USA Today bestselling and Silver Falchion Best Mystery winning mystery/thriller/suspense author (and recovering attorney and investigator) who splits time between an off-the-grid lodge on the face of Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains and a rustic cabin on Maine’s Lake Mooselookmeguntic with her husband, kids and grandkids, rescue pets and sled dog, and draft cross horses.
Writes for Bookouture and independently.
Host of Crime & Wine: Novelist Chats with Pamela Fagan Hutchins.
Q: What inspired the story in Her Burning Lies?
Pamela: Her Burning Lies (Delaney Pace #5) came to me because of a Renaissance Fair flyer I saw up in Sheridan, Wyoming. I have not been to one. I have friends that love them, and one of my sons loves them. But it was mostly seeing the Renaissance in the modern west on that flyer, very out of place. While that became “Middle Ages” once I began researching for the storyline, the idea of an old sword, out of place in Wyoming, was planted. Then I moved to France for a year where I was surrounded by Medieval history at the time I began writing, and the idea really took off. I was intrigued by how Delaney would react to it.
Q: Have you ever driven a big rig tractor trailer like your characters?
Pamela: I have not! The driving skills come from my dear friend, former trucker extraordinaire, Daisy Delaney.
Q: How does the theme of fire play a role in this book?
Pamela: I include a seasonally appropriate phenomena in each of my Delaney Pace books. This book was set in August, which is fire season. I do this because it is a reality of living and working as a law enforcement officer in Wyoming. The terrain is rugged and vast, and the extreme weather conditions add a lot of unique difficulty and danger.
Q: What can you tell us about Delaney and Leo’s relationship?
Pamela: Delaney comes from a background of very painful personal loss, and she wants to avoid being hurt again, intentionally or accidentally. One of the walls she put up was partly out of caring for Leo: putting his future over hers. But it was a wall, nonetheless. They had banter and camaraderie, were partners figuratively and literally, they avoided the relationship aspect, and it was hard for her to trust.
Q: What is Joe Tarver’s role in the story?
Pamela: Deputy Joe Tarver is a wonderful foil for Leo and obstacle for Delaney as well. And haven’t we all worked with someone who literally or figuratively shoots us in the back?
Q: Many of your stories include abuse themes. In this one, sex trafficking and pregnant women. Is that always the case?
Pamela: No, but in most of my Delaney stories she is championing women who are marginalized or abused in some way, like she was, and like so many women are, in her community and elsewhere. Not only did she face it herself, but one of her adoptive daughters comes from a history of abuse.
Q: Is Kat acting like a typical teenager—bratty, self-centered, freezing out her stepmom?
Pamela: Adoptive mom. As a stepmom, I can tell you there is a big difference. And, as a mom and stepmom to three adult daughters, I will only say I am writing that age from personal experience mothering them!!!
Q: Do you self-publish, and if so, can you tell us about those books—titles, dates, plots?
Pamela: I both traditionally and independently publish. The Delaney Pace books are from one of Hachette UK’s imprints, Bookouture. I am actively writing two other series that are independently published under the company owned by my husband and me, SkipJack Publishing, which also publishes a handful of other authors.
The two active series are set in Wyoming as well: Jenn Herrington (contemporary romantic legal thrillers) and Patrick Flint (1970s adventurous family drama mysteries). We hope to release the next Jenn Herrington book by the end of 2025 and a Patrick Flint book in 2026. Currently, there are 2 Jenn Herrington books and 8 Patrick Flint.
I have also written a super series of romantic mysteries, with sub series for 6 different interrelated characters: Katie Connell set in the Caribbean, Emily Bernal set in Texas and New Mexico, Michele Lopez Hanson set in Texas, Maggie Killian set in Texas and Wyoming, and Ava Butler set in the Caribbean.
Altogether, I have written 32 novels, of which only 6 are Delaney Pace (1 upcoming in October 2025). So, while I can’t give you the plot of each of the books, I can direct you to either my website (https://pamelafaganhutchins.com) or my Amazon page (amazon.com/author/pamelafaganhutchins.com) for information on each of the series and the books within them!
Q: Can you tell us anything about the next Delaney Pace book—title, release date, and plot?
Pamela: I am not allowed to release the title of Delaney Pace #6 yet, but I can tell you that it comes out in October 2025, and it is the favorite book of the series for everyone involved: my editor, me, my husband (who is my story idea partner), and my story fact checker, police chief Travis Koltiska. Here’s a very short synopsis: Detective Delaney Pace starts the new year with a dead body that falls from a ski lift and lands at her feet, just after she hears the muffled shot from woods below. Panic reigns on the ski slope as she and Sheriff Leo Palmer race after the killer, a pursuit that leads them across jurisdictions and ends with Leo hostage and Delaney faced with a horrible choice. Follow the law she’s sworn to uphold or save Leo’s life.
Her Burning Lies by Pamela Fagan Hutchins has it all: a suspenseful plot, great banter, and wonderful characters.
Sherriff Deputy Delaney now has two adopted daughters. Sherriff Leo has his sister and nephew living with him. Not only do they need to deal with matters associated with their newly expanded families, but there is a wildfire nearby that they are actively fighting. Then there are dead women appearing in the fire area with swords pinning them to the ground.
After fire wardens search the scorched remains of an abandoned farmhouse, underneath the rubble, they make a shocking discovery, a young woman stabbed and left to die in the middle of the fire zone. A second body is discovered at a remote ranch, also stabbed with a silver sword. Delaney is sure the victims are linked, since both are young mothers and are leaving law enforcement wondering if Kearny County has a serial killer preying on single women. Things ratchet up after a Sherriff Department employee and friend disappears and seems to somehow be connected to the crimes.
Besides the riveting plot there is the romantic angle. The main characters’ personal relationships change and grow over the series. Their personal relationship is a rollercoaster ride that appears to be concluding.
Readers will be on the edge of their seats as they turn the pages.
