Sunday, April 14, 2019

Redwood Cove Events - A Guest Post

I'm pleased to welcome Kelly Jackson to Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Kelly on the pages of the Kelly Jackson Mystery series by Janet Finsilver. Murder at the Marina is the fifth book in the series and was released earlier this month.

Redwood Cove Events

by Janet Finsilver

Hello! My name is Kelly Jackson, and I’ve been asked to do a character guest post. I manage Redwood Cove Bed and Breakfast in the lovely fictional town of Redwood Cove created by Janet Finsilver for her mystery series. It’s located in northern California on cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Talk about a dream job! I’m in a beautiful setting and work with wonderful people.

I’m new to the area and want to learn as much about it as possible for my guests. This means going to all the food and wine festivals…of which there are a lot. Like I said, a dream job. Redwood Cove has kept its charm because it’s only accessible by a fairly long drive on twisty roads from any densely populated areas. Because of this, the community puts on a lot of events to entice people to make the drive.

I’d like to describe a few of them to you. The first one I attended was the Chocolate and Wine Festival. Wine is part of most events because Redwood Cove is located in the wine country. This was my first experience of having chocolate and wine paired together, and I found the combination tasty. Fountains flowed with rich chocolate. We used toothpicks to spear a wide variety of fruit and coat the pieces with the warm chocolate. There were entrees as well using dark chocolate as part of the ingredients. And, of course, an abundance of the type of delectable goodies you’d expect at an event involving chocolate.

Next came the Whale Festival. This takes place during the time of year the whales migrate south. I’m from Wyoming, so it was very exciting for me to see the giant creatures leap out of the water and observe their plumes of spray. The event started with chowder tasting in the morning. Chefs from numerous restaurants brought their favorite chowder creations. Not surprisingly, everything was delicious. In the afternoon, you can buy a ticket, get a glass and a map, and walk through the town sipping, you guessed it, wine and sampling a variety of appetizers from participating businesses.

The most recent event I attended was the Russian Heritage Festival which is described in Janet’s latest book, Murder at the Marina. I got to see demonstrations of candle making, what a Russian tea service looked like in the eighteen hundreds, and best of all, I watched the Cossacks perform wonderful feats on horseback.

Festivals and events are woven into all of Janet’s books so readers have a chance to experience some of the fun taking place. I hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into Redwood Cove activities!

***********************************************************************

Murder at the Marina (A Kelly Jackson Mystery) by Janet Finsilver

About the Book

Murder at the Marina (A Kelly Jackson Mystery)

Cozy Mystery 5th in Series

Lyrical Underground (April 2, 2019)

Print Length: ~200 Pages

She’s got to solve this—or her friends are sunk . . .

Kelly Jackson, manager of the Redwood Cove Bed and Breakfast, is fond of the Doblinsky brothers, Ivan and Rudy, members of the Silver Sentinels, a crew of crime-solving senior citizens in their Northern California seaside hamlet. After she discovers a jewel-encrusted dagger—with what appears to be dried blood on the blade—on their fishing boat, they share their family history with Kelly, and she learns that the knife may be part of a set from their long-ago childhood in Russia. Its sudden reappearance is eerie, but the mystery grows much more serious when a body is found on the boat. The victim was staying at Kelly’s inn, in town for a Russian Heritage Festival, and some of the organizers were clearly harboring some bitterness. But the story behind this murder seems as layered as a nesting doll—and Kelly’s feeling completely at sea . . .

About the Author

Janet Finsilver is the USA TODAY bestselling author of the Kelly Jackson mystery series. She worked in education for many years as a teacher, a program administrator, and a workshop presenter. Janet majored in English and earned a Master’s Degree in Education. She loves animals and has two dogs–Kylie and Ellie. Janet has ridden western style since she was a child and was a member of the National Ski Patrol. One of the highlights of her life was touching whales in the San Ignacio Lagoon. MURDER AT REDWOOD COVE