Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing, Ms. Carolyn Marie Wilkins. She is the author of the Psychics and Soul Food Mystery series. Her first novel, The Murder at the Wham Bam Club, features a psychic named Nola Jackson as an amateur sleuth. Her sequel, Let the Murderer Say Amen, has just recently been released. In this interview, we discussed her inspiration that led her to writing Let the Murderer Say Amen. We also discussed why she decided for Nola to have psychic abilities as well as her love for the mystery genre. Thank you, Ms. Wilkins!
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What inspired you to write the Psychics and Soul Food Mystery series?
I am a practicing psychic medium. I talk to the dead, read Tarot cards and attend seances, so this book was a natural for me. I also love reading and writing about African American history. And of course, I love Soul Food. Writing this series gives me the chance to combine several of my favorite things in a single offering.
The series is set in a small town in Illinois during the Jazz Age. What made you choose the setting?
Before writing murder mysteries, I wrote two memoirs about my family. My grandfather was the first African American to serve as an Assistant Secretary of Labor in 1954. When I researched him, I discovered that both sides of my family had lived in Southern Indiana and Illinois during the 1920s. The more I found out about life in the booming steel and logging towns along the Mississippi River during this time, the more fascinated I became. Everybody knows about the black communities on the South Side of Chicago and in Harlem. Less has been written about the smaller cities in the Midwest. Black people (including my grandparents) moved there in droves in search of opportunity during the Great Migration after the First World War.
Nola Jackson is a psychic. Why did you decide to give her that trait?
I am a psychic myself. Having an expanded sense of intuition is a wonderful quality to have, especially when trying to solve a murder. However it must be said that while Nola is psychic, she is still honing her craft. She sometimes gets her psychic wires crossed. She can get things totally wrong, especially when it comes to the men in her life. Her psychic skills are very much a work in progress.
What inspired you to write Let the Murderer Say Amen?
I thought it would be fun to write about what happens when a charismatic figure with psychic ability loses his moral compass. Sadly, we have seen many examples of religious leaders who turned out to be wolves in sheep’s clothing. The closed environment of a religious cult is the perfect setting for a murder, I think.
Is the Temple of Righteous Revelation inspired by a real-life religious organization? Is Bishop Pius Amun Ra based off of a real-historical figure?
Yes and no. Obviously, the Bishop’s character has been exaggerated to fit the needs of the story. However, the 1920s were a time of flamboyant and charismatic black leaders, and I took a little bit from each of them to create my character.
The pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey had a huge following. He had his own security force that wore uniforms and marched in parades.
The religious leader Daddy Grace was considered the second coming by many followers, who dressed him in king’s robes and bought him fancy cars.
Father Divine also had a huge following. Although mostly black, he also had white followers, including a white wife later in life. Members of the group donated all their possessions to the Church and followed their leader’s instructions implicitly.
Could you please describe your research and writing process? What sources did you use for writing the Psychics and Soul Food Mystery series?
I did quite a lot of research when I wrote my two memoirs, Damn Near White and They Raised Me Up. This research gave me a good working knowledge of what life was like for black folks in the lower Midwest in the 1920s. Because I have studied mediumship and hoodoo and the psychic arts, I was also able to incorporate elements from my personal experience.
What drew you to the mystery genre? How difficult is it to come up with an original mystery that will engage the readers, but it is not too easy to solve?
I love mysteries! My whole family does. As kids, we all grew up reading Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle and Earle Stanley Gardner. It’s a big challenge to write a satisfying mystery. You have to be three steps ahead of your readers, which is not always easy to do. I’ve really enjoyed writing this series, though. I feel it puts readers in a particular time and place and lets them get to know interesting and unusual characters. Hopefully it also gives them a fun puzzle to solve.
What do you hope readers can take away from Let the Murderer Say Amen?
An entertaining, fun mystery with engaging characters. I also hope readers leave with a greater understanding of what life was like for black people in that particular time and place.
Let the Murderer Say Amen is the second installment in the Psychics and Soul Food Mystery series. How many more sequels do you have planned in this series?
There are three books in the series so far. If readers enjoy them, there will be more.
What can readers expect of Nola Jackson in the next installment?
In the next book, Nola and her aunt Sarah will confront an array of villains - corrupt politicians, gangsters, and a doctor whose new “cure-all” threatens to destroy the black community. It’s going to be fun!
About Carolyn Marie Wilkins:
Carolyn Marie Wilkins is a practicing psychic medium, a Santeria priestess, and a professor at Berklee College of Music Online. An accomplished jazz pianist and vocalist, she has toured South America as a Jazz Ambassador for the U.S. State Department. She is a member of Crime Writers of Color and Sisters in Crime New England. When she is not writing, performing, or offering Reiki to students at Berklee, Carolyn maintains a private practice in healing and mediumship. She lives in the Boston area and can be found online at CarolynWilkins.com.
Also, if you are interested in purchasing Let the Murderer Say Amen, you can purchase the novel through Kensington Publishing website.
Also, check out my reviews of Carolyn Marie Wilkins's novels:
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