I'm pleased to welcome Debra Sennefelder back to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Debra writes the Food Blogger Mystery series. A Corpse Among the Carolers is the seventh book in the series and is being released today!
Kathy: In A Corpse Among the Carolers murder disrupts the Jingle Bell Stroll, a community caroling event. Do you go Christmas caroling?
DS: No. I’ve never been. But I would love to even though I can’t sing. I think it would be so much fun!
Kathy: What's your favorite Christmas carol to sing? What about your favorite Christmas song to listen to?
DS: Great questions. All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey and Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
Kathy: I love reading holiday themed mysteries. What makes ones set during Christmastime so special?
DS: Setting a cozy mystery during Christmastime adds an extra layer of warmth and magic that draws readers in. The holiday season creates a rich backdrop filled with traditions, community gatherings, and an overall sense of togetherness—ideal for a cozy mystery. It’s a time when people reconnect, share memories, and lean into nostalgia, making the stakes feel even higher when something goes awry. A Christmas cozy mystery feels like curling up with a warm blanket—there’s excitement and suspense, but it’s wrapped in the comforting glow of holiday lights and festive cheer.
Kathy: Your book includes tasty and toasty holiday recipes. Do you have favorite dishes you make every year? Do you roll out new recipes as well?
DS: Our Christmas dinner includes a roast beef with red cabbage that I absolutely love. And every year I bake cookies. I will try a new cookie recipe every couple years at Christmas but that’s about it. I usually stay with the tried and true and the recipes my family and friends love.
Kathy: Was there a specific inspiration for this story?
DS: I wanted to write a mystery set during Christmas and I have no idea where the idea for the caroling event came from. It just popped into my head one day and I loved it and fleshed out the story.
Kathy: Are you able to share any future plans for Hope?
DS: Yes. I’m currently writing her next book. I’m in the beginning of the first draft of that manuscript. All I can say about that story is that I’m loving it and it’s set during a winter snowstorm.
Kathy: When it comes to writing I understand there are 2 general camps-plotters, who diligently plot their stories, and pansters, who fly by the seat of their pants. Are you a plotter, a panster, or do you fall somewhere in between?
DS: I’m a plotter. I love a detailed outline before I begin writing the story. But even though I have an outline, as I’m writing the story sometimes things change.
Kathy: Authors are required to do a lot of their own marketing, especially for a new release. What's your favorite part of marketing your work? What do you dislike about marketing?
DS: I enjoy connecting with readers whether it’s through a blog post, an interview or a live video. While there’s no part of the process I dislike, I do find that the added workload of marketing on top of writing a book is stressful.
Kathy: Will you share any other upcoming books?
DS: Besides the next Food Blogger mystery that I’m writing now, I do have a couple of manuscripts lined up to write in 2025 but at this time I can’t share much more than that about them.
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A Corpse Among the Carolers (A Food Blogger Mystery) by Debra Sennefelder
About A Corpse Among the Carolers
Cozy Mystery 7th in Series
Setting - Connecticut
Publisher: Beyond the Page Publishing (November 12, 2024)
Paperback: 226 pages
Hope Early is fully immersed in the spirit of the Christmas season, until the sounds of joyful carolers are silenced by the words “Ho-ho-homicide” . . .
Food blogger Hope Early always gets a hearty holiday laugh from knowing that the weeks leading up to Christmas are as frantic as they are festive. But in spite of everything she has to do, the one thing she always has time for is the annual Jingle Bell Stroll, a night when the community gathers to sing their hearts out and enjoy each other’s company. This year’s caroling feels especially heartwarming, until the final note lands with a thud when Hope finds the body of the man who’d volunteered to play Santa, a knife plunged into his back.
With virtually the whole town present at the caroling, the list of suspects seems endless. It doesn’t take long, though, for both Hope and the police to turn a sharp eye on the victim’s bitter and vindictive ex-wife, along with his new wife, who may have been after his money. Then Hope unearths a clue that suggests the dead man may have been hiding a sordid past and connections to unseemly characters. But as she closes in on the killer, they’re determined to wring her neck before she can ring in the new year . . .
Includes tasty and toasty holiday recipes!
About Debra Sennefelder
Debra Sennefelder is the acclaimed author of charming and suspenseful cozy mysteries set in small towns filled with intriguing characters and delightful pets. Based in Connecticut, Debra shares her home with her family and a lovable, slightly spoiled Shih Tzu. Her passion for mystery fiction, particularly cozy mysteries, inspires her to create engaging stories that blend crime-solving with delicious recipes and stylish fashion. She is the author of the Food Blogger Mystery series, the Resale Boutique Mystery series, and the Cookie Shop Mystery series. When she’s not plotting her next whodunit, you’ll find her baking sweet treats or indulging in a good book.
When she’s not reading, she enjoys cooking and baking and as a former food blogger, she is constantly taking photographs of her food. Yeah, she’s that person.
Born and raised in New York City, where she majored in her hobby of fashion buying, she now lives and writes in Connecticut with her writing companion, Connie.
She can be reached at Debra@DebraSennefelder.com
Author Links:
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