Amazon mystery bestselling author Mary Castillo finds a fine balance in her novels between the paranormal, historical fiction and mystery.After a hiatus that lasted longer than I anticipated (and included a move across the country, a very bad cold, and a couple of weeks of couch surfing with some very dear -and very patient - friends), I am thrilled to be back to broadcasting It's a Mystery Podcast. Thank you for joining me again.I've got lots of great mystery author guests lined up and I'm very excited to bring you the first of these, Mary Castillo.Mary and I share a love of history and in this interview she talks about some of the inspiration for her Dori O paranormal mysteries, including growing up in a haunted house (!), San Diego gangsters from the prohibition era, and a nurse from WWII.You can find out more about today's guest, Mary Castillo, and all her books on her website MaryCastillo.com. You can also find her on Twitter @MCastilloWrites.This episode of It's a Mystery Podcast is sponsored by the free novella, Charlie Horse. This is the first book in the Town Called Horse mystery series that fans are calling witty, colourful, engaging and suspenseful.Charlie Horse is a historical mystery with a modern twist.This is a book that's not available at any of the online retailers where the rest of my books are sold. But, for a limited time, it's easy to get your free copy. Click here or on the book cover at right and it will be very obvious where to click to grab the free ebook.Happy reading!Links and resources mentioned in this episodeClick on any of the book covers to go to Mary's books on AmazonMary mentions being inspired by Mary Stuart, who is one of my favorites from my teenage years as well. Ms. Stewart passed away in 2014 but you can still find her books online.Mary also mentions the influence of Daphne Du Maurier on her work. Here's Ms. Du Maurier's website.Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher.You can also click here to watch the interview on YouTube.Transcription of Interview with Mary CastilloAlexandra: Hi, mystery readers. I'm Alexandra Amor. This is It's a Mystery podcast. I'm here today with Mary Castillo. Hi, Mary.Mary: Hi. How are you?Alexandra: Very well. How are you?Mary: Doing good. I'm in Southern California and we're getting a heat wave for Thanksgiving. So I was really excited. I have my scarves out now. I got to pull out this summer stuff.Alexandra: Once again. Well, that's a nice problem to have.Mary: It is.Alexandra: Yes. So let me introduce our listeners to you. Amazon mystery bestselling author, Mary Castillo, loves a great startle story even though she makes her husband get up with her in the middle of the night after watching a scary movie. When she's not gardening, hiking or knitting, she's engrossed in a book. She writes books she loves, chilling, paranormal mysteries mixed with heartwarming romance and compelling characters who keep you turning the pages long past your bedtime.Mary grew up in a haunted house in National City California that inspired the "Dori O" paranormal mystery series which is what we're going to talk about here today. Mary, why don't you just give us a little overview of the series itself?Mary: The "Dori O" paranormal mystery series started as a novella. It was a chick lit novella back in 2005 to 2008. I wrote romantic comedies, chick lit, and I put together anthology called Names I Call My Sister. I started the story about this family wedding gone awry. Dori and her grammy, and her sister were the central characters in the story. Afterwards, Dori stayed in my mind. She's a robbery detective with San Diego PD. She's the white sheep in a family of black sheep.