#GuestPost & 3 #Giveaways – Happy Homicides 4 #anthology #cozy @joannaslan @VeroWriter @LesleyDiehl @mystriterdva @ttrent_cozymys @MaggieToussaint @aburke59 @nancyjcohen @suspense_writer
Happy Homicides 4: Fall Into Crime
This collection is really a must-read for lovers of cozy mystery. It provides the opportunity to learn some new author or read a new adventure of some character who already know and love.
~LibriAmoriMiei
Included Stories
Joanna Campbell Slan / Vendetta: A Cara Mia Delgatto Mystery – The House of Refuge on Gilbert’s Bar is known for its 150-year history as a way station for shipwrecked sailors. But when Cara Mia visits, the museum becomes the scene of a crime.
Linda Gordon Hengerer / Dying for School Tea: A Beach Tea Shop Novella – Chelsea Powell and her sisters are providing treats for Citrus Beach High School’s freshman orientation. Can they solve the murder of the beloved softball coach before someone else dies?
Carole W. Price / The Glass Birdhouse – Glass artist Bella hopes to find clues about her student’s death in the woman’s unfinished glass birdhouse.
Lesley A. Diehl / Bobbing for Murder – A visit from Darcie’s family is always chaotic, and this time the relatives bamboozle Darcie into having a Halloween party. It’s a decision that definitely comes back to haunt her.
Nancy Jill Thames / Raven House – When a reporter is murdered after a fundraiser at the historic Raven House, the police call on Jillian and her Yorkie Teddy to help them investigate.
Teresa Trent / Falling for Murder – Helpful hints columnist Betsy Livingston is an expert at household organization but her skills are put to the test when she’s called upon to conduct an efficiency review for a haunted house.
Maggie Toussaint / Dead Men Tell Tales – In this third installment of the Lindsey & Ike romantic mystery novella series, things don’t add up after a suspicious hunting accident. The more Sheriff Ike Harper and newspaper editor Lindsey McKay dig, the more questions they find.
Anna Celeste Burke / All Hallow’s Eve Heist – Date night for Georgie Shaw and handsome detective Jack Wheeler goes terribly wrong. A botched heist at Marvelous Marley World has everyone scrambling as trigger-happy bad guys head for the Halloween celebration in Arcadia Park.
Randy Rawls / Accident, Suicide, or Murder – Retired policeman Jonathan Boykin’s primary interest is improving his golf, but a grieving father’s request to investigate his son’s suspicious death is an entirely different ballgame.
Nancy J. Cohen / Haunted Hair Nights – As a new stepmother, hairstylist Marla Vail hopes to win brownie points by helping her daughter with a school haunted house project. Marla has her work cut out for her when she stumbles over a corpse on the spooky estate grounds.
Terry Ambrose / Spirit in the Rock – An invitation to a museum’s grand opening turns into a showdown with the spirit world for amateur sleuth Wilson McKenna.
Deborah Sharp / Haunting in Himmarshee – When a ghost comes to call, Mace must sort out the haunted from the homicidal in Himmarshee, Florida.
Bonus Story—
Joanna Campbell Slan/Kiki Lowenstein and the Doodoo – A fun family outings turns into a fearful fright, but Kiki Lowenstein is good at sniffing out bad guys.
Comes with a bonus file of recipes and craft tips!
All for just 99 cents!
Special Limited Time Offer!
Buy Happy Homicides 4: Fall Into Crime and get Happy Homicides 3: Summertime Crime absolutely free!
Guest Post
Thanks for hosting me on your blog, Leslie. I’ve had fun poking around, discovering all the books you read and review. Busy gal! (thanks Deborah, I am a bit of a book nerd!)
The Happy Homicides anthologies, with their short stories and novellas, are a departure for me. A journalist-turned novelist, I write the funny, down-home-Florida Mace Bauer Mystery Series. All five of those books are traditional novel length, so writing shorter has been a fun experiment. I hope this latest effort, “Haunting in Himmarshee,’’ is more successful than another experiment I attempted in a long-ago chemistry class. That experiment led to a high school evacuation.
My books, as well as this novella, are set in a down-home slice of my native Florida. Most people don’t think “Southern’’ when they think Florida. Theme parks, spring break, and Miami’s Spanish-accented sizzle usually come to mind. But the part of the state I write about is as southern as RC Cola and MoonPie. The Mama character in my books — and also in these new Mace and Mama Short Mysteries — embraces traditions Southerners hold dear. Among those: Family, food, and funerals. Of course, Mama believes there’s a right way and a wrong way to honor traditions. Being the straight-talking sort, she’ll readily tell you which is which.
In “Haunting,’’ which takes place around Himmarshee’s annual Halloween bash, Mama and her middle daughter Mace attend a funeral. The deceased perished in a car crash that appears at first glance to be an accident. (But things are never what they seem in mysteries, are they?)
The victim was a former beau of Mama’s. Frankly, about half the male population of Himmarshee fits that description. Mama has notched five marriages on the belt of her sherbet-colored pantsuit. As for funerals, Mama says there are six rules for mourners:
Rule No. 1: Dress properly to show respect. When a young niece broke that rule, Mama chastised her in the chapel: “That skirt is so skimpy, every man here can see clear to the Promised Land!”
Rule No. 2: Feed the bereaved. Mama’s go-to funeral food used to be macaroni salad. But when a brawl broke out at a family funeral, she got tossed in a tub of the stuff. She hasn’t cared for macaroni since.
Rule No. 3: If you send flowers, make them special. Mama still talks about a tribute at the send-off for Paul “Bear’’ Bryant more than thirty years ago. In addition to a towering red “A’’ for Alabama, some 2,400 carnations created a floral memorial of the coach’s houndstooth hat.
In “Haunting in Himmarshee,’’ Mace’s suspicions are aroused when one not-so-mournful attendee breaks the last three rules of funeral etiquette:
Rule No. 4: Don’t show up drunk.
Rule No. 5: Don’t speak ill of the dead.
Rule No. 6: Don’t pull a knife on a grieving family member.
What are some funeral traditions where you live?
About Deborah
A former USA Today reporter, Deborah Sharp wrote so many stories about marauding animals and human evil-doers it’s a wonder she ever leaves her house. She traded sad news for funny fiction with her Southern-fried Mace Bauer Mysteries. Think Janet Evanovich, if Stephanie Plum had a couple cousins named Bubba.
Deborah rode a horse across Florida for research, and chatted about the experience with Al Roker on the Today show. She was less nervous about the horse. She lives with her husband, TV reporter Kerry Sanders, in Florida, where she spends her spare time chasing iguanas out of the hibiscus. “Mama Gets Trashed” is her fifth book. Visit her online at www.DeborahSharp.com
Giveaways
There are several giveaways so make sure to enter each!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Find out about the authors on their webpages below.
and Deborah Sharp
Visit the other blogs on this tour and enter their giveaways!
August 29 – Reading Is My SuperPower – SPOTLIGHT
August 30 – Cozy Up With Kathy – GUEST POST
August 31 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – SPOTLIGHT
August 31 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too! – SPOTLIGHT
September 1 – A Holland Reads – GUEST POST
September 1 – fuonlyknew – SPOTLIGHT
September 2 – The Girl with Book Lungs – SPOTLIGHT
September 2 – My Funny View of Life – SPOTLIGHT
September 3 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW, INTERVIEW
September 3 – LibriAmoriMiei – REVIEW
September 4 – Book Babble – SPOTLIGHT
September 4 – Sleuth Cafe – GUEST POST
September 5 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW
September 6 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST
September 6 – Victoria’s Pages of Romance – SPOTLIGHT
September 7 – Back Porchervations – REVIEW
September 8 – Community Bookstop – REVIEW
September 8 – Queen of All She Reads – GUEST POST
September 9 – Brooke Blogs – REVIEW, GUEST POST
September 10 – Island Confidential – INTERVIEW
September 11 – Shelley’s Book Case – REVIEW, GUEST POST
September 11 – Kaisy Daisy’s Corner – REVIEW
Deborah Sharp
Awww, I love y’all for stopping by to comment. What fun! To Randy: You know if you proposed to Mama, she’d say yes … not just because she always does, but also because you’re a great guy. Your lovely wife is a lucky gal.
To Terry: Yep, Fla with all its weirdness is a great state for writers. Like Dave Barry sez, You can’t make this stuff up!
To Darla and Teresa: I’ve heard a few of those rules myself. Thanks for reading.
To Lesley: Funny story about your red-eyed, could-be-a-pro-mourner relative. Isn’t there always somebody at the funeral whose wailing and carrying on is a little over the top?
Teresa Trent
This is so funny! I love Mama’s rules. I’m still laughing at the skirt rule.
Lesley A. Diehl
Mama is a favorite of mine. She epitomizes the kind of person living in rural Florida, well, maybe she’s a little over the top with the number of husbands. When I was a kid, funerals in the family were always attended by one of my relatives who could cry for hours on end. I think she should have made some money from her tears by hiring herself out as a professional mourner. I never saw her without tears streaming down her face. All of the rest of the family had blue eyes. I always thought her eye color was red.
Darla
Love the funeral advice 😉
Deborah Sharp
Hey, y’all …. thanks for taking time to story by and leave a message. You gals ROCK.
PS, to Linda H: wearing black to a funeral is all well and good, as long as it’s not a black leather bustier and mini-skirt!
To Anna: Yep, I have a few relatives who could also benefit from the fictional Mama’s advice (in fact, a couple have heard some of those tips). And I agree, just showing up should give you funeral credit.
To Maggie, my pal: Back at ya, girl. I love your characters, too, and am going to read your story as soon as I can borrow the hubby’s Kindle (yes, dinosaur-like, I don’t have my own!)
To Carole P: the need for levity is exactly why I quit the news biz and starting writing fun fiction
To Joanna: Yep, it’s all about respect, right? And at least a thimble full of decorum!
To Nancy Cohen: You’re an inspiration!
To Nancy Jill: Oh, the Mama character is DIFFERENT, for sure!
Terry Ambrose
Oh my gosh, another Florida writer. You guys are everywhere! And you’ve all get such great stories to tell just by reading the news. And they call California strange… 🙂
Randy Rawls
Deb,
You know you’re always one of my favorites. If weren’t already married, I’d propose to “Mama.”
Maggie Toussaint
I’m a fan of Deborah’s mysteries, and her characters make me laugh out loud. I’m looking forward to reading this short mystery with some of my “good friends.”
Anna Burke
Thanks for hosting this great post, Leslie. Loved this hilarious snippet, Deborah. Wish I could say I didn’t have relatives who’d need to hear such sage advice, but I can’t. Of course, the biggest challenge might be getting there at all. It takes planning and organization to get dressed up and arrive some place on time. You have to give credit where credit is due. Thanks for sharing!
Carole Price
My to-be-read list just grew. Deborah, I can’t wait to learn more about your characters. I could use a little levity about now.
Joanna Campbell Slan
Deborah, I *knew* that a relative’s new girlfriend was trouble when she showed up at a family funeral wearing sky-high stilettos and a low-cut, tight camisole top. Mama is very, very savvy. (You’re pretty smart yourself!)
Nancy J. Cohen
Your characters are a hoot. I look forward to reading more about them in this short story.
Linda Gordon Hengerer
Hi, Deb and Leslie,
This sounds just like Deb talking 🙂 I live in Vero Beach, FL now, but I’m originally from NJ, where wearing mourning black was de rigueur for funerals. As a fellow New Jerseyan who also lives in Vero has said, you’ll see more black on a regular day in NYC than you do at a funeral in Vero.
Leslie, thank you for hosting us on this leg of the blog tour.
Nancy Jill Thames
Sounds like a different kind of mama to me. Thanks for sharing an inside look to a fellow “Happy Homicides” author!
Deborah Sharp
Thanks for inviting me to tell your readers a little bit about the Florida where I set my funny Mace Bauer Mysteries, and about Happy Homicides 4, which has allowed me to try a different sort of writing. I’m so grateful to bloggers like you, Leslie, and to all my fellow authors in HH-4 (12 Authors! 13 Stories!! Plus,for a short time only, click above, on the blue link, “Buy Happy Homicides 4…” preceding my guest post and get #3 FREE!). Hope everyone had a restful Labor Day.