Though her latest book is another “cozy mystery,” a generally bloodless genre that features upscale amateur sleuths like Miss Marple or Jessica Fletcher from “Murder, She Wrote,” solving crimes in upscale communities, local author Lynn Bohart is not backing away from difficult subject matter.

This time around, the “Old Maids of Mercer Island” in her new book, “A Candidate for Murder,” deal with child abuse.

It is the second book in the series. The first, also set on the Eastside, dealt with human trafficking, despite the lighter tone and humor that helps define the genre. Bohart realizes she is “pushing the envelope” of the cozy genre, but it gives her a chance to take on larger social issues.

“It’s more what I’m interested in,” Bohart said this past week. “I don’t like vanilla mysteries.”

“A Candidate For Murder” is Bohart’s fifth novel, all self-published. Along with the two cozy mysteries set on Mercer Island, she has written two books in her “Giorgio Salvatori Mystery” series and a stand-alone mystery novel (all are available on Amazon).

The new book once again revolves around a small group of older women on Mercer Island who find themselves in the middle of a mystery when the campaign manager of a disliked rival and mayoral candidate is killed. The murder brings the rivals together and the clues lead all through the region, including our city.

“We bring murder to Renton,” Bohart said.

Bohart, who in her day job is the president of the nonprofit Renton Community Foundation (and a monthly columnist for the Renton Reporter), has never been involved in a murder herself, but for this book – like her others – did a large amount of research, meeting, for example, with the Renton police chief to learn a little about police techniques and procedures.

She admits to taking come literary license, but she said the more accurate she can make the book, the more believable the characters and plot are.

“I want the setting to be real,” she said.

Bohart said the Old Maids series began as an exercise in her creative writing group, but she enjoyed the characters and people enjoyed the first chapter and encouraged her to continue.

Bohart said she knew she wanted to write about older women – “Women who aren’t dead yet” – and though the main character Julia Applegate is not based on her, there is a lot of Bohart in Applegate.

“My daughter will tell you she’s a lot like me!” Bohart said with a laugh. “These women are realistic.”

She writes about five times a week and said she misses the characters when she’s away too long so she treats her hobby and her craft seriously and does not worry too much about finding an agent or a publisher.

“If I’m going to do this, I have to treat it like a part time job or it’s not going to happen,” she said. “Self-publishing gives you the reward of actually seeing your books in print.”

For Bohart, when she sits down to work, she said she has an idea, but often lets the characters dictate what happens.

“When I write I know the beginning and the end and then I fill in between,” she said, adding “so often it’s your characters that make your decisions.”

With the publication this summer of “A Candidate for Murder,” Bohart has already begun work on the third book in the series, disrupting the generally quiet lives of her Mercer Island characters.

“Now dead bodies keep showing up,” she said with a glimmer in her eye.

Bohart is hosting her first-ever book signing and discussion next week at Renton Technical College, with all proceeds going to Allied Arts of Renton. The event is $20 and will include food and beverages. Books will be for sale. A discussion of plot twists, plotting clues and how to kill a character are also scheduled. The event is scheduled for 5:30 to 7 p.m. Nov. 10 in the Culinaire Room at RTC. For tickets, visit www.rentonfoundation.org.