Sunday Snippet 2/18/24
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Today’s goal…
Today’s goal is to finish summarizing all the scenes in the next Resale Boutique novel. I started at 7:10, taking a break for breakfast and two loads of laundry.
While I started working, Connie focused on her goal – sleeping. 😃 What a life!
Friday Reads 10/15/21
Happy Friday! We got through another week. I’ve been working on a manuscript, the first draft of what will become the next Resale Boutique mystery. Every night I rewarded myself with a little reading time. I also made sure to wrap up my work before dinner time and not go back into my office. I’m trying to keep a balance between work and life. And in that balance there needs to be reading time.
My current read has been waiting in my Kindle app for me to start reading. I remember when this book was all over Bookstagram and the premise intrigued me but I’m not really in YA. So I resisted buying the book. I’m not sure when I made the purchase, but I got it on sale, figuring I’d read it some day. Well, a week ago I was ready to select a new book to read and I decided to try A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER by Holly Jackson. I’m so glad I did! I’m close to half way into the story and I love Pip.
Fairview feels like a town very close by to me. I love the digging into a missing person case and the layers of secrets Pip is uncovering.
Everyone in Fairview knows the story.
Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.
But she can’t shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. She knew Sal when she was a child, and he was always so kind to her. How could he possibly have been a killer?
Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn’t want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.
Inquiring minds want to know : What are you reading?
Sunday Snippet
Her head just missed the corner of a headstone that had a jack o’latern propped on top with the evilest looking grin.
What black-hearted person had carved that pumpkin?
“Throw in a dash of Halloween fun and a handful of beautiful autumn descriptions and you’ve got a wonderful cozy by Debra Sennefelder that will keep you turning the pages!” Barnes & Noble review
WHAT NOT TO WEAR TO A GRAVEYARD
☑️Mystery at Halloween.
☑️Small, beach town in October.
☑️A murdered socialite who was ready to name names.
☑️Adorable dog.
***Blurb***
After trading her Manhattan digs for her upstate hometown, fashionista Kelly Quinn has big plans for her grandmother’s consignment shop. But this All Hallow’s Eve someone is already dressed to kill . . .
A socialite’s missing dog has made front page news in Lucky Cove—complete with a hefty reward. But between renovating the consignment shop, planning her costume for a 1970s themed Halloween party, and scouting a location for a fashion shoot, Kelly doesn’t have time to search. Yet a visit to the local colonial-era cemetery—ideal for the moody atmosphere she’s after—soon turns up the precious pooch. Kelly’s looking forward to collecting the check—until she makes a gruesome discovery in an abandoned farmhouse: The dog’s owner, stabbed through the heart.
Kelly can’t help wondering why Constance Lane was traipsing around the farmhouse in stilettos. But as Kelly gets decked out in a vintage disco caftan, that isn’t the only fashion misstatement spooking her. Hidden in the dead woman’s past is a secret that could be the motive for the murder. And as the Halloween party gets started, even a menacing clown and a threatening bearded lady can’t keep Kelly from trick or treating for the truth—even if it means her last dance…
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!