At least that’s what the Hallmark Channel movies want you to think. But, c’mon, you know the truth. Every family has one member that everyone else just can’t stand. The brother who chews with his mouth open. On purpose. The cousin who won’t stop talking. The aunt who snoops around the house and then tells everyone what she found. Yep, after a few hours of wonderful family togetherness, you just might want to kill someone.
And that’s why mystery writers love Thanksgiving so much. The essence of a good story is conflict. And nothing provides more conflict than family.
Take my character, Dotty, from my short story “Biscuits, Carats, and Gravy.” She’s a grandmother who loves Thanksgiving. The whole family comes to her home, and she gets to show off her gorgeous crystal, her perfect decorations, and her Martha Stewart-like dishes. So far so good. But then throw into the mix a twenty-year-old airhead intent on marrying into the family—and on getting her hands on Dotty’s deceased mother’s engagement ring—and now you have conflict.
Will Dotty let the airhead get her way? Are you kidding? Dotty comes up with a plan to save the ring involving cunning, deception, and some horrible, horrible gravy. Things start out okay, but sometimes the best laid plans ... well, you know.
I had a story published in 2009, “The Worst Noel,” in The Gift of Murder anthology, that started at Thanksgiving and ended at Christmas. In between was a holiday season filled with so much family-togetherness that my main character, Gwen, was pushed right over the edge. When a narcissistic mother clearly loves one sister more the other, you shouldn’t be surprised when the less-favored daughter decides to seek a little personal justice, should you?
Dotty and Gwen aren’t the only devious character running around these days. The anthology The Killer Wore Cranberry, where “Biscuits, Carats, and Gravy” appears, is comprised of nine Thanksgiving stories, each with memorable characters. Mobsters. Felons. Even turkeys and spuds. Each story is funny, and each one involves a Thanksgiving food, which is perfect, because the only thing better than mysteries with conflict are mysteries with conflict and good hearty laughs.
Six books in total were published in The Killer Wore Cranberry series. I had stories in the first four. My story in volume two, "Murder a la Mode," involves a murder mystery during Thanksgiving at a nudist colony. My story in volume three, "Operation Knock Her Down a Peg," has cousins who work together on a cooking show despite hating each other—and then they spend Thanksgiving together. And my story in volume four, "It's A Trap!" involves estranged sisters who get together for Thanksgiving to please their dying mother. By the end, Mama might have wished she hadn’t pushed so hard. To find these anthologies, click here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Barb-Goffman/author/B00CC5NC1K/allbooks. You also can buy “Biscuits, Carats, and Gravy” as a standalone story.
So when you’re on your last nerve this week, with the children screaming and the pots overflowing, and you’re about to beat your husband with your turkey baster, stop, download, and relax. I promise, in the few minutes it takes to read one of these short stories, you’ll regain your sanity and your smile. And then you’ll be ready to spend time with your family. Well, as ready as you can be.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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Barb Goffman has been nominated for major crime-fiction short story awards forty-three times and has won the Agatha three times, the Macavity twice, and the Anthony and Ellery Queen Readers Award once each. She is this year’s recipient of the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer Award, which is the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s lifetime achievement award. Barb makes her living as a freelance editor, especially enjoying working on traditional and cozy mysteries. She’s also an associate editor of Black Cat Weekly and has edited or co-edited fourteen published anthologies with two more forthcoming. Barb blogs every third Tuesday at www.SleuthSayers.org. Learn more atwww.barbgoffman.com
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