bulgaria, was my sobering tour of Auschwitz. 

That would be a very sobering and profound experience, Sandra. Thanks for sharing these fun tidbits with us today!
Readers, be sure to leave a comment at the bottom and we'll draw a winner next week. What do you love about mysteries? Who was the first author to introduce you to the genre?

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​A mysterious pull toward Nova Scotia lures a reluctant school teacher to embark on a Canadian cruise and sail into deception, tragedy, and love.
 
As the school term ends, teacher Olivia Carr resigns herself to weeks of lonely boredom, until her estranged father asks her to spend the summer on his estate near Boston. Her hope that their relationship could be healed is soon crushed, and Olivia flees her father’s house to join fellow teachers on a New England and maritime Canada cruise. 
The voyage stirs up latent memories. What mystery draws her to the lighthouse at Pawleys Cove, Nova Scotia?
Fellow teacher Clark Rafferty—because of his Christian faith—struggles against his attraction to Olivia. When she unexpectedly joins the cruise and becomes involved in a shipboard romance, his resolve to avoid her must yield to his need to protect her.
Meanwhile, in the shadow of the Pawleys Cove lighthouse, an old man, still haunted by tragedy, prays for the little girl he remembers. 

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Sandra Kay Vosburgh is a Bible teacher, women’s ministry director, and pastor’s wife. She is a devotions contributor for David C Cook. Her Sackets Harbor Mysteries are set in the beautiful Thousand Islands area and have won numerous awards. The Girl in Her won the BRMCWC Foundation Award.
 
The Girl in Her is scheduled for release in October 2024. If you would like to receive an update when the book is available, please visit sandrakayvosburgh.com and click the Newsletter link.