FEATURED AUTHOR: TERRY AMBROSE

ABOUT THE BOOK


All ten-year-old Alexandra Atwood wants for Christmas is to get her dad and the B&B’s cook Marquetta under the mistletoe. After all, how can they get married if they don’t kiss first?

When murder strikes in Seaside Cove, bed-and-breakfast owner Rick Atwood is asked to help find the killer. But this will not be an easy case to crack. Not only did the killer contaminate the crime scene, but there are suspects all over town. And they all received the same Christmas sweater from the victim.

Alex hears rumors about the murder and decides that since she’s on Christmas break, she has time for a little multitasking. She launches her own investigation even as she continues her efforts to get her dad and Marquetta together.

Just when Rick thinks he’s identified all the suspects, he discovers a new one—his estranged wife. With the days until Christmas ticking down, Rick feels pressured from all sides. He needs to solve the case. He needs to send his wife back to New York. But the one thing he doesn’t need is for his daughter to be one step ahead of him and the cops.

Book Details:

Title: The Killer Christmas Sweater Club

Author: Terry Ambrose

Genre: Cozy mystery

Series: Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mysteries, book 3

Publisher: Satori (November 8, 2018)

Page count: 275 pages

On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours

INTERVIEW WITH TERRY AMBROSE

Q: Terry, what’s the story behind the title of your book?
A: Last year in December, I was doing a presentation at a local mystery reader’s club. Many of the people showing up were wearing Christmas sweaters. At the time, I quipped, "What a great idea for a mystery." They all thought it was funny, so I filed the idea away. When it came time to launch the book, The Killer Christmas Sweater Club felt like the best suited title.

Q: I love it! Tell us about your series. Is this book a standalone, or do readers need to read the series in order?
A: The Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery series is about Rick and Alexandra Atwood, a father and daughter who move from New York to the small town of Seaside Cove after Rick inherits the B&B from his grandfather. Seaside Cove is located on the California coast, which is littered with shipwrecks. In this series, the wreck that is drawing in strangers is the San Manuel, a fictional 400-year-old Spanish galleon with a very rich cargo just waiting to be plundered. The books do not need to be read in order, but there are character-development arcs that span from book-to-book.

Q: Where’s home for you?
A: For now, home is North San Diego County. When I was a kid, we moved about every two years, so for me to stay in one place feels unusual.

Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I grew up in Southern California at a time when the freeways were wide open, but the air was continually fouled by smog. There were days when we could, quite literally, watch the smog bank roll in. 



Q: Have you been in any natural disasters?
A: I’ve been through two major earthquakes—the first was the 1978 Goleta earthquake that shook Santa Barbara; the second was the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake which hit the San Francisco Bay Area. In both cases, we were fortunate to not suffer any severe damage or injuries.

Q: How did you meet your wife?
A: I met my spouse while I was dating her roommate. It wasn’t until months after I’d broken up with her roommate that we crossed paths while I was skip tracing for the County of Santa Barbara.

Q: What’s one of your favorite quotes?
A: While driving down the freeway in Santa Barbara one day, I saw a license plate frame that read, “This is not a rehearsal.” That phrase really struck home for me. I even had my own license plate frame made up at one point.

Q: If you could live anywhere in the world, where in the world would it be?
A: If I had my choice of locations, I would probably move to the island of Kauai. Even though it’s grown tremendously over the years, I still love it there.

Q: How did you create the plot for this book?
A: My plots begin with the characters. In this case, I had the idea for the use of Christmas sweaters as a clue but needed a way to integrate that into the plot. I also had a character in mind to be killed off.

Q: Are any of your characters inspired by real people?
A: The victim was inspired by a real person. There’s a description in the book about him given by Marquetta, who says, “He’s a peculiar man, a slow man, the kind who will spend extra time at a traffic light when it turns green just to be sure no traffic is coming.” That description popped into my head after I’d spent an inordinate amount of time waiting in line at the business where he worked.

Q: Is your book based on real events?
A: The Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery series is inspired to some degree by current-day events in the treasure hunting industry and by real shipwrecks, including the San Jose in Cartegena.

Q: What’s one pet peeve you have when you read?
A: I get really annoyed by writers who spend an inordinate amount of time providing backstory in what can only be termed an “info dump.” This pet peeve stems from my days of coming home from lunch to find my wife watching her favorite soap opera and hearing characters say things like, “Do you remember when you were here yesterday and we talked about your cousin Fred who married Edna, the girl with all those tattoos, and they went off to Vegas…”
I try to follow two rules when I provide backstory: 1) do it in increments, and 2) do it naturally. I just wish more writers would try a little harder to not make their backstory so obvious.

Q: What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received about your work?
A: If an award can be considered a compliment, then it would be winning the 2014 San Diego Book Awards for Best Action/Thriller. If an award isn’t really considered a compliment, it would be the Kirkus Review in which they said, "Ambrose touches on high-finance malfeasance, adultery and drug dealing with the kind of snark that will remind readers of Elmore Leonard.”

Q: That is quite a compliment. What are you working on now?
A: The next book I’m working on has the working title, Shadows from the Past, and is the third (and probably final) installment in the License to Lie thriller series.

OTHER BOOKS BY TERRY AMBROSE

Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mysteries
A Treasure to Die For
Clues in the Sand 

McKenna Mysteries
Photo Finish 
Kauai Temptations 
Big Island Blues 
Mystery of the Lei Palaoa 
Honolulu Hottie 
North Shore Nanny  
A Damsel for Santa 
Maui Magic 
The Scent of Waikiki 

License to Lie Series
License to Lie 
Con Game 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Once upon a time, in a life he’d rather forget, Terry Ambrose tracked down deadbeats for a living. He also hired big guys with tow trucks to steal cars—but only when negotiations failed. Those years of chasing deadbeats taught him many valuable life lessons such as—always keep your car in the garage.

Terry has written more than a dozen books, several of which have been award finalists. In 2014, his thriller, Con Game, won the San Diego Book Awards for Best Action-Thriller. His series' include the Trouble in Paradise McKenna Mysteries, the Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mysteries, and the License to Lie thriller series.

Connect with Terry:
Website  |  Blog  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads

Buy the book:
Amazon

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FEATURED CHARACTER: TERRY AMBROSE'S WILSON McKENNA

ABOUT THE BOOK

Honolulu landlord Wilson McKenna can smell a scam from across the room. So when one of his tenants loses everything in a work-at-home scam involving a new perfume, he’s shocked. With his wedding just weeks away, McKenna has to make a tough decision. Does he evict a woman who’s down on her luck? Or take time out from wedding planning to help his tenant?

Turning the case over to his PI-in-training friend Chance Logan seems like the perfect solution—until Chance tells McKenna he needs a wingman for a visit to fragrance entrepreneur Skye Pilkington-Winchester. McKenna’s sure he can keep everyone happy by helping Chance this one time. But nothing is ever as easy as it seems, and soon McKenna’s up to his board shorts in hot water. His tenant’s simple fragrance scam might involve industrial espionage, Skye’s assistant is murdered, and McKenna’s bride-to-be accuses him of having cold feet.

As McKenna and Chance dig deeper, it seems so much of what they’re being told doesn’t pass the sniff test. And the only way to get his life back is to find the dead girl’s missing boyfriend, unmask a killer, and finish up in time for the wedding. Other than that, it’s just another day in paradise.

Book Details;

Title: The Scent of Waikiki

Author: Terry Ambrose

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Series: Trouble in Paradise, book 9

Publisher: Satori (July 19, 2018)

Print Length: 330 pages

On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours

ABOUT WILSON McKENNA

 McKenna is a former skip tracer who moved to Hawaii after losing his job and the woman he loved. After several years of being miserable, he found his purpose when one of his tenants got him involved in a murder investigation. He’s been chasing killers ever since and now works with Chance Logan, who wants to become a private investigator.

INTERVIEW WITH TERRY AMBROSE'S WILSON McKENNA

McKenna, how did you first meet Terry?
We met on a lovely summer day while he was visiting Kauai. He was looking out through the slats of the blinds at all that gorgeous sunshine and got the brilliant idea to write a mystery series about a broken-down, former skip tracer. He thought we hit it off right away. Me—not so much. I mean, who wants to hang out with a guy who knows exactly how to make you miserable?

Sounds like you might like to dish about him?
So glad you asked. Terry might think he’s in control of my stories, but he doesn’t get it. What happens on the page is my business. He keeps butting in and trying to make things worse for me. Personally, I think he’s got some sort of mental thing going on that he’s only happy when I’m not.

Why do you think that your life has ended up being in a book?
Because I keep winding up chasing down bad guys and all these mystery readers would rather read about it than go out and solve their own crimes.

Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.
I don’t want to give away the good stuff, but my favorite scene was once my least favorite. I met this guy named Steward Johnson, and he decided to kidnap me so we could chase down a bad guy. I thought Steward was a nutcase at the time. Well, he probably is, but that’s another issue altogether. While I didn’t like careening around the streets of Honolulu, now that I look back on it, I can laugh about the whole thing. Sort of. Maybe not. You know what? I have a little planning to do. Call it a revenge trip for my writer. Anybody know a good stunt driver?

What do you like to do when someone's not reading about you?
I’m a landlord and have landlord stuff to do. Lately, it seems I have to do all of that in between books. So don’t think just because I’m not chasing some bad guy that I’m not busy. Besides, I’m getting married soon and that’s going to keep me busy for a while. I’m also thinking about starting an anti-junk mail service. For a small fee, we’ll follow the mail truck around and throw all the junk straight into a recycling bin. Nice, huh? My customers will have the ultimate in convenience and  peace of mind. They’ll never have to look at another piece of junk mail and it will all be properly recycled.

Brilliant! If you could rewrite anything in your book, what would it be?
Anything? Well, I’d make myself taller, about ten years younger, and give me some of those kung fu voodoo moves my friend Chance Logan has. Come to think of it, I might just swap places with him. He’s got money, brains, and good looks. I love it. Somebody give me a pen, I’ve got rewrites to do.

Tell the truth. What do you think of your fellow characters?
It’s kind of like real life. I like my friends and don’t like the bad guys. My friend Chance and I get along really well. He and I banter back and forth and occasionally I even let him win a couple of those. And Benni, my bride-to-be is phenomenal. Of course, I’m head-over-heels in love with her and she’d probably beat the crap out of me if I didn’t say that. So, she’s phenomenal. Loving. Caring. Is that enough, honey? Looks like we’re good.

What impression do you make on people when they first meet you? How about after they've known you for a while?
When I first meet people, they usually think I’m a grumpy old coot. After they get to know me, they realize I’m not really that old.



Ha! Tell us about your best friend.
Chance Logan has turned into one of my good friends. On the plus side, he’s young, filthy rich, and wants to be a private investigator. He’s not without his faults, though. He’s been through a number of careers—most of which ended badly. The worst was probably when he decided he wanted to be an actor. He landed the role of leading man in an action-adventure movie, but then he got drunk one night, stole the studio’s helicopter from the set, and crashed it. Chance doesn’t like to talk about the incident for some reason, but I say let bygones be bygones. It’s not like he burned down the set . . . wait, maybe I’d better ask him about that.

What do you like best about Chance Logan?
Chance has lots of money. That makes him a great sidekick because it’s like traveling with a human ATM. In the old days, back when I was skip tracing, I had to pry information out of people in any number of ways. With Chance around, I just say, “Cash please.” Next thing you know, some guy who was reluctant to talk is singing like a lark.
Least?
The thing I like least about Chance might be his lock-picking skills. I mean, who spends two minutes working on a lock when you’re standing out in an open hallway? He needs to get it together because I’m too old to wear an orange jumpsuit. Have you ever thought about how much those things must itch on a hot summer day?

Describe where you live.
Honolulu is a typical big city in many ways. But it’s also distinctly Hawaiian because the mishmash of cultures that make up Hawaii all come together here. Of course, we have a fabulous beach, world-class shopping, and great restaurants—most of which I never bother with because we also have so many tourists. Let’s face it, those of us who live in paradise can do all the cool stuff anytime we want. The tourists only have a couple of weeks. As a result, we go about our daily lives trying to avoid the tourists who are having all the fun. Maybe we need a tourist-free day so us locals could enjoy the place once in a while.

Describe an average day in your life.
I’m a landlord so my typical day is pretty boring. The apartment complex I manage only has twenty units, so it’s not a huge job to deal with the tenants. I sometimes have to arrange for plumbers and pest exterminators and window washers. But by and large, I have time during a typical day to be inquisitive about any number of things, and that sometimes involves a murder.

What makes you stand out from any other characters in your genre?
You mean other than those loud aloha shirts we wear here in the islands? I’m funnier than most of those other amateur sleuths. And a lot of them are women. Don’t get me wrong, I’m getting ready to marry a woman. So I like women. But I’ve been known to be a tad snarky at times—okay, a lot snarky.

Will you encourage Terry to write a sequel?
Encourage? No. Demand? Now we’re talking. It’s expensive living in paradise. So if I’m going to stay here, he’s got to keep writing stories about me. On top of that, I kind of like the attention. I have fans . . . so that’s kind of fun. Imagine that—me—with fans.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Terry Ambrose is a former skip tracer who tracked down deadbeats for a living. He’s long since turned his talents to writing mysteries and thrillers. Several of his books have been award finalists and in 2014 his thriller, Con Game, won the San Diego Book Awards for Best Action-Thriller. He likes cool photography, funny mysteries, and finding the oddest things while walking on the beach. He’s currently working on the Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery series.

Connect with Terry:
Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads 

Buy the book:
Amazon

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CHARACTER INTERVIEW WITH TERRY AMBROSE'S ALEX ATWOOD



ABOUT THE BOOK

To Rick Atwood’s dismay, the police find a body on the beach near his Seaside Cove B&B. The dead woman held a pottery shard from an ancient rice bowl, which the cops believe is a clue to her murder.

The chief suspect is Flynn O’Connor, a female archaeologist known for her hatred of treasure thieves. Trouble is, Rick’s daughter Alex sees Flynn as a role model and will not believe her friend is a killer.
Alex pressures her dad as only a ten-year-old can to prove Flynn is innocent. The mayor is also making demands—for Rick to stay out of the investigation. With his daughter and the mayor at odds, Rick sees trouble brewing. He knows too well how much Alex loves sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. Especially when there’s murder involved.

Book Details


Title: Clues in the Sand (A Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery) 

Author: Terry Ambrose


Genre: Cozy mystery, 2nd in series


Release Date: March 15, 2018


Paperback: 191 pages


Touring with: Great Escapes Book Tours 

ABOUT THE CHARACTER

Alex is ten years old, in fifth grade, and is fascinated by murder. When she was younger, her dad was a reporter in New York. He let her “help” write his stories, a practice he sometimes regrets now that Alex firmly believes he got his best ideas from her. Alex believes she and her dad can solve any crime—even when the cops don’t have a clue.

INTERVIEW WITH TERRY AMBROSE'S ALEX ATWOOD

Alex, how did you first meet Terry?
(Eyeroll) - Seriously? It was totally boring. He was like, I’m gonna write this bed and breakfast mystery story and your dad’s gonna be the hero. And I was like, no way. Daddy’s good at solving crimes, but he really needs my help. I told my author person if I was gonna be in this story, he totally had to give me a bigger part.

Want to dish about him?
I’m only ten and Daddy doesn’t like it when I say bad things about other people. But, just between you and me, he was totally clueless when he started writing the first book in the series. He had no idea my dad and Marquetta liked each other so much. Doh. How could he have missed that? To be fair, Daddy was kinda clueless, too. I got them both straightened out. But man, it was a lot of work!

Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.
I don’t know if I have a favorite scene, but my favorite parts are where I get to write in my journal. I never thought about keeping a journal until Marquetta gave me one for my tenth birthday. Marquetta’s our cook and is gonna be my mom someday if she and Daddy can ever stop being so lame (eyeroll!!!).

What do you like to do when you are not being actively read somewhere?
Me and my best friend Robbie Sachetti like to hang out when we’re not going to school. We’re both in fifth grade and can text each other when the teacher’s not paying attention. Robbie doesn’t say a lot and my dad calls him a “man of few words.” I totally don’t mind it when Robbie’s kinda quiet 'cause he’s got these dreamy blue eyes that make me go all mushy inside. I’m gonna marry Robbie when we grow up. Just don’t tell him that!

If you could rewrite anything in your book, what would it be?
I’d totally rewrite my scene in the attic because it, like, shows I do get scared. I wasn’t supposed to go in the attic, but when I found out it was unlocked and there might be clues to why Marquetta’s so secretive about her past, I just had to go up there. It wouldn’t have been a big deal except my author was too cheap to add a couple more lights, so it was super dark up there. I’m totally gonna get back at my author for making me do something so scary.

Tell the truth. What do you think of your fellow characters?
Daddy’s the best dad in the world. And Marquetta, she’s like, my hero. She’s strong and loves me a lot, just like I love her. I totally don’t like Miss Potok because she just wants to cause trouble. She’s one of our guests and is trying to find the treasure before anybody else. I also really like Miss O’Connor. She’s a lady archaeologist and is trying to save the past from people like Miss Potok.

What's the worst thing that's happened in your life?
The worst thing was when my mom left us. That was a few years ago, and it took me and Daddy a long time to get over it. That’s one reason we moved to Seaside Cove. What I learned is that me and Daddy didn’t have to settle for someone who cared about her career more than us. It wasn’t until we got here that we realized our lives could go on without my mom. 


Tell us about your best friend.
I already told you more than I should’ve about Robbie Sachetti, so I’m gonna tell you about Marquetta. She’s been at the B&B for a long time. She even ran it after my grandfather, Captain Jack, died. When me and Daddy moved here, she started teaching us the business. She’s pretty and is the best cook ever because Captain Jack sent her to a fancy cooking school when she was eighteen. Marquetta has taught me how important it is to write down my innermost thoughts. That’s why she gave me my journal. I totally want Marquetta to be my mom someday, so I keep trying to get her and Daddy together. I may be just a kid, but I seem to be the only one who knows how this romance thing works!


What’s Terry’s worst habit?
He totally thinks it’s funny to call me Nancy Drew, but that’s so lame. She was, like, sixteen when she got her first case. She had a really cool car and could drive. I won’t even be able to get my learner’s permit for another five years! Hello! Author person, get a clue!


How do you feel about your life right now?
My life right now is awesome. I’m in my second book, Daddy and Marquetta are spending more time together, and I got to do all sorts of cool stuff to solve the murder. Living in Seaside Cove rocks! We might not have a lot of super fun stuff to do, but the locals are awesome!

Tell us about the town where you live.
Seaside Cove is, like, really small. But, we have all the important kinds of places. The businesses on Main Street are in old houses, which is awesome. We have an ice cream shop and that’s, like, my favorite place in town. It’s run by our mayor, Mrs. Carter, and she can be kinda pushy at times. Deep down I know she’s okay. She just wants what’s best for the town.

Will you encourage Terry to write a sequel?
He’s totally gonna have to write some sequels! There’s a lot going on in Seaside Cove. There’s, like, this whole big Christmas thing coming, and then they’ve gotta start bringing up all the treasure from the San Manuel. That’s the Spanish galleon that sank a super-long time ago. I’m gonna make him keep writing sequels until Daddy marries Marquetta. He might have to keep going after that because having a baby sister would be awesome!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Terry Ambrose has written more than a dozen books, several of which have been award finalists. In 2014, his thriller, Con Game won the San Diego Book Awards for Best Action-Thriller. He’s currently working on the Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery series.



Connect with Terry:
Website  |  Blog  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon   

Buy the book:

Amazon 

a Rafflecopter giveaway