FEATURED AUTHOR: COLLEEN J. SHOGAN

ABOUT THE BOOK

After her boss narrowly escaped political defeat, Kit Marshall is settling into life as a busy congressional staffer. While attending an evening reception at the United States Botanic Garden, Kit’s best friend stumbles upon the body of a high-ranking government official. The chairwoman of a congressional committee asks Kit to investigate, and she finds herself once again in the thick of a murder investigation. The complications keep coming with the unexpected arrival of Kit’s younger brother Sebastian, a hippie protestor who seems more concerned about corporate greed than the professional problems he causes for his sister. To make matters even worse, the romantic lives of Kit’s closest friends are driving her crazy, diverting her attention from the mystery she’s been tasked to solve. The search for the killer requires her to tussle with an investigative journalist right out of a noir novel, a congresswoman fixated on getting a statue of James Madison installed on the Capitol grounds and a bossy botanist who would do anything to protect the plants he loves. When the murderer sends a threatening message to Kit via a highly unusual delivery mechanism, Kit knows she must find the killer or risk the lives of her friends and loved ones.


Book Details:

Title: Gore in the Garden

Author: Colleen J. Shogan   

Genre: Cozy mystery


Series: Washington Whodunit, book 5


Publisher: Camel Press
 (July 16, 2019
)

Print length: 224 pages


On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours



IFs ANDs OR WHATs INTERVIEW WITH COLLEEN J. SHOGAN

Ifs

Q: 
If you could talk to someone (living), who would it be and what would you ask them?
A: I’d love to ask Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama about serving as First Lady and their time living in the White House. They’re three remarkable women whose personal strength can inspire the nation at this time in our history.

Q: If you could talk to someone (dead), who would it be and what would you ask them?
A: I’d ask George Washington how he persevered during the darkest hours of the Revolutionary War. Without him, it’s hard to imagine the United States existing today.

Q: If you could live in any time period which would it be?
A: A hundred years in the future! I hope robots are doing housework by then.

Q: If you could be anything besides a writer, what would it be?
A: I write, but I also work full-time at the Library of Congress. It’s a fantastic place.

Q: If you could live anywhere in the world, where in the world would it be?

A: I love the beach, so probably the Outer Banks. It’s a dream of mine to live within walking distance to the ocean.



Ands


5 favorite possessions:
    •    my Kindle
    •    my iPad
    •    my signed Brett Michaels (from Poison) t-shirt
    •    our backyard in-ground pool
and
    •    my photos on iCloud

5 things you never want to run out of:    •    coffee
    •    pizza
    •    wifi
    •    free space on my Kindle
and
    •    Chardonnay

5 things about you or 5 words to describe you:
    •    curious
    •    analytical
    •    enthusiastic
    •    sensible
and
    •    hardworking

5 favorite foods:
    •    pizza
    •    pasta
    •    fajitas
    •    Indian
and
    •    hummus

5 things you always put in your books:
    •    dogs
    •    good D.C. restaurants and bars
    •    light romance
    •    insider tips
and
    •    female members of Congress

5 favorite places you’ve been:
    •    Prague
    •    Bruges
    •    Maui
    •    Sonoma
and
    •    Harry Potter studios in London

5 favorite books:
    •    Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
    •    Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
    •    A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
    •    On Writing by Stephen King
and
    •    Grant by Ron Chernow

Whats

Q: What’s your all-time favorite place?

A: Any beach in the summertime.

Q: What’s your all-time favorite city?
A: Difficult choice, but probably London.

Q: What’s your all-time favorite library?
A: The Library of Congress, of course!

Q: What’s one thing that very few people know about you?
A: Most people think I’m an extrovert, but I love spending time by myself.


Q: What’s your most visited Internet site?
A: The Washington Post. I’m on it several times a day.


Q: What’s your favorite time of day?
A: I watch television for one hour a day in the evening before bed, and I really enjoy it. 

Q: What’s your favorite thing to do?
A: Reading a good novel by the pool.

Q: What’s your favorite snack?
A: Hummus and pitas.

Q: What’s your favorite thing to do when there’s nothing to do?
A: Read a book, of course.

Q: What’s one thing you never leave the house without?
A: My iPhone.

Q: What is the wallpaper on your computer’s desktop?
A: A picture of my beagle mutt, Conan.


Q: What do you collect?
A: Shot glasses from around the world.

Q: 
What author would you most like to review one of your books?
A: Linda Fairstein, since she uses setting so effectively in her books.


Q: What book are you currently working on?
A: The sixth in my series, tentatively titled Larceny at the Library.

Q: What’s your latest recommendation for:
Food: I love the Impossible Burger. I think meat substitutes are really going to come into their own in the next five years.
Music: I want to see KISS one last time before they call it quits.
Movie: I’m waiting for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. I will be there on opening night.
Book: Educated by Tara Westover. I interviewed her last year at the National Book Festival. I was so enamored with her story, I read the book twice.
TV:  I love Madame Secretary. I never miss an episode.
Netflix/Amazon Prime: When I want to relax, I watch Death in Paradise, the BBC murder mystery show. They have some really clever plotlines.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Colleen J. Shogan has been reading mysteries since the age of six. She conceived of the plot of her first mystery, Stabbing in the Senate, one morning while taking a walk in her suburban Washington, D.C. neighborhood. A political scientist by training, Colleen has taught American politics at Yale, George Mason University, Georgetown, and Penn. She previously worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative staffer in the United States Senate and as the Deputy Director of the Congressional Research Service. She is currently a senior executive at the Library of Congress who works on great initiatives such as the National Book Festival. Colleen lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband Rob and their beagle mutt Conan. Colleen’s first book won the Next Generation Indie Prize for Best Mystery. Her books have been RONE and Killer Nashville finalists in the mystery category.


Connect with Colleen:

Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads

Buy the book:

Amazon
   |  Barnes & Noble 

a Rafflecopter giveaway