Tag: cozy mystery

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Interview: Fall Into Crime

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Summaries of Short Stories in Happy Homicides 4: Fall IntoCrime happy-homicides-fall

  • Joanna Campbell Slan / Vendetta: A Cara Mia Delgatto Mystery – The House of Refuge on Gilbert’s Bar is known for its 150-year history as a way station for shipwrecked sailors. But when Cara Mia visits, the museum becomes the scene of acrime.
  • Linda Gordon Hengerer / Dying for School Tea: A Beach Tea Shop Novella – Chelsea Powell and her sisters are providing treats for Citrus Beach High School’s freshman orientation. Can they solve the murder of the beloved softball coach before someone else dies?
  • Carole W. Price / The Glass Birdhouse – Will Bella find clues to Fawn Daniel’s death in her unfinished glass birdhouse?
  • Lesley Diehl / Bobbing for Murder – A visit from Darcie’s family is always chaotic, and this time the relatives bamboozle Darcie into having a Halloween party. Will that decision come back to haunt her?
  • Nancy Jill Thames / Raven House – When reporter Karla Wilson is murdered after the Raven House Ball, will Jillian Bradley and her Yorkie Teddy uncover the killer and unleash Karla’s secrets?
  • Teresa Trent / Falling for Murder – Helpful hints columnist Betsy Livingston is an expert at household organization but her skills are put to the test when she’s called upon to conduct an efficiency review for a haunted house.
  • Maggie Toussaint / Dead Men Tell Tales – In this third installment of the Lindsey & Ike romantic mystery novella series, things don’t add up after a suspicious hunting accident. The more Sheriff Ike Harper and newspaper editor Lindsey McKay dig, the more questions they find. Will a dead man tell tales?
  • Anna Celeste Burke / All Hallow’s Eve Heist – When a shooter decides to pick off patrons at Marvelous Marley World, publicist Georgie Shaw gets stuck mopping up the mess. Can she also track down the culprit?
  • Randy Rawls / Accident, Suicide, or Murder – Retired policeman Jonathan Boykin’s primary interest is improving his golf game. Aaron Dunniker, his golfing partner, refers him to Homer Whittaker to investigate the death of Whittaker’s son. Young Whittaker died after a fall from an eleventh floor balcony during a Halloween party. The police investigated, but could not determine the cause: Accident, Suicide, or Murder. Are Jonathan’s detecting skills par for the course or will he miss the cut?
  • Nancy J. Cohen / Haunted Hair Nights – As the new stepmother to a teenage Brianna, hairstylist Marla hopes to win brownie points by helping out her daughter with a haunted house project. Marla has her work cut out for her when she stumbles over a corpse.
  • Terry Ambrose / Spirit in the Rock – Wilson McKenna dreams that Kimu, his ghost-advisor, is trapped in a museum display case. Kimu was McKenna’s best friend’s great-grandfather, dead now for over a decade. The only way McKenna can save him is to find a killer and solve the mystery of who stole the Spirit in the Rock.
  • Deborah Sharp / Haunting in Himmarshee – When a ghost comes to call, Mace must sort out the haunted from the homicidal in Himmarshee, Florida.

 

Q: Aloha Joanna, and welcome back to Island Confidential. Congratulations on the new collection! Can you tell us a little about the protagonist of Vendetta?

A:  Cara Mia Delgatto has been a “good girl” most of her life, except for when it comes to love—and for those, she’s paid a high price. When her parents die within six months of each other and her son goes away to college, Cara decides it’s time to get a life…a real life of her own. A road trip gone wrong leads her to impulsively snatch up an abandoned building in Central Florida. Except it isn’t exactly abandoned. It comes with a fresh corpse. Despite that bump in the carpet, or perhaps because of it, Cara manages to open a business, The Treasure Chest, a store that features upcycled, recycled, and repurposed home décor items with a coastal vibe. And of course, you can’t run a retail business alone, so Cara gathers around her a cast of interesting women who become her best friends.

Q: How much of you is in Cara?  How would you feel about her if you met her in real life?

A: I would adore Cara. She and I have a lot in common. We both love to turn trash into treasure, and we both love the Florida coast. Like Cara, I get by with a lot of help from my girlfriends. They comfort, nurture, and occasionally slap me up the side of the head.

Q: Do your characters change and evolve throughout consecutive books in the series?

A: Yes. In the first book Tear Down and Die, which is free at a variety of sources, see http://bit.ly/teardownanddie), Cara is struggling to find herself. Although she’s always been crafty, she doesn’t recognize her talents. She’s far too sure of her business mind, and not nearly trusting enough of her creative self. Also, she has come to believe she’ll never find the right man.

Q: Have you ever thought of killing someone that you know in real life–on the pages of a murder mystery, I mean?

A:  I do that all the time. Really, that’s half the fun, isn’t it? I often say, “People who kill people—on paper—are the happiest people in the world.”

Q: How realistic is your setting? Do you take liberties, or are you true to life?

A: Unfortunately, too realistic. I chose to use my home area, The Treasure Coast. That occasionally means I need to do heavy research or modulate what I write. The pay-off is that readers tell me they’ve traveled to the area and checked out the restaurants and spots in my books. That’s very gratifying, because it allows me to share what I love. I happen to live on a very exclusive island, home to Tiger Woods, Celine Dion, and many billionaires. My Florida readers get a peek at this unusual spot.

Q: What’s the worst and best advice you’ve heard or received as an author?

A:  The worst was a book doctor who told me ordinary people are boring. They aren’t. The best was when Wendy Corsi Staub told me that the best marketing tool was another book. What she didn’t say, but I now know, is that the more you write the better you get.

About Joanna
National bestselling and award-winning author Joanna Campbell Slan welcomes your emails! You can contact her at [email protected] with your comments and questions.
Joanna
National bestselling and award-winning author Joanna Campbell Slan has written 30 books, including both fiction and non-fiction works. Her first non-fiction book, Using Stories and Humor: Grab Your Audience, was endorsed by Toastmasters International and lauded by Benjamin Netanyahu’s speechwriter. She’s the author of three mystery series. Her first novel—Paper, Scissors, Death (Kiki Lowenstein Mystery #1) –was shortlisted for the Agatha Award. Recently she released Glue, Baby, Gone (Kiki Lowenstein Mystery #12).  Her first historical mystery—Death of a Schoolgirl: The Jane Eyre Chronicles—won the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence. Her contemporary series set in Florida continues this year with All Washed Up (Cara Mia Delgatto Mystery #3). In addition to writing fiction, she edits the Happy Homicides Anthologies and has begun the Dollhouse Décor & More series of “how to” books for dollhouse miniaturists.  Recently, one of her short stories was accepted for inclusion in the prestigious Chesapeake Crimes: Fur, Feathers, and Felonies anthology. When she isn’t banging away at the keyboard, Joanna keeps busy walking her Havanese puppy Jax and watching her family’s League of Legends Team Apex on Twitch. Her husband, David, owns Steinway Piano Gallery-DC, so he provides the class in the family while she figures out how to turn trash into treasure.
In her ongoing quest never to see snow again, Joanna lives with her husband and their Havanese puppy, Jax, on an island off the coast of Florida.

 

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Character Guest Post, book and #GiftCard #Giveaway: Gnarly New Year

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The honeymoon’s not over yet!

Kim and Brien’s excellent adventure at the swanky Sanctuary Resort & Spa continues when an unwelcome visitor drops in on New Year’s Eve.
 


An elusive marine GPS device found and lost again, unleashes another wave of murder and mayhem in Corsario Cove! What is it about that thing? Will the secret be revealed when they visit the chamber of heinousness? Stooges, Krugerrands, and monks—oh my! Is it going to be a Gnarly New Year for Kim and Brien?
Character Guest Post: Truth or Chore? 
Brien and Kim are back from their honeymoon. They’re not in Corsario Cove but out in the California desert where they met. It’s a balmy evening in January on the patio of the condo they rent. The moon is shining, the palm trees are swaying, and they’re lingering over a cold beer and a platter of nachos.
~~~~~
Brien: “These are awesome nachos, even without the beef.”
Kim: “Gracias, Dude. I’ve been getting tips from St. Bernadette so I can better perform my wifely cooking chores.”
Brien: “Too bad you don’t cook every night. You’re way better at it than I am, even without Bernadette’s tips. Maybe I should ask her for help, too.”
Kim: “Sure, you could do that. Nachos aren’t that hard to fix. Heck, it’s hardly even cooking. Especially if you leave out the barbacoa or carne asada you carnivores love so much.”
Brien: “Like the ones we had that night we met. Those were epic nachos.”
Kim: “That’s what you remember about the night we met—the nachos?”
Brien: “Not just the nachos. It’s my turn to ask you questions, though. Truth or chore: what do you remember?”
Kim: “It was an evening a lot like this one—gorgeous lounging on the Huntington’s patio overlooking the swimming pool and golf course. I remember being nearly knocked out by that house Jessica’s dad had designed and built. It’s a work of art. When I worked for Mr. P, he had an enormous house up in the Hollywood Hills. That one was dark and sinister—like a holdover from a gothic horror movie set. He was so impressed that it had once been owned by a dead monster movie mogul. Complete with secret rooms and passage ways. Creepy. How did I get on this topic?”
Brien: “Uh, you were talking about meeting me for the first time. My memories of nachos are way better than your memories of creeps!”
Kim: “Jessica’s house triggered those memories, not you. Give me a break. It’s still a little hard for me to open up about mushy stuff like feelings, Brien. You must know that about me.”
Brien: “I do.”
Kim: “So, truth—no chore. I wasn’t just knocked about by that house. You wowed me, too, Moondoggie.”
Brien: “I thought you were a knockout, too. I tried not to stare at you in front of the Cat Pack but whoa, that tattoo of yours was so hot!”
Kim: “My tattoo? That’s what grabbed you about me—my Saraswati tattoo?”
Brien: “I didn’t know she was Saraswati, or that she was a goddess. She was beautiful, like you. Your face and that smokin’ hot body of yours. What did you like about me? Truth or chore.”
Kim: “Okay, truth. You do have a bodacious body, as you surfer dudes like to say. I was totally in awe. I’m not even sure I could hear what you were saying, Brien. You didn’t say much did you?”
Brien: “Nah, I was tongue-twisted.”
Kim: “Tongue-tied is what you mean, right?”
Brien: “Probably. You were quiet that night, too.”
Kim: “I still am, but not like then. I didn’t like being around a lot of people. All those awful parties I had to go to working for Mr. P.  At least I didn’t run off to a corner and hide that night at Jessica’s house.”
Bien: “I wouldn’t have let you go off by yourself, Kim. Truth or chore: was it love at first sight?”
Kim: “Truth. I don’t believe in love at first sight. Let’s just say I felt a strong attraction to you.”
Brien: “That’s fair. I’d have to say it was hard to figure out if it was love or not with all that animal magnetism between us.”
Kim: “Yes, that’s a perfect way of putting it. You also made me nervous—maybe because I was fighting off that attraction. Besides, I didn’t want to get involved with anyone.”
Brien: “Yeah, I could tell that, Kim. That’s why I didn’t push it. From what you and Jessica went through with Mr. P and the Doc, it couldn’t have been good hanging with those bogus guys—and you did that for years. I felt bad for you. Sometimes, though, I thought it was me you didn’t like.”
Kim: “You irritated me. I didn’t understand that when you’re nervous instead of hiding in a corner or clamming up like me, you talk. The more anxious you get the more you say, and that’s when you make mistakes. Truth: that drove me up the wall at first.”
Brien: “Malapropisms—you told me all about that. What changed?”
Kim: “Later one night when you drove me home. We were alone and you were quiet, except for a question or two. Something simple, like how are you doing? The way you said it—the way you often say things—was so sincere. I remember feeling safe answering you honestly. That surprised me.”
Brien: “That night changed things for me, too, Kim. We were friends after that.”
Kim: “Yes, friends. And I wanted to see you again. Just you, without that crowd around. That’s why I said yes right away when you asked me to go with you to the 60’s beach movie film festival.”
Brien: “Truth or chore: when did you realize it was love?”
Kim: “Soon. You became my dream date—my very own Moondoggie. Was that ever a shock. It took me a while longer to deal with it. Then one night you called me Gidget. That’s when I knew you were on to me.”
Brien: “I was—at least I hoped I was since I was in deep by then.”
Kim: “Me too, even though I still couldn’t say I love you.”
Brien: “You had to hear it from me first. Not quite love at first sight, huh?”
Kim: “Close enough, Moondoggie.”
Brien: “One more question. Truth or chore: Do you want me to take that job and move with me to Corsario Cove or not?”
Kim: “Um, it’s going to have to be a chore.”
Brien: “You won’t tell me the truth?”
Kim: “I can’t, because I haven’t figured what that the truth is yet. Maybe we should take that second honeymoon, then make a decision.”
~~~~~
Will Kim & Brien leave Palm Springs, their friends and their jobs behind? Stay tuned for their next adventure to find out.  
 

About The Author

Anna Celeste Burke is an award-winning and bestselling author who enjoys snooping into life’s mysteries with fun, fiction, & food—California style! Her books include the Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery series set in the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs, the Corsario Cove Cozy Mystery series set on California’s Central Coast, and The Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery series set in Orange County, California–the OC. Coming soon: The Misadventures of Betsy Stark that take place in the Coachella Valley. Find out more at http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com.
 

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Character Interview and #giveaway: Nine LiFelines, a Psycho Cat and the Landlady Mystery

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The elevator won’t go to the tenth floor, someone is breaking into condos, and the well-heeled Ukrainian renter isn’t paying the rent.


Beth and Arnie have retired to the building where Beth’s last rental unit is located, and Beth, the klutzy landlady, has declared herself through solving mysteries. Then, her renter is arrested for the murder of the neighbor who fell (was pushed?) from the tenth-story balcony and the dead neighbor’s grandchildren are left with only their wheelchair-ridden grandmother to care for them. Beth feels compelled to help out. Are Sylvester’s psycho-cat behaviors providing clues? Is the renter actually the killer? Do the break-ins and elevator problem have anything to do with the murder? Even Arnie, who has always told Beth to keep her nose out of police business, gets involved—for the sake of the children.

Today we have Beth’s sister, Meg Knells, visiting our blog. 
Q: Meg, welcome to Island Confidential! Can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself–maybe something readers might not guess?
A: You may think I’m a staid middle school teacher, but I my younger years, I was a party girl. Beth’s and my mother died when we were teenagers, and I tried to help guide my little sister. Later, I dropped out of college for a couple of years to bartend and travel. In Europe, I hitchhiked across the continent until I met my future husband, Paul, in Italy. We came home and settled down.
Q: Who’s the character you get along with the best? Why?
A: I get along with my sister, Beth, now. We’re best friends. She has an adventurous spirit. A few years ago, she flew to the Virgin Islands to find my missing stepdaughter who was accused of embezzlement. (Catastrophic Connections) Since then, I’ve helped her solve other problems.
Q:  Which other character do you have a conflict with? Why?
A: I’m not a fan of Detective Renquire. He never seems to do enough to find the real killers. Well…I mean…I guess he comes through in the end.
Q:  Just between you and me: What do you really think of your author?
A: To tell the truth, I am the result of a bit of a learning curve in Joyce Ann Brown’s mystery writing exploits. Sure, I was there as the sidekick to her sleuth, Beth Stockwell, from the beginning. But, in Nine Lifelines, her latest book in the Psycho Cat and the Landlady Mystery series, the development of the characters and the twists and turns in the plot make this her best book yet.
Q: What’s next for you?
A: Oh, I’m done helping Beth solve her mysteries. I’ve retired from school teaching and want to relax. I’m taking a quilting class and am thinking about writing a family history. Sigh…I suppose if Beth asked me, I’d be there for her. After all, she is my little sister. Her causes are compelling. I do come up with clever ideas to help gather information. Sigh…Smile.

CHAPTER 1
THE ELEVATOR
“Don’t tell me. Let me guess. We stopped on the wrong floor—again.”
Beth’s lanky husband, Arnie, his bottom half inside and his top half outside the elevator, held the Open button with one finger while he twisted his head around his grocery sack to see the number above the door in the hallway. He had pressed 10 in the lobby, and the display read 10, but the number in the hall didn’t match.
“It took us to the eighth floor this time,” Arnie said, “and there’s no one here waiting—again.” He pulled his head back inside and punched the 10, none too gently, his irritation emphasizing the wrinkles on his suntanned forehead.
“This has happened every time.” Beth shifted her bulky grocery bag to the other arm and ran her hand through her undisciplined silver-blond curls. “Don’t you think we’d better tell the management? Darn it, I’m getting tired of this.” She bumped her bag with the arm she jerked down to emphasize her words. “Oops.” Arnie caught and stabilized her load before the groceries could fall all over the elevator floor. “Thanks.”
“Sure.” Her husband took Beth’s habitual klutziness in stride.
“This problem has probably been reported,” Arnie said. “We just moved in. We don’t want to start complaining so soon.”
Beth sighed and leaned her small frame back against the wall to relieve the weight of her package. “But this is inconvenient and…and spooky and…”
She glanced through the opening from her new viewpoint just as the doors were about to snap together. With her free hand, she slapped the Open button, and the doors swooshed aside as if this unruly machine was always obedient to her every command. As if.
“Arnie, look. Something’s going on. Half the people in the building are standing in front of a door down there.” She took a step out into the hallway and crooked an index finger at Arnie.
With a skeptical frown, he followed. “Maybe they’re getting ready for an outing or something. We aren’t invited. It’s none of our business.”
“No, it looks like they’re looking at the door. Let’s go see what’s going on. We can explain we’re new to the building and accidentally got off on the wrong floor.”
“Humph. Here, give me your bag. I’m going on up. You can satisfy your curiosity without getting me involved.”
“Deal.”
Beth heard snippets of conversations as she neared the cluster of people. “Something needs to be done.” “I’m having double locks installed.” “One of these times, someone will be home, and then what will happen?”
At the edge of the noisy crowd, Beth sidled up to a young teenaged girl who was holding a phone that emitted a constant series of beeps and chirps. Sending and receiving text messages, Beth decided.  She must be telling the world, or at least her sphere of friends, about whatever was happening.
“What’s going on here?” Beth asked.
The kid, her wavy red hair half over her face, glanced sideways at Beth and then back at her phone. Somehow she kept her thumbs busy punching letters while she answered. “Another lock was picked. That old woman’s apartment got robbed.”

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 
Joyce Ann Brown, the author of the Psycho Cat and the Landlady Mystery series, set in Kansas City, was a librarian, a landlady, and a Realtor before becoming a short story and novel writer. She also has two mischievous cats.
Her actual tenants have never disappeared, murdered, or been murdered. Nor have any of them found a skeleton in the attic. Joyce has never solved a crime. Moose and Chloe, her cats, haven’t sniffed out a mystery, at least not yet.
Joyce spends her days writing (with a few breaks for tennis, walking, and book clubs) so that Beth, the landlady in the series, and Sylvester, the Psycho Cat, can make up for her real-life lack of excitement in a big way.
Author website with Blog: http://www.joyceannbrown.com
Blog: http://retirementchoicescozymystery.wordpress.com
Blog: http://hikingkctrails.wordpress.com
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/joyceannbrownauthor
Twitter: http://twitter.com/joyceannbrown1
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9858447.Joyce_Ann_Brown

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Interview and #giveaway: Lynn Cahoon, author of A Story to Kill

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A new series from the author of the Tourist Trap Mysteries!

Former English professor Cat Latimer is back in Colorado, hosting writers’ retreats in the big blue Victorian she’s inherited, much to her surprise, from none other than her carousing ex-husband! Now it’s an authors’ getaway—but Cat won’t let anyone get away with murder…
The bed-and-breakfast is open for business, and bestselling author Tom Cook is among its first guests. Cat doesn’t know why he came all the way from New York, but she’s glad to have him among the quirkier—and far less famous—attendees.
Cat’s high school sweetheart Seth, who’s fixing up the weathered home, brings on mixed emotions for Cat…some of them a little overpowering. But it’s her uncle, the local police chief, whom she’ll call for help when there’s a surprise ending for Tom Cook in his cozy guest room. Will a killer have the last word on the new life Cat has barely begun?

Q: Aloha Lynn, and welcome back to Island Confidential! Can you tell us a little bit about your protagonist, Cat? 
A:  Cat Latimer thought she had the dream life. Both she and her new husband were professors at the local college where she’d graduated. They’d bought an old Victorian to restore. And she was finally taking the time to write a book. Then she’d found him kissing one of his students.
Divorced, she landed in California teaching and sold her young adult paranormal novel.  When the letter came from Michael’s attorney, she’d almost not opened it.
Now, she’s back in Aspen Hills, Colorado, running a writer’s retreat in the Victorian her ex-husband left her in the will. But she’s finding things aren’t always what they seem.
Q: How much of you is in Cat Latimer?  How would you feel about her if you met her in real life?
A:  I would love to meet Cat in real life. She’s down to earth and thoughtful about this crazy journey writers take when deciding to share their stories with the world. As far as how much of me is in the character? I’m not quite sure yet. Every character has a touch of the author. Cat and I love food. We both struggle with the blinking cursor. And we love OLD houses. My husband just shakes his head at some of the old houses I say are beautiful. But he’s looking at them with a construction eye. I see the house it was or could be again.
Q: Do your characters change and evolve throughout consecutive books in the series?
A:  Definitely. Although it’s early in the series for Cat Latimer, I already see changes in the way she deals with her own insecurities.  Like all of us, she does the best thing she can do at the time. And hopes to be a better person tomorrow. (Or in the next book.)
Q: Have you ever thought of killing someone that you know in real life–on the pages of a murder mystery, I mean? 
A:  Can I take the fifth on this one?  LOL Seriously, I may think about killing someone on the pages of my books, but the truly evil people I don’t want to give page time. Or any more attention than they’ve already received. I do look at objects though (like the supervisor award at my day job) and think about what a great weapon they’d make.
Q: How realistic is your setting? Do you take liberties, or are you true to life?
A:  I write fictional small towns. Now, they feel like the real places they are modeled after but there is no Aspen Hills in Colorado. At least not with Covington College as the primary business.  I can point to where the town would be on a map though and I keep Denver in mind when I’m writing distances.
Also, I tend to mix up places and put them together in a better way that works for the story. So in my bull rider series, the small rodeo town is real, but had a different name and is modeled after another mountain town along with a small hot springs resort I found miles away from either town. Shawnee is better for the mixing.
Q: When the movie or TV series is made, who plays the major parts?
A:  I could see a younger Sandra Bullock type playing Cat, Selena Gomez could play Shauna, and Seth? The guy who plays on NCIS –New Orleans- Lucas Black. I love his smile.
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Q: What’s the worst and best advice you’ve heard or received as an author?
A:  Best advice – there’s always a lake monster. Or make sure your story had conflict.  Worst advice – You have to follow the rules. When you’re writing, you should ignore the rules. When you’re editing, bring them back but analyze what one’s you’re going to listen to.
 
 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lynn Cahoon is the author of the NYT and USA Today bestselling Tourist Trap cozy mystery series. Guidebook to Murder, book 1 of the series won the Reader’s Crown for Mystery Fiction in 2015. She’s also the author of the soon to be released, Cat Latimer series, with the first book, A STORY TO KILL, releasing in mass market paperback September 2016.She lives in a small town like the ones she loves to write about with her husband and two fur babies. Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com

Keep up with Lynn:

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#Giveaway and Character Interview: Lee Alvarez of The CEO Came DOA

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Lee Alvarez takes a job ferreting out the saboteur of a start-up company’s Initial Public Offering in the heart of Silicon Valley. Little does she know early one morning she will find the CEO hanging by the neck in the boardroom wearing nothing but his baby blue boxer shorts.

Was it suicide? Was it murder by one of the many people who loathed the man on sight, such as his business partner? Or maybe one of the many women in his life, including his famous rock singer ex-? The bodies start piling up while Lee is planning her very own Christmas wedding. Ho, ho, ho.

 
Lee Alvarez, protagonist of the humorous Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries, speaks out, much to her mother’s dismay.
Q: Aloha Lee, and welcome to Island Confidential. Why don’t we start by telling our readers a little bit about you?
A: Here’s something few people know. I love the sound of a ukulele.  I bought one and tried to play, but it’s harder than it looks. After several minutes, the tips of my fingers were raw. A musician friend heard me and said maybe if I practiced every day for a year, I could advance from ‘horrible’ to ‘amusingly bad’. Lovely idea, but I don’t have the time for such a commitment. So the instrument is gathering dust under my bed. Now and then I pull it out and twang on it, just for laughs.
On a more serious note, I’ve come to terms with the fact I don’t have the talent to be a prima ballerina. At best, I am a mediocre dancer no matter how hard I work at it, and I do a barre nearly every single morning. It doesn’t help that I’m 5’8” tall, either. A good ballerina is usually around 5’4” in height. When I turned sixteen I had to face facts. I’d never advance to anything other than the chorus of a second-rate ballet company.
What I am, however, is a crackerjack ferret. I’m good a putting together past scenarios and coming up with the right answers.  Before Dad’s sudden death two years ago due to an aneurism, he taught me everything he knew about the detective business, hoping I would follow in his footsteps. Our little family has built a thriving investigative service, Discretionary Inquiries. We’re Silicon Valley’s answer to software, hardware, and intellectual property thefts. But I have noticed it seems like I’m always falling over dead bodies, especially when I’m not looking.
And those are my two secrets, a hidden uke and dusty toe shoes. I guess we all have our ‘what if’ things. But I’m smart enough to know that not being able to do a first-rate glissade arabesque is probably one of life’s better regrets to have. It’s not in on the uke yet.
Q: Who’s the character in the book you get along with the best? 
A: A year ago, I would have said my kid brother, Richard. He’s a computer geek – actually, a genius – and the main reason why Discretionary Inquiries leads the pack in technologically driven Silicon Valley. You may remember Richard. He’s the one who showed up twenty minutes late to the annual board meeting eating a sauerkraut and peanut butter sandwich. It stunk up the boardroom for a week. He’s a little on the weird side, but I love him to pieces. These days the person I get along with best is my fella, Gurn Hanson. Let’s face it, I’m in love. We manage to get married in the latest Alvarez book, The CEO Came DOA, in between assorted chaos, villainy, and laughs. He’s quite a guy!
Q: Which other character do you have a conflict with? 
A: Okay, let’s talk about my mother, Lila Hamilton Alvarez, she who can crack an oyster shell with a single glance. Here’s an excerpt from The CEO Came DOA which I think best describes our differences:

I studied my mother as objectively as possible. She was so loving this. I was right not to try to take the wedding away from her. Besides, soon she would have a new grandchild and leave me alone.
Whoops! Did I say that out loud? No, no, I was just thinking it. I used my inside voice. I’m good.
I relaxed a little and reflected. Yes, here sat the woman who was the Rolls Royce to my Chevy, the conservative to my liberal, the haute couture to my thrift shop, but fate had still seen to throw us together. Chalk it up to one of life’s ironies.
Whoops! Did I just get philosophical on me? Go away, inside voice. Time for a martini.

 
Q: Just between you and me: What do you really think of your author?
A: Heather Haven is a nice lady, has a good heart and all that, but frankly, she’s peculiar. She can find the most bizarre ways of murdering someone. And she puts me into some pretty stressful situations. I have a tough time keeping up. Of course, I get to wear a spectacular wardrobe, but that’s small compensation.
Q: What’s next for you, Lee?
A: I have no idea. Right now I’m on my honeymoon in Kauai, with my gorgeous hunk of a husband, Gurn Hanson. Sun, fun, a Mai Tai or two, love, and relaxation. Wait a minute. She’s at it again. That Heather Haven is involving me in something to do with strychnine poisoning. What the… Whoops! Gotta go. A new murder to solve. But at least it’s in the balmy breezes of a Hawaiian island!
Q: Well, if you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and I’ll buy you a Loco Moco. Thanks for visiting Island Confidential!
 


About The Author  
After studying drama at the University of Miami in Florida, Heather went to Manhattan to pursue a career. There she wrote short stories, comedy acts, television treatments, ad copy, commercials, and two one-act plays, which were produced, among other places, at the famed Playwrights Horizon. Once, she even ghostwrote a book on how to run an employment agency. She was unemployed at the time.
 
Her first novel started the Silicon Valley based Alvarez Family Murder Mystery Series.  Murder is a Family Business, Book One, won the Single Titles Reviewers’ Choice Award 2011, followed by the second, A Wedding to Die For, 2012 Global and EPIC finalist for Best eBook Mystery of the Year. Death Runs in the Family won the coveted Global Gold for Best Mystery Novel, 2013. DEAD….If Only won the Global Silver for Best Mystery Novel, 2015. Her fifth novel of the series, The CEO Came DOA, debuts September, 2016. She loves writing this series mainly because she gets to play all of the characters, including the cat!
Heather’s other series, The Persephone Cole Vintage Mystery Series, is set in Manhattan circa 1942, during our country’s entrance into WWII. The Dagger Before Me, Book One, was voted best historical and mystery novel by Amazon readers in October, 2013.  It was followed by Iced Diamonds. Book Three, The Chocolate Kiss-Off, is a 2016 Lefty Award Finalist Best Historical Mystery.
On a personal note, her proudest award is the Silver IPPY (Independent Publisher Book Awards) Best Mystery/thriller 2014 for Death of a Clown. The stand-alone noir mystery is steeped in Heather’s family history. Daughter of real-life Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus folk, her mother was a trapeze artist/performer and father, an elephant trainer. Heather likes to say she brings the daily existence of the Big Top to life during World War II, embellished by her own murderous imagination.
Heather gives lectures, speaks at book clubs, and moderates author panels in the Bay Area, as well as teaching the art of writing. She believes everyone should write something, be it a poem, short story or letter. Then go out and plant a tree. The world will be a better place for it.
Author Links

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Interview and #Giveaway: Kathi Daley, author of Pumpkins in Paradise

>>>Enter to win a Kindle or paperback copy of a Tj Jensen book–48 hours only!<<<

Countdown to Paradise Launch Event on Facebook 
Pumpkins in Paradise Book Club on Facebook
Between volunteering for the annual pumpkin festival and coaching her girls to the state soccer finals, high school teacher Tj Jensen finds her good friend Zachary Collins dead in his favorite chair.
When the handsome new deputy closes the case without so much as a “why” or “how,” Tj turns her attention from chili cook-offs and pumpkin carving to complex puzzles, prophetic riddles, and a decades-old secret she seems destined to unravel.

Q: Kathi Daley joins us today to talk about the first book in the Tj Jensen Mystery Series, Pumpkins in Paradise. Kathi, welcome to Island Confidential! Can you tell us something about Tj Jensen?

A: Tj Jensen is a petite and spunky tomboy with a huge heart. She is a coach and teacher at the local high school, as well as surrogate mother to two half –sisters who came to live with her after their mother died. Tj is the type of person who seems to have a knack for getting involved in everyone’s life. She is the sort of friend, teacher, and neighbor who people will naturally gravitate toward when they have a problem, and she is the sort of person who is intelligent and industrious enough to actually help those who seek her out.

Q: How much of you is in Tj? How would you feel about her if you met her in real life?

A: Like Tj, I used to be a teacher and I also used to be the teacher all the students hung out with. I always ate lunch in my room rather than in the teacher’s lounge and I always had a room full of students who brought their lunches in and joined me. I also live in a small town in the mountains and I enjoy a large multi-generation family. I am a tomboy and enjoy being outdoors with my dogs, and like Tj, I find puzzles and problems to solve energizing.

Tj is a lot more fearless than I am however. She seems to be willing to put herself into danger to help the people she loves while I’d most likely coach from the sidelines. She is also more social than I am as I tend toward being an introvert while Tj is very much an extrovert.

I would love to meet Tj in real life. In a way I feel like she is a real person. I love hanging out with her and catching up on the developments in her life.

Q: Do your characters change and evolve throughout consecutive books in the series?

A: Absolutely. I write 5 series and the characters have grown and developed to varying degrees. Tj was already pretty level headed and focused from book 1 so she had probably changed less over the six books in the series I have written so far, than say Zoe, from the Zoe Donovan series, who was an immature and reactive but loveable mess in book one and is now married and raising children in book 21 which was just recently launched.

Q: Have you ever thought of killing someone that you know in real life–on the pages of a murder mystery, I mean?

A: No. I think that would be a little too real for me. I do have readers who write to me and ask me to kill them off but I think I’ll let my victims and well as my killers remain fictional. I have characters in some of my books who are not the victim or killer who are loosely based on people I actually know.

Q: How realistic is your setting? Do you take liberties, or are you true to life?

A: Paradise Lake is a fictionalized Lake Tahoe. The overall feel of the small town perched on a large alpine lake is true to life, as are the interactions Tj has with wildlife that lives in the area, but the specifics of the town and the people in the town have been fictionalized to suite my purposes.

Q: When the movie or TV series is made, who plays the major parts?

A: LOL, I haven’t given this a single thought. I’m not sure I’d even want to do a movie. I get so frustrated with the movies that have been made from other series when they change sooo many things that really don’t need to be changed. Fiction allows each reader to create an image of the characters based on their own set of references and experiences. I never have people on my covers preferring to let the reader fill in the blanks.

Q: What’s the worst and best advice you’ve heard or received as an author?

A: Best advice – when I was starting out a fellow author told me that I’d have people and opportunities coming to me from all directions. She warned me that it could become overwhelming, (and she was right). Her advice was when deciding what to do and what to pass on – just do what you want to do and pass on the rest.

Worst advice? Hum, I guess the worst advice I ever received was from an agent I met at a writing seminar at a local college who told me that it was almost impossible to be successful as a self-published author and that finding an agent and trying for trade publication was the only way to truly make a name for myself. I sold over 100,000 books in my first year as a self-published author and twice as many my second year. I think I’d consider that to be a success. Having said that, I do think there is a place for traditional publishing in an author’s overall portfolio which is why I am thrilled to be working with Henery Press on the Tj Jensen series.

Henery Press is releasing the first 6 books in this series on September 6, 2016

Snowmen in Paradise (A Tj Jensen Mystery Book 2)
Winter Carnival comes to Serenity, and with it Tj finds her schedule busier than ever. Not only is her ski and snowboard team heavily involved in demonstrations and local competitions, but her ragtag choir is about to debut in their first live performance. To make matters even more complicated, someone has killed Travis Davidson, a town favorite son, world-class snowboarder, and Olympic hopeful. Tj is determined not to get involved in the subsequent investigation until she learns the prime suspect is Chelsea Hanson, high-school boyfriend Hunter Hanson’s sister.

Although there’s no shortage of Sereninites with a grudge against the hometown hero, even Tj has to admit there’s good cause to suspect Chelsea of the murder. Balancing bridesmaid duties, Winter Carnival obligations, show choir duty, and after-hours investigation, Tj sets out to prove Chelsea innocent.

 
Bikinis in Paradise (A Tj Jensen Mystery Book 3)
When the Tropical Tan Corporation descends on Maggie’s Hideaway, the lakeside resort where Tj Jensen lives, she must juggle a bikini contest, a BBQ cook-off, a missing model, and a dead chaperone while her father is out of town. Lead Deputy Dylan Caine is on vacation while his sister is visiting, leaving Assistant Deputy Roy Fisher in charge. When Roy asks Tj for her help they find there may be more going on than anyone realized. With Kyle and Jenna’s help, they dig into the lives of those involved, only to find a mystery more complex than anything they could ever have imagined.
 
Christmas in Paradise (A Tj Jensen Mystery Book 4) Christmas in Serenity is a magical time of year Tj has always looked forward to with happy anticipation. This year her holiday spirit is marred by the impending arrival of two new men in her life. When one of them ends up dead, Tj must juggle community plays, Christmas tree cuttings, sleigh rides, and holiday shopping with a complex murder investigation. As the facts begin to unravel, she realizes she may have to risk everything to save someone she loves.
 
 
 


Puppies in Paradise (A Tj Jensen Mystery Book 5)
When a friend of Tj’s is injured in a car accident during a blizzard, Tj takes responsibility for the litter of puppies left behind. Meanwhile, she works with Kyle, Jenna, and the gang to catch the person responsible for the death of a close family friend. When it turns out that the main suspects are also close to the Jensens, Tj must deal with one of the most difficult decisions she’s ever had to make.

 
Halloween in Paradise (A Tj Jensen Mystery Book 6)

In the midst of the annual Halloween frenzy, Tj finds herself pulled into a series of events at the high school where she works. Not only must she help one of the girls on her team deal with a case of cyberbullying, but she must help a student who has recently suffered a personal tragedy. And as if Tj wasn’t busy enough, in walks Samantha Colton, a reporter for Second Look, a television series that takes a look back at unsolved murders. This time the case is the death of a popular student after the homecoming dance ten years before. To make matters even worse—or maybe more convenient—the graduating class of the victim is in town for their ten-year reunion and all the suspects just happen to have converged on Serenity for the weekend. When Samantha turns up dead, Tj must track down someone who seems willing to kill again to keep their secret.

 
 

About the Author

Author of the Zoe Donovan cozy Mystery Series, Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mystery series, Whales and Tails Cozy Mystery Series, Sand and Sea Hawaiian Mysteries, and Seacliff High Teen Cozy Mystery Series.
Come for the murder, stay for the romance.
Kathi lives in the beautiful alpine community of Lake Tahoe with her husband Ken and dog Echo. When she’s not writing she enjoys hanging out on the beach with her children and grandchildren. During the summer she enjoys hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, wakeboarding, and sunset cruises on the lake. During the winter she enjoys cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and curling up by a fire with a good book.
Kathi uses her mountain home as inspiration for her books, all which include appearances by the wildlife she shares her life with.
Visit Kathi Daley:
Blog – http://kathidaleyblog.com
Facebook at Kathi Daley Books, www.facebook.com/kathidaleybooks
Kathi Daley Teen – www.facebook.com/kathidaleyteen
Kathi Daley Books Group Page – https://www.facebook.com/groups/569578823146850/
Kathi Daley Books Birthday Club- get a book on your birthday –https://www.facebook.com/groups/1040638412628912/
Kathi Daley Recipe Exchange – https://www.facebook.com/groups/752806778126428/
Webpage – www.kathidaley.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7278377.Kathi_Daley
Twitter at Kathi Daley@kathidaley – https://twitter.com/kathidaley
Tumblr – http://kathidaleybooks.tumblr.com/
Pinterest – http://www.pinterest.com/kathidaley/

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#CoverReveal: Dandelion Dead

Dandelion Dead by Chrystle Fiedler : A Natural Remedies Mystery
Coming September 27, 2016
In a spicy cozy mystery filled with herbal remedies readers will love, a sustainable winery becomes the backdrop for murder! Fortunately, solving crimes comes naturally to charmingly unconventional homeopath and amateur sleuth Willow McQuade, as she looks for clues that will reveal a killer’s true essence.

 

 
 

Pre-Order today:  Amazon | B&N | IndieBound

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Spotlight: Murder at the Mansion by Janet Finsilver

Fortunes, fineries, and foul play . . .

It’s whale-watching season in Redwood Cove, and B&B manager Kelly Jackson’s battening down the hatches for the tourist rush at Redwood Heights-a Victorian-style estate owned by her boss. And due to recent jewelry thefts, her duties include keeping track of the many dust-covered artifacts spread throughout the property. But when Kelly finds Sylvia Porter’s lifeless body with a blood-splattered brooch around her neck, menial tasks don’t seem so terrible. Enlisting the help of a ragtag group of brainy retirees, aka the “Silver Sentinels,” Kelly’s on the hunt for clues hidden behind the mansion’s glamorous facade . . . and for a killer who may want to make history of her next!
 

About The Author  
Janet Finsilver is the USA TODAY best-selling author of the Kelly Jackson mystery series. She worked in education for many years as a teacher, a program administrator, and a workshop presenter. Janet majored in English and earned a Master’s Degree in Education. She loves animals and has two dogs–Kylie and Ellie. Janet has ridden western style since she was a child and was a member of the National Ski Patrol. One of the highlights of her life was touching whales in the San Ignacio Lagoon. MURDER AT REDWOOD COVE, her debut mystery, was released on October 13, 2015. Her second book, MURDER AT THE MANSION, was released on June 7, 2016.

 

Author Links

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/janetfinsilverauthor/?fref=ts
Twitter – https://twitter.com/JanetFinsilver
Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/janetfinsilver/
Web – http://janetfinsilver.com/
 

Purchase Links

Amazon – http://amzn.to/1WLS190
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/murder-at-the-mansion-janet-finsilver/1122677019?ean=9781616509323

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Spotlight and #Giveaway: Die, Die Birdie

>>>Enter to win an e-copy of Die, Die Birdie<<<

 
For Amy Simms, hatching a birding shop in her hometown of Ruby Lake, North Carolina, hasn’t exactly been a breeze. But could a deadly discovery clip her wings for good?

It’s just days before Amy plans to open Birds & Bees on the first floor of her creaky Victorian house, but delayed seed shipments have prevented the fledging owner from stocking her shelves. And it doesn’t help that Amy’s best friend and business partner is out of town indefinitely. With locals skeptical about the niche shop taking flight, the last thing Amy needs now is a dead man in her storeroom—or for a crotchety tenant to catch her holding a bloody birdfeeder hook over his body . . .
 

Pigeonholed as a leading murder suspect by police and lacking a solid alibi, Amy’s delving into the victim’s ugly past and buzzing around Ruby Lake for clues on his killer . . . before she ends up like so many of her beloved feathery friends—trapped behind bars!

About The Author  

 
J.R. Ripley is the pen name of Glenn Meganck, the critically acclaimed author of the Tony Kozol mystery series. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, he has chaired the Edgar committee for Best Original Paperback novel and served on the Best Short Story Committee. As a member of the International Association of Crime Writers, he has served on the Hammett Award committee for Best Novel. When not writing books, Glenn is writing songs, often singing them to the consternation of his audience and neighbors, or involved in one of his many passions, none of which have involved any of the dead bodies that seem to keep cropping up in his mysteries. For more information about him, visit glennmeganck.com.
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Character Interview and #Giveaway: Wedding Planner Kelsey McKenna from Terror in Taffeta

>>>Enter to win a hardcover copy of Terror in Taffeta<<<

Wedding planner Kelsey McKenna is just a few hours away from wrapping up her latest job: a destination wedding in the charming, colonial Mexican town of San Miguel de Allende. The reception is all set up, the tequila donkey is waiting outside, and the bride and groom are standing on the altar, pledging their eternal love. But just as the priest is about to pronounce them husband and wife, one of the bridesmaids upstages the couple by collapsing into a floral arrangement, a definite wedding “don’t.” Kelsey soon discovers that the girl hasn’t just fainted–she’s dead.Losing a bridesmaid is bad enough, but when the bride’s sister is arrested for murder, the demanding mother of the bride insists that Kelsey fix the matter at once. And although Kelsey is pretty sure investigating a murder isn’t in her contract, crossing the well-connected Mrs. Abernathy could be a career-killer. Before she can leave Mexico and get back to planning weddings, Kelsey must deal with stubborn detectives, a rekindled romance, and late-night death threats in this smart, funny cozy mystery debut.
Terror in Taffeta Book cover

Q: Kelsey, thanks for stopping by Island Confidential. Tell our readers a little bit about yourself?
A: First of all, there’s the whole marriage thing. Everyone assumes that since I’m a wedding planner, I secretly want to get married. But really, that’s like saying you secretly want to be an elephant because you work at the zoo. No, I chose wedding planning as my career because I’m organized and resourceful and I love a good party. Plus, it is pretty fun getting to be there on one of the biggest days of people’s lives.
I really do love my job, and I love traveling to different places. Take San Miguel de Allende, for example. It’s a really magical place, with cobblestone streets and a three-hundred-year-old gothic church sitting on the town plaza. A lot of artists live there, and most people who go there end up falling in love with it. If I ever do get married, I could see doing it in San Miguel. Or in a Tuscan villa. Or on a private beach on some faraway island… Actually, the expectations would be so high that I’d probably just elope.
Q: Who’s the character you get along with the best?
A: Brody Marx. He’s an amazing wedding photographer, so I always recommend him to my clients—which works out pretty well because I love it when he gets to come along with me on a wedding. There’s nothing romantic between us, because I’m not his type. In fact, I’m off by a whole Y chromosome. But he’s a good guy to have on your side when you’re trying to juggle wedding planning and fighting crime. I always have to bite my tongue in front of clients, but when it’s just the two of us, I can say whatever I’m thinking and he doesn’t judge. Well, maybe a little. But we have fun.
Q: Which other character do you have a conflict with?
A: I had a hard time with the mother of the bride, Mrs. Abernathy. I can get along with anyone, and I’m used to demanding clients, but she must have thought I had magical powers, because she fully expected me to fix everything that went wrong, even though I’m pretty sure investigating a murder wasn’t part of my contract. I did it though, because I hate saying no to my clients. After all, my whole business is built on referrals, so I do whatever it takes to make them happy. That’s something I should probably work on.
Q: Just between you and me: What do you really think of your author,  Marla Cooper?
A: We have a lot of fun together! She and I share a similar sense of humor, and she loves it when Brody and I get going. I catch her eavesdropping on us all the time and sometimes we say things that make her laugh out loud. She also doesn’t mind when I’m cranky from having to bite my tongue around my clients all day long. Sassy chicks unite!
Q: What’s next for you?
A: I’m planning a wedding in the California wine country. It’s a little awkward, because my clients were using a rival wedding planner, then they fired her and hired me. I’m sure it’ll all be fine, though. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
 
 
 
 

 
About The Author  

 
As a freelance writer, MARLA COOPER has written all sorts of things, from advertising copy to travel guidebooks to the occasional haiku. But it was while ghostwriting a nonfiction guide to destination weddings that she found inspiration for her current series starring destination wedding planner Kelsey McKenna. Originally hailing from Texas, Marla lives inOakland, California, with her husband and her polydactyl tuxedo cat.
Author Links:
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