8-29-2025
Murder May I?
Book One of the “Games We Play” series
Author: Cathy Rueter
Genre: Mystery, Christian fiction
Is the killer hiding behind a mask of familiarity?
Dallas clothing designer Jennifer Clark wants to get through the next show before her style house’s respected reputation is tarnished by further mishaps. But someone is playing dangerous games at the expense of Jen and the Lilac Lane Fashions family. When the scheme turns murderous, beautiful Caribbean Marshall, Jen’s best friend and lead model, falls victim.
Cari’s children, nine-year-old twins, August and January, are caught in the snare. Did they witness their mother’s demise … or worse? Is the killer hiding behind a mask of familiarity?
To complicate matters, Colin—Cari’s brother and Jen’s former crush—arrives on the scene. Devastated that her best friend kept secrets, Jen questions her future with the kids and the tenuous control she’s gained over her own tumultuous past. The one certain thing in her life is her faith … or is it?
When the twisted rules change once again, Jen and Colin must work together to save the twins and win the deadly game of murdered model.
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My Review
Ooh, I love a good mystery. And Cathy Rueter delivers.
This story delves behind the curtain of the high fashion industry, centered in Dallas, Texas. Jen runs Lilac Fashions, and you’ll enjoy hearing the tidbits about her job without it taking over with a huge dump of slow-paced backstory and details.
The mystery part is strung out with enough enticing red herring details to send you down a rabbit hole, but without giving the whole plot away. I always hate it when I figure out the “whodunnit” in chapter three, but it’s equally as bad when you get to the big reveal and you’re left scratching your head wondering how you were EVER supposed to figure that out. Rueter gets the balance just right.
This is a tender story that shows the love a family can share, even if they’re not blood-related. You’ll be cheering for Jen and the twins by the time you reach the end.
And best part is this is only book one.
Five stars!
(My star ratings: 5-Fantastic book; 4-I really enjoyed it; 3-I finished it but wouldn’t read again; 2-I didn’t like it or I didn’t finish; 1-I hate it.)
Get to know the author: Cathy Rueter
Cathy Rueter is a Christian murder mystery author, speaker, and creative. She stitches together stories with a dash of romance and a slash of death—professions she learned as a former bridal accessories designer, reporter, and newsletter editor. With Michigan roots and Texas shoots, her heart and accent are firmly planted in both states. If she’s not at her desk, she can be found with her nose in a book, hanging out with her family, or making a creative mess of some sort.
Her award-winning, Murder May I: Book One in the GWP Mysteries, is her not-quite-cozy debut novel contracted with Elk Lake Publishing, Inc., publication May 2025. Her cozy mystery Christmas novelette, It’s Beginning to Look a Llama Like Christmas (December 2024), and her prequel novelette, Scaring Miss Muffet Away (May 2025), are with CLeaRly Creative Publishing. These cozy mini mysteries are wrapped around the bigger picture of Jennifer Clark and the Lilac Lane Fashions family in the Games We Play Mysteries. Follow along on the journey at: www.cathyrueter.com.
Interview with the author
I have a hard time talking about myself, but I invite you to check out my “About” page for some fun (maybe interesting?) information about me. https://www.cathyrueter.com/about
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What did you learn while writing this book? This book was fifteen years in the making. I learned a lot during that time. Early on, I learned that even though I was well-versed in nonfiction and community journalism writing, there was much to learn about fiction. My prior background both helped and hindered my fiction writing.
I had to learn to give myself grace and time. This book wouldn’t have been as good as it is if I had rushed it through publication a few years earlier—like I wanted to.
And I had to learn to trust God with my writing. The spaces of inactivity that drive me nuts in my writing life sometimes usually end up being where He is putting a resource or writing craft experience in place that makes the next part of writing so much easier or interesting.
What is the toughest part of writing in your genre? Figuring out what I don’t know about specific details of death scenes. Sometimes, it’s a case of not knowing what questions to ask because “I don’t know what I don’t know.” However, I’ve been blessed with family and friends in various industries who are willing to read the bits I need and tell me where I’ve fallen short of my research or if something is believable enough.
If someone were to look at your Google search history (all for research of course!), what types of things would we find? Really cool bits of info like how tall an assailant needs to be for a knife to penetrate at a specific angle (this was used specifically in Murder May I), how to describe an anxiety attack to readers (even though I’ve experienced them myself—they are hard to describe), and for a short story coming up, I’m not only utilizing a personal resource, I’m also looking up plants that can be harmful. I have a T-shirt I love to wear that says something along the lines of, “Pay no attention to my browsing history. I’m a writer, not a serial killer.” Lol
How do you break up your day when writing? Do you schedule slots for research? Reading other authors? Writing? Editing? Promotions? I don’t PLAN time to research; I just do it while I’m writing because I never know what I need details for. Also, I’m not a wonderful time planner because I either get bogged down in what I’m doing and forget, or I get so caught up in something I enjoy that time flies and I’ve misplaced three or four hours. But in that chaos, somehow, I do find time to read writing craft books, read other authors books (many different genres), editing, listening to music (a great writing assistance), marketing (not my strong suit), and learning about promoting.
If you could have coffee with an author, dead or alive, whose work you admire, who would that be? What would you ask her? I think I would choose either Taylor Caldwell or Agatha Christie. But it would have to be more than just coffee (tea for me, I can no longer drink coffee—boo!) because I have SO many questions!
If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be? I’d tell myself this will take much longer than you anticipated. Keep going. It is worth it, even when it feels like it’s not.
If you could give a new author advice, what would you say? Always keep learning. The day you quit learning, take down your “Author” sign. This industry is always changing. To stay relevant, you need to continually learn. And NEVER think you know it all, because you never will.
What do you enjoy doing when you are not writing? Nearly any type of crafting, gardening, reading, and definitely spending time with my family. And I like taking classes. I always need to learn something!
What books are on your TBR pile right now? There are WAY too many to name, both fiction, nonfiction, and writing craft books. But I’m currently reading Katelyn Pfeiffer’s City of Truth (I just finished her City of End). So good!
Next up? Who knows? Sometimes I actually close my eyes and point … I have that many books. Some are older, some newer, and there’s always more on the horizon that I want to read.
What can we look forward to next? I’m currently working on a fun, short mystery which I’ll publish on my website. A young man who won a contest during a presentation I gave named two of the characters. I’m also working on my 2025 Christmas novelette. And of course, Book Two of the full-length novels is in the works.
2-21-2024
The Black Umbrella by JoAnna Illingworth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
First, I want to say I read this book because I saw the author on TikTok, and her videos made me laugh. So I figured the book would be funny too. And it was. After the success of The Outlander, it seemed like every new time-travel book had something to do with a Stonehenge-type setting, and it all got a bit derivative. I stopped reading them. But The Black Umbrella was different. I truly enjoyed the book and am waiting for book two to be delivered. It’s fun, it’s historical, and you’ll enjoy yourself. Read the book.
View all my reviews
Avid readers love to talk about books – good or bad. Now that I’m an author, I read lots of books that come from new and up-and-coming authors. I have the opportunity to act as beta readers for some, critique partners for others, and just plain old readers for the rest. Here, you’ll see my comments and rankings of the books I’ve enjoyed. I hope you’ll find some authors you’ve never tried before, and maybe become a new fan.
12-14-2023
As the daughter of missionaries, Kerrie Alexander has lived on Hatteras—an island in the Outer Banks—longer than any other place she’s been. When her parents inform her the family is slotted to go overseas again, she balks. Her life on the island—her job, her friends, even the handsome hero in her Sunday School class—makes her want to put down roots. But to do so, she’ll need to find a place to live, face being on her own, separated from any close family—something she’s never done before.
Firefighter and EMT Wade Hampton can face pretty much any emergency, except his matchmaking grandpa threatening him with disinheritance if Wade doesn’t get married in just three months. Not that Wade objects to the idea of marriage, but how does a guy who has no problem running into burning buildings find the courage to ask a girl like Kerrie out for a date? She’s a role model for everything good, and he comes from a rough and broken home. Not to mention, Christmas is right around the corner!
This is almost a marriage of convenience trope. (The story ends with the engagement.) But the sense of “we gotta do this now” is a main theme in the story. I enjoy reading stories that take place in areas of the country where I’ve never been. Almost like taking a mini vacation. This short novel takes place in the Outer Banks, off the coast of North Carolina. Wade is endearingly shy and stumbles in his efforts to ask Kerrie out. Kerrie struggles with the desire to leave the nest and her fear of cutting ties with her family, who plan to leave on their next mission adventure yet again. With a little boost from Wade’s interfering grandfather, the two finally acknowledge the attraction both have felt for quite a while. Set around Christmas, this love story is sweet and shares themes of family, roots, and redemption.
It took me a bit of time to figure out who the major players were, as there were several characters who popped in all at once in chapter one, but with a novella, the author doesn’t have a lot of time to ease things in. I give this a healthy four out of five stars. You’ll enjoy this as a Christmas treat.