Award-winning screenwriter turned mystery novelist Jule Selbo (Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Melrose Place, Hercules) joins Matt Cost and BJ Magnani on Pets, Plots & Poisons to talk about her Dee Rommel mystery series — a countdown series that just landed its fifth book, Six Days. Enjoy the podcast episode above on YouTube or listen to / donwload the audio version on Podbean.
The conversation covers building a lead detective with a below-the-knee amputation, the real Falmouth, Maine coffee-shop friendship that shaped her research, and the small Pomeranian about to complicate the next book's plot. BJ also serves up this month's poison: the batrachotoxin-coated dart frogs of Colombia.
Dashing Dogs (and One Unimpressed Cat)
On her childhood Scottish terrier, Angus, who preferred her brothers: "I think Angus liked the boys more than he liked me."
On her rescue dog Nicky, and the eerie find in a later LA home — a pen-and-ink drawing that "looked exactly like Nicky" left behind by the previous owners.
Her favorite animal from literature: Dashiell Hammett's Asta from the Thin Man series — plus the Hollywood trivia that Skippy, the wire-haired terrier who played him onscreen, was paid $200 a week in 1930.
The Dee Rommel Mysteries: A Countdown with Bite
The series counts down from Ten Days to Six Days (out this past summer), each title marking how long it takes Dee to crack the case.
Book five, Five Days, introduces a Pomeranian named Prince Zhao, who has to find his footing with Gordy's much bigger labradoodle, Bert.
"What I love about writing her is she doesn't pull any punches... Dee doesn't care about that at all. She just wants to solve the crime."
Writing a Disability Into the Series
Dee lost the lower half of her left leg on the job. Selbo built the storyline after befriending a Falmouth, Maine financial consultant who'd lost part of a leg to cancer — a friendship that grew over thirty straight days at the same coffee shop.
She's hoping to talk with an MIT prosthetics researcher for a future book, likely Three Days.
"I just wanted to show nothing was gonna slow her down."
Craft Talk: Plotting Tips from Both Authors
Matt's tip: give every suspect real flaws instead of a few "good" ones and a few "evil" ones, so readers can't call the culprit early.
Jule's take on pacing: knowing when to pause the plot for character moments, even when one reviewer admitted, "I just want the plot."
"Do you choose pace, or do you choose just taking a break every once in a while and letting the characters have the emotion?"
Forever Chemicals as a Plot Device
Seven Days sends Dee into a PFAS contamination case, inspired by a real Maine farm family who lost a sale after soil tests turned up "forever chemicals."
A cabin-in-a-blizzard scene forces her heroine to realize she can't safely burn stained or varnished wood for warmth — poisons hiding in plain sight.
BJ's Poison of the Month: Batrachotoxin
This month's poison: batrachotoxin, harvested from Colombia's golden poison frog (Phyllobates terribilis) and used on blow darts by the Emberá Chocó.
It blocks nerve-to-muscle transmission, causing arrhythmia and cardiac arrest — a fast option for any (fictional!) poisoner looking for a quick end.
Read more on BJ's Poison Blog.
Learn more about this episode's guest and hosts:
- Jule Selbo's Website
- BJ Magnani's Big Blend Expert Page and her website
- Matt Cost's Big Blend Expert Page and his website
Have a Question for Matt & BJ? Ask us on our Contact Page.