FEATURED CHARACTER: EVA GATES’ LUCY RICHARDSON

ABOUT THE BOOK

Halloween in North Carolina’s Outer Banks becomes seriously tricky when librarian Lucy Richardson stumbles across something extra unusual in the rare books section: a dead body.



Wealthy businessman Jay Ruddle is considering donating his extensive collection of North Carolina historical documents to the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, but the competition for the collection is fierce. Unfortunately, while the library is hosting a lecture on ghostly legends, Jay becomes one of the dearly departed in the rare books section. Now, it’s up to Lucy Richardson and her fellow librarians to bone up on their detective skills and discover who is responsible for this wicked Halloween homicide.



Meanwhile, very strange things are happening at the library―haunted horses are materializing in the marsh, the lights seem to have an eerie life of their own, and the tiny crew of a model ship appears to move around when no one is watching. Is Lucy at her wit’s end? Or can it be that the Bodie Island Lighthouse really is haunted? 



With The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on everyone’s minds and ghoulish gossip on everyone’s lips, Lucy will need to separate the clues from the boos if she wants to crack this case without losing her head in The Spook in the Stacks, the delightful fourth in national bestseller Eva Gates’ Lighthouse Library mysteries.



Book Details:


Title: The Spook in the Stacks


Author: Eva Gates

Character’s full name: Lucy Richardson

Genre: cozy mystery

Series: A Lighthouse Library Mystery, book 4

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books (June 12, 2018)


Print length: 250 Pages

On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours 


ABOUT LUCY

Lucy Richardson is the assistant librarian at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library. A few months ago she left her long-promised fiancé on bended knee (literally) and quit her job at Harvard Libraries to seek escape in her favorite place in the world: The Outer Banks of North Carolina, with her favorite relative: Aunt Ellen. But Aunt Ellen isn’t one for indulging nieces, and she soon arranged for Lucy to meet Bertie James, library director at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, who just happened to be searching for a new assistant librarian.

INTERVIEW WITH EVA GATES’ LUCY RICHARDSON

Lucy, how did you first meet Eva? 

I was a work-for-hire, meaning I was conceived in the offices of Penguin Random House. But Eva took to me instantly, and I felt that I could work comfortably with her. So she made me her own, so to speak, and now we get along just great. I was let go by Penguin, but was lucky enough to find a new home with Crooked Lane.

Tell us about your favorite scene in the book. 

Now that it’s all over, I can say that my favorite scene in The Spook in the Stacks is when I spot strange lights moving in the marsh. It wasn’t my favorite scene to live in, I can tell you. Scared the heck out of me. 

Did you have a hard time convincing Eva to write any particular scenes for you? 

She can be a bit prudish, so I have to push her to write romantic scenes between me and Connor McNeil. Let’s just say she’s still balking at that.

If you could rewrite anything in your book, what would it be?

I’d be taller and thinner and have less unruly hair.

Do have any secret aspirations that Eva doesn’t know about? 

I wish I could stop finding dead bodies in my library.

If you had a free day what would you do? 

My favorite thing in all the world is a beach day at the Outer Banks with my cousin Josie and our friends, followed by dinner of shrimp and grits at Jake’s Seafood Bar with Connor and then a long walk along the beach at night.

Tell us about your best friend.

My best friend is my cousin Josie O’Malley. We’ve been close all our lives. I was born and raised in Boston, but we visited my mom’s sister and her family in Nags Head every summer. Josie and I grew up together on the beaches and in the dunes. One of the best things about living in Nags Head now is how close Josie and I are as adults. I love her to bits. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that she owns Josie’s Cozy Bakery in town. 



What’s the best trait Eva has given you?

Best and worse are probably the same. I can be tenacious. When I face a problem, I can’t let go until it’s answered. I suspect that Detective Sam Watson would say that’s a bad thing. 



What’s Eva’s worst habit? 

She doesn’t take anything too seriously. Come on, it’s my life we’re creating here, and she keeps throwing curve balls at me. 



Is there anything you would you like to change about your life right now?
I’d change nothing at all. I’m exactly where I want to be, for now. I love my job in the library, I love my tiny apartment on the fourth floor of the lighthouse. I love my friends and (most of) my co-workers. And I’m loving getting to know Connor. Some day I might want more, but for now I’m good. 


Describe an average day in your life. 

No such thing! At our library we’re as much of a community center as a public library. People are coming and going all day, using the computers, attending literacy programs or children’s programs, taking in one of our historical lectures, doing research in the rare books room. And, of course, wanting advice on books. An average day does not include finding a dead body in the library and trying to find out how it got there, but sometimes it seems as though it does.


What makes you stand out from any other characters in your genre? 

Nothing really. I love being a cozy character.  My setting is somewhat unique though: our library is in a real-life place. Not just Nags Head, but in the actual Bodie Island Lighthouse. Which, I should mention, is not big enough to house a library and all that goes with it, including my fourth floor apartment. But it lives large in Eva’s and my imagination.

Will you encourage Eva to write a sequel? 

No encouragement needed. She’s already finished Something Read Something Dead in which we are busy planning Josie’s wedding.  Eva has a contract for the sixth book with Crooked Lane. 



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eva Gates is the pen name for Vicki Delany, one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. Under her real name of Vicki Delany, she has written more than thirty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing three cozy mystery series: the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series for Crooked Lane, the Year Round Christmas mysteries for Penguin Random House and, as Eva Gates, the Lighthouse Library series, for Crooked Lane Books. 

The fourth Lighthouse Library book, The Spook in the Stacks, was released in June 2018.

Vicki lives and writes in bucolic Prince Edward County, Ontario. She is the past president of the Crime Writers of Canada.  Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards.



Connect with Eva/Vicki:
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MURDER WITH LEMON TEA CAKES/BETTER DEAD TOUR

MURDER WITH LEMON TEA CAKES

A Daisy's Tea Garden Mystery
by Karen Rose Smith
Genre: Cozy Mystery

In an old Victorian in the heart of Pennsylvania's Amish country, Daisy Swanson and her aunt Iris serve soups, scones, and soothing teas to tourists and locals--but a murder in their garden has them in hot water . . .

"... readers are immediately drawn to main character, Daisy Swanson, and her beloved Aunt Iris."
- Suspense Magazine

Daisy, a widowed mom of two teenagers, is used to feeling protective--so when Iris started dating the wealthy and not-quite-divorced Harvey Fitz, she worried . . . especially after his bitter ex stormed in and caused a scene at the party Daisy's Tea Garden was catering. Then there was the gossip she overheard about Harvey's grown children being cut out of his will. Daisy didn't want her aunt to wind up with a broken heart--but she never expected Iris to wind up a suspect in Harvey's murder.
 
Now the apple bread and orange pekoe is on the back burner while the cops treat the shop like a crime scene--and Daisy hopes that Jonas Groft, a former detective from Philadelphia, can help her clear her aunt's name and bag the real killer before things boil over . . .
 
Includes delicious recipes for Iris's Lemon Tea Cakes and more!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

After writing romances for twenty years, Karen Rose Smith is excited to see her Caprice De Luca home-stager mystery series published. Her sleuth reflects many of her interests: interior decorating, cooking, retro fashion, gardening, and, most of all, taking in stray animals. Married to her college sweetheart, Karen has convinced her husband that felines can make  purr-fect housemates. They share their home in the Susquehanna Valley of Pennsylvania with their three rescued cats. For more about Karen, please visit her website.

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BETTER DEAD

A B&B Spirits Mystery
by Pamela Kopfler
Genre: Cozy Mystery

As the owner of a charming Louisiana bed and breakfast, Holly Davis believes in Southern hospitality—but she draws the line at welcoming the ghost of her cheating husband . . .
 
Burl Davis checked out of this life a little earlier than expected—before Holly could serve him with divorce papers over his extramarital flings. Unfortunately, it was not before he nearly bankrupted her beloved B&B, Holly Grove, a converted plantation that has been in her family for generations. Holly would never wish anyone dead, but three months later she's feeling a lot more relief than grief.
 
Until Burl's ghost appears as an unwelcome guest. Before his spirit can move on, her not-so-dearly departed needs Holly’s human help to bust up the drug smuggling ring he was involved with. She has reservations, to say the least, but agrees to assist him if he’ll make a show of haunting the B&B to draw in visitors. But when Holly’s former love, Jack McCann, mysteriously resurfaces in town and checks in, she has to wonder if her B&B is big enough for the ghost of her husband and the very real physical presence of her old flame . . .

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pamela Kopfler is a novelist, Southern-fried and sassy. She writes award-winning humorous mysteries with a kick of Southern sass. Her debut novel, Better Dead, is the first in her B & B Spirits mystery series, to be followed by Downright Ded, and Hog Wild Dead (Kensington Books). She is a four-time Golden Heart® finalist and a Daphne du Maurier award winner.
She can stir up a roux, mix a cocktail, and loves swapping stories. Putting words on the page keeps her alligator mouth from overloading her hummingbird heinie in real life. She marks her time on earth by the lives of the dogs she has loved–who often show up in her stories. 
Pamela lives in South Louisiana where the spirits are restless, the food is spicy, and the living is divine.



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FEATURED SERIES: THE POPPY MCGUIRE MYSTERIES

Details:

Series: The Poppy McGuire Series

Author: Anina Collins

Genre: cozy mystery, amateur sleuth

Books in series: 7

Touring with: Silver Dagger Book Tours

EXCERPT FROM THE ELEVENTH HOUR

I inhaled the delicious smell of my favorite coffee. The man certainly knew how to come bearing gifts first thing in the morning. But then it dawned on me. We'd never had coffee together, so how did he know this was my favorite? Lucky guess?

Taking it from him, I asked, "How did you know how to get it?"

Alexander gave me a sly smile that somehow made him even more attractive. "I'm a detective. It's my job to know things like that."

Oh, he was entirely too confident.

I offered him a seat at my kitchen table and took a drink of the dark roast coffee made exactly as I liked it—two sugars, three creamers, and ice. In fact, the temperature told me he'd gotten the number of ice cubes right too. Three. But how?

"So Mr. I'm a Detective, how did you know to get it just the right temperature and exactly the way I take it? I'm a pretty particular coffee drinker."

Another smile, but this one was slow to spread across his face and so charming I almost looked away, worried I might blush at any moment. Almost. I didn't look away, though, because I wanted the answer to my question.

"I pay attention to what goes on around me. I was sitting in The Grounds one morning when you came in and ordered that very particular cup of coffee. It stayed with me from that day."

Still quite shocked at his even being there in my kitchen, I leveled my gaze on him and tried to determine if he was telling the truth or just trying to charm me. "So you're telling me that you remembered the exact way I take my coffee, even though you didn't know me from a can of paint…when did you hear this anyway?"

"A week or so ago."

"From a week ago, when I was a perfect stranger to you and simply some person ordering a coffee, you remembered that this morning and got me my coffee just like I like it?"

He chuckled. "Yes, and the girl behind the counter knew how you took your coffee when I told her it was for you. I'd forgotten how many ice cubes, if we're being honest."

I took another sip of coffee and couldn't help but smile. He probably charmed the pants off Jennie. And he probably didn't have to remember anything about how I took my coffee because he just told her it was for me.

Detective indeed.

"So what are you doing here, Alexander?"

The smile slowly faded, and after taking a drink from his cup, he lowered his head slightly and looked me directly in the eyes. "I came to apologize for what happened last night."

This guy had the most delicious brown eyes I'd ever seen. Brown like expensive milk chocolate, and at that moment, I felt myself getting lost in those eyes.

Snap out of it, Poppy! This isn't some high school date. If he's willing to make peace, maybe you can get his help on the case, so get your head out of the clouds and say something!

I turned away to break our shared gaze and then looked back at him. "I guess I should apologize too. I should have handled that differently. I'm sorry."

"I am too. I shouldn't have pulled my gun on you, and for that, I'm truly sorry. I have no excuse."

Something in those eyes of his told me he did have an excuse but he wasn't going to tell me. All the better because I sensed hurt lay behind how he acted.

Extending my hand, I offered my own olive branch. "No harm, no foul. Maybe if we pretend like we're meeting for the first time we can put those other times behind us. Hi, I'm Poppy. Nice to meet you."

That slow smile returned, and he took my hand in his to shake it. "Hi, Poppy. I'm Alexander, but my friends call me Alex."

"Hi, Alex."

And with those two words, everything between us changed. I didn't know why or how, but suddenly I had a feeling that he would become one of the most important people in my life. At the same time, I felt like I'd known him my entire life, even though I'd just met him days before and this was the first time we'd ever spoken more than a handful of civil words to each other.

Strangely, our conversation came to an abrupt halt after reintroducing ourselves to one another. He seemed content to sit there next to me and drink his coffee in silence, so I took the opportunity to study him as he seemed to have studied me already.

He was definitely a good looking man. I didn't need to spend much time studying him to see that. Dark, thick hair and those delicious brown eyes that told anyone who looked into them that there was a story in his past gave him an exotic feel. With the last name Montero, he was likely Italian or maybe Greek. Sunset Ridge didn't have many citizens with those ethnic backgrounds, which made him stand out even more.

I let my gaze drift over him as he sat there silently and couldn't help notice his hands. Strong looking, they were bigger than even my father's working class hands and had long fingers. I'd noted that he wasn't married the first time we'd met because of the lack of a wedding band, but now that I sat right next to him, I could see the lighter skin where it had sat on his ring finger until recently.

So where was Mrs. Montero? Was she the woman I'd read about in the obituary from nearly five years ago? Possibly, but if that was the case, why was the mark where the wedding band had been still so clear? Five years was a long time to wear a wedding band for a wife who'd died.

I wanted to ask about his wife, if only to say I was sorry because it seemed like I should and if that wedding band mark was any indication, he still hurt. But I didn't. Alex and I were practically strangers, and strangers didn't pry like that.

At least this stranger didn't.

If he was sitting with one of those committee ladies and they had any inkling of a wife in his past, the poor man would now be dodging questions left and right about her. Those Founders' Day ladies were nothing if not nosy. 

The thought of Alex stuck in a room with those four made me smile, and I looked up from staring at his hands to see he had seen where I was looking. Quickly, I turned away to avoid his gaze, feeling oddly embarrassed.

"You have a nice house here. Very cozy."

I turned back to see him scanning my kitchen, as if he were studying it like I'd been studying him. "Thank you. I like it."

"It's a big house for just one person." I wanted to ask how he was so sure I lived alone, but he didn't even have to be a half-way decent detective to know that. A few minutes with my father the other night at the bar and he likely had my entire life story.

"I guess," I mumbled, sort of hating how awkward things had gotten between us already.

He didn't continue the conversation, but that seemed to be the type of person he was. Talk about opposites. I was what my father had always called a Chatty Cathy, but Alex parsed out words like they cost him money every time one came out of his mouth.

Sitting quietly for a few more minutes, the question that had been on my mind earlier before I got lost in those eyes of his and the idea that his past was some kind of tragedy came back to me.

Why was he here?

Breaking the uncomfortable silence, I asked, "Alex, why did you come here today? I mean, you could have just apologized and then left or simply called me to say you were sorry. Instead you come here and say you're sorry and then say little else. What are you doing here?"

I cringed at how blunt that sounded. I never meant to phrase things so succinctly. They just came out that way. Before I could apologize, though, he nodded and began to speak again.

"I like how forthright you are, Poppy. That kind of frankness is refreshing, so I'll return the favor. I've heard a number of things about you, and all of them point to someone who's smart. You're different than everyone else I've met in this town. I also know this is the first time you're working with Derek on one of his cases. To be honest, I know why he likes to have you around, but I have to believe you want to work with him on this Geneva Woodward case because you're a detective in your heart and not because you have some secret love for the brother of our police chief."

A mixture of stunned disbelief at how much Alex knew about me and amusement at the thought of my having any romantic feelings for Derek washed over me. My brain felt like it short-circuited, and not knowing what to say, I let out a laugh as the thought of Derek and me settled into my mind.

"Did I say something funny?" Alex asked, his gaze intently focused on me now.

"No. I guess I just got sidetracked by the idea of Derek and me together since, to be honest, I felt a little exposed by the rest of what you said."

"So no secret romance between you and him?" he asked with a smile that told me he was trying to make things less uncomfortable.

I shook my head and screwed my face into an expression that was meant to show my distaste for anything like that with Derek Hampton. "No. He's nice, but he's not my type."

"I had a feeling. As for the other things I said, I didn't mean to make you feel like I've been prying into your personal life. Your father loves you a great deal and he likes to brag about you. I will admit I checked into what he said and found he wasn't exaggerating. Your job at The Bottom Line might be beneath you, but you're good at it. See? You are a detective in your heart."

The Eleventh Hour

Poppy McGuire Mysteries Book 1
196 pages


Poppy McGuire has always been a curious soul, but it's her life that's usually the topic of conversation in the small town of Sunset Ridge. But now one of the town's most important citizens has been found murdered, and everyone's life is suspect. 

What begins as a friendly wager with her old friend Officer Derek Hampton soon becomes far more for Poppy, and she turns to Alex Montero for help, but the enigmatic former Baltimore cop's quiet way hides as many secrets as each suspect they encounter. 

Everyone in Sunset Ridge has something to hide, but Poppy and Alex are determined to uncover the identity of the murderer. They just have to watch that they don't become the next victims. 

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After Hours

Poppy McGuire Mysteries Book 2
202 pages

While life in Sunset Ridge is quaint and charming during the day, what happens after the sun goes down might shock the citizens of this small town. Things are heating up in Poppy McGuire's home town, and it isn't just the July weather. 

Poppy and her new partner Alex have their eyes opened to the realities of Sunset Ridge after dark when a traveling salesman is murdered in his room at the Hotel Piermont, a common destination for cheating spouses on the outskirts of town. When they find out what he sells, the mystery gets even more interesting. 


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Top of the Hour

Poppy McGuire Mysteries Book 3
204 pages

Controversy sells as much as sex, and nobody knows that better than the local radio morning DJ who loves to talk politics. His shows enrage people, but who hated Lee Reynolds enough to shoot him point blank and leave him for dead in the woods outside of town?

Poppy and Alex have no shortage of suspects and for once aren't at odds on who they like for the crime. But all is not well between the partners. This time, murder has brought with it a new love interest for Poppy, but Alex isn't happy with this turn of events. 

Will he lose Poppy, the one person he trusts in Sunset Ridge? 


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The Darkest Hour

Poppy McGuire Mysteries Book 4
210 pages

Poppy and Alex come up against their toughest case yet, and they may never be the same again.

When someone close to both Poppy and Alex is found brutally murdered, all the clues point to Alex as the killer. But Poppy knows in her heart that her partner could never commit such a heinous crime. As the evidence begins to mount against him, Poppy must race against the clock to prove that the man she trusts with her very life isn’t the murderer, even as everyone around her is convinced of his guilt.

But if Alex isn’t the killer, who is? As the mystery unravels, the past and present finally meet in Sunset Ridge.

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Happy Hour

Poppy McGuire Mysteries Book 5
266 pages

Poppy and Alex are back for another mystery in Happy Hour, the fifth book in the Poppy McGuire Mystery Series!

Springtime brings warm weather and murder to Sunset Ridge, and for Poppy, this particular case strikes close to home.

Antiques dealer Marcus Tyne is found dead in the front seat of his friend’s car outside of McGuire’s after a Cinco de Mayo celebration, but at first glance, there’s no reason why he’s dead.

Until the coroner finds out he’s been poisoned.

When a second man is poisoned, Poppy and Alex are thrust into a mystery that threatens to tear them apart. While they struggle to solve the case as their differences become more apparent, a murderer walks free in Sunset Ridge and may have another victim in their sights.

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The Witching Hour

Poppy McGuire Mysteries Book 6
207 pages

In the middle of a late summertime heatwave, a woman Poppy interviewed for an article on paganism is found with a dagger buried in her chest in the woods out near Alex's house. Initially, Stephen and Craig are given the case, but when Derek determines that this murder shouldn't be their first big case together, Alex and Poppy are brought in to help.

But Stephen has never liked Poppy, and tensions quickly begin to run high between the two sets of partners. The Sunset Ridge police force can't afford to have infighting if they want to solve this case before a fear of witches takes hold in town.

It doesn't take long before everyone reaches their breaking point and Alex wonders if he will be a Sunset Ridge police officer for much longer. Life is about to change for him and Poppy, but will that change mean the end of his time in town?

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The Finest Hour

Poppy McGuire Mysteries Book 7
194 pages

Join Poppy and Alex for the final Poppy McGuire mystery!

For three years, Poppy and Alex have worked together solving cases in their small town of Sunset Ridge, first as just co-workers but later as partners in nearly every sense of the word. Now they're about to take the final step and become husband and wife, but in the midst of getting ready for what folks around town are calling the wedding of the year, the murder of someone involved in the preparations makes their plans go awry. 

Samuel Morrow, the kind man who has run Morrow's Jewelers for over twenty years, is found murdered in an apparent break-in, and there's no shortage of suspects who may have had a reason to kill him. Oddly enough, something very valuable to Poppy and Alex is missing from his store too. Is the theft connected to the murder? 

As they hunt for Samuel's killer, carefully eliminating suspect after suspect, they must juggle cake tastings and reception planning, as all the while someone's watching their favorite amateur sleuth. Will Poppy and Alex solve the case and reach the altar, or will the killer make their ever after far less than happy? 

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About the Author

Anina Collins has always loved a good mystery. As a child, her favorite books were Nancy Drew books passed down from her grandmother, and as she grew up, she moved on to Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and their famous detectives. She currently lives in North Carolina and writes her Poppy McGuire Mystery series.

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GUEST POST WITH CHERYL HOLLON

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Etched in Tears releases on November 28, 2017. When a famous glass artist is murdered at his own exhibit, deadly secrets are put on display, and it’s up to glass shop owner Savannah Webb to see through a killer’s cover.



Celebrated glass artist Dennis Lansing is returning to St. Petersburg, Florida, for an exhibit at the world-renowned Salvador Dali Museum. His unique style of embedding document images in his art is at the vanguard of contemporary glasswork. But as Savannah’s first boyfriend and a former apprentice to her father, Dennis’s return home has her reflecting on the past—a trip down memory lane that takes a dark turn when Dennis is found murdered at the museum with an old reference letter from her father in his pocket. A search through her father’s records sheds new light on Dennis’s history, but it seems his present life wasn’t so transparent either. Now, with a gallery of suspects to consider, it’s up to Savannah to figure out who fits the mold of a murderer.

GUEST POST WITH CHERYL HOLLON

Art Inspires Art – Filling the Well

Writing for me is exhilarating and at the same time exhausting. I tend to push very hard for several weeks near the deadline for turning a book over to my publisher. That means up to sixteen-hours a day living and breathing in my book world. I call this phase – book jail. As a result, I’m an exhausted mass of nervous energy and completely empty of words. At this point, I have trouble writing the simplest e-mail.

I’ve found a solution. I walk into a museum. I wander with no set plan or no set time limit. I just let the art wash over me and it begins to recharge my creative energy. For the artist, this is cross training at its most enjoyable.

I’m lucky enough to live near downtown in St. Petersburg, Florida. There are four museums within the space of a dozen blocks. In the 700 block of Central Avenue is the Chihuly Collection with a stunning, permanent collection of world-renowned artist Dale Chihuly’s unique artwork in a magnificent 10,000 square foot setting designed by award-winning architect Albert Alfonso.

When I’m in the mood for the Chihuly, I want to stay longest the gallery with the stunning installation titled “Ruby Red Icicle Chandelier,” whose red-hot swirls dangle from the ceiling. I also adore the multicolored chandelier known as “Milli Fiore.” After I’ve walked through the museum, I spend some time in the gift shop where items for sale are not the typical selection of cups and postcards.

On the north end of Beach Drive is the Museum of Fine Arts with a large permanent collection of French Impressionist paintings. They also host the Hot Gatherings/Cool Conversations/Wine lecture series that feature a touring glass artist. As part of a 50th Anniversary celebration, the Museum of Fine Arts is organizing Monet to Matisse—On the French Coast. Drawn from public and private collections in North America and Europe this project explores and compares for the first time ever Impressionist and Modernist visions of the Atlantic and Mediterranean Coasts of France. I disappeared into those paintings with joy.

Around the corner is the St. Petersburg Museum of History with a permanent interactive exhibition of the chronology of St. Petersburg's history filled with priceless artifacts, documents and photographs. The Benoist Pavilion houses a replica of the world's first commercial airliner which made the first scheduled commercial flight from St. Petersburg to Tampa on January 1, 1914.

Finally, at the south-end of the downtown area is the world-famous Dali Museum with touring exhibits as well as the largest collection of Dali art outside of Spain. Salvador Dalí's art is often as shocking as it is brilliant. The Dali museum in downtown St. Pete offers the largest, most comprehensive collection of the famous Spanish artist's work in America. There are changing and special exhibits throughout the year, including children's activities, film, music series, lectures and more. I enjoy the Spanish themed Cafe and wander the waterside Avant Garden.

This technique for ‘filling the well’ refreshes my creativity and in little more than an afternoon, I’m ready for the next writing challenge. I highly recommend creative cross-training.

See more at http://www.visitstpeteclearwater.com/museums

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cheryl Hollon writes full time after she left an engineering career designing and building military flight simulators in amazing countries such as England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and India. Fulfilling the dream of a lifetime, she combines her love of writing with a passion for creating glass art. In the small glass studio behind the house, Cheryl and her husband George design, create, and produce fused glass, stained glass and painted glass artworks.




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FEATURED AUTHOR: MARY ELLEN HUGHES

ABOUT THE BOOK

Callie Reed makes a long overdue visit to her aunt Melodie, who lives in a fairy-tale cottage in quaint Keepsake Cove, home to a bevy of unique collectible shops on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Just as they’re beginning to reconnect, Callie discovers her aunt’s body on the floor of her music box shop. Grief-stricken, Callie finds she can’t accept Melodie’s death being called accidental. How could her strong and healthy aunt take such a fatal fall? And why was she there in the middle of the night?

As Callie searches for the truth, signs seem to come from her late aunt through a favorite music box, urging Callie on. Or are they warnings? If Callie isn’t careful, she could meet a similar deadly fate amid Melodie’s collection.

A Fatal Collection (A Keepsake Cove Mystery)

Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting
Maryland
Midnight Ink (November 8, 2017)

Paperback: 264 pages

ISBN-13: 978-0738752198

E-Book ASIN: B01MR8L4IS


GUEST POST BY MARY ELLEN HUGHES

Can Murder Really Be “Cozy?”

Fans read cozy mysteries for many different reasons, but the one that seems to pop up most often is “for fun and relaxation.” Hmm. People find murder fun and relaxing? Well, I suppose mostly if it happens to someone else. But still. Murder? Let’s think about it.

First of all, murders in a cozy usually takes place off stage. Unlike thrillers or police procedurals, readers can count on their cozy mystery to have no inch-by-inch grisly descriptions of the act. The body will simply be discovered after the fact, and though the cause of death will be mentioned – gunshot wound, stabbing, or blunt force injury, whatever – there will be no gory autopsy to read through.

In A Fatal Collection, the first of my new Keepsake Cove series, the body of Melodie Reed was found by her visiting niece, Callie, early the next morning as she looked for her aunt in the music box shop. Neither Callie nor the reader learns Melodie had been killed until hours after it happened.

The focus of a cozy tends to be the puzzle: who had motive and opportunity? Finding that out, breaking fake alibis or digging up the secret motivations becomes a kind of a game. Was Colonel Mustard really at the party the entire night, or did he manage to slip out without anyone noticing? Had Professor Plum never known Miss Scarlet as he’d claimed, or was he actually being blackmailed by her for something in his past?

In A Fatal Collection, Aunt Mel’s death was ruled an accident. Callie doesn’t buy it and so tries to find out who had a good reason to want her aunt dead. Which illustrates a point of the “fun and relaxing” part of cozy mysteries. The reader can count on the murderer in a cozy never being a serial killer who picks out victims at random to torture and kill. “Cozy” murderers are those every day, ordinary people you might live next door to or run into at the PTA meeting or supermarket. Some things happens to tip them over the edge, whether it’s blackmail over a scandalous secret, jealousy, revenge, or that most petty but prolific reason: money.

In A Fatal Collection, Callie starts to see the darker sides of some people who at first meeting seemed to be all sweetness and light—well, most of them. There’s also a hidden side to her aunt to be investigated. Why did Melodie keep an active, disposable cell phone with no contacts or messages stored on it? And what was in the locked metal box Callie discovers at the bottom of the closet?

And so the mystery slowly unravels, with occasional breaks in the tension for non-murder related things. Cozies have lots of people populating their towns, and it can be fun to get to know them and to learn about the town itself. Aunt Mel lived in Keepsake Cove, a part of town where all the shops specialize in collectible items. The one Callie inherits from her carries unique music boxes. Then there’s the shop that offers toys from past generations, the one with collectible sewing items, and more. Walking through the streets of Keepsake Cove is a collector’s dream.

But something needs to shake everyone awake once in a while, and that, in a cozy mystery, will be murder. A nice, tidy, off-stage, very real, but not too upsetting murder. In fact, a fun and relaxing murder. But only between the covers of that cozy mystery. A safe place where readers can go to enjoy a good story. And to sleep well afterwards, knowing that justice has been served and all is well. Until, that is, the next book in the series arrives (A Vintage Death) and a new murder occurs. Off-stage, of course.
   

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mary Ellen Hughes is the bestselling author of the Pickled and Preserved Mysteries (Penguin), the Craft Corner Mysteries, and the Maggie Olenski Mysteries, along with several short stories. A Fatal Collection is her debut with Midnight Ink. A Wisconsin native, she has lived most of her adult life in Maryland, where she’s set many of her stories.

Connect with Mary Ellen:
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GUEST POST BY JULIE CHASE

ABOUT THE BOOK

Lacy Marie Crocker has settled into a comfortable groove back home in New Orleans, and with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, she’s busier than ever running a thriving pet boutique, helping her mother organize the upcoming National Pet Pageant, and untangling her complicated love life. But when delivering a king-sized order of dreidel-shaped doggy biscuits for a Saint Berdoodle’s bark-mitzvah, Lacy stumbles into yet another murder scene—and the last person to see the victim alive was her own father.

It’s up to Lacy to clear her dad’s name from the suspect list before Detective Jack Oliver has to cage him for good. But just when she starts pawing at the truth, she receives a threatening letter from a mysterious blackmailer bent on silencing her with her own secrets. And Lacy’s not the only one with bones in her closet.

GUEST POST BY JULIE CHASE

Inside the Mind of an Author

The mind of an author is a vast and busy place. There are innumerable stories floating in pieces and strips, collaged with memories, ponderings and opinions waiting to be said.

Many of us are introverts, meaning that we gain energy from being alone and give our energy to others when we are not. So, sometimes we’re smiling silently and dreaming of valiantly slaying a dragon. An hour later, we are probably just thinking of our beds.

When you hear writers complain of “writer’s block,” don’t be mistaken. There’s never a dull moment in a writer’s mind. It’s just that, occasionally, we’re in need of a story idea that will stand up to the industry’s scrutinizing glare. It doesn’t mean our minds are idle. Our minds are never idle. It may simply be that the things spinning round in there aren’t up to publication standards. Interesting? Absolutely. Salable? Not so much.

I probably speak for myself here, but I’m also usually thinking about my next cup of coffee, wine or snack.

Finally, in every author’s mind is the dream of one day “making it.” Feeling validated for our efforts, our lost sleep, neglected families and housework. One day, we all want to be that writer whose book is tucked under the arm of someone passing on the street or in the hands of a reader, whose attention is far too rapt in our words to know that we are standing obnoxiously in front of them taking a selfie to share with our friends because THAT is my book and I created it from nothing but my harried thoughts.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Julie Chase is a mystery-loving pet enthusiast who hopes to make readers smile. She lives in rural Ohio with her husband and three spunky children. Julie is a member of the International Thriller Writers (ITW), Romance Writers of America (RWA), and Sisters in Crime (SinC). She is represented by Jill Marsal of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. Julie also writes as Julie Anne Lindsey.



Connect with Julie:
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FEATURED AUTHOR: ELLIE ALEXANDER

ABOUT THE BOOK

Torte―everybody’s favorite small-town family bakeshop―is headed for the high seas, where murder is about to make a splash . . .

Jules Capshaw is trying to keep her cool as Torte gets set to make its transformation from quaint, local confectionary café to royal pastry palace. Meanwhile, Jules’s estranged husband Carlos is making a desperate plea for her to come aboard his cruise ship and dazzle everyone with her signature sweets. She may be skeptical about returning to her former nautical life with Carlos but Jules can’t resist an all-expense-paid trip, either. If only she knew that a dead body would find its way onto the itinerary .

“A warm and inviting atmosphere, friendly and likable main characters, and a nasty murder mystery to solve!” ―Fresh Fiction

Now, instead of enjoying tropical drinks on deck between whipping up batches of sea-salted chocolates and flambéing fresh pineapple slices in the kitchen, Jules is plunged into dangerous waters. Her investigation leaves her with more questions than answers: Why can’t anyone on board identify the young woman? And how can she help Carlos keep passengers at ease with a killer in their midst? Jules feels like she’s ready to jump ship. Can she solve this case without getting in too deep?

“A perfect mix for fans of Jenn McKinlay, Leslie Budewitz, or Jessica Beck.” ―Library Journal

LOVE OR HATE INTERVIEW WITH ELLIE ALEXANDER

Things you love about writing:
Finishing a book. I love writing the words, “The end” it’s such a sense of accomplishment. I enjoy the finality of seeing a project from start to finish. Whenever I finish a book I do a little happy dance around my office.
Things you hate about writing:
As much as I love finishing a book, I also hate finishing it. I get so attached to the characters and storyline that when I write the words, “The end” I find myself slightly nostalgic, too. 


Things you love about where you live:
I live in the Pacific Northwest which is home to the most stunning outdoor landscapes—the mountains, wide open spaces, lush forests, gushing rivers, alpine lakes, and a very laidback lifestyle.
Things that make you want to move:
The rain. Need I say more? Without the unrelenting rain, we wouldn’t have such green beauty here in the PNW, but after months and months of slogging through drenching rain and gusty winds, I find myself dreaming of tropical beaches and begging for even a glimpse of the sun. 

Words that describe you: Positive, kind, smiling, carefree, creative, thoughtful.
Words that describe you but you wish they didn’t: Stubborn, impulsive, quick to judge, impatient.

Favorite foods:
Cilantro, Greek yogurt, tomatoes, hummus, sweet bread, homemade raspberry jam. Not all together of course.
Things that make you want to throw up: 
Sardines, anchovies, basically anything briny and from the sea.

Favorite music:
I listen to a lot of romantic music when I’m writing the Bakeshop Mysteries. I think in part because Juliet (the heroine) is a romantic at heart. I like singer/songwriters. Words matter. I listen to music for the beat and melody, but most importantly for the words. I love lyrics that move me. Some of my favorite singers are Matt Nathanson, Amos Lee, Ron Pope, and Norah Jones.
Music that make your ears bleed:
Heavy metal. One of my good friends is a huge heavy metal fan, and she’s tried to introduce me to a few of her favorite bands. I can’t listen for more than two seconds. It sounds like screaming to me, and definitely makes my ears bleed.

Favorite beverage:
Coffee! Coffee is more than a beverage, it’s a ritual. I always prepare my coffee the night before. From grinding the beans, to clicking the start button on my coffee maker the entire process is a sensory delight. There’s nothing better than a freshly brewed pot of dark coffee with a decadent splash of thick cream to start the morning. Actually, let’s be honest, I’ll drink coffee pretty much anytime of the day.

Something that gives you a pickle face:
Beet juice. It’s a trend here in the Pacific Northwest. I know that beets are healthy, but I can’t do it. Shudder.

Something you’re really good at:
Listening. My mom was a counselor and was an incredible listener. She was an active listener, not just nodding her head, but really paying attention and probing for more information. I inherited the gift from her and am forever grateful. 

Something you’re really bad at:
Video games. I’m a disaster. My thirteen-year-old son is constantly trying to teach me new techniques, but I’m hopeless. I tend to try to move my body instead of the game controller which makes for hilarious fun as I’m thrashing my arms about in every direction except for where they are supposed to be on the controller. 


Something you wish you could do:
Sing. I’m a terrible singer. I think in a past life I must have been a diva on stage because I love music and will sing at every chance I can get. Just not in front of people.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do:
Clean the bathroom. I mean really shouldn’t we all just pretend like we have no idea how to scrub a toilet so that someone else can do it for us?

I think so! Things you always put in your books:
Recipes! 

Things you never put in your books:
Sex. Nothing racy or risqué in the cozy mystery genre.

Things to say to an author:
This goes for aspiring writers seeking advice and ties into things not to say below. I always appreciate it when someone asking for input and suggestions on their writing has done their research. Whether that’s having already attended a writer’s conference or workshop, or joined a local critique group, even reading books about the publishing industry and then asking specific questions. It definitely makes me excited to want to connect them with resources I might have because I know they’re taking the craft seriously. 

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book:
This happened to me at an event recently. An aspiring writer marched up to the front of the line and cutoff a reader waiting to get her book signed. She said, “I’m not here because I have any interest in your books or anything that you write. I’m not waiting in line because I’m not getting a book signed, I’m just here today so that you can call your agent and introduce me to him.” Um, nope. I’m always happy to offer advice to aspiring and new writers, but geez be professional. Or at least polite.

Favorite places you’ve been:
New Zealand, Australia, Italy, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and anywhere in the Pacific Northwest. 

Places you never want to go to again:
Floating down a river (more like a swamp) in Florida that I found out after the fact was swimming with snakes. OMG! NO!!! Nothing against Florida, of course. I would gladly return to Florida, but not with swimming snakes.

Things that make you happy:
My family, sunsets, spring flowers, hiking, baking, reading, singing, random acts of kindness, the smell of books, the smell of bread, snowy winter days curled up with a cup of hot chocolate in front of a crackling fire, rain on hot pavement, sandy beaches, the mountains, coffee, belly laughs. I could go on for pages and pages. 

Things that drive you crazy:
People who don’t abide by the drop off rules in the school parking lot. Seriously, NO left turns, people. No left turns!

Most daring thing you’ve ever done:
Ziplined from the side of a cliff into a pub for a free beer in New Zealand!

Something you chickened out from doing:
Bungee jumping. I made it to the middle of the bridge and had the harness halfway on. Then I made the mistake of looking down and totally chickened out.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ellie Alexander, author of the Bakeshop Mystery Series (St. Martin's Press), is a Pacific Northwest native who spends ample time testing pastry recipes in her home kitchen or at one of the many famed coffeehouses nearby. When she’s not coated in flour, you’ll find her outside exploring hiking trails and trying to burn off calories consumed in the name of research.

Connect with Ellie:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram 

Buy the book:
Amazon   |  Barnes & Noble  |  Indiebound

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GUEST POST BY LESLEY A. DIEHL

ABOUT THE BOOK


Emily Rhodes came to rural Florida for the cowboys, the cattle, and to do a little country two-step, not to fall head first onto a dead body in a dumpster. Ah, the golden years of retirement in the sunshine state. They’re more like pot metal to Emily, who discovers the body of the county’s wealthiest rancher in the Big Lake Country Club dumpster. With her close friend accused of the murder, Emily sets aside her grief at her life partner’s death to find the real killer. She underestimates the obstacles rural Florida can set up for a winter visitor and runs afoul of a local judge with his own version of justice, hires a lawyer who works out of a retirement home, and flees wild fires hand-in-hand with the man she believes to be the killer.


It seems as if Emily is destined to discover dead bodies. This time she finds one of the contestants at the local barbecue cook-off dead and covered in barbecue sauce in a beer cooler. She should be used to stumbling onto corpses by now and the question of who killed the guy should pique her curiosity, but Emily decides to let Detective Lewis handle this one, at least until she figures his theory of who did the deed is wrong, wrong, wrong. Lewis’ denigration of Emily’s speculations is condescending enough to stimulate her dormant snooping skills. As the two of them go on their separate paths to find the killer, Lewis’ old partner, Toby the dirty, tobacco-spitting cop interferes in the investigation leaving Lewis with the wrong man in jail. Killers, bootleggers, barbecue and feral pigs—it’s a lethal game of hide and seek in the Florida swamp.




GUEST POST WITH LESLEY A DIEHL



Challenging Your Protagonist

It’s clear that the most obvious way mystery writers reveal and test their protagonists’ character is to disrupt their world by presenting the heroine (or hero) with a murder. Aside from this obvious way to challenge the protagonist, there are many other disruptions  a writer uses to reveal the protagonist’s character.

Some challenges come from within the character and are related to the person’s emotional, psychological and social make-up. For example, is the main character shy and laid back? If so, how will she handle an aggressive male? Emily Rhodes in Dumpster Dying is a retired school teacher used to handling children not big, bad cowboys who come into her bar drunk. Her best friend, Clara, assumes Emily does not have the chops for unpleasant interactions, but Emily insists that handing unruly preschoolers is not easy and is preparation for the adult world. Emily may not be able to physically confront an aggressive man, but she uses her wit to find a way around the bass fisherman when he asks her to move a truck he thinks she cannot drive. She proves him wrong, but pays a price for her sass when she must count on him to rescue her from an alligator. So Emily is right about being able to cantankerous men, but she must also learn she might not have the last word.

Then there is the matter of romance, another emotional issue that Emily must come to terms with. She has reason to mistrust men, having committed to one who died without changing his will to include Emily and forcing her to find work in what she assumed would be her retirement years. Confronting Emily with two romantic possibilities, a detective and a bass fisherman, brings out Emily’s misgivings and adds tension to the story. Will Emily be able to overcome her misgivings about romance? Both of the men vying for Emily’s affection are difficult fellows, one a serious police detective who Emily seems to always disagree with. Emily must eventually be able to tell the difference between his dislike of her interference in his police work and his developing feelings for her masquerading as irritation (he also must come to the same understanding about himself). As for the bass fisherman who vassilates between like for Emily and his feelings of aggravation at what he calls “uppity, Yankee gals,” Emily finds him hard to read and is always surprised when he treats her with affection and respect. The reader roots for Emily to sort out these romance issues. 

A roadblock to Emily’s ability to adjust to life in rural Florida is her living situation. Fred’s will leaves everything he and Emily have shared—house, car, bank account—to his ex-wife. Emily must find it in her to challenge the will and to find the means to hire a lawyer to represent her. Again, Emily’s sweet, laid-back nature is tested by these demands. There is nothing like a financial crisis to generate problems for the protagonist to solve and create uncertainty as to whether she will be able to be successful. In this case, the reader finds that financial exigency and her personality interact to create problems for Emily. While she correctly fires her crooked lawyer, she has no back-up plan for legal representation.

There are other issues to make the story exciting. While these challenges are external to the person, they tell the reader about the character. In Emily’s case, drought conditions near her house result in a fire in which she loses contact with a family member and finds an unlikely partner to help her find the way across an alligator infested slough. The fire and Emily’s response to it provides tension and excitement as well as an occasion for Emily and her unlikely rescuer to interact in a way that wouldn’t have happened under normal circumstances.

It is important for the writer to challenge the character in ways other than presenting a murder to be solved. Issues generated by the environment or by the character herself enhance the plot, create subplots and move the protagonist toward self-growth.  A mystery is more than solving a crime. It’s all about telling a story.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lesley retired from her life as a professor of psychology and reclaimed her country roots by moving to a small cottage in the Butternut River Valley in Upstate New York. In the winter she migrates to old Florida—cowboys, scrub palmetto, and open fields of grazing cattle, a place where spurs still jingle in the post office, and gators make golf a contact sport. Back north, the shy ghost inhabiting the cottage serves as her literary muse. When not writing, she gardens, cooks, frequents yard sales and renovates the 1874 cottage with the help of her husband, two cats and, of course, Fred the ghost, who gives artistic direction to their work. She is the author of a number of mystery series and mysteries as well as short stories. The third book in the Eve Appel murders (from Camel Press) A Sporting Murder was awarded a Readers’ Favorite Five Star Award and her short story "Gator Aid" a Sleuthfest (2009) short story first place. She has fired the alligator that served as her literary muse when she is in Florida and is interviewing applicants for the position.

Connect with Lesley:
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