Killer Words (Mystery Bookshop)
Cozy Mystery
7th in Series
Setting – North Harbor, Michigan
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Kensington Cozies (November 30, 2021)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages

 

Synopsis

 

Bookstore owner and mystery writer Samantha Washington comes to the aid of the cop who once arrested her own grandmother . . .

Sam and Nana Jo are back in sleepy North Harbor, Michigan, where Sam is eagerly awaiting the publication of her first book. In search of more immediate excitement, Nana Jo hits the casino with her fellow Shady Acres Retirement Village gal pals—but they get more than they bargained for when they witness Detective Bradley Pitt decking mayoral candidate John Cloverton.

As Sam well knows, mystery novels are full of brilliant detectives, genius sleuths, and hero cops. Detective Bradley Pitt—aka “Stinky Pitt”—is another story. In the past, the dull-witted detective has mistakenly accused members of Sam’s family for crimes they didn’t commit. Now, it’s his turn: when Cloverton turns up dead, he’s arrested. With his predilection for polyester, Pitt has been wanted by the fashion police for years, but Nana Jo knows her former elementary school math student would never commit murder—it doesn’t add up. Somebody’s framed the flatfoot to take a fall, and Sam and Nana Jo must step in to restore the reputation and good name of Detective Pitt.

 

 

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Guest Post

 

Writing Tips from One Writer to Another

 

When I started writing, I created a sleuth, Samantha Washington, who dreamed of owning her own mystery bookshop and of writing British historic cozy mysteries. Those were Sam’s dreams because they were also my own. On November 30, 2021, I celebrated the release of my 15^th book. Killer Words, is the 7^th book in my Mystery Bookshop Mystery series. My debut novel, The Plot is Murder, released in November 2017. Since then, I’ve heard from a lot of people who share my same dream of becoming a published author. One of the questions that I’m asked often is what advice I’d give to other aspiring writers. I always say the same thing. Write.

I have an entire bookshelf filled with craft books. These books profess to have the secret for moving from aspiring writer to published author. I have books on everything from How to Write, How to Write a Breakthrough Novel, How to Write a Good Mystery, How to Write a Damned Good Mystery, How to Find a Literary Agent, and well you get the picture. In addition to the books, I have invested in seminars, workshops, and even got a master’s in fine arts (MFA) in Writing Popular Fiction. Through all of the books, workshops, and graduate classes, I’ve discovered two truths. First, there is no ONE SIZE FITS ALL when it comes to writing. What works for one writer doesn’t work for everyone. I have a highly successful author friend who swears that plotting is the secret sauce to writing success. She may be right. However, I’ve tried to force myself to become a plotter time and time and time again, with no success. In James Patterson’s Master Class, he said he gets up at 5am every day and writes longhand. While I admire his fortitude and discipline, getting up at 5am isn’t my cup of tea. I doubt that anything I wrote longhand at 5am would be coherent or appropriate for human sight. I’m not now, nor have I ever been a morning person. I’ve also accepted that I’m also not a plotter. Creating a fifty-page outline that includes every story beat just isn’t for me. And I’m okay with that. If you’re a morning person, bless you. Are you a plotter? Great. But, if you’re neither of those, then find what works for you and do it.

My second truth that I’ve discovered is that the most important thing to writing success, is writing. Writers don’t just dream about writing. They put their butts in a chair and pen to paper or fingers on a keyboard and they write. Moving from an aspiring writer to a published author was a long journey that I started in 1999. I wrote children’s books, screenplays, and cozy mysteries. Most of what I wrote was awful, but I kept writing. Over the years I got a lot of rejections, but I kept writing and rewriting. When I stopped forcing myself to be someone else and embraced my quirks and traits things changed. Eventually, I found an agent and a publisher. When my publisher asked, “What else do you have?” I was able to pull out a trunk load of completed stories. So, if you dream of becoming a writer, find what works for you, and WRITE.

 

 

About the Author

 

V.M. (Valerie) Burns was born and raised in Northwestern Indiana. She’s a member of Mystery Writers of America, Dog Writers Association of America, Thriller Writers International and is on the national board for Sisters in Crime. V.M. Burns is also the Agatha Award nominated author of The Plot is Murder, the first book in the Mystery Bookshop Mystery series; the Dog Club Mystery series, and the RJ Franklin Mystery series. She now lives in Northern Georgia with her two poodles. Readers can keep up with new releases by following her on social media.

 

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Giveaway

 

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Synopsis

 

When a meeting with a client goes disastrously wrong, Sherlock Holmes soon finds himself involved in a case of murder with two dead bodies and too few clues.

From some clear pieces of glass and a raven’s feather, the Great Detective must divine exactly who the client was and what prompted him to seek assistance at 221B. Fortunately, Holmes has a number of experts upon whom he can rely as well as his own vast store of esoteric knowledge.

Treading a twisted path, Holmes soon finds himself matching wits with an unseen criminal, who appears to be the equal of the late Professor Moriarty. At the same time, he is tasked with sparing the monarchy any possible embarrassment that may stem from the investigation.

It’s a deadly game of cat-and-mouse that finds Holmes and Watson attending underground auctions, using rare and priceless artifacts as bait and holding a late night vigil in anticipation of deterring a theft, all the while trying to understand how a priceless antiquity fits into their investigation.

 

 

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Guest Post

 

The Secretive Writer

 

by Richard T. Ryan

 

 

I am of the firm belief that writing is an intensely personal experience. As a result, writers are filled with idiosyncrasies, and many are slaves to a routine. Some have to write 1,000 words a day; others have to finish three pages. Some need absolute quiet while others compile playlist to inspire them during their daily sessions at the keyboard.

While I am not slave to any set schedule, I do have my preferences in that I prefer quiet and I think I do my best work late at night. However, I can write with the TV on in the background and when inspiration strikes, I head to the computer no matter what time it is.

However, I do have one hard and fast rule that I stick to while I am writing. I never discuss the plot with anyone. Fortunately, I have a very understanding wife in that regard, and since she’s the first to read my finished manuscripts, she knows she’ll find out what I’ve been up to before anyone else.

I adapted this practice after talking with a friend of mine who was a very successful playwright. I asked him what he was working on and he wouldn’t tell me. At the time, I wasn’t writing novels, but I was working for a newspaper and turning out weekly articles and editing copy.

However, I filed that nugget away and since I’ve started my Sherlock Holmes books, it has stood me in good stead.

Now, why so secretive? As my friend explained, your friends will either praise your work, in which case that might be all your ego needs so there’s no need to finish. On the other hand, the criticism, although well-intended, might cause you to doubt yourself and thus undermine your confidence.

At any rate, not discussing the plot keeps everything neutral. I don’t have to consider pluses and minuses; I just have to keep writing.

In the past, I’ve often observed that writing is a lonely profession, and keeping secrets just makes you feel more isolated.

However, when the final reveal comes and I deliver a finished book to my wife and my Beta readers that no one knows anything about, it’s refreshing and stimulating to get their honest responses – and some of these have been critical. Still, their reactions are totally forthright in that they haven’t been tainted by expectations based on what they thought of the plot or expected from it. All things considered, that’s the way I’d prefer it.

 

 

About the Author

 

A lifelong Sherlockian, Richard Ryan is the author of “The Vatican Cameos: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure,” “The Stone of Destiny,” “The Druid of Death” and “The Merchant of Menace,” and “Through a Glass Starkly,” all from MX Publishing. “Three May Keep a Secret” is his sixth Holmes pastiche, and he is currently at work on his seventh.

He has also written “B Is for Baker Street (My First Sherlock Holmes Book),” an alphabet book he penned for his grandchildren.

Among his other credits are “The Official Sherlock Holmes Trivia Book,” a book on Agatha Christie trivia and the well-received murder mystery “Deadly Relations” that has been produced twice off-Broadway.

He pursued his graduate studies at the University of Notre Dame, where he majored in medieval literature. To this day, he remains a die-hard fan of the Fighting Irish.

 

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Giveaway

 

Enter to win a signed hardcopy copy of Three May Keep a Secret: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure (GRAND PRIZE) (one winner/USA only) or ebook copy Three May Keep a Secret. (5 runner-up winners) (ends Dec 24)

 

Three May Keep a Secret: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure by Richard T. Ryan Book Tour Giveaway

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

​A haunted teen outcast and her snarky ghostly best-frenemy outwit enforcers, monsters, and the scars of the past in a race to take expose a deadly conspiracy and escape a bloody end. A lush, award-winning debut to a captivatingly eerie YA Urban Fantasy trilogy. Discover a labyrinthine, post-climate-collapse dystopian Vancouver overrun by monsters and magic in this intricate and startlingly original journey of discovery, restoration, and revenge.

It’s hard not to be a little obsessed with survival when your only “friend” is an unruly ghost and the wrong thought could get your soul devoured by eldritch horrors. Haunted 17-year-old outcast Cole wants nothing more than to hide her forbidden fascination with the monster-taken and blend in with the (dreary) scenery. Her plans for a peaceful life take a turn for the deadly when a mesmerizing stranger and his dangerously tempting offer drive her into the middle of a grisly conspiracy.

But Cole hasn’t yet uncovered the biggest secret of all, and it might just have something to do with the mysterious threads tugging her into horrifying visions—not to mention the shimmering boy at their dark heart. Uncovering the truth will cost her dearly as she fends off scheming enforcers, dreamjacking ghosts & soul-sucking nightmares in a desperate quest for survival and retribution. Can she escape the scars of her past and expose the lies before she’s the next to die?

Blind the Eyes is the first book in a lush and labyrinthine trilogy of paranormal-meets-gothic-dystopian YA Urban Fantasy filled with glittering underworlds, delicious-and-deceptive strangers, and facing down the voices in your head. This slow-burn fantasy with an edge leads readers on a captivatingly unexpected journey of self-discovery, reclaimed identity, and conflicted sisterhood for those who like a little sparkle with their monsters (it glistens so nicely on all the blood.) Fans of post-climate-collapse dystopias, monsters-and-magic, and genre-bending dark fantasy will love this award-winning series starter in a complete and 100% binge-ready trilogy.

 

 

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Guest Post

 

Read Spooky Not Scary!

 

I’ve always had waaay too much imagination for the truly terrifying—seriously, I had nightmares after the first time I watched The Mummy (which is tragic, because Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are fantastic in it!)

Which is why I love the idea of “spooky reads.” There’s this whole sort of hidden subgenre of fantasy with creepy characters, scenes, and other elements, without the kind of creeping horror that makes you afraid to step out of bed in the middle of the night. Specifically, I like to hang out on the gothic end of the spectrum. Consider:

 

• Dystopian manors, towns, or cities, crumbling into obscurity. Everything’s a little worn and faded but also eerily gorgeous. Also, you’re half-or-more in love with death, which is perfect, because it’s also obsessed with you.
• There’s a very slim chance of a romance turning out well, but may I present: confused and/or forbidden attraction, endless yearning, and frustrated desire. Forget steam; how about a slow, poisonous simmer?
• Then there’s the monsters. Are they paranormal? Supernatural? A symptom of your own repression? The true face of society’s oppression? Does it matter, when you know the only sure thing is that your dread will be rewarded with blood and someone’s sure to die beautifully?
• And don’t forget the aesthetics. Wisps of fog, hidden menace and shrouded scenery. Dark waters, mirror-still and waiting to swallow you whole or storm-grey and tossing, eager to grind you against the rocks. Ominous towers with secrets hidden at their feet, endless rooms hiding unimaginable horrors, and faded glory, flaking off under your touch. Gilt and velvet and tattered silks; bitter wine and opium.
• But where it really all comes together is the heroine. Lost and lied to, trapped by circumstances, desperate not to dominate, to subject, to rule, but simply to survive. A gothic dystopian heroine is not a kickass leather-bound stereotype in stilettos but an exhausted girl just trying to get by in a world that wants to grind her under its heel. What could be more relatable? And if she has to untangle endless lies, uncover her stolen past, face down her ghosts and face up to the broken humanity surrounding her in order to take back her life and her power, what could be more aspirational?

 

So yeah, despite my woefully low capacity for the kind of horror that makes you pull the covers over your head, I’m all about the gothic touches in my fantasy. Curious what it’s all about? Join me at kawiggins.com (and join the newsletter to get started with some free spooky short reads!) or on social @kaiespace!

 

About the Author

 

K.A. Wiggins (Kaie) writes award-winning speculative fiction for young people and adults that explores the tangled webs of society, environment, and identity through intricate, dreamlike tales of monsters and magic.

Her debut novel was a Page Turner Awards 2020 Book Spotlight Prize winner and a Barnes & Noble Press “20 Favorite Indie Books of 2018,” kicking off a celebrated and recently completed YA Urban Fantasy trilogy set in a gothic-dystopian post-climate-collapse Vancouver. Her short fiction has appeared in small press anthologies, genre magazines, and in translation for international audiences.

She’s also the President of the Children’s Writers and Illustrators of British Columbia society, co-founder of marketing and business services consultancy The Creative Collective, and a creative writing coach with the Creative Writing for Children society, and was recognized in the 2021 Arty Awards, taking first place in Literary Arts category.

 

Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ Goodreads

 

Giveaway

 

Enter to win a special edition hardback copy of Blind the Eyes: A Dystopian-Gothic YA Urban Fantasy (GRAND PRIZE) (one winner/USA only) or ebook copy K.A. Wiggins’ award-winning novel. (5 runner-up winners) (ends Dec 24)

 

BLIND THE EYE by KA Wiggins Book Tour Giveaway

 

 

 

 

A Murder Yule Regret (A Bread Shop Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
7th in Series
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Kensington Cozies (November 30, 2021)
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages

 

 

Synopsis

 

Freelance photographer and Yeast of Eden bakery assistant Ivy Culpepper has just scored the job of a lifetime shooting the Dickensian dress-up X-mas party thrown by It Girl film actress Eliza Fox . . . until an unwanted guest appears.

 

A holiday costume party in the sleepy coastal town of Santa Sofia could be just the boost Ivy needs for her fledgling photography business. At the party, Ivy enters a Victorian fantasy come to life, all courtesy of the fabulous Ms. Fox. Ivy gets to play shutterbug while hanging with Scrooge, Marley, the Cratchits, and more classic Dickens characters. But what begins as the best of times turns out to be the very worst for one of the party guests—a tabloid journalist with more enemies than Ebenezer himself.

When the man’s body is found sprawled across the jagged rocks below the house, the fingers begin pointing at Eliza. Meanwhile, Ivy gets roped into helping prove the starlet’s innocence. Her festive photos are now official evidence—and the Ghosts of Christmas Present could mean the party for Eliza is over, once and for all.ance photographer and Yeast of Eden bakery assistant Ivy Culpepper has just scored the job of a lifetime shooting the Dickensian dress-up X-mas party thrown by It Girl film actress Eliza Fox . . . until an unwanted guest appears.

A holiday costume party in the sleepy coastal town of Santa Sofia could be just the boost Ivy needs for her fledgling photography business. At the party, Ivy enters a Victorian fantasy come to life, all courtesy of the fabulous Ms. Fox. Ivy gets to play shutterbug while hanging with Scrooge, Marley, the Cratchits, and more classic Dickens characters. But what begins as the best of times turns out to be the very worst for one of the party guests—a tabloid journalist with more enemies than Ebenezer himself.

When the man’s body is found sprawled across the jagged rocks below the house, the fingers begin pointing at Eliza. Meanwhile, Ivy gets roped into helping prove the starlet’s innocence. Her festive photos are now official evidence—and the Ghosts of Christmas Present could mean the party for Eliza is over, once and for all.

 

 

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Guest Post

 

Christmas Cozies are the best! You get all the feels of the holiday season, right alongside a dose of murder. What could be better?

I’ll tell you…A Christmas cozy, a dose of murder, and a Hollywood starlet!

The Bread Shop mystery series takes place in a fictional coastal California town called Santa Sofia (named for my daughter, Sophia). As a native, born and raised, Californian, I know that coastal Christmases don’t have the same feeling as, say, a New England Christmas. There’s zero chance of snow, and while it might get cool, the odds are pretty good that it’s not going to be freezing.

I brought as much nostalgic Christmas to the town of Santa Sofia as I could. There are decorations in town, a wassailing event with hot apple cider and holiday spirit, and there’s a holiday party. Two, actually.

When I thought about who I wanted to have these parties, and who would be the victim of a murder, Hollywood came to mind. If you think of Santa Sofia being sort of like Santa Barbara, then it’s pretty near Los Angeles. It’s a getaway for the stars, though a little more lowbrow than Santa Barbara. It’s a hidden gem.

So when a Hollywood starlet buys a home there, and then throws a huge Dickens-themed Christmas party, you know it’s gonna be good!

December is the perfect time to curl up with a Christmas cozy. A Murder Yule Regret won’t disappoint!

 

Enjoy, and happy holidays!

XO Melissa/Winnie

 

 

About the Author

 

Winnie Archer is the nationally bestselling author of the Bread Shop Mystery series, and the Magical Dressmaking Mystery series written as Melissa Bourbon. A former middle school English teacher, lives in North Carolina with her educator husband, Carlos, and the youngest of their five children.

 

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Danger at Dunhaven Castle: A Cate Kensie Mystery
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Publisher: A Novel Idea Publishing, LLC
Number of Pages: ~400

 

Synopsis

 

Frightening nightmares.
Aberrations in time.
Who is haunting Cate’s nightmares?

 

Months after solving two mysteries involving her ancestors, time-traveling, castle-dwelling Countess, Lady Catherine Kensie, still suffers from haunting nightmares. Chased by a mysterious man, Cate ponders who could be haunting her dreams and disturbing her sleep. She’s also smack dab in the middle of a brand-new research project, having found journals belonging to the Scottish castle’s original owner.

As Cate digs into the castle’s history, not only do her nightmares become more frequent and more frightening, but Cate also begins to experience strange phenomena with the time portals enclosed in the castle walls. Controlled by the mysterious heirloom timepiece she received as part of her inheritance, Cate is shocked when she begins to slip in and out of other time periods despite not activating the mechanism that controls them!

Can Cate learn the secret to control the time portals and discover who haunts her dreams before she finds herself lost in time?

 

 

 

Amazon

 

 

Guest Post

 

Living with Riley and Bailey (and the rest of the zoo!)

 

By Nellie H. Steele

 

 

Readers often ask me if Riley and Bailey are based on real dogs (and a few clever readers in my area have ferreted out that they are!).

Riley has been a major part of the fabric of Cate Kensie’s story since Book 1.  When I began to piece together Cate’s story, I first considered giving her a cat but didn’t think the hop across the pond would suit him very well!  Instead, I decided to pair Cate with a dog.  I first toyed with giving her a Scottie (since she was heading to Scotland, what better dog breed!).  But I wanted her to have something a bit smaller and easy to carry and cuddle.

In the early days of writing The Secret of Dunhaven Castle, I recall taking a break to take my own dog outside (well, one of them, but that’s a different story).  And that’s when it hit me.  As I watched the little black and white ball of fur bound around the yard, I thought that’s it!  Use Kylo!

Kylo (named after Kylo Ren from Star Wars) provided a perfect model for Cate’s best bud.  After a quick rename (since I had no desire to go up against Disney to use the name Kylo), Riley was born.  He shares a lot of the same traits with Kylo.  Both have an exuberance for life, both enjoy running outside, both have a blue ball.  The list could go on and on.

 

 

 

 

 

The one thing Riley didn’t have that Kylo did was a buddy.  Enter Bailey, also known as Finn (yep, another Star Wars name!).  Kylo and Finn are litter mates.  While Riley and Bailey didn’t grow up together, Kylo and Finn have been together since birth!  They do share beds, toys and spend time playing or lounging together.

Bailey is also quite a bit like his real-life counterpart.  The more backward of the pair, Bailey takes after more serious doggo, Finn.  Like Finn, he also “sings” (a long, higher-pitched woo-ing sound) and he does wave his front paws when excited and seeking attention.

Okay, I’ll admit, the one place they differ is that Riley and Bailey are a bit better behaved than Kylo and Finn ;). (They’ve also never found a secret passage in the house, but then again, I don’t live in castle!).

Kylo and Finn also have several other brothers and sisters, unlike Riley and Bailey.  Cate jokingly remarks to Jack in the latest installment of the series that if Riley finds another dog on the estate, she may need to rename it to Dunhaven Rescue Castle.  The real-life Riley and Bailey know all about that since they DO live in a rescue pet home!  In addition to Kylo and Finn, four other dogs share our home (Lily, Lizzie, Maddie and Lola) and eight cats (Grayson, Willie, Angelique, Maggie, Cassandra, Mace, Yoda and Percy).

Like Riley and Bailey for Cate, Kylo and Finn make up a large part of my life.  As a pet owner (and animal lover), I really enjoy writing the Riley and Bailey components of the story.  Whether it be Cate’s interactions with them, which I base off of interactions with Kylo and Finn, or Riley and Bailey’s own mini-mysteries within the book, the two pups make up as large a part of the Cate Kensie Mysteries series as Cate herself.

 

 

Trailer

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

An Indies Today finalist for Best Book of the Year 2020 with Cleopatra’s Tomb, Nellie H. Steele made the leap from science to art with her first book, The Secret of Dunhaven Castle.

An animal enthusiast, Nellie often features a version of one of her fourteen rescue animals in her stories, though the fictional pets are usually better behaved than her own fur-babies!  A literary split personality, Nellie’s work ranges from cozy mystery to supernatural suspense to riveting adventure.

She lives in the South Hills of Pittsburgh.  When she isn’t writing or engaging in animal care, she enjoys teaching Statistics and Data Science at a local university.

 

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Giveaway

 

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Perils in Yorkshire (British Book Tour Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Camel Press (October 12, 2021)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 294 pages

 

Synopsis

 

Claire Barclays tourists are exploring the cobbled streets of York. Her American ladies from Tucson, the couple from Bristol, and the couple from London appear fascinated by Claire’s explanations of the unique architecture. All except Philip, a younger, single man who disappears—again. Claire spots him entering the chocolate Factory and races down the stairs, suspecting Phillip has headed for the kitchens and trips over the body of a security guard. She doesn’t see any connection between the body and tourists until Mark, her loving partner, and a detective inspector with the Major Crimes Investigation Team tells her Philip is an undercover Scotland Yard detective and on a job. Claire removes the group from the city of York quickly and drives them north to the Yorkshire Moors, a vast land of almost bleak wilderness and the setting of many mystery novels. She stops for a picnic at the famous Ralph’s Cross where moorland, green with springtime heather, stretches for miles. Her bucolic plans are interrupted when her American ladies report the sudden death of Philip in the surrounding bog. Mark tells her Philip was on the trail of a drug distribution team. But will Claire be able to keep these ladies who are intelligent, determined, and expert mystery readers out of a messy situation with a murderer? Claire has high hopes that she will be able to do so without endangering them all.

 

 

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Character Guest Post

 

Today we welcome Evelyn Roberts to StoreyBook Reviews and she gives us some insight into herself and her friends. Welcome!

 

Character Evelyn Roberts

 

I am a realtor from Tucson Arizona, not retired yet, although my son who works for me probably wishes I would. I came with my two friends Norma and Geraldine to join Claire Barclay’s Mystery Book Tour of Britain. We chose the Yorkshire area so we could see the moors and the dales. So far, it has been both interesting in terms of tour guiding and fascinating in terms of mystery. We didn’t expect to stumble across a body on our tour. At first, when I saw the body, I thought that it was a staged event but when the emergency vehicles and police came it was all too evident that this was a crime—well, murder, actually. I’d rather read about it than have it quite so close to me. But since it was in our purview, Geraldine, Norma, and I thought we could put our minds to it and see if we could help the police solve the murder. We are intelligent women of great collective experience and vast knowledge of mystery plots, after all.

You wouldn’t think Norma would be much help. She’s been my friend for almost fifty years—all of us are getting on a bit. She’s flaky and appears to be distracted most of the time. She’s is a retired kindergarten teacher but she’s intuitive about people’s feelings—something that goes past me without recognition. I depend on Norma to tell me how others are feeling. She’s also entertaining. Geraldine is a retired high school teacher and there isn’t much she doesn’t know about people. She’s more reliable than Norma. We constantly lose Norma who couldn’t find her way down a city block without help.

All of us like Claire and her detective inspector friend. They’re lovely pair and deserve to have some time alone and away from troubles. They both seem the type that is committed to a higher ideal justice which is very inconvenient for a relaxed life. I haven’t been troubled by that very much, but I find myself being pulled by Geraldine and Norma into trying to help Claire and Mark. I was willing to report what I observed, to talk things over with Geraldine and Norma in order to find out who was behind the murder, and to let Claire and Mark know everything we found out. I didn’t anticipate I’d put myself in danger.

 

I quite like Evelyn and her biting observations. Her friends are intelligent and intrepid and they kept me entertained through the writing of Perils in Yorkshire.

If you would like to know more about this series, go to my website and click on the Join My Newsletter button. I send out information once a month. If everything is working properly, and the gremlins that haunt computers are latent, you should get a free chapter of a book when you join.

 

 

About the Author

 

Emma Dakin lives in Gibsons on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. She has over twenty-five trade published books of mystery and adventure for teens and middle-grade children and non-fiction for teens and adults. Her love of the British countryside and villages and her addiction to cozy mysteries now keep her writing about characters who live and work in those villages. She introduces readers to the problems that disturb that idyllic setting.

 

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Giveaway

 

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A Secret Never Told (A Lady Dunbridge Mystery) 
Historical Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Forge Books; 1st edition (November 23, 2021)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages

 

Synopsis

 

Miss Fisher meets Downton Abbey in A Secret Never Told, the fourth installment in the critically acclaimed mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Shelley Noble.

Philomena Amesbury, expatriate Countess of Dunbridge, is bored. Coney Island in the sweltering summer of 1908 offers no shortage of diversions for a young woman of means, but sea bathing, horse racing, and even amusement parks can’t hold a candle to uncovering dastardly plots and chasing villains. Lady Dunbridge hadn’t had a big challenge in months.

Fate obliges when Phil is called upon to host a dinner party in honor of a visiting Austrian psychologist whose revolutionary theories may be of interest to the War Department, not to mention various foreign powers, and who may have already survived one attempt on his life. The guest list includes a wealthy industrialist, various rival scientists and academics, a party hypnotist, a flamboyant party-crasher, and a damaged beauty whose cloudy psyche is lost in a world of its own. Before the night is out, one of the guests is dead with a bullet between the eyes and Phil finds herself with another mystery on her hands, even if it’s unclear who exactly the intended victim was meant to be.

Worse yet, the police’s prime suspect is a mystery man who Phil happens to be rather intimately acquainted with. Now it’s up to Lady Dunbridge, with the invaluable assistance of her intrepid butler and lady’s maid, to find the real culprit before the police nab the wrong one . . .

 

 

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Guest Post

 

WHERE DID THAT HAPPEN?

 

One of the fun things about writing mysteries is deciding on the location for your murder.  Should it be someplace everyone knows?   Or a secluded place where no one ever goes?  And the best part of writing historical mysteries is that nothing you write about has stayed the same.  And sometimes the things you expect aren’t always the things you learn.  Some of those things are amazing, even if you end up not even using them in the story.

In A SECRET NEVER TOLD,  I chose Coney Island for much of the action.  Now, the Coney Island of 1908  is much different than the Coney Island of today.  Not just in the clothes and the amusements. But that’s another fun thing about living close to your mystery location.  You get to go “on-site” just to take a look and imagine.

And even as you stand there, knowing that everything is different, for a moment,  you can almost see the way things were.  The rides have gotten much more sophisticated and thrilling since the days of the Steeplechase mechanical horse race or the human roulette wheel.  And certainly, fashion has changed.

Today, hardly any man goes for a day at the beach dressed in a summer suit and a boater, though they did in 1908.  Women wore ankle-length dresses or long skirts and long-sleeved blouses.  They covered their heads with wide brim hats and carried big black umbrellas because (as it turns out they knew better than we do)  the sun was bad for the complexion.

Women’s swimsuits were cumbersome in 1908  but improved over the earlier full skirts, stockings, shoes, and caps worn just a decade before.

Things we never really think about but were distinctive for their time.

And maybe we think oh how quaint,  and feel a certain nostalgia for those long-ago days.  And occasionally a fact startles you.  There were quite a few in my studies of 1908  Coney Island.  One that has really stuck in my mind, though it didn’t make it into the book was that among the many “sideshows” along the boardwalk, in the days of bearded ladies, and giants and wild men from Borneo, one such sideshow was The “baby incubator” where rows of premature babies lived in glass incubators.

This exhibit was the brainchild of Dr. Martin Couney who created and ran the exhibit from 1903 until the 1930s and was located inside the “Dreamland” amusement park.

Developed in the 1880s in Paris, the incubator offered a controlled environment for babies born too early to acclimate to normal surroundings.  The hospitals appear to have had no interest in adopting the use of incubators.  So mothers brought their premature, underweight babies to Dreamland and the incubator sideshow to save their lives.

The actual incubators were presided over by nurses and doctors; the room and equipment were sanitized.  The parents were never charged for the care their children received. The operation of these life-saving machines and salaries of the nurses were paid for from the proceeds of ticket sales. Over the years, Couney and his medical staff managed to save the lives of thousands of babies. Until finally during the 1940s, hospitals began to adopt  Couney’s incubators and his technique for saving the lives of the most vulnerable.

How’s that for a surprise?

 

 

About the Author

 

Shelley Noble is the author of the Lady  Dunbridge Gilded Age mysteries beginning with ASK ME NO QUESTIONS, and  The Newport  Gilded Age mysteries. As Shelley Freydont she has written several amateur sleuth series.

She is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of nine novels of women’s fiction. WHISPER BEACH and BEACH COLORS, were Amazon and Nook bestsellers. The latest, LUCKY’S BEACH, was published in June 2020.

A former professional dancer and choreographer, Shelley lives at the Jersey shore where she indulges her passion for lighthouses and vintage carousels.

 

 

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Mystery of the Eight Islands (Trouble in Paradise)
Cozy Mystery
11th in Series
Independently Published (November 2, 2021)
Length: 325 pages

 

Synopsis

 

If you love senior sleuths in cozy mysteries, you’re going to love McKenna and his pal Chance Logan

Apartment manager and amateur sleuth McKenna wants a break from solving murders. Too bad his best friend, wannabe PI Chance Logan, doesn’t feel the same. Chance has found a case he thinks McKenna’s going to love—the death of prominent attorney Julian Carr, and the theft of a 125-year-old necklace that’s worth a quarter of a million dollars. Before long, McKenna’s feeling pressured from all sides—find the necklace, solve the murder. Sure. Why not just add save the world?

McKenna’s sure something fishy is going on when he and Chance meet with Julian’s granddaughter about the case. She’s created her own murder board with five suspects. The list includes an unstable, art-collecting veterinarian, a convicted felon, a disbarred attorney, a suspected art thief, and Julian’s new business partner.

As the investigation ramps up, McKenna and Chance see their leads drying out faster than laundry in the tropical sun. The really bad news is they’re not sure they can even find the Eight Islands or solve the murder. For once, McKenna’s worried they just might fail.

Why you might love this book:

Tired of the same old cozy mystery fare? Then cozy up with male amateur detective McKenna and his PI wannabe pal Chance Logan in this Hawaii murder mystery. When it comes to senior sleuths in cozy mysteries, McKenna’s as sharp as they come, but with a fun dose of snarky attitude thrown in. Enjoy the ambience of Hawaii while you’re savoring a little murder in paradise.

 

 

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Guest Post

 

McKenna’s Skip Tracing Secrets

 

by Terry Ambrose

 

McKenna is back for his eleventh Trouble in Paradise Mystery. Once again, he relies on his trusty ‘Skip Tracing Secrets’ to help him solve the crime. In Mystery of the Eight Islands, McKenna draws on three of the secrets from his list—the first, second, and fifth.

 

Skip Tracing Secret #1: be flexible and go with the flow

 

This ‘secret’ is something I learned the hard way. My mother always wanted me to be a banker…or a lawyer…or maybe a doctor (doesn’t everybody’s mother want them to grow up to be a doctor?). But no, I wanted to be a teacher. Science was my thing. I had my eyes on the stars and was fascinated by all things space.

But one too many bad grades in second-year physics dashed that plan and sent me fleeing to the social sciences. I soon saw a different side of the world—the people side. And I loved that even more. With the enthusiasm of youth, I turned my sights on archaeological digs.

Then came graduation…and a self-imposed one-year sabbatical from school. One year turned into two, and my dreams of going on digs in South America bit the dust. Realizing that,  once again, I needed to be flexible, I turned to business.

 

Skip Tracing Secret #2: when in doubt, lie

 

My first job in business was with Beneficial Finance. That’s where I learned to skip trace. It’s also where I learned how well people can lie.

It was my first day on the job and my boss handed me a stack of fifty past-due loan cards. My job was to call every one of those people and get money or schedule them to come in and rewrite their loan. (I was still too naive to realize I was handing people a shovel so they could dig a deeper financial hole).

I made my fifty calls, got promises to pay from almost everyone, and proudly reported the results to my boss. His response? “We’ll see.” I didn’t know what he meant until all of my promised payment dates had passed and nobody had paid. Not one.

For a college graduate who thought he knew how the world worked, it was a rude awakening. It was also the path that eventually brought me to writing.

 

Skip Tracing Secret #5: The best defense is a good offense

 

To survive as a skip tracer and bill collector, I had to learn to play the game the same way the customers played it. I had to learn to lie. There were lines I couldn’t cross and rules I couldn’t break, which meant that as one of the ‘good guys,’ I could only take things so far.

In the world of the amateur sleuth, those lines blur. But even when writing that world, I try to keep things real. McKenna and Chance know they can’t run roughshod over the police. They know that if they anger a killer, they’ll have targets on their backs. So when writing that amateur sleuth world, my best defense is a good storyline. I hope you enjoy the one in Mystery of the Eight Islands.

 

 

About the Author

 

Once upon a time, in a life he’d rather forget, Terry Ambrose tracked down deadbeats for a living. He also hired big guys with tow trucks to steal cars—but only when negotiations failed. Those years of chasing deadbeats taught him many valuable life lessons such as—always keep your car in the garage.

Terry has written eighteen books, several of which have been award finalists. In 2014, his thriller, “Con Game,” won the San Diego Book Awards for Best Action-Thriller. His series include the Trouble in Paradise McKenna Mysteries, the Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mysteries, and the License to Lie thriller series.

 

 

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Synopsis

 

A dead body in her mother’s bathroom during a home remodel leads hairstylist Marla Vail to flush out the clues and nail the killer.

When hairstylist and savvy sleuth, Marla Vail, gets a frantic call from her mother that there’s a dead body in her shower, Marla realizes this wasn’t part of the home renovation plans. The victim turns out to be the project manager, who had an untrustworthy reputation in town. Disgruntled customers, unpaid suppliers, and the design company’s staff are among the suspects. Which one of them wanted the foreman to pipe down about their shady dealings?

Meanwhile, the lead investigator sets his sights on Marla’s stepfather, Reed, who’s keeping secrets from his family. Reed has a past connection to the victim and won’t come clean about what he knows. As Marla drills deeper, she’s showered with suspicions, but nobody’s willing to leak any information. She needs to hammer down the prospects, or time will drain away and the murderer will strike again.

To flush out the culprit, Marla taps into her pipeline of resources. Can she assemble the clues and demolish the alibis to nail a killer? Or has someone designed the perfect murder? Recipes Included!

 

 

 

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Guest Post

 

Book Research Can Save Lives

 

by Nancy J. Cohen

 

 

In doing research for Styled for Murder, my latest cozy mystery, I needed information on how propane gas could leak into a house. It just so happened that we’d recently moved into a home with a propane gas tank that fueled our hot water heater and clothes dryer. Having had electric appliances previously, I had no idea what to watch for in terms of warning signs. The idea of a gas leak frightened me. I remembered a childhood friend’s mother who’d almost died from carbon monoxide poisoning while alone in her house.

I learned that since propane gas is colorless and odorless, it has a bad-smelling odorant added to make leaks easier to detect. However, some people might not be able to smell it if they have a cold or allergies. Or the gas could lose its odor if a leak occurs underground or there is rust inside the piping. A warning sign might be patches of dead grass in the yard.

Carbon monoxide is responsible for almost twenty-five percent of all propane-related deaths. It’s a byproduct of incomplete gas combustion. This can happen if an outside supply line gets damaged or an appliance vent gets clogged.

 

 Here’s an excerpt from Styled for Murder. My hairstylist sleuth, Marla Vail, is discussing the topic with Dalton, her detective husband.

 

Marla was glad they had electrical appliances in their home. “How does the gas get into the house if the damage occurs outside?” She didn’t understand what this had to do with Tobias’s demise but was willing to hear him out. Clearly, Dalton had researched the topic.

Dalton gripped the steering wheel as they sped north on I-95. “Propane is lighter than water. After a heavy rainstorm, any propane leaking into the ground may be displaced by rainwater soaking into the soil. As a result, the propane surfaces and can seep into your house if you have cracks in your foundation.”

“Wouldn’t a leak cause an explosion?”

Dalton nodded, his gaze focused forward. “In some cases. You hear about it on the news when buildings blow up, caused by a suspected gas leak. Propane mixed with air is flammable. It can be ignited by an open flame, an electrical spark, or static electricity. That’s why if you suspect a leak, you should get out of the house as quickly as possible. Don’t turn on the lights, adjust the thermostat, or even use your cell phone. Once outside, you can turn off the gas at the tank.”

“I’d stand clear and call for help.” Marla stared at the palm trees lining the road. “Are there leak detectors you can buy for propane gas, like our combo alarms for smoke and carbon monoxide?”

“Yes, you can order them online. They’re easy to plug into a wall outlet, but propane gas is heavier than air. It’s best to put them lower to the ground.”

“Aren’t there any warning signs inside the house?”

He nodded. “A hissing or whistling noise near a gas appliance may be a sign. You can listen for this outside, too, by the storage tank and piping. Your houseplants might die due to reduced oxygen. If you have a gas stove, the smell might linger longer than normal after you turn on the burner, or the color of the flame might change. It should be more blue than orange or yellow.”

“Most people probably wouldn’t notice those things,” Marla said. “We’re more familiar with physical symptoms like dizziness, nausea, or headache. Anyway, I still don’t get how carbon monoxide poisoning relates to propane gas.”

“It’s a byproduct of incomplete combustion,” Dalton explained. “That can happen if a pipe is damaged or if an appliance vent gets clogged. I expect the investigators at Tobias’s house will inspect these components. If there’s been sabotage, they’ll find it.”

 

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As a result of this research, I bought a couple of plug-in-type propane gas leak detectors. I feel much safer having these in our home, in addition to the usual combo smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. If you have gas appliances, you might want to look into getting these leak detectors as an added safety measure. I was glad to learn these facts about propane gas. It’s an issue that affected me directly. What about you? Do you cook with an electric range or a gas range? Why do you prefer one over the other?

 

Check out the Pinterest Board that helped serve as inspiration for this new novel.

 

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About the Author

 

Nancy J. Cohen writes the Bad Hair Day Mysteries featuring South Florida hairstylist Marla Vail. Titles in this series have been named Best Cozy Mystery by Suspense Magazine, won a Readers’ Favorite gold medal and a RONE Award, placed first in the Chanticleer International Book Awards, and third in the Arizona Literary Awards. Her nonfiction titles, Writing the Cozy Mystery and A Bad Hair Day Cookbook, have also garnered numerous awards, including the FAPA President’s Book Award and the Royal Palm Literary Award. When not busy writing, Nancy enjoys reading, fine dining, cruising, and visiting Disney World.

 

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Asbury High and the Arson Avenger: Asbury High Series
Young Adult Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Purple Milk Publishing (September 5, 2021)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 349 pages

 

Synopsis

 

Suspicious fires erupt all over town.
With no pattern or motive—can they all really be coincidences?
Or are they linked? And why?
Is there an arsonist hiding in Asbury?

 

Carly, Maddie, Pilot and Cornelious begin their junior year, ready to take on the town as upperclassmen. With their most recent case solved, the gang joins the town in hopes of starting anew, with the focus on normalcy. However, in Asbury “normal” is a foreign word. As new relationships bloom and jealousy mounts, the heat begins to rise.

During the first week of school, the local music hangout explodes, leaving only ashes behind. Within weeks, a second location burns down, leaving the gang little doubt that an arsonist is loose in Asbury. Due to growing political pressure from town Mayor Jeremiah Gibbz, as well as lack of any evidence, the fire and police departments are hesitant to blame criminal activity. As usual, the gang finds itself thrust into the investigation, wondering where to begin—especially since the whole town seems adamant on denying foul play.

Unfortunately, proving the fires are the result of an arsonist seems to be just as difficult as solving the actual case. As more fires burn across Asbury, the teens wonder what the motive could possibly be. Finding themselves pulled into a world of revenge and discovering an ages-old grudge, the teens find themselves facing increasingly dangerous situations.

Adding to their fiery investigation are new relationships and typical high school drama. After seeing Maddie with another guy, Cornelious realizes too late that his feelings for Maddie are beyond simple friendship—but will that tear the gang apart when Asbury needs them the most? With the scheming Pitbulls seemingly lurking behind every door, political and departmental denial of arson, busy teen schedules, and new relationships pulling the gang apart, the foursome find it hard to get together.

With all these disruptions, can the quartet resolve their issues and find the arsonist before Asbury burns down?

 

 

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Character Guest Post

 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE RAINY-DAY ACTIVITY?

from CORNELIOUS

 

Well, this should come as a surprise to no one. Living in a coastal town, rainy days tend to be more than just your average sprinkling. Usually, it’s a downpour, with tidal risings causing minor flooding—higher during hurricane season.

Because of this, when I know it is going to rain—or when the rain just begins—I head over to see my favorite people. AKA my second family: the Petrozzas. Not only is their crazy family bound to be going wild, but I also know that they’re all together. This, obviously, greatly differs from my family (who spends the rainy days going over stock portfolios or political happenings).

When I get to the Petrozza’s, Mrs. Petrozza will shoo me in—taking off my rainy coat and making sure I know Maddie is in her room, waiting. During the walk up the stairs, I’m sure to bypass two wild, screaming twins, holding onto hot sauce like a lifeline. If Trent is home, he’s probably wrestling or fighting Alec…offering me free rides to parties if I join his side. Clearly, by now I know better than to join in any sibling rivalry—so I pass.

Sometimes, Sophia is baking in the kitchen and sometimes she has a friend over or two—all of whom try to lure me into their room and their middle school games.

When I finally make it to Maddie’s room, Pilot and Carly might be there or it might just be Maddie. I love all my best friends, but I prefer when it’s just Maddie. We can talk for hours about nothing—or do some sleuthing into some recent case.

Basically, just being in the warm Petrozza home with my best friend is how I choose to spend my rainy days. I can honestly say I can count on one thing though” the unknown. In Asbury, with my friends, I know something out of the ordinary will happen.

 

 

About the Author

 

Growing up just over the bridge from Ocean City, NJ in Upper Township meant discovering plenty of fun places to both read, write, and run around outside like a maniac. In fact, for as long as she could remember, Kelly 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…

So, if her past teachers and/or coaches are reading this, maybe it’s time to reconsider some of the tales she may have told back in the day.

After graduating from Ocean City High School, Kelly accepted a basketball scholarship to Holy Family University, in Philadelphia. Upon graduating college, Kelly continued to live in Philly, teaching for four years and meeting the love of her life during a snowstorm. In fact, it was her awesome husband who encouraged her to pursue her writing–Yay, Ryan!

Before writing page-turners, however, 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.

As her first published work, the Asbury High series has been brewing since she was 18, and has something for every type of reader–go ahead take look for yourself! If you love mysteries, you’ve found your new favorite author. 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. As an athlete, she hopes that the importance of teamwork and overcoming adversity is also quite clear in her writing

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

 

 

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