If you've been a miniatures collector and creator for a while, then you likely are aware of the fun miniatures-centered mysteries written by collector and author Camille Minichino (first published under the name Margaret Grace.) For a treat, read on for a book excerpt and a short interview with Camille. You can also sign up for her monthly newsletter here. 
If you haven't read them, well, you've been missing something special since hers is the only full series of light mysteries involving miniatures and set in the dollhouse world.
I'm sharing since the series of nine books have gotten striking new covers and been republished by Crossroad Press. (See all the books here.) A bonus is that book 1, Murder in Miniature and book 2, Mayhem in Miniature, are also available in audiobook (at this writing listed as free with an Audible trial.)
How it Starts: About Book 1, Murder in Miniature: As chairwoman of the local Dollhouse and Miniatures Fair and babysitter for her precocious granddaughter, Geraldine Porter's got enough to think about without the curious behavior of her friend Linda Reed. Linda and her prized miniature Governor Winthrop desk go missing the morning of the fair, a young woman and prominent townsperson are murdered, and Linda's Governor Winthrop turns up in a most bizarre place. Then someone starts threatening Gerry. And Linda knows more than she lets on. Now Gerry must get to the bottom of things, or it's going to be big trouble...
Interview with Camille Minichino:Why do you think the books are still a favorite?
I think a precocious kid is a big
draw in cozy mysteries, especially a very smart, self-confident young girl who
also adores her grandmother!
What's your favorite book of the series and why?
Manhattan in Miniature, of course, since I’m a huge
fan of NYC! At the time, pre-pandemic, I visited the city often and enjoyed
capturing the energy of the buildings, the streets, and New Yorkers.
What’s your latest/next book coming out and when? What are
you working on now?
I’m working on a collection of short
stories with a writer friend who shall be named soon. We’re aiming for
November ’23! I’m also working on a novel set in WW2. (NOTE: A reprint of Camille's story, "The Sodium Arrow," is also in the recent issue of Black Cat Weekly,#76. See at Amazon and B&N.)
How many books have you written? What keeps you writing/inspired?
I've written 28
novels; one nonfiction book; lots of short stories, some in anthologies. Like
you, I’m sure, story ideas are always swimming around my thoughts and the only
way to get rid of them is to write them out! Plus, it’s very exciting to see a
book in print (or e-)!
Any new minis projects? How many years have you been
decorating and donating houses?
I
love creating minis, sometimes small scenes, sometimes room boxes, and at least
once a year a house. I decorate at least a scene to donate to conferences, and houses when
I travel to them by car. I have a standing project (more than 20 years!) with a
local school to give them a fully furnished house for their holiday
fair/auction. Often I include raw materials for the winner to fool around with! (A selection of projects can be seen in the photos gallery at her website.)
Any hopes of revisiting the miniatures series with a new story or addition?
I’m in short story mode recently, and I’ve started a story where Maddie has entered the Police Academy. The issue, of course: do I want reread the nine books in the series so I don’t lose continuity? The books were published between 2008 and 2016, and a lot has happened in my writing life since then. But if Maddie is old enough to be in the Academy, it will be ok if her favorite flavor of ice cream has changed!
Excerpt from book 8, Manhattan in Miniature : About the book:
Perhaps Manhattan, like Christmas, is best seen through the eyes of a child. Gerry Porter provides both magical experiences for granddaughter Maddie when a SuperKrafts manager takes them to New York City for a huge crafts fair. They get to work on both making miniatures and solving crimes, the detecting duo's favorite pastimes. All this, plus Rockefeller Center and Radio City, too! But a crafty murderer wants to make sure they don't make it safely home again to California.
Chapter One:
I needed
a new refrigerator; there was no doubt about that. But I didn't expect to have
so many choices. I stood in the appliance section of the store, in front of the
current selection of models. Should I buy the tall white two-door or a similar
style in black with an ice maker? I was also attracted to a French-door window
arrangement in a wood-like shade, and the bottom-drawer-freezer stainless steel
model next to it. I had already ruled out the old-fashioned one-door in avocado
green that reminded me of my first kitchen in the Bronx back when Ken and I
were newlyweds. I wasn't planning on redecorating to that extent.
In the
end, I decided to buy them all, including a boxy yellow throwback with its
motor on top that had fallen behind the others. You could never have enough
appliances to fill all your dollhouses or miniature room boxes.
"What
about the restaurant-kitchen room box we're making, Grandma?" Maddie
asked. "Shouldn't we buy two of the big stainless-steel fridges so we can
put them side by side?"
"Good
idea," I said, as Maddie threw another silvery fridge into the wire basket
she carried. Maddie was my mini-Sherpa in more ways than one.
We
headed for the checkout counter at SuperKrafts, Lincoln Point's first crafts
store. My English-teacher background had finally stopped rebelling at the
gimmicky spelling, and I was able to enjoy the store's great collection of
supplies for lovers of crafts of all kinds. Maddie and I had a clear shot at
every shelf and bin of merchandise, with few other shoppers, most of whom were
focusing on supplies for Christmas ornaments and fabric stamped with sleigh
bells or Santa and his reindeer. I'd convinced my eleven-year-old granddaughter
that earlier was better on a Saturday so close to Christmas if we wanted to
beat the crowds. We stopped on the way to checkout and admired the new
decorations to celebrate all the December holidays.
I was
glad to be done with the Thanksgiving theme, which had been carried out with
six-foot-tall turkeys, massive ears of plastic corn, and giant cornucopias. I
doubted anyone ever called an oversized pilgrim "cute." Maybe I'd
offer to help decorate next year and add a miniature Thanksgiving table to the
mix. Why anyone preferred larger-than-life to smaller-than-life was beyond me.
When an item was enlarged, so were its warts and imperfections. But shrink the
world into a scale of one inch, or less, for every real-life foot, and you had
nothing but cute. Like the seven refrigerators I'd be taking home today, all
under six inches in height. I couldn't wait to stock the one-inch freezer
shelves with half-inch cartons of ice cream.
Jody,
today's sales associate at SuperKrafts, peered into our basket. "Do you
need any stoves or sinks to go with?" she asked.
"We
have a ton of those," my granddaughter answered, emptying the basket onto
the counter. The assortment of little wooden, plastic, and metal refrigerators,
toppled out, joined by a few accessories Maddie had picked up for her own
miniature project. "I'm doing a skating scene," she explained.
"These pipe cleaners are for the trees. And Grandma and I are making a
mini restaurant where you can see into the kitchen in the back. That's why we
need these." She pointed to the stainless-steel fridges. "I'm making
the tables out of cupcake holders, the ones where all the pleating looks like a
tablecloth."
Too much
information, I figured, but Maddie supplemented her explanation with hand
gestures until Jody nodded her appreciation.
Jody ran
our items across the magic red scanner, pausing now and then for a judgment of
"cute," or "adorable," supporting my theory of miniatures.
I was ready to write a check for the amount displayed on the screen when a loud
voice interrupted the transaction.
"Hold
it, Jody." The directive came from a woman in a red apron that clashed
with her chemically enhanced hair color. Bebe Mellon, my friend and the store
manager, rushed down an aisle toward us. "Don't forget to give Gerry the
special discount," she ordered.
"Goody,"
Maddie said, as if she herself had toiled for the money we'd spend.
"Your
grandma earned it," Bebe said, ruffling Maddie's red curls, a shade darker
than Bebe's, but home grown. "We probably wouldn't even be in business if
it weren't for her."
"Thanks
to Skip, not me," I said, giving due credit to my homicide-detective
nephew for straightening out some problems that had befallen SuperKrafts in
general and Bebe in particular, during its early days in town.
While
Jody wrapped and bagged our purchases and Maddie gave a running commentary on
the use of each item, Bebe pulled me aside. "Guess what, Gerry. I've been
invited to staff the SuperKrafts booth at the big show in New York City. It's
the biggest crafts fair on the East Coast. They get, like, three hundred vendors
from all over the world. This year Corporate wants us to highlight the expanded
miniatures sections in their regional stores. Like ours." Bebe waved her
arm toward the area of the store where Maddie and I had spent most of our time.
"That's
very exciting, Bebe. What exactly will you be doing?"
Bebe's
face lit up as she answered. "My partner and I will be setting up our
display, of course, and we'll be part of all the raffles, like almost every
hour during the day. A lot of lucky people will win room boxes. And, of course,
we'll be selling supplies, with special deals for crafts groups and small,
independent crafts stores. Plus, there will be workshops." She took a deep
breath, but her excited demeanor didn't go away. "I'll be teaching a
session on making a lighted Christmas room box." She took a well-deserved
breath and smiled. "See why I'm so wired?"
Bebe had
weathered a tough life and had come by this new job honestly. I was happy
things were turning around for her. I tried to match her enthusiasm with a big
hug. "It sounds like a lot of fun, and what a vote of confidence in
you."
Bebe
nodded. "Uh-huh. Even though I haven't been with SuperKrafts that
long."
"I
can see why you'd be excited."
She
leaned in closer to me. "Yeah, but the fair is next weekend. Truth is, I
was just supposed to help their New York person out with ideas and reports
about what customers in California were asking for, but she got sick and they
asked me to step in since I already know all the ins and outs. So, I was their
second choice. Or maybe even third." Bebe shrugged. "I don't care,
though. It's a chance to meet the bigwigs and see Manhattan at Christmas
time." Bebe drew a deep, happy breath. "And if I do well, who knows
what's in store. Ha, ha. Get it? What's in store?"
"Good
one," I said, and laughed, to prove I got it. I made a move to rescue Jody
from my granddaughter and steer Maddie home, but Bebe wasn't finished.
"It
sounds like a lot of fun, right?"
"It
certainly does," I said, with the sincerity of a native New Yorker. Now
living in a snow-free zone of California, about forty miles south of San
Francisco, I could only dream of the days when I'd skated on real ice in
Central Park, window-shopped on Fifth Avenue, stood in awe when the Rockefeller
Center tree lights came on. The words to an endless album of holiday songs ran
through my head, and I could almost taste the first snowflakes on my tongue.
"You can't beat the holidays in the Big Apple," I said, aware of a
dreamy quality to my voice.
"Great,"
Bebe said. "So, you're in?"
"Excuse
me?" Between my merry but confused daydreams and my rush to claim Maddie
and be on our way, I'd thought I'd misheard Bebe's last comment.
"I
know it's kind of last-minute. Well, okay, it really is last-minute. We'd have
to leave in three days. This coming Tuesday. But, as I say, it's my chance to
make a good impression. And it's definitely a two-person job."
"You
mentioned you had a partner? Someone from the company, I assumed. Someone
already in New York."
Bebe
rubbed her hands along the front of her apron. "I was thinking of you,
Gerry. I just left a message on your machine, then I looked out my office
window and realized, here you are. It's meant to be."
I
laughed at her joke. "I don't think so."
"I'm
serious, Gerry. First of all, they're seriously understaffed in this busy
season, and I can't just take pot luck on the kind of help they'll give me. I
told them I had the perfect solution to this last-minute glitch. They've agreed
to fly you out with me. Especially once I mentioned that you're the best at
this kind of thing, very experienced. You've been running crafts fairs and
raffles around here since I've known you. Right?"
"That's
true, but—"
"So
you'll come?"
I
scratched my head. To help me absorb this sudden invitation? "Bebe, I
can't just pick up and—"
"Why
not, Grandma? Please, please. Say we can go!"
We? I glanced down at the pleading look in Maddie's eyes. How
much longer would she be clamoring to spend time with her grandmother? And how
many more opportunities would I get to introduce her to the Rockettes before
she became a preoccupied teenager, with daily mood swings and major shifts in
interest, too grown-up for a show that featured a dance line of long-legged
women with antlers on their heads? And what was so important in my life that it
couldn't be postponed a week or two? I was hooked.
"Yes,
we can go," I said. #
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If you want to read more of Camille's work, check out her website. She also is the author of:
The Periodic Table Mysteries, featuring retired physicist Gloria Lamerino,set in Revere,
Massachusetts;
The Professor Sophie Knowles Mysteries, featuring a math professor at a small New
England college;
The Postmistress Mysteries (as Jean Flowers), featuring Cassie Miller,
postmistress in a western Massachusetts town;
The Alaskan Diner Mysteries (as Elizabeth Logan), featuring Charlotte
"Charlie" Cooke, and her sleuthing crew in a fictitious Alaska town.
Camille, thanks again for sharing your work with us here!
