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.
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 ‘.
In Dorothy St. James’s third delectable Southern Chocolate Shop mystery, a new batch of chocolate and troubles of the heart cause a string of disasters for the Chocolate Box’s new owner, Charity Penn.
The vintage seaside town of Camellia Beach, South Carolina seems like the perfect place for romance with its quiet beach and its decadent chocolate shop that serves the world’s richest dark chocolates. The Chocolate Box’s owner, Charity Penn, falls even further under the island’s moonlit spell as she joins Althea Bays and the rest of the turtle watch team to witness a new generation of baby sea turtles hatch and make their way into the wide ocean.
Before the babies arrive, gunshots ring out in the night. Cassidy Jones, the local Casanova, is found dead in the sand with his lover Jody Dalton—the same woman who has vowed to destroy the Chocolate Box—holding the gun. It’s an obvious crime of passion, or so everyone believes. But when Jody’s young son pleads with Penn to bring his mother back to him, she can’t say no. She dives headfirst into a chocolate swirl of truth and lies, and must pick through an assortment of likely (and sometimes unsavory) suspects before it’s too late for Penn and for those she loves in Dorothy St. James’s third rich installment of the Southern Chocolate Shop mysteries, In Cold Chocolate. Enter To Win a 12-piece Godiva Patisserie Truffle Chocolate Flight (US Only)
Author Interview
Dorothy, welcome to Island Confidential! Can you tell us about the protagonist of In Cold Chocolate?
Charity Penn (just Penn to her friends) is chocoholic living her dream. She owns a chocolate shop on the small beach-side community of Camellia Beach in South Carolina. She’s a little nutty. She owns a small Papillon dog (Stella) who will occasionally bite her and anyone else. Because of her rocky past, she is slow to trust others. But she’s generous and always willing to lend a helping hand. Are you and Penn anything alike?
Probably the only thing I have in common with Penn is that we both have trouble in the kitchen. I don’t know what it is. I try to follow a recipe, but things seem to go wrong on their own. How would you feel about meeting her in real life?
I think that’d be awesome. I hope we’d get along. Maybe become best friends even. I’d love to get some free chocolates from her shop. Do your characters change and evolve throughout consecutive books in the series? My characters change quite a bit from book to book. Charity Penn most of all. She starts out in book one quite broken and lost. In every book she learns more about her purpose in life and gains more confidence. Like in real life, our experiences change us. Have you ever thought of killing someone that you know in real life–on the pages of a murder mystery, I mean?
Well, yeah! Hasn’t everyone? There’s one person in my life that really gets under my skin. I decided not to kill her, but translate her crazy and hurtful actions into the actions of a character in my books. I’m not going to kill her. No, that’s too good for her. I’m going to keep her alive and torture her a bit instead. (Rubs hands together with maniacal glee.) Well now I have to try to figure out who that is! And speaking of using real life in fiction, do you take liberties with your setting, or is it fairly realistic?
My Southern Chocolate Shop Mysteries are set on a fictional island, Camellia Beach. The place is loosely based on the real town of Folly Beach, which is located near Charleston, SC. I chose to set the book in a fictional town so I could turn back time and depict the town as it had existed before it turned so touristy. I lived on Folly Beach for 20 years and love its quirky, artsy ways. I always knew I wanted to set a series there. What’s the worst and best advice you’ve heard or received as an author?
The best advice I’ve ever gotten as an author is to write. If you write one page every day, by the end of the year, you’ll have finished a book. Everyone can write at least one page. The worst advice I’d ever heard was that an author needed to buy this or that advertising campaign in order to guarantee success. Yes, some ads are worth the price. But there are plenty of pathways to success. And since every book is different, no one can guarantee what it takes to get your book noticed. Just keep talking with people and your passion. The readers will eventually find you.
About the author
A lover of puzzles and perhaps a bit too nosey about other people’s lives, Dorothy St. James is a former Folly Beach beach bum. She now lives in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina with her husband, precocious daughter, slightly (OK, terribly) needy dogs, and the friendliest cat you’d ever meet. She has degrees in Wildlife Biology and Public Administration and as an urban planner, worked for many years telling the stories of small southern towns.
Author of a dozen novels, Dorothy enjoys writing both cozy mysteries and romance. Her works have been nominated for many awards including: the Southern Independent Bookseller’s Alliance Southern Book Prize, Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, Reviewers
International Organization Award, National Reader’s Choice Award, CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Award, and The Romance Reviews Today Perfect 10! Award. Reviewers have called her work: “amazing”, “perfect”, “filled with emotion”, and “lined with danger.” Author Links Website:www.dorothystjames.com Facebook:www.facebook.com/dorothystjames Twitter:www.twitter.com/dorothymcfalls Purchase Links Indie BoundAmazonKoboGoogle PlayBarnes & NobleBookBub
It’s been seven months since Brie Hooker, a vegan, moved to Udderly Kidding Dairy to live with her feisty Aunt Eva, a confirmed carnivore.But tonight there’ll be no family feud over dinner entrees.
Udderly’s hosting a campaign fundraiser for Eva’s best friend, who hopes to be South Carolina’s next governor. The candidate’s son, a pro quarterback, is flying home for the wingding. And Brie’s eager to get a close-up view of the cute tush she’s admired on TV, even though she’s reluctantly sworn off even more tempting local beefcake.
The campaign fundraiser promises to be a huge success until a pitchfork attack turns the goat farm into a crime scene—again.
To protect her friends, Brie puts her sleuthing skills to work. Will she live long enough to find out who’s behind a vicious assault, a kidnapping, blackmail, and murder?
Character Interview
Eva, welcome to Island Confidential. Can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?
My name is Eva Hooker. I’m 62 years old and I own Udderly Kidding Dairy, a 400-goat farm in Upstate South Carolina. I grew up in Iowa with my twin sister, Lilly, who recently died. When I was in college, I fell in love with a man from Ardon County, South Carolina, quit school and married him at age nineteen despite my sister’s pleas to finish college and wait. I soon discovered the hard way that my husband was abusive but I was too embarrassed to let my family know. After a number of broken bones, I finally got up the nerve to divorce the slime ball, despite his threat to kill me if I left. Before I could take the final steps, he disappeared on a fishing trip. I inherited his farm and decided to raise goats. My twin Lilly joined me and we turned the farm into a successful enterprise. When Lilly was killed in an accident, I asked my niece Brie to help me run the dairy until I could decide on the dairy’s future.
It’s hard for me to remember the fearful teenage bride who came to Ardon County. I vowed I’d never be a victim again and over the years I’ve become a very independent woman who thinks and says what she wants. I love my animals and my family. I have a special soft spot for my niece, Brie, even though I tease her every chance I get about her vegan diet. How anyone can give up cheese is beyond me. Our farrier, Billy, visits Udderly Kidding Dairy at least a couple of times a week for a friendly overnight visit. We’re both too old and stubborn to get married but we enjoy the occasional sleep over. I think that relationship gives my younger brother, Howard, Brie’s dad heartburn but that’s his problem not mine. Who’s the character you get along with the best?
I get along with everyone as long as they respect my right to my own lifestyle and opinions. My twin and I got along best, of course, but Lilly’s gone now. I’m not sure that Brie would say we get along best, but I love having her living at Udderly. I love her youthful optimism and energy. And, don’t you let her know, but I even like a lot of those vegan dishes she fixes. Is there anyone you don’t get along with so well?
A number of my ex-husband’s kin still live around here and hate me. For years, they suspected I killed my ex. The owner of the local newspaper also has it in for me. You can read all about them in this series. These old enemies can’t seem to let go of the past. Just between you and me: What do you really think of your author?
I think I have more in common with the author than does Brie, the heroine, of the series. Let’s say we’re both more mature, and we’re independent cusses who like to tease and laugh. And we both love cheese. The author tried to go vegan for a couple of years but the lure of cheddar brought her back to the fold. What’s next for you?
I’m not sure what the author plans for me and Udderly Kidding Dairy. Brie’s stay with me is supposed to be temporary. She’s restoring an old Southern mansion that she wants to make into a B&B that caters to vegetarians and vegans. Before she moves on, I have to decide if I want to take on a new on-site partner, downsize the dairy so I can manage it alone, hire more employees, or sell and move on. I’m not betting I’ll sell. Too fond of my lifestyle and my animals.
About the Author
Linda Lovely finds writing pure fiction isn’t a huge stretch given the years she’s spent penning PR and ad copy. Linda writes a blend of mystery and humor, chuckling as she plots to “disappear” the types of characters who most annoy her. Quite satisfying, plus there’s no need to pester relatives for bail. Her newest series offers good-natured salutes to both her vegan family doctor and her cheese-addicted kin. She’s an enthusiastic Sisters in Crime member and helps organize the popular Writers’ Police Academy. When not writing or reading, Linda takes long walks with her husband, swims, gardens, and plays tennis.
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