Six Stunning Sirens - A Spotlight

Today I'd like to shine a spotlight on a series in which I've fallen woefully behind. Six Stunning Sirens by Lynn Cahoon is the sixth book in the Kitchen Witch Mystery series.

Blurb:

In a triumph for Mia’s catering business and cooking school, Mia’s Morsels is chosen to host a fall festival event in their Idaho mountain town—which means managing a bunch of stage moms and their social-media obsessed daughters as they get ready for the big beauty contest. There’s a lot riding on the results of the Harvest Moon Festival—it’s where the winning family receives an inside track to coven power.

But after one stage mom is found dead, and another winds up in the hospital, the coven suspects magical meddling. With a week to go before the coronation of the new queen, Mia must draw on her sleuthing powers to find out what’s going on—and whether this competition has gotten a little too cutthroat . . .

One Poison Pie - An Interview, Review, & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome back Lynn Cahoon to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Lynn starts a new series with ONE POISON PIE, her first Kitchen Witch Mystery which was released last month.

Kathy: ONE POISON PIE introduces readers to Mia Malone, a kitchen witch. Cooking is magic, but Kitchen Witches are able to make food even more special. Is the witchcraft found in your new series traditionally based or a product of your imagination?

LC: The kitchen witch traditionally is a doll that wards off evil spirits and brings good luck along with protecting your kitchen. The myth started in northern Europe and you can find them available to purchase online. I took that myth and started thinking about the village witch. The woman who had the herb garden that healed people in medieval days. Think a good version of the witch in Hansel and Gretel. 

Mia and her grandmother’s magic is focused on their healing powers, either with food or magic. I love the idea that there are people out there trying to keep the world from letting evil overtake it. And that being nice isn’t a trait that has been left behind in the past.  

As I write the books, I’m finding out more and more about where Mia’s family magic came from. Mostly this is the story the books are telling me, not things that I’ve went looking for. I’m sure, my subconscious is working with magical stories I’ve read or watched in the past. Mixing it together into our my version of what a modern kitchen (or village) witch would be like.

Kathy: Mia moves back to her grandmother's hometown of Magic Springs, Idaho. What makes Idaho the perfect setting for your story?

LC: Idaho is amazing. Which I should stop telling people because they are already dealing with an influx of people moving there. I love the fact you can be in the desert, then by a mountain stream within two hours, maybe three. Magic Springs is set in the (real life) Sawtooth Mountains which is one of the prettiest places on earth. In the books, the Sawtooth’s are called the Magics. The area makes my heart soar and my soul calm. And there’s lots of places to hide a body.  

 

Kathy: Mia starts a new gourmet dinner delivery business. Would you ever take advantage of such a business?

LC: I would! I’ve always wanted to have food delivered to my house. I live in a small town so I have the option of pizza or sandwiches for delivery. Neither of which are on a low carb diet approved food list. I haven’t tried the food in a box systems because I really don’t like frozen meals so I’ve been hesitant to something new. And, my husband is very choosy on what he likes.

Kathy: I'm happy to see that you add recipes to the book. How do you choose the recipes you want to include?

LC: I include recipes that are either from my childhood and reworked for today or recipes I love. I always make a recipe before I include it to remind myself how to make it work the best for an everyday kitchen chef. You can make some amazing food in your own kitchen with just a little work and preparation.

Kathy: Was there a specific inspiration for this story?

LC: As I started planning the story, I knew I wanted to write a paranormal. Every idea I suggested to my husband who is my plotting brainstorming partner, especially on long road trips, he shot down. And he’d list off a movie that had that particular type of paranormal creature. I didn’t want to write shapeshifting ferrets, so I went back to research the lore of witches to find my cozy loving kitchen witch.

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?

LC: I’m a gardener (panster.) I start with an idea, maybe a new business (like opening of Mia’s Morsels) and then I try to figure out what the community is like and who the villain is going to be, even if he isn’t the murder victim, which has happened. I have a very sparce outline that keeps me focused on days of the week during the story as well as places. Then I add in the three arcs and what should be happening including the cozy mystery ‘rules’. I list out the number of chapters I’ll have (based on book length) and what should be in the chapter. Like there better be a dead body by chapter 3. 

 

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?

LC: Actually, the nice thing about being an author is the only thing I’m required to do is write the book and do the editing. However, because I want sales, I market my book. Being an author is running a business. I don’t think T-Mobile would make many sales if they only did word of mouth marketing.

So I’d change ‘required’ to ‘get’ to do marketing. 😊 It makes a difference if you think marketing is a drudge or a pleasure. I enjoy spreading the word about my books, especially when I get to meet real people who either love my books or haven’t read one, so they need an introduction. Now that I’m home more, I miss that. I’m getting used to seeing my face and my voice on video. It’s a different medium for marketing, and it’s been taking some getting used to. 😊

Kathy: Will you share any other upcoming books?

LC: Of course! Here’s my current schedule for 2021.

2021 started with KILLER COMFORT FOOD A Farm to Fork mystery releasing January 5th.

ONE POISON PIE released January 26th.

PICTURE PERFECT FRAME, a Tourist Trap mystery, releases March 16th

MURDER 101, a Kitchen Witch novella, releases April 27th

A PUMPKIN SPICE KILLING, a Farm to Fork novella releases July 6th.

TWO WICKED DESSERTS, the second Kitchen Witch mystery releases July 27th

And HAVE A HOLLY, HAUNTED HOLIDAY, a Farm to Fork novella, releases in November.

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Review

ONE POISON PIE by Lynn Cahoon

The First Kitchen Witch Mystery

Mia Malone is not like other witches. She's a kitchen witch, reveling in food and creating comfort in it. That's why after leaving her cheating almost fiance and business partner, Mia's arrived in her grandmother's hometown of Magic Springs in order to convert the town's old school house into a cooking school and catering business. But things aren't off to a smooth start. The developer who also wanted to buy the school has warned her away and Mia's first customer is murdered before her first event! Mia will have to trust her culinary magick in order to root out the malevolence that's in Magic Springs.

 

The magick in the first Kitchen Witch mystery is subtle, making it more realistic. You almost wouldn't even think of it as a paranormal until the book nears its conclusion. I like getting to know Mia as she struggles with opening a business, being a suspect, being threatened, and not being sure of her own feelings. She has a cadre of good people surrounding her, interesting characters with substance. I hope to learn more about Mr. Darcy. There's much more to his story and I hope we get to delve into it. There are plenty of bad eggs here, as well as some who come off as hard-boiled, but are really good, deep down. I enjoyed the sparks of romance, even as Mia discounts her attraction, and look forward to getting to know the Major boys much better.

 

I really love the ending of the novel as it opens a whole doorway for evil to enter. It will be interesting to see what forms the Big Bad will take and watch Mia and her friends prepare for it and ultimately take it on in future books.

ONE POISON PIE is a complex mystery seared with the ties of friendship and family. I look forward to reading more about Mia, her food, and the rest of her magickal world.

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One Poison Pie (Kitchen Witch Mysteries) by Lynn Cahoon

About One Poison Pie

One Poison Pie (Kitchen Witch Mysteries) by Lynn Cahoon
Cozy Mystery 1st in Series
Publisher: Kensington (January 26, 2021)
Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages

In the first in New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon’s Kitchen Witch series, Mia Malone is starting over in Magic Springs, Idaho—where murder is on the menu . . .

What’s a kitchen witch to do when her almost-fiancé leaves her suddenly single and unemployed? For Mia Malone, the answer’s simple: move to her grandmother’s quirky Idaho hometown, where magic is an open secret and witches and warlocks are (mostly) welcome. With a new gourmet dinner delivery business—and a touch of magic in her recipes—Mia’s hopes are high. Even when her ex’s little sister, Christina, arrives looking for a place to stay, Mia takes it in stride.

But her first catering job takes a distasteful turn when her client’s body is found, stabbed and stuffed under the head table. Mia’s shocked to learn that she’s a suspect—and even more so when she realizes she’s next on a killer’s list. With Christina, along with Mia’s meddling grandma, in the mix, she’ll have to find out which of the town’s eccentric residents has an appetite for murder…before this fresh start comes to a sticky end. . . .

Includes Recipes!

About Lynn Cahoon

Lynn Cahoon is the author of the NYT and USA Today best-selling Tourist Trap cozy mystery series. She also pens the Cat Latimer series, the Farm to Fork series, and the Kitchen Witch series. Small town setting, big time fun with a bit of murder to keep it interesting. Romance novels are published under the pen name, Lynn Collins. She lives in a small river town like Mark Twain with her husband and three fur kids..

Author Links

• Goodreads –http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5857424.Lynn_Cahoon
• Twitter – https://twitter.com/LynnCahoon
• Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LynnCahoonAuthor
• Amazon author page – http://www.amazon.com/Lynn-Cahoon/e/B0082PWOAO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
• Website – http://lynncahoon.com/

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Google Play 

   a Rafflecopter giveaway

Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading One Poison Pie by Lynn Cahoon. This book is the first in the Kitchen Witch Mystery series and was released last month.

Mia Malone is not like other witches. She's a kitchen witch, reveling in food and creating comfort in it. That's why after leaving her cheating almost fiance and business partner, Mia's arrived in her grandmother's hometown of Magic Springs in order to convert the town's old school house into a cooking school and catering business. But things aren't off to a smooth start. The developer who also wanted to buy the school has warned her away and Mia's first customer is murdered before her first event! Mia will have to trust her culinary magick in order to root out the malevolence that's in Magic Springs.

 

A Field Guide to Homicide - A Review & Giveaway

Review

A FIELD GUIDE TO HOMICIDE by Lynn Cahoon

The Sixth Cat Latimer Mystery

A hike with Cat Latimer's latest retreat writers leads to the discovery of a dead body. It's no accident and it's not just any body. It turns out to be an old army buddy of Seth's, a buddy who had supposedly died in Germany. Why was Chance living off grid? Why did he stage his own death all those years ago? Seth has never talked about his time in Germany and seems reluctant to say anything now. But is it a coincidence that there's a reunion in town for Seth's platoon?

Comprised of couples, Cat's retreat has a different vibe and so does this book. While there is a mystery here, and an interesting one at that, most of the book deals with the business and art of writing as well as secrets between the main characters. I like that Cat doesn't go hurling herself into a police investigation, but quietly uncovers information, some even at the request of her uncle. I was surprised that there were so few pages left before the mystery was suddenly resolved. Like Cat's retreat, the different vibe doesn't mean bad, just different.

The characters are the heart of the Cat Latimer series. There is also a lot of character growth and development in this sixth entry to the series. Watching them grow and adapt is just as interesting as contemplating the mystery. While I enjoy reading all the inside information about writing as a career, I wonder if the books are becoming more a primer for would be writers than a puzzle for mystery readers.

A FIELD GUIDE FOR HOMICIDE is a character driven mystery that takes a look at secrets and questions just how well we know those we call friends.

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A Field Guide to Homicide (A Cat Latimer Mystery) by Lynn Cahoon

About A Field Guide To Homicide

A Field Guide to Homicide (A Cat Latimer Mystery)  

Cozy Mystery 6th in Series  

Publisher: Kensington (January 28, 2020)  

Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages 

Cat Latimer and her writer’s retreat group go on a hiking trip—but a murderer has been lurking off the beaten path . . .

Cat’s sweetheart, Seth, is going all out on an outing into the local mountains—for the benefit of the writing group Cat’s hosting at her Colorado B&B. But when they try to identify some plant and animal life, they find death instead. The body belongs to a man with a gold claim a few miles away. Instead of striking it rich, he’s been struck down.

To his surprise, Seth recognizes the victim from his military days—and up to now believed he’d already died during his last tour of duty. Now Cat has to solve this mystery before the killer takes a hike . . .''

About Lynn Cahoon

 
Lynn Cahoon is the award-winning author of several New York Times and USA Today bestselling cozy mystery series.

• Lynn Cahoon is the award-winning author of several New York Times and USA Today bestselling cozy mystery series. The Tourist Trap series is set in central coastal California with six-holiday novellas releasing in 2018–2019. She also pens the Cat Latimer series available in mass market paperback. Her newest series, the Farm to Fork mystery series, debuted in 2018. She lives in a small town like the ones she loves to write about with her husband and two fur babies. Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com.

She lives in a small town like the ones she loves to write about with her husband and two fur babies.

 

Author Links

• Goodreads –http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5857424.Lynn_Cahoon
• Twitter – https://twitter.com/LynnCahoon
• Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LynnCahoonAuthor
• Amazon author page – http://www.amazon.com/Lynn-Cahoon/e/B0082PWOAO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
• Website – http://lynncahoon.com/

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Google Play

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Facebook Friends Forever - A Guest Post & Sconed to Death Review

I'm pleased to welcome Lynn Cahoon back to Cozy Up With Kathy. Lynn writes the Cat Latimer Mystery series. SCONED TO DEATH is the fifth book in the series and was released this week.

Facebook Friends Forever.

Lynn Cahoon

Social media is the bane of my existence at times. At other times, I realize how grateful I am for the multitude of friends I’ve made over the years on Facebook. And the number of friends I’ve reconnected with because of Facebook.

Back in the day, you’d meet a friend at camp or at a convention and swear to be pen pals forever. If your experience is anything like mine, there would be a few letters back and forth, then real life would interfere and I’d lose the address and the friend.

Now, when you meet someone you click with, you can key their phone number in your cell while you’re still face to face. And also friend them on Facebook so you not only don’t lose connection, but you also know exactly when their plane left the airport that afternoon. Because they posted a pic of their new airport friend, the pilot.

It’s different making and keeping friends now, but I’m so excited about the possibilities. I love scrolling through my FB feed and checking out (ahem, spying) on my friends’ lives. Sometimes it feels like competition, but when it’s good, I can relate to the post. I feel that too. So it gets a like or a heart or a sad face.

When I lost my boys this January (Homer and Demon were my long term fur babies – 14 and 19 years old) I posted my grief on Facebook. Having Homer attacked, I had people supporting my anger and fear. When I had to put him down, people told me stories of their pets. And when, less than a month later, Demon, my old man, died from a broken heart, they held me up again.

And when we added to our family with the new pups, everyone celebrated with us.

So when I met my FB friends in real life, I’m overjoyed. So if I haven’t told you this lately, thank you. Thanks for reading my books, thanks for liking my posts, and thank you for sharing your life events with me. Together, we can do anything.

So if you love cozies, please consider SCONED TO DEATH. I’d love to keep this series going and my publisher needs to see numbers to do that. Your help and support is appreciated.

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Review

SCONED TO DEATH by Lynn Cahoon

The Fifth Cat Latimer Mystery

Local baker Dee Dee Meyer decides to make life difficult for the writer's retreat calling in supposed health violations after threatening Shauna and accusing her of stealing her scone recipe. But Dee Dee has troubles of her own when a famous chef from Denver is found murdered in her bakery. While Cat hosts a group of cozy mystery writers from Chicago she quietly starts to look into the life of the recently killed chef. What was he doing in Aspen Hills? Who wanted him dead? The girlfriend he recently left? His sister-in-law, a former friend of Cat's who rumor has it was sleeping with him? Cat quietly tries to put the puzzle together as she runs her latest retreat, helping her guests with more than just writers' tips.

Jealousy plays a major role in the fifth Cat Latimer Mystery. Jealousy finds its way out of hurt, control, revenge, and low self esteem by various characters, some not even seen on the page. While jealousy may be the motivating emotion here, it's be no means the only one. It's the realistic depiction of emotions that makes SCONED TO DEATH so moving. I love the fact that Cat gets angry and that she broadcasts it, even when trying, at times, to be discreet! We get to see Shauna slowly coming to terms with her grief. Life is good, but certainly not perfect for these women and the book is not afraid to show it.

I was absolutely loving this book, until I came across a major pet peeve. In an exciting penultimate scene the killer's eyes are described as being "bright with madness". I wish that authors would remember that killing people does not make a person insane. There may have been some delusional behavior with this particular killer, but there's enough of a stigma with mental illness without adding to it by having madness in the murderer's eyes.

SCONED TO DEATH is a well plotted character driven mystery. Interesting subplots enhance the story along with a subtle message about domestic violence. You are not alone and there is help.

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Sconed to Death
Cat Latimer 5
May 28th. 2019

Cat Latimer pursues a scone-cold killer who iced a top chef in a local bakery . . .

Cat has a full plate at her Aspen Hills Warm Springs Resort, as a group of aspiring cozy mystery authors arrives for a writers retreat. So when baker Dee Dee Meyer stirs up trouble by filing a false complaint with the health inspector against the B&B—all because she insists Cat's best friend Shauna stole her recipes—Cat marches into the shop to confront her.

But Dee Dee's about to have her own batch of trouble. Greyson Finn—a celebrity chef and, until today, one of Denver's most eligible bachelors—has been found dead in her bakery. Cat's uncle Pete, who happens to be the chief of police, warns her not to engage in any half-baked sleuthing. But as her curiosity rises, Cat's determined to discover who served the chef his just desserts—before the killer takes a powder . . .

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Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H1ZCS2Z/

Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sconed-to-death-lynn-cahoon/1129474184?ean=9781496716842

Apple Books https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sconed-to-death/id1435006524?mt=11

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/sconed-to-death

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Bio

Lynn Cahoon is the award-winning author of several NYT and USA Today best-selling cozy mystery series. The Tourist Trap series is set in central coastal California with six holiday novellas releasing in 2018-2019. She also pens the Cat Latimer series available in mass market paperback. Her newest series, the Farm to Fork mystery series, released in 2018. She lives in a small town like the ones she loves to write about with her husband and two fur babies. Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com

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Media links.

· Goodreads -http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5857424.Lynn_Cahoon

· Twitter - https://twitter.com/LynnCahoon

· Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/LynnCahoonAuthor

· website - http://lynncahoon.com/

· Amazon author page - http://www.amazon.com/Lynn-Cahoon/e/B0082PWOAO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Currently Reading...

I just finished reading Sconed to Death by Lynne Cahoon. This book is the fifth book in the Cat Latimer Mystery series and was released yesterday.

Local baker Dee Dee Meyer decides to make life difficult for the writer's retreat calling in supposed health violations after threatening Shauna and accusing her of stealing her scone recipe. But Dee Dee has troubles of her own when a famous chef from Denver is found murdered in her bakery. While Cat hosts a group of cozy mystery writers from Chicago she quietly starts to look into the life of the recently killed chef. What was he doing in Aspen Hills? Who wanted him dead? The girlfriend he recently left? His sister-in-law, a former friend of Cat's who rumor has it was sleeping with him? Cat quietly tries to put the puzzle together as she runs her latest retreat, helping her guests with more than just writers tips.

Location, Location, Location - A Deadly Southern Charm Guest Post & Review

As the President of Murder on Ice, the Western and Central New York chapter of Sisters in Crime I m pleased to welcome several members of the Central Virginia chapter as they talk about their anthology DEADLY SOUTHERN CHARM.

Location, Location, Location – Deadly Southern Charm

The short stories in Deadly Southern Charm were written by Sisters in Crime – Central Virginia members. This is our chapter’s third mystery anthology. The themes change, but all are full of good mysteries that can be read individually or as a collection.

All of the stories had to have a female sleuth and be set somewhere in the southern United States. Our authors and editors are:

Frances Aylor, CFA combines her investing experience and love of travel in her financial thrillers. MONEY GRAB is the first in the series.  www.francesaylor.com

Mollie Cox Bryan is the author of cookbooks, articles, essays, poetry, and fiction.  An Agatha Award nominee, she lives in Central Virginia.  www.molliecoxbryan.com

Lynn Cahoon is the NYT and USA Today author of the best-selling Tourist Trap, Cat Latimer and Farm-to-Fork mystery series. www.lynncahoon.com

J. A. Chalkley is a native Virginian. She is a writer, retired public safety communications officer, and a member of Sisters in Crime.

Stacie Giles, after a career as a political scientist, linguist, and CIA analyst, is now writing historical cozies with a twist.  Her first short story is in honor of her grandfather who was a policeman in Memphis in the 1920s.

Barb Goffman works as a freelance crime-fiction editor to support her short-story habit. She's won the Agatha, Macavity, and Silver Falchion awards for her short stories, and is a twenty-three-time finalist for US crime-writing awards. She lives in Winchester, Virginia. www.barbgoffman.com

Libby Hall is a communication analyst with a consulting firm in Richmond, Virginia.  She is also a blogger, freelance writer, wife, and mother of two. 

Bradley Harper is a retired Army pathologist.  Library Journal named his debut novel, A KNIFE IN THE FOG, Debut of the Month for October 2018, and a finalist for the 2019 Edgar Award for Best First Novel by an American Author.  www.bharperauthor.com

Sherry Harris is the Agatha Award-nominated author of the Sarah Winston Garage Sale mystery series and is the president of Sisters in Crime.www.sherryharrisauthor.com

Maggie King penned the Hazel Rose Book Group mysteries. Her short stories appear in the Virginia is for Mysteries and 50 Shades of Cabernet anthologies. www.maggieking.com

Kristin Kisska is a member of International Thriller Writers and James River Writers, and programs chair of the Sisters in Crime – Central Virginia chapter. www.kristinkisska.com

Samantha McGraw has a love of mysteries and afternoon tea. She lives in Richmond with her husband and blogs at Tea Cottage Mysteries.www.samanthamcgraw.com

K.L. Murphy is a freelance writer and the author of the Detective Cancini Mysteries.  She lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband, four children, and two dogs.www.Kellielarsenmurphy.com

Genilee Swope Parente has written the romantic mystery The Fate Series with her mother F. Sharon Swope. The two also have several collections of short stories. www.swopeparente.com

Deb Rolfe primarily writes mystery novels. This is her first published short story. She and her husband enjoy life in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Ronald Sterling is the author of six books and draws upon his colorful and varied life experience as a U.S. Airman, saloonkeeper, private detective, realtor, and New Jersey mayor.

S.E. Warwick, in the last century earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies. Ever since, she has been trying to decipher the American enigma.

Heather Weidner is the author of the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries.  She has short stories in the Virginia is for Mysteries series, 50 SHADES OF CABERNET and TO FETCH A THIEF.  She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and Jack Russell terriers.  www.heatherweidner.com

Our editors are:

Mary Burton is a New York Times, USA Today and Kindle best-selling author.  She is currently working on her latest suspense. www.maryburton.com

Mary Miley is a historian and writer with 14 nonfiction books and 5 mystery novels to her credit. www.marymileytheobald.com

The stories in DEADLY SOUTHERN CHARM are all set in the South. Do you have a favorite Southern mystery?

Heather: I love learning about different locales with regional mysteries. My favorite southern ones are by Sherry Harris, Maya Corrigan, and Ellen Byron.

Lynn: You know, I don’t really think of books divided up by regions. Thinking about a few I like, Julie Chase has a fun cozy set in New Orleans. Charlene Harris (of course.) And Laura Child’s scrapbooking mysteries also set in New Orleans.

Mollie: I’m with Lynn on this. I don’t think of books that way. I do love the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. Also, I love Rita Mae Brown's mysteries.

Frances: While traveling in Hilton Head a number of years ago, I visited a local bookstore selling mysteries by Kathryn Wall. She’s a Northerner who retired to South Carolina’s Low Country and has written 13 books in her series featuring financial planner Bay Tanner. The first one I read was In for a Penny, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

As an author, do you have a favorite quote from one of your books or stories?

Heather: This is my favorite quote from my story, “Art Attack” in Deadly Southern Charm. “I love that goblet,” Ilsa said. “It’s irresistible to a specific type of man—the greedy and dishonest sort who see its legend as a challenge…"

Lynn: For me, this quote from Cat Latimer, female protagonist of A Story to Kill, Book 1 of the Cat Latimer series, sums up my love of writing and being an author quite nicely.  “I love this office. I always wanted to write here. Not grade papers, not work on lesson plans, just write the stories in my head.”

Frances: This is from “The Girl in the Airport” in Deadly Southern Charm: The storm system had hit Atlanta around three o’clock that afternoon, part of a wide mass of squalls that muscled in from the Atlantic and quickly smothered the entire East Coast. Powerful winds slammed against the airport terminal as churning black clouds dumped torrential rains onto the tarmac. The “on time” flight notices on the departure board flipped to “delayed” – first one, then three, then all the rest, succumbing one after another like helpless victims of a particularly contagious strain of flu.

DEADLY SOUTHERN CHARM is an anthology that features female protagonists. Who is your favorite fictional female character? Why?

Mollie: Definitely Eve in the JD Robb “In Death” series. Talk about a strong female character!

Heather: I like mysteries with strong female protagonists. Nancy Drew was my first favorite sleuth. She was young, smart, and had the freedom to solve crimes that the adults couldn’t. She was my gateway sleuth to other mysteries.

Lynn: I really loved following Diana Bishop’s character in A Discovery of Witches. The book is part mystery, part romance, definitely paranormal, and part historical. Diana is the character I want to be when I grow up – a researching academic with a magic problem.

Frances: A current favorite is Ruth Galloway, a forensic archeologist in a mystery series by British writer Elly Griffiths. Ruth is a very approachable character. She’s smart, career-oriented and professionally competent, but struggles in her personal life to live up to the expectations of her family.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LethalLadiesWrite/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LethalLadiesCVA?lang=en

Website: https://www.sistersincrimecentralvirginia.com/anthologies

 

BOOK LINKS

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Southern-Charm-Mystery-Anthology/dp/1479448397

PRAISE FOR THE ANTHOLOGY

Deadly Southern Charm is a keep-you-up-at-night collection loaded with well-crafted characters and perfect plotting by some of today’s best mystery writers. Brava!

USA Today and NYT Best-selling author, Ellery Adams 

Deliciously devious and absolutely delightful, these marvelous stories will keep you captivated! Sweeter than sweet tea on the surface, but with smartly sinister secrets only a true southern writer can provide.  What a joy to read!

Hank Phillippi Ryan best-selling Agatha and Mary Higgins Clark Awards winner

This collection of short crime fiction charms even as the stories immerse you in murder, revenge, and deadly deeds. Set all over the south, from Virginia to North and South Carolina, in Atlanta, Memphis, and New Orleans, the stories by eighteen authors engage and entertain with rich imagery and dialog from the region - and nefarious plots, too. Pour a glass of sweet tea and settle in on the porch swing for a fabulous read.

Edith Maxwell, Agatha and Macavity Awards nominee

This can’t-put-it-down collection of mystery short stories is flavored with the oft-eerie ambiance of the South, where the most genteel manners may hide a dark and murderous intent. Enjoy Deadly Southern Charm with a Mint Julep in hand – a strong one. 

Ellen Byron, USA Today best-selling author, Agatha and Daphne Awards nominee and Lefty winner

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Review

DEADLY SOUTHERN CHARM is a collection of short stories showcasing the dark underside of the South, what's hidden beneath that Southern charm and gentility. There's strength, there's vengeance, and there's murder.

The short stories found here are quite brief, you can easily enjoy them like bon bons, popping one into your mouth before bed, although perhaps keeping a nightlight on as you close the book. There are a range of styles here as well, some cozy, some definitely not, but certainly something for everyone.

One of my favorite stories was "Cayce's Treasures" by Lynn Cahoon which provided a strong set of characters richly developed in such a short space of time. "Keepsakes" by J. A. Chalkley provided an intense atmosphere along with an unexpected ending leaving me with a chill.

DEADLY SOUTHERN CHARM brings together a variety of quick reads that ooze Southern sweetness dipped in venom.