An Interview in Terror With Giveaway

I'm pleased  to welcome Marla Cooper to the blog today. Marla writes the Destination Wedding Mystery series. Terror in Taffeta, the first in the series, was released earlier this year.

Kathy: Kelsey McKenna is a wedding planner. Have you, or would you, use a wedding planner for the big day?

MC: I didn’t! I’m more the DIY type, and I loved planning my wedding. But I imagine if I were as busy as I am now, I might have been happy to have someone else take over. The right wedding planner will make sure the event really reflects who you are. Plus, they come in handy if you need someone to help solve a murder.

Kathy: In Terror in Taffeta, Kelsey is working a destination wedding in Mexico. Destination weddings are quite the thing. Would you consider having one? If so, where would you go?

MC: I would love to get married in Italy. I was invited to a destination wedding on the Amalfi Coast and, in retrospect, I can’t believe I didn’t go! My other choice would be a castle in Ireland. And also, the castle would be haunted, because what could be cooler than having a ghost at your wedding?

Kathy: I must ask. What is a tequila donkey?

MC: What, you mean everyone doesn’t have a tequila donkey at their wedding? It’s actually a Mexican tradition in which a burro leads the wedding procession through town. In addition to colorful blankets and flowers, he also comes bearing bottles of tequila from which the guests can do shots—errr, sip daintily.  

Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?

MC: I like the idea of mysteries because it’s much easier to keep the plot moving along when there’s a murderer on the loose. And I chose cozies over other types of mysteries because it’s almost impossible for me to be too serious for too long. I like to incorporate humor into everything I do, and cozies are known for having a lighter touch.

Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

MC: This is my first foray into fiction, but I have written lots of other things. I’m a copywriter by day, which means I’ve written web copy, radio spots, print ads… you may have even seen a TV spot I wrote at some point. I also spent many years writing travel guidebooks, which meant weeks on the road followed by a month or so writing about it. I got a couple of gigs ghostwriting nonfiction books for Chronicle Books—one of which led to me writing a mystery! (More on that in a minute…)

Kathy: Tell us about your series.

MC: Terror in Taffeta is the first book in the Destination Wedding Mystery series. As you may have guessed, the main character, Kelsey McKenna, is a destination wedding planner, which means each book takes place in a different locale. Kelsey is a problem solver by nature, so when one of the bridesmaids drops over in the  middle of the wedding ceremony, naturally she ends up getting involved (against her better judgment). The second book, Dying on the Vine, which comes out next March, finds Kelsey in the California wine country.

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

MC: I love Kelsey’s best friend, Brody. He’s a wedding photographer so they get to work together a lot, and the two of them have great banter together. He’s based on a couple of my real-life friends, so writing a Brody scene is kind of like getting to hang out with them.

I also loved writing the mother of the bride, Mrs. Abernathy. She’s totally pushy and demanding, and I imagine most wedding planners have encountered someone like her in the line of duty. For some reason, she was really easy for me to picture, so her scenes were always so easy to write, and she always made me laugh.

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

MC: I did! Several years ago, I got a job ghostwriting a nonfiction book on how to plan a destination wedding. While the wedding planner was telling me about her job, I remember sitting across from her thinking, "Going off to foreign countries with people you don't really know? Everyone expecting you to fix things when they go wrong? This is the perfect setup for a murder mystery!"

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

MC: It’s tempting to name some of the fabulous, warm, funny and awesome authors I’ve met who are part of the mystery community, but I’m going to go with people I don’t actually know.

Short story author Aimee Bender, because her brain fascinates me. Carolyn Keene, so we could talk about the Girl Detective. Armistead Maupin, because his Tales of the City books were what made me think it would be fun to write a book someday (and I’m sure he has some great stories!). And Agatha Christie, because if I didn't everyone would say, "Why didn't you invite Agatha Christie?"

Kathy: What are you currently reading?

MC: I’ve been hard at work on my second book, Dying on the Vine, so I haven’t had much time for reading lately. But I do have a pretty juicy collection waiting for me on my Kindle—not to mention the stack of books I brought back from Malice Domestic. It’s going to be hard to know where to start!

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

MC: Sure! When it’s time to take a break from writing, I pick up my ukulele. I’ve never played a musical instrument before, so it’s been really fun using a different part of my brain. I love being able to pick it up and just play. I don't have to be good at it. Nobody will ever hear it. It's just for fun. And there's no physical proof left behind if I fail—unlike pottery or knitting or any of my other abandoned craft projects.

I’ve also been a little obsessed with genealogy lately. I have a great grandmother who seems to have just appeared on this earth at the age of twenty, because I can’t find any evidence of her existence before she married my great grandfather. I can spend hours on ancestry.com hunting down leads. I sure hope one of these days I have a breakthrough that will make it all worthwhile!

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

MC: Half and half, because coffee is essential to my job. String cheese, because it’s great for those moments when I’m suddenly ravenous because I forgot to eat. Peanut butter, because I like to eat it with apples. And a bottle of champagne because you never know when you might need to celebrate.

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

MC: Yes! Part of the fun of writing about destination weddings is thinking about settings. So after I finish Dying on the Vine, which is set in the California wine country, I get to start thinking about where to set Book Three. A couple of people have mentioned Reykjavik, which would be great because I’d “have to” travel there for research, but a haunted castle in Ireland would also be pretty fun!

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

MC: Connecting with readers. It makes my day when I get an email from someone who read the book and liked it. It’s one thing when your friends read it, but it’s kind of mind-boggling to think about some stranger reading it and enjoying it. I also love hearing about my book getting to go on vacation with people. So far this summer, I know it’s been to Canada and France. I hope at least someone read it on a beach!

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Review - The Grim Steeper

Review

The Grim Steeper by Amanda Cooper

The Third Teapot Collector Mystery

After a brief, and fairly disastrous, trip back to the Hamptons to work in an upscale restaurant Sophie Taylor returns to Gracious Grove and her grandmother, friends, and Auntie Rose's Victorian Tea House. While cooking again brings her joy, there is trouble in the Finger Lakes. Neighbor and fellow tea shop owner Thelma Mae is up to her old tricks, but worse than that her friend (possibly more than just a friend) Jason is thought to be involved in a grading scandal at the local college. Trying to help, Sophie sticks her foot in her mouth on more than one occasion, possibly exacerbating the situation. When the dean is found dead-right outside Auntie Rose's-Sophie knows she has to make things right and find the killer. Faced with a hotbed of collegiate intrigue and drama, Sophie will have to sort through what's relevant and what's not, especially if she wants Jason to stay in her life.  

The Grim Steeper showcases the harsh realities of the academic life. Oftentimes it's a place where politics and publicity trump learning and athletics  is valued over academics. Collegiate intrigue, shoddy reporting, a grading scandal, and the search for a scapegoat add to this volatile setting creating the perfect background for murder.

One of the most important things this book, indeed in the whole Teapot Collector Mystery series, tries to impart is the importance of doing what you love where you are loved. Sophie could work in an upscale restaurant making good money, surrounded by influential people. However, the reality is the stress level is astronomical and the majority of the people, influential or not, are egotistical jerks  The stress, the pressure, and the negative people aren't worth the lifestyle for Sophie. Being the chef at Auntie Rose's gives her the flexibility to be as creative as she'd like in the kitchen surrounded by family, friends, and positive influences; something we should all keep in mind in our own lives.

Cooper really hits her stride in this third book in the series. The writing is crisp and taut, the action driven by Sophie's need to help Jason, yet there is still room for a dose of humor. The mystery is complex (are there two separate mysteries or two mysteries intertwined into one) with many good suspects. While I can't say that I like all of Sophie's friends, their faults make an interesting dynamic and I would still enjoy a drive to the Finger Lakes to enjoy tea at Auntie Rose's, while being thankful I don't add sugar to mine!

Recipe and Tea Tips included.

This book will be released Tuesday, February 2, 2016.

Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading The Grim Steeper by Amanda Cooper. This book is the third in the Teapot Collector Mystery series and will be released next week!

After a brief, and fairly disastrous, trip back to the Hamptons to work in an upscale restaurant Sophie Taylor returns to Gracious Grove and her grandmother, friends, and Auntie Rose's Victorian Tea House. While cooking again brings her joy, there is trouble in the Finger Lakes. Neighbor and fellow tea shop owner Thelma Mae is up to her old tricks, but worse than that her friend (possibly more than just a friend) Jason is thought to be involved in a grading scandal at the local college. Trying to help, Sophie sticks her foot in her mouth on more than one occasion, possibly exacerbating the situation. When the dean is found dead-right outside Auntie Rose's-Sophie knows she has to make things right and find the killer. Faced with a hotbed of collegiate intrigue and drama, Sophie will have to sort through what's relevant and what's not, especially if she wants Jason to stay in her life.

Recipe and Tea Tips included.

Spotlight - Shadow of a Spout

Today I'd like to shine a spotlight on Shadow of a Spout by Amanda Cooper. This book is the second in the Teapot Collector Mystery series and was released in April of this year.

From the back cover:

Avid teapot collector Rose Freemont takes a break from her Victorian tea house only to fins a new mystery brewing elsewhere...

Leaving her home in Gracious Grove behind her, Rose is off to the annual convention of the International Teapot Collector's Society. Her granddaughter, Sophie, is minding the tea house while she's away. Rose is eager for tough cookie Zunia Pettigrew to appraise a prized antique teapot she believes may be a holy water vessel from China.

But when Zunia declares the pot a fake, Rose is really steamed. After Zunia is found dead beside Rose's dinged-in teapot, Sophie must rush to her grandmother's aid and find the real killer-before Rose is steeped in any more trouble...

Recipe and tea tips included.

A Cup of Tea with Amanda Cooper

I'm so pleased to welcome Amanda Cooper to the blog today. Amanda writes the Teapot Collectors Mystery series, as well as the Vintage Kitchen Mystery series and the Merry Muffin Mystery series which she writes under the name Victoria Hamilton. Shadow of a Spout, the second in the Teapot Collector's Mystery series was just released last week!

 Kathy: Was there a specific inspiration for Shadow of a Spout?

AC: I came across a beautiful copper and metal ‘teapot’ when I was doing research, and the more I looked at it, the more fascinating I found it. It became the ‘teapot’ that Rose takes to the convention to get authenticated. I guess you could say that was the inspiration.


Kathy: In Shadow of a Spout Rose goes to the annual convention of the International Teapot Collector’s Society. Have you ever been to a convention of any sort?

AC:  I am most definitely not a convention-al kind of gal, pardon the pun. No, I’ve never been to a convention, and may never. I think it would be cool to go to a mystery writer’s convention, but I’m a bit of an introvert. The thought of being ‘on’ for days just exhausts me.


Kathy: If there was an International Teapot Collector’s Society, would you join and attend meetings and conventions?

AC: No, can’t say I would. I’m not much of a joiner. However… if there was a teapot exhibit at a museum, I would just love to attend! I adore teapots, so research is a breeze. I don’t have much room in my home, though, so I collect pictures of teapots more than teapots themselves.


Kathy: Have you ever had an item you thought was valuable only to discover it was a fake?

AC: No, however, I always have the feeling that the things I value in my home, those items I think are worth something, probably aren’t! I love watching Antiques Roadshow, and it always seems to be the plainest, ugliest clay pots that are worth the most.


Kathy: What's your favorite part of a Victorian tea?

AC: Well, you’d think it would be the tea, right? And I do love tea. But I adore sweets, so the scones are my number one, because they’re not too sweet.


Kathy: Do you have a favorite type of tea?

AC: My go-to tea is just plain, black Tetley, the round teabags. In the US it’s called Tetley British Blend, but here in Canada it’s just… Tetley.


Kathy: Are you able to share any future plans for Sophie?

AC: The end of Shadow of a Spout indicates a change in the air for Sophie, but you’ll just have to wait and see. However… it’s not the end for her in Gracious Grove. You just know she can’t stay away from Nana and Jason and the rest!


Kathy: Will you share any other upcoming books?

AC: It’s a busy year, as always. As Victoria Hamilton I write two other series, and both have releases upcoming. Book 3 of the Merry Muffin Mysteries, Death of an English Muffin, comes out July 7th, and Book 5 of the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries, White Colander Crime, November 3rd.


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Title: Shadow of a Spout
Series: Teapot Collectors Mysteries Book #2
Author: Amanda Cooper, aka Victoria Hamilton
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Pub. Date: April 7th, 2015

Shadow of a Spout:

Avid teapot collector Rose Freemont takes a break from her Victorian tea house only to find a new mystery brewing elsewhere...

Leaving her home in Gracious Grove behind her, Rose is off to the annual convention of the International Teapot Collector’s Society. Her granddaughter Sophie is minding the tea house while she’s away. Rose is eager for tough cookie Zunia Pettigrew to appraise a prized antique teapot she believes may be a holy water vessel from China.

But when Zunia declares the pot a fake, Rose is really steamed. After Zunia’s found dead beside Rose’s dinged-in teapot, Sophie must rush to her grandmother’s aid and find the real killer—before Rose is steeped in any more trouble…

********************************************************************************

To learn more about Amanda Cooper and the Teapot Collector Mysteries see these pages:

Website: http://www.victoriahamiltonmysteries.com

Killer Characters – 21st of each month: http://www.killercharacters.com

Victoria Hamilton/Amanda Cooper on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorVictoriaHamilton

Teapot Collector Mysteries on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amanda-Coopers-Teapot-Collector-Mysteries/296605927102353

Teapot Collector Mysteries on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/vintagekitchenm/teapot-collector-mysteries/

Chatting with Victoria Hamilton

Join Victoria Hamilton and me as we talk about her latest mystery, Muffin But Murder, and other things!

Kathy: Merry has an eclectic group of friends of various ages, both in NYC and Autumn Vale. Is your circle of friends as eclectic with people from different generations? Do have both Shilos and Pishes?

VH: I have a group of friends whose ages range from fiftyish to mid-seventies, and acquaintances much younger. I don’t exactly have Shilos and Pishes, but my friends are quirky in their own unique ways, as we all are.


Kathy: Merry Wynter, who previously resided in NYC, now lives in a castle in the Finger Lakes region of NY. Jaymie Leighton lives in a 19th-century yellow-brick house on the Michigan/Ontario border but also stays in an island cottage. Sophie Taylor lives in an apartment above her grandmother's tea shop. If you could live in any of these places, which would you choose?

VH: What a great question! Sophie’s apartment is too tiny for me; I need storage… lots and lots of storage! I’d love to stay in Merry’s castle for a while, but I think it would get exhausting just running up and down stairs for stuff. And to clean!!! What a nightmare, not to mention the cost of running it, which is one of Merry’s main concerns. Ultimately I would love Jaymie’s house in Queensville, Michigan. I love everything about it, including the Belfast sink in the kitchen, the summer porch on the back and the long lawn ending in a parking lane behind.

But I kind of like Rose Tree Cottage, too… ;-)


Kathy: In Muffin But Murder Merry decorates the castle for a spooky soiree. Do you enjoy all things spooky? Do you like to decorate for Halloween?

VH: Actually no. I’m just not a fan of Halloween, and neither is Merry. (What a coincidence!) That’s why she tries to make it Hallowe’en Lite, though the coffin kind of lends itself to creepy!


Kathy: Was there a specific inspiration for Muffin But Murder?

VH: It was basically a continuation from Bran New Death. The story wasn’t quite done yet, so I just continued on. It started with the party shop in Ridley Ridge… I got a clear image of the place in my head, and knew where I was starting.


Kathy: Are you able to share any future plans for Merry?

VH: I’m in the thick of writing Book 3 right this minute! Merry is up to her ears in elderly ladies, amateur opera, snipey tea parties and Binny Turner still convinced there is treasure to be found in the castle! A whole passel of folks have moved in, and she’s tearing her hair out by the roots, right now. Oh, and muffins. Always muffins!


Kathy: Will you share any other upcoming books in any of your series?

VH: Dee-lighted! I just finished a copyedit of No Mallets Intended, Book 4 of the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries, out November 4th! I’m so excited, because the copyedit gave me the chance to go through it again, and I’m hoping that readers like what I’ve done. Jaymie is excited too because she gets to go hunting for another Hoosier cabinet! It’s definitely mostly mystery, but Jaymie’s love life is going to be in turmoil.


Kathy:A new interview section-this or that. Pick one of the 2 choices given.

Library or Bookstore: Library. I believe in libraries and contribute my books whenever I can, especially to small town libraries with a small budget. Libraries kept me going back in the poverty stricken days. I just love browsing, and I’d always leave with a heavy stack of books: fiction, art, history, cookbooks, you name it!!

Expositional or Continuing Story: Do you mean a series? I adore reading series, and have several that I follow. I can’t wait every year for another Sue Grafton!

Editing or Marketing: Dang… marketing I guess, because I love talking to readers and other writers! But editing is fun; I’ve written the book, so I’m not in a panic, and I just get to go through and clean up, rewrite, perfect. So… both??

TV or Film: TV. I’m a stay-at-home type.

Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate. With nuts.

Mountains or Beach: Beach. Mountains make me feel claustrophobic.

Tea or Coffee: Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon!

Cats or Dogs: Love dogs, but cats are just easier.

Summer or Winter: Fall.

Normal or Paranormal: Normal. Every time I try to write a paranormal, it turns out… normal. Mostly. Except for the werewolf series (Awaiting the Moon, etc.) I wrote several years back. Mwah-hah-hah!!

Vampire or Werewolf: Ah, well, there you go. Answered kind of in the previous question. Love wolves, so… werewolves, but only the kind that are actually beautiful wolves when they’ve shifted, not the standing-on-their-hind-legs, slavering, drooling and red-eyed kind of werewolf. Werewolves as heroes, I guess. Have a look at this page! http://donnaleasimpson.com/AwaitingSeries.html


Learn more about Victoria Hamilton and all her mystery series at: www.victoriahamiltonmysteries.com

Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading Tempest in a Teapot by Amanda Cooper. This book is the first in the Teapot Collector Mystery series and was just published this month. Sophie Taylor spent many wonderful summers with her grandmother in Gracious Grove, a small town in the Finger Lakes region of New York. When her restaurant in New York City fails she returns to help her grandmother and her Victorian Tea House. Sophie's childhood friend, Cissy, is getting married and although Cissy's grandmother, Thelma Mae, is a nasty woman who has a long standing grudge against Sophie's grandma, Cissy wants her bridal shower to be held at their tea house...which is next door to her own grandmother's competing one.

Things in Gracious Grove aren't quite as peaceful as the time spent here during her teens. Once known as Phil the Pill, Cissy's brother is still a ne'er do well, who wants to bring liquor to the dry town. (It was quite surprising to see that Gracious Grove is dry as the Finger Lakes is premier wine county.) There are other prickly characters as well. The biggest surprise (so far) comes at an engagement party for Cissy and her fiance held at La Belle Epoque, Thelma Mae's establishment. Sophie hears a scream and runs over only to find the mother of the groom writhing on the ground amidst cupcake remains. Yes...it's murder!

Amanda Cooper is also known as Victoria Hamilton. You'll want to check out all of her mysteries!

Welcome Amanda Cooper...AKA Victoria Hamilton

I was so excited about my birthday today that I completely forgot to post my interview with the wonderful Victoria Hamilton. Mea Culpa, Victoria. Victoria has been very busy, albeit less forgetful than me. Her latest book, and the first in a new series, Tempest in a Teapot, was released last week and she has the second book in her Merry Muffin Mystery series coming out next month. Please welcome Victoria back to Cozy Up With Kathy.

Kathy - Tempest in a Teapot was just released last week. Unlike the Merry Muffin and Vintage Kitchen series, you write the Teapot Mysteries under the name Amanda Cooper. Why the change in name?

VH – Actually, it is simply a technical issue. My fabulous editor at Berkley came up with the idea for the Teapot Collector Mysteries and wrote the synopsis for Tempest, after which I was given the opportunity to write the series. If I decided to move on from writing the series (NOT going to happen!) they could continue with another writer, who would continue using the author name, so I needed to come up with a new pseudonym. However… I picked a family name, so you just know I’m not letting this series go to anyone else!


Kathy - How do you juggle writing three cozy mystery series as well as the romances and historical mysteries you write under your real name, Donna Lea Simpson?

VH – It’s not easy at times. I’m lucky, though, because it allows me to be a full time author. Just like any job or being a stay-at-home parent, you have to juggle priorities, and I work harder at some times than others. I try to stay organized, which helps a lot, and I write everything down. I have a calendar open under my computer keyboard, and make notes as to what I’m doing what day. I write lists… what I need to do next. Ultimately, I have to rejig my schedule constantly and be flexible. I appreciate that folks are patient with me. I have a hundred deadlines, and I try not to miss any, but it does occasionally happen and I so appreciate timely reminders!


Kathy- I love having the Merry Muffin series set in my neck of the woods. I was thrilled to find out that you set your new series in the Finger Lakes region of New York; a region just a stone's throw away from me and one I visit often. How did you decide upon this location?

VH – I look for settings that inspire me. The original ‘book’ for the Teapot series set it in Maryland in an ocean front village, but I’ve never been anywhere close. I was given the freedom to choose, and the Finger Lakes fascinate me. The locale is so beautiful I felt like I could live there, and never want to leave!


Kathy- Jaymie Leighton collects vintage cookware, Sophie Freemont Taylor collects teapots, while Merry Wynter bakes muffins. How did cookware become a focus for your characters?

VH – I suppose it’s a combination of market-driven practicality and just writing what you know! Traditional mystery readers seem, for the most part, to enjoy cooking, or at least reading about cooking. I love to cook, and have collected vintage kitchen tools, old cookbooks, bowls, teapots, teacups… all of that. So it was a natural fit to combine my own loves into the cozy mysteries I write and hope readers love the same stuff I do! It seems to be working.


Kathy - Did you have a specific inspiration for your new Teapot Mystery series?

VH– Actually, I kind of did. In the summer of 2011 I went on a day trip to a village that had a wonderful tearoom. We had lunch there, and the owner displayed her collection of over 300 teapots on dressers, sideboards, shelves… everywhere! I spent time photographing and oohing and aahing over the collection. When the opportunity to write the Teapot Collector Mysteries came to me, I was so excited! I knew exactly what that tearoom would look like, so Auntie Rose’s Victorian Tea House was a place I long to visit and have lunch at!


Kathy- The second Merry Muffin book will be released next month (I can't wait!). Will you share any other upcoming books? Thanks for coming over to my blog-I love having you visit!

VH – Thanks so much, Kathy! Of course July 1st Muffin But Murder, Book 2 of the Merry Muffin Mysteries, comes out. I’m so excited about that and hope readers will love another visit to Wynter Castle and Autumn Vale as much as I do. In November Vintage Kitchen Mysteries #4, No Mallets Intended, comes out. There is a change in the air for Jaymie, and I sure hope readers are up for it! I had to go with her heart, and folks might be a little surprised at what happens both mystery wise and in Jaymie’s personal life!


~::~

About Tempest in a Teapot, Book 1 of the Teapot Collector Mysteries written as Amanda Cooper.

Sophie Freemont Taylor, failed restaurateur, chef and teapot collector, is at loose ends in Manhattan until she decides on the spur of the moment to return ‘home’ to Gracious Grove, a town in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Though not her real home town, it is where she finds respite at her grandmother’s establishment, the same place where Sophie fell in love with teapots, Auntie Rose’s Victorian Tea House. Her grandmother, Rose Freemont, aka ‘Nana’, welcomes her with open arms and twenty nine year old Sophie settles in to find her groove cooking again, even if it is ‘only’ tearoom fare. At the same time she reestablishes friendships with her childhood buddies Dana and Cissy, and her first love, Jason Murphy.

Life in Gracious Grove is never boring, but is not usually as spirited as it becomes when there is a murder at the tearoom next door, the establishment of cranky octogenarian Thelma Mae Earnshaw. Thelma has nursed a six decade long grudge against Nana, who she claims stole her beau, Harold Freemont, also known as Sophie’s grandfather and Nana’s late husband. But despite Thelma’s irascibility, Sophie feels compelled to help figure out who killed a local socialite with a baked goody at Thelma’s tearoom, Belle Époque. It’s unnerving that it occurred so close that Sophie heard the hubbub surrounding the murder by poison! Too soon the danger strikes close to home with an attack on her Nana, and Sophie races the clock to figure out what is going wrong in the pretty little town of Gracious Grove.

The Teapot Collector Mysteries continue in book 2 with Nana’s teapot collector group, the Silver Spouts, attending a collector conference in a nearby town. When someone is bashed over the head with Nana’s prized antique teapot and dies, Sophie rushes to the rescue once again, intent on saving her beloved grandmother from suspicion.

For more on Tempest in a Teapot and the Teapot Collector Mysteries, visit the series’ Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amanda-Coopers-Teapot-Collector-Mysteries/296605927102353

Learn more about Amanda Cooper, her alter ego Victoria Hamilton, and all her mystery series at: www.victoriahamiltonmysteries.com

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Amanda Cooper is the pseudonym for bestselling mystery author Victoria Hamilton. She writes the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries and the Merry Muffin Mysteries as Hamilton, in addition to the Teapot Collector Mysteries as Amanda Cooper.

Cooper’s long time love of mystery novels started at age twelve when her mom handed her an Agatha Christie book and said ‘Read!’. Thousands of novels later Cooper is still reading. And writing.

But besides those two favorite pastimes, Cooper also enjoys collecting vintage kitchenalia, old books, teacups, teapots and other ephemera. Perfume is her secret addiction. She likes to cook, hates to clean, and enjoys time spent with friends chatting over wine or tea. She loves crafts, loathes boredom, and her guilty pleasure is ‘reality’ TV, which she knows is largely fake but enjoys anyway.

Cooper thinks that people are the most interesting study of all, and more than anything, she loves to hear from readers, not just about her books but about anything and everything.