I kill people for fun. In books.
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Q: Tell our readers a little bit about yourself–maybe something readers might not guess?
I am Russell Sinclair, Deena Sharpe’s brother. She’s the star of the show even though she’d couldn’t have solved this mystery without me. I’m a confirmed bachelor. It’s not that I don’t want to get married, I just haven’t found someone willing to put up with my quirks. You see, I serve in Vietnam and came back with PTSD, hearing loss, and killer migraines. I’m an easy-going guy as long as things don’t get too stressful.
And as far as looks, a lot of people say I resemble Jimmy Buffett. It’s probably the Hawaiian shirts, cargo shorts, and flip flops. If you knew me better, you would know I am a comic book collector. Don’t tell Deena, though. She’ll want me to sell them in her antique booth.
Q: Who’s the character you get along with the best? Why?
Like I said, I’m a pretty easy going guy so long as you don’t cross my friends or family. My best friend is Cliff. Known him since high school. I work as a semi-partner in his appliance repair shop. He knows the real me and somehow still likes me.
Q: Which other character do you have a conflict with? Why?
One guy, Neal Fortune, is a writer. I used to look up to him because of his interest in uncovering the truth in all kinds of conspiracies, such as Area 51 and Watergate. After this experience though, I’m not so sure how I feel about him.
Q: Just between you and me: What do you really think of your author?
From what I understand, she’s a lot like my sister. They are both former journalism teachers who are recently retired. Both have great husbands who are avid sports fans. Both have smart, good-looking brothers. Both love treasure hunting and selling old junk in antique stores. She’s fine by me.
Q: What’s next for you?
My busy-body sister is trying to set me up on dates. I think she just wants me to get married so someone else has to take care of me. Whatever. I just want to hang out with my buddies at the VFW, hunt, fish, and help Deena stay out of trouble. That last one is usually the toughest.
Excerpt from “Sharpe Shooter” by Lisa B. Thomas
Perhaps I should have had a plan before setting myself up to be fired, Deena Sharpe thought as her eyes traveled around the empty classroom. Thriving just days earlier with busy teenagers, so alive that their youth spilled over into the hallway, the room now seemed like an empty tomb awaiting a sarcophagus.
The tap-tap-tap sound coming down the hallway meant Janice Marshall, the assistant principal, was ready for Deena to vacate the building. No one likes the screeching of fingernails on a chalkboard, but most teachers at Maycroft High School would have chosen it any day over the incessant sound of those clicking heels. Like I always say, Deena thought as the annoyance grew louder, there is something fishy about a woman who can stand on her feet all day in high heels. She is not to be trusted.
Luckily, she would never again have to endure Ms. Marshall’s condescension or shoes.
“How much longer are you going to be, Mrs. Sharpe?” She stood in the doorway as though entering might actually infect her with cooties.
“Oh, just a bit longer.” Deena relished her intentional vagueness. Using her gooiest Southern drawl, she added, “You don’t have to wait for me, dear.”
Ms. Marshall smirked, leaned against the door frame as if she herself were the very foundation of the building, and began occupying herself on her cell phone.
Standing over her desk, the perch from which she ruled her flock, Deena slowed her movements, accomplishing two goals: savoring the moment and bugging her watchman. “Is this how you deal with all teachers when they leave this school? Are you worried I might steal this stapler?” She held it up as a visual aid.
Ms. Marshall rolled her eyes. “No, but this is a special circumstance.”
Still holding the heavy black stapler, Deena contemplated bashing her in the head or shoving it somewhere else. She envisioned the headline in the Northeast Texas Tribune: Ex-Journalism Teacher Bludgeons Assistant Principal with Swing Master II.
She dropped it in the box she was filling to take home.
Deena envisioned herself as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider—always ready to fight the good fight. She called it her Walter Mitty Complex. In her mind, she would kick butt and take names; in reality, she would step aside and apologize. Still, she was always looking for ways to unleash her inner Lara. She even took karate at one time but gave up when she got walloped by a six-year-old warrior princess.
Now, surrendering her classroom keys to the principal’s chief stooge seemed like waving a white flag on her career. She still managed a pained, melancholy smile as she headed out of room 106 and down the hallway for the last time. Surprisingly, she felt no sense of relief, her stomach queasy, her chest tight. Instead, she felt the same foreboding she got every year on the eve of the first day of school.
About The Author
Born and raised in Texas, I always knew I wanted to be a writer. Finally, after thirty-three years as a high school Journalism and English teacher, I dusted off the laptop and released my first novel. Having grown up reading Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew, and Agatha Christie, I was drawn to the mystery genre.
With two grown children out of the nest, I live a quiet life with my husband and Peekapoo puppy. Besides writing, I enjoy my grandchildren, photography, traveling, and antiquing (aka. buying and selling used junk). Like my main character, Deena, I have an antique booth and enjoy treasure hunting and reselling vintage finds.
Links:
www.lisabthomas.com
https://www.facebook.com/LisaBThomasAuthor
https://twitter.com/LBThomas2
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5916082.Lisa_B_Thomas
>>> Enter to win a paper copy of Oliver Twisted!<<<
I really enjoyed this book! It’s been a while since I had a book grab me by the face and insist I read right through, but this one did it…
~The Ninja Librarian
“Oliver Twisted” is delightfully funny, thoroughly entertaining, and will keep you guessing until the thrilling conclusion.
~My Funny View of Life
…talk about a ‘twisted’ mystery. Usually in a mystery, the characters may not be as they appear. In this book, the actors are dressed in period costumes, so you know darn well that they aren’t as they appear…
~Back Porchervations
Oliver Twisted
(An Ivy Meadows Mystery Book 3)
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Henery Press (June 21, 2016)
ISBN-13: 978-1635110418
E-Book ASIN: B01DAPK14Q
Orphans. Thieves. Murder. And an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet!
When Ivy Meadows lands a gig with the book-themed cruise line Get Lit!, she thinks she’s died and gone to Broadway. Not only has she snagged a starring role in a musical production of Oliver Twist, she’s making bank helping her PI uncle investigate a string of onboard thefts, all while sailing to Hawaii on the S.S. David Copperfield.
But Ivy is cruising for disaster. Her acting contract somehow skipped the part about aerial dancing forty feet above the stage, her uncle Bob is seriously sidetracked by a suspicious blonde, and—oh yeah—there’s a corpse in her closet.
Forget catching crooks. Ivy’s going to have a Dickens of a time just surviving.
Related subjects include: cozy mysteries, women sleuths, murder mystery series, whodunit mysteries (whodunnit), amateur sleuth books, book club recommendations, humorous murder mysteries, private investigator mystery series.
Books in the Ivy Meadows Humorous Mystery Series:
• MACDEATH (#1)
• THE SOUND OF MURDER (#2)
• OLIVER TWISTED (#3)
Cindy Brown has been a theater geek (musician, actor, director, producer, and playwright) since her first professional gig at age 14. Now a full-time writer, she’s lucky enough to have garnered several awards (including 3rd place in the 2013 international Words With Jam First Page Competition, judged by Sue Grafton!) and is an alumnus of the Squaw Valley Writers Workshop. Though Cindy and her husband now live in Portland, Oregon, she made her home in Phoenix, Arizona, for more than 25 years and knows all the good places to hide dead bodies in both cities.
Author Links
Website & Blog: www.cindybrownwriter.com
Twitter handle: @friendlybrown
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cindy-Brown-author/288210721356802?ref=hl
Purchase Links
Amazon B&N
Marilyn will receive a signed hardcover copy of The Musubi Murder, Book One of the Professor Molly Mysteries.
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When Sunday School teacher Maggie Dove finds her hateful next-door neighbor Marcus Bender lying dead under her beloved oak tree—the one he demanded she cut down—she figures the man dropped dead of a mean heart. But Marcus was murdered, and the prime suspect is a young man Maggie loves like a son. Peter Nelson was the worst of Maggie’s Sunday School students; he was also her late daughter’s fiancé, and he’s been a devoted friend to Maggie in the years since her daughter’s death.
Maggie can’t lose Peter, too. So she sets out to find the real murderer. To do that, she must move past the grief that has immobilized her all these years. She must probe the hidden corners of her little village on the Hudson River. And, when another death strikes even closer to home, Maggie must find the courage to defend the people and the town she loves—even if it kills her.
Q: Aloha Maggie, thanks for stopping by the blog. Why don’t you tell our readers a little bit about yourself–maybe something they might not guess?
My name is Maggie Dove. I’m a 62-year-old Sunday School teacher, and the worst trouble I ever got into was when I accidentally set off the church fire alarm while baking pretzels with my class. So you wouldn’t think I’d be investigating a murder, but someone I love was accused of the crime and I knew I couldn’t just stand by. I live in a pretty, old house in a small village on the Hudson River. There’s a small hiding place in the house that my abolitionist ancestors used to hide runaway slaves escaping to Canada. I drive a bright red Audi TT, which is a little florid, but I used to be a mystery writer and my detective drove that type of car. I love it. My husband was a professor of Russian, so although I’m not an expert, my house is full of books and maps about Russia, and it looks like one of the people in my village works for the CIA.
Q: Who’s the character you get along with the best?
There are many people I love in my small village of Darby-on-Hudson. In fact, that’s what made my murder investigation so difficult. The more questions I asked, the more I came to realize that the murderer must be someone I love. If I were to pick one person I’m especially fond of, I’d say it’s 6-year-old Edgar Blake, who is the worst of my Sunday School students. Edgar’s a handful, but he has a warm heart, and I feel like I connect with him. Maybe because I’ve always followed the rules, I’m intrigued by people who don’t. Some of my favorite people are the kind who get into a lot of trouble.
Q: Which other character do you have a conflict with?
The character who I have the worst conflict with is my neighbor, Marcus Bender. We had a huge argument over the oak tree on my front lawn. You wouldn’t think anyone would have a quarrel with a tree, but Bender did. He wanted me to cut it down because he said it blocked his view of the Hudson River. I love that tree. My father planted it when I was a girl, my late daughter played on it. Its gentle branches have brought me a great deal of comfort and joy. Bender offered me money to buy a new one, and put it somewhere else. I turned him down. Then one morning I went outside and smelled lye in the tree’s dirt. My neighbor was poisoning my tree. I was furious, pounded on his door, told him to stay off my lawn or I’d kill him. The next morning, I found his corpse under that tree.
Q: Just between you and me: What do you really think of your author?
I love my author, Susan Breen. Or as I think of her, the Boss. She knows lots of fun jokes. She and I share a love of bread pudding. My only quarrel with her is that she’s awfully bossy. She insists I get up and do things when I’d be happiest sitting by the Hudson River, looking at the boats go by.
Q: What’s next for you?
I enjoyed this adventure so much, even though at times my life was in jeopardy, that I decided, with some friends, to set up a detective agency. Of course, it takes a lot of skill and training to be a detective, so right now I’m involved in studying to get my detective license.
About The Author
Susan Breen is the author of The Fiction Class, her debut novel that won the Washington Irving Book Award. Her stories and articles have appeared in many magazines, among them The Best American Nonrequired Reading, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Compose, Writer’s Digest, and The Writer. She teaches at Gotham Writers in Manhattan; is on the faculty of the New York Pitch Conference, South Carolina Writers Workshop, and the Women’s National Book Association; and is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters-in-Crime. Breen lives in a small village on the Hudson River with her husband, two dogs, and one cat. Her three children are flourishing elsewhere.
Webpage | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
>>> Enter to win one of ten print copies of Secret Lives and Private Eyes <<<
Business has been slow for Private Investigator Delanie Fitzgerald, but her luck seems to change when a tell-all author hires her to find rock star Johnny Velvet.
Could the singer—whose career purportedly ended in a fiery crash almost thirty years ago—still be alive?
As if sifting through dead ends in a cold case isn’t bad enough, Delanie is hired by loud-mouth strip club owner Chaz Wellington Smith, III, to uncover information about the mayor’s secret life. When the mayor is murdered, Chaz becomes the key suspect, and Delanie must clear his name. She also has to figure out why a landscaper keeps popping up in her other investigation. Can the private investigator find the connection between the two cases before another murder—possibly her own—takes place?
Secret Lives and Private Eyes is a fast-paced mystery that will appeal to readers who like a strong, female sleuth with a knack for getting herself in and out of difficult, and sometimes humorous, situations.
Q: Heather, thanks for stopping by! Tell us a little bit about your main character, Delanie.
A: Delanie Fitzgerald is my sleuth. She is a sassy private investigator who has a knack for getting herself in and out of humorous situations. She lives in a Sears Catalog house from 1939. Her partner, Duncan Reynolds, is a computer geek/hacker who has an English bulldog named Margaret.
Q: I love those Sears Catalog Homes! So how much of you is in your protagonist? How would you feel about Delanie if you met her in real life?
A: We are both redheads, and we both like junk food, driving Mustangs, and dogs. But that’s about where the similarity ends. Delanie gets into way more trouble than I ever did. I think she and I would be friends. We have a lot of the same interests. She would be fun to hang out or have adventures with.
Q: Do your characters change and evolve throughout consecutive books in the series?
A: Delanie grows as a character throughout this book and into the next one. In Secret Lives and Private Eyes, she gets into a little trouble by crossing some lines in her investigations. By book two, she’s learned from some of her earlier missteps.
Q: Have you ever thought of killing someone that you know in real life–on the pages of a murder mystery, I mean?
A: Hasn’t every mystery writer? I always tell my unruly co-workers that they’re going to end up in a dumpster in a future book. I sprinkle in characteristics of real people in all of my books and stories. Family, friends, and co-workers will probably see names and phrases that they recognize.
Q: How realistic is your setting? Do you take liberties, or are you true to life?
A: I write what and where I know. My stories and novels are all set in Virginia. The location gives me a lot of freedom to develop my mystery in a world with trees, cows, farmland, suburbia, skyscrapers, and the mighty James River. My sleuth, Delanie Fitzgerald, lives in a quaint Sears and Roebuck catalog bungalow that fits her quirky style. While there are some catalog homes in the Hopewell area, I took the liberty of moving one to Chesterfield County for my private eye. From 1908 to 1940, the homes were originally ordered and delivered by rail to the owners who assembled them on their property.
Delanie zooms around the countryside and through the city in her black Mustang. She investigates clues or tails suspects in and around many historic places. While the story, characters, and the murder are fiction, many of the locales are real, and I hope it provides readers some insight into a region jam-packed with lots of American history, great restaurants, and Southern flair.
Q: When the movie or TV series is made, who plays the major parts?
A: I think Jennifer Lawrence could play Delanie Fitzgerald. Duncan Reynolds could be played by Brenton Thwaites, Nicholas Hoult, or Ansel Elgort. Client and strip-club owner, Chaz Smith, could be played by Charlie Sheen or Gary Oldman. And 80s rocker Johnny Velvet could be played by Jon Bon Jovi or Johnny Depp.
Q: What’s the worst and best advice you’ve heard or received as an author?
A: The best advice I ever received was “Don’t Give up!” Writing is hard work, and you’re going to need thick skin. If you want to be a writer, be persistent.
I’ve had people make comments about how easy it is to write a book. Well, sort of. I always imagined the life of an author as someone who drank a lot of coffee and wrote brilliant books. I didn’t realize how much editing, revising, proofreading, marketing, and social media go along with the job. I love every minute of it, but it’s not always easy or fast. Publishing is often a slow process.
About The Author
Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby Doo and Nancy Drew. She currently lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers. She is a member of Sisters in Crime International, Guppies, and Sisters in Crime – Central Virginia. Heather’s short stories appear in Virginia is for Mysteries and Virginia is for Mysteries Volume II. Her debut novel, Secret Lives and Private Eyes, will be published on June 20, 2016.
She is currently President of Sisters in Crime – Central Virginia.
Author Links
Website & Blog: http://www.heatherweidner.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeatherWeidner1
FB: https://www.facebook.com/HeatherWeidnerAuthor?ref=hl
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/crazyforwords13/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heather_mystery_writer/
Google+ : https://plus.google.com/+HeatherWeidner
Q: Zanna, thanks for stopping by! Tell us a little bit about your protagonist, Lizzie.
A: In Murder On The Menu, Lizzie Carter thought she’d got her life all sorted – great job in the city, lovely boyfriend – but then her life is turned upside down. Desperate for a new start she finds herself living in the country and waitressing to make ends meet. Things are finally beginning to look up for her but then her celebrity chef boss is stabbed in his own kitchen and Lizzie finds herself at the top of the list of suspects. I’d describe Lizzie as resilient, nosy and stubborn. She’s determined to clear her name and catch the real killer even though she’s never sleuthed before in her life!
Q: How much of you is in Lizzie? How would you feel about her if you met her in real life?
A: Hmm, interesting question. Yes, I think Lizzie and I do share some traits, though she’s far more outgoing than me (I’m quite shy). I guess I can be stubborn too sometimes, as I’m sure my husband will agree! If I met Lizzie in real life then yes, I’d like her. I’d probably think she’s fun, friendly and easy to chat with.
Q: Do your characters change and evolve throughout consecutive books in the series?
A: Absolutely. Lizzie’s life keeps changing and there are lots of challenges for her to face. From tracking down murderers through to battling to make a living and attempting to bake a cake that’s actually edible. She’s inherited a recipe book from her Aunt Molly and is keen to learn to bake to the same amazing standard as her beloved aunt but she has an awful lot to learn and the farmhouse has an Aga with a mind of its own which is her nemesis!
ABOUT THE AUTHORI write romantic comedy mysteries and when I’m not writing I can be found gardening (trying to grow tomatoes in the British climate is a major challenge!) walking the dogs or reading.
I’m a former therapist, a fan of the great outdoors – especially Scotland, the Lake District and Derbyshire’s Peak district – and also something of a dreamer!
Home is a village on the Derbyshire / Leicestershire border in the UK with my husband, our 4 Labrador dogs, a vegetable patch that’s home to far too many weeds and an ever expanding library of books waiting to be read.
At every opportunity I can be found scribbling down notes on scenes for whatever novel I’m working on and I love it when the characters in my work in progress novels take on minds of their own and start deviating from the original plot!
Keep up with Zanna:
Website |Twitter|Facebook|Goodreads|Amazon Author Page|Pinterest|Google+|Wattpad|Blog
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The Calamity Cafe is the first book in a new cozy mystery series featuring Southern cooking
Aspiring chef and small-town Virginia native Amy Flowers is ready to open her own café offering old-fashioned Southern food. But her dream may go up in smoke when someone kills the competition…
Tired of waiting tables at Lou’s Joint, Amy Flowers doesn’t just quit—she offers to buy the place from her bully of a boss, so she can finally open the café of her dreams. Amy can’t wait to serve the kind of Southern, down-home treats and dishes that her grandmother always loved to the kooky cast of regulars at the restaurant. She knows her comfort food will be the talk of the sweet, small town of Winter Garden, Virginia.
At first Lou Lou refuses to sell, but when she seems ready to make a deal, she tells Amy to come see her. Showing up at the eatery ready to negotiate, Amy is shocked to find her former employer murdered. As the prime suspect, Amy will have to clear her name by serving up the real killer—and with Lou Lou’s stack of enemies, that’s a tall order.
Includes delicious Southern recipes!
Q: Thanks for stopping by Island Confidential, Gayle. Can you tell us a little bit about your protagonist, Any?
A: Amy Flowers is a young woman who has a serious goal but who doesn’t forget to have plenty of fun. She makes time for her friends and family while hoping to realize her goal of opening her own café.
Q: How much of you is in Amy? How would you feel about her if you met her in real life?
A: I’m sure there’s a little Amy in me, especially where she was so devoted to her grandmother who is deceased when we meet Amy. And, like Amy, I have a tendency to want to adopt and/or feed animals and people (especially children). Whenever my children were growing up, I was known for my cookies and cupcakes. Even when my son was in high school, I’d have to make and send chocolate chip cookies to his friends.
I’d love Amy if I met her in real life. I think we’d be good friends, but I’d have to avoid seeing her too often because if I didn’t, she’d feed me until I was as big as a house!
Q: Do your characters change and evolve throughout consecutive books in the series?
A: They do. That’s something I’ve really enjoyed with other series I’ve written (the embroidery series written under the name Amanda Lee, in particular) and that I’m looking forward to exploring in the Down South Café series. I like that each individual book can be read as a standalone but that readers who start at the beginning and continue through the series can enjoy the nuances of watching the characters grow and develop.
Q: Have you ever thought of killing someone that you know in real life–on the pages of a murder mystery, I mean?
A: Oh, my goodness, I have done it! In my cake decorating mystery Battered to Death (written as Gayle Trent), I killed a man who’d been mean to my son. The man was such a jerk, and I took great joy in beating him over the head with a cake stand and then drowning him in cake batter!
Q: How realistic is your setting? Do you take liberties, or are you true to life?
A: Both. Winter Garden is a fictional town in Virginia, but it’s close to real-life towns: Glade Spring, Meadowview, Abingdon, Bristol. In fact, at my website, I’m including photograph slideshows from various regions. I only have three so far, but I’ll continue to add to it.
Q: When the movie or TV series is made, who plays the major parts?
A: Maybe Emily Osmet as Amy and Robbie Amell as Ryan. They’d be so cute together. Now you’ve got me excited about this movie! Who can we call to make it happen?
Q: What’s the worst and best advice you’ve heard or received as an author?
A: Worst advice: “You have to move to New York or Los Angeles to make it as a writer.”
Best advice: Never give up!
About The Author
Gayle Leeson is a pseudonym for Gayle Trent. I also write as Amanda Lee. As Gayle Trent, I write the Daphne Martin Cake Mystery series and the Myrtle Crumb Mystery series. As Amanda Lee, I write the Embroidery Mystery series. I live in Virginia with my family, which includes her own “Angus” who is not an Irish wolfhound but a Great Pyrenees who provides plenty of inspiration for the character of Mr. O’Ruff. I’m having a blast writing this new series!
Author Links:
Webpage – http://www.gayleleeson.com
Gayle Trent Webpage – http://www.gayletrent.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/GayleTrentandAmandaLee/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/GayleTrent
GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/426208.Gayle_Trent
Purchase Links
Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Books-a-Million – Kobo
Q: Can you tell us a little about yourself, Mrs. Odboddy?
Call me Agnes. I live with my Siamese cat, Ling-Ling, and my granddaughter, Katherine. She works at the Curls to Dye For beauty salon here in Newbury. I keep busy doing volunteer work and as I’m sure you’re aware, every citizen must to be on the look-out for Nazi spies and conspiracies.
Q: Tell us about your volunteer work.
I serve cookies at the military base USO several times a month, just up the Northern California coast. I also roll bandages at the hospital and work on the paper drive. Our church knits socks for the military. Probably my most valuable service as a home town patriot, is on the coast watch every other Wednesday. And, you wouldn’t believe how that turns out!
I also mail out ration coupon books. In fact, this week, I realized that someone is stealing and selling ration books from the mailboxes at empty houses. It’s sure to be a black market conspiracy. My friend, Jackson Jackson, and I will wait by the empty house tonight and we’ll catch the thief in the act.
Q: I can see how that might go wrong. Are you sure that’s safe?
Really, young lady! Where is your spirit of adventure?
Q: Okay, fair enough. Tell me why you think there are conspiracies and spies─
Oh, yes. Nazi spies. It’s that Sofia Rashmuller, the new gal at the First Church of the Evening Star and Everlasting Light. She’s a Nazi spy. Her dyed red hair is a dead giveaway.
Q: But your hair–
I beg your pardon! I do NOT dye my hair. I may freshen it from time to time with a henna rinse but I would never dye my hair. Fast women and European spies do that. I should know. I saw enough of them during WWI when I worked as an undercover agent for the USA. Of course, I was much younger then, but we saw some action, and I lived to tell about it.
Q: A WWI secret agent? Can you tell us about that?
Of course not! If I told you the details, I’d have to kill you.
Q: Really? So have you ever killed anyone?
Don’t be ridiculous… Well, there was that one time… Never mind. Next question?
Q: So, what else might our readers find interesting in the Mrs. Odboddy mystery adventure?
Everything was rationed. Tires, shoes, food, gasoline, just everything. Imagine. Coffee was rationed to one pound per adult every six weeks! And the price of eggs! Actually, I’ve solved that problem. I’m getting six chickens this afternoon. I’m not quite sure what I’ll do with them until Saturday, when my friend is building us a coop. Guess we’ll just have to stick them in the bathroom. Hope Ling-Ling doesn’t get obsessed with chicken tartare. (spoiler alert!)
Q: In the bathroom?How is that going to work?
Why not? They’re just chickens, after all. What could possibly go wrong?
Q: Um…
And I didn’t even mention my old WWI boyfriend coming back to town, wanting to reignite a romance. But, you’ll have to go to Amazon and buy the book if you want to know more about the ration book caper, stolen Hawaii money, chickens in the bathroom, and my old boyfriend. Life is very exciting in Newbury.
ABOUT THE AUTHORElaine is a member of Sisters in Crime, Inspire Christian Writers and Cat Writers Association. She lives in No. Calif with her husband and four house cats (the inspiration for her three humorous cozy cat mysteries, Black Cat’s Legacy, Black Cat and the Lethal Lawyer, and Black Cat and the Accidental Angel).
Mrs. Odboddy’s character is based in no way on Elaine’s quirky personality. Two more Mrs. Odboddy adventures will publish in the near future. Many of Elaine’s short stories have appeared in magazines and multiple anthologies.
Keep up with Elaine:
Website | Amazon author page | Facebook
Q: Tell our readers a little bit about yourself–maybe something readers might not guess? My name is Deanna Randolph, I’m eighteen, I live in Newport Island in 1895. Everyone thinks my sister is perfect (except that she gets the migraine). I love her and I guess that it’s good that everyone pays attention to her, because I get more freedom than I should. That’s okay. Because I like to do things that young ladies are not supposed to do.
Q: Who’s the character you get along with the best? Why?ˆ I get along with my maid Elspeth. She’s kind of my best friend because we spend so much time together, and she doesn’t let me get away with stuff and she helps me to stay brave. Plus she loves the dime novel detective stories we read on the sly. Nobody understand me like Elspeth does.
Q: Which other character do you have a conflict with? Why? Joe Ballard and I have lots of “misunderstandings.” He just doesn’t want me to do things, he’s worried about my reputation. I don’t know why. He and I were supposed to get married. And then he left society to work on his inventions. How’s that for my reputation. Our fathers planned it, and I didn’t want to get married, but it was a little humiliating. I want to see the world and learn new things, and not be tied down to society’s demands until I’m older. If even then.
Q: Just between you and me: What do you really think of your author? She is such stickler. Has to research everything. I’m all ready to jump into some adventure and she leaves me mid-sentence, to check if it would really happen that way. I guess that’s okay because I wouldn’t want to be an anachronism, but it is really annoying.
Q: What’s next for you? In the next Newport Gilded Age Mystery, my friend Herbert comes to town with a new motor car that he’s testing for the first motor car race in America in Chicago. It riles some of the horse people and a murder leads to the people who run the races and threatens Herbert’s future and maybe even his life.
ABOUT THE AUTHORShelley Freydont is the author of the Liv Montgomery Celebration Bay Mysteries, the Newport Gilded Age Mysteries, beginning with A Gilded Grave, as well as the Kate MacDonald Sudoku Mysteries and the Lindy Haggerty dance company mysteries.
As Shelley Noble, she is a NYTimes Bestselling author of women’s fiction, most recently, Whisper Beach.
A former professional dancer and choreographer, she most recently worked on the films, Mona Lisa Smile and The Game Plan. Shelley lives at the Jersey shore and loves puzzles, light houses and antique carousels. She is a member of Sisters-in-Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and Liberty States Fiction Writers.
For more about Shelley, please visit her website www.shelleyfreydont.com.
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