Featured Author - Feb 2014 - Christy Fifield

[ஐ Katya (Book Queen)ஐ, Cozy Mysteries Group Owner]

A Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery Series by Christy Fifield


#1 Murder Buys a T-shirt

#2 Murder Hooks a Mermaid

#3 Murder Sends a Postcard

[ஐ Katya (Book Queen)ஐ, Cozy Mysteries Group Owner]

Getting snowed in. Will get to it as soon as I dig out.

[Marisa, Cozy Mysteries Assistant Moderator]

Oh, my God! I hope there's not a lot of snow.

[Melissa]

Yeah, we are getting a ton of snow in Chicago. This winter can not be over soon enough for me. :)

How about a warm weather cozy to get away from this winter? I will suggest Murder Buys a T-shirt. I haven't read any of them, but they look cute and I'd rather be in Florida right now.

[Barb]

We're getting a lot of snow/ice in central PA this year too -- probably our payback for the last couple of winters that have been relatively mild. I'm not a fan of ice, huge snows and cold, but this is what it does in Pennsylvania in the winter, so I either have to accept it and deal with it or move ... and every part of the country has its weather issues to deal with :)

[ஐ Katya (Book Queen)ஐ, Cozy Mysteries Group Owner]

They've declared a snow emergency in town. We're expecting 5 inches overnight and the kids are hoping for a snow day tomorrow. I dig out not only us but our elderly neighbors. At the moment, I've got a -19ºF windchill. I'm just thankful it isn't worse. At least not yet. The kids evening activities were thankfully cancelled all around town but I still had to brave it to get the kids from 3 different schools. The grocery run to make sure you don't run out of milk, bread and toilet paper! lol

Again, sorry I'm running late. I completely forgot this weekend. Sunday was not only groundhog day (lol) and superbowl sunday, but it was Scout sunday at church and my 3 boys were ushers as well as our cub scout pinewood derby. And our first superbowl party.

[Melissa]

We've already had four snow days this year, which is pretty unusual. That's nice of you to shovel out the neighbors. I know my husband is having a tough time keeping up with it.

[ஐ Katya (Book Queen)ஐ, Cozy Mysteries Group Owner]

My neighbors are in their late 70s or 80s, and both of them have to use the railing to pull themselves up their porch steps. There is no way they can clear the snow off their steps, driveway or their car, so we help them out. Mow the rest of the year. They pay us a tiny bit so I'm not out the cost of the gas in the mower, but mostly I do it because they're great neighbors and I like helping them out. My boys don't mind either. If we see them, we'll run over and help them bring their groceries in, or if we see trash bags out on their porch, we'll take them to their trash bin for them. They do have family in town (grandson and his wife) but we're next door so can do the small daily stuff to help out.

[Linda]

I am in California. So it has been warm. We are finally going to get rain this weekend. The whole month of January it was either in the middle 60's to high 70's. There is no snow in the mountains. The water storage is down 135ft. We do not know what is going to happen this summer when the temperature reaches 100+ and the fires start. So we all have weather problems but at different ends.

[❂ Murder by Death]

Linda wrote: "I am in California. So it has been warm. We are finally going to get rain this weekend. The whole month of January it was either in the middle 60's to high 70's. There is no snow in the mountains. ..."

We're in much the same boat here. Although for the first time in decades our water levels aren't too bad. We're in summer though, so it's expected. But the car a/c died, so I'm driving a black car home from work in 95-103 degree temps. Who's a cranky pants at the end of the day??? lol

[ஐ Katya (Book Queen)ஐ, Cozy Mysteries Group Owner]

We'll go with Melissa's suggestion for this month, with Murder Buys a T-shirt by Christy Fifield .

Thanks Melissa. I have a boy home sick from school today and I'm suppose to be doing taxes, so I appreciate the help. :)

*Off to edit top post*

[Marisa, Cozy Mysteries Assistant Moderator]

I hope your boy gets better son, Briansgirl

[Marisa, Cozy Mysteries Assistant Moderator]

BTW, can anybody tell me which is the spine color of the first book? (ebook reader here)

[Melodie]

This is a good choice. I have the 3rd one coming up in The Pile soon!

[Melissa]

The spine on the first one is blue. The spines are the same color as the circle on the front of each one. :-)

[Marisa, Cozy Mysteries Assistant Moderator]

Thank you, Melissa. You can imagine the reason for asking :-)

[ஐ Katya (Book Queen)ஐ, Cozy Mysteries Group Owner]

Marisa wrote: "I hope your boy gets better son, Briansgirl"

Thanks. Youngest was the one sick this morning, throwing up twice but was fine the rest of the day (and stayed off school). Oldest went to school and came home with a head cold.

[Marisa, Cozy Mysteries Assistant Moderator]

Pfft, sorry, standard winter illness.

[ஐ Katya (Book Queen)ஐ, Cozy Mysteries Group Owner]

Must be highly contagious. Was home all day with youngest and fine, but after 3 hours of being near eldest and his head cold, I got it! :(

[Marisa, Cozy Mysteries Assistant Moderator]

Sorry, it looks very contagious. I hope you feel better soon.

[Rebecca]

Ick, no fun being sick in the brutal cold and snow. Thanks for picking this book! I'm looking forward to it, not only for setting but also since I know the author, and I think she's a fabulous writer.

[ஐ Katya (Book Queen)ஐ, Cozy Mysteries Group Owner]

I'm looking forward to a warm setting for the book. I just need to find a copy first.

Thanks Marisa. Hopefully it'll go away fast. Trouble is, the last two colds I had in Dec and Jan both turned into bronchitis. So praying that doesn't happen this time.

[❂ Murder by Death]

I think I have the latest one of these in the TBR strata...

[Melissa]

I'm starting Murder Buys a T-shirt today.

[Melissa]

I also have Sink Trap , the first in her series writing as Christy Evans, in my TBR pile so I will try to get to that this month. It's a red book, so it would help with the Olympic color challenge. :)

[Marisa, Cozy Mysteries Assistant Moderator]

Figure, Melissa, I didn't know she wrote with that name. It's one of the few series I've finished, and I liked it a lot.

[Heather L , Cozy Mysteries Moderator]

I was going to say I ws zero for two on featured authors this year, but if theis author also writes as Christy Evans (which I could not confirm via Goodreads), then I have the last of the Georgiana Neverall series, Drip Dead.

[Melissa]

It's on the author's website that she writes both series. I think both are a pseudonym for Christina York.

[Melissa]

I got the first plumbing one, Sink Trap, for $1 at Half Price Books. It looks cute.

[Heather L , Cozy Mysteries Moderator]

Melissa wrote: "It's on the author's website that she writes both series. I think both are a pseudonym for Christina York."

Thanks, Melissa! I hadn't made it as far as looking for a website yet. ;)

[Melissa]

I'm at about page 220. I like the setting and the main character. I also really like Karen, the radio announcer. It's something different, a way to get inside info instead of the standard cop love interest.

I'm having a harder time getting into this actual mystery but I'm thinking that will pick up in subsequent books.

[ஐ Katya (Book Queen)ஐ, Cozy Mysteries Group Owner]

Melissa wrote: "I also have Sink Trap, the first in her series writing as Christy Evans, in my TBR pile so I will try to get to that this month. It's a red book, so it ..."

I couldn't find anything of her writing as another author here on FB. If I have time later, I'll do more research and add anything else she's written.

[MK]

ஐ Briansgirl (Book Sale Queen)ஐ wrote: "We'll go with Melissa's suggestion for this month, with Murder Buys a T-shirt by Christy Fifield.

..."

I just picked this up from the library today. Looking forward to it!

[Melissa]

I will be starting Murder Hooks a Mermaid this week.

I also have Lead-Pipe Cinch on hold at the library, so I will be reading that soon as well. I really liked her writing style in the Haunted Souvenir shop series so hopefully the plumbing series will be good.

BTW, it's fixed on GR now, both Christy Evans and Christy Fifield are showing as pseudonyms of Christina F. York. :)

[MK]

I am just over a quarter of the way into Murder Buys a T-shirt. Parrot cracks me up ^_^

[Tricia]

I just got my copy in the mail today. Can't wait to start it!

[Heather L , Cozy Mysteries Moderator]

I am just past the halfway mark in Drip Dead.

[Melissa]

Heather L wrote: "I am just past the halfway mark in Drip Dead."

How do you like it? I recently finished Sink Trap and Lead-Pipe Cinch. I got into the second one a lot more than the first and just requested Drip Dead from the library. It looks like the series stops there?

I am planning to read Murder Hooks a Mermaid next.

[Heather L , Cozy Mysteries Moderator]

Yes, Drip Dead is the last book in the series. It was an okay read. I did correctly guess whodunnit, though there was a time or two I started to second-guess myself.

[Rebecca]

Murder Buys a T-shirt was a fun read, and the parrot cracked me up, too! Can't wait to try the recipes.

[MK]

Rebecca wrote: "Murder Buys a T-shirt was a fun read, and the parrot cracked me up, too! Can't wait to try the recipes."

I am 62% done now. Parrot still tickling my funny bone :D. Those recipes sound AMAZING. But, oh sooo bad for you :p. Okay, not all of them. I'm going to try some too. ;-)

[Beth]

I enjoyed this book, the parrot was great and I really like the secondary characters here. She has a great group of friends, and they really do support her. I like too that the romance is a possibility at this point and did not leap full blown in minutes. I will keep reading this series.

[MK]

I agree on the friends! She herself annoys me from time to time. Can't put my finger on why ... still reading, tho. Still enjoying it :)

[Tricia]

Just started and am enjoying the book a lot, especially the parrot. I've always wanted to make hush puppies so maybe this book will push me into the kitchen to try. (I usually keep the door locked!)

[MK]

I might try those too, Trisha :)

Done with the book! I gave it three stars, but maybe it's 3.5-ish ... here's my short review:

3.5 maybe ..

I do love that parrot!! Last line made me bust out laughing {:D. The 'whodunit' was obvious quite early though. Fun on the recipes included in the back :). Going to try some of those, maybe!

[Melissa]

I'm reading Murder Hooks a Mermaid and am really enjoying it so far. I think I'm even getting into it faster than the first book. I do really like the characters, setting, etc.

I'm hoping I will get more into the actual mystery this time.

[MK]

Hmmm. Interesting, Melissa! I will have to check that one out!


edit: ahhh, not in my local library, nor in any library in the state ...

[BJ Rose]

Just finished Murder Buys a T-shirt and enjoyed it, but found it too easy to put down, so just gave it 3*. Like others, I really got a kick out of Bluebeard the parrot.

[ஐ Katya (Book Queen)ஐ, Cozy Mysteries Group Owner]

BJ Rose wrote: "Just finished Murder Buys a T-shirt and enjoyed it, but found it too easy to put down, so just gave it 3*. Like others, I really got a kick out of Bluebeard the parrot."

I haven't got a copy yet. It's on my PBS wishlist. I'm curious about the parrot every is talking about.

[Marisa, Cozy Mysteries Assistant Moderator]

I've read Murder Buys a T-shirt and the next books will go to my TBR. I've liked it quite a lot (but I'm not crazy about the parrot, give me a cat anytime ;) )