Murder By Invitation Only - A Review

Review

MURDER BY INVITATION ONLY by Colleen Cambridge
The Third Phyllida Bright Mystery

An invitation arrives at Mallowan Hall stating that a murder will occur that very night at neighboring Beecham House. A clever way to get the attention of Agatha Christie, but with the novelist in London it is housekeeper Phyllida Bright who attends the event, representing Agatha and her husband. A dynamic couple, Mr. and Mrs. Wokesley have designed a murder mystery game as a way to meet their neighbors, with Mr. Wokesley playing the part of the victim. As guests mingle and question the "suspects", Mrs. Bright feels it's time to leave, after all she's had enough of murder after recently solving two real ones. A scream stops her egress-Mr. Wokesley has taken method acting too far-he is indeed dead!  

With a flair for the dramatic and a love of the theatre Mr. Wokesley's introduction to Listleigh, with a special attempt to garner the attention of Agatha Christie, seems perfect. Scads of neighbors walking about investigating the "murder" when they've got an actually dead body in front of them, what a perfect setting for the third Phyllida Bright Mystery!

Though not quite a locked room mystery, it is a closed circle one in that only people with entry to the stage could have committed the crime. Even with a small number of suspects Phyllida has her work cut out for her as it seems almost all of the actors had a motive. I love how she scrambles to detect all she can before the inspector arrives, questioning and snooping, all while basically taking over the running of Beecham House when she finds it not up to her exacting standards.

Phyllida Bright is capable and efficient. She's not warm, or even terribly sympathetic, but her attitude is not off putting. Never one to suffer fools, Phyllida has nonetheless has garnered the admiration of servants far and wide. We're given a few clues as to her mysterious backstory and I can't wait to learn more. We also get to learn more about Bradford, and I had to smile at Agatha's sly way of getting Phyllida to learn more about him as well. I may have a bit of a thing for Bradford, but Dr. Bhatt is no slouch either. I'm also thankful that the recipe for his most excellent cold remedy is included.

MURDER BY INVITATION ONLY is a clever historical mystery filled with intriguing characters, subtle humor, and a delightful premise. I look forward to seeing what happens next!

Currently Reading...

I just finished reading Joy to the Wool by Rebecca McKinnon. This book is the fourth in the Clear Creek Mystery series and will be released October 5, 2023.

Christmas is in the air with Clear Creek's Christmas Festival, an event raising funds for various charities. Jemma Wilkinson and her friends are an integral part with Jemma running the Cozy Tree where people buy hats and scarves to donate. Granny has bets going on when Jemma will find a dead body, but it's actually Granny who stumbles upon one. With Brandon wanting Jemma to stay out of the investigation, Matthew asking for her help, and Granny taking bets on who the murderer is, it's no wonder Jemma's stressed!

The Human Trial - A Spotlight

Today I'd like to shine a spotlight on The Human Trial by Audrey Gale. 

In her latest work, "The Human Trial" (Books Fluent, Sept. 26, 2023), author Audrey Gale merges three genres: historical fiction, medical thriller and coming-of-age story, cast with imperfect, relatable characters.

After an agonizing climb to earn his pathology specialty from Harvard Medical, early discoveries in the microscopic realms threaten not only Dr. Randall Archer’s hard-won place in the field of medicine, but his very life.

Blurb:

Dr. Randall Archer is a misfit…

…in the brutal blue-collar home where he grew up.

…as a sixteen-year-old escaping to college, then medical school, on a full scholarship to Harvard.

…in the highest echelons of Boston society, where the woman he marries and the blueblood research partner with whom he shares his laboratory belong.

Even Archer’s brilliance as a pathologist catapults him into direct and dangerous conflict with the medical establishment he fought so hard to join.

As the Great Depression presses down around him, Archer teeters at the edge of a precipice. He must choose between his hard-won career and the sacred oaths he took as a doctor and scientist—before all his choices are lost forever.

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About the Author:

Audrey Gale long dreamed of being a writer, but never anticipated the circuitous road she’d take to get there. After twenty-plus years in the banking industry, she grew tired of corporate gamesmanship and pursued her master’s in fiction writing at the University of Southern California. Her first novel, a legal thriller entitled The Sausage Maker's Daughters, was published under the name A.G.S. Johnson. The novel explores one woman’s struggle to find her place amidst the upheaval of the radical 1960s. Her second, The Human Trial, is the first book in a medical-thriller trilogy inspired by Gale’s own experiences with the gap between traditional medicine and approaches based on the findings of the great physicists of the 20th Century, like Einstein and Bohr. Both The Sausage Maker’s Daughters and The Human Trial incorporate Gale’s fascination with historical and scientific research, and always with women finding their places. Gale lives in Los Angeles with her husband and dogs where she is found hiking the Santa Monica Mountains every chance she gets. For more, visit http://audreygaleauthor.com/.

Follow Audrey Gale on social media: Facebook: @audreygaleauthor | Instagram: @audreygaleauthor

Buy Links:

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-human-trial-audrey-gale/20596362?ean=9781953865700

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1144010386

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Human-Trial-Audrey-Gale/dp/1953865704/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1693384168&sr=8-1

Tragedy in Tahoe - An Interview & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Rachele Baker to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Rachele writes the Rylie Sunderland Mystery series. TRAGEDY IN TAHOE is the first book in the series and was released last month.

Kathy: In TRAGEDY IN TAHOE we meet Rylie Sutherland. This veterinarian is working as a caretaker at an old Tahoe estate turned B&B. Why choose this summer job instead of finding work as a vet?

RB: Rylie’s world is turned upside down when the veterinary hospital where she’s worked since she graduated from veterinary medical school burns to the ground in the Lightning Complex fire. Now she’s at loose ends trying to figure out where to go next with her life.

When her mother’s friend, Elizabeth Whitaker, asks her mother if she knows anyone that could help out at her rental cottages in Lake Tahoe for a few months over the summer, Rylie’s mother thinks it’s a great opportunity for her. It will give Rylie some time to rest and relax and enjoy the lake while she’s trying to sort things out.

As a result, Rylie’s work as a veterinarian doesn’t have much of a role in Book 1, TRAGEDY IN TAHOE. However, it will come into play in Book 2, Vengeance in the Vines.

Kathy: Rylie has a golden retriever named Bella. Why choose this breed for her companion? Is Bella based on a real dog, or is she purely fictional?

RB: Bella is based on my own golden retriever, Savanna, who passed away quite suddenly and unexpectedly a few years ago right around her tenth birthday. Savanna was the love of my life, and I’ve enjoyed bringing her back to life in the character of Bella.


Kathy: Setting plays such an important part in a mystery. Why choose Tahoe City for your series? Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?

RB: I lived in Tahoe City for over seven years a number of years ago, so I’m very familiar with the area. The inspiration for me to write TRAGEDY IN TAHOE occurred in September of 2018 when I drove a couple of hours up to Lake Tahoe to meet up with a friend for lunch.

After lunch, we went on a tour of an old Tahoe lakefront estate called the Thunderbird Lodge that was built by a very wealthy man named George Whittell in 1936. There are a number of buildings on the estate including the main house, the Card House, and the Boathouse. Whittell was somewhat reclusive and had a 600-foot-long underground tunnel carved out of the granite bedrock below the estate to enable him to move between the Card House, Boathouse, and main house without being seen by people passing by in their boats.

After we looked through the rooms in the main house, our tour guide led us down into the granite tunnel that runs two stories underground. Our tour guide stopped briefly to show us a room off the tunnel called the Opium Room. It was creepy with devils on the fireplace screen and a red glow behind them. I was fascinated by this room and stayed there taking photos while the rest of the group continued on.

It looked like the perfect place for a murder. That granite-walled room captured my imagination and became the inspiration for me to write TRAGEDY IN TAHOE. In TRAGEDY IN TAHOE, the murder victim, Colin Matthews, is found in a room that looks just like the Opium Room, except in my book it's called the Absinthe Room.


Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?

RB: At some point in the past ten years or so, I started reading cozy mysteries and really enjoyed them. I like cozy mysteries because they have all the intrigue of a mystery without any graphic violence, sex, or swear words.


Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

RB: Not at this time.


Kathy: Tell us about your series.

RB: TRAGEDY IN TAHOE is Book 1 in the Rylie Sunderland series. I’ve been a veterinarian for over twenty-two years, so it seemed natural for me to create a protagonist who is also a veterinarian. Veterinarians are, by nature, problem solvers, so it’s not surprising that Rylie would take on the role of amateur sleuth, especially when she needs to clear her name of suspicion in a murder investigation.

In Book 2, VENGEANCE IN THE VINES, Rylie again needs to use her sleuthing skills, because her best friend’s husband finds himself the primary suspect in a murder investigation.  VENGEANCE IN THE VINES takes place in the Napa Valley, California, wine country.


Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?

RB: I’d have to say that Rylie’s golden retriever Bella is my favorite character.


Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

RB: I want to share my work with the world and, more specifically, with readers who enjoy cozy mysteries.


Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite four authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?

RB: Agatha Christie, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Jack London. An eclectic group, I know.


Kathy: What are you currently reading?

RB: I’m not currently in the middle of a book, but I have a huge TBR pile.


Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?

RB: I’ve never had a hobby until recently when I started making beaded bookmarks. I use gemstones and other natural stones and pair them with very pretty hand painted watercolor bookmarks that I got from an artist on Etsy. It’s fun and relaxing and allows me to express my creativity.


Kathy: Name four items you always have in your fridge or pantry.

RB: That would be hard because sometimes my fridge and pantry get pretty bare if I haven’t taken the time to go shopping for a while. But I would say that there is usually Macadamia milk, some kind of juice, and several vitamins and supplements in my refrigerator.


Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?

RB: Yes! I’m currently writing Book 1 in an entirely new cozy mystery series set in a small college town in northern California. The protagonist is a woman who owns an Italian deli with her brother. It’s the second location for her family’s deli business. Her mother and father own and operate the first location in the same town. She comes from a big Italian family which is really fun to write about.


Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?

RB: Writing a new cozy mystery.

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Blurb:

After the veterinary hospital where she worked burns to the ground, Rylie takes a summer job as a part-time caretaker at an old Lake Tahoe estate turned B & B called Whitaker Cottages while she tries to figure out what to do next with her life.

Then just a few days after she arrives in Lake Tahoe, Tahoe City bakery owner Colin Matthews is found dead in a secret tunnel that runs under the cottages. When Detective Felton informs Rylie that they found a note in Colin’s pocket with her name and cell phone number on it, she’s shocked. She’d only just met Colin. How did he get her cell phone number? Is she now on the suspect list?

With her golden retriever Bella by her side and the help of friends both old and new, Rylie works to find the evidence needed to clear her name. As her search continues, she discovers clues to the mystery in unlikely locations around the lake, and the list of suspects grows.


“This mystery is for anyone who loves suspense, twists and turns, lovable characters, and a surprise ending.”

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Rachele Baker is a veterinarian and the author of the Rylie Sunderland cozy mystery series. She’s an active member of Sisters In Crime and Mystery Writers of America. She lives in northern California close to Lake Tahoe and the Napa Valley wine country where the Rylie Sunderland Mysteries take place. Rachele drew on her many years of experience as a practicing veterinarian to develop the main character, Rylie Sunderland. Her own golden retriever, Savanna, was the inspiration for Rylie’s golden retriever, Bella.

In her free time, Rachele enjoys exploring northern California wine country, Lake Tahoe, and areas along the California coast like Mendocino, Monterey, and Big Sur. Some of her favorite things include freshly brewed coffee in the morning, walks in nature, and, of course, golden retrievers.

 

You can sign up for Rachele’s monthly e-newsletter to get info about her books, photos from her adventures, news for book lovers, and the opportunity to participate in fun contests and giveaways. You’ll also receive a free digital 8-page booklet about what inspired Rachele to write Tragedy in Tahoe including some cool photos.

You can also visit her website and connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, BookBub, and Goodreads.

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Giveaway

One lucky reader will win a signed paperback of Tragedy in Tahoe: Rylie Sunderland Mysteries Book 1. To enter for a chance to win, just sign up for Rachele's free monthly e-newsletter on her website. Rachele's e-newsletter features info about her books, photos from her adventures, news for book lovers, and occasional fun contests and giveaways. You can unsubscribe at any time. As an added bonus, everyone who signs up for Rachele's monthly e-newsletter will receive a free digital copy of her illustrated 8-page booklet titled Behind the Scenes that tells the very interesting story of what inspired her to write Tragedy in Tahoe.

Secrets and Scallywags - A Guest Post & Giveaway

I'm very pleased to welcome Cap’n Scally to Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Cap’n Scally on the pages of SECRETS AND SCALLYWAGS by Elizabeth Pantley. This book is the fifth in the Magical Mystery Book Club Mystery series and was released last week. You can check out my previously published review by clicking here.

Not all Pirates are Bad: An Interview with Cap’n Scally 

 

Thanks for chatting with us today. I’ve never met an actual pirate before.

Yer first time, eh? Not surprising, pirates tend to avoid publicity due to the nature of their livelihood.


Makes sense. So why have you agreed to this interview?

Not all pirates are bad, ya know. Me and my crew, we live to serve the greater good.


Really? What exactly do you do?

Well, little lady, if I told ya that I’d have to kill ya. Oh, don’t look so horrified. It was a joke! The killin’ part. But I really can’t tell ya. It’s secret.


You got to meet the Magical Mystery Book Club. How did that come about?

Bunch of fine folks, there. They stumbled upon my vessel. Sure, they were pretty startled to meet us, but once we got over their trembling fears, we were able to work together.


I hear that the club has some unusual people in it.

Ho, ho, ho! You better believe it! That cat, Frank. Never met a feline like him before. He and Bucko became fast friends and serious troublemakers, too. And you better watch out for that tiny little lady, Zell. She may be ancient, but she’s got more spit and vinegar and most young’uns.


Who’s your favorite book club member?

Now you wouldn’t have me go hurtin’ people’s feelings, now. Would ya? Every one of those landlubbers was a heaping fish barrel of fun. I have a soft spot for that ghost girl, but I suspect everybody does. She’s a real piece of gold, that one.


Speaking of gold. There’s treasure in this story.

Aye! A priceless treasure that’s wrapped up in magic. It had to be unwound in order to save our ghostly souls. Those ordinaries were dedicated helpmates in that endeavor, and I’ll be eternally grateful. Now I must leave you. The ship’s about to sail.


Thanks for meeting with me today. Have a great journey!

 

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 Secrets and Scallywags: Magical Mystery Book Club by Elizabeth Pantley

About Secrets and Scallywags

Secrets and Scallywags: Magical Mystery Book Club
Paranormal Cozy Mystery 5th in Series
Setting – A Small Oceanfront Community
Better Beginnings, Inc. (September 20, 2023)
Digital Print length: ‎ 256 pages

When this club selects a book, magic happens. They become the main characters in the story when the mystery comes to life.

This month’s book selection takes them to a charming island community that’s abuzz over a mysterious boat that washed ashore. Rumor has it that it’s the same pirate boat that sunk a year ago in the bay. The one that supposedly sank with treasure aboard. When the club meets the ghosts of the men from the boat, they learn the astonishing secrets of the treasure. These ghosts can’t move on until it is found. Can the motley group find the treasure and free the ghosts? They better, since it’s the only way they can exit the book and get back home.

About Elizabeth Pantley

Elizabeth Pantley is the international bestselling author of The No-Cry Sleep Solution and twelve other books for parents, published in over twenty languages.

She simultaneously writes well-loved cozy mysteries: The Destiny Falls Mystery & Magic book series and the Magical Mystery Book Club series.

Elizabeth lives in the Pacific Northwest, the gorgeous inspiration for the setting in many of her books.

Author Links: 

Website: https://www.nocrysolution.com/books/  

Newsletter Sign-up: https://www.nocrysolution.com/mailing-list/  

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

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

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/elizabeth-pantley  

Purchase Links: 

Amazon Links: US CA UK AU  

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Immortalised to Death - A Review

 Review

IMMORTALISED TO DEATH by Lyn Squire
The First Book in the Dunston Burnett Trilogy 

 

While penning his latest work, THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD, famous author Charles Dickens draws his last breath, his last written word "poison". While the village doctor claims he died of a stroke Dickens' nephew, Dunston, isn't so certain. It's soon discovered that the great writer was, in fact, murdered. In order to keep his reputation intact, Dunston, Miss Georgina, Dicken's sister-in-law, and Dr. Beard, Dicken's London doctor, agree to keep this fact secret for a month. In that time Dunston begins an investigation. Though his uncle told him he'd never be a successful writer, he did show periodic sparks of genius. Will that be enough to sort through the secrets and find out just who killed England's greatest writer?

 

Dunston is not your stereotypical hero. He's short and stout, a stodgy bookkeeper of middling years. He's also loyal, devoted, and, though at times slow to process, periodically shines with brilliance. He is also determined and this determination leads him to places he'd never imagined. 

IMMORTALISED TO DEATH is a fascinating fictional look at the death of Charles Dickens. Filled with red herrings and so many shocking surprises I nearly had whiplash from all the twists and turns.

The author merrily leads readers to believe certain things only to twist them around. 

 

I enjoyed reading about the many varied characters and the multiple storylines weaving through the first book  in the Dunston Burnett Trilogy. So many secrets combined with veiled truths, lead Dunston into a labyrinth and I was happy to journey with him. I also loved how Dunston used THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD to not only come up with a plausible ending, but assist in solving his uncle's murder.

 

A richly imagined mystery combining historical truth and fictional possibilities IMMORTALISED TO DEATH is a thoroughly enjoyable captivating read.

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About the Author

LYN SQUIRE was born in Cardiff, South Wales. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Wales, his master’s at the London School of Economics and his doctorate at Cambridge University. Lyn is now an American citizen living in Virginia. During a twenty-five year career at the World Bank, Lyn published over thirty articles and several books within his area of expertise. Lyn also served as editor of the Middle East Development Journal for over a decade, and was the founding president of the Global Development Network, an organization dedicated to supporting promising scholars from the developing world.


Lyn has always been an avid reader of whodunits and has reviewed scores of mysteries for the City Book Review (Sacramento, CA), but it was the thrill of solving Charles Dickens’s unfinished ‘Mystery of Edwin Drood’ that convinced him to put aside his development pen and turn to fiction. Finding a solution to the mystery has attracted massive interest since the author’s death in 1870. A 1998 bibliography lists over 2,000 entries, with continuations ranging from the obvious (a Sherlock Holmes pastiche) to the absurd (The Mysterious Mystery of Rude Dedwin). Lyn’s version of what happened to Edwin is revealed in his first novel, Immortalised to Death. The adventures of his protagonist, Dunston Burnett, a non-conventional amateur detective, continue in Fatally Inferior and The Séance of Murder, the second and third stories in The Dunston Burnett Trilogy. Find more about Lyn on his website.

Killer Hooks - A Guest Post

I'm pleased to allow Betty Hechtman to take over Cozy Up With Kathy today. Betty writes the Crochet Mystery series. KILLER HOOKS is the fifteenth book in the series and was released this week.

Location, Location, Location
By
Betty Hechtman

I don’t know about you, but for me where a book takes place is a big part of the story. I don’t like it when a city or area is mentioned once and other than an occasional street name thrown in, there is nothing more to let you know where the characters are.

Because I feel that way, I set my stories in places that I know well. The Crochet Mystery series takes place in Tarzana, California, which happens to be where both I and amateur sleuth, bookstore worker and crocheter Molly Pink live. The houses I write about are real places most of which I have been inside. It is always a weird feeling to see the inside of a place where I have been spending a lot of time in in my imagination. One of the Crochet Mystery plots centered around a huge house being built right behind Molly’s. It was based on what was actually going on behind my house. I had a good idea what the inside of the house being built would look like because despite it super high cost, it was being built from plans like a tract house. In other words, the houses would have slightly different designs, but basically the same layout. And thanks to a real estate website that showed houses for sale, I was able to see the inside of a house with a similar layout online. When the house behind mine was finished and went on the market, I was rushed over to the first open house. I couldn’t wait to see the inside of the real place where so much drama had taken place in my imagination. The real estate people left me to wander the interior by myself. Little did they know when I looked at the balcony off the master bedroom, all I could think about was that was where the murder in my book had happened.

Tarzana is in the San Fernando Valley and is really a community in Los Angeles, rather than a separate town and is situated at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains. It is one of the smaller Valley communities and has mixture of houses on twisty streets leading to the open space of the mountains and areas like Molly’s (and mine) that are on level ground. We have orange trees in our backyard left from when the whole area was an orange grove. I love the closeness to wilderness. I can be standing in line at a busy grocery store and five minutes later be walking in the Santa Monica Mountain surrounded by mysterious canyons and brush covered hillsides.

Ventura Boulevard is the main street that runs through Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Encino and points east. I admit to creating my own version of the stores in the Tarzana section for my books and making it sound a little more small townish than it really is.

It’s easy for me to describe Molly’s house, since it happens to be where I live. In KILLER HOOKS, the 15th Crochet Mystery, a lot of the action takes place at Molly’s house as it has become the center for her family. More than once I have looked at one of the couches in my living room expecting to see Molly in conversation with someone, and I can almost hear Molly’s mother and her singing group the She La Las practicing their routine.

Molly and I share a kitchen though I didn’t give her the weird stove set up that exists in the real room. Someone redid the house with more concern for look than practicality. The stove top is level with the surrounding counters and has cabinets above it. Instead of a hood and exhaust fan, there is a mechanism that comes up from the back of the stovetop that has an exhaust fan with a questionable ability to keep the heat off the cabinets above the stove.

Shedd & Royal Books and More, the bookstore where Molly works and the Tarzana Hookers meet is based on a Barnes & Noble that was in Encino and closed years ago. But it is still alive and open in my imagination.

The Writer for Hire series has a totally different location, but also one I am very familiar with. It takes place mostly in the South Side Chicago neighborhood of Hyde Park where Veronica Blackstone lives in a three-story walk up that is over a hundred years old. She inhabits the apartment I grew up in and still have. When I look at the black leather couch in that living room, I picture Veronica talking to her boyfriend Ben, or I see her trying to relax by sipping chamomile tea and crocheting. I can’t walk into the dining room without picturing her writers’ group gathered around the table.

In SENTENCED TO DEATH, the fourth Writer for Hire Mystery, which is coming out in paperback in October, the plot involves a house tour. I chose interesting houses that I had been inside when I was a kid. They are all different styles and I added a few touches of my own like an elevator and a secret passage. I was able to see what the insides of the houses look like now thanks to those online real estate sites. It was a strange feeling to see spots in the houses that I had been in and had memories connected to. I always wonder if there are somehow shadow vibrations of all that went on in a particular location.

And my Yarn Retreat series takes place at a slightly sinister hotel and conference center on the tip of the Monterey Peninsula. Cloudy skies and lots of fog add to the moody atmosphere where not everybody who checks in, checks out. I was just up there recently soaking up the atmosphere and looking at the wind-swept cypress trees that always make me think of someone running away with their hair trailing after them. 

There are no generic landscapes in my books and I like to think that the plots couldn’t take place anywhere else other than where I had set them.

 

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Betty Hechtman is the national bestselling author of the Crochet Mysteries, the Yarn Retreat Mysteries, and the Writer for Hire Mysteries. Handicraft and writing are her passions and she is thrilled to be able to combine them in all of her series. Betty grew up on the South Side of Chicago and has a degree in Fine Art. Since College, she has studied everything from improv comedy to magic. She has had an assortment of professions, including volunteer farm worker picking fruit on a kibbutz tucked between Lebanon and Syria, nanny at a summer resort, waitress at a coffee house, telephone operator, office worker at the Writer’s Guild, public relations assistant at a firm with celebrity clients, and newsletter editor at a Waldorf school. She has written newspaper and magazine pieces, short stories, screenplays, and a middle-grade mystery, Stolen Treasure. She lives with her family and stash of yarn in Southern California. See BettyHechtman.com for more information, excerpts from all her books, and photos of all the projects of the patterns included in her books. She blogs on Fridays at Killerhobbies.blogspot.com, and you can join her on Facebook at BettyHechtmanAuthor.

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 Killer Hooks: A Crochet Mystery by Betty Hechtman

About Killer Hooks

Killer Hooks
A Crochet Mystery Cozy Mystery 15th in Series
Setting - California Beyond the Page (September 18, 2023)
Paperback: ‎ 230 pages

When a baby girl is dropped off on Molly Pink’s doorstep, her life is thrown into disarray as she is putting together a troublesome author event at the bookstore where she works.

The author is a demanding former Hollywood columnist whose book is filled with upbeat stories, but who wants to promote a true crime podcast she is about to launch based on the dark side of what she left out of her columns.

At the same time, Molly’s son has asked her to investigate a potential investor in his production company. The baby, who happens to be Molly’s estranged granddaughter offers her an opening into an elite mommy group, a member of which is the wife of the person Molly is to investigate.

When the columnist dies suddenly, Molly finds herself in the crosshairs of an unfamiliar detective who considers her the prime suspect. Molly recruits the help of the Tarzana Hookers to help with all.

About Betty Hechtman

Betty Hechtman is the national bestselling author of the Crochet Mysteries, the Yarn Retreat Mysteries, and the Writer for Hire Mysteries. Handicraft and writing are her passions and she is thrilled to be able to combine them in all of her series. Betty grew up on the South Side of Chicago and has a degree in Fine Art. Since College, she has studied everything from improv comedy to magic. She has had an assortment of professions, including volunteer farm worker picking fruit on a kibbutz tucked between Lebanon and Syria, nanny at a summer resort, waitress at a coffee house, telephone operator, office worker at the Writer’s Guild, public relations assistant at a firm with celebrity clients, and newsletter editor at a Waldorf school. She has written newspaper and magazine pieces, short stories, screenplays, and a middle-grade mystery, Stolen Treasure. She lives with her family and stash of yarn in Southern California. See BettyHechtman.com for more information, excerpts from all her books, and photos of all the projects of the patterns included in her books. She blogs on Fridays at Killerhobbies.blogspot.com, and you can join her on Facebook at BettyHechtmanAuthor.

Website: https://www.BettyHechtman.com  

Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Kobo -

Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading Murder by Invitation Only by Colleen Cambridge. This book is the third in the Phyllida Bright Mystery series and will be released next week.

An invitation arrives at Mallowan Hall stating that a murder will occur that very night at neighboring Beecham House. A clever way to get the attention of Agatha Christie, but with the novelist in London it is housekeeper Phyllida Bright who attends the event, representing the Christies. A dynamic couple, Mr. and Mrs. Wokesley have designed a murder mystery play as a way to meet their neighbors, with Mr. Wokesley playing the part of the victim. As guests mingle and question the "suspects", Mrs. Bright feels it's time to leave, after all she's had enough of murder after recently solving two real ones. A scream stops her egress-Mr. Wokesley has taken method acting too far-he is indeed dead!

Murder at the Elms - A Spotlight & Giveaway

 Murder at the Elms (A Gilded Newport Mystery) by Alyssa Maxwell

About Murder at the Elms

Murder at the Elms (A Gilded Newport Mystery)
Historical Cozy Mystery 11th in Series
Setting - Rhode Island
Kensington (August 22, 2023)
Hardcover: ‎ 304 pages

As the nineteenth century comes to a close, the illustrious Vanderbilt family dominates Newport, Rhode Island, high society. But when murder arrives, reporter Emma Cross learns that sometimes the actions of the cream of society can curdle one’s blood in the latest installment of this bestselling cozy historical mystery series . . .

1901: Back from their honeymoon in Italy, Emma and Derrick are adapting to married life as they return to their duties at their jointly owned newspaper, the Newport Messenger. The Elms, coal baron Edward Berwind’s newly completed Bellevue Avenue estate, is newsworthy for two reasons: A modern mansion for the new century, it is one of the first homes in America to be wired for electricity with no backup power system, generated by coal from Berwind’s own mines. And their servants—with a single exception—have all gone on strike to protest their working conditions. Summarily dismissing and replacing his staff with cool and callous efficiency, Berwind throws a grand party to showcase the marvels of his new “cottage.” Emma and Derrick are invited to the fete, which culminates not only in a fabulous musicale but an unforeseen tragedy—a chambermaid is found dead in the coal tunnel. In short order, it is also discovered that a guest’s diamond necklace is missing and a laborer has disappeared. Detective Jesse Whyte entreats Emma and Derrick to help with the investigation and determine whether the murdered maid and stolen necklace are connected. As the dark deeds cast a shadow over the blazing mansion, it’s up to Emma to shine a light on the culprit . . . Excerpt

About Alyssa Maxwell

Alyssa Maxwell is the author of The Gilded Newport Mysteries and A Lady and Lady’s Maid Mysteries. She has worked in publishing as a reference book editor, ghost writer, and fiction editor, but knew from an early age that she wanted to be a fiction author. Growing up in New England and traveling to Great Britain and Ireland fueled a passion for history, while a love of puzzles drew her to the mystery genre. She and her husband have make their home in South Florida. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America and the South Florida Fiction Writers.

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