Sandra Nikolai's Blog

In The Red Hoodie, the second installment in the Amber McNeil Mystery series, my psychic sleuth investigates another cold case tinged with a fairy-tale element.

Amber is...

My inspiration for the Amber McNeil Mystery series came from a pairing of intriguing topics: cold case investigations and the paranormal. After researching the current book market, I discovered that my new series would fill a niche for readers who were captivated by the same subjects.

So I creat...

After my six novels in the Megan Scott/Michael Elliott Mystery series were published in paperback and eBook formats, I welcomed the opportunity to diversify. Armed with an equal dose of determination and curiosity, I looked into the production of audiobooks for my novels.

Data from retail bookstores and public libraries in...

Memories of winter storms, snowbound homes, and inaccessible roads came to mind when I sat down to write Icy Silence, book 3 in the Megan Scott/Michael Elliott Mystery series. With so many images to draw from, it was easy to paint the weather as a formidable adversary in the story.

An isolated private collage school during an ice storm offered the perfect setting for Icy Silence—one that I created based on the actual 1998 Canadian ice storm that affected millions of people and killed dozens....

In Fatal Whispers, book 2 in the Megan Scott/Michael Elliott Mystery series, my sleuths investigate three unexplained deaths in Portland, Maine, including that of a millionaire’s beautiful young wife. With George Gray’s approval, they dig deeper into the late Tiffany Gray’s life but discover little background about the former beauty queen who had married a man twice her age.

As Megan and Michael search for the truth, people close to Tiffany share their experiences—good and bad. But contradict...

Megan Scott, the main character in False Impressions, feels the heat in more ways than one when she becomes the prime suspect in her husband’s murder. As Detective Moreau mounts surprising evidence against her and her partner, crime reporter Michael Elliott, she dreads the outcome of a police investigation that has already turned her world upside down.

In the story, the hot and humid summer in Montreal offers a backdrop that reflects Megan’s fears and anxieties. I’ve included excerpts below t...

It’s one of the inevitable elements of a mystery novel: The hero or heroine gets drawn into a predicament or runs into an impasse before breaking free and solving the whodunit. In Cold Revenge, book 6 in the Megan Scott/Michael Elliott Mystery series, my main characters encounter one of their most critical challenges yet. Here’s a brief look. 

Crime reporter Michael Elliott’s world is turned upside down when he discovers that Megan Scott, the love of his life and frequent investigative partne...

If you’re familiar with pop music from the 60s, you might recall the song recorded by The Byrds, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” Here are some of the lyrics:

To everything

turn, turn, turn.

There is a season,

turn, turn, turn.

Although I hadn’t planned it from the start, I set each of my mystery novels in the Megan Scott/Michael Elliott Mystery series in a consecutive season. You could say that the first few lines of the aforementioned song provided the inspiration for doing so. Here’s how and why I did it.

I...

I can’t think of anything more embarrassing than having someone—especially a man—go through the contents of my purse. I concocted a scene in False Impressions to depict such an intrusion, much to the dismay of my main character, ghostwriter Megan Scott.

Let me set up the scene.

In the days after Megan’s husband was found murdered at an out-of-town resort, Detective Lieutenant Moreau and his sergeant conduct a search of her condo apartment. Her lawyer Dan Cummings and crime reporter Michael Ell...

For readers who haven’t yet been introduced to her, Megan Scott is the main character in my Megan Scott/Michael Elliott Mystery series. She works as a ghostwriter and loves the anonymity of her job within the safe, organized, and predictable setting of her home office.

Michael Elliott is a crime reporter and the second main character in my series. His criminal investigations plunge him into unpredictable situations, but he credits his gut instincts for getting him out of dangerous dilemmas.

To...