I'm pleased to welcome Ellen Butler to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Ellen writes the Karina Cardinal Mystery series. Spectral Revelations is the sixth book in the series and was released earlier this month.
Kathy: In Spectral Revelations Karina’s Aunt Vera has disappeared. Katrina knows Vera must be in trouble since she even abandoned her beloved cat, Nightshade. If you were to disappear, how would friends or family know you were in trouble, instead of just going off grid for a bit?
EB: I would say my husband would probably notice I’d gone missing at dinnertime when nothing was ready to eat. Then he’d probably start calling around to locate me. Then he’d probably try to track my phone.
Kathy: Karina finds a mischievous Civil War ghost in Vera's house. Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever had a spectral encounter?
EB: Yes, I think ghosts exist. I’ve had family members who’ve had encounters with them.
Kathy: Would you prefer to live in Washington D.C., like Karina or historic Williamsburg, like Aunt Vera?
EB: Funny you should ask that. I lived forty years in the DC metro area, and recently moved to Williamsburg. While I miss my friends, the cultural events, and museums in DC, I don’t miss the traffic, and politically charged rat race. I am enjoying the more laid-back lifestyle Williamsburg offers, as well as the what the historic triangle offers.
Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?
EB: I’ve always enjoyed a good mystery. I started with Nancy Drew, as a kid, and grew into reading Agatha Christie’s twisty plots. Also, I chewed up Elizabeth Peters novels like a hungry bear who found an open cooler at a campsite.
Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?
EB: Yes, I began writing romance before pivoting to mysteries. I’ve also written historical spy novels.
Kathy: Tell us about your series.
EB: An art heist, cybercrime, diamond theft, artifact forgery, money launderer, and Civil War ghost. What do they all have in common? Karina Cardinal, an amateur sleuth with a deadly curiosity and a talent for landing in trouble with DC’s finest crooks, conmen, and outright murderers.
Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?
EB: Well, I like the entire Silverthorne Security gang, but I think my favorite is Jin. I’d love to channel more if his Zen-like personality.
Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?
EB: Each book has its own individual inspiration which I discuss in the Author’s Notes at the end. For instance, Isabella’s Painting was inspired by a documentary I saw on the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist. Spectral Revelations was inspired by a ghost tour I took through Colonial Williamsburg.
Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?
EB: JK Rowling, Janet Evanovich, Agatha Christie, Elizabeth Peters.
Kathy: What are you currently reading?
EB: The Woman in Cabin 10, by Ruth Ware
Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?
EB: I enjoy reading, spending time with my family, working on home improvement projects and attending car shows. I have a passion for classic cars, especially the bright colors of the 1950s vehicles.
Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.
EB: Cheese, eggs, cereal, wine
Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?
EB: Spectral Revelations is the final book in the Karina Cardinal series. I’m moving on to a new character and time setting.
1958, New York City. Ariadne Winter is an aspiring investigative journalist who was laughed out of all the major and minor newspaper rooms. She settled for a job at the prestigious fashion periodical, Ladies’ Lifestyle Magazine. After two years at the copy desk, she is finally sent on assignment to write a feature article. Only she stumbles across a dead body, and everyone at the Inn is a suspect. If our intrepid young reporter can put the clues together and identify the killer, maybe she can finally get her shot at becoming an investigative journalist after all.
Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?
EB: Attending conferences and commiserating with other authors at the bar. Writing is a very solitary job. Spending time with other authors helps you realize others share the same or similar struggles. It’s a nice way to decompress.
********************************************************************
Spectral Revelations: A Karina Cardinal Mystery
by Ellen Butler
About Spectral Revelations
Is Karina’s missing aunt on vacation…or on the lam?
Karina is trying to keep her mind on getting a cosponsor for a bill, but it’s tough with her Mom blowing up her phone. By the time Karina finally stops hitting “ignore”, Mom is frantic. It appears Karina’s Aunt Vera has disappeared, fibbed to her employer about the reason for her absence, even abandoned her beloved cat, Nightshade—which is completely out of character. Karina would bet her favorite pair of designer shoes that Vera is in some kind of trouble.
However, when Karina hauls her cookies from D.C. to historic Williamsburg to search Vera’s house, she finds nothing suspicious. Except for a mischievous Civil War ghost who scares the bejesus out of her and keeps trashing Vera’s office. Until Karina realizes his seemingly random ectoplasmic tantrums have a purpose—revealing key evidence.
Something is definitely fishy, but the clues aren’t adding up. And as the spirit’s visitations become more urgent, Karina calls on reinforcements for help—her latest squeeze Rick Donovan and her sister Jillian. Because the cops are following faulty leads, which could put Vera on the wrong end of an arrest warrant … if she’s found alive.
International bestselling and award-winning author Ellen Butler presents book six in the Karina Cardinal mystery series! Fans of Elizabeth Peters and Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum will adore this gripping mystery adventure.
About Ellen Butler
Ellen Butler is the internationally bestselling author of the Karina Cardinal mystery series. Her experiences working on Capitol Hill and at a medical association in Washington, D.C. inspired the mystery-action series. Book critics call the Karina Cardinal mysteries, “intelligent escapism” and “unputdownable adventures that will take readers on an electrifying yet light-hearted and humorous journey.” Butler also writes historical spy fiction. Her WWII spy novel, The Brass Compass, recently won a 2022 Speak Up Talk Radio Firebird Book Award for historical fiction. The second book in the duology, Operation Blackbird: A Cold War Spy Novel, is Butler’s latest historical fiction. The novel is inspired by true events, and won a Next Generation Indie Book Award gold medal for historical fiction. Reviewers are calling it “riveting,” and, “a thrilling adventure.”
You can find Ellen at:
Website ~ www.EllenButler.net
Facebook ~ www.facebook.com/EllenButlerBooks
Twitter (X) ~ @EButlerBooks
Instagram~@ebutlerbooks
Goodreads ~ www.goodreads.com/EllenButlerBooks
Bookbub ~ www.bookbub.com/authors/ellen-butler
Amazon ~ www.amazon.com/Ellen-Butler/e/B00HS3Q48E
Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Kobo -
a Rafflecopter giveaway
.jpg)
