Blog Tour & Giveaway: In Hot Water by J.J. Cook

The Ghosts of Sweet Pepper
From a story in the Sweet Pepper Gazette
By Pat Smith

Sweet Pepper isn’t exactly the ghost capitol of the world or even on the most haunted places tour. The people exploit their peppers, but not their ghosts. Ghost are too personal – even family – and no one would want to put family on display to make a few dollars.

But there are plenty of ghosts in the little town of Sweet Pepper, Tennessee. It is home to a headless man, the ghost of a former fire chief, and some nameless haunts, as well as a witch or two.

No one knows who the woman is who cries on the bridge going out of town. She begs strangers for rides, telling them that she’s trying to get home. As soon as the persona agrees to take her home, she vanishes, leaving the person with a feeling of breathlessness and a rapidly pounding heart. People have been writing about her since the 1800s. Some recently have even tried to take her picture, but she’s camera shy.

A headless ghost holding a lantern winds his way through the streets on certain nights during the winter. He seems to be weaving as though he’s had too much to drink. His clothes are that of a gentleman from the late 1800s with shiny buckles on his shoes. He disappears when anyone shines a light on him.

There is a ghost hound who some have claimed howls before a sick person’s death, and there is the ghost horse that runs through town, sometimes taking passengers with him who are never seen again.

My favorite is Fire Chief Eric Gamlyn who died in the line of duty forty years ago. He was killed in a grain silo fire. He was the founder of the Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade and also built their firehouse and the log cabin on Firehouse Road. He loved Sweet Pepper and did many good things for the town.

Chief Gamlyn has been seen walking around his log cabin and visiting the old firehouse. It should be pointed out that no one was able to live in his cabin until the new fire chief came to Sweet Pepper.

Chief Stella Griffin doesn’t have much to say about living with the ghost of the old chief. “He doesn’t bother me – I don’t bother him,” she said in a recent interview. “I guess we get along well because we have something in common.”

If anyone knows of any other ghost stories from Sweet Pepper, contact the newspaper.

About the Author:

J.J. Cook writes award-winning, bestselling mystery fiction as themselves, Joyce and Jim Lavene, and Ellie Grant. They have written and published more than 70 novels for Harlequin, Berkley, Amazon, and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications. They live in rural North Carolina with their family. Visit them at their website.

Stella Griffin should be bubbling over with joy now that she’s the full-time fire chief of Sweet Pepper, except trouble is brewing on her doorstep. An angry resident has purchased her cabin, and—with a bulldozer in tow—is ready to tear it down. But as Stella worries over the fate of her home and Eric, her ghostly roommate, there’s soon an even greater cause for alarm.

A suspicious house fire in the pricey Sunset Beach community at Sweet Pepper Lake claims the life of ex-state representative Barney Falk. The nature of the death has Stella feeling out of her depth, so she teams up with the state’s arson investigator. Moving full steam ahead with the case, they must smoke out a killer before the firebug strikes again…

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Jennifer’s Review of In Hot Water

Review (4.5 Stars): Stella Griffin has always been one of my favorite mystery heroines because she is just this spunky firecracker that is the fire chief of Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade and doesn’t seem to be afraid of anything. In Hot Water, after the cliffhanger in Playing With Fire, I’m glad to see that Stella’s home is safe for now but she may be evicted before too long.  While she is dealing with housing issues, her fire brigade responds to a suspicious house fire at the home of Barney Falk and discover his body after a deadly explosion. Stella now has to deal with a case of arson and has to find a killer before another victim goes up in smoke.

In Hot Water is the third book in Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade mysteries and I love each one more than the last. I enjoy reading Stella’s adventures in Sweet Pepper and this mystery is filled with action, thrills and a little bit of a love triangle.  I can’t get enough of Stella and Eric and I wish there was some way that the two of them could be together as a couple. My only complaint about this book is that it ended on another cliff hanger and I want the next book in the series right now.

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