Gloria Chao: This Was the Most Complicated Mystery I’ve Written
In this interview, author Gloria Chao discusses expanding on a fictional world in her new mystery novel, The Mortal Enemy Murder Club.
Gloria Chao is a USA Today-bestselling author and a screenwriter. Her previous novels include The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club, Ex Marks the Spot, When You Wish Upon a Lantern, Rent a Boyfriend, Our Wayward Fate, and American Panda. She graduated from MIT, then became a dentist before realizing she’d rather spend her days in fictional characters’ heads instead of real people’s mouths. When she’s not writing, you can find her on the curling ice, where she and her husband are world-ranked in mixed doubles. Visit her tea-and-book-filled world at GloriaChao.wordpress.com and find her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky.
In this interview, Gloria discusses expanding on a fictional world in her new mystery novel, The Mortal Enemy Murder Club, the importance of holding on to the passion of writing, and more.
Name: Gloria Chao
Literary agent: Kathleen Rushall, Andrea Brown Literary
Book title: The Mortal Enemy Murder Club (Book #2 in the Hu Done It series)
Publisher: Park Row Books/HarperCollins
Release date: July 28, 2026
Genre/category: Mystery
Previous titles: The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club;Ex Marks the Spot;When You Wish Upon a Lanter;Rent a Boyfriend;Our Wayward Fate;American Panda
Elevator pitch: The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club is back after solving the murder of their shared ex-boyfriend, and this time, they have to save their mortal enemy—the infamous host of the Dish Served Hot revenge podcast—from murder. But can they all put aside their contempt long enough to solve this case?
What prompted you to write this book?
The Mortal Enemy Murder Club is the sequel to The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club. I had so much fun writing Kat, Olivia, and Elle that I wanted to stay in their world a little longer. I also wanted to explore parts of the first book further, including the revenge podcast and its infamous basket-case reality star host, as well as the aftermath of finding out your boyfriend has two other girlfriends and then also finding his body. As you can imagine, the latter is the kind of baggage that makes it hard to move forward in your next relationship, even if it’s with the hot detective who saved your life.
So with The Mortal Enemy Murder Club, I wanted to bring back all my favorites from the first book, but with even more humor, twists and turns, shenanigans, romance, and suspects. This book also has one of my favorite scenes I’ve ever written—when you get there, you will know!—and I hope it brings you as many laughs as it did me.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
Because this was the most complicated mystery I’ve written, I spent a month just outlining even after the book sold on proposal. The first draft took five months, and the entire time I knew something wasn’t quite working. It wasn’t until I finished the draft that I realized the framework and timing of the murder were not ideal, and that I needed to restructure the book. I spent the next two months rewriting from scratch but pulling in my favorite parts of the original. I feel that the book is much better in the end for it, but it was an involved process with more twists and turns than usual—just like the story itself!
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
One interesting thing I learned is that because this is a sequel, less time is needed on the publisher’s end before publication because they are already familiar with the tone of the book and how to market it. That ended up working in my favor since I needed time to rework the story.
The books in this series are also my first adult titles, and after writing five young adult books, I was surprised to learn that there are differences between the two age categories on the publishing side. In my experience, the YA titles need more time between finishing the book and release, the royalty statements are quarterly in adult and semiannually in young adult, and the starting royalties and list price of the books are higher in adult.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
Even though this is my seventh published book, this was one of the hardest books for me to write in a while. I’m not sure if it was because it was my first sequel or because this mystery was so much more complicated than the previous one, but it’s a reminder that every book is its own process, no matter how many came before it.
I also realized I had been moving toward more and more outlining with each book—partly out of necessity because my fifth book, Ex Marks the Spot, involved a treasure hunt through Taiwan, and books number six and seven were mysteries—and I believe I outlined too much for this one. For book number eight (tentatively titled Dumped, about a lowly intern on a reality TV dating show who starts a forbidden romance with the star and gets thrown on the show and portrayed as the villain), I outlined less and gave myself more creative freedom, which ended up working well.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
I loved getting to write the hilarious shenanigans and the ride-or-die female friendship of this series, and I hope I’m able to bring readers some laughs and gasps as they try to guess Hu Done It. I also hope readers enjoy learning about the real Mandy Thorne and why she is the way that she is (while also enjoying the comedy that arises from forcing Kat, Olivia, and Elle to work with their mortal enemy). And I hope readers laugh at the new antics that Kat’s mom gets up to and the increasingly ridiculous packages she sends because Kat is single—like a Life Alert because “she could fall down and not be able to get up” and a cardboard cutout of Glen Powell to put in her window Home Alone–style (which, yes, are inspired by real life).
This book is about the power of friendship, about second chances, and about how things aren’t always what they seem. And I hope reading it brings you the same joy I felt while writing it. You are all a part of the Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club!
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
To hold on to your passion. There is so much in this industry that you can’t control, but your story is the one thing you can. Remembering your love for the actual writing will help you get through the tougher parts.
