This is Ink & Intrigue—the blog where romance ignites, secrets simmer, and every love story hides a twist. I’m your blog host, Sheila Kell, a romance author and lover of plot twists, slow burns, and morally questionable book boyfriends.
Today, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Tammy D. Walker, an author whose stories follow midlife amateur sleuths as they solve mysteries and build community! If you love cozy crime stories, you’re in for a treat.
Tammy D. Walker is known for cozy mysteries with Texas connections that feature crimes such as art fraud, jewelry theft, and false identities. (No murders—just a lot of misconduct!) Her latest release, The Wing of a Bee, is a family reunion story that brings cousins together to inherit a boutique and find the culprit who wants to destroy the business.
In this spotlight, Tammy D. Walker shares a character interview with Leslie Hatherton-Torres and gives us a behind-the-scenes look at The Wing of a Bee.
Whether you write love stories, devour them, or dream of doing both, you’re in the right place. Let’s get into it and give a warm welcome to Tammy D. Walker! 💖
Character interview with Leslie Hatherton-Torres.
What’s your full name, and do you like it?
My name is Leslie Hatherton Torres, and each of those is special to me. I was named after someone important to my grandmother, Evelyn Butterfield. Grandma Butterfield never told me exactly who that Leslie was, but she was full of mysteries herself, including what she was doing in England at the end of WWII, where she met my grandfather. Hatherton is my father’s last name, and I think I got my problem-solving skills from him! And Torres is the name I share with my husband, Martin, and our three kids.
Where are you from, and where do you live now?
I am from Rosin, Texas, a tiny town in northeast Texas where my grandparents moved from England. My grandfather was a chemistry professor at a nearby university, though he died young in an accident when my mother and aunt were young girls. I moved from Rosin to Austin for college, where I met Martin. We’ve lived there since then. Well, that might change, though….
How old are you (or how old do you feel)?
I am in my mid-forties, and I’m feeling it! My job in IT keeps me busy, though having my daughter in my mid-30s kept me young, I think.
How would you describe yourself in three words?
I’m a determined, curious peacemaker.
What’s your current relationship status?
I have been married to Martin for over 20 years now, and I’m still absolutely in love with him after all this time. We have a true “happily ever after,” I think. Seeing so many breakups and divorces among friends and family makes me realize how lucky he and I are to still have a solid marriage. My parents are married, though their dynamic is less of an equal partnership than I have with Martin. And Grandma Butterfield was widowed quite young, so I’m glad I have Martin with me still.
What do you want more than anything right now?
What I want most right now is to make sure I’m doing all I can to make sure my family thrives. My sons are in college, and my daughter, who has some learning challenges, requires support. My husband gave up his dream career to teach after we found out I was pregnant with our oldest, and he’s holding on to a stressful teaching job because his school district is good for our daughter. Meanwhile, I’m trying to work through a merger between my employer and another corporation, and I’m not too sure I want to hold on to this job, either. But we do what we have to in order to afford a mortgage in an expensive city and tuition for two in college.
What’s standing in your way?
What’s standing in my way of this stability for my family is feeling like we have to do this all on our own. I grew up near my grandmother, and Martin had his family nearby in Houston as well. We have good jobs in Austin, so we stayed there, and our kids grew up with road trips instead of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins dropping in all the time. In many ways, we have the “American Dream”: two solid careers, a nice house, and a good marriage. But do we have everything we dreamed of, really?
Who are you closest to?
Now, I’m closest to Martin. When I was younger, though, I had two people I was most connected to: Grandmother Butterfield and my cousin, Veronica. I’d spend summers in Grandma Butterfield’s boutique, and while I can’t say I learned all that much about jewelry, I can say that she taught me a lot about technology, her main interest outside her shop. I’d spend afternoons reading under her office desk, both novels and manuals for the gadgets she’d buy! When I was in junior high, my cousin Veronica moved to Rosin with her mother, my mother’s younger sister. I don’t know how my mother and aunt could be any different: my mother was very strict and formal, and my aunt was very much a free spirit. But, I think that was just how they dealt with losing their dad so young. My mother loves structure, still, and, well, who knows where my aunt is now. Veronica and I are the same age, and she was my best friend the four years she lived in Rosin. Sometimes, I wish I had a best friend like her again….
Do you have any siblings? What’s your relationship like?
I’m an only child, which was my mother’s choice. I think she’d decided that younger siblings were too much of a disaster, thanks to her own relationship with her younger sister. So, no siblings for me, much as I’d dreamed about having an older sister. When Veronica arrived, I felt like I finally did have a sister. But then, she left, and my mother would never tell me where Veronica had gone or how I could write to her.
What does “home” mean to you?
This is such a complicated question, and I’m still trying to figure that out! I feel like Austin is home, because that’s where I’ve been most successful, and it’s where I met Martin and where we raised our kids. When I come back to Rosin, I feel like part of me wants this town to be home. I grew up here, and I have so many good memories of my Grandma Butterfield and Veronica. That said, I think the main thing that keeps Rosin from feeling like home is that I’ve never lived up to my mother’s expectations. I did great in high school and college, and I have a stable career and a husband and kids who my parents both adore, even if my mother is still not quite sure about our daughter. But I was never Women’s Club material, never a debutante with perfect manners and clean fingernails! So, maybe, home means a place where I can be myself and be accepted for being myself.
How do you react under pressure?
I am definitely a problem solver under pressure, maybe to a fault. I’ve spent more time while visiting my parents for my grandmother’s funeral trying to resolve technical issues related to this merger than chatting with family! Being an only child of busy parents—my father was a lawyer, and my mother chaired just about every committee in every club in town over the year—I didn’t have anyone my age I relied on. Not until Veronica came to town, that is.
Here’s where I think Grandma Butterfield also shaped me. She opened the boutique as a way to earn a living after her husband died. And she taught me that every problem has a solution, even if it’s not ideal. She also taught me that problems that seem impossible to solve at first often are solvable, if you work hard enough.
Morning person or night owl?
My career has made me a little bit of both! I’ve had long nights of software rollouts, and I’ve also had early morning crisis meetings at work.
If I had my preference, though, I’d choose mornings. Martin studied birds in grad school, and he’s been an avid lifelong birder. I wish I’d joined him more often on his early-morning birdwatching hikes. Our sons went with him when they were old enough, and I appreciate that they had that time together.
I also love how quiet mornings can be, especially in small towns.
Coffee, tea, or something stronger?
Both coffee and tea! Hot coffee in the morning and at work, and iced tea after that get me through the days. Grandma Butterfield lived in England for a while after she’d finished college in the US, so she knew how good hot tea could be. One of her sisters-in-law would send boxes of the brands she liked, and she’d share those with me when I was older. We’d have afternoon tea in the loft she lived in above the boutique, and while she never told me much about her time in England, she did tell me about tea with her soon-to-be mother-in-law. Hard to imagine Grandma Butterfield nervous about anything, but she’d said she had been! In spite of her nerves, she’d charmed her fiancé’s mother after all by just being herself. I think that was Grandma Butterfield’s way of telling me that worries are fine, as long as we’re true to who we are and to those we love.
Thank you, Leslie! Now, back to Tammy D. Walker. Here’s her BIO:
Tammy D. Walker writes contemporary cozy mysteries that have roots in Texas. Her most recent novel is The Wing of a Bee. The author of four poetry collections and the Daw County Sisters Mysteries series, she loves weaving clues into her books that draw on her experiences as a software developer and English teacher. When she’s not working or spending time with family and friends, she’s most likely to be found in her garden, somewhere near a radio, or at her desk writing letters. Find out more at https://www.tammydwalker.com/
I hope you enjoyed getting to know Leslie Hatherton-Torres, Tammy D. Walker’s character from The Wing of a Bee. If you haven’t added her books to your TBR yet, now’s the time—trust me, you won’t want to miss them. 💖
You can connect with Tammy D. Walker here:
🌐 Website: https://www.tammydwalker.com/
📱 Socials: Facebook | Instagram
🛒 Grab her books: https://books.tammydwalker.com/twoab
Thank you for joining me in spotlighting a fellow author who’s giving us all the feels. Stay tuned for more author features, book talks, and behind-the-scenes romance goodness.
Until next time—keep reading, keep swooning! 💖