The Funeral Murder A PIP Inc. Mystery
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Publisher: Good Read Mysteries, An Imprint of Good Read Publishers
Number of Pages: 248

 

Synopsis

 

In The Glass House, the first book in the PIP Inc. Mysteries series Pat Pirard, recently downsized Santa Cruz Law Librarian, needed to find a new job in a hurry. She printed business cards announcing she was Private Investigator Pat and crossed her fingers, hoping she could earn enough money working for attorneys as a PI to survive.

Pat’s first investigation went well, so she’s excited when she gets a call from an estate attorney who offers her a second job. The attorney tells Pat his client died at a funeral and he needs help sorting out who is entitled to inherit her estate.

Pat quickly discovers the dead woman’s past is as complicated as her estate. And when an autopsy indicates she had two deadly toxins in her body when she died, Pat’s new case becomes not only complicated, but dangerous.

 

 

 

 

Review

 

I enjoy this series for several reasons. Pat is a good investigator due to her experience as a law librarian, she isn’t afraid to be bold which is evidenced by her yellow car and her actions, and she has a dog.  She has a cat too, but I care more about the dog.  However, after reading this book and what happens near the end, cats aren’t all too bad.

The mystery itself is well laid out. There are obvious suspects but no clues that point to one specific character. I had a hard time deciding who the killer was out of the suspects and couldn’t guess because several had strong motives. The killer was a small surprise but several clues leading up to that moment would have pointed you in another direction.

Outside of the mystery, there was also a storyline about adoption and finding your parents. I enjoyed this as it delved into DNA and comparing reports to determine parentage. I found this to be interesting as I wonder how DNA can tell our past and makes us who were are from our hair and eye color to other traits.

The romance between Pat and Tim is moving right along in this book and while it may seem like it is fast, they seem to be well matched and there is a hint of something to come, perhaps in the next book.

Speaking of the next book, I don’t know if the little teaser phone call she received at the end of the book is the next plotline, but it certainly had me intrigued!

We give this book 4 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Nancy Lynn Jarvis left the real estate profession after she started having so much fun writing the Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries series that she let her license lapse. She’s enjoyed writing about Regan and her husband, Tom, but decided it was time to do a new series.

PIP Inc. introduces protagonist downsized law librarian and not-quite-licensed Private Investigator Pat Pirard. “The Funeral Murder” is the second book in the series.

After earning a BA in behavioral science from San Jose State University, Nancy worked in the advertising department of the San Jose Mercury News. A move to Santa Cruz meant a new job as a librarian and later a stint as the business manager for Shakespeare/Santa Cruz at UCSC.

Currently, she’s enjoying being a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and Santa Cruz Women of Mystery.

 

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Dough or Die (A Bread Shop Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Publisher: Kensington (August 25, 2020)
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages

 

Synopsis

 

Known for its mouthwatering traditional breads, the Yeast of Eden bakery has gained fame across Northern California’s coast. Now the shop is bound for Reality TV—but a murder may kill its reputation . . .

 

People come to the beach town of Santa Sofia as much for the healing properties of Yeast of Eden’s breads as for a vacation getaway. And now a cable food channel has selected the bakery as a featured culinary delight for a new show. Baking apprentice Ivy Culpepper is excited as the crew arrives, ready to capture all the ins and outs of the renowned bread shop. But instead they capture something much harder to stomach: the attempted murdered of the show’s cameraman just outside Yeast of Eden . . .

With no motive and no clues, and the town craving answers, it will be up to Ivy to sift through the evidence to find the truth. But she’ll have to move quickly before someone else is targeted or the wrong person gets the heat—and the business collapses like a deflated soufflé, right before her eyes.

 

 

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Character Guest Post

 

Olaya Solis

 

The American Dream—it is a real thing. For me, anyway. Opening Yeast of Eden and baking my traditional bread, infusing that bread with herbs and qualities that bring people hope or love or forgiveness, or whatever else they may need is a bonus. I never expected the bread shop to become as well known as it has. It rivals La Brea and Nancy Silverton, at least according to my biggest fans.

When the television people came to me, asking to feature Yeast of Eden on a reality show about the best bakeries across America, I was not certain it was the right thing to do. You see, the women in my Bread for Life program would be featured. Each of them has their own story to tell. They each have their cultures, their traditions, and the bread recipes they have carried with them through the years, and sometimes through generations. But Ivy, who has become my right hand at the bread shop, and who has also become like a daughter to me, thought the Bread for Life women should make up their own minds. In the end, Zula, Claire, Esmerelda, and Amelie decided they wanted to do it. They would share their stories on TV through their bread.

Little did they—or any of us—know that a murder would happen. Dios mio, it has been a terrible thing. The experience will either bring us together or tear us apart. Ivy has a gift for sleuthing. She will do what she can to figure things out before one of us is blamed for the murder. I know she will.

The American Dream, it turns out, has challenges along the way.

 

 

About the Author

 

Winnie Archer is the pseudonym of Melissa Bourbon.

Melissa Bourbon Ramirez is the national bestselling author of seventeen mystery books, including the Lola Cruz Mysteries, A Magical Dressmaking Mystery series, and the Bread Shop Mysteries, written as Winnie Archer. She is a former middle school English teacher who gave up the classroom in order to live in her imagination full time. Melissa, a California native who has lived in Texas and Colorado, now calls the southeast home. She hikes, practices yoga, cooks, and is slowly but surely discovering all the great restaurants in the Carolinas. Since four of her five amazing kids are living their lives, scattered throughout the country, her dogs, Bean, the pug, Dobby, the chug, and Jasper, a cattle dog/lab keep her company while she writes. Melissa lives in North Carolina with her educator husband, Carlos, and their youngest son. She is beyond fortunate to be living the life of her dreams.

 

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Undone in Uluru: A Traveler Cozy Mystery
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Independently Published (August 25, 2020)
~150 Pages

 

Synopsis

 

A missing person + a do-gooder father + a new friend = An adventure in which Naomi finds more than a murderer.

Naomi is off to Australia with her father in her latest vacation. She expects a drama-free trip to Oz with her dependable father. That all ends at check-in when they encounter a young woman searching for her boyfriend. Fellow traveler Daniel drags them into a search for the missing man in the Red Centre. In between sunset tours, daytime hikes, and Vegemite tastings, Naomi wanders ever closer to danger.

 

 

 

 

Guest Post

 

Today we have one of the characters from this book, Naomi, that is here to share some insights into her character.

 

 

Naomi

 

I zipped up my luggage, the highlighter yellow luggage my mother gave me for Christmas, before our trip to Iceland together.

Pre-Iceland I thought it was a hideous piece that I would never use. I thought she chose bright yellow because it’s exactly what I wouldn’t want. I thought she chose it just to annoy me.

In order to avoid a barrage of snarky comments from my mother, I used the four-wheeled hard-sided luggage for our trip to Reykjavik. I envisioned its demise while we there in order to prevent further trips with it.

But I was wrong. My mother was right. (You have no idea how much that pains me to say.)

The luggage is lightweight, easy to use, and easy to find. If given a choice I would have chosen the blue one the brand had. But the yellow one was really the best one for me.

I placed my e-reader in my carry-on bag. It was loaded with plenty of fiction books from Australian writers for the journey. It is a long flight. A very long flight.

I bet my Dad’s e-reader was loaded with books on Australia too. But no fiction. Most likely it was biographies of Australians, books on the history of the continent, with a focus on the Aboriginals, and books on Australian nature, with at least one about the Outback.

(If my mother was traveling ‘Down Under’, her tablet would have been loaded with Hugh Jackman films.)

My father raised me from the time my parents divorced over fifteen years ago. We’ve always got along. Something I could not have said about my other travel companions prior to our trips to South Africa and Iceland.

My mother has asked a lot of questions about my upcoming trip. I had few answers. My father planned it all. I was just tagging along.

My sister had joked I wouldn’t meet anyone like Osp on this trip. I met Osp, Thor to my mother and sister, in our Icelandic hotel. We went out a few times but he didn’t like all the time I spent talking to his friend, Þröstur. He was a police officer and I had questions about Milo’s death! I don’t regret my decision.

I can’t imagine getting pulled into looking for a murderer on a vacation with my sensible father. He would encourage me to leave it to local authorities.

Maybe I would have time for a romance.

A little romance on vacation would be nice…

 

About the Author

 

A. R. Kennedy lives in Long Beach, New York, with her two pups. She works hard to put food on the floor for them. As her favorite T-shirt says, ‘I work so my dog can have a better life’. She’s an avid traveler. But don’t worry. While she’s away, her parents dote on their grand-puppies even more than she does. Her writing is a combination of her love of travel, animals, and the journey we all take to find ourselves.

 

 

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Little Bookshop of Murder: A Beach Reads Mystery
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books (September 8, 2020)
Hardcover

 

Synopsis

 

A Shakespearean scholar inherits a beachside bookshop–and a murder mystery–in this delightful new cozy series for fans of Kate Carlisle and Ellery Adams.

 

Summer Merriweather’s career as a Shakespeare professor hangs by a bookbinder’s thread. Academic life at her Virginia university is a viper’s pit, so Summer spends her summer in England, researching a scholarly paper that, with any luck, will finally get her published, impress the Dean, and save her job. But her English idyll ends when her mother, Hildy, shuffles off her mortal coil from an apparent heart attack.

Returning to Brigid’s Island, NC, for the funeral, Summer is impatient to settle the estate, sell her mom’s embarrassingly romance-themed bookstore, Beach Reads, and go home. But as she drops by Beach Reads, Summer finds threatening notes addressed to Hildy: “Sell the bookstore or die.”

Clearly, something is rotten on Brigid’s Island. What method is behind the madness? Was Hildy murdered? The police insist there’s not enough evidence to launch a murder investigation. Instead, Summer and her Aunt Agatha screw their courage to the sticking place and start sleuthing, with the help of Hildy’s beloved book club. But there are more suspects on Brigid’s Island than are dreamt of in the Bard’s darkest philosophizing. And if Summer can’t find the villain, the town will be littered with a Shakespearean tragedy’s worth of corpses–including her own.

 

 

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Guest Post

 

We welcome Maggie to StoreyBook Reviews today and she shares with us one of her pet peeves, which happens to be one of mine too!

 

One of my pet peeves is book snobbery. Whether it is a literary book lover putting down a romance reader, or a mystery reader rolling their eyes at romances, I don’t like it. It’s none of anybody’s business what other people read and if they don’t invite your comment and opinion, keep yours to yourself. So why did I make my new main character, Summer Merriweather a book snob? Because like all interesting characters, if you scratch the surface of her, there’s more to her traits than meets the eye.

Her mom, Hildy, owned “Beach Reads,” a bookstore specializing in romances and mysteries. Summer was commandeered each summer to work at the bookstore and to share her mom with the customers and the book community she was such a vibrant part of. When summer discovered Shakespeare at school, and understood his plays, and loved his language, it set her mind, body, and soul on fire. Hildy didn’t carry Shakespeare at the bookstore. “Who wants to read Shakespeare at the beach?” She’d say.

So you see, there is a lot to unpack there in just that one paragraph. So when Hildy, summer’s mom, passes away mysteriously and leaves the bookstore to Summer, she faces a conundrum. She’s broke, her career is not what she expected, and her mom’s book friends were there with open arms. They asked Summer to attend a book group meeting in honor of Hildy, so she read the assigned romance, at first, gritting her teeth, but as the story unfolds, she surprisingly finds herself enjoying it.

By the end of the book, while Summer is not an avid romance reader, she’s no longer quite the book snob she was. And, as the series continues, I hope she grows and learns to love all genres.

 

 

About the Author

 

Maggie Blackburn is the author of the Cora Crafts mysteries and the Cumberland Creek mysteries under another pen name. Her books have been selected as finalists for an Agatha Award and a Daphne du Maurier Award and as a Top 10 Beach Reads by Woman’s World. She has also been short-listed for the Virginia Library People’s Choice Award. She is the mother of two young women who are off following their dreams in the music business. She currently lives in Waynesboro, VA, and works at the University of Virginia as a development associate.

 

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Asbury High and the Parcels of Poison: Asbury High YA Cozy Mystery
Young Adult Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Publisher: Purple Milk Publishing (May 24, 2020)
Paperback: 269 pages

 

Synopsis

 

Asbury’s fearless foursome is back!

Is their favorite hangout to blame for recent food poisonings? Or is there something more sinister at work?

After an unprecedented first year of high school, the gang is ready for a relaxing summer vacation, although in Asbury, that may be easier said than done. This summer, the Food Network is running a summer special highlighting local hot spots, Carly, Maddie, Pilot and Cornelious are psyched to have the world’s best restaurant featured—their very own Brady’s! In fact, Maddie can almost forget that her arch-nemesis, Alexis Johnson, will also be on TV for winning the logo design for Caulfield’s Candies… almost.

However, after patrons start falling ill, shoobies and locals alike point the finger at Brady’s and rumors of food poisoning. When Brady’s threatens to close its doors, Pilot realizes his mother’s job is in jeopardy, as well as his future in Asbury. With the aid of Cornelious’ wealthy cousin Dane, who spends every summer with the quartet, the gang is once again thrust into an investigation. Unfortunately, they find themselves thwarted by both the local police (who believe their recent success was due to luck, rather than skill), and Cornelious’ father, who has decided to run for Mayor of Asbury and cautions his son on the need to maintain a spotless public image.

With a new pancake house on the boardwalk, Mainlanders invading their beaches, and the Pitbulls sneaking around and terrorizing shoobies (as usual), there’s no shortage of suspects. But can they solve the case before the summer, and Brady’s, are finished?

 

 

 

 

Guest Post

 

Today we welcome Kelly and her thoughts on why she writes cozy mysteries.  Take it away Kelly!

 

One of my most favorite things to do has always been to figure things out. I guess that’s why I actually loved going to school. Thus, it makes sense that mysteries have always held a tight hold on my heart. Whether I am reading, writing, or watching the occasional movie, the genre is most often a mystery. Don’t worry—my husband would even agree, I am not one to ruin a good movie or book for anyone else by voicing my suspicions.

Thus, when I finally decided to write out the stories banging around inside my head, crafting a mystery series was the obvious choice. As I was only eighteen when I outlined the series and wrote the rough draft of Asbury High and the Thief’s Gamble (book one of the series), writing young adult came naturally. After a few years of research, and reading some pretty awesome cozy mysteries, I realized that the cozy mystery genre was the one for me. Not only did my series take place in a small town, with amateur sleuths as the protagonists, but I didn’t have any desire to add scenes of graphic violence or sex to any of the books in my series. Furthermore, the more I researched, the more I felt truly at home in this genre. I honestly feel some stories get lost in adding too much violence or graphic scenes, and the mystery or overall feel of the book gets lost. Thus, my Asbury High series fits perfectly into the cozy mystery world, and I am excited to continue writing in this genre for years to come.

 

 

About the Author

 

For as long as she could remember, Kelly Brady Channick loved making up stories and leaving her listeners/readers on the edge of their seats.

Perhaps that’s why she always managed to talk herself out of trouble…

After graduating from NJ’s own Ocean City High School, Kelly accepted a basketball scholarship to Holy Family University, in Philadelphia. As a lifelong athlete, Kelly understands the importance of teamwork and overcoming adversity, something she hopes translates into her books.

Before writing page-turners, she taught first, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade — like a dessert menu, she simply had to test them all out. But her favorite job is the one she’s now doing full time: writing. Kelly loves to craft whodunit mysteries, leading readers through various twists and turns filled with red-herrings, hidden clues, and more peculiar characters than a reality show.

Kelly lives in South Jersey with her handsome husband, energetic baby boy, two cookie-stealing dogs, and an awfully smart cat.

 

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Synopsis

 

Waylon Jenkins has a problem. Well, he’s got a few of them. The ghost of Betsy Ross lives in his house, he’s pretty sure his favorite client is the victim of ongoing domestic violence, and he’s been roped into helping the police investigate a series of murders.

And his penis fell off in the shower this morning. He needs a new one, but none of his friends are willing to donate theirs to the cause.

In case it isn’t obvious by now, Waylon Jenkins is a zombie.

He’s also one of the most highly respected and in-demand makeup artists in Hollywood, and that keeps him busy, no matter how dead he is. But now he needs to find out who’s committing a string of murders, and make sure nobody hurts Mitzi (one name only), one of his most faithful (and famous) clients.

He also needs a new penis.

Pluck & Cover is the first in the Zombie Cosmetologist Novellas, a new series by J.D. Blackrose, author of The Soul Wars and The Devil’s Been Busy.

 

 

 

Review

 

If you are looking for a mystery short story that will make you laugh then look no further than this book.  The premise is wacky, the characters are plucky, and good overcomes bad in the end.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I opened to the first page, but finding a zombie concerned about his manhood was not one of them! And then to have Betsy Ross sewing it back on?  You know that the rest of the book is going to a scream, and not in fear but in laughter.

This story moves at a fast pace and there are multiple storylines that somewhat merge together near the end, or at least several of them do. The characters have interesting backstories but we don’t find those out until closer to the end of the story. I think some of it could have been dropped in earlier because it would have made more sense or at least the reader would have a better understanding of Waylon and Early.  I found it interesting that the police had no issue with Waylon being a zombie. But at the same time, it made him a more likely suspect.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and want to know more about the characters, how they came to be the way they are and how they came together (although we find out how Early and Waylon know each other) and will this company that is producing zombies succeed?  I also expect that the next book will have just as much humor in it and will be an enjoyable read.

We give this book 4 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

J.D. Blackrose loves all things storytelling and celebrates great writing by posting about it on her website, www.slipperywords.com. She has published multiple series through Falstaff Books, as well as numerous short stories. She spends a lot of time chatting with the imaginary people in her head and is often accused of having a hearing problem. As a survival tactic, she has mastered the art of looking interested. She credits her parents for teaching her to ask questions, and in lieu of facts, how to make up answers.

 

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Hippie Haven Homicide (Psychedelic Spy Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Publisher: Cozy Cat Press (May 21, 2020)
Paperback: 229 pages

 

Synopsis

 

Get ready to flip your wig over another groovy 1967 retro-cozy with actress and amateur spy Noelle McNabb. Spy agency SIAMESE (Special Intelligence Apparatus for Midwest Enemy Espionage and Surveillance) turns Noelle’s pet, Ceebee, into an “acoustic kitty” to listen in on an agent known only as Old Scratch. Meanwhile, a counterculture religious sect led by the Wise One infiltrates the staid town of Yuletide, Indiana. When one of the sect members makes a premature departure to the Spirit in the Sky, Noelle investigates, but finds herself in deep water—literally. With her undercover disguiser, Noelle really knows how to sock it to ‘em. However, she still can’t solve the secrets of a certain family member. Don’t miss this fab story of saints, sinners and spies!

 

 

 

 

Guest Post

 

Today we welcome Blossom from the Psychedelic Spy series. If you are a fan of the Austin Power’s movies and shows like Get Smart, you might want to check out this series. I think it will be right up your alley.

 

Blossom

 

My given name is Janet Campbell, but now I am known as Blossom, because I have recently grown and thrived, like a newly watered plant. I’ve discovered that to find a connection, I had to leave my old family for a new one.

My childhood in Homestead, Illinois, was blissful, until my mother died. Mom and I were quite close, and her passing left a huge gap in my heart. My father was devastated. Having to raise me alone didn’t agree with him. He remarried soon after mom was gone.

My stepmom was nothing like my real mom. Stepmom yelled at me and found fault in everything I did. My stepbrother tormented me constantly. When I complained to dad, it’s like he didn’t care. The fire went out of him when mom left us. As long as he had someone to run the household, he didn’t pay attention to me. He’d come home from work; eat dinner quickly, and retreat to his den to watch TV.
I thought I was doomed to a life of misery—until I met SPARK.

A friend invited me to SPARK rally that was happening in the local park. I had nothing else to do, and it gave me a good excuse to get away from stepmom for a while. SPARK is Spiritually Pure And Radiant Kin. They are devotees of the Wise One, a masterful guru who speaks of loving oneself and being in harmony with others. When I arrived, I was skeptical, but once I heard the Wise One speak I was overwhelmed with joy. The other devotees seemed so happy. I wanted that contentment for myself.

When the SPARK bus left town the next morning, I was on board. My boyfriend wasn’t happy. When I phoned him to tell him I was leaving, he threatened me. I didn’t care. I knew the Wise One would protect me.

SPARK takes care of us. First Sage handles our needs. He arranges for housing and food as we travel to make new recruits. He provides the blue robes and sandals that we wear. Wise One spends most of his time in mediation and writing. Wise One blesses us with his appearance only occasionally, but when he speaks the waiting seems like seconds.

Our days are quite busy. We spend much time in learning, singing and dancing. We play games and have fun. The Wise One calls us his “children,” so he tells us to behave like innocent, sweet children. In the towns we visit we “witness,” that is, we share SPARK literature with the residents and request donations to support our cause. We want others to share in our happiness. Many people shun or insult us. We still wish them well. Wise One tells us to never think ill of anyone; they act that way because their minds are clouded by the material world.

The other devotees are so friendly. Many of them were bummed and lost, as I was, but are now at peace.

I have had only one unpleasant experience with my new family. I did something that I was not supposed to do. Someone was very upset with me over this. I was scared and sad. But later that evening as I was chanting with my brothers and sisters, I felt better. I will simply work harder to do better next time.

We are now in a small town in Indiana called Yuletide. It’s such a funny place. The streets and stores have Christmassy-names. The town mayor, who spoke to us when we arrived, showed up in a Santa Claus suit. He plays Kris Kringle at the local Christmas theme park. The police chief doesn’t like us though. He called us dirty hippies. His mind is clouded by much hate.

One of the residents, Noelle McNabb, is very kind. She wants to be my friend. I like her a lot, but First Sage told me not to talk to her.
Since the hotels would not rent rooms to us, the devotees are staying at the Holiday Acres campgrounds. One day I found a note on my cabin bunk. It said someone wanted to meet me at the fire pit by the lake. While the other devotees were busy, I slipped away to the fire pit to meet this person. I wonder who—

(Blossom’s post breaks off here. A short time later, Noelle found the body beside the fire pit. Noelle suspects foul play, and is investigating the death).

 

 

About the Author

 

Sally Carpenter is native Hoosier living in Moorpark, Calif.

She has a master’s degree in theater from Indiana State University. While in school, her plays “Star Collector” and “Common Ground” were finalists in the American College Theater Festival One-Act Playwrighting Competition. “Common Ground” also earned a college creative writing award. “Star Collector” was produced in New York City and served as the inspiration for her first mystery series.

Sally also has a Master of Divinity and a black belt in tae kwon do.

She’s worked as an actress, college writing instructor, jail chaplain, and tour guide/page for Paramount Pictures.

The books in her Sandy Fairfax Teen Idol series are: The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper (2012 Eureka! Award finalist for best first mystery novel), The Sinister Sitcom Caper, The Cunning Cruise Ship Caper, and The Quirky Quiz Show Caper, all with Cozy Cat Press.

Flower Power Fatality is the first book in the Psychedelic Spy series.

She has short stories in three anthologies: Last Exit to Murder, Plan B: Omnibus, and Cozy Cat Shorts. She penned chapter three of the CCP group mystery Chasing the Codex.

 

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The House of the Setting Son: A Misty Dawn Mystery
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Independently Published (September 4, 2020)
Print Length: 213 pages

 

Synopsis

 

When Misty Dawn, the former “Hollywood Psychic to the Stars,” receives a phone call in the middle of the night, she knows it can’t be good news. Dorine Witherspoon, an actress and former client is in town for the opening of her touring musical and tells Misty the show’s leading lady, Cassie Marx, has disappeared and the understudy had to go on for her on Opening Night!

Misty immediately suspects foul play and when she and Wilson, her psychic shade, arrive at the theater the next morning they discover LAPD’s Detective Cesar Romero meeting with the cast and crew. Events on both sides of the veil take a dark turn when Romero asks Misty off the case, and Wilson appears out of his depth with ghosts who want nothing to do with him.

Death, close calls, and forces on both sides of the veil threaten to undo Misty and destroy her relationship with Wilson unless she can find Cassie and restore order to the show.

 

 

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About the Author

 

Nancy Cole Silverman spent nearly twenty-five in Los Angeles Talk Radio. She began her career on the talent side as one for the first female voices on the air, and later on the business side, where she retired as one of two female general managers in the nation’s second-largest radio market. Leaving her successful radio career behind in 2010, Nancy began to write fiction, and her crime-focused novels and short stories have attracted readers throughout America. Her Carol Childs Mysteries series (Henery Press) feature a single-mom whose “day job” as a reporter at a busy Los Angeles radio station often leads to long nights as a crime-solver. Her most recent series features Misty Dawn, an aging Hollywood Psychic to the Stars, who supplements her day to day activities as a consultant to LAPD and the FBI. Nancy lives in Los Angeles with her husband and a thoroughly pampered standard poodle.

 

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Casting Call for a Corpse: A Fun Detective Cozy (The Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
7th in Series
Publisher: The Wives of Bath Press (August 1, 2020)
Print Length: 295 pages

 

Synopsis

 

A DETECTIVE AGENCY WITH HEART.

AND A WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!

Super sleuth, Lee Alvarez, finds a dead man wearing a tuxedo in a friend’s bathtub during a soiree for San Francisco’s VIPs. And not just any friend, but an internationally acclaimed actress who recently came to live in San Francisco. And not just any bathtub, but a bathtub residing inside one of Alamo Square’s famed Painted Ladies, recently bought by said actress.

The police believe it’s the actress friend who done the man in. After all, it’s her house and her tub. And another man died under suspicious circumstances around her recently. Both romantic encounters, doncha know. The actress must be guilty.

Or is she?

For ace detective Lee Alvarez, the timing couldn’t be worse. She is supposed to go off in celebration of her 6-month wedding anniversary with her hunky hubby. Paris is calling!

Or is it?

Her long-time friend, plus her mother – She Who Must Be Obeyed – thinks she should stick around and find out who the real killer is. So Lee, family, handsome hubby, and Tugger, the cat, are on the job. But Lee’s nose is itching. Which means not one of the suspects is telling the truth.

Or not all of it. Lee soon uncovers threatening letters, sullen playwrights, dead bodies, and a criminal web of jewel thieves, all treading the boards of her friend’s latest musical. This is showbiz?

Author Haven pulls out all the stops in a cozy fan’s delight about a charming, and unconventional Palo Alto detective family who get their man or woman, as the case may be. Book Seven follows its tradition of the Bay Area’s favorite PI, who rolls over with all four paw in the air when it comes to her darn near perfect mother. But with the help of her computer geek brother and handsome hubby, Lee works to solve the case in time to celebrate her own 6-month wedding anniversary.

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Heather moved to the Bay Area and studied creative writing at Stanford University. Previously, several of her comedy acts and plays were performed in NYC. Her novels include the humorous Silicon Valley-based Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries, Manhattan-based Persephone Cole Vintage Mysteries, Love Can Be Murder Novellas, Snow Lake Romantic Suspense Series and standalone mystery noir, Murder under the Big Top, based upon her mother’s stint as a performer with Ringling Brothers’ Circus. There is also her anthology, Corliss and Other Award-Winning Stories. Her favorite protagonist is in Corliss, one of the featured short stories, but don’t tell anyone!

 

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Giveaway

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sneaky’s Summer Mystery: A Cobble Cove Story
Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Solstice Publishing (August 5, 2020)
Print Length: 42 pages

 

Synopsis

 

Cobble Cove is in the midst of an August heatwave. It’s the worst time for the air conditioner at the Cobble Cove library to break down. Alicia has no choice but to close the library and bring Sneaky, the library cat, home with her. After scheduling the air conditioner service with Rudy Gibbs, a technician from Hapnabber’s Repair Shop, she is surprised to learn that John knew Rudy when they were teenagers. When Rudy turns up dead after working on the AC at the library and Alicia learns of it during a barbecue she and John host with Gilly and Ramsay, Sneaky and Kittykai must once again protect their favorite ladies when they conduct their own investigation into the murder.

 

 

 

About the  Author

 

Debbie De Louise is an award-winning author and a reference librarian at a public library on Long Island. She is a member of Sisters-in-Crime, International Thriller Writers, Long Island Authors Group, and the Cat Writers’ Association. She’s the author of eight novels including the four books of her Cobble Cove cozy mystery series and two short eBooks based on the books. She lives on Long Island with her husband, daughter, and three cats.

 

 

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