Reader's Fave

I recently interviewed Mary Hogue and Cathy Cruikshank for our 24th installment of Reader's Fave, a casual interview with someone who shares their favorite book. I met up with Mary and Cathy in Skamokawa at Viewpoint Landing (formerly Skamokawa Landing). Mary and her husband, Jarrod Hogue, own and manage Viewpoint Landing.

When I first reached out to Mary for an interview, she kindly insisted that I interview both her and Cathy together. Who was I to argue? It was a wonderful interview. Thank you, Mary, for the suggestion and arrangement.

Mary came across the book "King Tide" when the author Cathy stayed at Viewpoint Landing in and left a copy of the book in the room as a gift for Mary. This had a higher significance of for Mary, who said, "I really appreciated the gesture."

As she began reading "King Tide," she couldn't put it down. "I got almost halfway through it before I stopped reading. Mary remembers reading "a ton of spy books" when she was younger. "You can't relate to a spy," she said. "But with this book, I loved how I could picture everything. It becomes more real; an actual picturing of the beach, people at work, it was relatable."

I asked Cathy, who lives near Cape Disappointment, about her book. Cathy said that she has been reading mysteries for over 55 years. When she retired from her law practice in 2016, she began writing. "To be a good writer, you have to read good writing," she said. Cathy discussed how although she organizes and keeps track of the story sometimes, the story will change. A killer might end up being someone she hadn't planned on. "Sometimes, a character will end up going in a direction I didn't anticipate," Cathy explained.

We then briefly discussed Cathy's new book, "Mariana Sofia Garcia Perez," which came out in 2025. "This one is harder," Cathy said. "A darker book. There is some trauma in the book. The first draft was wonderful to write, but having to re-read it seven to eight times for editing and rewriting was hard."

As Cathy reflected back on her youth, she remembered always being an avid reader, along with everyone else in her family. While she enjoyed school, it wasn't until high school where she blossomed as a student. She then went on to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she graduated.

Today, Cathy enjoys reading books using a Kindle about 70 percent of the time and hard-cover the other 30 percent. She never does audio books, as she said she just can't seem to enjoy a book this way. Her current favorite authors are the well-known Louise Penny, a Canadian murder mystery writer, and Ann Cleeves, a British mystery crime writer.

Whether it's your cup of tea or not, may you wonderful Wahkiakum readers enjoy a good mystery book or two. You never know.