It’s release day for the newest Resale Boutique Mystery novel. BEAUTY AND THE DECEASED and it’s also my tenth published book!
BEAUTY AND THE DECEASED
Browse Category by New Book Releases
THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO RELEASE
Well, it happened. THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO released yesterday. And like every other release day, it was a busy 24 hours. And I loved every minute of it. From answering reader emails, posting on social media, checking on my blog tour stops to doing a live Zoom event with five other amazing authors also celebrating book birthdays, I was all over the place. And I even got my car an oil change! Yep, the glamorous life of an author. 🙂
Yesterday was also National Neighbor’s Day. How fitting that the release of THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO fell on that day because Hope is dealing with a particularly cantankerous neighbor, Birdie Donovan. In fact, Birdie is circulating a petition to force Hope to move from their street. Now, this doesn’t sit well with Hope, who loves her neighborhood and her restored farmhouse. She’s not moving any time soon and she lets Birdie know just that. Unfortunately, that conversation happens in public and it’s captured on video, which goes viral. That’s pretty bad, right? Well, it gets worse for Hope. To find out how much more worse, you’ll need to pick up your own copy. 🙂
Yesterday I also got to celebrate my book’s birthday with five other cozy mystery authors and had the pleasure of joining in on a panel discussion about our books. To check out that video, click here to be directed to YouTube. And be sure to check out their books! Now’s the time to stock up on cozy reads.
Cozy mysteries are perfect for gift giving. Wouldn’t it be great to mark some gifts off your list?
HERE COMES THE FUDGE by Nancy Coco
THE BODY OF A CRIME
It’s late spring on picturesque Mackinac Island, Michigan. Allie is prepping her Historic McMurphy Hotel and Fudge Shop for the start of the tourist season and her best friend Jenn’s wedding. But when Jenn’s fiancé Shane, a crime scene investigator on the island, misses a dinner date, the two friends go looking for him. Led by Allie’s bichonpoo Mal into an alley, they come upon Shane standing over a body with a bloody knife in his hand. Shane won’t say what’s happened, just tells them to call 911. As the CSI is taken into custody by his colleagues, including Allie’s beau Rex Manning, the fudge maker vows to prove her friend’s fiancé is not a killer—before the ceremony turns into a jailhouse wedding . . .
MURDER OUTSIDE THE LINES by Krista Davis
With Halloween just around the corner, the fall colors in Georgetown are brilliant. As manager of the Color Me Read bookstore, coloring book creator Florrie Fox has arranged for psychic author Hilda Rattenhorst to read from Spooktacular Ghost Stories. But the celebrity medium arrives for the event in hysterics, insisting she just saw a bare foot sticking out of a rolled-up carpet in a nearby alley. Is someone trying to sweep murder under the rug? Florrie calls in her policeman beau, Sergeant Eric Jonquille, but the carpet corpse has disappeared without a trace.
Then in the middle of her reading, Hilda chillingly declares that she feels the killer’s presence in the store. Is this a publicity stunt or a genuine psychic episode? It seems there’s no happy medium. When a local bibliophile is soon discovered missing, a strange mystery begins to unroll. Now it’s up to Florrie and Jonquille to expose a killer’s true colors . . .
MURDER AT THE CHRISTMAS COOKIE BAKE OFF by Darci Hannah
With the spirit of the holidays wafting through the Beacon Bakeshop, Lindsey thinks she has the recipe for the sweetest Christmas ever—winning the town-wide cookie bake-off. Unfortunately, striving for a picture-perfect December in Beacon Harbor is a lot like biting into stale shortbread. Low on staff and bombarded by visits from family, Lindsey can barely meet demands at work, let alone summon the confidence to face fierce competition . . .
Self-appointed Christmas know-it-all Felicity Stewart is determined to take the top spot in the bake‑off, and she’s not afraid to dump a little coal in everyone’s stocking to do it. Just as the competition heats up, everything falls apart when the judge is found dead—and covered in crumbs from Lindsey’s signature cookie!
Solving a murder was never on Lindsey’s wish list. But with her reputation on the line during the happiest time of the year, she’ll need to bring her best talents to the table in order to sift out the true Christmas Cookie culprit.
WREATHING HAVOC by Julia Henry
Lilly Jayne typically spends the harvest season baking festive pies and crafting colorful wreaths to enter in the library’s annual fundraising contest. But this year, autumn opens on a somber note when beloved local theater owner, Leon Tompkin, dies unexpectedly. His memorial sets the scene for a mini reunion of The Goosebush Players’ best and brightest alumni, including Hollywood star, Jeremy Nolan…until someone plucks Jeremy from the spotlight, permanently.
Now, as dedicated theater volunteer, Scooter McGee, falls under suspicion, Lilly and her Garden Squad must spring into action. They quickly discover a cornucopia of potential suspects in Jeremy’s murder. Was it an embittered ex…or a jilted lover? A rival thespian…or an overly ambitious artist? Lilly rakes through the piles of clues, but if she doesn’t uncover the real killer soon, more than autumn leaves will be dropping in Goosebush…
MURDER CAN FROST YOUR DOUGHNUTS by Rose Pressey
Celeste has pulled up in her pink Shasta trailer, aka mobile art studio, to the Sevier County Fair in the mountains of eastern Tennessee to sell her paintings. A highlight of the fair promises to be the celebrity impersonation contest. But the low point is when Celeste and her floppy-eared white Chihuahua Van (short for Van Gogh) find an Elvis impersonator in his trailer doing a great impression of a corpse, clutching a doughnut in his hand.
Seeking a vision to solve the crime, Celeste paints her own Elvis portrait—and suddenly the ghost of the Elvis impersonator appears. They say fools rush in, but with the help of this spirit, Celeste sets out to find the real killer among all the fake celebrities. It’s now or never, because there won’t be time to tell the killer: “Don’t be cruel.”
Includes tips and recipes!
THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO by Debra Sennefelder
It seems everyone loves Hope’s blog these days, and she’s busier than ever volunteering to help other women create their own paths to success. So she’s shocked when a neighbor petitions to run Hope right out of her small Connecticut town! Set in her ways, apparently Birdie Donovan doesn’t like the chaos Hope’s sleuthing creates, the police activity and crime scenes, and it’s happening way too often lately. Eager to make amends, Hope bakes Birdie a batch of her best muffins. The delicious treats might have smoothed things over—until Hope discovers Birdie dead in her gazebo the very next day . . .
Now instead of worrying about holding on to her beloved home, Hope is trying to stay out of jail. Because suddenly she’s the lead suspect in the case. Not even her boyfriend, Police Chief Ethan Cahill, is promising he can clear her name, much less discuss the investigation with her. It’s up to Hope to get to bake new ground on the case before the lifestyle brand she’s created—and her whole life—crumbles . . .
Includes Recipes from Hope’s Kitchen!
Morning After Release Day
Tuesday was the big day. THE HIDDEN CORPSE was released and that meant I’d be busy, busy, busy. Busy checking on social media, busy finishing the outline for Resale Boutique Mystery #3, busy stressing out if readers will love Hope’s latest adventure, busy updating my resume because readers are going to hate Hope’s latest adventure and my publisher will have no choice but to cancel all future books.
See, I was busy.
To say that the thoughts in my head were racing a hundred miles an minute would be an understatement. It was like rapid fire. Who posted what? What did I have to share? How was my ranking? Why all of a sudden did my outline for the new book feel flat? What skills do I have to put on my resume? Did I give Billy all of his eye drops? What? A new idea? Geez. I don’t need new ideas because my writing career is over. Wait. What am I going to wear to my booksigning in two weeks? Booksigning as my career crumbles? Might as well go out with a flourish.
Busy, busy.
By the time I went to sleep my mind was exhausted. It had been on hyper-alert all day. I can’t even imagine if I was on Twitter. Facebook and Instagram was more than enough for me. On Wednesday morning I woke feeling somewhat refreshed from a good night’s sleep (total miracle because I have no idea how that happened). But when I woke my mind started reeling again with all the same thoughts from the day before. It was clear I needed something to quell all those racing thoughts or else I’m not sure how the day was going to go. I still needed to work on my outline.
I decided yoga is what I needed to do in order to reboot the start of my day. I found a morning yoga session on YouTube and for eleven minutes my mind was solely focused on the practice. Eleven minutes sounds like nothing. Blink and eleven minutes are gone but it was just the right amount to clear my head and guide me into a more peaceful mindset to face the day after release day. When I was finished with yoga, I treated myself to a cup of green tea and sipped leisurely as I reflected on all that I’m grateful for. I had a new book out (the reviews have been very good and it’s truly a relief), I was working on another, I have a wonderful, loving family and amazing friends and two of the sweetest little dogs who were gently snoring not too far from me.
There is so much abundance in my life to be thankful for and I’m especially appreciative of my readers. I heart you!
The day after release day was a calm day. Thank goodness! I settled down to work, managed my time online and made sure to get out at lunch time for a walk with the pups. All in all, a really good day. Heck, it’s been a fantastic week. A little crazy but that’s okay.
Hey, this wouldn’t be a writer’s life if there wasn’t a little craziness. 🙂
There are a few more days left on the blog tour the THE HIDDEN CORPSE and I’ll be sharing on social media. If you haven’t had the chance to get your copy of THE HIDDEN CORPSE click here for more information about the book and where you can get your copy.
Talk soon!
Kelly’s Fashion Rule #4
Out-of-work fashionista Kelly Quinn lives by a few simple fashion rules and they’re coming in handy as she revamps the consignment shop she inherited from her grandmother.
Kelly’s fashion rule #4:
Sequins for daytime
Life’s too short to regulate sequins to special events or the holidays. Go on and sparkle!
Below is a snippet from MURDER WEARS A LITTLE BLACK DRESS.
What is your most favorite item in your closet?
Kelly’s Fashion Rule #3
Out-of-work fashionista Kelly Quinn lives by a few simple fashion rules and they’re coming in handy as she revamps the consignment shop she inherited from her grandmother.
Kelly’s fashion rule #3:
Price doesn’t matter
The price of fashion doesn’t matter, what matters is how you combine high and low pieces.
Below is a snippet from MURDER WEARS A LITTLE BLACK DRESS.
Are you a bargain shopper? If so, what’s the best score you ever made while shopping?