I'm pleased to allow Margo Bonner to take over Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Margo on the pages of the Victoria Square Mystery series by Lorraine Bartlett. A Lethal Lake Effect is the ninth book in the series and was released last week.
Hi, my name is Margo Bonner. and I’m a relatively new fixture on Victoria Square. My late son, Chad, invested in the failing Artisans Alley arts-and-crafts arcade. His wife, Katie, not only inherited his share of the business, but that of his partner. She’s made the business a success —something nobody thought was possible, especially me!
Katie’s and my relationship had a rocky start. That was my fault. Like many moms of only children, I didn’t think anyone was good enough for Chad. I was wrong, and it took a couple of years after his death for me to figure that out. (Therapy is a good thing!) I’ve since left Manhattan and now reside in McKinlay Mill, where I’ve leased a loft apartment (to be built) and a gallery space. You see, Chad was not only a school teacher, but also a gifted painter. (I’m his mother. I’m allowed to think of him as gifted.) My first show will be Chad’s paintings, but this isn’t just a vanity project. I intend to help make the Victoria Square Annex into a thriving business filled with retail and residential spaces. To quote Susan B. Anthony, “Failure is impossible!”
In addition to my gallery, I’m associated with another business on the Square: Tealicious, the tea shop I own with Katie. We hired a world-class chef manager, and the business is thriving. Brad makes exquisite pastries (his specialty).
I have other aspirations, as well. An important one is mentoring the two youngest Davenport sisters, Sadie and Sasha, daughters of Ray Davenport, who owns the Square’s Wood U gift shop. They lost their mother a few years back. I have not stepped into that role, but the girls and I lunch on a regular basis, and I’m helping them with a project that’s in the Square’s best interests. I so enjoy their company. Once a mom, always a mom!
But that’s not all I’m up to. You’ll have to read A Lethal Lake Effect to see what’s brewing in Katie’s mind when it comes to our relationship. Good? Bad? Indifferent?
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A Lethal Lake Effect (A Victoria Square Mystery) by Lorraine Bartlett
About A Lethal Lake Effect
Cozy Mystery 9th in Series
Setting - Victoria Square, McKinlay Mill, NY
Publisher: Polaris Press (June 6, 2024)
Number of Pages: 306
Things go awry for Katie Bonner when her former mother-in-law, Margo, throws a housewarming party at her lakeside rental and one of her guests ends up dead in the water. Maxwell Preston was a devoted husband--and a not-so-great dad. He was a beloved pharmacist who didn’t take care of his ramshackle property, which is destined to be a hot commodity on Victoria Square when his heir puts it up for sale. But most of all, Preston was a stranger to the others who attended the party.
Meanwhile, Nona Fiske takes charge of Victoria Square big summer extravaganza—a disaster in the making as what little power she’s seized has gone straight to her head. The Davenport sisters have their own agenda, and they’ve not only been poking around to find out more about the dead man, but what other mischief has been going on around the Square.
So, who killed Maxwell Preston and why? That’s what Katie wants to know—and she’s willing to risk everything to find out.
About Lorraine Bartlett
The immensely popular Booktown Mystery series is what first put Lorraine Bartlett’s pen name Lorna Barrett on the New York Times Bestseller list, but it’s her talent -- whether writing as Lorna, or L.L. Bartlett, or Lorraine Bartlett—that keeps her in her readers’ hearts. This multi-published, Agatha-nominated author also pens the exciting Jeff Resnick Mysteries as well as the acclaimed Victoria Square and Lotus Bay Mystery series, and the Tales of Blythe Cove Manor, and has many short stories and novellas to her name(s).
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Margo has been an interesting addition to the series.
ReplyDeleteA captivating and intriguing cozy mystery.
ReplyDelete