"One Death at a Time" by Abbi Waxman

Abbi Waxman, a British-born Californian, is the author of eight books including I Was Told It Would Get Easier, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, and The Garden of Small Beginnings. Her latest, One Death at a Time, is promoted as a “feel-good mystery,” a categorization that Waxman seems relatively happy with. But then Waxman confesses to be a relatively happy person. “One Death at a Time is funny. All my books are lighthearted,” she said.Born in England in 1970, Waxman came to the United States at 21, setting up a lifelong battle between her Britishness and her Americaness, she said. A career in advertising, where she worked as a copywriter and then creative director at various advertising agencies in London and New York, proved to be a great training ground for book writing, she said.“(Advertising) work is technical but at the same time creative. You have to express an idea in limited space and create an emotional connection.” All that rewriting and editing that goes into ad work helps one prepare a novel, said Waxman.Growing up in England with an American mother (from Detroit) who was a murder-mystery writer, Waxman’s childhood reading list included books by classic mystery writers like Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers. “Rex Stout, creator of Nero Wolfe, is my favorite,” she said.But along with reading plenty of non-fiction these days, Waxman said she will suddenly read a string of books by various authors from Jane Austen to Stephen King. “King’s a master of description,” she noted.Absorbing the work of accomplished writers helps restore her faith in the wonder of reading, she said. “It helps me create a world that will transport a reader,” said Waxman.