The Moaning Lisa follows an older married pair of sleuths who land in the middle of a disturbing mystery inside the Gilded Gates assisted living community, where several residents have gone missing. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Almost fifteen years ago we published the three Paco and Molly mysteries: Locks and Cream Cheese, Hot Grudge Sunday, and Boston Scream Pie. We had established their ages in their sixties, but now they would be in their eighties—not exactly vigorous protagonists in pursuit of a mystery. Coincidentally, elderly relatives of ours were kicking and screaming over the prospect of moving into a retirement facility. Their reluctance and fears sparked the idea for a setting where Paco and Molly might flourish. One day, just kidding around about the Mona Lisa, one of us happened to say “Moaning Lisa” and it clicked right away. Who was Lisa and why was she moaning? We dove into the plot.  

I loved the characters of Paco and Molly; their personalities work well together. Was there anything from your own life that you put into the characters in your novel?

When we started writing together decades ago, we hadn’t even considered writing mysteries—until we vis­ited Rosemary’s father, Dr. Saul K. Pollack, a prominent psycho­analyst in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That visit set us on a happy new course. Her father, a widower in his seventies, had a housekeeper/gourmet cook named Dorothy. She was sixty-three, with a beach ball figure, waddle walk, taffy-colored curls, and a good-natured, nosy-body personality. She had never gone past the tenth grade, but she was super-smart and keenly observant.

Dorothy also had a unique way of expressing herself. “I have to take my calcium so I don’t get osteoferocious.” During our visit, Rosemary’s father pulled out a piece of paper from his desk drawer and handed it to us: his secret list of Dorothy’s sayings. He thought we could submit it to Reader’s Digest. Back home in Severna Park, Maryland, we studied the list and decided, “Forget Reader’s Digest. Dorothy belongs to us.” We named her Molly. Her frequent witti­cisms were “malaprops,” but we named them Mollyprops. The concept of malaprops originated with the character Mrs. Malaprop in a 1775 comedy of manners, The Rivals, by Robert B. Sheridan.

When Locks and Cream Cheese, our first in the series, was initially conceived, we envisioned ourselves—our own alter egos—as protagonists Simon and Rachel. But Paco and Molly came across so powerfully in the writing that they soon edged us out.

Paco is modeled after a Barcelona, Spain, police inspector I met socially aboard a U.S. Naval ship docked in that city’s harbor. I was a field engineer for RCA at the time. The short, fit, and vibrant inspector was visiting the ship to practice his English. For an entire evening, the inspector told me one impressive anecdote after another. His bushy eyebrow movements were a “tell” of his current emotions. They moved together and individually, making the man memorable even to this day.

What was the hardest part about writing a mystery story, where you constantly have to give just enough to keep the mystery alive until the big reveal?

The hardest part of writing a mystery story is building and keeping track of the details. After razzle-dazzling readers with twists, turns, and the black art of red herrings—and perhaps a subplot—we need to leave a trail of clues that make sense. It’s a matter of maintaining the readers’ trust. We want them to come back and read our next mystery.

Can you tell us more about what’s in store for Paco and Molly and what the next mystery they will have to solve is?

Any new Paco and Molly mysteries will sit on the shelf for a time while we pursue our next adventures. Last year we published our first spy novel, Kent and Katcha: Espionage, Spycraft, Romance. It won five stars and an award. We are now working on the sequel, Kauai Spies and Bald-faced Lies. Our fifth short-story collection is also brewing. Who knows if and when our Paco and Molly muse will strike again. Meanwhile, our twenty-one published books are currently displayed at our website, www/magicile.com.

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