Sour Crime Donuts - A Spotlight

Today I'd like to shine a spotlight on an upcoming release. Sour Crime Donuts by Ginger Bolton is the tenth book in the Deputy Donut Mystery series and will be released next week.

Blurb:

Emily feels like a protective big sister around bubbly twenty-something Izzy—a new regular whose enthusiasm for peaches and cream donuts is surpassed only by her dream to start her own business. As if blown in by an August breeze, Izzy pulls Emily into her plan to buy a property at the edge of town to grow and sell fresh produce. But she’s not the only fan of Deputy Donut’s peachy delights . . . or the only patron vying to own the lush parcel of land. And the competition is fiercer than the two women imagined . . .

Petty squabbles turn deadly when a developer with a mean streak is found murdered on the vacant stretch of land. Worse, Emily’s signature donuts are spotted nearby, leading to several potential suspects who could have left their sugar-frosted fingerprints all over the crime scene—including the mayor, a handsome out-of-towner, and even sweet-to-the-core Izzy. When her detective husband discovers poisonous ingredients in the discarded desserts, a shocked Emily must reveal holes in a collection of very fuzzy facts and nab the killer before someone else takes their last bite . . .

Cinnamon Twisted - A Spotlight

Today I'd like to shine a spotlight on a new release that's on my TBR pile. Cinnamon Twisted by Ginger Bolton is the seventh in the Deputy Donut Mystery series and is being released today!

 Blurb:

An ordinary late-spring afternoon for Deputy Donut Cafe owner Emily Westhill becomes one that will remain baked into her memory from the moment a customer gives Emily’s cat a toy donut and then flees Deputy Donut, dropping an earring in her panic. Concerned about the customer, Emily attempts to return the earring . . . only this time the customer doesn’t have a pulse. Things get more complicated when an ambitious police detective finds the earring and an unsealed envelope addressed to Emily at the murder scene. The envelope contains a cryptic letter and a fading photograph of a woman standing in front of Emily’s house.

Why did the customer grab her cinnamon twists and flee Deputy Donut? With the detective eying Emily as a prime suspect, Emily is determined to find out. But once a donut-shaped murder weapon is discovered in her own backyard, Emily has no time to lose as she pulls apart the connection between the victim and the strange history of her property—while stopping the real culprit from ensuring her fate is done and sugar-dusted . . .

 

Holiday Musings with Cozy Authors

I love the holiday season, from the wintry weather, seeing houses illuminated with Christmas lights, watching holiday movies and specials, eating Christmas cookies, sending out Christmas cards and giving gifts. People seem a bit more kind and amidst all the bustling, one can still find peace. We all have our Christmas traditions, some changed by loss, some by this pandemic, but we still have them. On this Christmas Eve I thought I would share some holidays thoughts and traditions from some great cozy authors.

Tradition!

I find it fascinating to hear about everyone’s holiday traditions. Here’s what our authors said.

Victoria Hamilton

I suppose the only tried and true holiday tradition I have is to put out some ornaments that have been around for a long time, almost forty years. Every year, it signals that Christmas is here just to take them out, smell the scented wax Avon figurine of a courting couple kissing under the mistletoe, and examine the hand beaded ornaments made so long ago. It is then Christmas.

 

 

 

Kathleen Kalb

We celebrate Hanukkah, and it’s usually a very quiet family thing. We light candles and eat dinner together, and the gifts are mostly small, except for a big one on the last night. But we have a lot of fun with those small gifts – plenty of inside jokes and little traditions. My husband’s grandmother always bought him underwear (we’re not sure why) so now I give him and our son a package of t-shirts or briefs one night, so we can enjoy the echo…and a good laugh!

 

Tina Kashian

We get up early on Christmas morning and open presents with our two teen girls. Then we travel to the Poconos to visit my in-laws and for the girls to spend treasured time with their grandparents.

 

Meg Macy

A favorite holiday tradition -- making my mom's Spritz cookies in tree shapes, going out to see Christmas lights.

 

Ellen Byron/Maria DiRico

A favorite holiday tradition – I just observed it! I have a small crew of neighborhood mom friends I power-walk with. We got to know each other when our kids were in elementary school together. (Now they’re all in college) One night in the weeks prior to Christmas, four of us get together and drive around the local neighborhoods to see the outdoor decorations at people’s homes. We add new locations to our list every year. We finish with drinks and snacks at a local restaurant and toast the holidays and our friendships. 

 

 

 

Daryl Wood Gerber

Making my grandmother's sugar cookies.

 

Ginger Bolton

Stockings!

On Christmas Eve we put oranges in the toe, and then everyone contributes to filling the stockings. On Christmas morning, we open our stockings at the breakfast table. Chocolates often up being part of breakfast. . . .

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Gifts! 

I asked our authors what was the best present they ever received…and the best present they ever gave.

What was the best present you ever received?


As a child? A Kiddle ring. Don’t know what a Kiddle ring is? (It WAS a long time ago!) It was a ring with a jewel shaped dome that enclosed a tiny doll you could take out and play with. I was just about ten – maybe too old for dolls? – but I loved that little Kiddle ring!

 

Tina

This one is easy for me to answer. My oldest daughter was born in December. My father pre-paid for a cleaning service for six months. As a new mother dealing with a five-pound preemie, it was a wonderful!

Maureen Klovers

Best Christmas present: Our dog, Nigel! We adopted him on December 23rd and, because he couldn't be alone more than an hour or two, had to bring him to my mother-in-law's for a family dinner on Christmas Eve! She had a strict "no dogs" rule, but since she essentially had to choose between us and a dog, or none of us, she allowed Nigel to come, as long as he stayed in his crate. He was so scared he didn't make a sound. We thought we had a quiet dog...but within a couple of weeks realized that wasn't the case. Nigel definitely found his bark! And now my mother-in-law actually refers to him as her "grand-dog"! :)

Best Christmas gift ever received -- a weekend on Mackinac Island with my husband and daughter, from my daughter!

Best Christmas gift ever given -- my daughter, who was born the day after!

Terrie Moran

What is the ABSOLUTE BEST Christmas gift I ever received or gave?  That's easy! Both answers are the same---an eyelash curler. When I was 16, one magically appeared in my Christmas stocking. I went to an all girl Catholic school and make-up was absolutely forbidden BUT, being a bit of a rebel, I got great satisfaction curling my eyelashes each morning before school. I felt pretty, it did not involve makeup, and the Dean of Discipline was none the wiser. Fast forward dozens of years and my fifteen year old granddaughter had a request for mascara on her Christmas list. Being the perfect Grandma, I bundled mascara, makeup remover, and ~Ta Da~ an eyelash curler, along with the caveat: "ALWAYS CURL BEFORE PUTTING ON MASCARA. Otherwise you will rip your eyelashes right out of your eyes. That's why makeup remover is so important." After she opened her package, the granddaughter, in Covid quarantine, texted back: "UR QUEEN!" My fondest hope is that many years from now she will buy an eyelash curler for a teenage girl and think of me when she does so.  

 

Ellen

Best Christmas gift ever received – Last year, my daughter really went out of her way to find something right on point for me. She knows I love to needlepoint, so she bought me a canvas of the St. Charles streetcar. I absolutely loved it and stitched up last year. It now sits on our hall table.

Best Christmas gift ever given – College! (Kidding. Kind of.)

 

 

 

 

Nancy Cole Silverman

Best Christmas gift ever received...the Christmas my aunt accidentally addressed all the Christmas packages to me!  I had so much to open. 

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I hope you enjoyed this holiday edition. Stay tuned as these ladies will share favorite holiday recipes on Boxing Day! In the meantime, I’d love it if you shared your holiday traditions as well as memories of presents past in the comments below!

Survival of the Fritters - An Interview & Review

I'm so happy to welcome Ginger Bolton to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Ginger writes the Deputy Donut Mystery series. Survival of the Fritters is the first book in the series and will be released next week.

 
Kathy: Survival of the Fritters has the perfect base for a person who is going to be involved in mysteries and murder: a donut shop with plenty of police, and former police, presence. Was this a conscious decision?

GB: Yes, I thought it would be the perfect place for an amateur sleuth to pick up clues, gossip, and rumors.


Kathy: Even before she opened Deputy Donuts, everyone loved Emily Westhill's donuts. Are you a donut lover? My favorite is a Boston Creme, what's your favorite donut?

GB: I love donuts! Choosing is hard, but my favorites are probably plain raised (i.e. made with yeast) topped with a little granulated sugar.


Kathy: I've heard that publishers believe that US readers are less likely to buy a book set in Canada than in the US. I know that some Canadian authors do set their stories in the US, including you. Was it your decision to set the story in Wisconsin? If so, was it more to do with the plot, or marketing? As you know, I'm a US citizen who enjoys books set in Canada too. I actually live near the border of Southern Ontario.

GB: I set it in Wisconsin because when I wrote the proposal, I’d just returned from vacationing there. I visited so many beautiful waterfalls that I named my village Fallingbrook and put a waterfall outside it. And then I put forests all around the village. The northwoods are amazing. And just a little scary . . . They’re perfect for mysteries, no matter what country they’re in. As a reader, I like mysteries, wherever they’re set.


Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?

GB: For me, it’s the characters—ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. The characters in cozies feel real, and like friends.


Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

GB: I’ve written short stories and humorous personal essays that were published and suspense novels that weren’t. But at the moment, I write only cozies.


Kathy: Tell us about your series.

GB: Deputy Donut Mysteries-- Coffee, donuts, cops, danger, and one curious cat.

As Janet Bolin, I wrote the Threadville Mysteries—Murder and mayhem in a village of crafty shops.


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

GB: My favorite character is always the main character in whatever I’m writing at the moment. That person insists that I have to tell her (usually it’s a her) story. And finish it . . .


Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?

GB: Yes, and it’s such fun. A bakery in Clare, Michigan, was going out of business, so the local policemen bought it, renamed it Cops & Doughnuts, and kept it going. Now people come from all over the world to visit the bakery and adjoining diner, and I had to stop there last summer on my way to Wisconsin for another research trip, er, vacation. Now, those cops in Clare know how to make a doughnut! New franchises keep popping up, too. Yum! https://copsdoughnuts.com/


Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

GB: I always liked to write, so publishing seemed like a logical step.


Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?

GB: William Shakespeare

Georgette Heyer

Daphne du Maurier

Elizabeth Peters


Kathy: What are you currently reading?

GB: I’m rereading Georgette Heyer’s Regency Romances. I hadn’t looked at them for many years, and I’m enjoying the humor and the details.


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

GB: In addition to writing and reading, I like sewing, knitting, and crocheting.


Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.

B: Milk, eggs, flour, yeast. Donuts, anyone???


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

GB: The next Deputy Donut Mystery, Goodbye Cruller World, comes out August 28, 2018, and I’m working on the third one.


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

B: I would have expected it to be writing, which I love, but it’s been a joy to meet so many people, either in person or online.

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For more information check out the following links:

http://gingerbolton.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGingerBolton/

https://twitter.com/ginger_bolton

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Review

SURVIVAL OF THE FRITTERS by Ginger Bolton

The First Deputy Donut Mystery

Everyone in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin loves Emily Westhill's donuts so after leaving her job as a police dispatcher she, along with her father-in-law, the former Chief of Police, opens Deputy Donuts, a donut and coffee shop. Concerned when a regular customer fails to appear, Emily joins her friends to check in on her. They find the elderly patron home, murdered. Who could have killed her? Did it have something to do with the death of her son five years earlier? And what about her old friend who just returned to town. She certainly has secrets. Emily must look to the past or else lose her own future!

Ginger Bolton has an ingenious idea for the setting of this new series. It is set in a donut shop, and not just any donut shop, but one owned by the former Chief of Police and a former police dispatcher, who also happens to be the widow of a police detective. What a way to gain police presence and loosen lips!

Multiple threads run through this first Deputy Donut Mystery, including a prior murder, old relationships, new friendships, and more, but they are skillfully woven to a satisfying conclusion.

I like the camaraderie of the characters. As a former police officer, I understand the ties that bind all manner of first responders, of which there are many in this book. The author understands and capitalizes on this.

With plenty of humor, an intelligent protagonist, a cute cat, and plenty of donuts, SURVIVAL OF THE FRITTERS is an engaging start to a new series.

Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading Survival of the Fritters by Ginger Bolton. This book is the first in the Deputy Donut Mystery series and will be released January 30th.

Everyone in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin loves Emily Westhill's donuts so after leaving her job as a police dispatcher she, along with her father-in-law, the former Chief of Police, opens Deputy Donuts, a donut and coffee shop. Concerned when a regular customer fails to appear, Emily joins her friends to check in on her. They find the elderly patron home, murdered. Who could have killed her? Did it have something to do with the death of her son five years earlier? And what about her old friend who just returned to town. She certainly has secrets. Emily must look to the past or else lose her own future!