Tim Cockey is the bestselling author of "Backstabber," the latest in his celebrated mystery series, and the creator of the inimitable undertaker/detective Hitchcock Sewell. In this 25-minute interview, Cockey discusses a variety of subjects, including his entry into the mystery-writing world, how he creates his characters, and the importance of his hometown of Baltimore in his novels.

Hitchcock Sewell, Baltimore's hippest undertaker and civilian sleuth, is back in a second sly, original mystery.One of the most charming and offbeat amateur detectives to come around in years, Hitchcock Sewell does for the undertaking profession what Marilyn Monroe did for the ukulele--gives it a touch of class. In this rollicking follow-up to Tim Cockey's "witty, punchy, snappy, well-written, and dang funny debut" (Harlan Coben, author of The Final Detail)...

He's suave, he's sexy, he's cool... and he's an undertaker.Hitchcock Sewell is back in one of the funniest and most fast-paced novels yet in Tim Cockey's celebrated award-winning series. A man has been murdered in his kitchen. And the apparent killer wants Hitch to scoop up the body and take it away... before the police have arrived. Meanwhile, across town, Hitch smells a rat--maybe two--in the nursing home where an old friend of his has taken up residence.With his matchless wit and uncomm...

Nightclub owner Shrimp Martin has been shot, and Hitchcock Sewell already knows who-done-it. It's his friend, Lucy Taylor, who went directly to Hitch's funeral home and placed the smoking gun on his desk.As it happens, Shrimp survives the gunshot wound, but he doesn't survive the knife that is plunged into his heart as he lies in his hospital bed. The police would like to question Lucy Taylor. But she has slipped away from Hitch's custody, hooked up with Hitch's ex-wife Julia, and ...