Monday, January 16, 2023

Murder of Pearl - A Guest Post & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Jodi Silverman to Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Jodi on the pages of the Pearl Party Mystery series by Nellie H. Steele. Murder of Pearl is the first book in the series.

From quiet bookkeeper to PI
By Jodi Silverman


Hi, everyone, my name is Jodi Silverman and I’m one part of the two-part team that makes up the Silverman Sisters’ Pearls Unlimited business. If you ask me, my part is the better part. Let me explain.

A few years ago, my sister, Kelly, came to me gushing about a business idea she’d seen somewhere on the internet (where, I don’t know). People were selling pearl jewelry. Not like strings of pearls, though you can get those, but different styles of jewelry with pearls set in them.

The gig was to host “pearl parties” online. You get a big bucket of oysters and you take orders for jewelry. Once you have your orders, you go on a live video and shuck oysters, pull out the pearl, and show it to the purchaser before packaging it up and sending it to the jeweler to affix to the jewelry.

Well, to be clear, I don’t do ANY of that. I manage the orders and post the order information online during the parties. I am NOT touching those oysters. Kelly can gut them and squish around in the flesh to find the pearl. Not me. Yuck.

I can barely stand the smell from across the room. They really stink. I much prefer the quiet side of the business. No big lights making me sweat while I clean pearls and show them to the camera. No reading comments are they scroll by while I’m trying to work. No stinky oysters.

And I do my job pretty well. Kelly’s parties are fairly successful. I schedule them at the right time to encourage attendance, make sure people can easily find the order page and place an order, message them once they do to keep them in the loop, etc. And I know my party-planning skills are working because we got a call for a huge in-person party!

The party happened to be at a massive estate about forty-five minutes from us. It’s huge. Big, sprawling house. Pool. Gardens. The works. On top of that, the orders that poured in from this party made it worth it. Over one hundred and twenty-five oyster openings. That’s a lot of oysters. And a lot of orders. We’d be set for the month with this party alone!

Kelly was less than convinced, but I thought it was great. If we can get in with these high society ladies, maybe we can book a few more parties and grow the business even further. Don’t get me wrong, we do a good trade with the online parties, but this was the big time.

At least until that lady got stabbed. I did not expect that to happen. And suddenly, all my organizational skills had to be twisted into investigative skills. Especially after Kelly was accused of the crime. Thank goodness I know how to keep meticulous details straight. I’m sure it helped us solve the crime.

If you’re interested in how we did it, be sure to check out Murder of Pearl.

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 Murder of Pearl: A Silverman Sisters Cozy Mystery (Pearl Party Cozy Mysteries) by Nellie H. Steele

About Murder of Pearl

Murder of Pearl: A Silverman Sisters Cozy Mystery (Pearl Party Cozy Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery 1st in Series
Setting - Fictional estate of Willow Lake Estate
A Novel Idea Publishing, LLC (October 21, 2022)
Hardcover: ‎ 182 pages

The world’s her oyster…until someone is stabbed with her shucking knife.

With a struggling pearl party business, sisters Kelly and Jodi Silverman are thrilled to land a weekend long jewelry party at a large estate. But the gothic house, complete with its weeping woman fountain, gives Kelly a bad vibe.

A nasty storm strands them at the spooky mansion. And when the birthday gal is found with Kelly’s shucking knife poking from her chest, they’re not only stuck in the creepy house with a murderer roaming the halls but Kelly’s accused of the crime.

Can Kelly and Jodi piece together the limited clues, prove their innocence and stay alive? Or will this pearl party be their last?

If you love comedy mystery a la Clue, you’ll love Murder of Pearl, Book 1 in the Pearl Party Cozy Mystery series!

About Nellie H. Steele

Award-winning author Nellie H. Steele writes in as many genres as she reads.

Addicted to books since she could read, Nellie escaped to fictional worlds like the ones created by Carolyn Keene or Victoria Holt long before she decided to put pen to paper and create her own realities. When she’s not spinning a cozy mystery tale, building a new realm in a contemporary fantasy, or writing another action-adventure car chase, you can find her shuffling through her Noah’s Ark of rescue animals or enjoying a hot cuppa (that’s tea for most Americans.) Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads, Bookbub, Pinterest and Tiktok. Check out all Nellie's offers at www.anovelideapublishing.com/novels or at her blog, Nellie’s Book Nook, available at www.nelliesbooknook.com!  

Author Links: 

Webpage: http://www.anovelideapublishing.com  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NellieHSteele/  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NellieHSteele  

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19769743.Nellie_H_Steele  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nelliehsteele/  

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