Blog Tour & Giveaway: A Roux of Revenge by Connie Archer

I’m delighted to have Connie Archer here today to discuss her new book, A Roux of Revenge.  This is one of my favorite mystery series right now and I absolutely adore her main character, Lucky and her restaurant, By the Spoonful Soup Shop.  Take it away, Connie.

When a band of travelers arrives in the village of Snowflake, Vermont and a dead stranger is found by the side of the road, the past returns with a vengeance.  Long kept secrets will be revealed, lost loves will be found and the lives of many in the village will be irrevocably altered.

Special thanks to Books-n-Kisses for hosting this stop on my blog tour for A Roux of Revenge, the third book in the soup lover’s mystery series.

How did this book come to be?  Well, it’s a cozy culinary mystery–there’s a dead body, an old crime and a young girl in danger, but apart from all that, this story somehow took on a life of its own, and before I realized it, I was also writing a love story–a story about love gone wrong, lost love and love found again after many years.

Sometimes we know exactly what sparks a particular story and sometimes it’s lost in the recesses of memory.  It was just such a random event that gave me the kernel of an idea for A Roux of Revenge. A brief headline on a web page read: “Eleven Romanian Gypsies Captured by Canadian Border Patrol.”  My ears went up.  I just had to read this article.  And it turned out to be true!  It wasn’t an exaggeration and it made me wonder.

Why couldn’t a group of travelers from the north arrive in the village of Snowflake, Vermont?  Perhaps they come from Cape Breton in Nova Scotia.  Perhaps they speak a form of Gaelic–Scottish Gaelic.  Perhaps they have been traveling for generations and could be connected to someone in the village of Snowflake, Vermont.  That’s how my invented clan of Scottish Gaelic-speaking travelers came to life.

But then I started wondering about all traveling people — are there gypsies or travelers in the U.S. today, still living a nomadic lifestyle? How do they live? Under the radar? How do they deal with the simple things of life, like a birth certificate or a driver’s license.  I did a bit of research and learned a lot.

The word “gypsy” is a perversion of the word “Egyptian,” but the people called “gypsies” weren’t from Egypt.  They migrated out of northern India over a thousand years ago, moving through western Asia and Europe, and eventually traveling to the British Isles and the Americas.  They are know by many names in many countries – they have become the Irish Travelers (although this group claims a different lineage), the English Romnichels, the Ludar, the Hungarian Slovaks, and the Tinkers of Scotland, to name just a few.  They have been persecuted, vilified and subjected to forced emigration throughout the centuries.

Today, in the United States alone, there are estimated to be more than a million Romani people who come from far flung places around the globe.  Although traveler culture honors family and ancestors and a commitment to a nomadic lifestyle, many descendants of travelers have very little information about their roots.

There are, however, dedicated people who want to help.  If you believe you’re descended from a traveler culture, read on and explore the following websites where you might learn more about your origins and your ancestors.

The Gypsy Lore Society

http://www.gypsyloresociety.org/additional-resources/gypsy-and-traveler-culture-in-america

Roma of the Americas

http://sciway3.net/clark/freemoors/roma.html

Irish Travelers

http://sciway3.net/clark/freemoors/travellers.html

My clan of Scottish Gaelic-speaking travelers knows exactly where they come from and the place they’ll return to every year.  It may be a long time before they’re in Snowflake, Vermont again, but I know you’ll enjoy reading about them all in A Roux of Revenge.

About the Author:

Connie Archer is the national bestselling author of A Spoonful of Murder and A Broth of Betrayal, the soup lover’s mystery series set in Vermont, from Berkley Prime Crime. The third book in the series, A Roux of Revenge, will be released on April 1, 2014. Connie was born and raised in New England. She now lives on the other coast.

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STIRRING UP TROUBLE

Snowflake, Vermont, is known for its skiing in winter—and its soup all year round, thanks to Lucky Jamieson’s By the Spoonful. Autumn brings golden leaves, pumpkin rice soup, the annual Harvest Festival…and murder.

Lucky’s soup shop is busier than usual this October, with groups of itinerant travelers in town to work the Harvest Festival. One newcomer seems to take a particular interest in Lucky’s young waitress, Janie, spying on her from across the street. Is the stranger stalking Janie?

After an unidentified man is found murdered in a van by the side of the road, simmering suspicions about the travelers are brought to a boil. But when Janie is put in harm’s way, Lucky must join forces with the travelers to turn up the heat on a killer…

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Jennifer’s Review of A Roux of Revenge

Review (4.5 Stars): This is one of my favorite mystery series right now because I absolutely love the residents of Snowflake and Lucky’s restaurant, By the Spoonful.  In this book, the town of Snowflake is preparing for the annual Harvest Festival which will bring a much needed influx of tourists into this little town.  Before things get under way, a man is found murdered in his van and believed to be a part of robbery that had taken place many years ago. While the police look for clues, Lucky is having problems of her own with her boyfriend, Elias.  A flame from Elias’ past has come back and Lucky is afraid that her budding romance may soon be over.  Long hidden secrets finally come to light in this wonderful mystery and not everyone is ready to hear the truth.

This is the third book in the Soup Lover’s Mystery series and I look forward to each installment of this series.  I’ve always liked Lucky and I’m so glad to see that everything is going well for her in the beginning of this book.  Her business is successful and her relationship with Elias seems to be getting stronger until an old love from Elias’ life comes back to town.  She goes through a lot of emotions during the course of this book which really adds to her character. The thing that makes this series so great besides having a fabulous restaurant which I wish I could visit, is the characters.  Each of them add so much to the story and Ms. Archer does a great job creating them and writing such entertaining mysteries.  I can’t say enough wonderful things about these books and I’m looking forward to the next installment in this charming series.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a copy of  A Roux of Revenge. This giveaway is for US Residents only.  To be entered in the drawing by April 7th,  please leave a comment or question for Connie: