I'm pleased to welcome Sharon Marchisello to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Sharon writes the DeeLo Myer Cat Rescue Mystery series. TRAP, NEUTER, DIE is the first book in the series.
Kathy: TRAP, NEUTER, DIE shines a light on TNVR, Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return. How did you learn about this concept? Why is it important to tell people about it.
SM: I learned about TNVR when I became a volunteer for the Fayette Humane Society. Prior to that, I just assumed all cats were potential pets. It's important to tell people about TNVR because it's an effective and humane way to fight the pet overpopulation crisis.
Kathy: It's a frustrating truth that archaic laws as well as uncaring and/or evil people exist making life difficult for feral and stray cats. What can people do to help?
SM: The most important thing people can do is spay or neuter their pets. And if they see a colony of free-roaming cats, contact a rescue group that can help with TNVR. If the cats have ear tips, the colony may already be managed.
Kathy: I currently share my home with 5 cats, all rescues. Do you have cats of your own?
SM: I've had cats all my life, but I don't currently own one. We lost our 17-year-old cat several years ago, and my husband hesitates to get another. So, I've gone back to fostering cats for the Fayette Humane Society. I'm hoping he'll want to foster fail (adopt your foster) but so far, he's been resistant. Nevertheless, there's usually a cat or two in my house.
Kathy: In this first DeeLo Myer Cat Rescue Mystery DeeLo is sentenced to forty hours of community service with the local humane society. Have you ever volunteered with your local humane society or other rescue organization?
SM: Yes, I have been volunteering with the Fayette Humane Society since 2007. I started out fostering cats, then helped with adoption events. I've served as Secretary on their Board of Directors since 2011 and also do the grant writing. We get lots of short-term volunteers who have to do hours for school clubs or court-ordered community service so that's what gave me the idea to make DeeLo join the organization by doing community service.
Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?
SM: One of my professors at USC believed writing genre fiction was the best way to get published, and he recommended that I write mysteries. Because I don't have a background in law enforcement or private investigation, I felt most comfortable writing about amateur sleuths. And I don't like a lot of graphic sex and violence, so the cozy genre is a good fit.
Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?
SM: My first two mysteries aren't really cozies, although I do have amateur sleuths. I also write short stories in various genres. And I self-published a nonfiction book about personal finance. (LIVE WELL, GROW WEALTH - 2018).
Kathy: Tell us about your series.
SM: TRAP, NEUTER, DIE is the first in a 3-book series published by Level Best Books and featuring DeeLo Myer, a young woman who rescues cats and finds dead humans.
Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?
SM: Besides DeeLo, my favorite character is curmudgeon Catherine Foster, who admits she likes feral cats a lot better than human beings. She frequently makes politically incorrect comments about people who mistreat animals. I also enjoy writing Demi Myer, DeeLo's niece, who's more like a sister to DeeLo.
Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?
SM: For a long time, I wanted to feature an animal rescue group in a novel. Several years ago, several of us volunteers tried to get our county's animal ordinance changed to sanction TNVR, and drama ensued. (Some of that made it into my series.) And of course, being a mystery writer, I had to throw in a dead body.
Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?
SM: I've always wanted my work to be published, but it took a long time to make it happen.
Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?
SM: I think it would be fun to invite Kurt Vonnegut, Ernest Hemingway, Agatha Christie, and Edgar Allen Poe. No idea how they'd all get along.
Kathy: What are you currently reading?
SM: I'm reading several new mysteries in ebook from Net Galley. And for my book club, we're reading Jodi Picoult's novel, BY ANY OTHER NAME.
Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?
SM: Besides reading, writing, and animal rescue, I love to travel. My husband and I have taken over 70 cruises together and visited over 100 countries. I've always loved maps and learning other languages.
Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.
SM: I always have cheese and crackers, milk for my coffee (French roast, ground from the beans), and spinach for salads. And wine.
Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?
SM: My contract with Level Best is for three books. After that, we'll see what happens. Book two, TRAPPED AND TESTED, will be out in September. In it, DeeLo helps Demi find her biological father which leads to her involvement in the murder of the CEO of an animal testing lab. I've also written a sequel to my 2019 mystery from Sunbury Press, SECRETS OF THE GALAPAGOS. MURDER AT LEISURE DREAMS - GALAPAGOS will be out later this year and my editor asked if I plan to make it a series. I need to travel back to the Galapagos to get inspiration for another book!
Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?
SM: I love writing and turning out the best book I can. I think the most exciting part about being an author is having readers tell me they loved my book. Especially if it's someone I don't already know.
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Review
The First DeeLo Myer Cat Rescue Mystery
After one really bad decision Delores Diane Myer-Johansson, better known as Deelo Myer, finds herself sentenced to community service. An animal lover she is serving her time with the Pecan Point Humane Society, helping with the Trap-Neuter-Return program. Her supervisor, the gruff Catherine Foster is quick to point out that it's really the Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return program and that she much prefers cats to humans. As the pair set out traps behind a shopping plaza they notice Manny, the bookstore cat, running outside. Seeing the shop's backdoor open they go in only to discover the dead body of the owner. The police officer who arrives has a grudge against Catherine and barely believes them about murder. When the pair return to try to trap more cats he shows up again and arrests Catherine on an antiquated animal ordinance and suspicion of murder. Deelo vows to not only get Catherine released, but to change the outdated law. And if she has to solve a murder to do it, so be it!
TRAP, NEUTER, DIE grapples with some important societal issues, making the first DeeLo Myer Cat Rescue Mystery a little darker and a tad more realistic than most cozy mysteries. As a cat lover who supports several local rescues, and some not so local, I am impressed and grateful for all of the information about TNVR presented here, as well as showing an example of the idiotic animal laws that still exist.
I really enjoyed the story, a complex murder mystery with several subplots, lots of backstory, and some interesting possibilities raised for the future. While I really like Deelo and the irascible Catherine I can't stand Demi. I find her to be an immature self absorbed unspayed canine! Honestly, I wouldn't mind finding her a the murder victim in the next book! I also found Barry to be a bit much; a well written complicated character, but still, a bit much.
Serious issues are woven throughout TRAP, NEUTER, DIE creating an absorbing mystery that promotes feral cat welfare as it entertains.
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Trap, Neuter, Die: A DeeLo Myer Cat Rescue Mystery by Sharon Marchisello
About Trap, Neuter, Die
Cozy Mystery 1st of Series
Setting - Georgia
Publisher: Level Best Books (October 29, 2024)
Paperback: 286 pages
DeeLo Myer, newly transplanted from Los Angeles to Pecan Point, Georgia, gets sentenced to forty hours of community service with the local humane society. She’s paired with the judgmental Catherine Foster, a Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (TNVR) guru who prefers feral cats to people. During DeeLo's first night on duty, she and Catherine are led by a cat to the strangled body of a local bookstore owner.
The cop who investigates seems less concerned with solving a homicide than with Catherine’s violation of an antiquated animal ordinance rendering TNVR illegal. The following evening, when he arrests Catherine for violating the said ordinance, and then holds her as a suspect in the murder, DeeLo vows to prove Catherine’s innocence and get the ridiculous law changed. How hard could it be? She enlists her boyfriend/boss and the resources of his law office. Her quest for justice and legislative change leads her to high-profile members of the community, some of whom have motives for murder.
About Sharon Marchisello
Sharon Marchisello is the author of the DeeLo Myer cozy mystery series from Level Best Books, starting with Trap, Neuter, Die (2024). Her two previous mysteries were published by Sunbury Press: Going Home (2014) and Secrets of the Galapagos (2019). She is an active member of Sisters in Crime. She contributed short stories to the anthologies Shhhh...Murder! (Darkhouse Books, 2018) Finally Home (Bienvenue Press, 2019) and Smoking Guns (Wildside Press, 2024). Her personal finance book Live Well, Grow Wealth (2018) was originally published as Live Cheaply, Be Happy, Grow Wealthy, an e-book on Smashwords. Sharon has published travel articles, book reviews, corporate training manuals, and a personal finance blog called Countdown to Financial Fitness. She grew up in Tyler, Texas, and earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Houston in French and English. She studied for a year in Tours, France, on a Rotary scholarship and then moved to Los Angeles to pursue her Masters in Professional Writing at the University of Southern California. Retired from a 27-year career with Delta Air Lines, she lives in Peachtree City, Georgia, doing volunteer work for the Fayette Humane Society, the Fayette County Master Gardeners UGA Extension, and the Friends of the Peachtree City Library.
Website: sharonmarchisello.com (https://smarchisello.wordpress.com/)
Social Media Links: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SLMarchisello
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Thanks so much for your nice review and for featuring Trap, Neuter, Die on your blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by!
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