Tag: canine cozy

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#MidweekMystery: Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder by V. M. Burns

Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder

When Maddy Montgomery’s groom is a no-show to their livestream wedding, it’s a disaster that no amount of filtering can fix. But a surprise inheritance offers a chance to regroup and rebrand—as long as Maddy is willing to live in her late, great-aunt Octavia’s house in New Bison, Michigan, for a year, running her bakery and caring for a 250-pound English mastiff named Baby.

Maddy doesn’t bake, and her Louboutins aren’t made for walking giant dogs around Lake Michigan, but the locals are friendly and the scenery is beautiful. With help from her aunt’s loyal friends, aka the Baker Street Irregulars, Maddy feels ready to tackle any challenge, including Octavia’s award-winning cake recipes. That is, until New Bison’s mayor is fatally stabbed, and Maddy’s fingerprints are found on the knife . . .

Something strange is going on in New Bison. It seems Aunt Octavia had her suspicions, too. But Maddy’s going to need a whole lot more than a trending hashtag to save her reputation—and her life.

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About the Author

Valerie (V. M.) Burns is the author of the Mystery Bookshop Mystery series. Her first book, The Plot is Murder, was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best Debut Novel. She is the author of the Dog Club Mystery Series, the RJ Franklin Mysteries, a three-time finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and an Edgar Award-nominated short story. Her newest series, Baker Street Mysteries, will release later this year, and her Pet Detective Mystery series will release in 2023. Valerie is on the board of Sisters in Crime and the Southeastern Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. She is also a member of Dog Writers of America, Crime Writers of Color, and International Thriller Writers. She is a manager for a Fortune 100 company and a mentor in the Writing Popular Fiction Program at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA. Born and raised in northwestern Indiana, Valerie currently lives in the southeastern United States with her two poodles. Readers can visit her website at vmburns.com.

Author Links

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/v-m-burns

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vmburnsbooks/

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16534140.V_M_Burns

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vmburnsbooks/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/vmburns

Website:  vmburns.com

Purchase Links

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#MidweekMystery Charleston Conundrum by Stacy Wilder

A cozy mystery with a twist! Charleston Conundrum, a Liz Adams Mystery, is available now.

Liz’s life is upended when her best friend, Peg, is murdered and she becomes a suspect.Liz’s gun was the murder weapon. Tensions flare between Liz and the cops as she rises to the top of their suspect list.

At the request of Peg’s father, Liz agrees to take on the investigation. Riding a roller coaster of emotions, Liz uncovers many secrets Peg kept from her despite their being best friends. The suspects include a cast of characters: the ex-husband, the boyfriend, a coworker, several neighbors, and family members.

Charleston Conundrum takes the reader from Charleston, South Carolina, to Paris and back in an emotional unraveling of Peg’s life and death, and culminates in a killer ending.

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About the Author

Stacy Wilder

Stacy writes mysteries, children’s stories, short stories, and poetry. Her debut novel, Charleston Conundrum, is the first in the Conundrum mystery series.
Stacy’s mission is to deliver a delightful story to readers of all ages while benefiting a larger community. She donates a portion of the proceeds from the sales of her books to causes that support wildlife conservation, and the homeless, both people and pets. A portion of the proceeds from Charleston Conundrum are donated to National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
As well as writing, Stacy is passionate about her faith, family, Labradors, the causes that she supports, the beach, art, and reading books.
She and her husband live in Houston, Texas with a totally spoiled Labrador retriever, Eve.
Author Links
Website – www.storystacy.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/wilderstacy
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/authorstacywilder/
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j63f0qJdJYE
Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Google – Blue Willow Bookshop – Murder by the Book ‘.

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#MidweekMystery Dressed Up 4 Murder by J.C. Eaton

Dressed Up 4 Murder

Last one standing is the winner . . .

The holiday season has arrived and bookkeeper/amateur sleuth, Sophie “Phee” Kimball, would love nothing more than to enjoy the comforts of her new home with her detective boyfriend near Arizona’s Sun City West. Instead, her mother Harriet wants to showcase her chiweenie-chihuahua-dachshund Streetman in the Precious Pooches Holiday Extravaganza costume events. The festivities begin in October and end on St. Patrick’s Day—with the winner starring in the St. Pat’s Day parade. But things quickly turn an awful shade of green when Streetman uncovers a dead body under a tarp-covered grill in the neighbor’s yard.

The victim is Cameron Tully, a seafood distributor working out of Phoenix, who died from ingesting a toxic sago palm leaf. Before the police can even find a motive and suspect, another Precious Pooch owner nearly dies from the same poison. With Harriet believing someone’s targeting her and Streetman because of the costume contests, Phee will need a potful of Irish luck to sniff out a killer . . .

a Rafflecopter giveaway
J.C. Eaton

J.C. Eaton

The Sophie Kimball Mysteries

Meet Ann and Jim, Writing as J.C. Eaton
Ann I. Goldfarb
New York native Ann I. Goldfarb spent most of her life in education, first as a classroom teacher and later as a middle school principal and professional staff developer. Writing as J. C. Eaton, along with her husband, James Clapp, they have authored the Sophie Kimball Mysteries (Kensington), The Wine Trail Mysteries (Kensington Lyrical Underground), and the Marcie Rayner Mysteries (Camel). In addition, Ann has nine published YA time travel mysteries under her own name. James E. Clapp
When James E. Clapp retired as the tasting room manager for a large upstate New York winery, he never imagined he’d be co-authoring cozy mysteries with his wife, Ann I. Goldfarb. Non-fiction in the form of informational brochures and workshop materials treating the winery industry were his forte along with an extensive background and experience in construction that started with his service in the U.S. Navy and included vocational school classroom teaching. Visit the website at www.jceatonmysteries.com and the blog at www.jceatonauthor.com
 Amazon  –  B&N  – Kobo  – Google Books  – IndieBound

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Summer Snoops Unleashed: 14 mysteries from best-selling authors. Only 99 cents!

All preorders support best lives for pets.

Includes:

  • WSJ and USA Best Selling Author Judith Lucci – The Most Glittery Crime of the Year: The Jewel Heist – An Artzy Chicks Mystery
  • WSJ and USA Today Best Selling Author Anna Celeste Burke ¬- Radical Regatta! Corsario Cove Cozy Mystery #4
  • WSJ & USA Today Best Selling Author Colleen Mooney – Fireworks, Forensics & Felonies
  • USA Today Best Selling Author Fiona Quinn – YOURS. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
  • Amazon Best Selling Author Maria Grazia Swan – Pies, Lies and a Last Goodbye
  • USA Today Best Selling Author Kelly Hashway – You Can’t Judge a Crime by its Aura
  • WSJ & USA Today Best Selling Author Kim Hunt Harris – Yankee Doodle Deadly: A Trailer Park Princess Novella
  • WSJ & USA Today Best Selling Author Susan Boles – Death in Mercy
  • Best Selling Author Amazon Lisa B. Thomas – Sharpe Pain: A Corpse in the Cabin
  • Amazon Best Selling Author Emily Selby – Death and Taxes on a Cloud
  • Amazon Best Selling Author Joanna Campbell Slan – Ruff Justice: Second Chance Adventure #5
  • WSJ and USA Today Best Selling Author Ava Mallory – High Heel Homicide: A Holly Woods Mystery Novella
  • Amazon Best Selling Author Chelsea Thomas – A Knead to Kill
  • WSJ and USA Today Best Selling Author Sam Cheever – Spunky Bumpkin

Preorder now | Release Date July 23

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Support no-kill animal charities and get 12 mysteries from best-selling authors. Only 99 cents!

All profits from this pack go to support NO KILL animal charities! Fetch it now! And help us help pets!
‘Summer Snoops and Cozy Crimes’ includes never before published books from

  • WSJ Bestselling Author Judith Lucci – Gawd Almighty & the Corn
  • WSJ Bestselling Author Cindy Bell – Murder at Pawprint Creek
  • WSJ Bestselling Author Colleen Mooney – Dog Gone and Dead
  • USA Today and WSJ Bestselling Author Amy Vansant – Summer Teeth
  • WSJ Bestselling Author Colleen Helme – A Midsummer Night’s Murder
  • WSJ Bestselling Author Kim Hunt Harris – The Murder of Bandera Bandito
  • USA Today Bestselling Author Anna Celeste Burke – A Body on Fitzgerald’s Bluff
  • Ava Mallory – A Dream Stray-Cation
  • Sandi Scott – Croquembouche Murder
  • Susan Boles – Death on the Beach
  • USA Today Bestselling Author Sam Cheever – Toxic Tech
  • Anne R. Tan – Just Lost and Found

Bonus recipes from the authors are included!

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Pawprints and Predicaments: Author Interview with Bethany Blake

Win 1 Set of the Lucky Paws Petsitting Mysteries and some swag! U.S. ONLY

The Tail Waggin’ Winterfest is the highlight of the season in the famously pet-friendly Pocono Mountains town of Sylvan Creek. But despite attractions like an ice sculpture display, a dogsled race, and gourmet hot chocolate, Daphne Templeton finds herself annoyed by TV producer Lauren Savidge, who’s filming the festivities. She’s critical, controlling, and as chilly as the January air. Daphne would like to tell her to go jump in a lake—and as a matter of fact, that’s exactly what they’re both going to do . . .

It’s the first-ever polar bear plunge in Lake Wallapawakee, and Daphne and Lauren are among the eighty or so people who charge into the frigid water to raise funds for animals in need. Daphne makes it back to shore—with the help of a mysterious St. Bernard—but Lauren is dragged out stone cold dead. Now, with her trusty basset hound Socrates at her side, Daphne intends to assist Detective Jonathan Black in his investigation—whether he wants her to or not . . .
Includes recipes for homemade pet treats!

Interview with Bethany Blake

Bethany, thanks for stopping by Island Confidential! Can you tell us a little bit about your protagonist Daphne?
Daphne Templeton holds a doctorate in philosophy, but she’s content working as a pet sitter in the quaint town of Sylvan Creek, Pennsylvania. She loves to travel, but she’s increasingly setting down roots in her hometown. She drives an unreliable VW bus, bakes for pets and people, and solves crimes with her basset hound sidekick, Socrates.
Would you get along with Daphne if you met her in real life?
I would love Daphne, because she has a big heart. She’s hugely loyal to her family and friends, and she loves life.
Are you and Daphne anything alike? 
We are similar in that I also hold a doctorate that I’ve never used, and I once owned a small pet sitting business. I’m also kind of disorganized. But I’m a worrier, while Daphne charges through life pretty fearlessly.
Do your characters change and evolve throughout consecutive books in the series?
Yes! Daphne starts out being very reckless and irresponsible. Maybe too reckless and irresponsible. As the series continues, she becomes more thoughtful and sets down roots. On the flipside, Detective Jonathan Black is initially very rigid and protective of his emotions and his past. As he and Daphne battle to solve crimes, he learns to loosen up, and he slowly reveals the truth about his time as a Navy SEAL—and the secret that compelled him to leave the military.
How realistic is your setting? Do you take liberties, or are you true to life?
Sylvan Creek is based very closely on my hometown of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. I lived in the apartment that Daphne’s best friend, Moxie Bloom, “occupies” in the novel, and there’s a park with creek that rambles past a gazebo. Those are just a few of the similarities. But I’ve added a lot of fun things to Sylvan Creek, like some amazing restaurants that don’t actually exist in Lewisburg.
When the movie or TV series is made, who plays the major parts?
Keri Russell has Daphne’s curly hair and quirky vibe. I honestly can’t pick an actor to play Jonathan Black. No one quite has the mix of intensity and humor. I am open to suggestions!

What’s the best and worst advice you’ve heard or received as an author?
The best advice I received was to join groups like Mystery Writers of America and Romance Writers of America. They provide information, support and opportunities for networking. I don’t know that I’ve ever received truly bad advice. My network of friends and family have always encouraged me to keep going. As long as you have that, I think you’re okay.
 

About the author


Bethany Blake lives in a small, quaint town in Pennsylvania with her husband and three daughters. When she’s not writing or riding horses, she’s wrangling a menagerie of furry family members that includes a nervous pit bull, a fearsome feline, a blind goldfish, and an attack cardinal named Robert. Like Daphne Templeton, the heroine of her Lucky Paws Mysteries, Bethany holds a Ph.D. and operates a pet sitting business called Barkley’s Premium Pet Care.

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Character Interview: Rory Chasen, owner of the Lucky Dog Boutique

Rory Chasen, manager of the Lucky Dog Boutique in Destiny, California, hopes her new line of good-luck doggy toys will be a hit, especially the stuffed rabbits with extra-large feet. The timing of the line’s debut proves ill-fated, though, as several local shops—including Rory’s—are ransacked and vandalized with spilled salt and other unlucky charms.


The most likely culprit is disgruntled real estate agent Flora Curtival, whose issues with the town give her a motive. But when Flora is murdered and one of Rory’s toy rabbits is found with the body, Rory needs all the luck she can get while trying to determine just who killed the superstitious vandal. 

Q: Rory, thanks for stopping by Island Confidential. Why not tell our readers a little bit about yourself–maybe something they might not guess?
My name is Rory Chasen, and my stories are being told in the Superstition Mysteries,.  I’m still not sure how I feel about that, but if it helps other people learn to deal with superstitions, whether or not they actually cause the effects they’re reputed to, well, that’s okay with me.
I don’t think it will be surprising to readers, but I’ve always enjoyed pets, most especially dogs.  That was why I happen to own, or be owned by, my spaniel-terrier mix Pluckie, whom I found out was actually good luck, since she’s a black and white dog.  Before I moved to Destiny, California, I worked in a chain pet store, so I arrived here with most of the skills I needed to manage the Lucky Dog Boutique, which is what I do now.
One thing that readers might not know was that I was a fairly ordinary person when it came to superstitions, before my beloved fiancé Warren walked under a ladder and was killed by a car right afterwards.  I did the usual things of crossing fingers and knocking on wood, almost without thinking.  And now?  Every time I do either of those things, or engage in any other superstitious behavior, I think about it a lot!
Q: Who’s the character you get along with the best? Why?
Once again I don’t think what I’m about to say will be surprising to readers, but the person in my stories that I get along with best is Justin Halbertson, the Destiny Chief of Police.  We’ve been getting closer…. Also, I certainly get along well with Gemma Grayfield, my bff, who’s moved to Destiny partially to hang out with me.
Q:  Which other character do you have a conflict with? Why?
Ah… that’s a pretty strange thing and might juice up my superstitious agnosticism.  It seems as if the people here in superstitious Destiny who’ve rubbed me the wrong way end up dead.  That happens even when I’m not the main murder suspect, as I am in my latest adventure UNLUCKY CHARMS.
I suppose if I had to name a person I sometimes have trouble with here who’s still around, that’s probably Mayor Bevin Dermot.  He is so pro-Destiny that sometimes he does or says things that he may believe are in the best interests of the town, but I don’t always agree with him.
Q:  Just between you and me: What do you really think of your author?
Who–Linda O. Johnston?  She’s wonderful in many ways, since she tells my stories so well.  On the other hand–well, since I’ve become just a bit superstitious, I wonder if it’s a good idea for her to be telling the whole world about all of this.  Could it bring me bad luck?  Could it bring herbad luck?
Q: What’s next for you?
Actually, I’m not sure.  I hope to continue my wonderful life in Destiny with all my friends, most especially Justin.  I’m not currently anticipating any more murders, and therefore there may be no additional books about me.  But who knows?  Even thinking such a thing could jinx me in the universe, so maybe I’ll have more adventures sometime in the future.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Linda O. Johnston’s first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the year.   Since then, Linda, a former lawyer who is now a full-time writer, has published more short stories, novellas, and 38 romance and mystery novels, including the Pet Rescue Mystery Series, a spinoff from her Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime, and Harlequin Romantic Suspense as well as the Alpha Force paranormal romance miniseries for Harlequin Nocturne.  She additionally writes the Superstition Mysteries for Midnight Ink.
 
Author Links:
Webpage:  www.LindaOJohnston.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaOJohnston
Purchase Links:
Amazon  | B&N
 

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