Mystery author Crystal Budy brings crime to Northern Ohio ... well, sort of

1.) Crystal, you write mysteries/thrillers set around Cleveland, Ohio. Other than the fact you live in the region, what drew you to write about Cleveland and northern Ohio?

I love Cleveland! It gets such a bad rap. Our sports teams suck, we have some of the worst winters around, and our river caught on fire ( :P ). But the city is gorgeous, the skyline is breathtaking at night, we have incredibly eclectic neighborhoods, and we have the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for pete's sake! There is so much history in Cleveland and so much beauty that I've always been drawn to it. It's very inspiring. I couldn't imagine not having based the North Coast Mystery series in Cleveland.

2.) If my memory serves, Elliot Ness spent some time in Cleveland, and then there were the infamous Cleveland torso murders from the 1930s. Have you ever considered writing a historical mystery novel set in Ohio?

Ness grave in Lake View Cemetery
photo courtesy of Crystal Budy

Eliot Ness did spend some time in Cleveland. He was the director for public safety in Cleveland and he's buried in Lake View Cemetery. I actually just recently visited Lake View Cemetery and took some pictures and one of them was of Eliot Ness' grave marker. He was in Cleveland during the time of the murders you mentioned. I would love to write a historical mystery novel at some point when I would have the time to devote to the research. I'm pretty anal when it comes to research. I like to get it right. People laugh because I have a whole shelf of books about the FBI because in researching for the North Coast Mystery series, I wanted to make sure I got things as close to real as I possibly could without sitting down and having a one-on-one conversation with the FBI.

3.) Sam or Dean? Why? And shame on any modern mystery writers not familiar with this awesome pair.

Dean! Sam's cool, but Dean has the car, the leather jacket, and he's just bad ass. He has that whole bad boy appeal. I like that. :)

4.) Your doctor has told you that you must give up either chocolate or caffeine immediately or you’ll keel over dead in a matter of days. Which would you pick to drop? Or would you tempt fate and live dangerously?

Hmmmmm … I can't live without caffeine. I've tried and it isn't fun! So I would have to give up chocolate. Which is an awful prospect. Maybe I should consider that whole living dangerously thing.

5.) Who are some of your favorite fictional characters?

I'm pretty partial to Mr. Darcy from Pride & Prejudice. He seems like such a snobbish prick at first but you can't help but grow to love him when you realize that he has no idea he's being a snobbish prick! Sherlock Holmes is the original bad ass detective. Cara from the Sword of Truth series can kick some serious booty and is also pretty hilarious. And the nerdy child in me has to admit to being drawn to Harry Potter. ;)

6.) Do you eat snow? If not, are there any circumstances under which you would eat snow? A bet, maybe?

I can't say that I do. I suppose if my life depended on it, I would as long as it wasn't yellow. Or gray, for that matter. Whether or not I would do it for a bet would depend entirely on how much money I was going to get!

For more on author Crystal Budy, check out:
Website: Crystal D. Budy
Kindle page for Budy's novel Echo of Silence: A North Coast Mystery
Kindle page for Budy's novel Echo of Darkness: A North Coast Mystery
Amazon page for Budy's print novel Echo of Silence: A North Coast Mystery
Amazon page for Budy's print novel Echo of Darkness: A North Coast Mystery
Barnes & Noble Nook and print page for Budy's novel Echo of Silence: A North Coast Mystery
Barnes & Noble Nook page for Budy's novel Echo of Darkness: A north Coast Mystery