Unlucky Charms (A Superstition Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Midnight Ink (October 8, 2016)
Paperback: 288 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0738745558
E-Book ASIN: B01APSYQ5G
Synopsis
Rory Chasen, manager of the Lucky Dog Boutique in Destiny, California, hopes her new line of good-luck doggy toys will be a hit, especially the stuffed rabbits with extra-large feet. The timing of the line’s debut proves ill-fated, though, as several local shops―including Rory’s―are ransacked and vandalized with spilled salt and other unlucky charms.
The most likely culprit is disgruntled real estate agent Flora Curtival, whose issues with the town give her a motive. But when Flora is murdered and one of Rory’s toy rabbits is found with the body, Rory needs all the luck she can get while trying to determine just who killed the superstitious vandal.
Guest Post
Unlucky Charms?
by Linda O. Johnston
What do you consider to be an unlucky charm?
I should probably ask first if you are superstitious. I’m a superstition agnostic, like Rory Chasen, the protagonist of my Superstition Mysteries. I don’t necessarily believe that superstitions come true, but I nevertheless attempt to follow at least some of them, just in case. I cross my fingers and knock on wood, for example.
I’m asking about unlucky charms now since my third Superstition Mystery, UNLUCKY CHARMS, was just published. In it, Rory is the primary suspect after a real estate agent who’s been giving her a hard time is found murdered. Of course Rory has to figure out whodunit, to save herself!
Anyway, back to the question about unlucky charms.
If you see a tails-up penny on the ground, do you pick it up in the hopes it’ll bring you good luck? These days, the superstition is that heads-up pennies are lucky but tails-up ones are not. However, that superstition used to have no designation like that: “Find a penny, pick it up, and all the day you’ll have good luck.”
How about black cats? Are you uneasy if one crosses your path? That’s a common superstition in the U.S., but black cats are considered lucky other places, such as England. And I know lots of people here who own and love their black kitties.
Then there’s the number thirteen. It’s got a bad reputation, but it has always been lucky for me.
Or a broken mirror, or walking under a ladder… they’ve got bad reputations, too, and have boded bad luck in some of Rory’s stories, but are they truly unlucky? And of course there are a lot more.
It has been a lot of fun researching both good luck and bad luck superstitions for the Superstition Mysteries, as well as sometimes seeing the inconsistencies. I hope you enjoy UNLUCKY CHARMS.
And remember, it’s good luck to read the Superstition Mysteries by Linda O. Johnston!
About the Author
Linda O. Johnston’s first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the year. Since then, Linda, a former lawyer who is now a full-time writer, has published more short stories, novellas, and 38 romance and mystery novels, including the Pet Rescue Mystery Series, a spinoff from her Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteriesfor Berkley Prime Crime, and Harlequin Romantic Suspense as well as the Alpha Force paranormal romance miniseries for Harlequin Nocturne. She additionally writes the Superstition Mysteries for Midnight Ink. Her latest cozy mystery series, the Barkery and Biscuits Mysteries are also from Midnight Ink.
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