Dying to Live Here (Estate Sales Mysteries)
by Shelley Marsh
I am happy to welcome Shelley Marsh to Escape With Dollycas today!
Hi Shelley,
Please tell us a little about yourself.
The mother of a friend told me that I should be a writer someday when I was in first grade. She gave me a blank journal and suggested I write a story in it. I excelled in creative writing in school, won multiple awards, and went to college planning to major in English, but somewhere along the way, I came to the conclusion that becoming a writer wasn’t a viable career choice. I changed my major to Speech Language Pathology because of my interest in language development. I worked as a speech therapist for ten years, first in North Carolina and later in Atlanta, Georgia.
I got married, moved from Atlanta to Florida, and had two sons. While I was a stay-at-home mom, I saw an ad in a local online magazine seeking submissions. I submitted a couple of articles and ended up making a midlife career shift into writing, which was what I’d wanted to do in the first place.
After writing freelance for local newspapers and serving as a staff writer for a local magazine, I turned my focus to fiction writing. I took a community education class in writing at University of North Florida, then another one, and eventually became brave enough to participate in the writers’ workshops, where we critiqued each other’s writing. I formed a critique group with two other writers I met there, and we still meet every month, five years later.
It was in one of those classes, back in 2019, that I started writing Dying to Live Here. At first, my only goal was to write something that would make my classmates laugh every week. I hadn’t intended to write a cozy mystery—I didn’t know what a cozy mystery was at the time. By the end of the year, my instructor took me aside and told me I should try to get it published by a traditional publisher.
Six months later, I had an agent but no book deal. I wrote another manuscript every year and kept trying. I found my current publisher in a Facebook cozy mystery group and signed my first book deal after five years of working toward that goal.
Things most people don’t know about me:
- I like to crochet, and I make amigurumi (a Japanese word for handmade stuffed toys).
- I studied Italian in college so I could learn how to swear without people knowing what I was saying.
- I believe in luck. That belief has led me to enter contests. Once, I won two tickets to the Georgia-Florida college football game and a year’s supply of bread. This belief in taking chances, eventual success, and not giving up helped me persevere through the process of getting published.
What books/authors have most inspired you?
Mary Kay Andrews’ Savannah Blues series inspired me to write about a pair of mismatched best friends who get each other out of trouble, but more often into it.
Ellen Byron’s Cajun Country mystery series. I love her use of humor and her knack for creating quirky characters readers love. I studied Plantation Shudders when I was learning how to write a cozy.
Elizabeth Gilbert’s book Big Magic inspires me to pursue creativity in a fearless fashion. I’ve read it multiple times.
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
I joke that my search history could get me in trouble because I research things like poisons and other murder methods. Because my main character is an estate sale organizer, I research collectibles, glassware, and art. In addition to internet searches, I interview people who do the things my characters do, but in real life. I go to estate sales and talked to the sale organizers. For books two and three of the Estate Sale Mysteries, I learned about boating and scuba diving. I try not to spend too much time researching at the expense of writing time. It can be easy to get lost down a rabbit hole.
Do you ever suffer from Writer’s Block?
If I get stuck in my manuscript, I shift to something else, like writing a blog post, or I work on a different scene. I’ll write out of order if one scene flows and another one feels like a slog. All that matters is to keep writing. You can’t wait for a muse to show up. Writing is work as much as art. Writing at the same time every day helps trigger my brain to get into drafting mode.
What advice do you have for someone who would like to become a published writer?
Learn about story structure, take a class at your local college, and find a critique group of other writers you trust to give you constructive feedback.
When you are not writing, what do you like to do?
Go out for coffee with my friends, walk or ride my bike on the beach, read, go to estate sales, and crochet amigurumi.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
Japan. My mother and grandparents lived there for a while when she was young (my grandfather was in the Navy), and my grandparents talked about it a lot when I was growing up. I’d like to see the cherry blossoms there.
What is next on the horizon for you?
The next two books of the Estate Sale Mysteries are coming out in rapid-release style over the next four months. I’ll have a standalone eco-mystery coming out in October called Up the Creek.
I have a busy year planned, attending three mystery writer conferences: Left Coast Crime, Malice Domestic, and Bouchercon. I also serve on the board of my local chapter of Sisters in Crime, and we organize an annual writers’ workshop every July.
Thank you, Shelley, for visiting today!
Keep reading for more information about Shelley and Dying to Live Here.
About Dying to Live Here
Dying to Live Here (Estate Sales Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Florida
Publisher : Fawkes Press
Publication date : February 10, 2026
ISBN-13 : 978-1957529516
ASIN : B0GFNR9XDT
When tech burnout Emma Stewart follows her best friend’s advice to view a quaint beachside home in Harbor Shores, Florida, she expects palm trees, sea breezes, and maybe a fresh start. What she doesn’t expect is to stumble into a murder scene—and become a prime suspect.
With the HOA president lying in a pool of blood and her bestie splattered with the evidence, Emma suddenly finds herself knee-deep in neighborhood secrets, rivalries, and a suspiciously missing knife. Armed with nothing but her dry wit, a talent for digital sleuthing, and an adorable bulldog named Hopper, Emma must navigate a world of nosy neighbors, passive-aggressive happy hours, and one dangerously charming lawyer.
In Harbor Shores, the homes are charming—but the secrets are deadly.
More About Shelley Marsh
Shelley Marsh writes laugh-out-loud mysteries set along Florida’s sun-splashed coast. Her forthcoming debut, Dying to Live Here (Feb 10 2026), launches the Estate Sale Mysteries series, pairing clever puzzles with a hint of romance. When she isn’t prowling estate sales for story fodder, Shelley combs beaches and bookstores, searching for treasure.
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