Work in Progress (March '26)
A Monthly Newsletter from Mystery and Thriller Writer Jenna Kinghorn
March 2026
Work in Progress
I'm working on a new outline for Next of Kin as I hammer out the details of the plot changes. I've also been doing deep dives into several secondary characters to try to understand what in their pasts set them up to be plausible suspects for murder.
Writing short stories is hard for me, but I try to produce a few every year because I think it's a good way to build up my storytelling muscles--and, honestly, it's really nice to actually FINISH a story after just a few days or weeks of work, as opposed to the endless-seeming treadmill of working on a novel!
So I'm working on a short mystery that I want to submit to a contest at the end of March. Over the past couple weeks I also played around with a fun idea for a whimsical fantasy featuring Bigfoot, and surprised myself by drafting a whole short story! It needs some polishing before I undertake the dreaded search for markets that might want to publish it.
What I'm Consuming
Mysteries I've recently read or listened to:
- The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore
- The Bones at Point No Point, by D.D. Black
- Guilty as Cinnamon, by Leslie Budewitz
- The Lady Sherlock Series, by Sherry Thomas
- Crocodile on the Sandbank, by Elizabeth Peters (long one of my favorite books, I've probably read it more than a dozen times, this time as part of a Sisters in Crime book club called "Reading Like a Writer," which gave me a new perspective)
I haven't read much science fiction lately, but really enjoyed the fantasy Warriorborn: A Cinder Spires Novella, by Jim Butcher.
TV I've been streaming recently:
- ReGenesis
- Will Trent
- High Potential
- New Tricks
And I really enjoyed the movie Rental Family, starring Brendan Fraser.
Where I've Been
About a month before our trip, I added the forecast for Waikiki to my weather app. As the winds of January shook our Puget Sound house and the cold rain of early February pelted down, I took solace in the high-70s temperatures and sunshine icons that I would soon be experiencing. But as the date drew nearer, raindrops appeared in the Honolulu forecast, and the temperatures trended down…so I made room in the suitcase for our rain jackets.
Our first day in Waikiki, Morgan and I headed out of our hotel room for a long walk along the water, and were astonished to have the beautiful beach parks and sandy beaches almost completely to ourselves.
The winds that seemed balmy to us had the locals bundled up and apologizing for the horrible weather. Our hardy PNW rain gear was overkill for the few gentle spatters of precipitation we got—I wore my jacket rolled up and tied around my waist more often than not.
The surf beyond the rocky walls and concrete jetties defining public swimming areas was scenic enough for a postcard, and the pallet of the ocean’s blue hues was mesmerizing. My travels tend to be rather active, focused on photographing the wildlife or experiencing particular features of the destination, but this trip had no agenda other than being somewhere warmer and sunnier than the Puget Sound area—a mission accomplished even with the unusually high winds and frequent overcast in Waikiki that week.
We enjoyed listening to outdoor music performances, window shopping, and finding fun menu items as we wandered through nearby resorts.
We loved using public transit instead of renting a car and having to worry about finding and then paying steep fees for parking spots. We did a lot of walking and enjoyed the view from the top level of various double-decker buses as we explored. Despite the pool being too cold for swimming, and the high winds canceling our hoped-for sunset sail, we had a good time.
Have You Read Anything By Sherry Thomas?
It's always a pleasure to discover an engaging mystery series that already has a number of published volumes, so that I don't have to wait for a year or more between books. A few weeks ago I discovered A Study in Scarlet Women, the first entry of The Lady Sherlock Series, by Sherry Thomas. I enjoyed it so much I quickly went through most of the series--I am currently reading the seventh of the eight books available. A ninth is rumored to be in the works.
A long-time enthusiast for variations on the Sherlock Holmes canon, I was captivated by the characters, transported by the Victorian England setting, and engaged in the mysteries. I was also fascinated by the exploration of the creative methods employed by women to attain varying degrees of independence and self-determination during that historical period, a theme that runs through all the books.
Charlotte Holmes is a young woman with amazing observation skills, an eidetic memory, and little access to her emotions. Breaking with her family and society when her father refuses to pay for her education as a would-be headmistress, she pretends to be the younger sister of the bed-ridden but brilliant Sherlock Holmes, a nonexistent consulting detective. With the help of an older woman, Mrs. Watson, who becomes both mentor and helper, Charlotte sets up shop, offering her imaginary brother's detective services to the police and the public.
Although Charlotte seems as unaffected by emotion as the original Sherlock Holmes character, Sherry Thomas humanizes the young woman with an outrageous sense of fashion, and a delight in food--especially sweets--that threatens Charlotte with growing multiple chins. Charlotte also has a libido and, as the series progresses, an increasingly lascivious zest for life. Most of the sex happens off the page, but the stories are several notches warmer than a strictly cozy mystery, although far from sizzling. (Sherry Thomas, a two-time winner of Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® Award, has been published in a number of genres.)
Complex recurring characters include the sisters Charlotte wants to earn enough to support; Charlotte's dashing love interest; the delightful Mrs. Watson, a former actress and widow of Dr. John Watson; that lady's stalwart butler, Mr. Mears; and Mrs. Watson's "niece." The tension of the series-spanning mystery of who Moriarty is, and what he wants, works nicely. Keeping track of Charlotte's various foes can be tricky, in part because nearly everyone assumes disguises at times, but also because players move from faction to faction as their loyalties change. Some antagonists have unexpected depths and, as Charlotte uncovers their stories, invite a measure of sympathy.
The stories are beautifully written, packed with action and intrigue, and full of interesting historical details. The Lady Sherlock Series is a wonderful feminist homage to the Sherlock Holmes canon, full of warmth and humor.
You can read a free short story to sample The Lady Sherlock Series at https://sherrythomas.com/charlotte-holmes-and-the-locked-box.pdf
My Furry Muses
One of the MANY surprises I got when we brought Butch and Sundance home from the shelter (a year ago this month!) was their attraction to water. Previous cats of my acquaintance were willing to look at water, but beyond meeting their need to drink, they wanted nothing to do with touching it. These guys…well, let’s just say that the number one requirement for replacing our leaking bathroom tap is that the new fixture cannot be turned on by kittens!
Sunny showed the most interest in water at first, jumping up on the bathroom or laundry room counter when one of us turned on the sink. We rewarded his interest by turning the tap to different flow rates, cupping water in a hand or drinking glass and pouring it out, and inviting him to sniff, touch, and taste. He was fascinated when we stoppered the basin and let a puddle accumulate, and over time he began dipping a paw in it.
While Christmas shopping, I found a toddler tub toy small enough to fit in our sink, and thought Sunny would have fun playing with it. He did, and ever-curious Butch also got into the act.
These days, I find Butch in the tub more often than Sunny, but there are enough adorable little wet cat prints all over the house that I’m pretty sure they get equal time in their aquatic pursuits. And I spend a lot more time wiping down counters and fretting about mopping floors than I did before they arrived. Here I thought, because they were indoor-only cats, they wouldn’t add substantially to the chores!
Butch occasionally shakes a paw while walking around inside the tub—I think he doesn’t like it when the fur on top of his foot gets wet, but he’s okay with his pads being wet. And when he exited the tub after I took the above photo, he very carefully did NOT let any of his paws land on the wet surface of the tub surround. That made me wonder if he had previously learned that the water makes it slippery.
I should point out that this interest in water isn’t about drinking. The kittens have access to TWO large, frequently replenished water bowls they share with Mia, AND a drinking fountain that Mia isn’t interested in. And I’ve seen them drink from all those sources at times. We also give them wet food, and add water to it, to make sure they are adequately hydrated.
Maybe they know their canine sister is an Irish WATER Spaniel, and just can’t bear being left out?
That's it until the middle of next month. Thanks for being a reader – Jenna