SUITE: Tell me a little about your books and what genre they are
RENEE: My books are closest to cozy mysteries. I write and read cozies because I can do without blood on the ground or gore on the floor. In the classic cozy, the characters usually are part of a closed group such as house guests at a country estate or inhabitants of a small village. In my Rx mysteries, many of the characters are employees or customers of a fictional supermarket chain in Scottsdale, Arizona. My amateur sleuth, Ruthie Kantor Morris, is the pharmacy manager at this supermarket. However, a more recent definition of the cozy, and my preference, is mystery of manners, something I try to achieve. In the first Rx novel, Rx for Murder, one of the pharmacy's older patients suddenly dies. At first, he seems to have committed suicide, but his prescription records convince Ruthie that Harry Stokes's death is murder. When she becomes a suspect, Ruthie knows she must discover the truth even if it puts her own life in danger. Deadly Rx finds Ruthie accused of making a fatal prescription error, one that results in the death of a teenage girl. Convinced she made no error, Ruthie tries to uncover what really happened in order to restore her professional reputation–a pursuit that nearly costs her life and the life of a friend. When Andrea Felder is murdered in Rx Alibi, Ruthie finds a prescription drug the police have overlooked. Does it pinpoint the killer or is it a false lead? Ruthie also faces a hostage confrontation at the pharmacy from which she must extricate herself and her staff pharmacist. In all three novels, the reader can feel what it's like to live in Arizona–August in the first book, when you can burn your fingers on your car's steering wheel; October when you're assailed with the odor that goes with new winter lawns; and March, when the air is filled with the wonderful aroma of citrus in bloom.
SUITE:When did you first start writing? First start publishing? (short stories, books, etc)
RENEE: I started writing when I was about seven years old–a short story called "The Ugly Princess." After three unpublished novels (not mysteries), I gave up fiction for many years and concentrated on scholarly articles and presentation papers.
SUITE: I started at seven as well. Why do you write?
RENEE: I'm sure you've heard this before–I just had to do it. I also wanted to write the kind of mysteries I enjoy reading and to show a pharmacist at work. Ruthie's occupation is not just a "tag" line. She uses her professional knowledge to solve the
