Who is Jane elzey?
Jane's Journey
Confessions from a cozy mystery author. I kill husbands. Well, not really. I just pretend. I've always wanted to write murder mysteries and husbands make great victims. Especially the awful ones and who hasn't had at least one? Hence, the hashtag: #TheHusbandAlwaysDies
A retired career journalist, I now write cozy mysteries without much regard for the truth. Making stuff up is great fun. Friends say I am a mischief-maker, a story-teller, a bender of the facts. I own it. And I love writing about friendship.
Born and raised a wild child on Florida’s sandy beaches, I now live in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas in The Natural State with my feline family. Yes. A cat lady.
I love traveling and enjoy sharing far flung destinations with readers on the hunt for whodunit. The Cardboard Cottage Mystery series is set in Arkansas but every other book travels to a bucket list destination. The Cardboard Cottage sleuths––Amy, Zelda, Rian and Genna––have solved murders in Hot Springs, the Galapagos Islands, the Arkansas Wine Country, and Ireland. Where are we going next?
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The Writing Chair
From this very chair in my writing studio looking out at the beautiful Ozark Mountains, usually with at least one cat in my lap, I write cozy mysteries about four best friends and the games they play to win.
The game is always afoot at Tiddlywinks Players Club at The Cardboard Cottage, a rambling old building in a cozy little Arkansas tourist town, called Bluff Springs. It reminds me a lot of the town I live in, but the initials are BS, so you can judge for yourself!
Small town life has its surprises. So, when Amy, Zelda, Genna and Rian come face to face with murder, they put their amateur sleuthing skills into play. Over 40 and full of mischief, the Cardboard Cottage sleuths hunt the clues to the puzzle: Who killed the husband?
Whether traveling dusty back roads or enjoying one of their bucket list destinations, they manage to solve the crime even with their high drama misadventures. The Cardboard Cottage Mystery series is all about playing games, women with southern sass that's anything but cookie-cutter sweet, all set in a ride-along tale of friendship (and murder).
Readers like the characters and their sleuthing, giving 5 stars to the camaraderie at The Cardboard Cottage. Come along for the ride!
Jane's books and travels
Dying For Dominoes
Four women play to win... while the husband dies trying. It’s all fun and games until Amy’s best friend wants her husband gone and then he’s found dead. A love of dominoes and three great friends got me headed in my story arc.
Dice on a Deadly Sea
When they dive into murder while celebrating Zelda's big Five-Oh, the birthday cruise in the Galápagos Islands is anything but a smooth sail. A press trip to the Galápagos on a small ship was the perfect research for book 2.
Poison Parcheesi & Wine
Did you know Arkansas has a wine country? Truly. The Natural State is home to some of the largest wine producers in the country. What happens when the Cardboard Cottage sleuths are steeped in mystery and murder in the Arkansas Wine Country? Somebody poisoned the wine. A trip to the annual grape stomp was the seed for this story.
Killer Croquet on the Emerald Isle
My trip to Ireland from top to bottom and east to west is the background for this book. After winning a trip to the Emerald Isle, the Cardboard Cottage sleuths dream of castle ruins, fairy houses, and the hunt for family roots. But when a wedding ends in murder, Amy befriends the Garda Síochána to solve the crime before one their own takes the heat.
Ouija & Haints in the Silent City
My frequent walks through our local cemetery is fodder for the imagination. When vintage game store owner, Amy Sparks and her three best friends volunteer to play women from history in a fundraiser, their stage is the graveyard—also known as The Silent City. But when a necklace drops in Amy’s lap, she realizes she holds the key to a cold case murder.
