FEATURED CHARACTER: SUSAN BOLES' LILY GAYLE LAMBERT

ABOUT THE BOOK

"Beware the sign of the vampire blood," said the fortune-teller. "It brings madness and turmoil."

Lily Gayle knows what that means, but, for the life of her, can't figure out how the fortune-teller does. A quick road trip with Dixie. An unplanned stop at a roadside park. And, an hour later a dead body. Lily Gayle, Dixie and Miss Edna find themselves knee deep in another homicide investigation when the local vet assistant turns up dead behind an outbuilding at the farmers market.

Lily Gayle believes the words of the fortune-teller will have a major impact on the investigation but can't bring herself to tell the other ladies. To reveal what she believes the words mean might bring trouble to another old friend. And would betray a trust. Only Ben knows and he, as usual, advises Lily Gayle to stay out of his investigation – which she isn't about to do.

When the secret is revealed, the townspeople go mad and the fortune-teller’s words come true. Can Lily Gayle, Dixie and Miss Edna solve the murder before more people are harmed?

Book Details:


Title: Death said the Gypsy Queen

Author: Susan Boles   

Genre: Cozy mystery

Series: A Lily Gayle Lambert Mystery, book 4


Publisher: Argent Ocean Publishing
Print length: 210 pages

On tour with Great Escapes Book Tours 

ABOUT LILY

Lily Gayle is late forties, a graduate of Ole Miss University and a widow. She came back to Mercy, Mississippi after the death of her husband eight years ago. She makes a living by combining her skills as a seamstress making costumes for re-enactors with her research skills to do genealogy searches for various clients. She lives alone in the home built by her grandparents and left to her after their death. Along with her lifelong best friend, Dixie, and town busybody, Miss Edna, she helps solve mysterious deaths that happen in the town. Much to the consternation of the sheriff, Ben Carter, who is also her cousin.

INTERVIEW WITH SUSAN BOLES’ LILY GAYLE

Q: How did you first meet Susan? 

A: We met about fifteen years ago. She started writing Death of a Wolfman all the way back then. She got the idea from an old episode of CSI. And, since she loved cozy mysteries and doing genealogy work, she decided to write her first cozy mystery with me as the main character. She decided my age, hair color and eye color. Then made up the town. Which was originally called Mercyonus instead of Mercy. We were perking right along with the story and then, she just left me sitting around on a computer disk for years! Can you believe it? What the heck was that about? Thank goodness she dug me out of that drawer and finished my first story.

Q: Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.

A: My favorite scene in this book is with Doc Johnson. He’s the coroner in Mercy. I find a vampire doll on my porch and it’s wearing a white jacket. I take it over to show it to Doc and warn him that someone may be out to get him. He decides it’s a joke and points out that the doll has hair and he’s bald and an egg so it can’t be about him.

Q: Tell the truth. What do you think of your fellow characters? 

A: Well. Just between us, Miss Edna drives me up the wall. I mean, she’s eighty years old! Can’t the woman just stay home and tend to her flowers? Why does she have to keep butting into my cases? Dixie and I handle those just fine. We don’t need any help. Dixie is my best friend, you know. We’ve been friends since we were babies in diapers. She’s the best person I know. She’d give you the shirt off her back if you needed it. But, don’t think she’s all wishy-washy. She can give you what for if you get out of line. And Ben. He’s my cousin so I kind of have to love him. Right? Family is important to me. But, I have to confess, he drives me almost as nuts as Miss Edna. Trying to pull off that big brother protection routine with me. I don’t need anyone to take care of me like that. I think he does it just to try and keep me out of solving the murders around here. I know he’s the sheriff and all, but I’ve done some good work getting cases solved around here. So why does he always have to try and keep me out of the loop?

Q: Do have any secret aspirations that your author doesn’t know about?

A: I’m putting together a bucket list of things I wanted to do. The big one right now is I want to go skydiving. And then learn standup paddle boarding. I haven’t told her yet. But she needs to work those into future books. I think both of those things would be a lot of fun. Especially the skydiving!

Q: Tell us about your best friend. 
A: My best friend is Dixie. We’ve been best friend since we met. We were in diapers at the time. Our mothers were best friends growing up. That’s how it is sometimes in small towns. Dixie tends to be a lot more cautious than me. But, in the long run that’s probably a good thing. I can’t say that she’s ever actually talked me out of doing something, but she’s made me rethink how I was going to go about it. And she’s always there to get me out of trouble. Her super power is working magic with people’s hair. She owns the It’ll Grow Back hair salon in downtown Mercy. If you want to get your hair done somewhere else, you’ll have to drive to the next town. And that would be a shame since people from those towns come to Mercy just to get Dixie to do their hair.



Q: How do you feel about your life right now?

A: I really like my life right now. I’m getting some issues resolved. Some that probably should have been resolved a long time ago. But, things take time, you know? I’m getting over my fear of driving for one thing. For some reason, after my  husband John was killed in a car wreck years ago I got to where I couldn’t drive at all. The minute I tried it, my hands would shake so bad I could hardly keep them on the steering wheel and my feet just would not press on the accelerator. The strangest thing I ever heard of. A doctor told me it was panic and anxiety and that it would clear up eventually. So, it’s finally starting to do that. And I’m starting to think about romance again. Nothing all crazy fireworks. Just maybe having someone in my life I want to wake up next to every morning.

Q: If your story were a movie, who would play you? 

A: Oh, definitely Reese Witherspoon. Why, we’re so much alike it’s eerie. Maybe we’re related. I need to do a genealogy search on her family. Maybe we are related! Would that just be a hoot!

Q: Describe the town where you live. 

A: It such a sweet little town. The downtown is still doing well, even though there’s a Walmart out on the edge of town now. But I’m glad everyone supports the local businesses. Why, my friend Dixie, has the best hair salon around. It’s right on the square. The name is It’ll Grow Back. I wasn’t in favor of that when she told me, but it seems to be a big hit around here. Just goes to show people do have a sense of humor. And, the Grits and Gravy Café is on the town square, too. It’s the place where Dixie, Miss Edna, Missy Elliott, Harley Ann and I get together for breakfast every Thursday morning. That’s when I get my chocolate gravy fix for the week. They make the best for a hundred miles around at the Grits and Gravy. The courthouse is smack in the middle of the town square. It’s almost two hundred years old. And there’s a monument on the lawn with the names of all the original settlers of Barkley County engraved on it. Along with a monument to all the people from Mercy who died in all the wars. That giant magnolia by the gazebo in the town square was planted a hundred years ago by my grandfather. He was county sheriff back then.

Q: Will you encourage Susan to write a sequel? 

A: Absolutely! She’s working on one right now. I think everyone will really like it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susan is the USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author of the Lily Gayle Lambert Mystery Series and a contributing author to the Brotherhood Protectors World.



A lifelong long love of all things mysterious led Susan to write cozy mysteries. Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden were the first to show her that girls can be crime solvers. Agatha Christie showed her that even small towns have big secrets. And Phryne Fisher showed her lady detectives can be outrageously individual. She lives in Mississippi with her rescue mini dachshund, Lucy, and her rescue cat of no particular breed, Zimba. She currently writes the Lily Gayle Lambert mystery series set in the fictional town of Mercy, Mississippi featuring a multi-generational cast of female sleuths and romantic suspense in the Brotherhood Protectors Kindle World.



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