Sisters’ bond is no mystery

It's funny how the nasty things life throws at us sometimes come with an unexpected upside.

For Morgan St. James and her sister, Phyllice Bradner, the nasty event was a series of ministrokes their mother suffered several years ago.

The unexpected upside? A blossoming series of mysteries written by the two sisters that features, surprisingly enough, two sleuthing sisters.

The newest entry in the duo's Silver Sisters mystery series, "Seven Deadly Samovars," (L&L Dreamspell, $16.95) recently was released. Like its predecessor, "A Corpse in the Soup," the novel is a whodunit featuring Goldie Silver and Godiva Olivia DuBois, identical twins with a knack for crime solving.

The mysteries are the unlikely product of what was, in effect, a forced sisterly reconnection. According to St. James, by the time their mother had fallen ill, she and Bradner had drifted apart, Bradner to work in journalism and as an antiques store owner in Alaska, and St. James to become an interior designer in Beverly Hills, Calif., and Las Vegas.

Over the years, the sisters kept up with each other mostly through their mother. Then, while caring for their mother and again getting to know one another, they discovered they enjoyed many of the same things.

Among them, St. James said, "funny mysteries."

St. James noted that while both she and Bradner were published writers -- magazine articles and short stories for St. James, and advertising and journalism for Bradner -- they'd never before written fiction. They decided that it would be fun to join forces on a mystery featuring female characters patterned after themselves.

Goldie, the hippie-ish sister from Alaska who runs an antiques store, was "somewhat inspired by my sister," said St. James, while Godiva, "the spoiled, selfish Beverly Hills advice columnist was, unfortunately, patterned after me."

However, St. James noted, "I'm not an advice columnist, but I give a lot of advice to a lot of people, and I don't live in Beverly Hills now, but I did at one point, but not in a mansion."

Then, the sisters surrounded their fictional counterparts with a voice-of-reason uncle and a feisty 80-year-old mother, reminiscent of "the goofy, zany family we grew up in, which was a very fun-loving family," St. James said. "And we patterned a lot of our characters out of composites of either people in our family or people we knew.

"When we were done, we thought we had a masterpiece," St. James said. Unfortunately, it was a masterpiece that nobody wanted to publish.

Fortunately, several agents offered critiques of their manuscript. A running theme in them, St. James said, was that "you don't understand point of view. Your book, your situations, are very funny and you will have a publishable book if you can manage point of view."

One of the agents suggested the sisters hire a manuscript consultant to work with them. They found one who, St. James said, "understood our story and our humor and didn't try to rewrite us. She guided us and taught us what needed to be done."

And, a year or so later, the sisters had a publishable manuscript.

In the Silver Sisters' latest outing, the pair becomes involved in a mystery that revolves around rare gems, Russian mobsters and a fancy urn that makes its way to Goldie's antiques shop.

St. James and Bradner are fond of funny names, like alliteration and strive to concoct a funny topping on the mystery they're serving up. But, even so, St. James noted, "you have to have the tinge of believability."

Similarly, the pair takes great care to make the mystery work by book's end.

"We're very careful to drop some subtle clues throughout the book," St. James said. "Usually, people don't pick up on the clues while reading the books. We've asked people when they've figured out (the mystery) ... and it's, 'Oh, not until the end.' But when they get it, it's that head slap and 'Oh, sure.' "

The sisters write via e-mailed drafts, marathon long-distance phone conversations and visits with each other a few times each year. Those visits will be particularly handy now that they've begun the next book in the Silver Sisters series, which will be set in Las Vegas.

In the meantime, they continue pursuing their own artistic interests. St. James has two romantic suspense novels coming out next year, as well as three short stories that will appear in anthologies, while Bradner, an artist, continues exhibiting and participating in juried art shows.

And now, as if the success of the Silver Sisters mysteries isn't enough, St. James and Bradner have realized another unexpected benefit from what began as a very bad situation.

The writing was "just a fun thing, to see if we could do it and, in the process, we got to know each other," St. James said. "And, at this point in our lives, we're best friends."

Here are some other recently published books that were written by local authors or which deal with local themes.

"Clark County" by Crystal R. Van Dee (Arcadia Publishing, $21.99), part of the publisher's "Images of America" series, is a visual history of Clark County's first 100 years. Van Dee is curator of manuscripts for the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas.

"Horace Helfin's Holiday Home" (Boathouse Entertainment, $13.99), is a Christmas tale from part-time Summerlin resident John Philip McCarthy.

"Las Vegas Chew Toy" by Laura L. Alton (Fireside Mysteries, $16.95) finds Las Vegas veterinarian Kayla Ann Dailee trying to unravel a mystery that begins when a three-legged puma is found standing over the body of its owner, a Native American shaman.

"The Last Days of Las Vegas" (Solothurnli Corp., $14.95) is an espionage/political thriller from Southern Nevadan Roy Hayes ("The Hungarian Game") that involves terrorists, a burned-out spy and the definite possibility that Las Vegas may be turned into a radioactive ghost town.

"Nevada's Historic Buildings: A Cultural Legacy" by Ronald M. James and Elizabeth Safford Harvey (University of Nevada Press, $39.95 cloth, $24.95 paper) highlights 90 of Nevada's most historic buildings, which even today offer a window into the state's past.

"100 Years in the Nevada Governor's Mansion" by Jack Harpster (Stephens Press, $39.95) is a look at the historic residence at 606 Mountain St. in Reno and the families who have lived there.

"Reel Tears: The Beverly Washburn Story" by Beverly Washburn with Donald Vaughan (BearManor Media, $19.95) is the autobiography of the now-Southern Nevada resident who some might remember from her acting roles in dozens of movies and '60s TV shows -- among them, "Old Yeller" and "Star Trek" -- but who cult movie fans will know from "Spider Baby."

"Reflections of Yesterday" (Crystal Publishers, $23.95) by Inge M. Allen is the story of a young girl growing up in Hitler's Germany during World War II.

"The Voices in My Head: A Story of Triumph Over Tragedy and Beating the Odds in Las Vegas" by Danny Gans and R.G. Ryan (Stephens Press, $14.95 paper, $29.95 hardcover with audio CD) is the autobiography of the Las Vegas entertainer. Gans died one day after the manuscript was completed.

"You CAN Train Your Cat: Secrets of a Master Cat Trainer" by Gregory Popovich (St. Martin's Griffin, $14.99) is a step-by-step guide to training even the most fickle feline. Popovich is creator of the Comedy Pet Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort.

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.