Sarah Fox's Blog, page 3

Favourite Cozy Mystery Series

It won’t be a surprise to anyone who knows me that the cozy mystery genre is my favourite of all book genres. I love to read them and I love to write them. For those who aren’t familiar with the cozy mystery genre, some of the most common elements include minimal violence, an amateur sleuth, and a small community (either a small town or a specific community within a larger city). Cozies often have a theme as well (such as food, crafts, or books) and a romantic subplot that runs through the series.

While I follow and enjoy a long list of cozy series, I thought I’d share a few of my absolute favourites. These series tend to have a couple of things in common, aside from intriguing murder mysteries. The characters and settings draw me back time and time again, and whenever I read a book from these series, I feel like I’m spending time in a familiar, cozy place with people I know well. These series also have romantic subplots that I’m invested in, and all of these elements keep me eager to read each subsequent book in the series.

My list of favourites includes:

The Orchard Mysteries by Sheila Connolly

Set in the quaint New England town of Granford, Massachusetts, Meg Corey solves mysteries while managing an apple orchard.

The County Cork Mysteries by Sheila Connolly

American Maura Donovan forges a new life for herself in Ireland, where she finds more than she bargained for: relatives she never knew she had, a new job, new friends, and dead bodies.

The DIY Mysteries by Jennie Bentley

Textile designer Avery Baker, formerly of New York, settles in small town Maine where she teams up with her new boyfriend, Derek, to remodel houses and solve murders.

The Magical Cats Mysteries by Sofie Kelly

Librarian Kathleen Paulson solves mysteries in her Minnesota town along with former stray cats Owen and Hercules, who have some rather unusual abilities.

The Black Cat Bookshop Mysteries by Ali Brandon

New York bookshop owner Darla Pettistone solves mysteries with the help of her friends and her cat (and bookshop mascot) Hamlet.

The Renaissance Faire Mysteries by Joyce and Jim Lavene

Jessie Morton spends her summers with a cast of quirky characters at the Renaissance Village, where she hones her Renaissance skills and tracks down killers.

That’s just a taste of my favourite cozies. If you’re a fan of the genre, what are some of your favourite series?

Radio Interview

Last night I did my first radio interview! I talked to host Jason Henderson about my Music Lover’s Mysteries on the latest episode of Castle of Horrors. I had a great time chatting with Jason about Dead Ringer and Death in A Major, and I’m so glad he invited me on the show.

For anyone interested, you can listen to the interview online or download it from the show’s website here. Currently my interview is at the top of the list since it was the most recent episode, but in the future you can find it by the date (01/25/2016) and title (Interview: Sarah Fox “Death in A Major”)

The ebook of Death in A Major: A Music Lover’s Mystery #2 was released in early January and the paperback will be available on February 23, 2016.

Release Day: Death in A Major

Today Death in A Major gets released into the world!!! :D :D :D

This is the second book in my Music Lover’s Mystery series, which follows the sleuthing adventures of professional violinist Midori Bishop. Available today as an e-book, Death in A Major will also be released in trade paperback on February 23, 2016.

For those who haven’t yet read the official blurb, here it is:

When Archibald Major, local big wig and nasty tyrant, drops dead at a post-concert reception, violinist Midori Bishop soon suspects foul play. Although Midori has no intention of getting involved in another murder investigation, that all changes when Jordan—her violin student and the victim’s grandson—seeks her help convincing the police that the real killer is his uncle, a low-level criminal. As Midori digs into the victim’s life, she discovers that he was a man who created discord at every turn, even within his own family, and there is no shortage of potential suspects. When someone close to Midori unexpectedly confesses to the crime, Midori must race to discover the identity of the true killer before an innocent person goes to jail for a crime they didn’t commit…and before Midori herself becomes a victim in the killer’s deadly encore.

I hope readers will enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Here’s the Amazon link.

The first book in the series is called Dead Ringer and I’m currently working on the third book which will be released in June 2016.

Me and Midori

With only one week (!) remaining until the release of Death in A Major, I thought I’d answer a couple of questions I’ve been asked about the Music Lover’s Mysteries:

How are you and your protagonist (Midori Bishop) similar?

Aside from the fact that we both like tea sandwiches, Midori and I both love a good mystery, and unsolved ones drive us crazy. That’s the main thing we share. In addition to that, I used to play the violin (although not professionally) and I grew up in Vancouver, Midori’s home town.

How are you different?

In more ways than I can count. My mysteries are, of course, works of fiction and Midori isn’t meant to be me in any way. That said, I think the main difference is that I’m not a snoop. I might get curious about things, but I’m not so likely to stick my nose into other people’s business. Midori, on the other hand, is a snoop. A well-meaning one, but a snoop nonetheless. :)

Thanks for reading! I hope you’ll enjoy Death in A Major, the second book in the Music Lover’s Mystery series.

 

 

Blog Tour Sign-Up

Death in A Major, the second book in my Music Lover’s Mystery series published by HarperCollins, will be release on January 5, 2016. A blog tour will take place between January 4th and 22nd.

I would love for more book bloggers to get involved. If you’re interested, here is the sign-up link: http://goo.gl/forms/3vmKvIn9e1

Death in A Major is a music-themed cozy mystery that follows the continued sleuthing adventures of professional violinist Midori Bishop. The first book in the series, Dead Ringer, was released in June 2015.

 

 

Favourite Reads of 2015: Part II

Back in July I wrote a post about some of my favourite reads of the year so far. Now that the year is almost at an end, I thought I’d write another post about the books I’ve read over the last few months. Although I read and enjoyed many books, these ones were my top favourites:

SNOWED INN by Heather Horrocks

In the middle of November I started craving books set during the winter, particularly during a snowstorm. When I came across Snowed Inn, I thought it might fit the bill perfectly, and I wasn’t disappointed. This is the first book in the Who-Dun-Him Inn mystery series and there were so many things I loved about it. Not only was it a great wintry mystery, the inn run by the main character was mystery-themed. All the rooms were named after famous fictional detectives and were decorated accordingly. And of course there was a real murder with plenty of suspects among the inn’s guests. All in all, Snowed Inn was a thoroughly enjoyable mystery.

Here is the link to the book on Amazon.

GREENGLASS HOUSE by Kate Milford (MG)

I also came across Greenglass House while looking for books to satisfy my craving for wintry stories. Set at a rambling old smugglers’ inn during icy, snowy weather, Greenglass House starts out with 12-year-old Milo – the innkeepers’ son – looking forward to a quiet holiday season. But then, one after the other, several odd guests arrive to stay at the inn, and all of them seem to be harboring secrets. When items go missing from several guest rooms, Milo and the cook’s daughter set out to untangle a mystery that is somehow connected to the history of Greenglass House. This book had the wintry atmosphere I was looking for, but it also had so much more — a whole host of colourful characters, a great setting, and an intriguing mystery. I started out reading the sample of this book on my Kindle, but as soon as I reached the end of the sample I had to purchase the entire book.

You can find it on Amazon here.

THE DEAD GIRLS OF HYSTERIA HALL by Katie Alender (YA)

I picked up this book because I was wanting to read something creepy. I’m so glad I decided to give it a try because I absolutely loved it. It kept me hooked from start to finish and there were times when I looked up from the book confused because I’d been so lost in the story that I’d forgotten there was a world around me. The main character, Delia, inherits an old house, but soon finds out that the house was once an insane asylum for women. Although the asylum was shut down long ago, the house still wants to hold on to troubled girls. It’s also haunted by many former inmates who died in the house. When the house gets Delia in its grasp, she has to uncover dark secrets before everyone she cares about is destroyed.

You can find out more about this book here.

So that wraps up my list of favourite reads for 2015. I’m looking forward to reading many more fabulous books in 2016 and hopefully I’ll remember to share some of my favourites here on my blog.

Book News!

I’m happy to announce that I have another book deal! My fabulous agent, Jessica Faust, has sold my cozy mystery Crêpes of Wrath to Penguin Random House (Alibi) in a three book deal!

The first book in the Pancake House Mystery series, Crêpes of Wrath follows Marley McKinney as she works to solve a murder while managing the Flip Side pancake house in the seaside town of Wildwood Cove, Washington.

I had so much fun writing this book and I’m excited to write the second and third installments of the series over the next year. The seaside setting was inspired by the place where I vacationed each summer while growing up, and I’ve loved incorporating the setting into the story.

The pancake house mysteries will be available as ebooks and Crêpes of Wrath will be released in September 2016.

I’m so happy about this news, and I hope readers will enjoy this new series! :D

Cover Reveal: Death in A Major

I’m so excited to be able to share the cover and blurb for the second book in the Music Lover’s Mystery Series, Death in A Major!

First, here’s the cover:

I’m so grateful to the art department at HarperCollins for creating such gorgeous covers for my books!

As with the first book in the series, Dead Ringer, Death in A Major follows the sleuthing adventures of professional violinist Midori Bishop.

Here’s what the book is about:

When Archibald Major, local big wig and nasty tyrant, drops dead at a post-concert reception, violinist Midori Bishop soon suspects foul play. Although Midori has no intention of getting involved in another murder investigation, that all changes when Jordan—her violin student and the victim’s grandson—seeks her help convincing the police that the real killer is his uncle, a low-level criminal. As Midori digs into the victim’s life, she discovers that he was a man who created discord at every turn, even within his own family, and there is no shortage of potential suspects. When someone close to Midori unexpectedly confesses to the crime, Midori must race to discover the identity of the true killer before an innocent person goes to jail for a crime they didn’t commit…and before Midori herself becomes a victim in the killer’s deadly encore.

Death in A Major will be released in ebook format on January 5, 2016, with paperback to follow. The ebook is currently available for pre-order from many online retailers, including the HarperCollins website, Amazon, Amazon.ca, Chapters, iTunes, Google Play and Barnes & Noble.

You can find out more about the first book in the cozy mystery series (Dead Ringer) here.

Writing Update

My debut novel, Dead Ringer: A Music Lover’s Mystery, has been out in the world for more than two months now(!). I’m still getting used to the fact that it’s an actual book and that there are people out there reading it, but the whole experience has been amazing so far.

Although I’ve been doing things like writing guest posts for mystery writing blogs and having a book launch at the local library, I’ve also been keeping busy with my writing projects. I sent the second book in the Music Lover’s Mystery series to my editor just recently and I sent an unrelated mystery manuscript to my agent. While I wait for both of those projects to come back to me for edits/revisions, I’ve started work on book three in the Music Lover’s Mystery series. I’m so happy to be writing another book in this series because I love the characters (particularly the main character, Midori, and her best friend, JT) and I have so much fun writing their stories.

The second book in the series will be released in January 2016 by HarperCollins and I hope readers will enjoy following Midori’s sleuthing adventures as much as I enjoy writing them. :D

Anyone interested in learning more about Dead Ringer can find it at the following places:

HarperCollins, Amazon, Chapters, iTunes and Barnes & Noble.

Lessons Learned

Last week I wrote a post about my path to publication. (You can find it here). This week I wanted to touch on a few things I learned during my journey.

#1. Not everyone will believe in your goals, but that doesn’t mean you can’t achieve them.

I didn’t tell a lot of people about my writing until I was published. My family, a few close friends, and the writing community were the only people who knew I was trying to get my book published. Part of that was because I didn’t want to be constantly asked “when will your book be published?” and part of it was because I knew some people would probably laugh in my face. Once when I told someone that I wanted to be a writer, that person scoffed at me as if I’d said I wanted to be Santa Claus and drive a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer. But now I am a published writer. So some people might think your goal of becoming a published writer is nothing but a pipe dream, but with hard work and perseverance, it can become reality.

#2. Even if your path to publication doesn’t unfold how you’d hoped or planned, that doesn’t mean you won’t become a published writer.

My path to publication took several twists and turns and I went from picturing myself as a TV writer to hoping to be a mystery writer. The book that got me my agent and my book deal was the fourth book I’d written and the third book I’d queried. Nothing happened how or when I had hoped when I first decided I wanted to be a writer, but things have worked out extremely well for me nonetheless and I’m loving where I am right now. So even if you come across unexpected obstacles or your writing path takes some unplanned turns and detours, don’t give up hope. As long as you keep writing and trying, you can keep moving forward.

#3. No two paths to publication are the same.

It’s so easy for us writers to compare ourselves to other writers, especially when we see lives and writing journeys unfold on social media. But it doesn’t matter if the things that are happening to writer X and writer Y aren’t happening to you at the same time. Your path to publication is yours alone and it will never be exactly the same as anyone else’s. The fact that others are having success when you aren’t doesn’t mean that you won’t find success down the road.

Those are a few things I’ve learned over the years. I’m still learning more every day, and hopefully that will continue for the rest of my writing days. For those of you who are hoping to become published writers in the future, I hope this post has been helpful.