I was thrilled last year when I heard that Left Coast Crime was going to be in Denver in 2025, and that my Sisters in Crime Colorado chapter would be involved. I got a bee in my bonnet that this would be an excellent opportunity for our chapter to produce a crime fiction anthology, but I wanted it to be unique.
I thought it would be fun to develop an over-arching mystery that careful readers could solve as they read each of the standalone short stories that followed. I gathered my intrepid (and a little trepidatious) team and they made my vision come true!
The entire process was a fun challenge and it’s truly gratifying to see it out in the world. I also love that so many of our chapter members received their first publishing credit. Very satisfying!
If you haven’t yet, you might want to read the first chapter setting up the premise before you read the rest of this post. You can do that at our Sisters in Crime Colorado website.
As you can imagine, we get a bunch of questions about Colorado Mystery Merge, so here are a few of our authors answering some of the more common ones. There were so many great answers, but I had to edit for length. Being an editor is hard!
What sparked your story?
• Ann Dominguez: Don’t tell the Colorado Native police, but I lived in Illinois for 15 years. Their JULIE (Joint Utility Locating Information for Excavators) 811 hotline inspired my story, though I moved the story to Denver.
• Brooke Craig: My story’s victim and his characteristics were inspired by someone in the news in recent years. I found out, after writing the story, that the real person had similar tactics to my victim when negotiating with female real estate agents.
• Francelia Belton: As usual, it was the first line for me: a sentence starter. Once I wrote that sentence, the second sentence immediately came to mind.
• Galit Gottlieb: At 100, my MIL became suspicious that one of her senior home neighbors, a birdlike lady who could barely lift a fork, was evil. It was the seed for Viggo’s Prize.
• Holly Harris: My friends have a ranch near Wiggins, CO, and I have kept a couple horses there for years. One day, the sheriff called and asked for permission to search for a body in one of their cow pastures believed to have been buried decades ago. The rest of the story is fiction.
• Jenna Lincoln: I actually saw a woman with the sign “Welcome home from prison, he deserved it” at DIA last summer. And since I didn’t know the real story, I had to write one.
• Kerry Hammond: Whenever I go driving throughout Colorado and surrounding states, I see those oil wells in fields and think about the old TV show Dynasty (set in Colorado). How fun it would be if there was a new, modern version.
• Linda Solaya: Real life. I meet once a month with a small group of older women to papercraft together. At one point there were three Lindas in the group, and we were always saying, “No, the other Linda.”
• Meagan Dallner: There is a legal case where an author is suing someone for stealing their book and editing it (leaving huge sections untouched and many names and locations the same) before selling it to a traditional publishing house. Quite the scandal!
• Peg Brantley: A fun way to introduce a new character and hopefully get readers interested in reading more of her.
• Rhonda Blackhurst: Ironically, working at the DA’s office led to a lot of scenarios one would never believe in fiction. I took the bare bones of one and twisted it into a story, leaving out the totally unbelievable but factual twists.
What makes a Colorado setting uniquely challenging/interesting?
• Donnell Bell: Everything about Colorado is challenging and Interesting. Just move away and try to get back there in the winter!
• Fleur Bradley Visscher: It’s that juxtaposition of urban Denver vs. rural and mountain. The feel of these places is completely different, though it’s fun to flex your writer muscle. Better than going to the gym.
• Francelia Belton: I didn’t find the Colorado setting all that challenging. It helps with the “write what you know” adage that is constantly dropped kicked into a writer’s skull.
• Holly Harris: The mountains visually anchor the Front Range and assert their position as the western boundary of the region. I grew up in north Texas. There were no landmarks letting me know whether I was facing west or east. It was a relief moving to the Front Range, always knowing that the mountains were to the west. I hope my writing conveys my love of Colorado.
• Jenna Lincoln: What people who live in Colorado know/experience tends to be different than what outsiders think it could/should be.
• Linda Solaya: People’s misconception of Colorado as being only mountainous. I work hard to describe the plains to help people visualize the other side of Colorado.
• Marie Sutro: Jaw-dropping nature plus rapid population growth creates a hotbed for mysteries. Choosing from such a diverse palate is like choosing a favorite child.
• Meagan Dallner: Colorado has so many fun settings to pull strings on. There’s downtown and mountain towns and small towns and big city with such an eclectic mix of people … it’s the perfect place to stage a merge mystery!
• Melissa Robbins: The stories all had to take place in April, but a plant I referred to doesn’t grow in April in Colorado, so I had to add a greenhouse.
What excited you the most about the idea of writing for a mystery merge anthology?
• Brooke Craig: It was a great way for me to get started as a newer fiction writer. I appreciated being able to write my own story and in the crime genre I liked while also giving me the opportunity to be surrounded (literally and figuratively, ha!) by well-established authors and friends.
• Donnell Bell: Trying to see if I could write something that would coincide with Becky’s humorous cozy voice.
• Fleur Bradley Visscher, Francelia Belton, Peg Brantley, and Linda Solaya all had a variation of the same thought: My SinC peeps are the best. I just love that I get to collaborate with them.
• Holly Harris: First, I loved the idea of an overarching mystery for readers to solve. Then, when Becky told me anyone could play, published or not, I was thrilled to participate. We have some killer (excuse the pun) stories in the anthology, and I am honored to have my story among them.
• Kerry Hammond, Marie Sutro, and Jenna Lincoln all had a variation of the same thought: I loved the idea of giving the reader a chance to solve the overarching mystery as they read each story.
• Meagan Dallner: Writing a mystery in under 3500 words was a challenge I couldn’t pass up!
• Melissa Robbins: I write historical mysteries, so it was fun coming up with a modern story. I also thought the concept was a neat idea and wanted to see how it worked.
• Rhonda Blackhurst: To check off another item on my bucket list.
What worried you the most about it?
• Ann Dominguez: My first draft of this story (written in 2011 for a short story workshop) ended wrong. It took me 13 years to fix it—almost as long as the construction at DIA.
• Fleur Bradley Visscher: As with any story, I always worry that what I write won’t be any good. Silly, because I’ve been doing this a while now. But the bar is high–look at all the amazing writers in this anthology!
• Francelia Belton and Peg Brantley shared this worry: That I wouldn’t be able to find a natural place to stick in the clue.
• Holly Harris, Linda Solaya, and Brooke Craig had the same concern: I admit I suffered from imposter syndrome and expected that my story would not be as well written as my fellow authors. We have some excellent writers in our group!
• Jenna Lincoln and Kerry Hammond had the same worry: If readers would be distracted by the different styles and types of stories and if the variety would be off-putting.
• Meagan Dallner and Melissa Robbins had similar concerns: Creating an engaging story within the word count.
• Rhonda Blackhurst: The unknown of being part of an anthology; plus short story writing is outside of my comfort zone, proving you can teach an old dog new tricks.
Was it hard to work the mystery merge clue into your story?
• Ann Dominguez: We are saturated by online news 24/7. Adding the updates and speculation around Dr. Dictionary’s murder gave me an opportunity to locate the story in a “real” time and place.
• Brooke Craig: Yes, it was clunky in my first drafts. I loved Becky’s idea of giving the clue within a news story of some kind since it was much more streamlined than just plunking it onto the page.
• Donnell Bell: No, as the characters and setting fell into place, my protagonist told me exactly where I could stuff … er… put that clue.
• Fleur Bradley Visscher: Becky made it easy. Also, it added some levity to my story which I like. Even with all my fancy theme footwork, I like to keep things fun and light.
• Francelia Belton: No, it helped that it was a natural reaction for my character to turn on the radio when he got into his car.
• Holly Harris: Not really. The opportunity to include the clue just popped into a scene as I went along while my character conducted her investigation.
• Jenna Lincoln: It was a matter of finding a place in the story where the POV character would naturally interact with a local news story. Younger people are less likely to consume or even be aware of local news.
• Linda Solaya: Not at all. I just added it into a conversation.
• Marie Sutro: After working myself into a tither with worry, wild author wrangler extraordinaire, Becky Clark, gave me a mental margarita and I was ready to write.
• Meagan Dallner: No, it felt natural.
• Melissa Robbins: No, but I had to tell my critique partners to overlook the randomness of the clue. LOL!
• Rhonda Blackhurst: Not at all. Our wonderful leader made it super easy.
Is this your first published story?
• Ann Dominguez: I published my first poems in 1980 and my first novel in 2015, but somehow I skipped over the short story genre in between. I finally have a short story out and my life is complete!
• Brooke Craig: I self-published a few short stories on a writing platform (Vocal) in the dystopian genre a few years ago, but otherwise this is my first one. Yay!!
• Fleur Bradley Visscher: No, I’ve been at this writing and publishing thing for over twenty years. Still, each story is special. It’s like being proud of your kids, only not at all.
• Francelia Belton: Nope! I have published 13 short stories to date. However, I have a big, hairy, audacious goal to write 1,001 stories before I meet my maker. Sooo, I gotta get crack-a-lackin’!
• Holly Harris: Oh my gosh, yes, it is! Yippee! I am over-the-top excited about it.
• Linda Solaya: My second. Woo hoo!
• Marie Sutro: Good things come in threes. My third novel will be out in 2025 and this is my third short story. I’m thrilled For the First Time is a part of Colorado Mystery Merge!
• Meagan Dallner: Yes!
• Melissa Robbins: No. I have another short story, The Bones in the Box, in the Guppies Anthology Fish or Cut Bait.
• Rhonda Blackhurst: My first published short fiction story. I was part of an anthology several years ago, but it was nonfiction.
So there you have it. A tiny peek behind the curtain for Colorado Mystery Merge. I hope you take the opportunity to get to know these and all the other fabulous authors in our anthology!
It’s available on all the ebook platforms, in paperback on Amazon … and at your favorite bookstore or library. (We have a special deal for multiple copies, so if they don’t already carry it, have them contact me through my website for the deets. We want it on their shelves!)

One perplexing murder mystery … plus eighteen different short stories containing the clues to solve it.
You’ve never read a short story anthology like this one!
These stories—unrelated, but all set in Colorado during the same week—will each merge for a moment to drop a pertinent clue about an overarching mystery, the news of which is blanketing the entire state that week.
Colorado icon and local celebrity, Doctor Dictionary, is murdered at a fundraiser where he was to be honored for his philanthropy. “Murder at the Twelve Mooses Ballroom” by Becky Clark kicks off the fun.
As you read each standalone short story that follows, channel your inner detective and collect the mystery merge clues to figure out who killed Doctor Dictionary.
You’ll find nineteen entertaining short mysteries by talented Colorado authors—all members of Sisters in Crime Colorado—writing in various crime fiction genres from cozy to thriller. There’s something for everyone!
Take a tour of Colorado through the imagination of some of the best crime writers in the state: Amy Rivers, Ann Dominguez, Becky Clark, Brooke Craig, Donnell Ann Bell, Fleur Bradley Visscher, Francelia Belton, G.P. Gottlieb, Holly Harris, Jenna Lincoln, Kerry Hammond, Leanne Kale Sparks, Linda Solaya, Marie Sutro, Mary Birk, Meagan Dallner, Melissa Robbins, Peg Brantley, and Rhonda Blackhurst.