Interview with Landis Wade

Thanks to Partners in Crime blog tours for the opportunity to chat with author Landis Wade and tell folks about his new Indie Retirement Mystery Series. Don't you just love when people start a new chapter after retirement? Deadly Gold Rush is the follow-up to the first book in the series Deadly Declarations. Don't miss the fun giveaway at the end of the post.

More about Deadly Gold Rush

Murder, mayhem, and the Carolina gold rush: welcome back to the Indie, where retirement is anything but quiet.

When a shady real estate developer is found murdered beneath Harriet Keaton’s family home—shot, stabbed, and surrounded by rare 1830s gold coins—her estranged twin brother Joey is the prime suspect. He insists he’s innocent...but won’t name the real culprit.

With Joey refusing to talk and millions missing from the retirement accounts, the future of the Independence Retirement Community is suddenly on the line. Now, whip-smart Harriet and her sleuthing partners—Craig Travail (savvy lawyer, reluctant romantic) and Yeager Alexander (conspiracy theorist, resident rabble-rouser)—must dig into the past to solve the crime.

Their best lead? A decades-old memoir from Harriet’s treasure-obsessed father and whispers of a long-lost gold hoard.

But treasure has a way of attracting trouble. As fortunes vanish and suspects multiply, the trio must untangle two decades of betrayal—before the killer strikes again.

More about Landis Wade

Landis Wade is a recovering trial lawyer turned author who writes award-winning mysteries and legal thrillers with a historical bent. His publication credits include six works of fiction, eight non-fiction writing books, many short stories, and a podcast that produced 400 episodes of author interviews and writing discussions. His first novel in his Indie Retirement Mystery series, Deadly Declarations, won ten awards and Kirkus Reviews said of his second in the series, Deadly Gold Rush, that “Mystery fans who love Richard Osman’s cozy Thursday Murder Club books will enjoy the similarly energetic take on mystery-loving retirees.” Landis splits his time between Charlotte, Durham, and the North Carolina mountains. He is the recipient of the 2025 Founders Award for service to the Charlotte Writers Club and the literary community.

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Interview with Landis Wade

Jodi: What made you say, “Hey, I’m going to write a book.”

Landis: I thought writing a book would be a nice antidote to the stressful practice of law. I learned that writing about conflict is much more enjoyable than experiencing conflict on a daily basis.

Jodi: As so many “recovering attorneys” do, you started with a legal thriller (actually a series). What made you switch to a group a senior sleuths with a focus on historical events for your new series?

Landis: Picking senior sleuths for the Indie Retirement Mystery series evolved from helping my aging parents pick a retirement community. I witnessed first-hand their emotions of leaving their home of fifty years and moving into what they perceived was their last stop—the end of the road—only to see them realize that life in a retirement community can be a fresh start of new experiences, friendships, challenges, and surprises.

The history focus came because I love history (I was a history major in college) and because prior to writing Deadly Declarations (the first in the series) I interviewed an author on my podcast who wrote a non-fiction book about the 1775 Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence (supposedly, the first declaration of independence in US history). This little-known controversial event in history was perfect for a novel because it is full of conspiracy and intrigue and historians have debated its authenticity for 250 years. After the colonial period, I moved to the gold rush period with Deadly Gold Rush.

Jodi: Tell us a little about your process. Do you write daily? Are you a pantser or a

plotter? How do you go from a nugget of an idea to a finished book?

Landis: I don’t write every day. When writing books in this series, I first research and decide on an interesting historical event or point in time. Then I ask what if? In Deadly Gold Rush, the second book in the series, I focused on the Carolina Gold Rush, the first US gold rush and I asked myself this question:

What if my characters found a body in an abandoned mine shaft covered in 1830s gold coins?

Then, I asked myself whose body it was and how the victim related to the main characters. Then, I explored what my characters were facing other than solving the mystery, which is sometimes referred to as the emotional third rail of the novel. In Deadly Declarations, the third rail was the difficulty of coming to terms with living in a retirement community. In Deadly Gold Rush, the third rail was the difficulty of navigating love and loss in later years. Next, I focus on the back story, not all of which makes it into the novel, but I need to understand what happened before the body is found.

Once I have these pieces, I start binge writing. This is not every day writing. It’s writing in long chunks. I don’t know how or where the story will end, because that is half the fun of writing for me. I try to leave a cliff hanger at the end of each chapter so I can go for a walk to try to figure out a solution to the mess I created for my characters. I don’t do a full blown outline. It’s more of a soft outline that I adjust as I go. I divide my story into three or four acts with an epilogue.

Jodi: Why did you gravitate toward the mystery genre? Is there any other type of

writing you like to do (please don’t tell us legal briefs!)?

Landis: I gravitated to mysteries and thrillers because I like to read them. I also read a variety of genres because every good story, no matter the genre, has mystery in it. No more legal briefs for me, unless they are buried in a plot twist in one of my novels.

Jodi: You interviewed over 500 authors on the Charlotte Readers Podcast? What was the most interesting thing you learned during your time as a podcaster?

Landis: The most interesting thing I learned interviewing authors is that all authors (even those on the bestseller lists and those making the most money) experience rejection, failure,

discouragement, and feelings of self-doubt. In a way, it is comforting for an author to know that writing is an emotional journey for everyone, that it’s not just you or me who finds the writing life difficult at times, but rather, the truth is: all authors ride an emotional roller-coaster.

Jodi: Is there an author you haven’t interviewed that you would love to meet? Or who is one mystery author you think everyone should read (in addition to you, of course)?

Landis: The timing never worked out for me to interview John Grisham, but I’ve read most of his books so he would be a fun interview. As for mystery authors, I recommend Richard Osman and his Thursday Murder Club books.

Jodi: What’s up next for you (and your characters)?

Landis: I am thinking about the next time period I want to explore with my characters. It may have something to do with the mid to late 1800s. Perhaps a mystery related to how railroads changed the Carolinas. Or maybe tobacco. Or maybe electricity in the early 1900s.

Jodi: I vote for railroads!

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Want to Win?

FIVE chances to win! Grand prize is $20 Amazon gift card, plus a Spotify redemption code to listen to the first book in the series, Deadly Declarations, on audiobook. Four (4) additional winners will each receive a Spotify redemption code for the Deadly Declarations audiobook. Enter HERE by July 1.