I'm so happy to have Cathy McCall visit the blog today. You can read about Cathy in the Vintage Toyshop Mystery series by Barbara Early. Murder on the Toy Town Express is the second book in the series and was released last week!
Cathy here! (That’s Cathy with a “C.”) I’m honored to be asked to write a guest post for Kathy with a “K.” I am a writer, you know.
You didn’t? Well, l started out with poetry, really, but it’s so subjective and so hard to break out of the pack. Now I’m working on a novel about some of the odd happenings that took place around the vintage toyshop where I work. It’s based on a real murder, but my sister-in-law Liz McCall (she caught the killer!) isn’t that happy with me. Seems she doesn’t understand the whole concept of poetic license.
And the symbolism. For example, when I wrote that Liz discovered the body while dancing around the shop in a harem costume, the dancing represented the carefree life she had before she found the body. The harem costume showed her vulnerability. All she does is roll her eyes and tell me that it didn’t happen that way. I don’t think she “gets” me.
But I should have a few quiet days away from her complaining. She and Dad—well, my father-in-law, Hank McCall—are taking a bunch of our stock and setting up a stand at the big Train and Toy show coming to town. That should keep them out of trouble, and I’ll have the shop to myself for a couple days. With all the collectors out at the show, the shop won’t be busy. Good for quiet reflection.
Not sure I’ll have time for writing, though. I have to figure out how to tell Parker—that’s my husband—a special secret. It’s a life-changing secret, though, and I’m not quite sure how he’s going to take it, so I want to do it just right. Maybe put a nice roast in the Crock-Pot, soft music.
Ha! Too bad that harem costume isn’t for real. I might borrow it!
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Murder on the Toy Town Express: A Vintage Toyshop Mystery by Barbara Early
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting - Western New York
Crooked Lane Books (October 10, 2017)
Hardcover: 304 pages
Liz McCall has come to love running her father’s vintage toyshop back home in East Aurora, NY, so when the Train and Toy Show comes to town, she’s all aboard for a fun toy-filled weekend. The only hitch is that her childhood bully Craig McFadden, now local business rival, has set up a booth next to hers. But the fun and games are over when Craig falls from the ceiling in a publicity stunt gone wrong.
What was initially thought to be a fatal accident proves much more sinister. Pulled into the case by her feelings for both Ken, the police chief, and Jack, her high school sweetheart whose brother is one the prime suspects, Liz dives headfirst into the investigation. But as she digs deeper, she’s shocked to learn her father may have been the intended target.
The trouble train is barreling down and Liz may have just bought herself a first class ticket in Murder on the Toy Town Express, Barbara Early’s delightful second installment in her Vintage Toyshop mysteries.
About The Author:
Barbara Early earned an engineering degree, but after four years of doing nothing but math, developed a sudden allergy to the subject and decided to choose another occupation. Before she settled on murdering fictional people, she was a secretary, a school teacher, a pastor’s wife, and an amateur puppeteer. After several years living elsewhere, she and her husband moved back to her native Western New York State, where she enjoys cooking, crafts, classic movies and campy seventies television, board games, and posting pictures of her four cats on Facebook. She writes the Vintage Toyshop series
and the Bridal Bouquet Shop Mysteries
(as Beverly Allen).
and the Bridal Bouquet Shop Mysteries (as Beverly Allen).Author Links: http://www.barbaraearly.com/
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBarbaraEarly/
https://twitter.com/BarbEarly
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1671291.Barbara_Early Author Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cUh3Wn
Cozy Café: https://www.facebook.com/CozyCafeMysteries/
Killer Characters: http://www.killercharacters.com/search/label/Barbara%20Early
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I am so excited to read all the books in the series i know the 1st one that came out i have had on my want to read list!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the first book in the series. Looking forward to reading "Murder on the Toy Town Express".
ReplyDeleteThere was a vintage toy store nearby my neighborhood and I was fascinated by the various items on display. It is a great setting for a cozy and the first that I have heard of one done. Sounds like a fun read.
ReplyDeleteThis is a new to me series. Can't wait to read. Dbahn@iw.net
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