Babs Hightower's Blog, page 13
April 27, 2019
Staging is Murder (A Laura Bishop Mystery) by Grace Topping
Staging is Murder
(A Laura Bishop Mystery)
by Grace Topping
About the Book
Staging is Murder (A Laura Bishop Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Henery Press (April 30, 2019)
Hardcover: 268 pages
ISBN-10: 163511490X
ISBN-13: 978-1635114904
Paperback: 268 pages
ISBN-10: 163511487X
ISBN-13: 978-1635114874
Digital ASIN: B07N96J65X
Laura Bishop just nabbed her first decorating commission—staging for sale a 19th-century mansion that hasn’t been updated for decades. But when a body falls from a laundry chute and lands at Laura’s feet, replacing flowered wallpaper becomes the least of her duties.
To clear her young assistant of the murder and save her fledgling business, Laura’s determined to find the killer. Turns out it’s not as easy as renovating a manor home, especially with two handsome men complicating her mission: the police detective assigned to the case and the real estate agent trying to save the manse from foreclosure.
Worse still, the meddling of a horoscope-guided friend, a determined grandmother, and the local funeral director could get them all killed before Laura props the first pillow.
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About the Author
Grace Topping is a recovering technical writer and IT project manager, accustomed to writing lean, boring documents. Let loose to write fiction, she is now creating murder mysteries and killing off characters who remind her of some of the people she dealt with during her career. Fictional revenge is sweet. She’s using her experience helping friends stage their homes as inspiration for her Laura Bishop mystery series. The first book in the series, Staging is Murder, is about a woman starting a new career midlife as a home stager. Grace is the current vice president of the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime, and a member of the SINC Guppies and Mystery Writers of America. She lives with her husband in Northern Virginia.
Author Links
Website – https:// www.gracetopping.com
Twitter – https://twitter.com/@gtoppingauthor
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/GraceToppingAuthor
GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomgracetopping
Purchase Links – Amazon B&N Kobo
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
Part One
April 25 – The Power of Words – REVIEW
April 25 – Readeropolis – SPOTLIGHT
April 26 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW
April 26 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
April 27 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
April 28 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 28 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
April 29 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
Part Two
May 6 – Brooke Blogs – GUEST POST
May 6 – Laura’s Interests – SPOTLIGHT
May 7 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
May 8 – Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW
May 8 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST
May 9 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
May 9 – Carole’s Book Corner – SPOTLIGHT
May 10 – Teresa Trent Author Site – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
May 11 – The Book Decoder – REVIEW
May 11 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
May 12 – A Blue Million Books – GUEST POST
May 13 – That’s What She’s Reading – CHARACTER GUEST POST
May 14 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
April 24, 2019
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries “Morning Show Mysteries: Death by Design” Premiering this Sunday, April 28th at 9pm/8c!
Stars: Holly Robinson Peete and Rick Fox
Chef Billie Blessings’ best friend Marian is hired to redecorate the TV studio. When Marian’s twin sister is murdered, Billie must investigate their close friends to find the killer.
Find out more here
The Body in the Wetlands (A Jazzi Zanders Mystery) by Judi Lynn
The Body in the Wetlands
(A Jazzi Zanders Mystery)
by Judi Lynn
About the Book
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Lyrical Underground (April 23, 2019)
Paperback: 208 pages
ISBN-10: 151610840X
ISBN-13: 978-1516108404
Digital ASIN: B07FZN7CVT
High summer in River Bluffs, Indiana, is always sweltering and sweet. But the heat is really on when a decidedly dead body turns up in the neighborhood.
When established house flippers Jazzi Zanders and her cousin Jerod donate a week’s worth of remodeling work to Jazzi’s sister Olivia, they’re expecting nothing more than back-breaking roofing work and cold beers at the end of each long, hot day. With Jazzi’s live-in boyfriend and partner Ansel on the team, it promises to be a quick break before starting their next big project—until Leo, an elderly neighbor of Olivia’s, unexpectedly goes missing . . .
When the friendly senior’s dog tugs Jazzi and the guys toward the wetlands beyond Olivia’s neighborhood, they stumble across a decomposing corpse—and a lot of questions. With Jazzi’s pal Detective Gaff along to investigate, Jazzi finds her hands full of a whole new mystery instead of the usual hammer and nails. And this time it will take some sophisticated sleuthing to track down the culprit of the deadly crime—before the killer turns on her next . . .
About the Author
Judi Lynn received a Master’s Degree from Indiana University as an elementary school teacher after attending the IPFW campus. She taught 1st, 2nd, and 4th grades for six years before having her two daughters. She loves gardening, cooking and trying new recipes.
Readers can visit her website at www.judithpostswritingmusings.com and her blog writingmusings.com.
Purchase Links
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
April 23 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
April 23 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT
April 24 – I’m All About Books – GUEST POST
April 24 – FUONLYKNEW – REVIEW
April 25 – LibriAmoriMiei – REVIEW
April 25 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
April 26 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 26 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
April 27 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
April 27 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT
April 28 – Christa Reads and Writes – REVIEW
April 28 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST
April 29 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 29 – Brooke Blogs – CHARACTER GUEST POST
April 30 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
April 30 – Cassidy’s Bookshelves – SPOTLIGHT
May 1 – The Montana Bookaholic – REVIEW
May 1 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT
May 2 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW
May 2 – Sneaky the Library Cat’s Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
May 2 – Ascroft, eh? – GUEST POST
April 19, 2019
A Dream of Death (A Kate Hamilton Mystery) by Connie Berry
A Dream of Death
(A Kate Hamilton Mystery)
by Connie Berry
About the Book
Traditional Mystery
1st in Series
Crooked Lane Books (April 9, 2019)
Hardcover: 320 pages
ISBN-10: 1683319877
ISBN-13: 978-1683319870
Digital ASIN: B07H7P2KTS
On a remote Scottish island, American antiques dealer Kate Hamilton wrestles with her own past while sleuthing a brutal killing, staged to recreate a two-hundred-year-old unsolved murder.
Autumn has come and gone on Scotland’s Isle of Glenroth, and the islanders gather for the Tartan Ball, the annual end-of-tourist-season gala. Spirits are high. A recently published novel about island history has brought hordes of tourists to the small Hebridean resort community. On the guest list is American antiques dealer Kate Hamilton. Kate returns reluctantly to the island where her husband died, determined to repair her relationship with his sister, proprietor of the island’s luxe country house hotel, famous for its connection with Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Kate has hardly unpacked when the next morning a body is found, murdered in a reenactment of an infamous unsolved murder described in the novel—and the only clue to the killer’s identity lies in a curiously embellished antique casket. The Scottish police discount the historical connection, but when a much-loved local handyman is arrested, Kate teams up with a vacationing detective inspector from Suffolk, England, to unmask a killer determined to rewrite island history—and Kate’s future.
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About the Author
Like her main character, Connie Berry was raised by charmingly eccentric antique collectors who opened a shop, not because they wanted to sell antiques but because they needed a plausible excuse to keep buying them. Connie adores history, off-season foreign travel, cute animals, and all things British. She lives in Ohio with her husband and adorable Shih Tzu, Millie.
Author Links: Website – www.connieberry.com
Facebook Author@Facebook.com
Twitter @conniecberry;
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18733373.Connie_Berry
Purchase: Amazon Barnes & Noble Indiebound
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
April 15 – The Editing Pen – GUEST POST
April 15 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
April 16 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 16 – I’m All About Books – GUEST POST
April 17 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT*
April 17 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW
April 18 – The Power of Words – REVIEW
April 18 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 19 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
April 19 – Book Club Librarian – REVIEW
April 20 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 20 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
April 21 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 22 – Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW
April 22 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST
April 23 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
April 23 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 24 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 24 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
April 25 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 26 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
April 26 – My Devotional Thoughts – SPOTLIGHT
April 18, 2019
Connect the Dots (Mah Jongg Mysteries) by Barbara Barrett
Connect the Dots
(Mah Jongg Mysteries)
by Barbara Barrett
About the Book
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Bowker (February 2, 2019)
Paperback: 278 pages
ISBN-10: 194853214X
ISBN-13: 978-1948532143
Digital ASIN: B07NCB5199
How could a thirty-something man fall to his death from a fourth-floor balcony he knows is defective? That’s the question freelance writer Micki Demetrius is asked to answer by the man’s grieving mother, Clarissa White, who refuses to believe his death was an unfortunate accident. But when the authorities determine it was homicide, Micki is shut out of her investigative efforts.
Giving up is easier said than done for Micki. She can’t resist a mystery, and suspicious characters won’t leave Clarissa alone, from the woman claiming a stake in the victim’s life to a cagey character who wants his business. As the threat to Clarissa grows, Micki feels compelled to help her in spite of the danger.
Micki’s three mah jongg pals—Sydney Bonner, Marianne Putnam and Katrina, Kat, Faulkner—are drawn into the mystery, but the retirees have their own challenges. Syd and husband Trip do grandparent duty while their daughter deals with marital issues. Marianne “finds herself” by writing a one-act play. And Kat must decide how public to go with her growing friendship with the sheriff. Together, they must connect the dots in a nefarious web of greed, neglect, secrecy and murder.
Guest post
Seniors Teaching Seniors
Many of us breathed a sigh of relief as we finished our school years and happily embraced the idea of getting out in the “real” world. Years pass. The real world has its highs and lows and then before we know it, those years are behind us as well. Even if you’re not there yet yourself, hang in here, because if you’re lucky, those days will find you before you know it.
Retirement offers one huge benefit: time, time to do those things we weren’t able to get to while raising families and pursuing careers. Ironically, for many of us, the education we were so anxious to put behind us when we were younger now becomes more attractive. Maybe not in terms of papers, homework and degrees, but because we want to learn more about the world around us. And we have time to just be curious.
Many colleges and other educational institutions offer free or discounted courses for seniors. If interested in that approach, check the internet for opportunities near you. I’m here to tell you about the approach my community has adopted, Lifelong Learning. It consists of two semesters with three, three-week sessions each, October through November and February through April. For the most part, each class is seventy-five minutes long with a fifteen-minute break before the next class. Usually two classes are offered at the same time. There are 50+ classes in the current semester. Class topics fall into the following categories: new urbanism and architecture, finance, computers and technology, fine and performing arts, health and medicine, literature, personal enrichment, science and environmental studies, religion, social sciences, visual arts and crafts, and world cultures and languages. Classes are offered Tuesday through Thursday.
Seventy-five-minute lectures on specialized topics are also offered weekly. Clubs meet during the week between sessions.
Students pay a nominal membership fee per term as well as a fee for each course. A few classes also require a small materials fee. Membership entitles them to attend all lectures and clubs. Members also receive two passes per term for their guests to attend either one class or lecture.
Our Lifelong Learning program was originally affiliated/located within a local college until that institution decided to reduce and eventually close down its programs. Now, the program has partnered with the community foundation and residential homeowners’ association and uses its facilities.
The program has grown and thrived in large part due to the fact that it is operated primarily by volunteers, no small feat considering the logistics that go into recruiting and supporting instructors and communicating with students and the community. Instructors are not paid but are instead offered credit to take their own courses during the semester. Many of the instructors are other seniors who live in the community who share their expertise with their fellow seniors.
I’ve been one of those instructors, having taught one class on novel writing and three on Mah Jongg. In college, I planned to teach American History at either the high school or junior college level. Teaching jobs were tight in those days, so I instead went into human resources with Iowa State Government. From time to time, I acted as a trainer for courses taught to state employees, so I had some preparation for this experience.
Adult learners differ from adolescents in that they want to be there. They listen and participate. Even though there is no homework or grades, they do expect to get their money’s worth and aren’t afraid to ask questions. For the most part, I’ve enjoyed getting back in front of a classroom. The trick is to know my material.
I’ve had a lot of technical support for my classes. PowerPoint presentations can be shown on large screen flat TV sets with connection to the internet available to those who need it. Instructors have both personal mics as well as “Catchboxes,” throwable microphones. They even have an “Elmo,” a modern-day, streamlined version of the overhead project I grew up with in high school. A tech volunteer is on-duty for each class, should the instructor need them.
Marianne Putnam, one of the four protagonists in the third book in my Mah Jongg Mystery series, Connect the Dots, attends a senior learning class on writing the one-act play when she seeks to add more spark to her life. I attended a similar class in Lifelong Learning a few years ago and surprised myself by writing my own one-act play within the class’s three-week duration.
Although I enjoyed the class, I decided I could spend my time more productively writing novels rather than plays. But Marianne catches the bug and continues writing more one-acts in Book 4, currently untitled, which is the next in the series. In fact, in this book, one of her fellow classmates is the one who begs her and her three friends to unofficially investigate a murder, which is what they do despite their best intentions to stay out of it.
Seniors teaching seniors is an idea whose time has come. This semester, one of my courses was a PowerPoint clinic. I’ve been using the tool for years in my presentations, but now I’ve learned how to embed a video in a slide and even how to embed the audio from another video on top of it. I also took a class on basketmaking, which surprised me with by how much I enjoyed it. I created both a round and square basket, which I’m not embarrassed to show others.
About the author
Barbara Barrett started reading mysteries when she was pregnant with her first child to keep her mind off things like her changing body and food cravings. When she’d devoured as many Agatha Christies as she could find, she branched out to English village cozies and Ellery Queen.
Later, to avoid a midlife crisis, she began writing fiction at night when she wasn’t at her day job as a human resources analyst for Iowa State Government. After releasing eleven full-length romance novels and one novella, she returned to the cozy mystery genre, using one of her retirement pastimes, the game of mah jongg, as her inspiration. Not only has it been a great social outlet, it has also helped keep her mind active when not writing.
Bamboozled, the second book in her “Mah Jongg Mystery” series, features four friends who play mah jongg together and share otherwise in each other’s lives. None of the four is based on an actual person. Each is an amalgamation of several mah jongg friends with a lot of Barbara’s imagination thrown in for good measure. The four will continue to appear in future books in the series.
Anticipating the day when she would write her first mystery, she has been a member of the Mystery/Romantic Suspense chapter of Romance Writers of America for over a decade. She credits them with helping her hone her craft.
Barbara is married to the man she met her senior year of college. They have two grown children and eight grandchildren.
Author Links
Website – http://www.barbarabarrettbooks.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Barbara-Barrett-Author-1678443865812386/
Twitter – www.twitter.com/bbarrettbooks
Pinterest – pinterest.com/barbarabarrett7
GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8181756.Barbara_Barrett
Subscribe Cozy Newsletter https://www.subscribepage.com/BBCozies
Purchase Links
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
April 16 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW
April 16 – Here’s How It Happened – GUEST POST
April 17 – Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW
April 18 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 19 – Babs Book Bistro – GUEST POST
April 20 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
April 20 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 21 – LibriAmoriMiei – REVIEW
April 21 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 22 – My Reading Journey – REVIEW
April 22 – I’m All About Books – GUEST POST
April 23 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
April 24 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST
April 25 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
April 25 – The Montana Bookaholic – GUEST POST
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries “Morning Show Mysteries: Countdown to Murder” Premiering this Sunday, April 21st at 9pm/8c!
Movie Info :
Stars: Holly Robinson Peete and Rick Fox
When a beloved supermarket owner is killed in the early morning hours before opening, restauranteur and TV chef Billie Blessings (Robinson Peete) becomes involved in the investigation of what quickly appears to be the work of a clever and darkly sinister serial killer. Even as her relationship with police detective Ian Jackson (Fox) begins to take a more romantic turn, Billie cannot resist involvement in the case, despite putting herself in tremendous danger. More info click here
April 17, 2019
Sifting Through Clues (A Cookbook Nook Mystery) by Daryl Wood Gerber
Sifting Through Clues
(A Cookbook Nook)
by Daryl Wood Gerber
About the Book
Sifting Through Clues (A Cookbook Nook Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
8th in Series
Beyond the Page (April 23, 2019)
Print Length: 235 pages
ASIN: B07NQNFC45
The Agatha Award–winning author of Wreath Between the Lines returns to the Cookbook Nook, where culinary mysteries are giving everyone food for thought . . .
Book clubs from all over have descended on Crystal Cove to celebrate the library’s Book Club Bonanza week, and Jenna Hart has packed the Cookbook Nook with juicy reads and tasty cookbooks. But she’s most excited about spending an evening with the Mystery Mavens and their moveable feast, when they will go from house to house to share different culinary treats and discuss the whodunit they’re all reading. It’s all good food and fun for the savvy armchair detectives, until one of the members of the group is found murdered at the last stop on the tour.
As if that weren’t enough to spoil her appetite, Jenna discovers that all the evidence points to her friend Pepper as being the guilty party. And with Pepper’s chief-of-police daughter too close to the case to be impartial, Jenna knows she’ll have to step in to help clear her friend’s name before a bitter injustice sends her to jail. Sifting through the clues, Jenna unearths any number of possible culprits, but she’ll have to cook up a new way to catch the killer before Pepper’s goose is cooked . . .
Includes tasty sweet and savory recipes!
About the Author
Agatha Award-winning Daryl Wood Gerber writes the nationally bestselling Cookbook Nook Mysteries as well as the French Bistro Mysteries. As Avery Aames, she pens the popular Cheese Shop Mysteries. Daryl also writes stand-alone suspense. Fun tidbit: as an actress, Daryl appeared in “Murder, She Wrote.” She loves to cook, and she has a frisky Goldendoodle named Sparky who keeps her in line!
Author Links
VISIT MY WEBSITE: www.darylwoodgerber.com
SIGN UP FOR MY Newsletter, which comes out once a month and with a new release
http://www.darylwoodgerber.com/contact.php#mailing-list
http://facebook.com/darylwoodgerber
http://twitter.com/darylwoodgerber
http://bookbub.com/authors/daryl-wood-gerber
http://youtube.com/woodgerb1
http://instagram.com/darylwoodgerber
http://pinterest.com/darylwoodgerber
http://goodreads.com/darylwoodgerber
http://www.darylwoodgerber.com/contact.php#mailing-list
Amazon: http://bit.ly/Daryl_Wood_Gerber_page
Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Google Play
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TOUR PARTICIPANTS
April 15 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
April 15 – Community Bookstop – REVIEW
April 15 – Here’s How It Happened – SPOTLIGHT
April 15 – A Holland Reads – REVIEW
April 15 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
April 16 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, GUEST POST – RECIPE – INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
April 16 – Carstairs Considers – REVIEW
April 16 – The Power of Words – REVIEW
April 16 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW
April 16 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
April 16 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW – INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
April 17 – Valerie’s Musings – REVIEW
April 17 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
April 17 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – SPOTLIGHT
April 17 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
April 17 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW, GUEST POST – RECIPE – INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
April 17 – Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 18 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
April 18 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
April 18 – Sneaky the Library Cat’s Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
April 18 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
April 18 – Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW
April 19 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW, GUEST POST – RECIPE – INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
April 19 – The Book’s the Thing – REVIEW
April 19 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 19 – MJB Reviewers – AUTHOR INTERVIEW – INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
April 19 – A Chick Who Reads – REVIEW
April 19 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 20 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
April 20 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
April 20 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW – INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
April 20 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 21 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW, GUEST POST – RECIPE – INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
April 21 – Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW
April 21 – Readeropolis – SPOTLIGHT
April 21 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
April 16, 2019
Magickal Mystery Lore (An Abracadabra Mystery) by Sharon Pape
Magickal Mystery Lore
(An Abracadabra Mystery)
by Sharon Pape
About the Book
Magickal Mystery Lore (An Abracadabra Mystery)
Paranormal Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Lyrical Underground (April 16, 2019)
Pages: 317 (including a sneak peek into book 5)
ASIN: B07FS2GCW3
This spells trouble . . .
The New Camel Day Fair is a fun-filled event for residents of this upstate New York town. Kailyn Wilde, a modern-day witch of ancient lineage, leaves her potion shop, Abracadabra—and her feline familiar, Sashkatu—to attend with her fortune-telling Aunt Tilly. Joining them is legendary wizard Merlin, who’s discovering new pleasures of time-traveling to the modern world, including curly fries and kettle corn—but the appeal of the Tilt-a-Wheel is beyond his mystical imagination.
The real wild ride begins later, when neighboring sweet shop owner Lolly rushes into Abracadabra with news about a dead body. The victim has one of Lolly’s fudge knives stuck in her back, but in spite of the sticky evidence, Lolly is only one of several suspects with ample motive and opportunity. Meanwhile, Merlin’s research into old family scrolls and electromagnetic ley lines is causing some unusual mix-ups. As the two investigations collide, Kailyn will have to do everything in her power to prevent disaster…
Guest post
Mysteries Everywhere
We all love reading mysteries, and as you know, some of us love writing them too. I think most of us have even encountered a mystery or two in our everyday lives. When I was a child, my best friend and I would often spend our play dates sitting and reading our mystery books together. The characters we read about had no trouble finding mysteries to solve, so we decided to look for mysteries to solve in our lives.
As it happened, one popped up almost immediately. Instead of the usual gray cardboard rolls at the end of the toilet paper, one of the rolls in my house turned out to be white with Asian characters written on it in black. My friend and I were certain we’d come upon a sinister plot and that the words were a message meant for a spy or other bad guys. Would they be coming to get it? Would they hold us hostage until we handed it over? Would we be battered and bludgeoned if we didn’t produce the roll? Should we ask for police protection? My parents couldn’t explain why that unique roll had come from our common brand of toilet paper, but they didn’t seem concerned.
My friend and I spent hours trying to figure out what the words could possibly mean. I remembered there was a Chinese laundry near my grandmother’s old apartment in New York City. Maybe the owner could tell us if the language was Chinese and if so, what the words said. My parents nixed the plan. They wouldn’t take us into the city to question a shopkeeper who might no longer be in business. My friend and I vowed to never give up in our quest for answers. But being kids, by the end of the week, we’d moved on to other things. To the best of my knowledge, neither of us ever found another strange toilet paper roll again.
I’ve come upon mysteries as an adult too, but not because I was looking for them. When my daughter was in middle school, she couldn’t find one of her favorite sneakers. She looked everywhere, I looked everywhere, my husband looked everywhere – no one could find it. My high school aged son swore he didn’t take it. I believed him. He was so busy with school work and sports, he didn’t have time to play practical jokes on his sister. More importantly, he’s never been able to lie without giggling.
The missing sneaker was driving me crazy – where could it be?! Weeks went by with no sign of it. One day when my mom was visiting, she called me upstairs to my daughter’s room. She was holding the elusive sneaker and wanted to know if it was the one we’d been looking for. It was! I asked where she found it. “Right in the middle of the floor,” she said, looking at me like I had two heads. No, my mom didn’t take it and then pretend to find it. It wasn’t the kind of thing she would ever do. She adored her granddaughter and would never choose to upset her for any reason. And yes, we had a golden retriever at the time, but he was well past the chew-everything puppy stage. Besides, he would have had no place to hide it.
We never did find out how that sneaker vanished or how it reappeared. In the end, we chalked it up to a playful spirit. Maybe one of our late dogs was watching over us and wanted to play fetch again.
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About the Author
Sharon Pape describes her writing career as having two stages. Back in the dark ages, before computers were in every household, she had three paranormal books published. The first one was condensed by Redbook Magazine, the first paperback original they had ever condensed. Around the same time, Redbook published her first short story.
Then life brought her an unexpected challenge that went by the name of breast cancer. When her treatment was over, she became a volunteer for the American Cancer Society’s Reach to Recovery Program and went on to be the program’s coordinator for Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island. Several years later, with the help of her surgical oncologist and two other survivors, she started her own not-for-profit organization to provide information and peer support to newly diagnosed breast cancer patients.
Once the organization was running smoothly and didn’t require as much of her time, she returned to her first love – writing. During this second stage of her career, she’s been writing cozy mysteries with a paranormal twist and a splash of humor.
Author Links
Website – http://sharonpape.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sharon.pape.94
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sbpape
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/641079.Sharon_Pape
Purchase Links – Amazon – B & N
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
April 15 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
April 16 – Books Direct – SPOTLIGHT
April 17 – Babs Book Bistro – GUEST POST
April 18 – Valerie’s Musings – REVIEW
April 19 – My Reading Journeys – SPOTLIGHT
April 19 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW
April 20 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW
April 21 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW
April 22 – Nadaness In Motion – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 22 – The Montana Bookaholic – SPOTLIGHT
April 23 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW
April 23 – Sneaky the library cat’s blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
April 24 – The Book’s the Thing – REVIEW
April 25 – Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW
April 26 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
April 27 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
April 28 – Brooke Blogs – CHARACTER GUEST POST
April 14, 2019
Blackflies and Blueberries Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls…by Sharon Ledwith
Mirror World Publishing presents the cover reveal for Blackflies and Blueberries
(Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls, #2) by Sharon Ledwith!
About Blackflies and Blueberries:
The only witness left to testify against an unsolved crime in Fairy Falls isn’t a person…
City born and bred, Hart Stewart possesses the gift of psychometry—the psychic ability to discover facts about an event or person by touching inanimate objects associated with them. Since his mother’s death, seventeen-year-old Hart has endured homelessness, and has learned ways to keep his illiteracy under wraps. He eventually learns of a great-aunt living in Fairy Falls, and decides to leave the only life he’s ever known for an uncertain future.
Diana MacGregor lives in Fairy Falls. Her mother was a victim of a senseless murder. Only Diana’s unanswered questions and her grief keeps her going, until Hart finds her mother’s lost ring and becomes a witness to her murder.
Through Hart’s psychic power, Diana gains hope for justice. Their investigation leads them into the corrupt world threatening Fairy Falls. To secure the town’s future, Hart and Diana must join forces to uncover the shocking truth, or they risk losing the true essence of Fairy Falls forever.
Blackflies and Blueberries Cover:
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
Publish Date: May 17, 2019
Publisher: Mirror World Publishing https://www.mirrorworldpublishing.com/
April 10, 2019
Morning Show Mysteries: A Murder in Mind, which premieres this Sunday, April 14th at 9pm/8c.
Movie Info :
Stars: Holly Robinson Peete and Rick Fox
Billie Blessings is drawn into a murder investigation when Katie Sanders, a former server at Blessings-turned TV star, becomes the focus when it’s discovered the victim was blackmailing her. Billie must sift through the mounting evidence – and list of suspects – to get to the truth and clear her friend’s name.
Check out more here
