Even a spread sheet can be dangerous in Cora Miller's world. And never mind that all those numbers in all those neat little columns look so innocent.

        Ms. Miller, a native Cincinnatian now living in Atlanta, is author of the Audrey Wilson mystery series (Taxes, Death & Trouble and the new Accrual Way to Die), all about financial planner Ms. Wilson, a former size 6 now squeezing into a 12, and the lethal mysteries she stumbles into.

        Deadly spread sheets, those.

Author Cora Miller with copies of her book, (Taxes, Death & Trouble. (Brandi Stafford photo) | ZOOM |

        Born in the West End and a Taft High School and University of Cincinnati grad, the 45-year-old Ms. Miller looks more like 35 — “good hair dye; good makeup” — and is one of 11 children. All live here except her, with most of them working in health care or financial services. Strong family ties keep her coming back, making her a familiar sight around town.

        It's a town she knows well. So well that her novels are set in fictional Rosemont, a Cincinnati African-American bedroom community, and loaded with local references. Her characters drink Barq's root beer and Wiedemann beer, they eat Grippo potato chips, hang around Rookwood Pavilion, picnic at Sawyer Point and go to Music Hall for a dollop of culture.

        In Accrual, Audrey takes a high-paying free-lance job offered by her best friend, who also happens to be the chief financial officer of Rosemont. Then the friend turns up dead. Also turning up is a mountain of evidence proving that Audrey stole the millions missing from the Rosemont treasury.

        But she didn't steal, so most of the book is her unraveling the frame-up, falling in love and staying out of the way of whoever wants her dead.

        That spread sheet again.

        But right now, Ms. Miller wants to talk about Cincinnati: “I miss this town to death. I get so nostalgic about it. ... It really hurts my heart when I see the negative news coming out of the city. I'd like to be able to shine a light and show what a positive city it is.

        “I come back here for inspiration: Every time I come in from the airport and see the skyline from I-75, I start to feel like I'm really home. Yesterday, my husband and I did a self-guided tour down around Ezzard Charles (Drive), where I grew up.

        “It wasn't an easy life growing up, either. I guess we didn't realize it at the time, but there were a lot of us in that very small place. We did what we could to get on in life, and got jobs as soon as we could.”

        For Ms. Miller, those first jobs led her to UC and a degree in accounting, but it's not what she wanted to do.

        Writing is what she wanted: “I've been writing all my life. When I was 3, I made up stories. Later, I wrote them down on paper bags. I had to get my three olders sisters to help me spell things.

        “I studied accounting because I felt it was more practical. But it was always just a means to an end, to get to the point where I could write all day, all the time. So do I miss accounting now? Not for one day, not one number, although I still have the accountant's mind-set — you know, structure, everything in its place. I even keep my dollar bills all facing the same way.

        “But the truth is, the only aspect of accounting I enjoyed was balancing out at the end of the day and going home.”

        Nevertheless, Ms. Miller is still in the field, working as a part-time auditor, “reviewing payables and receivables, looking for holes and discrepancies.” That's getting phased-out, too.

        “It's not what I want to be doing, but it's at least flexible so I get some writing time without feeling too guilty about stealing time from my family.”

        That family is a husband in the industrial equipment repair business, and sons 26, 21 and 7. “The last one, Solomon, was a surprise. A New Year's Eve party and we got, um, out of hand. We just looked at each other the next morning and said, "Oops.'

        “Solomon has been diagnosed as autistic. That's been hard, a challenge and very eye-opening. But he is also the light of my life.”

        And a source of some guilt because work sometimes keeps her away. That's partly because so many auditing jobs are out-of-town, and partly because of her re-education.

        “One of my biggest regrets is not getting any formal training in writing. It's on my list, but it keeps getting pushed back further and further. But I realized some time ago that writing is a craft, not something you scrawl on paper bags, and the more you study it, the better you get.

        “So now I go to workshops and seminars and learn from the real and the experienced writers. I ask questions and try to get feedback on whatever I'm working on.”

        That would be the next two installments in the series she thinks will end with the 10th book. By that time, Audrey will be an accomplished sleuth.

        “The thing I decided early on was to let Audrey evolve as a sleuth. I don't like those books where someone is plunged into a mystery and all of a sudden, with no experience, they're the best detective ever. Much smarter than the police.

        “With Audrey, she had a mystery in Taxes, Death & Trouble and stumbled through it. She's a little better at it in Accrual. And she'll get better in the next books, until I finish the series.”

        And then?

        “General fiction. Escapism. Because we all need it in our lives, especially now.”

        Accrual Way to Die is $14.95 from iUniverse. It can also be ordered from www.pageturners.net/coramiller.

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