4 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
A ‘COZY’
MURDER
MYSTERY
Long Beach author Jan Bono
signs copies of latest book,
‘Crab Bait,’ on July 14 in Ilwaco
By PATTY HARDIN
FOR COAST WEEKEND
S
ummer is here, the time is right for
lighthearted beach reading, and
Long Beach author Jan Bono is
doing her best to satisfy readers’ needs.
Bono will have a book signing at Olde
Towne Coffee Cafe (formerly Olde Towne
Trading Post) in Ilwaco, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Saturday, July 14. Her latest book, “Crab
Bait,” a cozy mystery set on the Long
Beach Peninsula, is the third installment
in a planned eight-book Sylvia Avery
Mystery series.
“Normally I release my new books in
the fall, just prior to the holiday bazaar
season,” Bono said, “but this book is
special.”
People have been stopping her on the
street to ask how soon she’ll finish it, she
said.
A cozy mystery is a very specific genre
— no graphic violence, no obscene lan-
guage, no explicit sex scenes. It involves an
amateur sleuth in a small town who works
with the police department to solve crimes.
There is a quirky cast of characters and lots
of humor.
“It’s like ‘Murder She Wrote’ on paper,
only I think my stories are funnier,” Bono
said.
The author possesses a ready sense of
humor and a deep love and knowledge of
history — and both are integral to her mys-
teries. Consider the name on the back of the
boat featured on the “Crab Bait” cover.
“Ilwaco was initially called Unity in
celebration of the end of the Civil War,”
Bono said.
Skyler Walker, manager of Tangly
Cottage Gardening, proofread the book. “It
lovingly and wittily captures the history,
culture and ambience of a fictionalized
COLIN MURPHEY PHOTO
Author Jan Bono, of Long Beach, Wash.
IF YOU GO
Book signing with Jan Bono, author
of ‘Crab Bait’
When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday,
July 14
Where: Olde Towne Coffee, 108
First St. N., Ilwaco, Wash.
For more information, call Bono:
360-642-4932
Long Beach Peninsula,” he said.
“Crab Bait” was printed by Gorham
Printing in Centralia, Wash.
Back on track
Bono’s series began with “Bottom
Feeders” and “Starfish,” both published
in 2015. Then Bono faced a few personal
challenges.
“My fiancé died, I had open heart sur-
gery to remove a benign tumor living in my
right atrial, and my house was broken into,”
she said.
“Every time I had my feet back under
me, boom! Something else happened to
postpone writing ‘Crab Bait.’ But it’s here
now, and I’m thrilled.”
Look closely at the boat on the cover,
The Estrella Nueva.
COLIN MURPHEY PHOTO
The cover of ‘Crab Bait,’ by Long Beach, Wash., author Jan Bono.
“It means ‘new star,’” Bono said. Boats
are frequently named after women. So we
have Estrella Nueva — New Star — Nova.
“Nova, one of the characters in ‘Crab Bait,’
is the wife of the guy who owned the boat,
and he named the boat after her.”
In “Crab Bait,” the Merry Widows of
the North Beach Peninsula may be just a
tad too merry. They’ve formed a geriatric
belly-dancing troupe, The Veiled Rainbow,
and are having the time of their lives spend-
ing the insurance money they received
when their respective husbands died —
deaths that happened under mysterious
circumstances.
Bono’s laugh fills the room as she talks
about her ongoing series.
“I’m very fortunate to have a loyal
following. And I’m extremely happy to be
back on track,” she said. CW