Blog Tour & Giveaway: This Old Homicide by Kate Carlisle

Author Kate Carlisle Asks,

Sunken Treasure: Finders Keepers?

Off the coast near Lighthouse Cove, California, a clipper ship went down in 1839. The Glorious Maiden transported precious cargo and wealthy passengers along the Western American coast. Rumors suggest that a Spanish princess went down with that ship and, with her, a fortune in gold and jewels.

What if, while snorkeling one day, you found a piece of jewelry that could pay off your mortgage and pay for your kids’ college education? Would you report your find, or would you quietly try to sell the piece for as much money as you could? Who would you trust?

There are approximately 65,000 shipwrecks logged into the North American Shipwrecks Database. Sixty-five-oh-oh-OH. Kind of makes a person want to take up diving.

But if you find treasure, is it yours to keep?

In 2012, a Florida salvage company had to return $500 million in sunken treasure to the government of Spain, without compensation. Just last year, courts ruled that a California couple would have to pay approximately 47% in state and federal income tax on the $10 million of gold coins they found buried in their own yard—private property—whether or not they decided to sell the coins.

The Glorious Maiden is fictional. For that matter, so is Lighthouse Cove, the setting of This Old Homicide, the second book of my Fixer-Upper Mysteries series. The series features Victorian home restoration expert Shannon Hammer, owner of Hammer Construction.

It’s a fun question to contemplate, isn’t it? What would you do if you found a treasure?

In This Old Homicide, Shannon’s neighbor, a retired navy SEAL, claimed that he found a necklace while diving near the Glorious Maiden, but Jesse has claimed a lot of things, few of them true. His tall tales kept getting taller so that, by the time he bragged about the necklace, no one believed him.

Or perhaps someone did, Shannon will think… on the day she discovers him dead.

Do you think it’s fair that if someone finds a treasure, they have to pay income taxes on it? If you found a treasure worth millions of dollars, what would you do? Would you try to hide it from the authorities? Why or why not?

About the Author:

Kate Carlisle is the author of the Fixer-Upper Mysteries, featuring Victorian restoration expert Shannon Hammer. The first book in the series, A High-End Finish, debuted at #9 on the New York Times bestsellers list. This Old Homicide, Fixer-Upper Mystery 2, is available now wherever books and ebooks are sold.

Website/Twitter/Facebook

Valentine’s Day is approaching, and while Shannon is delighted to be friends with not one but two handsome men, not everyone in town is feeling the love. After her elderly neighbor Jesse Hennessey fails to make his daily appearance at the local diner, Shannon swings by his place to check on him. Not only does she find Jesse dead—of an apparent heart attack—but she also realizes that his home has been ransacked.

Someone suggests that a thief was searching for a priceless necklace Jesse claimed to have retrieved from a sunken sailing ship, but Shannon doesn’t believe it. Everyone knows Jesse had a penchant for constructing tall tales—like the one about him having a hot new girlfriend. But his death is soon ruled a homicide, and shady suspects begin popping out of the woodwork. When another victim turns up dead, Shannon is convinced she must find the killer before someone else gets nailed….

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Jennifer’s Review of This Old Homicide

Review (4.5 Stars): This Old Homicide is a delightful mystery that is filled with humor, thrills and a sassy heroine that is sure to entertain.  In this mystery, Shannon is gearing up for Valentine’s Day with two prospective boyfriends and helping to plan to the Valentine’s Day event for Lighthouse Cove. She is asked by her father to check in on their elderly neighbor, Jesse Hennessey, when he doesn’t show up at the local diner after a few days.  Shannon finds Jesse’s body in his home and his house ransacked, which makes Jesse’s death look more than just a heart attack.  Shannon must find a killer before it is too late and another victim gets added to the killer’s list.

I adore Shannon and the lovely cast of characters in Lighthouse Cove and the Fixer-Upper mysteries are definitely in my top five favorite cozy series at the moment.  I always enjoy Ms. Carlisle’s books because they are well-written, fast-paced and readers are definitely in for a good time with each mystery.  This is the second book in the series, which is just as good as the first, A High-End Finish, and I can’t wait to read what adventure Shannon finds herself in with the next installment of this great series.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a copy of This Old Homicide. This giveaway is for US Residents only.  To be entered in the drawing by February 19th, please leave me a comment below: