Category: Cozy Mystery

How to Dress a Ghost
Guest Blog by Fran Stewart

Did you ever notice that some writers go into great detail dressing their characters in Armani and Blahnik, Hermes and Chanel? Those meticulously turned-out characters would be quite in place on a Paris runway.

But what do you do when you’re writing a 14th-century Scottish ghost? He’s not even palrt of the nobility, so a floor-length ermine cloak is off limits. I wouldn’t write one on him anyway, since I have this thing against using dead animal skins for high fashion or any other kind of fashion.

Fortunately Macbeath Donlevy Freusach Finlay Macearachar Macpheidiran of Clan Farquharson—can you see why Peggy Winn calls him Dirk?—is something of a hunk. He doesn’t need any extras. Just ignore that picture of Jamie in the Outlander. Dirk’s belted plaid (pronounced played) is what most of us would call a kilt, a real kilt, made with nine yards of tartan fabric. What man with broad shoulders and good knees wouldn’t look good in a kilt?

Of course, Dirk’s shoulders are very broad. And his knees would be the envy of everyone in the town of Hamelin, Vermont—and in your hometown, too—if only “everyone” could see them.

You see, Dirk is invisible to everyone except Peggy Winn, but I must say she appreciates his … his kilt enough for everyone.

And his shoulders? Ahh. Don’t you love to see a man in one of those poet shirts (like this one from a website called the witches spindle)? They make even a fairly skinny fellow look pretty good, and someone like Dirk look absolutely magnificent. He doesn’t get any ruffles on his shirt, but then again, he doesn’t need them. Did I mention that he’s dead, though? He’s been that way for a little under 700 years. Poor Peggy.

Add to that the fact that he’s still in love with Peigi (it means Pearl), the woman who knitted the shawl that allows Peggy Winn to see Dirk when she puts it on. I know, I know, the shawl must be 700 years old, but believe me, it makes sense in the book.

So, I’ve dressed Peggy in a Scottish arisaidh that she wears while she’s working at her store, the ScotShop, and the ancient shawl that lets Dirk “be” – somehow. Meanwhile Dirk wears his poet shirt, his kilt, a knife in his sock, a dagger, and a kilt pin made of antler and wood. With him dressed like that, you can see his … uh … attributes without any high fashion anywhere.

Happy drooling … I mean reading!

About the Author:

Fran Stewart is the author of the Biscuit McKee Mysteries – GRAY AS ASHES is the seventh book in that series – as well as a standalone mystery – A SLAYING SONG TONIGHT.  Her new ScotShop Mystery Series from Berkley Press begins with A WEE MURDER IN MY SHOP.

Fran lives quietly with various rescued cats beside a creek on the other side of Hog Mountain, Georgia, northeast of Atlanta.

She sings alto with a community chorus and volunteers at her grandchildren’s school library. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.

Website/Facebook

Hamelin, Vermont, isn’t the most likely place for bagpipes and tartan, but at Peggy Winn’s ScotShop, business is booming…

While on a transatlantic hunt for some authentic wares to sell at her shop, Peggy is looking to forget her troubles by digging through the hidden treasures of the Scottish Highlands. With so many enchanting items on sale, Peggy can’t resist buying a beautiful old tartan shawl. But once she wraps it around her shoulders, she discovers that her purchase comes with a hidden fee: the specter of a fourteenth-century Scotsman.

Unsure if her Highland fling was real or a product of an overactive imagination, Peggy returns home to Vermont—only to find the dead body of her ex-boyfriend on the floor of her shop. When the police chief arrests Peggy’s cousin based on some incriminating evidence, Peggy decides to ask her haunting Scottish companion to help figure out who really committed the crime—before anyone else gets kilt…

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Jennifer’s Review of A Wee Murder in My Shop

Review (4.0 Stars): Peggy Winn has taken a trip to Scotland to search for treasures that she can sell at her Scottish shop back home in Vermont and forget about her lying, cheating ex-boyfriend.  On this lovely trip to the Scottish Highlands, Peggy acquires a beautiful shawl in a store that she has never seen before on her many trips to the area.  What she soon discovers, is that her lovely shawl comes with the ghost of handsome Scot.  When Peggy returns home with her new companion, she finds the body of her ex-boyfriend lying of the floor of her beloved shop and Peggy’s cousin is blamed for the crime.  Peggy must find the real killer soon before she ends up joining her new friend on the other side.

A Wee Murder in My Shop is a fun, delicious mystery that will keep you entertained for hours.  I liked Peggy from the very beginning and envied her trips to Scotland to visit the Highlands and spend time in this beautiful country.  I loved Dirk as he struggled to accept the fact that he was dead and now in the 21st century, which had some very funny moments in the book.  Ms. Stewart is a new mystery writer to me but that won’t be for long because I thoroughly enjoyed A Wee Murder in My Shop and am now a big fan of this new series.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a copy of A Wee Murder in My Shop. This giveaway is for US Residents only.  To be entered in the drawing by March 13th, please leave me a comment below:

Judging a book by its cover
By Leslie Budewitz

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” As a metaphor, it’s spot-on: Don’t judge the interior by the exterior; don’t assume you know a person’s nature—their heart, mind, and values—by their appearance.

When it comes to actual books, though, we do it all the time. And it’s not a bad way to make that first decision—“Is this a book I’m likely to enjoy?” Occasionally, there’s a miss—a cat prances across the cover of a book with no felines, or the cover shows a bridge that appeared in a previous draft only to be demolished by the wrecking ball of later edits.

But in the world of the light-hearted mystery, the cover works hard. It cues us in to the protagonist’s occupation and where she spends most of her time, conveys the mood of the story, and may offer clues to the central conflict. Food, pets, and even the murder weapon are common elements.

I love hearing reader compliments about my covers. While I adore them all, ASSAULT AND PEPPER may be my favorite cover yet. My publisher, Berkley Prime Crime, part of Penguin Random House, contracts with artists who have a magical ability to convey our story worlds in pictures. (Both my series are illustrated by the same artist.) Authors provide images and a description of key locations— the cover of the first book in a series usually showcases the protagonist’s shop, library, or bakery, while later covers illustrate a location that features in the story. The artist may also read a draft, or at the least, a synopsis.

The cover of ASSAULT AND PEPPER takes us inside Pepper Reece’s Seattle Spice Shop, with the Pike Place Market visible through the open door and window. Shelves brim with spice jars. Pepper’s collection of antique grinders and spice boxes can be seen on the shelves beneath the front counter, and the pseudo-samovar the staff uses to serve sample cups of tea sits on a vintage tea cart Pepper snatched up on a junking trip with her BFF, Kristen. Both the samovar and the sample cups—a few are littered on the floor—are critical to the story.

And so, of course, is Arf the dog, who comes alive on the cover. It’s been great fun to see how my artist works Mr. Sandburg, Erin Murphy’s Burmese cat, into the covers of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries. He lives at home with her, not in the shop, but there he is on the cover of DEATH AL DENTE, demonstrating both his cuteness and his influence over Erin. On the cover of CRIME RIB, he and Pepé, his dog-in-law, join Duke the Retriever, who belongs to one of the chefs competing in the steak grill-off, for a romp on the stone patio of Caldwell’s Eagle Lake Lodge. The lodge is the scene of both festivities and crime. In BUTTER OFF DEAD (coming July 2015), Mr. Sandburg takes in a movie, presiding over a concession stand brimming with the over-the-top treats typical of the Food Lovers’ books. The artist even worked in the movie posters that play a role in the story. And if you look closely, you’ll see another cat ….

My artist, Ben Perini, illustrates covers in other styles as well—he’s done covers for J.A. Jance, literary novelists, and even nonfiction. He’s also a fine artist who calls himself “a professional dreamer.” His covers are your invitation to enter the world of my dreams and play for a while.

So, welcome—come on in.

About the Author:

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries and the Food Lovers Village Mysteries, both from Berkley Prime Crime. She is the only author to win Agatha Awards for both fiction and nonfiction—the 2013 Agatha Award for Best First Novel, for Death al Dente and the 2011 Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction, for Books, Crooks & Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law & Courtroom Procedure (Quill Driver Books). She lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat Ruff, a cover model and avid bird-watcher.

Website/Twitter/Facebook

From the cover of ASSAULT AND PEPPER:

Pepper Reece, owner of the Seattle Spice Shop, thinks she can handle any kind of salty customer—until a murderer ends up in the mix…

After leaving a dicey marriage and losing a beloved job in a corporate crash, Pepper Reece has found a new zest for life running a busy spice and tea shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Her aromatic creations are the talk of the town, and everyone stops by for a cup of her refreshing spice tea, even other shopkeepers and Market regulars.

But when a panhandler named Doc shows up dead on her doorstep, a Seattle Spice Shop cup in his hand, the local gossip gets too hot for Pepper to handle—especially after the police arrest Tory Finch, one of Pepper’s staffers, for murder.

Tory seems to know why she’s a suspect, but she refuses to do anything to curry favor with the cops. Convinced her reticent employee is innocent, Pepper takes it on herself to sniff out some clues. Only, if she’s not careful, Pepper’s nosy ways might make her next on the killer’s list…

Amazon/B&N

Jennifer’s Review of Assault and Pepper

Review (4.5 Stars): Pepper Reece is the owner of the Seattle Spice Shop in the lovely Pike Place Market and life is slowly coming together for her when she discovers a body of a homeless man on the shop’s front doorstep.  Pepper recognizes the panhandler from her interaction with him the day before and believes that the man simply died from natural causes. Soon, she discovers that the police believe that the man was murdered and one of her employees has been arrested for the crime.  Pepper knows that she is innocent and decides that she needs to find some clues before an innocent woman is put away for a crime she didn’t commit.

I loved Pepper and the gang at Seattle Spice Shop.  Pike Place Market has always been one of my favorite places to visit when I’m in Seattle and Ms. Budewitz has done a wonderful job of putting you right there with Pepper and savoring the ambiance that is the Market.  I enjoyed learning about Pepper’s shop and the different spices that she had available for her customers.  These characters are an absolute delight to spend time with and Assault and Pepper has the perfect aroma of mystery that is sure to be a delicious treat to cozy readers.  Can’t wait to see what Pepper and the gang are up to in the next installment of this series.

Giveaway

Real vs. Fictional Settings: My version of Hogwarts

By Eva Gates

Generally speaking, a novel can be set in one of two places: a real place or a fictional place. (Or some combination of both).

There are a lot of good reasons to create a fictional setting for a book: No one can point out all your mistakes; if something doesn’t work for you, you can just make it up; avoids all that pesky research.

On the other hand, setting a book in a real place, adds an element of realism. People can go to the location of scenes in your book, or remember having been there. That helps to bring a book and its characters vividly to life.

My editors at Obsidian decided they want to go with the latter for the new Lighthouse Library Series. Not only have I set the books in a real place – the Outer Banks – but in a very specific real place – The Bodie Island Lighthouse.

I took the framework of that real, and marvellous, lighthouse, which is essentially just a small outer building attached to a 210 foot tall tower with a spiral iron staircase inside and a big lamp on the top, and built a whole new world inside it. A library, complete with back staircases, offices, staff break room, broom closet, meeting room, shelves overflowing with books.  I even gave it a small apartment for my character, Lucy Richardson, to live in.

I think of it as my version of Hogwarts.

But having done that, I wanted to be true to the marvellous setting of the lighthouse, and kept the outside of the building and its surroundings (minus the shop and tourist center!) intact.

As for the Outer Banks and the town of Nag’s Head, I’ve worked hard to make everything as realistic as possible. I’ve visited a couple of times, taking lots of pictures and careful notes. Back at home, Google Earth is an invaluable resource for checking the layout of streets, the location of public buildings and things like that.  In the books I mention some real places, such as Owen’s Restaurant, the restaurant at the Nags Head Fishing Pier, the police station/town hall complex, and have people living on real streets.  But I don’t describe real houses, or give street addresses. In the second book in the series, Booked for Trouble (Sept. 2015) when Lucy’s mother stays at a hotel, the hotel is totally fictitious.  After all there are shenanigans galore going on at that hotel, and I don’t want anyone to think I know something I don’t!

It’s been a lot of fun taking real places and using them as scenes for my stories. I hope that By Book or By Crook will give you a real feeling for the Outer Banks. Who knows maybe you’ll want to visit someday (if you haven’t already) and think of Lucy Richardson climbing the spiral iron stairs to her lighthouse aerie after a day in the library when you visit the Bodie Island Lighthouse.

About the Author:

For ten years Lucy has enjoyed her job poring over rare tomes of literature for the Harvard Library, but she has not enjoyed the demands of her family’s social whorl or her sort-of-engagement to the staid son of her father’s law partner. But when her ten-year relationship implodes, Lucy realizes that the plot of her life is in need of a serious rewrite.

Calling on her aunt Ellen, Lucy hopes that a little fun in the Outer Banks sun—and some confections from her cousin Josie’s bakery—will help clear her head. But her retreat quickly turns into an unexpected opportunity when Aunt Ellen gets her involved in the lighthouse library tucked away on Bodie Island.

Lucy is thrilled to land a librarian job in her favorite place in the world. But when a priceless first edition Jane Austen novel is stolen and the chair of the library board is murdered, Lucy suddenly finds herself ensnared in a real-life mystery—and she’s not so sure there’s going to be a happy ending….

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Jennifer’s Review of By Book or by Crook

Review (4 Stars): Lucy Richardson has decided to make a change in her life by accepting a position in Outer Banks at the lighthouse library after working at the Harvard library for ten years.  The lighthouse library is excited to be hosting the first edition of one of Jane Austen’s books at the library for the next three months and throws a party to celebrate.  At the party, the dead body of the library chairman is found with Lucy’s friend holding the murder weapon.  Lucy decides to get herself involved in the investigation to protect her friend and protect the reputation of the library that she has always loved.

By Book or by Crook is an entertaining mystery with a delightful heroine and a fun cast of characters.  I loved the idea of the lighthouse library and I think that this would be the perfect place for readers to go and visit.  I enjoyed meeting Lucy and thought that she was the perfect heroine for this series.  She was smart, sassy and I can’t wait to learn more about her in future books.  Great start to a series and I’m looking forward to reading what’s next for Lucy and the lighthouse library.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a copy of By Book or by Crook. This giveaway is for US Residents only.  To be entered in the drawing by February 22nd, please leave me a comment below:

An Interview with Chef Art

From Fry Another Day
The Biscuit Bowl Mysteries
By J.J. Cook

This is Jason Smith from WQBT News in Atlanta. Today I’m interviewing the man behind the Biscuit Bowl Food Truck which is in the lead in this lap of the Sweet Magnolia Food Truck Race.

Q. Good morning, Chef Art. Are you enjoying the race?

A. Hello, Jason. It’s been a lot of fun so far. Crazy and wild, but fun.

Q. We’ve heard a member of your Biscuit Bowl food truck may be responsible for the murder of one of the drivers. Care to comment on that?

A. No one from the Biscuit Bowl killed anyone! That’s a ridiculous charge. But for the record, Miguel isn’t really part of the Biscuit Bowl food truck team. He’s an out-rider who is helping Zoe Chase, the driver.

Q. What made you decide to be part of the race?

A. As you know, Jason, I’ve been a famous food face in the South for as long as most people can recall. I don’t actively run a restaurant anymore, but I like to help talented newcomers – like my friend Zoe – get established. That’s why I’m her sponsor for the race, and why I’m here.

Q. You’re a man of the people, Chef Art!”

A. Yes, I am! Have you tried one of the biscuit bowls yet? They are very good. Who wouldn’t like a deep-fried biscuit filled with good things? I have one right here that’s filled with lemon pie filling. Excellent!

Q. I just ate – thanks. I’m sure it’s delicious, but . . .

A. Just eat it. You’ll love it. And quit spreading the rumor that Miguel Alexander killed anyone.

Q. I can’t – mumph – oh. It’s very good. Thanks for shoving it into my mouth, Chef Art.

A. You’re very welcome, my boy. You’re very welcome.

This is Jason Smith – with a mouthful of biscuit bowl. Back to you at the studio.

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.

 

With a few loyal friends in tow—including her handsome attorney, Miguel, and her cat, Crème Brûlée—Zoe drives the Biscuit Bowl to Charlotte, North Carolina, to enter a nationally televised food truck race. The contest features challenges across the Southeast, and with a fifty-thousand-dollar grand prize, competition isn’t just fierce—it’s killer.

As everyone gears up for the first challenge, another food trucker from Zoe’s hometown is found dead. The race rolls on, but when the body count rises, police begin to suspect Miguel. Now Zoe must race to catch the killer before her attorney needs an attorney.

Amazon/B&N

Jennifer’s Review of Fry Another Day

Review (4.5 Stars): Zoe gets the opportunity of a lifetime to be a part of a national food truck race where she will be competing for a big prize to help her get one step closer to opening her own restaurant.  With her team by her side, they get ready to compete when one of their competitors is found dead and Zoe’s attorney, Miguel, is blamed for the crime.  She must help find a killer before they knock off the rest of the competition and put Miguel in jail for a crime he didn’t commit.

I’m a huge fan of J.J. Cook and I absolutely loved the first book in the series, Death on Eat Street. Fry Another Day is the perfect combination of a spunky heroine, a mystery with clever plot twists and turns and yummy recipes to die for.  I loved every minute of this mystery and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book where the gang goes to Mardi Gras. I love New Orleans and I can already smell the Jambalaya that Zoe will put in her biscuit bowls.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a copy of Fry Another Day. This giveaway is for US Residents only.  To be entered in the drawing by February 20th, please leave me a comment below:

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….

Amazon/B&N

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:

My Ten Favorite Things about Writing LICENSE TO DILL
By Mary Ellen Hughes

Starting a new series is always exciting, but it’s also plenty of hard, intensive work. There’s so many decisions to make, such as where to set it, who your characters will be, their relationships, and so on, which is what I went through with THE PICKLED PIPER, book #1 of my Pickled and Preserved mystery series. After careful thought, I chose upstate New York as my setting and named my fictional town Cloverdale. I sent my twenty-nine year old principal character, Piper Lamb, there from Albany after she ended her going-nowhere engagement. And I put Piper’s Aunt Judy and Uncle Frank on a nearby farm, gave Piper a great assistant for her pickling shop, and introduced Piper to Will, a handsome Christmas tree farmer. So all the important decisions were made with book #1.

Book #2, LICENSE TO DILL, by comparison, turned out to be a breeze. Everything was set up and ready to go! All I needed to do was write the mystery (“all” she added, laughingly). But having already done the ground work, I could now relax and focus on the plot, which became the first of my…

Ten Favorite Things About Writing License to Dill:

1.    My characters, after a couple of weeks of rest, were super-eager for action. They practically snatched the pages from me to get back to work.

2.    Piper and her new boyfriend, Will, had progressed beyond the awkward getting-to-know-you stage and were pretty happy and comfortable with each other.

3.    Of course, I couldn’t let that continue, so I brought Piper’s ex-fiancé, Scott, back from his travels, and he decided to settle in Cloverdale. (Uh-oh.)

4.    I imported an entire soccer team of handsome young men from Italy to challenge Cloverdale’s All-Stars, which meant writing exciting soccer scenes. I now understand the game much better!

5.    The Italian team’s coach and manager occasionally spoke Italian. With the help of a Italian-born friend, I learned several useful Italian phrases and sometimes found myself writing with an Italian accent!

6.     Since a dill field figures importantly in the murder, I learned—and shared in the book—quite a bit about growing and using fresh dill. I could practically smell that wonderful weed as I typed.

7.    Since Piper makes all the pickles and preserves for her shop herself (with the help of her assistant, Amy), I kept various pickles on hand, because writing pickling scenes was sure to bring on a craving.

8.    Piper spends plenty of time with her Aunt Judy and Uncle Frank at their farm. Whenever Piper drove up, Jack, their mixed-breed dog went crazy with excitement. I, unfortunately, am allergic to dogs, but I could enjoy petting Jack vicariously through Piper—with no sneezes!

9.    While looking into the murder, Piper meets several people in the Cloverdale area with new-to-me occupations. I particularly loved writing about the chainsaw sculptor and will have to seriously consider bringing him back some day.

10.    After spending months with Piper and all the people of Cloverdale in THE PICKLED PIPER, I became pretty fond of them. (Well, most of them. There was, after all, a murderer in the mix.) But writing LICENSE TO DILL was like going to a reunion—lots of fun getting reacquainted with everyone. But I do hope they’ve forgiven me by now for what I’ve put them through…

About the Author:

Mary Ellen Hughes is the author of the Craft Corner mystery series – WREATH OF DECEPTION, STRING OF LIES, and PAPER-THIN ALIBI – as well as the Maggie Olenski mysteries – RESORT TO MURDER and A TASTE OF DEATH.

She has also authored several short stories, including THE WOMAN ON THE TRAIN, and short mysteries included in the Chesapeake Crimes and Tales from the Backlist anthologies.

A transplanted Wisconsinite, Mary Ellen now lives in Maryland where she is excited to be working on her new Pickled and Preserved mystery series beginning with THE PICKLED PIPER.

Website/Twitter/Facebook

Piper Lamb knows how to make fruits and vegetables keep for months. Unfortunately, it’s the people around her who are expiring too soon…

After her fiancé left her, Piper came to Cloverdale to rebuild her life and open up her shop, Piper’s Picklings, to sell pickles and preserves. When her ex decides to drop in for a visit—just as things are heating up between her and a local Christmas tree farmer—Piper finds herself in a jam. But there are other visitors to worry about…

An Italian soccer team is set to play the Cloverdale All-Stars in an exhibition game. Their manager, Raffaele Conti, was a bitter rival of Piper’s dill supplier, local farmer Gerald Standley. After Conti is found dead in Standley’s field, Piper must work to clear Gerald’s name and find out who relished killing Raffaele before the town is soured by another death.

Amazon/B&N

Jennifer’s Review of License To Dill

Review (4 Stars):  The thing I liked about this series was that you really felt like you were a part of this small town community while reading these mysteries.  Piper is settling into life as store owner of Piper’s Picklings when she learns that her ex is coming to town for a visit.  After being gone six months, Scott is under the impression that they can continue where they left off but Piper has moved on and is now seeing Will, the local Christmas tree farmer.  While Piper is dealing with her ex, the town is gearing up for an exhibition soccer game between the Cloverdale All-Stars and an Italian semi-professional team.  It is a bitter rivalry between the teams and soon the body of the Italian team’s manager, Raffaele Conti, is found in the field of Gerald Standley. Gerald and Raffaele knew each other from high school and it is no surprise that someone wanted the irritating Italian dead. Now, Piper must find the clues to prevent Gerald from going to jail for a crime that he didn’t commit.

License To Dill was a fun, entertaining and mouthwatering mystery that had me craving more of this sassy heroine.  I liked Piper from the very beginning and I felt bad that she kept trying to convince her ex that it was over between them to no avail.  The mystery was very fast-paced and exciting and you could definitely see why there was a long list of suspects that wanted Raffaele dead.  This is the second book in the Pickled Preserved mystery series and I can’t wait to go back to spend more time with the residents of Cloverdale, New York.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a copy of License To Dill. This giveaway is for US Residents only.  To be entered in the drawing by February 18th, please leave me a comment below:

    At The Drop Of A Hat

by Jenn McKinlay

I am a hat girl and always have been.  No, sadly, not the fancy hats to which the British are partial.  I think Americans are too obsessed with their hair to ever truly embrace the hat.  Pity.  Still, I love a good hat, and I own several fuzzy winter hats, floppy sun hats, utilitarian (ie. hide the unwashed rat’s nest) baseball hats.

My fascination with headwear was definitely a driving force in writing the London hat shop mysteries and because I love research this has been one of the best parts of the whole adventure.  The history of millinery, famous milliners, the evolution of the hat, all of these things have contributed to the writing of the books.

In AT THE DROP OF THE HAT, Viv and Scarlett are asked to mend a bridal hat made by their grandmother over thirty years before in the early nineteen eighties.  It is an emotional moment for the girls to have something that their grandmother made and they are determined to fix the hat for the bride Ariana Jackson.

Of course this part of the plot led me to research hats of the eighties which naturally guided me to Princess Diana and her famous milliner John Boyd.  I read his bio, studied years and years of his hats and now follow him on social media. The man is simply a genius.
Here’s a quote from his webpage (www.johnboydhats.com) so you can see what I mean:

“Making hats isn’t just a romantic story of sitting there waiting for some great creation to come. Millinery is deception all the time. If a client’s nose isn’t straight you twist her hat brim slightly the opposite way to straighten it. If she’s got two chins, you give her a face lift by tying a veil under one of them. The wearer doesn’t deceive, I do it for them.”  –John Boyd

See?  Certified artistic genius.  And although I have a total fan girl crush on the eighty-nine year old Scotsman, John Boyd is just one of so many famous hat makers that fill the pages of fashion, art and history.  Writing this series has been a pure joy because I have learned so much and because I get to spend hours turning the pages of old fashion magazines at my library, studying the fads and fashions of days gone by.

But there’s more than hat history involved in AT THE DROP OF A HAT.  Things have been tense between Scarlett and Viv as Scarlett can’t shake the feeling that Viv is hiding something from her.  She hopes that working on Mim’s old hat together will bridge the distance between them.  Viv is delighted to take on the job of restoring Ariana’s hat. It means so much to her to refurbish one of Mim’s original designs.  Unfortunately, contacting Ariana with the estimated cost becomes difficult when she never answers her phone.

Finally, Scarlett decides to go visit the young woman at her place of work and give her the work estimate in person.  When she arrives at the solicitor’s office in Kensington, she finds Ariana in the alley, standing over the body of her dead boss who looks to have fallen to his death.  The police think the man was pushed, but Scarlett refuses to believe Ariana is the murderer.  It is now up Scarlett and Viv to find the real killer before Ariana’s future is boxed up for good.

Is Ariana a murderess?  Do Viv and Scarlett manage to refurbish Mim’s bridal hat to its original glory?  What secret is Viv keeping from Scarlett?  You’ll just have to pick up a copy of AT THE DROP OF A HAT to find out.

Happy Reading!

Jenn

About the Author:

Jenn is the New York Times bestselling author of several mystery series. She lives in sunny Arizona in a house that is overrun with kids, pets and her husband’s guitars.

 

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MURDER CAN BE SO OLD HAT

Cousins Scarlett Parker and Vivian Tremont’s fashionable London hat shop, Mim’s Whims, is visited by a new customer bearing an old hat box. Ariana Jackson is getting married and wants to restore her mother’s bridal hat and veil for the occasion. The elegant item was made by Scarlett and Vivian’s grandmother over thirty years ago, so Viv is delighted to take the job.

When Scarlett goes to Ariana’s office to consult about the restoration cost, she finds her outside, standing over her boss’s dead body. Though Ariana claims to know nothing about his demise, the investigation unveils a motive for murder. Now, with the bride-to-be in custody and the wedding on hold, Scarlett and Viv must find the real killer before Ariana’s future is boxed up for good.

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Jennifer’s Review of At The Drop Of A Hat

Review (4.5 Stars): This is the third book in the Hat Shop Mystery series and I love how Ms. McKinlay makes readers feel as though they are a part of the Notting Hill community. In this mystery, Scarlett and Viv agree to help Ariana Jackson restore her mother’s bridal hat for her upcoming wedding and when Scarlett is unable to get in touch with her, she decides to visit her at her work.  What she finds is another dead body and Ariana standing over the body with blood on her hands. With the wedding on hold and Ariana as the prime suspect, Scarlett and Viv decide to play detective again to find the real killer before Ariana goes to jail for a crime she didn’t commit.

Every time I read a mystery from this series, I am brought back to the lovely city of London and I desperately want to walk down Portobello Road just like Scarlett does.  Scarlett is still sticking with her vow of “no men” but has quite a bit of temptation in this story that tests her commitment to that vow.  I love how her character has grown from Cloche and Dagger and she is finally getting her self-confidence back and settling into her new way of life in London.  At The Drop Of A Hat was very fast-paced, entertaining and makes me want to visit this lovely community right away.  Looking forward to book number four in this enchanting mystery series.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a copy of At The Drop Of A Hat. This giveaway is for US Residents only.  To be entered in the drawing by February 17th, please leave me a comment below:

A Traveler’s Guide to Cape Willington, Maine

by B.B. Haywood
author of Town in a Sweet Pickle

Welcome to the fictional town of Cape Willington, Maine, founded in 1737 by sea captain Elijah Blake Willington. Elijah and his crew were headed for Portland Harbor when they got caught in a storm and had to travel further up the coast to get to land safely. The town has grown one hundred fold since that night. Now you can take a stroll down the Main Street and see all of the shops, new and old, and meet a few of the local characters as well.

Your first stop should be the Main Street Diner for a bite to eat. You’ll find all kinds of fantastic diner food here, including fresh seafood and local favorites. You can also catch up on the local news with Henry “Doc” Holliday and his friends. They usually sit in the corner booth, unless it’s occupied by tourists. Doc sits at that booth so often everyone calls it “The Doc office.”

For dessert, I would recommend stopping at the Black Forest Bakery for authentic German pastries, freshly baked every day by Georg Wolfsburger. Georg is a relatively recent transplant to Cape Willington, and a welcome one at that. His pastries are well known up and down the East Coast. His humor and friendliness are baked into every pastry. Maggie Tremont will be at the front counter to greet you when you walk in. She will try to get you to sample a pastry! She’s pretty convincing, so I would do what she says. (Just a little local gossip: Maggie and Georg are engaged, although they haven’t set a wedding date yet. But who knows—maybe they will soon!)

Don’t forget to stop in at Zeke’s General Store, also located on Main Street. Trudy Watkins and her husband Richard run the general store, which has been in continuous operation since the early 1800s. You can still find all of your favorite penny candies and an old counter with stools, where you can sit and have an ice cream. Trudy has a wonderful eye for gifts, new and antique alike. The store is definitely worth a stop.

After you’ve totally stuffed yourself, head down Ocean Avenue to see the historical Pruitt Opera House. It boasts a beautiful widow’s walk at the top of the building. The story around town is that Candy Holliday and Maggie Tremont almost lost their lives defending themselves from a murderer who chased them up the stairs and out onto the walk about five years ago. Thankfully they survived, and Candy is now quite the sleuth, with Maggie by her side.

Now it’s time to take a drive along the breathtakingly gorgeous Coastal Loop road (Route 192 for those of you with maps) for beautiful views of the sea and the Cape. The cliffs are to die for. Leave your car windows down and take in a deep breath of fresh, salty sea air. You’ll feel like a whole new person. If only we could bottle that scent!

Just keep driving around the Cape and you might find yourself at Holliday’s Blueberry Acres, located on the outskirts of town. If you do, drop in for a cup of tea with Candy and her father, Doc. Candy just might offer you a slice of her famous blueberry pie. Do not refuse! The blueberries at the farm are the tastiest you will find in Maine. If they have time, they might give you a tour of the blueberry fields and gardens, and you can meet “the girls”—Candy’s chickens, which she keeps in a chicken coop behind the barn. I heard she is trying to teach them to speak French!

Take as many photos as you like for your Instagram. Enjoy your stay in town, and please visit again soon!

NOTE: Town in a Sweet Pickle is Book #6 in the New York Times bestselling Candy Holliday Murder Mystery Series. It will be available in print and as a digital book on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015. Other titles in the series include Town in a Strawberry Swirl, Town in a Pumpkin Bash, and Town in a Blueberry Jam. Large print editions of all the books and an audiobook of Town in a Blueberry Jam are also available. For more information on the series, visit www.hollidaysblueberryacres.com.

About the Author:

B. B. Haywood is a pseudonym of writing team Beth Feeman and Robert Feeman. They conceived the idea for the Candy Holliday mysteries while driving around the Maine countryside, stopping at different small towns throughout the state.

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When Candy organizes a cooking event for her local newspaper, the town’s most prominent citizens turn out to witness the popular cookbook author Julia von Fleming serve as a guest judge. But when Julia comes close to consuming a poisoned pickle, she begins to suspect someone in Cape Willington is trying to kill her—and Candy is completely jarred to be among the suspects.

But the first taste was just a sample, and soon more jars of poisoned pickles begin to pop up around town. In the face of a pickled poisoning spree, Candy will have to track down the culprit to make sure her own name stays well-preserved. Along the way, she’ll pull the lid off a briny barrel of blackmail, thievery, and revenge that’s been souring their seaside hometown for years…

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Jennifer’s Review of Town in a Sweet Pickle

Review (3.5 Stars): This is the sixth book in the Candy Holliday mystery series and I loved the idea of having poisoned pickles showing up around town causing Candy to search for clues as to who is behind all of it. I enjoyed the cooking contest and the yummy recipes that are included in this story that is sure to make your mouth water reading this delicious mystery.  Candy and the residents of Cape Willington are delightful as always and I look forward to each new mystery in the series.  I do recommend that readers start with the very first book in the series just because there was a lot of background and information that has been happening over the course of the series and this will make your visit to this wonderful community more enjoyable.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a copy of Town in a Sweet Pickle. This giveaway is for US Residents only.  To be entered in the drawing by February 15th, please leave me a comment below:

 It’s a Family Thing
By Miranda James

Each of the “Cat in the Stacks” novels has centered on the family in some way. The core of the books is Charlie and his family, beginning with Diesel the Maine Coon cat in the first book, and then including his son Sean, daughter Laura, and others in subsequent books. The mystery plots in each of the books also center on family in some way.

In the latest book in the series, Arsenic and Old Books, the mayor of Athena, Lucinda Beckwith Long, presents Charlie with a set of Civil War-era diaries, a donation from the Long family to the college archive. The author of the diaries was Rachel Afton Long, and the mayor tells Charlie that the contents could help decide an upcoming election. Her son “Beck” Long is contending for a state senate seat against Jasper Singletary. The Longs and the Singletarys have a long history of distrust and discord between them. The Longs have been wealthy, one of the leading families of Athena for generations, while the Singletary clan consisted of poor subsistence farmers who claim their misfortunes were caused by the Longs.

Charlie naturally wonders how diaries written a century-and-a-half ago can impact the present. He is also astonished when two different women demand immediate access to them. A history professor desperate for tenure and a reporter whose reasons are murky both try their best to get their hands on the diaries. The situation is complicated by murder, and Charlie once again finds himself in the middle of the investigation.

As a student of history myself, and one whose family roots go back to 1831 in Mississippi, I wanted to write a story in which the distant past did affect the present. The Civil War era seemed a good place to start, and I thought incorporating the diaries of an antebellum woman a good way to open that window into the past. The result of all this is Arsenic and Old Books.

 

About the Author:

Miranda James is the pseudonym of Dean James, a seventh-generation Mississippian recently returned home after over thirty years in Texas. A mystery fan since the age of ten, he wrote his first novel at the ripe old age of twelve. The only copy of The Mystery of the Willow Key vanished years ago, but since it was highly derivative of the Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden mystery series, that’s probably a good thing.

Currently a librarian in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Dean has published articles on topics in library science, the history of science/medicine, and mystery fiction. His first book, which he co-wrote with fellow librarian Jean Swanson, was By a Woman’s Hand (Berkley; 1994). Jean and Dean won an Agatha Award for Best Mystery Non-Fiction and were nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for the Edgar for Best Critical-Biographical work for this popular reference book. A second edition followed two years later, and Dean and Jean collaborated on two further projects, Killer Books (Berkley; 1998) and The Dick Francis Companion (Berkley; 2003). In all he has co-authored or co-edited six works of mystery reference and one short story anthology.

His first novel, Cruel as the Grave (Silver Dagger Mysteries) was published in 2000. Since then he has published eighteen more novels, writing under his own name and the pseudonyms Jimmie Ruth Evans and Honor Hartman. In August 2010 he launched a new series writing as Miranda James. The first book under this name, Murder Past Due (Berkley Prime Crime; $7.99) spent four weeks on the extended New York Times bestseller list for mass market paperbacks. The next book in the series, Classified as Murder (Berkley Prime Crime; $7.99), published in May 2011, also hit the NYT list. The third book, File M for Murder (Berkley Prime Crime; $7.99) is out now. The fourth book, Out of Circulation (Berkley Prime Crime; $7.99) debuted at no. 11 on the bestseller list. Book five, The Silence of the Library, debuted at no. 8 on the bestseller list. Book six, Arsenic and Old Books, is just out.

Dean lives with one elderly cat, thousands of books, and thinks frequently about killing people – but only in the pages of fiction.

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In Athena, Mississippi, librarian Charlie Harris is known for his good nature—and for his Maine coon cat Diesel that he walks on a leash. Charlie returned to his hometown to immerse himself in books, but taking the plunge into a recent acquisition will have him in over his head…

Lucinda Beckwith Long, the mayor of Athena, has donated a set of Civil War-era diaries to the archives of Athena College. The books were recently discovered among the personal effects of an ancestor of Mrs. Long’s husband. The mayor would like Charlie to preserve and to substantiate them as a part of the Long family legacy—something that could benefit her son, Beck, as he prepares to campaign for the state senate.

Beck’s biggest rival is Jasper Singletary. His Southern roots are as deep as Beck’s, and their families have been bitter enemies since the Civil War. Jasper claims the Long clan has a history of underhanded behavior at the expense of the Singletarys. He’d like to get a look at the diaries in an attempt to expose the Long family’s past sins. Meanwhile, a history professor at the college is also determined to get her hands on the books in a last-ditch bid for tenure. But their interest suddenly turns deadly…

Now Charlie is left with a catalog of questions. The diaries seem worth killing for, and one thing is certain: Charlie will need to be careful, because the more he reads, the closer he could be coming to his final chapter…

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Jennifer’s Review of Arsenic and Old Books

Review (4.75 Stars): Wow! I love Charlie and Diesel and with Arsenic and Old Books, I was sucked into this well-written mystery after reading the very first chapter.  I couldn’t believe how quickly the pages flew by and I was up half the night until I reached its conclusion. I enjoy this mystery series because it is from Charlie’s point of view and most of the cozies that I have read have been from the female prospective.  It is a nice change of pace, which is one of the reasons that I enjoy this series so much.  Arsenic and Old Books is a very entertaining mystery with fascinating characters, an adorable cat and a mystery that will keep you guessing.  This was a winner for me and I can’t wait to read more from this talented author.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a copy of Arsenic and Old Books. This giveaway is for US Residents only.  To be entered in the drawing by February 15th, please leave me a comment below:

ARE YOUR CHARACTERS REAL?

By Daryl Wood Gerber aka Avery Aames
(Author of The Cookbook Nook Mysteries & The Cheese Shop Mysteries)

I could protest for hours about how my characters are not based on real people, yet readers will still walk away convinced that my protagonists are thinly veiled versions of myself. As if. I’m not in my thirties. I’ve never run a cheese shop or a cookbook shop. I don’t live in a small town. And I’m definitely not courageous (or curious enough) to figure out whodunit in a local murder. Do I care about friends and family? Yes. Do I cook? Yep. Do I like pets? Certainly. So, in that regard, I guess I’m very much like my protagonists!  J

Now, as for my killers and victims or the other people that populate my fictional towns, um…yes, there might be a few I’ve based on people I know, but I would bet no one could figure it out. Why? Because I take pieces. Perhaps the look; perhaps the attitude; maybe a phrase, or style of speaking, or a rhythm of speech. I was told once that if I simply switched the sex of a character of the person I knew in real life, I could create the person verbatim and the person would never suspect!

Yes, I have started reading friends’ books to find out whether I’m the basis for a character. Is there a type A perfectionist in the bunch? Someone who is rough on herself when she doesn’t get things right? An overachiever who doesn’t know how to say “no”? That might be me. Do I die? Uh-oh. Perhaps I’d better work at being a good friend. J

By the way, major reveal:  In one of my short stories, I kill off a nemesis that used to ride me back in the days when I worked a nine-to-five job. She doesn’t have a clue. I promise you. She wouldn’t deign to read my work. I only changed her name and her career.

So…have you ever tried to tell a story about someone and changed basic facts to protect the identity of the guilty…ahem, I mean, innocent?

About the Author:

DARYL WOOD GERBER writes the nationally bestselling Cookbook Nook Mystery series featuring a cookbook store owner who is an avid reader and admitted foodie, set on the coast of California.  As AVERY AAMES, she pens the Agatha Award-winning, nationally bestselling Cheese Shop Mystery series featuring a cheese shop owner amateur sleuth, set in the fictional town of Providence, Ohio. Daryl’s short stories have been nominated for the Agatha, Anthony, and other awards. Fun tidbit: as an actress, Daryl has appeared in “Murder, She Wrote” and more.

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Someone is cheesed off . . .

Providence, Ohio, is celebrating Valentine’s Day with weeklong events, including lovers’ baskets with heart-shaped cheeses at Fromagerie Bessette. Charlotte Bessette is celebrating by finally walking down the aisle with the man of her dreams, handsome artisanal cheese farmer, Jordan Pace. But when a beloved bar owner is discovered murdered on Jordan’s farm, he believes they should reschedule their wedding given the grim turn of events.

Charlotte is heartsick over the postponement. This killer crossed the wrong woman. No one, but no one, is ruining her wedding plans!

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Jennifer’s Review of As Gouda As Dead

Review (4.5 Stars): This is the sixth book in the Cheese Shop mystery series and this is one of my favorite mystery series out there.  In this book, Charlotte is marrying her boyfriend, Jordan and while she is excited to finally be walking down the aisle, things take a dark turn when the body of her friend, Tim, is discovered on Jordan’s farm. I have loved these characters since the beginning and I was very sad to say goodbye to one of them.  As Gouda As Dead is a wonderful addition to this mystery series and each book feels as though you are spending time with good friends.  The mystery was engaging and complex and I have to say that I couldn’t guess who the killer was until Charlotte found out.  The recipes included in this mystery are to die for and I can’t wait to try to recreate some of them myself. Ms. Aames is a master storyteller and I’m looking forward to reading more about Charlotte in the future.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a copy of As Gouda As Dead. This giveaway is for US Residents only.  To be entered in the drawing by February 12th, please leave me a comment below:

Guest Post

by Sheila Connolly

I’m amazed to find that I’ve been writing for 14 years now, although I didn’t have a published book to hold until 2008. I had no idea what I was doing when I started writing—I just jumped in. But I always knew I wanted to write about Ireland.

The second book I ever completed was a sweet romance set in West Cork. I hadn’t even dabbled in mystery at that point, but it was the setting that came first: a small pub in a small town on the coast in a far corner of the country. The real place was called Connolly’s. It must have been fate, right?

I found it by accident the first time my family and I traveled to Ireland, mainly looking for where my father’s family had come from. We allowed all of one week for that trip, and part of that was spent in Dublin, so we moved fast. I had done enough research to know that my father’s father’s family had come from someplace north of a village called Leap (which it’s pronounced “lep”—it got its name from O’Donovan’s Leap, where one of the head men of the village escaped pursuing Englishmen by urging his horse to leap over a small river there. He and his horse survived, and the village got its name.)

We rented a car and pulled into the village (one street, population 210) in the pouring rain, late in the afternoon. We hadn’t made reservations, but we found a B&B with a room, and ate dinner at the local hotel. And when we made our way to the main road the next (sunny!) morning, there was the pub, across the road. Of course we went over and introduced ourselves, and I’ve been going back ever since.

In Buried in a Bog, the first book in the County Cork series, I used the setting of the pub and the town, and then dipped into all the genealogy I’d done on my own family. Then I threw in a body. Where better to solve mysteries than in a pub, where everyone stops in to talk at one time or another? But there’s one problem with writing murder mysteries set in Ireland: there are very few murders. Worse, for most of those that happen, the local police (or gardai in Irish) have a pretty good idea who did the deed. Not a lot of detective work needed!

Actually, Buried in a Bog involves two murders: one that took place a long ago, and a mugging gone wrong in the present—but they’re connected. The second book, Scandal in Skibbereen, brings an American curator to the corner of the country hunting for a lost painting she isn’t even sure exists, and someone dies. Related? It’s not clear, but it was events in the past that led to the truth about the present death.

The third book, An Early Wake, is about music in the pub. When most people say “music” and “Ireland” in the same breath, they’re thinking about the traditional style, the Clancy Brothers and the like, with tin whistles and fiddles. But there’s more to it than that—think about U2 or the Cranberries or more recently, Glen Hansard (who wrote the Academy Award winning song Falling Slowly from Once). Irish music lives on in the modern world—and in West Cork, a lot of it happened at Connolly’s (and, yes, Glen Hansard played there). It’s hard to believe when you look at the place, which has all of two rooms that hold (legally) only 200 people, but it was a major attraction up until the last decade, and people still remember.

And that’s what I wanted to capture in An Early Wake. How did that happen, at that time and in that place? How did the word get out, before the Internet? My protagonist Maura Donovan is struggling to figure out a way to keep the pub she’s inherited in the black, so she lets herself be persuaded to try a night of music bringing together some of the players who’d performed there in the past, because local people who remember the old glory days promise her it can happen again. Unfortunately, one of the former performers dies. And once again, the police have to look at the past and the present to understand the death.

There is always a temptation to write about Ireland as though it is all about men in tweed caps with a foaming pint of Guinness in one hand, spinning stories for friends and tourists alike with a charming brogue, with rainbows overhead and sheep frolicking in the very green meadows. I won’t say that’s not true—now and then. But Ireland is both a modern country (with very real modern problems) and a place with long memories of a less than happy past. I try to weave these together in a way that makes the place come alive, in more than one dimension. So I go and I sit in pubs and I listen, and I talk to strangers, and stories drop into my lap. There’s a bit of magic there.

That’s what I fell in love with, the first time I saw Ireland. That’s why I keep going back, and why I write this series.

About the Author:

Sheila Connolly, Anthony and Agatha Award–nominated author, writes three bestselling cozy mystery series for Berkley Prime Crime. Her Museum Mysteries are based in Philadelphia, her Orchard Mysteries take place in rural Massachusetts, and her County Cork Mysteries are set in Ireland, and include Buried in a Bog and Scandal in Skibbereen, both New York Times bestsellers. In addition, she writes an paranormal romance series, which began with Relatively Dead in 2013. She has also published Once She Knew, a romantic suspense, and Reunion with Death, a traditional mystery set in Tuscany, as well as a number of short stories. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and three cats, and visits Ireland as often as she can.

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Jennifer’s Review of An Early Wake

Review (3.75 Stars): I’m sad to say that I haven’t read the other books in the series but that doesn’t take away from this enjoyable mystery.  I liked Maura as a character and the other colorful cast of characters in this series.  Ms. Connolly does a great job describing the Irish countryside and makes me as a reader want to spend some time at Sullivan’s Pub, having a drink and listening to the Billy’s tales.

This mystery dealt with music and Maura learning that Sullivan’s Pub used to be a big part of the music scene in the 90’s, where quite a few people still remember the jam sessions that took place there.  When they find the body of a musician after reviving the jam sessions at the Pub, Maura must find a killer before they silence the music for good. This subject matter always interests me and I love all the research that Ms. Connolly had to do to make this mystery come to life. An Early Wake is a charming musical mystery with delightful characters and set in the magical Irish countryside that will be sure to entertain readers.  I’m looking forward to starting the series from the very beginning so I can learn all about Maura’s previous adventures in the lovely town of County Cork, Ireland.

Giveaway

Guest Post

by Lucy Arlington

People often ask me if I use real people as my characters. Some ask with a bit of a grin and sly wink, as if to say, “You could use me, if you wish.” The answer is always no, and often receives a disappointed sigh from the person who asked. But using real people as characters could be libelous. And while everyone has some interesting aspects to their lives and/or personalities, fictional characters need a ton of fascinating traits to really hold readers’ attention. So, what I like to do is ‘borrow’ a few of those attributes from the people around me and merge them into my fictional characters.

For example, the lady who lives down the road and wakes at the crack of dawn every spring day to painstakingly clip the yellow heads off dandelions in her yard—all million gazillion of them—well, I find her fascinating. What motivates her behavior? (Besides the fact that she doesn’t like dandelions.) What type of person has the tenacity, or perhaps the compulsiveness, to do such a thing? What other compulsions might she have? And how does she feel about the guy who lives next door to her with the field of weeds, all turning to seed, and blowing into her yard? Man, I bet he drives her crazy. How crazy, I wonder. Enough to push her over the edge? Voila, there’s a story, and all as a result of a single interesting character trait pushed to the max! Even so, I would never put my actual neighbor in a book. Especially not that one–she might recognize herself and try to deadhead me!

However, all my characters are derived, in one way or another, from real people. Because in order to give my fictional people realistic behaviors, I need to collect mannerisms, idiosyncrasies and, yes, even odd quirks from the people around me. Am I worried that someone might recognize themselves in my writing? Nope. The good thing is, fictional characters always morph into something bigger than reality. They’re better looking and in better shape than real people—his T-shirt stretched tautly over his well-defined, muscular torso. They’re braver than real people—without reservation, she entered the dark, snake-infested basement in search of the escaped convict. And they’re always twice as sensual as anyone I know in real life—you don’t need an example to know what I mean here. The characters become the people we want to be like, or the heroes we’d love to meet, or the villians we would willingly kill off ourselves! Through careful observation and creative packaging, I take traits from those around me and spin them into realistic characters, albeit a bit bigger-than-life, who hopefully will both resonate with readers as real and yet be complex and interesting enough to be worth following.

For instance, consider Lila Wilkins, a literary agent who finds herself not only engrossed in the mystery books she vets for her agency, but also in the lives—and murderous traumas—surrounding both her would-be writers and bestsellers authors. Each character is complex and quirky, from her tarot card reading mother, known as The Amazing Althea, to her New York transplant of a boss, Bentley Burlington–Duke, founder and president of Novel Idea Literary Agency. If you’d like to meet Lila and learn more about my latest characters, check out Played by the Book, the fourth novel in the Novel Idea Mystery series. In it, when a popular TV garden show host comes to town to promote his upcoming book for Lila’s agency, the garden club women are swooning—but one ends up also clobbered with a garden spade! The book is chock-full of all-too-real characters, bucolic garden themes and, unfortunately, an evasive murderer.  What you won’t find, however, is a crazy dandelion lady. I promise.

About the Author:

Writing under the pseudonym of Lucy Arlington, author Susan Furlong is pleased to announce that Played by the Book is currently available on the shelves of your local bookstore and library, Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, Powell’s and just about everywhere else.

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The owner of the Novel Idea Literary Agency is thrilled when former local boy and popular television show host Damian York returns to Inspiration Valley, North Carolina, to launch his new gardening book. But Lila is less than excited about the hubbub when she sees her mounting to-do list. Between planning York’s gala and sprucing up her yard for another event, she’s spread too thin—especially after she finds a skull buried in her flowerbeds.

As Lila’s macabre discovery leads to other secrets hidden in Inspiration Valley’s past, a member of the local garden club is found slumped over her prize roses—murdered. Now it’s up to Lila to dig through old mysteries and new clues to unearth a murderer before someone else is found pushing up daisies…

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Jennifer’s Review of Played By The Book

Review (4.5): Lila Wilkins is helping to organize a garden party to celebrate the launch of the new book by popular author, Damian York. Part of this event includes having Lila’s unfinished garden be a part of the garden walk and when Lila decides to spruce up her garden, she finds a human skull in her backyard. To make matters worse, a member of the local garden club is found dead and Lila must put together the clues to solve the mystery before another body ends up in the backyard.

This is the fourth book in the Novel Idea mystery series and I think that these mysteries are a breath of fresh air.  Ms. Arlington has created a series that you just can’t get enough of with clever plot twists and turns that will keep a seasoned mystery reader guessing. Lila has definitely grown as a character and I feel bad that everyone calls her a “murder magnet.” She handles each mystery with skill and ease and Played By The Book is in a class above the rest.  She experiences a bunch of bumps in her romantic relationship over the course of this book but I’m happy to say that everything worked out perfectly by the end.  Looking forward to book number five where there will be some exciting events in Lila’s future.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a copy of Played By The Book. This giveaway is for US Residents only.  To be entered in the drawing by February 10th, please leave me a comment below: