Brecksville novelist uncovers new mysteries in latest release

by Charles Cassady  

William Randolph Hearst once notoriously said you could sell any publication with a beautiful girl, a dog or a baby on the cover. Will you settle for a beautiful girl, a dog and murder? Such are the elements of “The Secret of Bones,” the second installment of a new canine-oriented mystery series by Brecksville novelist Connie Laux. 

Laux, writing here under one of her aliases, Kylie Logan, follows up her 2019 novel “The Scent of Murder,” which introduced Jazz Ramsey, latest of in the lineup of recurring Laux literary heroines.  

Jazz is a Tremont resident and teacher with a sideline of training police-investigation cadaver dogs, animals particularly skilled to find corpses. Her offbeat volunteer gig has a tendency to lead Jazz into hairy situations. 

The prolific Laux created Jazz Ramsey – making “The Scent of Murder” her 58th novel – after being fascinated by a presentation on cadaver dogs given by a professional handler at a local club for hound-owners.  

Similarly, as “The Secret of Bones” opens, Jazz gives a cadaver-dog demonstration for career day at the Tremont school where she works. The exercise works too well; Gus the Labrador finds a human skeleton hidden away on the fourth floor, the remains of a slain former school employee who apparently had a lot of enemies. 

Laux schooled herself thoroughly in this realm of police investigation to embark on the fast-and-furry-ous series.  

“There’s no one breed that works best for HRD, ‘Human Remains Detection,’” she said. “It really depends on the dog. 

“Trainers look for dogs who are smart enough to go off on their own and search, but obedient enough to listen to their handlers. The dogs need to learn both air scenting and ground scenting, because the scent of ‘decomp’ can be found in either or both. They have to be willing to work long hours over difficult terrain. Sometimes they conduct urban searches, sometimes they work in rural areas.” 

So how do the trainers do it?  

“Well, aside from many hours and endless dedication, they make the whole thing fun,” Laux said. “It’s a game for the dogs, and when they discover something, they are rewarded with a favorite toy and a game of tug.”  

Thus far in the Jazz Ramsey series, four-footed heroes have been Gus the lab and Wally, an Airedale, who is younger and still learning the trade.  

Laux and her husband have an Airedale themselves, named for a real-life crime fighter (and a character from her “Pepper Martin” series).  

“His name is Eliot Ness, and he’s nearly two, which means he’s still in that crazy-puppy phase,” Laux said. “Which totally explains how I know how frustrated Jazz can be with puppy behavior.” 

“The Secret of Bones” is Laux’s 62nd novel.  

“Sometimes it’s hard even for me to keep the count straight!” she said. 

She shows no signs of slowing down. An English major who graduated from Cleveland State University, Laux shepherded her first novel, a romance, into print in 1992.  

She has since written romances, whodunits and young-adult books under a veritable wolf pack of pseudonyms. Besides being Kylie Logan, she has also published as Miranda Bliss, Connie Lane, Connie Deka, Zoe Daniels and Casey Daniels.  

Under the Kylie Logan name, Laux has raised a litter of themed murder-mystery series. 

“The League of Literary Ladies” is about a Lake Erie Islands book club that solves cases. The “Ethnic Eats” series has an Ohio chef-restaurateur who often winds up with homicide on the menu. The Chicago-based “Button Box” books center on murder cases sewn up by an antique shop that specializes in old buttons. The “Chili Cook-Off” mysteries follow an amateur sleuth who finds killer competition on the traveling competitive-cooking circuit. 

Laux said that to date, her most popular franchise is the Pepper Martin mystery series, which she wrote as Casey Daniels.  

“Pepper Martin … has lots of loyal fans,” she said. “There are 10 books in the series so far, and they all revolve around the adventures of Pepper Martin, who works at a historic Cleveland cemetery and solves mysteries for the ghosts there. Pepper is young and sassy and has a way of getting herself involved in strange situations with both the living and the dead. She’s a lot of fun to write, and readers always enjoy finding out what she’s up to.” 

As far as picking a personal favorite book series, Laux said, “My favorite is always the one I’m currently writing, and I’m currently writing number three in the Jazz Ramsey series. No publication date yet.” 

And kennels full of new books and characters keep coming, said Laux. Scheduled next is the first of her “Haunted Mansion” novels.  

“The first book in the Haunted Mansion Mystery series is `Haunted Homicide,’” she said. “It will be published by Berkley Random House on Sept. 29, and for this series, I’m using the name Lucy Ness.” 

The series revolves around an old mansion that’s now a women’s club in the imaginary town of Portage Path, Ohio.  

“My heroine is the new business manager there, and her first week on the job, she not only finds a dead body, she discovers there’s a ghost down in the basement of the club in what used to be a speakeasy,” Laux said. “Quick read, fun characters, and it’s always a treat to play with paranormal elements.” 

A difficult case many authors across the board have been facing is quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic, which put personal appearances and book festivals on hold indefinitely.  

“I’ve had a bunch of stuff cancelled,” said Laux.  

For now, she has a signing scheduled at Something Different Gallery in Cleveland on Saturday, June 27, from 12-5 p.m. 

“I’ll have ‘The Secrets of Bones’ there to sign, along with both the hardcover and paperback editions of ‘The Scent of Murder,’ the first book in the Jazz Ramsey series,” Laux said. “Of course, date and time may have to change, but right now, fingers crossed that this will happen.  

“There might be some virtual appearances in the future, too, but nothing is definite yet. We’re all winging it and rolling with the punches.”   For updates and more book news, visit kylielogan.com.

Feature image photo caption: Brecksville author Connie Laux’s latest release, “The Secrets of Bones,” (written under her pseudonym, Kylie Logan) features an Airedale much like her own on the cover. Photo courtesy C. Laux