From Elizabeth Arneson,
Your Guide to Bed & Breakfasts.
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Mystery writer Jean Hager, like her contemporary Mary Daheim, is a fan of bed and breakfasts.

After writing several novels centered on Cherokee culture, she wanted to do an amateur sleuth series. Remembering a good bed and breakfast in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, she decided to set her amateur sleuth series in a fictional B&B, the Iris House.

In the Iris House mystery The Last Noel, trouble is brewing at a church Christmas pageant. Out-of-town drama professor Sherwood Draper causes quite a stir when he replaces the former pageant director. By the time his corpse is found in a dressing room, there are plenty of suspects. Protagonist Tess Darcy (the innkeeper) takes it on herself to get to the bottom of the story.

Hager's novels have been well-received by both readers and critics. She was kind enough to spend some time answering our questions.

How long have you been writing?

Thirty years. My first book was called The Whispering House, a mystery for 8- to 12-year-olds, featuring a 12-year-old girl. It was set in a fascinating old house in Kansas (built by an Englishman in the early 1900s, now owned by my sister-in-law). The book was published in 1970 by a regional publisher, Steck-Vaughn, and has long been out of print.

What did you do for a living before writing novels?

I taught high school English for several years before becoming a full-time writer.

What attracted you to the mystery genre?

I've read mysteries and loved them since age 9 or 10, starting with Nancy Drew. I wrote a lot of romances when that market was red hot, but I preferred writing mysteries, even then. It was just that the romance market was open to me at the time and the mystery market was very tough to crack -- this was before the boom in mysteries the last few years.

Why did you decide to write mysteries set in a bed and breakfast?

I wanted to write an amateur sleuth series, and since my husband and I had stayed in a couple of B&Bs in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and loved the experience, I decided to create my ideal bed and breakfast -- Iris House -- and pattern the town -- Victoria Springs, Missouri -- loosely on Eureka Springs.

You also write two series based on Cherokee culture. What is your connection to the Cherokee culture?

I am 1/16 Cherokee and my mother and grandfather were raised in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, near Tahlequah, the capital of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. I became fascinated with the traditional culture when I was tracing my genealogy, began buying every book I could find on the Cherokees, and eventually decided to set my first adult mystery (The Grandfather Medicine) against a Cherokee background.

Do you prefer writing one series over another?

Not really. I do enjoy switching from a Cherokee book to an Iris House book and back again. I think writing the two very different kinds of books helps keep me from getting stale.

How often do you stay in B&Bs?

Not often enough! Most of my traveling is to conferences, which take place at hotels and it's easier to stay in the hotel. But I do prefer B&Bs and have two in Oklahoma on my list of B&Bs to try first chance I get.

Do you remember the first B&B you stayed in?

Very well. It was in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and it was called Red Bud Manor. Our room was furnished with antiques, and the hostess served breakfast each morning on the screened-in porch. She dressed in an old-fashioned, floor-length gingham dress with apron to serve her guests and the breakfasts were delicious!

What B&B is your personal favorite?

As I said, I haven't stayed in nearly enough of them yet, but I have to say that I still have fond memories of the Red Bud Manor and would like to return.

What do you like most about B&Bs in general?

The setting is much more home-like than hotels, the atmosphere is casual and laid-back and, from my limited experience, the breakfasts are much better, too.

How well has the Iris House series been received by readers?

Amazingly well. Many readers say they wish there was a real Iris House so they could stay there. They seem to enjoy the description of Iris House almost as much as the mystery. The fourth book in the series, The Last Noel, was #1 on the Mystery Scene Paperback Bestseller List. That was a very nice surprise and indicates that the readership for the series is building.

You have two more Iris House books on the way, Sew Deadly (the fifth, December, 1998) and Weigh Dead (the sixth, late 1999). Do you plan to continue the series beyond that?

Yes, I have a contract for the seventh and hope to continue for several more books after that.

Do you get plot ideas for the Iris House series from real life or are they completely made up from scratch?

I come up with groups of people who might be staying in Iris House. In Blooming Murder, it was officers of the local garden club who were sponsoring a conference in town. In Dead and Buried, it was people who'd come back to Victoria Springs for their 20-year high school reunion. In Death on the Drunkard's Path, the guests were in town for a quilt show and sale.

In Weigh Dead, a local fitness guru has reserved Iris House for people who are registered for her weight-loss and fitness retreat. So a book idea starts with figuring out who's staying at Iris House and why. The characters are not consciously based on anybody I know. They're made up, as is the plot line.

Do you have a favorite contemporary mystery author?

I have several, including Carolyn Hart, Joan Hess, Sharyn McCrumb, and Harlan Coben.

Do you have a favorite "classic" mystery author?

Yes, Agatha Christie. She was a master of misdirection.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, until I was 15, when we moved to the small town of Pawnee, Oklahoma, where I graduated form high school. I met my husband at Oklahoma State University, and we have lived in several towns in Oklahoma (he's a hospital administrator). We've lived in Tulsa for 15 years, my husband is now retired, and we plan to stay here.

Jean Hager's Iris House Series:

• Blooming Murder (1994)
• Dead and Buried (1995)
• Death on the Drunkard's Path (1996)
• The Last Noel (1997)
• Sew Deadly (1998)
• Weigh Dead (1999)
• Bride and Doom (2000)