Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 31

Day at the County Fair by Amanda Flower

by Barb, in Maine, where the decorating is finished and the cookie baking has begun

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Old Home Week here at the Wickeds. Today, Friend of the Blog, Amanda Flower is here to tell us about her latest novel Dating Can Be Deadly, the fifth book in her Amish Matchmaker Mystery Series.

Over to you, Amanda!

I love county fairs. My husband and I go to our local county fair every year. It’s a great place for unhealthy food, people watching, and getting up close and personal with farm animals. I always wanted write a cozy set at a county fair, and I knew that Amish Matchmaker Mysteries would be the perfect series for it. This is why Dating Can Be Deadly, the latest book in the series, is set at the Holmes County Fair.

Both the Amish Candy Shop Mysteries are the Amish Matchmaker Mysteries are set in the same world of fictional Harvest, Ohio. However, Harvest is set in a real place, Holmes County, where we have Ohio’s largest Amish population. I have been writing about the Amish in Holmes County for well over a decade now, but Dating Can Be Deadly is the first time that I have written the Holmes County Fair, which is one of the biggest events in the rural county every year.

One of my favorite ways to research is to go to the places where my novels are set, so there was no question that I would go to the fair to research this novel. As soon as I stepped onto the fairgrounds I knew it was the perfect setting. There were people, both Amish and English, from all walks of life there, and within ten seconds, I found the perfect murder weapon.

Just as my husband and I came into the gate, we saw a cage on top of a trailer. A woman inside the cage was teaching a young man how to throw an axe at a target. A light bulb went off. The axe was the perfect murder weapon for my book. Now before you grow alarmed, I still write cozies, so the murder is not gruesome and takes place off page. However, it was nice to have a new idea for a murder weapon after writing so many books (over 50!).

While at the fair, I had to try my hand at the axe throwing too. I can’t say I was great at it, but I managed to hit the target once after many tries.

I hope you will give Dating Can Be Deadly a try!

Readers: Have you been to a county fair, or a similar type of gathering? What did you think?

About Amanda Flower

Amanda Flower is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author of over fifty mystery novels. Her novels have received starred reviews from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Romantic Times, and she had been featured in USA Today, First for Women, and Woman’s World. Her first Emily Dickinson Mystery, Because I Could Not Stop for Death, was a Agatha Award winner and Mary Higgins Clark Nominee. A former librarian, Flower and her husband own a farm and recording studio, and they live in Northeast Ohio with their eight adorable cats.

About Dating Can Be Deadly

Set in the fan-favorite Amish village of Harvest, Ohio, the latest novel in USA Today bestselling author Amanda Flower’s Amish Matchmaker Mysteries brings back the unlikely sleuthing duo of a widowed Amish matchmaker and her zany, four-times-divorced Englisch best friend as they must solve the murder of a quilting competition judge.

Perfect for fans of cozy mysteries, small-town mysteries, wholesome romance, inspirational fiction, and readers of Jennifer Beckstrand, Charlotte Hubbard, Rachel J. Good, and other authors of Amish fiction.

It’s August in Holmes County, and that means it’s time for the Holmes County Fair. It’s the county’s biggest annual event, drawing tourists and locals alike to see livestock, eat too much fried food, and watch the rodeo and speed racing contests. This year, Millie has entered the quilting competition—while her very not Amish best friend, Lois Henry, is distracted by her new dating app and her search for husband number five. In a place where quilting is a way of life, the competition is fierce—especially this year, when an anonymous donor doubles the winning cash prize. Amish and English women are up against each other, and some will do anything to win—even murder . . .

When someone attacks the quilt barn by slashing the quilt display, it’s unsettling enough. But when a quilting judge is found murdered, Millie knows it’s time to for Lois to get off her app and help her hunt for a killer instead—before the competition is wiped out for good . . .

Make a Joyful Noise

Wickeds, we’ve been talking about joy all month. We’ve sliced and diced it into people, places, food and things. What have we left out? Tell us about something that consistently brings you joy that you haven’t written about so far. The more out of the box, the better. And then tell us the same thing for a character.

Edith/Maddie: Other than gazing at my sons’ faces, you mean? Our cat Martin certainly brings me comfort and sometimes joy. He’s a big sweet fellow who keeps me company in my office as I work and curls up next to me on the couch as I read in the evenings. I love that he’s always around – and never bites. Mac Almeida’s African gray parrot Belle brings her joy. Belle makes her laugh. She was a solid companion when Mac was single and is now part of the family Mac and Tim have formed. The bird is pretty low maintenance and helps Mac stay happy. Plus, Belle once helped rescue Mac from a murderer! She’s definitely a keeper.

Liz: I know I talk about them all the time – but since I haven’t mentioned them yet in this month’s joy posts, I have to say my pups, Molly and Penny. I just celebrated their fifth Gotcha Days – I can’t believe it’s been that long – and they bring me joy every day. They’re funny and sweet and lovey and my constant companions.

Barb: Right now looking around our living/dining room gives me joy because we are all decorated for Christmas. I change the decor in our home seasonally. Nothing crazy, a few table runners or mats, something seasonal in a bowl, the color of the candles in the candlesticks. At Christmas, I go bigger, bringing out objects from my youth, my children’s childhoods, ornaments handmade by the granddaughters. It’s silly, really. Now that the family has left after our Thanksgiving weekend, no one will be here to see the house, except me, Bill, and the cleaning people. And it all needs to come down before we leave for Christmas in NYC and then Key West on December 22. But still, I do it because I love it. I do it because it brings me joy.

Jessie: Barb, you have really hit it out of the park this month! I have loved each of your questions! For me, I derive a great deal of joy from setting and striving for goals. I adore imagining something that comes to fruition. I also find joy in hosting. I love gathering people together and creating memorable experiences for them. Every month I host friends from my village to a gathering in my home. We meet on the third Friday of the month and have done for years. Over that time bonds of friendship have grown and connections have been forged. It simply delights me to hear and see the chatter and pleasure bringing people together creates!

Sherry: I loved reading all of your responses! So you said think outside the box, right? I love this Wonder Woman bracelet. Bob gave it to me for Christmas one year and told me I was his Wonder Woman — cue the tears. It’s always out in my office and it always makes me smile. It’s probably more about Bob than the bracelet so maybe my response isn’t so out of the box after all.

Readers: What is something that brings you joy that you haven’t mentioned yet this month?

Welcome Back, Author Clara McKenna

by Barb, in Maine, where the hordes have gone home and the house is suddenly very quiet

Please welcome longtime Friends of the Wickeds Clara McKenna to the blog. Clara is here in support of her holiday mystery, Murder on Mistletoe Lane, the fifth book in her historical, cozy Stella and Lyndy Mystery Series.

Doesn’t that cover put you right in the mood?

Over to You, Clara!

Writing a book centered around any one holiday is a challenge. Typically, the holiday only lasts a day or maybe a short season, but as a writer, you need to capture the mood, the mystique, and what makes the holiday special 365 days a year. I discovered this when I set out to write Murder on Mistletoe Lane, the fifth book in my historical, cozy Stella & Lyndy mystery series, which tells how my main characters manage to navigate the murder and mayhem at Morrington Hall and still have a lovely first Christmas together.

Luckily, I didn’t go into the endeavor without the requisite deep love of Christmas. In February, I could envision the gingerbread men my mother used to bake and line the kitchen shelves with every year like soldiers who’d break your teeth if you tried to eat them. In July, I drew on the ingrained memory of the fragrant scent of the Christmas trees my father used to sell every year or the aroma of a hot cup of cocoa warming my cold fingers as I stood in the snow caroling. In September, my birthday month, I’d remember the joy and love as I unwrapped the annual ornaments my aunt gave me as a child to someday hang on my own Christmas tree.

Cherished memories helped me channel Christmas every time I sat down at the computer, and I set out to create similar ones for my characters while sharing the emotions they evoked with readers. I wanted to create a mystery that was uplifting as well as entertaining. To do that, the plot and subplots of the story, even when punctuated by murder, needed to reflect the Spirit of Christmas as well. I considered all that the holiday embodies and incorporated as many aspects as possible: family, home, tradition, charity, love, and kindness. The characters exchange thoughtful gifts. The hall is decked with evergreens and hope. The Yule log warms the guests and family alike for days. Neighbors serenade each other with song. Hymns and carols fill the rafters at church. As this is a grand country estate, the staff take extra pride in the celebration foods they prepare, and Stella, being the outsider, enriches the British traditions by sharing a few of her own from home.

But beyond the food and festivities, I thought it equally important for the mystery to reflect how lives can be positively impacted during the holiday season. Family members are reunited. A desperate widow is given a gift that helps sustain her young family through the upcoming winter. A cantankerous older woman is given the gift of forgiveness. A maid is given a second chance. A pony is given a new home. And since this is a murder mystery, justice is served, and peace prevails. And that, to me, is what Christmas is all about.  

Readers: What does Christmas mean to you? How do you sustain that throughout the year?

About Clara McKenna

Clara McKenna writes the acclaimed historical cozy Stella & Lyndy Mysteries series, about an unlikely couple who mix love, murder, and horseracing in Edwardian England. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and the founding member of Sleuths in Time, a cooperative group of historical mystery writers who encourage and promote each other’s work. With an incurable case of wanderlust, she travels every chance she gets, England being a favorite destination. When she can’t get to England, she happily writes about it from her home in the Upper Midwest. Visit her online at www.claramckenna.com

About Murder on Mistletoe Lane

Ex-pat Stella and British aristocrat Viscount “Lyndy” Lyndhurst are thrilled to celebrate their first Christmas together as Morrington Hall comes alive with caroling, intricate decorations . . . and a deadly murder.
 
Taking on the responsibilities that come with being Lady Lyndhurst, Stella is eager to embrace yuletide traditions in the Edwardian English countryside and use her strong social influence for good. Her world becomes so consumed with starting a horse farm charity for the holidays that she barely notices the usual oddities attached to her upper-crust lifestyle. At least, not until items vanish from her bedroom and maligned housekeeper, Mrs. Nelson, becomes seriously ill—only to be found dead in the cold on Mistletoe Lane . . .
 
Cheery spirits are dashed following the sudden death, especially once Stella questions whether her own staff knows what—or who—killed the woman. Her suspicions mount when another person dies under strange circumstances during New Forest’s annual Point‑to‑Point Boxing Day race. Then there’s the case of Morrington Hall becoming plagued by false identities, secret affairs, and disgruntled employees . . .
 
Now, with two murders unfolding before their eyes in late December, Stella and Lyndy realize they can’t fully trust anyone except for themselves while investigating. Because as disturbing answers come into focus, identifying the criminal responsible and surviving into the new year would be the greatest gift of the season . . .

BUY LINKS

Amazon
Bookshop.org
Barnes & Noble
Apple Books
Kobo

Ask the Expert: A Publisher’s Publicist

by Barb, in Maine, resting up after a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend

Larissa Ackerman is a Senior Communications Manager at Kensington Publishing. All of the Wickeds have worked with her at one time or another and she is a wonder! She’s tremendously supportive and a very hard worker.

Sometimes authors are perfectly comfortable writing a book (okay no one I know) but overwhelmed when it comes to promoting the finished work. Sometimes readers don’t know where to find new books or are put off by an author’s constant self-promotion.

We thought both readers and writers might like an inside look at what a publicist does to support her company’s authors. Read on as Larissa fills us in.

Welcome, Larissa!

Hello, Barb! Thank you so much for having me on the Wickeds!

Barb: Your official title is Senior Communications Manager. Can you give us a short overview your job responsibilities for those who don’t know you?

Larissa: I am a woman of many hats! My main responsibility is handling the publicity for our historical mystery and cozy mystery authors (with some other mystery subgenres sprinkled in there as well). That means I am booking events, sending ARCs (advance reading copies) out to the publishing trades like Library Journal and Publishers Weekly, mailing ARCs and pitching to review outlets, setting up blog tours, etc. I also handle marketing campaigns for those books, such as booking Instagram book tours, or booking ads in print magazines (you’ve probably seen our cozies on the back of Woman’s World CELEBRATE). I also manage our CozyCons, which are multi-author events where we partner with independent bookstores to have basically a giant cozy mystery shindig!

Barb: What are the most important things an author working with a publicist at a traditional publisher can do to help the publicist, help themselves, and help their book(s)?

Larissa: It is always helpful to have a website and a Facebook page, even if you have only published one book! It is helpful for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes so that when people Google you, your website and Facebook page comes up at the top, but it’s also just overall useful to have a website where you can keep your books and events listed. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, either. It’s also very helpful when authors tell their publicists about any events they’ve booked on their own!

Barb: Moving beyond traditional publishing, in your observation, what are things all published or soon-to-be published authors should do to support the sale of their books?

Larissa: Promote your book! I know that a lot of authors can be shy or nervous to put themselves out there to talk about the book, but the publisher depends on the author talking about their book to their network(s), too. If you just publish your book and don’t post about it at all on your social pages, or put it up on your website, or say no to an interview request, how will your current fans (and future fans!) know it exists? Do not be afraid to ever talk your book(s) up. I know it can feel really hard to talk about yourself and your work, but just think about all the work you put into writing your book and channel that proud energy into chatting up everyone you know about your newest release!

Barb: What things should an author never do? No names, please, (unless you want to spill) but what is counterproductive, drives you crazy?

Larissa: This is a great question! And I will never spill names (unless maybe someone buys me a couple of glasses of red wine). I have had authors decline interviews or refuse to do events if the event isn’t just themselves (a solo author event). We live in a world where thousands of books are being published each year, and the space for book sections in newspapers, magazines, etc. is only getting smaller. Say yes to the interview! And say yes to doing events with other authors! The more the merrier.

Barb: How do you feel about social media today? Authors must do/should do/can skip? Which apps are most important? We hear so much about Tik-Tok, what do you think about that?

Larissa: My colleagues Lauren and Kait are the social media pros, but I am going to channel their energy and say that absolutely authors should have some sort of social media presence. I would say you absolutely want Facebook—a lot of Kensington Publishing’s audiences are on there. I think that you can absolutely experiment with TikTok and if you like it, go for it—but if you think it’s not for you, then don’t force yourself to spend time on a social media platform you aren’t a fan of.

Barb: Not that long ago, Kensington started branding its cozies with the imprint Kensington Cozies. What are the advantages of this?

Larissa: I think it really helps streamline the cozies branding. When you have cozy mysteries under the Kensington Books imprint, they were mixed in with our other mysteries, like the historical mysteries, literary suspense, and thrillers. With Kensington Cozies its own imprint, all our books (including the Kensington Books titles) have more room to breathe on their own. I think people are also really excited when they’re shopping and recognize our amazing Kensington Cozies teapot logo that one of our cover art designers, Seth, created. It brings a sense of joy!

Barb: Where will we see you out and about supporting Kensington titles in 2024?

Larissa: You will see me in Stevens Point, Wisconsin on March 3rd for our first CozyCon of the year; Bellevue, Washington for Left Coast Crime on April 12th; Lake Forest Park on April 14th for our CozyCon West; Groveland, Massachusetts for CozyCon East on May 18th; and date to come for our July CozyCon with Quail Ridge Books. And of course, I’ll be at Bouchercon Nashville for our signing suite (date/time to come). You’re all going to be so tired of seeing me everywhere!!

Readers: Do you have questions for Larissa? How do you find out about books? What kinds of things would you like to see publisher’s do? Writers, do you have any questions about what you are doing/are considering doing to support your work?

Doorbusters, moms and Black Friday memories

By Liz, trying to ignore all the Black Friday promos!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! And now, for the main event: Black Friday.

Let me caveat this by saying I’ve always been a very good shopper. It’s my favorite hobby, next to reading. I got this from my mother – one of the few things we ever agreed on. And probably the only time we ever really bonded was on Black Friday WAY back in the day when I was in my teens and early twenties.

I don’t remember my mom getting excited about much. But she looked forward to Black Friday the way good Catholics look forward to Sunday mass. And yeah, she was that too.

Anyway, the plans for Black Friday shopping started the week before Thanksgiving. She would check in to make sure I was on board (I was) and where we should go (usually the same place – the Rockingham Mall in Salem, NH). She loved J.C. Penney. I’m not even sure if that store still exists. We would get up at an ungodly hour, around 4:30. She would pick me up and we would speed to the mall as if the deals were going to get away. J.C. Penney always gave away gifts – the doorbusters – to the people who came in during the first hour or two hours that they were open – usually a Christmasy snow globe or ornament. She was very proud of that collection of snow globes.

And we got some good deals. We would both load up on stuff – some gifts, most not – and she would always buy me a bunch of things. It was our first and most fruitful stop. Then we explored a few other stores we both liked in the mall and were usually home by ten or eleven.

Today, of course, things are very different. I haven’t been out in the world hitting the stores in probably twenty years (although the online sales are another story). My mother and I haven’t bonded in probably as long. And these days the sales have been going on for a good week before actual Black Friday.

As for those trips to J.C. Penney, they’ll always hold a special place in my heart. Not because I really even liked the store that much. It was just that for a couple hours, I felt like I was out shopping with a special friend. We didn’t have conversations about other stuff, we didn’t argue, we just ran around like teenagers showing each other clothes and encouraging each other to buy it, whether it was frivolous or not.

And it was kind of magic.

What do you all think of Black Friday? Love it? Hate it? Ignore it? And traditions? Tell me in the comments! And happy shopping!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Wickeds

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, and whoever you’re with, the Wickeds wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and a joy-filled year.

Joy in People

Wickeds, the holiday is upon us. Some of us will be with loved ones and some of us will not. But let’s talk about a person who brings us joy. I know it’s unfair to make you pick one, but just like book dedications, the chance will come around again. Throw a dart at your photo wall if you must and tell us about one person and why and how they bring you joy. And then tell us about a character and the person who consistently brings them joy.

Julie: I am going to pick my sister Kristen. This is her birthday month, and we’ve celebrated her several times. She deserves all the celebrations, and more. We are very close in age (14 months apart), so I don’t remember life without her. She is kind, funny, caring, and a joy to be around. She is also the mother of two of my favorite people. I am very fortunate in that I have a life rich with folks who bring me joy. As for my characters? I’m working on a Theater Cop book this month, and thinking a lot about Sully Sullivan. I think she’s figuring out who brings her joy, which is part of her journey. To her surprise, Dimitri Traetti, the artistic director of the theater, brings her joy. He embraces life, lives large and loud, and has helped her break through a very tough period.

Edith/Maddie: Julie, you are so lucky to have your sister nearby! After much mulling, I’m going to say Cosima always brings me unadulterated joy. Now six, she’s my best friend’s granddaughter and my goddaughter’s daughter, and I was honored to be in the room providing labor support when she was born (as I was at her mother’s birth). I’m greeted by a full-speed hug every time she sees her Auntie Edie. She loves playing and reading and eating and helping cook whatever is underway. I suppose I have modeled Mac Almeida’s niece Cokie in the Cozy Capers Mysteries on our Cos. Cokie has the same exuberant spirit, energy, and confidence as Cosima, and Mac feels the same way as I do about her special little girl. (Cos’s face isn’t allowed on social media, so this shot from two years ago of the braids I made will have to do.)

Liz: Julie, I always wanted a sister and I’m so envious of your relationship! I don’t have a biological sister, but I definitely have a chosen sister – my best friend Riham. We’ve known each other for at least 12 years and I can’t imagine life without her. She’s been one of my biggest cheerleaders, a constant sounding board and awesome advice giver, and she believed in me when I had no idea how to believe in myself. Lover her to the moon and back. As for Maddie James, her Grandpa Leo is her favorite person ever. He’s the reason she moved back to the island and they are true partners in crime–both in the running of the cat cafe and the solving of murders!

Sherry: My friend Carol. We met in chorus class in ninth grade. I noticed her because she was laughing and we’ve been laughing together ever since. We call each other when we’re down, need advice, or have some fabulous news to share. I feel this deep sense of home when I’m with Carol. I’m lucky to have her in my life. Chloe Jackson can always count on Joaquin. Even though they are new friends, they responded to something in each other, and always support one another. The pictures below are: Carol and me going to a dance our senior year of high school. Two years ago when my daughter and husband arranged for Carol to be my surprise birthday present!

Barb: I’m going to pick my granddaughter Viola. In truth each of my three granddaughters is a delight, but Viola has been here the longest. She is a funny, smart, optimistic soul, who pursues her enthusiasms with vigor and focus. Bill and I delight in spending time with her and every time I see her, I smile. She’s arriving in Portland today, along with her parents, aunt, uncle, and cousins for the Thanksgiving weekend (fingers crossed: weather, air traffic, worry, worry) and I cannot wait.

As for Julia Snowden, when she moved back to Busman’s Harbor, she didn’t really have a friend. She’s close to her sister Livvie, but they are at very different stages in their lives. Then Julia made a friend in Zoey Butterfield in Muddled Through, and that friendship has become closer and more important through the books and novellas since. I’m glad Julia has a friend.

Jessie: I am going to mention my friend, Betsy. We met in 1995 and have been friends ever since. We’ve raised our kids together, walked dogs together and knitted countless items in each other’s company. She is a wonderful conversationalist and is always someone with whom to discuss ideas. She is tremendous fun!
As for my characters, I would have to say that Edwina, one of my protagonists, brings her jobbing gardener, Simpkins, unceasing joy. He loves to tease her, to provoke her, and to look out for her even though she hasn’t always appreciated, or even recognized his affection. She is like the daughter he never had and he adores her in his somewhat difficult way.

Readers: Tell us about a person who brings you joy.

A Wicked Welcome to Kathleen Marple Kalb! **giveaway**

by Julie, falling in Somerville

I am thrilled to welcome Kathleen Marple Kalb back to the blog today! She’s got a new series, and is here to tell us all about it.

A Diagnosis, not a Definition

Plenty of writers borrow a little from friends or family for a character. It’s a great way to create real and relatable people. But Henry Glaser, the son of my main character in The Stuff of Murder, is special. He’s an eight-year-old with a photographic memory and Type-1 Diabetes.

And he – and I – owe a lot to my neighbors and a very close friend.

Toward the end of lockdown, while I was working on the Old Stuff Mysteries idea, our neighbors’ son was diagnosed with Type-1. Since Covid is so dangerous for people with diabetes, they suddenly had to be as careful as our family is for my husband, an immune-compromised lymphoma survivor. 

So, the boys, who’d always spent some time together, now became an informal pod.  Hosting playdates and pitching in with school pickup, I became familiar with the everyday basics of keeping a child with Type-1 on track. More, I quickly learned it doesn’t stop a kid from being a kid – it’s just part of life. Something to watch. 

Often, I wrote while the boys played, working on my new project, the Old Stuff Mysteries, a contemporary series featuring an historian who solves crimes with her expertise in old things. One afternoon, I was thinking of ways to make sure the fictional community is as diverse as the real world…and the boys ran past, in the middle of some wild cops-and-robbers game. 

ART from Pixabay. Sketch of running kid by Prawny.

Ding.

That day, I talked to my close friend and best beta reader, whose adult son also has Type-1. She loved the idea of Henry. But she also wanted me to make sure diabetes wasn’t the only thing – or even the first thing – we know about him.

A condition isn’t who you are, after all. It’s something you have. 

Enter the photographic memory.

That’s from my own son. I’ll never forget frantically running around the house looking for something (irony alert: I no longer remember what!) and having my then two-year-old calmly inform me: “it’s downstairs between my truck and the ball.” 

It was. Exactly. 

Giving Henry a photographic memory is a great trick for solving mysteries; he can be counted on to bring up a key clue no one else noticed. It also makes the point that Henry’s Type-1 doesn’t define him.

Once I had the idea for Henry, I spent plenty of time on research and conversations with my friend and my neighbors, getting a sense of what it’s really like to parent a child with Type-1. Henry’s mother, Christian, the main character, is more worried about and focused on his condition than he is, but she also works very hard to let him be as normal as kid as he possibly can be. 

Sometimes she’s too focused on his condition to see other things – entirely normal mom behavior. No spoiler, but that dynamic is a key part of the big scene where Christian catches the killer.

One thing I can promise you WON’T be a part of an Old Stuff mystery: insulin as a weapon. I didn’t realize it until I started promoting the series, but diabetics apparently don’t appear very often in mysteries, except as an excuse to use insulin. Henry is anything but an excuse.

Question: Have you read mysteries with key characters who have chronic health issues – and how were they handled? (One randomly-chosen commenter gets a copy of THE STUFF OF MURDER.)

ART from Pixabay. Sketch of running kid by Prawny.

Kathleen Marple Kalb describes herself as an Author/Anchor/Mom…not in that order. An award-winning weekend anchor at New York’s 1010 WINS Radio, she writes short stories and novels including The Stuff of Murder, from Level Best Books. She, her husband, and son live in a Connecticut house owned by their cat.

THE STUFF OF MURDER: When Hollywood comes to small-town Connecticut, it should be the stuff of dreams – but when a fading movie star ends up dead, a whole different kind of stuff hits the fan.  Unity Historical Society head and antique household items – stuff! — expert Christian Shaw is on set when actor Brett Studebaker falls to his death from the pulpit in an old church. She, the “dads she should have had,” Garrett and Ed, her son Henry, who has a photographic memory and Type-1 Diabetes, and her colorful friends end up helping Assistant State’s Attorney Joe Poli in his investigation. (As does her giant tuxedo cat, Cookie, Ed and Garrett’s big red mutt Norm, and Joe’s tiny dog Cannoli!) Woodworking, embroidery, old poisons, and vintage weapons all figure in the case, which comes together in a wild scene at the Historical Society on Fourth-Grade Field Trip Day.

Buy the book here!

Cover Reveal – Murder at the Rusty Anchor #giveaway

Edith/Maddie writing from north of Boston, where pie-making supplies are at hand and my baby lettuces are hanging in there in the garden despite hard freezes.

After Murder on Cape Cod, all the Cozy Capers Book Group mysteries are named according to the place in fictional Westham where the murder takes place.

I introduced a pub named the Rusty Anchor in (I think) Murder in a Cape Cottage. I loved envisioning the interior with a fireplace going, a U-shaped bar, and rustic booths. Outside over the front door hangs an actual rusty anchor.

So when it came time to write book #6 in the series, I knew I wanted to stage a body in the Rusty Anchor. And now I can present the cover to you!

Isn’t that fun? Of course it isn’t exactly like the pub in my imagination (or on the page), but that’s fine. The story takes place in July, so the seasonal growth and the wet pavement fit. I’m not sure what the bird is supposed to be. Possibly an osprey; definitely a bird of prey.

The book releases June 25 next year, and of course it’s available for preorder in print and ebook. The audio version will follow closer to the release date.

Here’s the official blurb for Murder at the Rusty Anchor:

Set in a picturesque Cape Cod town, the latest in this cozy mystery series by the Agatha Award–winning author will delight fans of Lorna Barrett’s Booktown series and Kate Carlisle’s Bibliophile mysteries, as bike-shop owner Mackenzie “Mac” Almeida and her fellow book club sleuths solve a bookstore murder.

A rainy July weekend in Westham means the beaches are empty and business is dead at Mac’s Bikes, although it couldn’t be livelier inside the Rusty Anchor Pub. But come Monday, morning one patron is not so lively when the chef opens up and finds a body behind the bar. It’s last call for Bruce Byrne, a long-time high school teacher who’s been around so long it seems like he taught everybody.
 
When Mac’s librarian friend Flo makes the list of suspects, Mac gathers the Cozy Capers Book Group to clear her name. With no end in sight to the rain, the group has plenty of time to study the clues and sort through a roll call of suspects to determine who decided to teach Mr. Byrne a lesson. But with a killer desperate to cover their tracks, Mac and the group will be tested as never before.

Readers: What do you think of the cover and of the carnivorous bird carrying greens in its beak? Are you all caught up on the series? If you’re not, I’ll send one commenter one of the Cozy Capers books. If you are, I still have an ARC of Deep Fried Death to give away!

Cover Reveal Murder at the Rusty Anchor

Edith/Maddie writing from north of Boston, where pie-making supplies are at hand and my baby lettuces are hanging in there in the garden despite hard freezes.

After Murder on Cape Cod, all the Cozy Capers Book Group mysteries are named according to the place in fictional Westham where the murder takes place.

I introduced a pub named the Rusty Anchor in (I think) Murder in a Cape Cottage. I loved envisioning the interior with a fireplace going, a U-shaped bar, and rustic booths. Outside over the front door hangs an actual rusty anchor.

So when it came time to write book #6 in the series, I knew I wanted to stage a body in the Rusty Anchor. And now I can present the cover to you!

Isn’t that fun? Of course it isn’t exactly like the pub in my imagination (or on the page), but that’s fine. The story takes place in July, so the seasonal growth and the wet pavement fit. I’m not sure what the bird is supposed to be. Possibly an osprey; definitely a bird of prey.

The book releases June 25 next year, and of course it’s available for preorder in print and ebook. The audio version will follow closer to the release date.

Here’s the official blurb for Murder at the Rusty Anchor:

Set in a picturesque Cape Cod town, the latest in this cozy mystery series by the Agatha Award–winning author will delight fans of Lorna Barrett’s Booktown series and Kate Carlisle’s Bibliophile mysteries, as bike-shop owner Mackenzie “Mac” Almeida and her fellow book club sleuths solve a bookstore murder.

A rainy July weekend in Westham means the beaches are empty and business is dead at Mac’s Bikes, although it couldn’t be livelier inside the Rusty Anchor Pub. But come Monday, morning one patron is not so lively when the chef opens up and finds a body behind the bar. It’s last call for Bruce Byrne, a long-time high school teacher who’s been around so long it seems like he taught everybody.
 
When Mac’s librarian friend Flo makes the list of suspects, Mac gathers the Cozy Capers Book Group to clear her name. With no end in sight to the rain, the group has plenty of time to study the clues and sort through a roll call of suspects to determine who decided to teach Mr. Byrne a lesson. But with a killer desperate to cover their tracks, Mac and the group will be tested as never before.

Readers: What do you think? Questions? Are you all caught up on the series?