Gina X. Grant
Welcome to the official site of Gina X. Grant, award-winning author of twisty tales and unexpected turns. From cozy mysteries to fantasy and romantic misadventures, I write the kinds of stories that keep you guessing, and maybe laughing. Check out my latest releases, dive into the blog, or sign up for behind-the-scenes updates.
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Before Agatha Shadewell became a master of burglary, forgery, and complex cons, she had one (and only one) legitimate job…
Legitimate, that is, until the police arrest her partner for murder! Agatha’s First Murder is the thrilling and hilarious prequel to The Unlikely Murder Club series. Dive into Agatha’s wild past and discover how she got her criminal start—and how it all went sideways.
How Power Tools Led Me to Murder
In 2018, after 60-plus years in Toronto, I moved to a small town just north of there and started over. The first thing I did was buy myself a drill-driver set. Unfortunately, the tutorials assumed I knew which was which.
I did not.
Fast forward to 2025. My neighbor just asked if he could borrow my saw. “Which one?” I replied. “Compound miter, circular, jig, reciprocating, hack, or pruning?” Not only do I own them all—I know how to use them, along with a bunch of other useful gadgets. Power tools are my jam, as the kids say. (Or they did. It’s hard to keep up.)
When I sat down to write my first cozy mystery (after a long hiatus from writing), I thought my sleuth would be like me: an upcycler in her sixties. And she is… except Agatha Shadewell is nothing like me, being a career criminal, which I am not. Honest. But maybe I could have been. Turns out I have a knack for imagining clever heists and cons. But I swear I’ve never tried any of them.
And surprisingly, crime and DIY overlap more than you’d think. Like, say…
• If you can rewire a lamp, you can outsmart an alarm system.
• If you can repair a bookshelf, you can remove an air conditioner and wriggle through the opening.
• If you can re-create the molding on an antique sideboard, you can probably fake an eyeball to trick a retinal scanner.
Well, Agatha can. Me? I wouldn’t know.
Like many writers, I hear my characters talking in my head—Agatha and her partner-in-crime Martin loudest of all. Echo, the teen hacker, takes a little more effort. Kids, eh? They never do what you want ’em to. Luckily, I spend plenty of time with my grandnieces, who keep me fluent in teenage sarcasm.
And Chance? Agatha’s scrappy sidekick is based on my own doggo, Canoli, the rescued Mexican street dog named for the Italian pastry. He gives me plenty of advice on how to write about Agatha’s dog. I pay for 'Noli’s input in dried liver treats.
So that’s how power tools (and one opinionated dog) led me to write The Unlikely Murder Club series.
How did you get to Unlikely?