Murder on the Set centers around an amateur sleuth on a movie set in Puerto Vallarta as she dives headfirst into a double murder investigation. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Murder on the Set is the fourth book in the Amanda Pennyworth Mystery Series.  I was inspired to use the idea of a visiting movie company when I recalled a very odd film, NIGHT OF THE IGUANA, based on a Tennessee Williams play and shot in Puerto Vallarta in the early 1960s.  The invasion of Hollywood movie stars, a crew of extras, producers and directors was an enormously disruptive event and the perfect setting to stage a murder mystery.  There was not only the expected glamour, but the possibility of writing about outsized personalities and the clash between the various cultures: tourists, American expats, local Mexicans, the police, and, of course, Amanda herself.

What do you think makes Amanda different from other mystery protagonists?

Amanda Pennyworth is different, I suppose, because she isn’t really a detective or even an amateur sleuth, but rather, someone who, because of her profession as American Consul to Puerto Vallarta, is inevitably drawn into the clash of cultures, and the troubles that Americans bring on themselves when they visit a foreign country.  This means that she stands at the center of everything that happens, whether she wants to or not.  What else makes her different is that she must answer to so many different voices: the Foreign Service, The American ambassador, the Expat Community, tourists, the local police, and, of course, to her own ambition.

How much research did you do into film production and Hollywood culture?

I tried to make sure that I understood the various functions of movie makers–the stars, writers, producers and directors and, of course, the extras. I also watched the old film Night of the Iguana, which gave me some ideas for names and characters.

Is there another installment of the Amanda Pennyworth Mystery Series planned? Where will it take readers?

Yes, there will be another Amanda Pennyworth Mystery forthcoming.  Again, it will be set in Puerto Vallarta which seems to me to be the perfect situation to place a series that explores the clash of cultures and customs as well as the intrigues of a mystery.

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