Pets, Plots & Poisons: Podcast Launch Episode with Matt Cost & BJ Magnani

It's the very first episode of "Pets, Plots & Poisons" Podcast! Mystery authors Matt Cost and BJ Magnani launch their new Big Blend Radio show with the story of how they met (a New England Crime Bake conference), what they're each writing now, and a secret collaboration between their characters.

BJ shares her latest Dr. Lily Robinson thriller, "We'll Always Have Poisons," sending her poison-toting protagonist to Cape Town, Sydney, and Brussels. Matt talks through "EveryThing vs. Max Creed,: book two in his Modern-Day Chronicles of Max Creed series — and reveals he and BJ already crossed universes once, co-writing a novella with Curt Wendelboe called "Death on Out to Sea Island," where Lily Robinson meets one of Matt's own characters: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/curt-wendelboe/death-on-out-to-sea-island.htm 

They dig into the craft side too: Matt's plotting formula (a major turn every 12.5% of the book) versus BJ's "pantser" approach of plotting in thirds. Both trace their mystery obsession back to childhood favorites like The Black Stallion, Hardy Boys, and Trixie Belden, and talk about why pets make such rich material for crime writers — from cadaver dogs to serial killers' pets.

And BJ delivers the first-ever Poison of the Month: aconitine, a cardiac toxin from monkshood (wolfsbane) that can kill within minutes.

Next month: screenwriter-turned-mystery-author Jule Selbo joins the show.

Learn more about the hosts:
- BJ Magnani: https://www.bjmagnani.com/ 
- Matt Cost: https://www.mattcost.net/ 

- Explore the Pets, Plots & Poisons show page (and subscribe): https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/pets-plots-poisons-podcast