Bamboozled (The Mah Jongg Mysteries)
Cozy Mysteries
2nd in Series
Self Published (April 3, 2018)
Paperback: 272 pages

Synopsis

Essential oils distributor Dorcas Wiley is the boss everyone loves to hate. So when she turns up dead, killed by her own trophy, disgruntled saleswoman Cathy Broderick is the obvious suspect in her murder. Despite opportunity, motive and incriminating evidence, Cathy declares her innocence and enlists her mah jongg pals—Sydney Bonner and her cronies Marianne, Micki and Kat—to help save her from the death penalty.

Hot off a recent and nearly deadly investigation, the women are cautious about putting themselves in peril again. Syd’s spouse isn’t thrilled about another mystery in their lives, either, but he can’t resist the plea of Cathy’s husband. Soon, Syd is leading the way as they tangle with grumpy salespeople, the victim’s estranged husband and boyfriend, a mysterious housekeeper, a litigious customer, an annoyed sheriff and Cathy’s own arrogant lawyer.

The women have their own issues to deal with in their central Florida town of Serendipity Springs. Kat faces a health challenge, Micki fields a mysterious inquiry from her ex, Marianne has a chaotic anniversary and Syd wrestles with her husband over who’s really in charge. But nothing puts everyday life into perspective like the moment when their investigation brings them face to face with danger.

Guest Post

Cruises

Living in Florida part of the year, it’s natural that I might be familiar with ocean cruises. I’ve been on four in the western Caribbean and one around four of the Hawaiian islands. My husband and I will be taking another cruise this summer, through the internal passages of Alaska. These experiences served as my basis of information as Trip Bonner, spouse of one my main characters in Bamboozled, the second book in my Mah Jongg Mystery series, plans an Atlantic repositioning cruise.

A repositioning cruise occurs when a cruise line moves a ship that has been operating on one side of the Atlantic, like the Caribbean, to Europe for the next season or vice versa. These trans-Atlantic cruises tend to be cheaper, because the cruise line wants to fill as many beds as possible while moving the liner. Friends who have taken one of these cruises rave about them. Several days at sea offer plenty down time for reading, relaxing and getting to know the other passengers. Thus far, I’ve resisted, not sure how I would react to so much time without land in sight. But there’s one on my bucket list.

Trip has had a difficult time adjusting to his own retirement. To cope, he has taken on various projects, often without thinking through the commitment until he must turn to his wife, Sydney, for help. In the first book, Craks in a Marriage, he organizes a community follies event. Though she does her best to remain on the sidelines, in the end, due to circumstances beyond her control, she finds herself in the limelight. In this book, his golf buddies convince him to plan this cruise, assuring him that he can get all or some of his fare free if he signs up enough travelers. The Bonners could easily afford to pay full fare for such a voyage; it’s the challenge of getting a group together that appeals to Trip’s need for validation.

Like most of his projects begin, the details seem pretty straightforward to Trip. All he has to do is tell his friends about this golden opportunity and sit back while they sign up. What he hasn’t planned on is human nature. Everyone has their own idea when this cruise should take place, where it should go and with which line. Even when okay with those items, some have roommate issues or worry about a spouse traveling alone without them.

From necessity but also as a temporary means of escape, the cruise planning takes a back seat when Trip agrees to help his wife and her friends investigate a local murder to help clear the name of one of their mah jongg buddies. But that doesn’t prevent potential cruisers from emailing him their views, second-guessing his decisions and even tracking him down at the grocery store, when all he wanted was find his favorite brands of chips and dip.

How about you? Have you ever taken an ocean cruise? If not, what has prevented you? Time? Finances? Fear?

About the Author

Barbara Barrett started reading mysteries when she was pregnant with her first child to keep her mind off things like her changing body and food cravings. When she’d devoured as many Agatha Christies as she could find, she branched out to English village cozies and Ellery Queen.

Later, to avoid a midlife crisis, she began writing fiction at night when she wasn’t at her day job as a human resources analyst for Iowa State Government. After releasing eleven full-length romance novels and one novella, she has returned to the cozy mystery genre, using one of her retirement pastimes, the game of mah jongg, as her inspiration. Not only has it been a great social outlet, it has also helped keep her mind active when not writing.

Bamboozled, the second book in her “Mah Jongg Mystery” series, features four friends who play mah jongg together and share otherwise in each other’s lives. None of the four is based on an actual person. Each is an amalgamation of several mah jongg friends with a lot of Barbara’s imagination thrown in for good measure. The four will continue to appear in future books in the series.

Anticipating the day when she would write her first mystery, she has been a member of the Mystery/Romantic Suspense chapter of Romance Writers of America for over a decade. She credits them with helping her hone her craft.

Barbara is married to a man she met her senior year of college. They have two grown children and eight grandchildren.

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Check out the other blogs on this tour, some have giveaways!

June 28 –  Valerie’s Musings – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 28 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT, GIVEAWAY

June 29 – The Power of Words – REVIEW

June 29 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW

June 30 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 30 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT, GIVEAWAY

June 30 – The Book Diva’s Reads – SPOTLIGHT, GIVEAWAY

July 1 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

July 1 – cherylbbookblog – REVIEW, GIVEAWAY

July 1 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT

July 2 – Ruff Drafts – GUEST POST

July 2 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW

July 3 – Teresa Trent Author Blog – CHARACTER GUEST POST, GIVEAWAY

July 3 – Mallory Heart’s Cozies – REVIEW

July 4 – Varietats – REVIEW, GUEST POST

July 5 – Mysteries with Character – GUEST POST

July 5 – Island Confidential – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

July 6 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST

July 6 – Fiction Obsession – REVIEW

July 6 – Christa Reads and Writes – SPOTLIGHT

July 7 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW, GIVEAWAY

July 7 – Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers – SPOTLIGHT

July 8 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW

July 8 – Lisa Ks Book Review – AUTHOR INTERVIEW