Traci Andrighetti's Blog, page 7

SEX, LIES, and SNICKERDOODLES by Wendy Delaney

SEX, LIES, and SNICKERDOODLES is on tour with Great Escapes! Comment to win an ebook, and don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below!

SYNOPSIS

Everybody’s got a secret.

A secret crush. A secret liaison. A secret recipe. And for a deadly few, a secret murder.

Port Merritt’s favorite bad boy, Russell Falco, was a seasoned veteran of secret liaisons. But after his body washes up on the shore of Merritt Bay, Deputy Coroner and human lie detector, Charmaine Digby, suspects one of those liaisons got Russell killed.

Secrets. Lies. Cookie-baking rivals. And a dead guy. Char’s on the case and is determined to find the killer . . . if the killer doesn’t find her first!

RATING 5 Limoncello shots! (Or, in this case, 5 glasses of wine or 5 mocha lattes.)

SEX, LIES, and SNICKERDOODLES is a real treat (and I’m not talking about all the cookies and ice cream)! Charmaine Digby and her family just exude that feeling of home—like a fresh-baked batch of snickerdoodles. And they make for a super fun read. I especially enjoyed Char’s sweet Gram (but not her lasagna with cheddar cheese) and the wacky antics of her actress mother, Marietta Moreau (personally, I like her fake Southern accent, despite what Barry and the family have to say about it). But the best part of the story is the mystery surrounding who offed Port Merritt’s full-time Casanova, Russell Falco. You won’t figure out whodunit! I’m really looking forward to the next installment of the Working Stiffs Mystery series. I have to now what happens between Char and her sex buddy, Steve!

ABOUT Wendy Delaney

Wendy Delaney writes fun-filled cozy mysteries and is the author of SEX, LIES, and SNICKERDOODLES, the second book in her Working Stiffs Mystery series. A long-time member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Romance Writers of America, she’s a Food Network addict and pastry chef wannabe. When she’s not killing off story people she can be found on her treadmill, working off the calories from her latest culinary adventure. Wendy makes her home in the Seattle area with her husband and has two grown sons.

AUTHOR Links

Webpage:  http://www.wendydelaney.com/

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/people/Wendy-Delaney/1122544009

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/7191068.Wendy_Delaney

PURCHASE Links

Amazon 

B&N

FOLLOW the SEX, LIES, AND SNICKERDOODLES tour and enter the Rafflecopter giveawaya Rafflecopter giveaway!

August 12 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book

August 13 – Kelly P’s Blog

August 14 – readalot blog

August 15 – Shelley’s Book Case

August 17 – Cozy Up With Kathy

August 18 – Traci Andrighett’s blog

August 19 – Kaisy Daisy’s Corner

August 20 – A Chick Who Reads

August 21 – Omnimystery News

August 24 – Author Michele Lynn Seigfried’s Blog

August 25 – Mochas, Mysteries and Meows

August 26 – Dalene’s Book Reviews

HUNGRY for more? Here’s an EXCERPT from SEX, LIES, and SNICKERDOODLES!

“How’re you doing, Kelsey?” Steve asked in an easy manner as I scampered behind him. It was the same easy manner I’d witnessed in Detective Sixkiller countless times in the three months since I moved back to Port Merritt, Washington. Combine it with the winning smile of a charmer and there was hardly a soul in my hometown of five thousand and fifty-three residents who wouldn’t welcome the former high school football captain into their home with open arms.

Kelsey pursed her mouth. “I’d be doing better if certain men would do what they said they were going to do, when they said they were going to do it!”

Russell was in deep doo-doo.

Kelsey stabbed her sterling silver-adorned index finger in the direction of a sign on the front display window of her shop, the Feathered Nest. “Do you see where it says to come and meet local artist, Lance Greenwood, September 7th? As in tonight?”

I sure did. Nice sign. No doubt Kelsey had spent more than a few bucks to have it printed.

“Russell Falco was supposed to be here over an hour ago to install track lighting in the back room and help me set up.” She dramatically tossed her head back, her dark blue eyes blinking back tears. “How could he be a no show when he knew how important tonight was to me?”

According to Lucille, the senior gossip wrangler waitressing at Duke’s Cafe, my great-uncle’s greasy spoon, Russell Falco had no shortage of ladies vying for his attention, so it wouldn’t have surprised me if he’d received a more enticing offer.

The summer I was fifteen and filling in as a short-order cook at Duke’s, Russell came in after working on his dad’s charter boat with his brothers. He was twenty-three, a raven-haired hunk and a half, and a shameless flirt. Despite the fact that we rarely saw him sober, all the waitresses were crazy about him.

“He’s trouble with a capital T,” Uncle Duke proclaimed after Russell got his nose broken for sniffing around the wrong woman. Shortly after that, he dropped out of sight. Lucille had said that he fell in with a motorcycle gang and served some prison time in California.

For Russell and Kelsey’s sakes, I hoped that history wasn’t repeating itself.

“Do you already have the light fixtures you need installed?” Steve asked her.

Kelsey nodded, her fine honey-blonde hair spilling over her shoulders. “Everything’s inside the shop. The lights, all the hardware, Lance’s paintings. Last night, we emptied out the back room to set everything up like a real gallery. All I need now is Russell and his tools.”

Given Russell’s bad boy reputation and the tension bleeding through Kelsey’s brittle smile, I sensed that wasn’t the full extent of what Kelsey needed from him.

“Russell isn’t the only guy around here with tools.” Steve turned to me. “Looks like I’m going to owe you brunch instead of breakfast.”

Fine with me because either way some crispy bacon would be in my future. “And you just got a helper to ensure that you make good on that debt.”

Two hours later, the Feathered Nest’s new track lighting had been installed, and Steve and I were hanging the last of the garish oil paintings Kelsey kept raving about when she wasn’t tending to a customer.

I tilted my head at the landscape with red and orange streaks invading muddy violet globs of paint that looked like chocolate raspberry mousse blended with Steve’s poopy smoothie. “What do you think this is supposed to be?” I reached for the artist’s business card listing the name of the painting as Olympic Sunset and sucked in a breath when I read the fifteen-hundred dollar asking price.

Steve slid his hammer onto his tool belt. “I call it over-priced crap.”

I shushed him but couldn’t help but admire the way the tool belt hung low on his hips like a gunslinger’s holster. All he needed was the black cowboy hat to accompany the steely-eyed glare he was directing toward Lance Greenwood’s handiwork.

“Don’t you just love what he does with color?” Kelsey gushed from the doorway.

“Yeah,” Steve muttered unenthusiastically as I tacked the business card eyelevel with the artist’s Dante’s Inferno interpretation of the sun setting behind Washington’s Olympic mountain range.

She stepped between us and started folding the brown paper wrapper that had covered Olympic Sunset three minutes earlier. “Okay, so it’s not your cup of tea, but I’ll have you know that he’s an up and coming artist, known throughout North America. It’s quite an honor to host tonight’s event for him.”

If he was such a big deal in the art world, it was curious that he had agreed to show his work in the tight confines of the Feathered Nest instead of one of the galleries in Port Townsend.

My grandmother had already announced that she wanted to attend tonight’s soiree, which translated into me accompanying her as her date for the evening. Personally, I suspected she wanted to see what all the fuss surrounding Lance Greenwood was about. From the gloppy examples of the man’s talent hanging on Kelsey’s walls, I wondered the same thing.

“I’m sure it is,” I said. Clearly, with the way Kelsey was beaming, a prouder hostess couldn’t be found.

“It looks like you’re about ready for show time.” Steve unhooked his tool belt as he inched toward the door. “And I owe someone breakfast while they’re still serving, so Char and I should get going.”

Since my stomach had been growling for the last hour, he’d get no argument from me.

Steve’s cell phone rang and he stopped in his tracks when he pulled it from his pocket. “Hey, Captain.” His gaze sharpened, then he turned his back to me.

Steve had kidded me about being a human lie detector ever since I participated in a university study as a favor to my former sister-in-law, the clinical psychologist. Even before my perceptive abilities had been documented, he’d made a point of sheltering his face when he didn’t want me to read his body language. But since the Port Merritt PD captain was calling his one and only detective on his day off, anyone in the room should have been able to see that something very bad had happened.

“Tell him not to touch anything,” he said. “I’ll be there in ten.”

“What’s happened?” I asked the second Steve disconnected, my voice a squeaky blend of breath and apprehension.

He pocketed his cell phone. “Russell Falco has been found.”

The Summer Reads Scavenger Hunt!

16th – 19th July 2014

Ciao a tutti! Today I’m participating in the Summer Reads Scavenger Hunt. Here are the details:

The Summer Reads Scavenger Hunt will run from TODAY until midnight on SUNDAY (19th July). To enter to win FORTY signed paperbacks by a wide range of authors PLUS $30 worth of Amazon Gift Cards, simply hop around ALL participating stops, collect all of the highlighted numbers, add them together, and then go enter the requested details along with your calculated answer in the ENTRY FORM. You can find more information on how the stop works HERE. All stops will direct you to the next place to hop across to. And don’t worry if you get lost, because the entire list of participating authors can be found HERE.

My Book

My cozy mystery, Limoncello Yellow, is one of the forty signed paperbacks you can win! Don’t forget to record my favorite number: 627

SWAG

I’m giving away Cindi Madsen’s hilarious romantic comedy Cinderella Screwed Me Over. Comment below for a chance to win!

What I’m Reading This Summer

1. Homicide in High Heels by Gemma Halliday

If you’re into “the boys of summer” (and who’s not?), then this ninth novel in the High Heels Mysteries is the book for you. It has all the makings of a great mystery: Beverly Hills, fashion runways, reality TV, and a “Tanning Salon Killer.”

2. In Need of Therapy by Tracie Banister

Want to add a little Cuban spice to your summer? Then pick up a copy of this sizzlin’ hot novel. It’s set in sunny South Beach, and it involves a sexy and single psychiatrist. Now that’s my kind of therapy.

3. My Ex-Boyfriend’s Wedding by T. Sue VerSteeg

When I think summer, I think weddings. But as the title of this romantic comedy suggests, Jemma Keith isn’t getting married—her cheating ex is. And luckily for Jemma, his bride-to-be has a hot Italian cousin. Buon appetite!

4. I Love Capri by Gabriella Giacometti

Don’t be mislead by the English title—this one’s in Italian. But I had to include it. mean, it’s about a food blogger who’s asked to ghost-write the autobiography of a sensual chef (fabulously named Fabrizio) on the sun-drenched island of Capri. Intrigued? Then you’d better start studying italiano.

5. Queenie Baby: On Tour by Christina A. Burke

Looking for a fun beach read? Then you’ll definitely want to check out the third novel in the Queenie Baby series. When temp-turned-rockstar Diana Hudson hits the big time with “The Rum Song,” she goes on tour to Key West with a band of pirates. Blimey!

Next Stop

Be sure to hop to the next stop on the Summer Reads Scavenger Hunt: Maria V. Snyder’s blog! Or, if you have all your numbers and are ready to enter, then hop across to the Summer Reads Scavenger Hunt Entry Form.

DEATH IN PERSPECTIVE by Larissa Reinhart

DEATH IN PERSPECTIVE is on tour with Great Escapes, y’all! Comment below for a chance to with a Cherry Tucker ebook of your choosing!

SYNOPSIS

In Cherry Tucker’s fourth mystery, the curtain rises on Cherry’s debut as a high school set designer at the posh, private Peerless Day Academy. Cherry’s been hired to design scenery for an avant garde adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, but the theater teacher’s hoping Cherry can also turn the spotlight on a malicious bully who’s sending poisonous texts to the faculty. The director’s got his own drama to hide, and the phantom texter seems eager to spill school secrets. When a school secretary’s death is ruled a suicide, Cherry suspects foul play. The phantom bully may be using blackmail to rid the school of unwanted staff, urging a Montague-Capulet styled showdown.

With Deputy Luke Harper wanting to return as Cherry’s leading man, he’s eager to assist her efforts in fingering the phantom culprit, but Cherry fears family secrets may doom them to the role of star-crossed lovers. Offstage, Cherry’s searching for her missing brother who’s fixed on a vendetta against Luke’s stepfamily, so she instead turns to the local, foreign racketeer, Max Avtaikin, for assistance. With the bully waiting for a murderous encore and her own family skeletons to hide, Cherry scrambles to find her brother and the mysterious texter before the phantom decides its curtains for Cherry and forces her to take a final bow.

RATING 5 Limoncello shots! (Or, in this case, draft beers.)

You’ll get a real kick out of DEATH IN PERSPECTIVE! Cherry Tucker is full of Southern sass and spunk, and Larissa Reinhart is a born and bred story teller. The private school setting is the perfect environment for a mystery with quirky characters like those in Halo, Georgia. I hadn’t read a Cherry Tucker Mystery before this one, but you can bet I’ll read them all now. I can’t wait to see what happens between Cherry and the sexy Deputy Luke Harper, and I definitely want to find out the backstory on Cherry’s mother, brother, and nemesis Shawna Branson. Bring on number 5!

ABOUT Larissa Reinhart

After teaching in the US and Japan, Larissa enjoys writing, particularly sassy female characters with a penchant for trouble. She lives near Atlanta with her family and Cairn Terrier, Biscuit.

Visit her website or find her chatting on Facebook. Death in Perspective is the fourth book in the best selling Cherry Tucker Mystery series. The first, Portrait of a Dead Guy, is a Daphne du Maurier finalist, Emily finalist, and Dixie Kane Memorial winner.

AUTHOR Links

Website: http://larissareinhart.com/

Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/1qMwr29

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RisWrites

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RisWrites

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5806614.Larissa_Reinhart

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/LarissaReinhart/

PURCHASE Links

Amazon

B&N

FOLLOW the DEATH IN PERSPECTIVE Tour and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway!a Rafflecopter giveaway

June 24 – Mommasez…

June 25 – readalot blog

June 26 – Chloe Gets A Clue

June 27 – Shelley’s Book Case

June 28 – Carole’s Book Corner

June 29 – off

June 30 – deal sharing aunt

July 1 – Traci Andrighetti’s blog

July 2 – A Chick Who Reads

July 3 – Michelle’s Romantic Tangle

July 4 – off

July 5 – rantin’ ravin’ and reading

July 6 – Back Porchervations

July 7 – Traveling With T

July 8 – Melina’s Book Blog

July 9 – Community Bookstop

ANYTHING FOR A STORY by Cynthia Hickey

ANYTHING FOR A STORY is on tour with Great Escapes, guys! And since the protagonist Stormi Nelson is trying her hand at writing romantic mystery, I’m especially excited to be one of the stops!

When romance writer Stormi Nelson moves into a Victorian mansion in Oak Meadows Estates, she thinks she’s found the perfect place to write her next bestseller. Although she wants to stay curled up in her house in front of the computer, her agent tells her to get out and meet people to breathe some new life into her characters. So Stormi decides to start a Neighborhood Watch program. But her first night on patrol, she discovers that the neighborhood is less than idyllic when she stumbles over a dead body. Things start to look up when the handsome detective who lives down the street comes to her aide. But then she returns home to find that her mother, sister, niece and nephew are moving in, and soon another victim is found dead. As Stormi immerses herself deeper and deeper into the mystery, the neighbors begin to turn on her. She realizes that she has to act before the killer turns on her and her family too.

ANYTHING FOR A STORY is a riot (and I’m not talking about all the noise Stormi and her family makes). I absolutely love the crazy characters that live in Oak Meadows Estates, and I’m particularly fond of Rusty because he’s “special.” Stormi’s family is lots of fun too. Her skate-boarding nephew turns out to be a super sleuth, and her mother is a savvy spy. And the cute relationship that forms between Stormi and her mom is one of the best parts of this story—besides the kissing scenes with sexy Detective Steele, of course!

RATING 5 Limoncello shots! (Or, in this case, raspberry tea.)

ABOUT Cynthia Hickey

Multi-published and Best-Selling author Cynthia Hickey had three cozy mysteries and two novellas published through Barbour Publishing. Her first mystery, Fudge-Laced Felonies, won first place in the inspirational category of the Great Expectations contest in 2007. Her third cozy, Chocolate-Covered Crime, received a four-star review from Romantic Times. All three cozies have been re-released as ebooks through the MacGregor Literary Agency, along with a new cozy series, all of which stay in the top 50 of Amazon’s ebooks for their genre. She has several historical romances releasing in 2013 and 2014 through Harlequin’s Heartsong Presents, and has sold more than 150,000 copies of her works. She is active on FB, twitter, and Goodreads. She lives in Arizona with her husband, one of their seven children, two dogs and two cats. She has five grandchildren who keep her busy and tell everyone they know that “Nana is a writer”.

AUTHOR Links

Website: www.cynthiahickey.com

FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cynthia-Hickey/151333448227549

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cynthiahickey

PURCHASE Link

AMAZON

FOLLOW the ANYTHING FOR A STORY tour and enter to win an e-copy! a Rafflecopter giveaway

June 2 – StoreyBook Reviews

June 3 –  Kelly P’s Blog

June 4 –  Traci Andrighetti’s blog

June 5 –  Queen of All She Reads

June 6 –  Brooke Blogs

June 8 –  Cozy Up With Kathy

June 9 –  WV Stitcher

June 10 –  Mochas, Mysteries and Meows

June 11 –  Shelley’s Book Case

June 12 –  Socrates Book Reviews

June 14 –  dru’s book musing

MURDER IS ACADEMIC by Lesley A. Diehl

MURDER IS ACADEMIC is on tour with Great Escapes, and this ex-academic is thrilled to be one of the stops!

When psychology professor Laura Murphy stumbles upon the body of her college president at a local construction site, she certainly doesn’t expect to find herself a suspect in his murder. Nor does she anticipate that rising bacteria levels in the upstate New York lake on which she lives are connected to the crime. But when the director of the college’s Biological Field Station turns up dead, she becomes convinced that something fishy is going on at the lake and at the college. As her involvement in the investigation deepens and the summer storm season gets underway, Laura must uncover the identity of the murderer before she winds up sleeping with the fishes.

As a former academic, I was impressed with the setting and plot of MURDER IS ACADEMIC. The stodgy, often chauvinistic professors and scheming faculty administrators were all too familiar, and I really identified with Laura as she wrestled with an unfinished manuscript. Ugh!

One of my favorite aspects of the novel was the way in which Laura interacted with both the campus faculty and the the members of the Onondaga Falls community. She is a no-nonsense, down-to-earth character who draws in those around her—as well as her readers. Laura is like an old friend, and I hope she returns for yet another academic adventure.

RATING 5 Limoncello shots! (Or, in this case, snifters of brandy.)

ABOUT Lesley A. Diehl

Like me, my protagonists choose to live their lives close to nature. From the deep, green river valleys and tree-covered mountains of upstate New York to the palm-treed pastures of the Big Lake Country in Florida, these women have found their homes and their hearts in rural America. These plucky snoops are joined by a transplant from Connecticut, Eve Appel, who moves to rural Florida to set up a consignment shop with her best friend and partner, Madeleine Boudreau.

All these amateur sleuths yearn for the simple, artless existence of hard work coupled with rustic pleasure.

That’s why they live away from big cities, but murder and violence have a way of stalking us, even our plucky heroines, who think they’ve avoided life’s perils.

AUTHOR Link

www.lesleyadiehl.com

PURCHASE Links

AMAZON     BARNES & NOBLE

FOLLOW the MURDER IS ACADEMIC Tour

May 15 –  rantin’ ravin’ and reading

May 16 –  Shelley’s Book Case

May 17 –  The Book Junkie

May 19 –  Bea’s Book Nook

May 20 –  fuonlyknew ~ Laura’s ramblins and reviews

May 21 –  deal sharing aunt

May 22 –  Victoria’s Pages of Romance

May 23 –  Traci Andrighett’s blog

May 26 –  Melina’s Book Blog

May 27 –  Cozy Up With Kathy

May 28 –  Socrates’ Book Reviews

May 29 –  Back Porchervations

May 30 –  Community Bookstop

May 31 –  StoreyBook Reviews

FIFTY SHADES OF GREYHOUND by Sparkle Abbey

FIFTY SHADES OF GREYHOUND is on tour with Great Escapes, and I’m so excited to host Sparkle Abbey on my blog today!

Hi Traci,

Thanks so much letting us stop by your blog. This is our first blog tour and we’re very excited about it. Your series sounds like so much fun and we’ve added Limoncello Yellow to our TBR list! Because your book sounds like it fits in the same category as ours, we thought your blog readers might enjoy hearing about how we came up with the series.

The new book, Fifty Shades of Greyhound continues the saga of Texas cousins, Caro Lamont and Melinda Langston, who live and work in the uber pet-friendly community of Laguna Beach, California. Caro is a pet therapist who works with problem pets (mostly problem pet parents) and Mel owns the exclusive Bow Wow Boutique.

Previous books in the series include:

Desperate Housedogs

Get Fluffy

Kitty Kitty Bang Bang

Yip/Tuck

As you can tell from the titles these are very dark, serious books. Not.

We came up the idea to write the series because a well-respected literary agent told us we needed to have a “hook.” What she meant was there needed to be a clearly identifiable theme to the books. Such as a cooking, knitting, or scrapbooking. Simple, right? The problem was neither of us had any of those talents. So we thought and thought. We knew if we were going to focus on a theme, it had to be something we really cared about. We love our families but somehow didn’t think they’d like to be the focus of our mystery series.

Finally we realized there was something else we were both passionate about. Our rescue pets! We came up with characters. We brainstormed titles. We pitched the idea to Bell Bridge Books and they asked to see it. The result was a four-book deal for those first titles listed above and that was followed by a two-book contract for the next two.

We have had so much fun writing this series and the fun continues with the next book in the series, The Girl with the Dachshund Tattoo in fall 2014.

ABOUT Sparkle Abbey

Sparkle Abbey is the pseudonym of mystery authors Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter. They write the bestselling pet mystery series which features whodunits set in Laguna Beach, CA in the wacky world of pampered pets, precious pedigrees, and secrets. They chose to use Sparkle Abbey as the pen name on this series because they liked the idea of combining the names of their two rescue pets – Sparkle (ML’s cat) and Abbey (Anita’s dog).

They love to hear from readers and can be contacted via their website: www.sparkleabbey.com

AUTHOR Links

You can also find Sparkle Abbey online at:

Twitter: www.twitter.com/sparklesbbey

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sparkleabbey

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/sparkleabbey

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/sparkleabbey

YouTube: www.youtube.com/sparkleabbey

And monthly on the following blogs:

Paws to Read: http://www.sparkleabbey.com/category/blog/

Killer Characters: http://www.killercharacters.com/

The Stiletto Gang: http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com/

PURCHASE Link

Amazon

FOLLOW the FIFTY SHADES OF GREYHOUND Tour and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway!  Rafflecopter giveaway

May 15 –  Mystery Playground

May 16 –  Kelly P’s Blog

May 17 – off

May 18 – off

May 19 –  Thoughts in Progress

May 20 –  rantin’ ravin’ and reading

May 21 –  Michelle’s Romantic Tangle

May 22 –  Traci Andrighetti’s blog

May 23 –  deal sharing aunt

May 24 – off

May 25 – off

May 26 –  Community Bookstop

May 27 –  Books-n-Kisses

May 28 –  Brooke Blogs

May 29 – off

May 30 –  Melina’s Book Blog

June 4 –  Queen of All She Reads

LETHAL LILY by Joyce and Jim Lavene

LETHAL LILY is on tour with Great Escapes! Here is my interview with Joyce and Jim Lavene about this interesting series.

You co-write the Peggy Lee Garden Mystery series (and five others). What can you tell us about your writing process?

We start with an plot idea or a character, sometimes as we’re finishing a book. We add to that idea for a while until we can see that it has a form we can work with. If it does, we keep bringing it out and working on it for a few months until we’re ready to write a synopsis. We write a long synopsis on a yellow legal pad, usually while we drive around some back roads. Once that is in place, we’re ready to write the book.

We sit down across from each other at our desks and tell the story back and forth until we have a rough draft. (Peggy goes out to her car. No, she takes her bike. Her car is at the police station.) That kind of thing.

After that we revise a few times, and then send on to our editor a few times. By the time all of that is done, we’re already working on a new book and never want to see that one again.

Then suddenly, there it is in the mail one day – with a pretty cover on it – like a newborn baby. It’s so exciting! We touch it and count it’s fingers and toes, reading words we aren’t really sure we wrote.

Peggy Lee is a part-time forensic botanist. How difficult is it to write about this relatively new field?

We’ve written Peggy Lee since 2005 so she’s like a longtime friend who comes to visit for a few months every year. We started out blind with the idea of contract forensic botany, clued in by a local botanist who does this work for the state. Each county has one or two of their own botanists for local cases, and we’ve interviewed more than a few of them. Some we have on speed-dial where we can say, “Could THIS happen?”

Peggy also owns a garden shop called the Potting Shed. Do either of you garden?

Both of us garden. We became Master Gardeners years ago when hardly anyone even knew what that was. We don’t get outside as much as we would like, but we both love looking through catalogs every year and sighing over the plants.

Lethal Lily is a terrific title. Who or what inspired it?

Thanks! It was actually a catch-up title. The original was Deadly Dahlia. Then our son, who is a gardener, reminded us that dahlias wouldn’t fit into the book the way we wanted them to. We had to change a few things – including the title. But the title fits the cover beautifully. We’re very happy with both. You have to be flexible in this business.

Is there a scene in Lethal Lily that the two of you are particularly proud of?

We both cried through the last scene in the book when Mai (Peggy’s daughter-in-law) has her baby. We both felt stupid about it, but it was very emotional. We passed the tissues for a while.

Who is your favorite character from the book? And why?

Peggy is our favorite, of course! We love her for being so strong and wise but not overbearing. She’s willing to try anything, and always helps her friends. She’s always been a fun character fun to explore and expand. And we’re jealous of the blue spruce growing in her foyer, AND her garden shop!

Lethal Lily is the eighth novel in the Peggy Lee Garden Mystery series. Readers want to know: Will there be another?

As long as Peggy comes and whispers in our ears with new story ideas, and readers want them, we’ll write new books for her. It’s hard to give up a character you’ve come to know and love. It’s like saying you’ll never see a favorite aunt, or a child, again.

We think Peggy will be following up on her questions about her late husband’s death. And the Charlotte police will always find work for her. We’ll see what happens.

Do the two of you have plans to begin any new series? If so, can you give us a teaser?

Our new series for this year is the Retired Witches Mysteries coming in December 2014 from Berkley Prime Crime. The first title is Spell Booked. The story is about three witches who live in the old port of Wilmington, NC whose magic is waning as they get older. They want to retire to Boca Raton but they have to find three witches to replace them, and hand off their spell book. Things don’t always work out the way we plan, though. Think Bewitched meets Golden Girls.

Thanks for the interview!

SYNOPSIS of LETHAL LILY

Part-time garden shop owner/part-time forensic botanist, Peggy Lee is trying to discover if the death of Ann Fletcher 20 years ago was an accident – or foul play. In return, she hopes to receive more information about her first husband’s death. She knows John Lee was murdered, but questions have arisen as to why he was killed. She is working with a private detective who stumbles across his own feet, but her Internet friend, Nightflyer, says that Harry Fletcher has the answers. When Harry is murdered by convallatoxin, from the lily of the valley plant, Peggy begins to understand her role in everything. Now she has to stay alive long enough to prove her theories – and keep her son, Paul out of trouble too!

EXCERPT from LETHAL LILY

It was after midnight. Peggy Lee had been waiting in the dark parking lot of the Tri-State Mini Storage for more than an hour.

Since she was trying to keep a low profile, she hadn’t looked at her phone or listened to music. There was still a light in the mini storage office. She knew someone was working.

A sign flapped in the warm breeze that had blown up from a tropical storm churning at the Atlantic coast. She glanced at her watch again for the third time in as many minutes.

Where was Harry?

Peggy had only met Harry Fletcher a few days ago. They’d both received emails from her online friend, Nightflyer, suggesting they should work together.

A friend of mine is investigating an old murder in Charlotte, and might call on you for help. I sent him to you because he knows part of the puzzle surrounding John’s death. I’ll speak with you when I can. ~ Nightflyer

The note had caught her attention—and held it. It had only been a few months since she’d learned that her former husband, John Lee, may have been deliberately murdered. She still wasn’t sure it was true, but she decided it couldn’t hurt to check into it.

John had been a Charlotte, North Carolina police detective when he’d been killed more than a decade ago. He’d been called out on a domestic abuse situation that he shouldn’t even have responded to. But it was on his way home, and he’d gone willingly because he was needed.

The call went bad when the man, who’d been shooting at his wife’s boyfriend, decided to shoot at the police. He’d escaped in the gunfight that had ensued, but John had been killed. The shooter was never found. John’s partner had been at Peggy’s door a few minutes later with the news.

Peggy pushed the thoughts of that night out of her head. It was a long time ago, but it still haunted her. She couldn’t let herself get trapped in the past if she wanted to know what really happened to John.

Her phone rang—startling her. She almost dropped it. “Yes?”

“I found the storage unit,” Harry Fletcher whispered. “I forgot the bolt cutters on the floor of the car. Can you bring them? I’m at Unit 34.”

She agreed to do it, and sighed. The man was terminally careless. Just in the short time she’d known him, he was always dropping something, or forgetting something. She wondered how he’d managed to stay alive while he was working as a private detective.

Harry said he’d been working as an informant for the FBI when John was killed. They’d talked about it over tea in a sunlit atrium high above downtown Charlotte, with exotic lilies perfuming the air, and fleet-footed waiters continually checking their cups.

She hadn’t wanted to bring him to her house—it was better if she was the only one who knew about it. If her son, Paul, knew she was involved in anything like this, he’d be furious. Worse, it could ruin his life. His peace had been hard won after John’s death. He’d struggled with the knowledge that no one had been arrested in the case, eventually becoming a police officer himself.

Paul had always said there was something wrong about John’s shooting. It looked as though he might be right.

ABOUT Joyce and Jim Lavene

Joyce and Jim Lavene write award-winning, bestselling mystery fiction as themselves, J.J. Cook and Ellie Grant. They have written and published more than seventy novels for Harlequin, Berkley, Amazon, and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications. They live in rural North Carolina with their family.

AUTHOR Links

www.joyceandjimlavene.com

www.peggyleegardenmysteries.com

www.facebook.com/joyceandjimlavene

http://amazon.com/author/jlavene

https://twitter.com/AuthorJLavene

PURCHASE Link

Amazon

FOLLOW the LETHAL LILY Tour

May 5 – Back Porchervations

May 6 – Our Wolves Den

May 6 – Deal Sharing Aunt

May 7 – Brooke Blogs

May 8 – Thoughts in Progress

May 9 – readalot

May 10 – Christa Reads and Writes

May 11 – Mother’s Day

May 12 – Kelly P’s Blog

May 13 – Shelley’s Book Case

May 14 – Queen of All She Reads

May 15 – Kaisy Daisy’s Corner

May 16 – Traci Andrighetti’s blog

May 17 – Michele Lynn Seigfried’s Blog

May 19 – Mochas, Mysteries and Meows

May 20 – Melina’s Book Blog

May 21 – Community Bookstop

LET LOOSE by Rae Davies

LET LOOSE is on tour with Great Escapes, and I’m so excited to interview author Rae Davies on my blog today.

Let Loose is the 4th novel in the Dusty Deals Mystery series. What’s it like to revisit old characters?

I love all of my characters in the Dusty Deals series. It actually isn’t even like revisiting since they stay with me all of the time.

Are you anything like your protagonist, Lucy Matthews?

Lucy and I have a ton in common. Many of her adventures and “bull-in-a-china-shop” choices are based on my own. I think humor has to have a lot of truth in it or it won’t be funny. We have a lot of differences too though. We are definitely not the same person.

How did you come up with the “loose” theme for your titles?

I really don’t remember. I just knew the first book was Loose Screw. It was never anything else in my mind. The Loose theme just followed.

The sled dog race sounds fun! What inspired it?

An actual sled dog race. I used to live where Lucy lives. At the time, the Race to the Sky started right across the road from our house. The microbrew fund-raiser was also something I attended to benefit the Race to the Sky. However, no one ever got murdered over the race… that I know of.

What can you tell us about this sexy Canadian musher (inquiring reader-minds want to know)?

With the sled dog race, it seemed natural to have a Canadian thrown into the mix, and since Lucy had been feeling a bit neglected by her detective boyfriend, this particular Canadian had to be at least a little sexy.

One of my favorite aspects of a mystery is the quirky secondary characters. Just how “rambunctious” are the octogenarians in Let Loose?

Readers will have to read the book to find out, but they are not going to go quietly into any dark night.

On your website you mention that there will be a Dusty Deals Mystery novella entitled Love on the Loose coming soon. Can you give us a teaser?

It’s a spin on a classic murder mystery dinner ala Agatha Christie. Lucy and her boyfriend, and her dog, of course, go off for a romantic murder mystery weekend in Seeley Lake, Montana.

It sounds like a thriller. Can’t wait!

SYNOPSIS of LET LOOSE

No good deed goes unpunished. The rule has kept Lucy Mathews out of trouble for most of her 29 years. That is until her part-time partner decides Lucy’s image needs a little polishing and shoves her in front of every do-good bandwagon she can find.

Luckily for Lucy, her dream charity runs right up to her doorstep in the form of a sexy Canadian musher who’s in town to help organize the local sled dog race.

Not so luckily for Lucy, sexy Canadians and detective boyfriends do not a happy mixture make.

One dead race organizer, a group of rambunctious octogenarians, and a team of sled dogs in need of a home later and Lucy is confident this punishment is more than anyone, much less one lone antique store owner, can handle.

ABOUT Rae Davies

Rae Davies is the pen name of author Lori Devoti.

Lori Devoti worked for three different newspapers in two different states before deciding to stay home with her children and begin writing fiction. Lori has been a finalist for many awards including the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award and is a member of Novelists Inc., a prestigious group for professional writers. She lives near Madison, Wisconsin with her husband and children as well as two dogs.

Like Lucy, Rae/Lori loves antiques, Montana and malamutes.

AUTHOR Links

http://raedavies.com/

https://www.facebook.com/RaeDaviesAuthor

http://pinterest.com/raedaviesauthor/

http://twitter.com/#!/LoriDevoti

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4731525.Rae_Davies

PURCHASE Links

AMAZON      B&N        Smashwords

FOLLOW the LET LOOSE Tour

April 27 – Cozy Up With Kathy

April 28 – Community Bookstop

April 29 – Shelley’s Book Case

April 30 – Kelly P’s Blog - Interview

May 1 – fuonlyknew ~ Laura’s ramblins and reviews

May 3 – Darla King Series

May 5 – deal sharing aunt

May 6 – Back Porchervations

May 7 – readalot blog

May 8 – Traci Andrighetti’s blog

May 9 – Victoria’s Pages of Romance

May 12 – Kaisy Daisy’s Corner

May 13 – Mochas, Mysteries and Meows

May 14 – Chloe Gets a Clue

DYED AND GONE by Beth Yarnall

DYED AND GONE is on tour with Great Escapes, and I’m hosting Beth Yarnall on my blog today. Based on her post, I can see that she and I have cocktails, color and crime in common!

Slinging it in Vegas

In my novel, Dyed and Gone, Azalea and the gang meet at a Las Vegas bar to discuss the clues they’ve found and try to guess whodunit. Azalea orders a Vodka Collins and Juan Carlos orders a Singapore Sling.

The Singapore Sling was created at the Raffles Hotel in 1915 by Hainanese-Chinese bartender, Mr. Ngiam Tong Boon. It’s served in a hurricane glass and known for its pink color and foam at the top.

Here’s the recipe in metric measurements from the original Raffles Hotel menu:

30ml Gin

15 ml Cherry Brandy

120 ml Pineapple Juice

15 ml Lime Juice

7.5 ml Cointreau

7.5 ml Dom Benedictine

10 ml Grenadine

a Dash of Angostura Bitters

a slice of pineapple and a cherry for garnish

Total yum. What’s your favorite (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) cocktail? Bonus points if you post the recipe! (There are no actual bonus points. It’s just that I’m always on the look out for new and interesting drink recipes, so please share!)

EXERPT from DYED AND GONE

Richard and I shot Juan Carlos a startled glance. Either he’d been faking sleep or our conversation had woken him up. He looked focused and ready for action, not at all like the wreck he’d been earlier.

“What did you hear?” I asked him.

“Almost all of it. Vivian needs our help and we’re going to give it to her.” Juan Carlos swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. He weaved a little and grabbed his head.

“Easy.” Richard rushed to his side. “Here, have some water. And we should probably get some food in you.” He looked to me.

“Right. Okay. We’ll grab some food, then head down to the convention center. But first we need to call James.” The thought of calling Vivian’s boyfriend gave me some measure of courage and purpose.

“Oh, I forgot all about James. That’s a good idea. He has that hot friend who’s a cop. Call him—he’ll know what to do.” I shot back the rest of my whiskey, my cheeks burning as badly as my stomach lining.

The hot cop Juan Carlos was talking about was Alex Craig. We’d met at Vivian and James’s New Year’s party. He’d asked me out. We went on a couple of dates and had hit it off…or so I’d thought. He said he’d call and then had somehow lost all knowledge of how to use a phone. He was the reason I’d sworn off 55 men and had been binge-buying Laura Ashley dresses. As much as I hated to admit it, he was probably Vivian’s best chance. Still, the idea of my having to deal with this particular police officer was right up there with having a root canal or a gynecological exam by a doctor with unusually large hands.

ABOUT Beth Yarnall

Best selling author, Beth Yarnall, writes romantic suspense, mysteries and the occasional hilarious tweet. A storyteller since her playground days, Beth remembers her friends asking her to make up stories of how the person ‘died’ in the slumber party game Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board, so it’s little wonder she prefers writing stories in which people meet unfortunate ends. In middle school she discovered romance novels, which inspired her to write a spoof of soap operas for the school’s newspaper. She hasn’t stopped writing since.

For a number of years, Beth made her living as a hairstylist and makeup artist and co-owned a salon. Somehow hairstylists and salons always seem to find their way into her stories. Beth lives in Orange County, California with her husband, two sons, and their rescue dog where she is hard at work on her next novel.

AUTHOR Links

Website: http://www.bethyarnall.com/

Blog: http://www.bethyarnall.com/?page_id=2345

Twitter: @BethYarnell

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BethYarnallAuthor

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6431701.Beth_Yarnall

Newsletter: http://www.bethyarnall.com/?page_id=2639

PURCHASE Links

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1ne07CE

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1lzlIY3

EP Book: http://bit.ly/1ne0E7J

FOLLOW the DYED AND GONE tour for your change to win! a Rafflecopter giveaway

April 10 – Kelly P’s Blog

April 11 – Shelley’s Book Case

April 12 – deal sharing aunt

April 14 – Back Porchervations

April 15 – rantin’ ravin’ and reading

April 16 – Carole’s Book Corner

April 17 – Brooke Blogs

April 18 – Chloe Gets A Chloe

April 20 – Easter

April 21 – Socrates’ Book Reviews

April 22 – readalot blog

April 23 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews

April 24 – Traci Andrighetti’s blog

April 25 – Community Bookstop

April 28 – Michele Lynn Seigfried’s Blog

April 29 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book

A KILLING NOTION by Melissa Bourbon

A KILLING NOTION is on tour with Great Escapes, and this Texas girl is tickled pink to be one of the stops!

Homecoming is fast approaching in Bliss, Texas, and Harlow Jane Cassidy, the owner of Buttons & Bows dress shop, is up to her elbows in ribbon and fabric for the traditional mums and dresses. To the dismay of her boyfriend, Will, her stepfather sheriff, and his deputy son, she’s also knee-deep in a murder investigation. A local businessman has been killed and his football-player son, Shane, is the main suspect. The problem is that Shane is dating Will’s daughter, Gracie, and she’s related to Harlow (this is small-town Texas, y’all). So Harlow wants to help Will and Gracie by clearing Shane’s name before the big game. Can Harlow solve the mystery before Homecoming weekend? Or will her upcoming romantic getaway to the Texas Hill Country with Will be sidelined?

Readers will be enchanted by A KILLING NOTION. The Cassidy women and their individual charms are pure magic on the page. And the small town of Bliss is as quaint as the chiffon rosettes on Gracie’s Homecoming dress. The best part of this delightful book is that Melissa Bourbon actually crafts the mystery like a seamstress, skillfully sewing together the many pieces of the puzzle much like the pattern of a dress.

RATING 5 Limoncello shots!

COMMENT for a chance to win a digital copy of either PLEATING FOR MERCY (book #1 in the Magical Dressmaking Mysteries) or LIVING THE VIDA LOLA (book #1 in the Lola Cruz Mysteries)

ABOUT Melissa Bourbon

Melissa Bourbon, who sometimes answers to her Latina-by-marriage name Misa Ramirez, gave up teaching middle and high school kids in Northern California to write full-time amidst horses and Longhorns in North Texas.  She fantasizes about spending summers writing in quaint, cozy locales, has a love/hate relationship with yoga and chocolate, is devoted to her family, and can’t believe she’s lucky enough to be living the life of her dreams.

She is the Marketing Director with Entangled Publishing, is the author of the Lola Cruz Mystery series with St. Martin’s Minotaur and Entangled Publishing, and A Magical Dressmaking Mystery series with NAL. She also has written two romantic suspense novels, a light paranormal romance, and is the co-author of The Tricked-out Toolbox, a practical marketing guide for authors.

AUTHOR Links

http://melissabourbon.com

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMelissaBourbon.MisaRamirez?ref=hl

http://twitter.com/melissabourbon

PURCHASE Links

Amazon    B&N      Book Depository

FOLLOW the A KILLING NOTION tour and sign up to win a Rafflecopter giveaway!

April 1 –  rantin’ ravin’ and reading

April 2 –  Escape With Dollycas

April 3 –  Books-n-Kisses

April 4 –  readalot blog

April 5 –  Griperang’s Bookmarks

April 6 –  Melina’s Book Blog

April 7 –  Shelley’s Book Case

April 8 –  Back Porchervations

April 10 –  A Chick Who Reads

April 11 –  Brooke Blogs

April 12 –  dru’s book musing

April 13 –  StoreyBook Reviews

April 14 –  Books and Bindings

April 14 –  Kaisy Daisy’s Corner

April 15 –  Mystery Playground

April 16 –  A Year of Jubilee Reviews

April 17 –  Queen of All She Reads

April 18 –  Cozy Up With Kathy

April 19 –  Community Bookstop

April 20 – Easter

April 21 –  Traci Andrighetti’s Blog

April 22 –  Read Your Writes Book Reviews

April 24 –  A Blue Million Books