Tea With Jam & Dread - A Spotlight

Today I'd like to shine a spotlight on a recent release. Tea with Jam & Dread by Vicki Delany is the sixth book in the Tea by the Sea Mystery series and was released last week.

Blurb: 

Long ago, Lily’s grandmother Rose worked as a kitchen maid at Thornecroft Castle, and now Elizabeth, dowager countess of Frockmorton, is celebrating her one hundredth birthday. Rose still has fond feelings for her onetime employer, so a group trip to Yorkshire is planned. It’s also an opportunity for Lily to visit her boyfriend, who’s currently working in England—and to indulge in some British tea.

Much has changed, however, and the ancestral home is now a luxury hotel, which will be closed for a week to accommodate the big bash, much to the chagrin of Elizabeth’s grandson, Julien—leading Lily to overhear an argument among the younger generation about the fate of the family fortune. Little do they know that Elizabeth plans to sell the famous Frockmorton Sapphires out of the family for the first time in centuries . . .

The icing on the cake comes when the jewels suddenly vanish—and things really go nuts when a party guest dies from an allergic reaction to almonds that someone smuggled into Lily’s coronation chicken sandwiches. Now she’ll have to scour the property to find out who would commit murder in such a manor . . .

The Sign of Four Spirits - Spotlight

Today I'd like to shine a spotlight on a new release in a series in which I am woefully far behind. The Sign of Four Spirits by Vicki Delany is the ninth book in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series.

Blurb:

When a psychic fair arrives in West London, Gemma Doyle, owner of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, wants nothing to do with it. But somehow, at the urging of Donald Morris, an enthusiastic Sherlockian, she finds herself talked into attending a séance, along with baker and best friend Jayne Wilson, store assistant, Ashleigh, and former pop star Bunny Leigh.

But to her surprise, Gemma finds herself banned from the séance and shown the door. Curious, she listens in from outside the room. The medium informs a disappointed Donald that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle will not be able to make it tonight. Then, Gemma hears a voice cut off, a cry for help, a scream. Gemma bursts into the library to see that someone has collapsed on the table--dead. The windows are all locked, and Gemma was guarding the only door. Someone in this room is a murderer. But who?

The game is once again afoot for Gemma Doyle, as she hunts a killer. But, this time, is the killer of flesh and blood or had the medium summoned doom from beyond the veil?

Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas - An Interview, Review, & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Vicky Delany back to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Vicky writes the Year-Round Christmas Mystery series. HAVE YOURSELF A DEADLY LITTLE CHRISTMAS is the sixth book in the series and will be released this week!

Kathy: In HAVE YOURSELF A DEADLY LITTLE CHRISTMAS the local amateur dramatic society is preparing a special musical production of A Christmas Carol. I love this short story and enjoy its many adaptations. Indeed, one of my favorite versions is a musical one-The Muppet Christmas Carol. What's your favorite version?

VD: My favorite is absolutely The Muppet Christmas Carol. We watch it regularly in my family and I’m happy to say that last Christmas I watched it with my grandchildren. So much fun. We have lines we regularly quote to each other. “Heat wave!” “You are such an idiot” in that exasperated voice.

Kathy: Have you ever been involved with a community theatre or dramatic society?

VD: Never.

Kathy: Was there a specific inspiration for this story?

VD: Nothing more than wanting to centre the story around a theatrical production which I thought would give a lot of range for conflict. I chose the musical version of A Christmas Carol specifically to give Merry’s mother, Aline, a big part in the book. She’s a retired Metropolitan opera soloist and I love playing her over-the-top diva-ness against Merry’s dad’s small-town personality and showing how opposites really can attract. 

Kathy: Christmas is my favorite holiday and I enjoy shopping throughout the year. If there's a Christmas shop I'll be a customer, no matter if it's December, July, or March! Do you scout out Christmas shops no matter the season?

VD: I’m more of a Holiday season only celebrator. I do my shopping in late November/early December. The tree goes up some time after December 20. As for Christmas shops, I like browsing, but I don’t seek them out. 

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

VD: At the moment, no. She’ll just keep running her shop and hanging out with her family and friends. And solve the occasional murder. Change is coming, however, to her friend Vicky Casey in the next book. So stay tuned!


Kathy: Will you share any other upcoming books?

VD: Happy to. The nineth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop book will be released in January, and it’s titled THE SIGN OF FOUR SPIRITS, so named because the inciting incident takes place at a seance. And then the eleventh Lighthouse Library book, by me as Eva Gates, will be out in June. It’s A STRANGER IN THE LIBRARY.

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Review

HAVE YOURSELF A DEADLY LITTLE CHRISTMAS by Vicki Delany

The Sixth Year-Round Christmas Mystery

Christmas is coming and Rudolph, NY is gearing up for its busiest season. The Year-Round Christmas town is counting on its production of a musical version of "A Christmas Carol" to make up for last year's debacle. With Merry’s mother, former opera star Aline Wilkinson, providing musical direction as well as performing, shows are quickly being sold out. But all is not Christmassy cheer with the amateur company. The new artistic director is throwing her money around, but making enemies with longstanding members, including the director and wardrobe mistress, and Tiny Tim is being played by a ten year old bully! The less Merry has to do with the amateur production the better, but when Mrs. Cratchit is murdered in her shop, she can’t help but get involved.

 

Christmas, theatre, and murder - three of my favorite things. I was filled with nostalgia when I discovered Rudolph's theatre group was putting on a production of a musical version of "A Christmas Carol" because decades ago I played Belle in a community theatre production. Having worked in theatre in my younger days I had to smile at the goings on of this group. With varying degrees of talent, inflated egos, and limited budget, community theatre makes the perfect ground for murder!

The fact that the victim may not have been the intended target leads to all manner of possibilities creating a thoroughly enjoyable mystery. I loved how Merry fully intended to leave the murder investigation to the professionals, but, well, things happen. While many of the characters are quite brusque, the relationships between Merry and Alan as well as Merry's parents are loving and wonderful to see.

A Christmas murder with theatrical flair, HAVE YOURSELF A DEADLY LITTLE CHRISTMAS is a holiday treat good year-round.

 

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 Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas (Year-Round Christmas Mystery) by Vicki Delany

About Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas

 

Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas (Year-Round Christmas Mystery)
Cozy Mystery 6th in Series
Setting - Rudolph New York
Crooked Lane Books (September 19, 2023)
Hardcover: ‎ 288 pages

It’s beginning to look a lot like murder in the sixth installment of this charming cozy mystery series, perfect for fans of Donna Andrews and Jacqueline Frost.

It’s the beginning of December in Rudolph, New York, America's Christmas Town, and business is brisk at Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, a gift and décor shop owned by Merry Wilkinson. The local amateur dramatic society is intensely preparing a special musical production of A Christmas Carol. But it’s not a happy set, as rivalries between cast and crew threaten the production. Tensions come to a head when a member of the group is found dead shortly after a shopping excursion to Mrs. Claus's Treasures. Was someone looking to cut out the competition? Everyone in the cast and crew is a potential suspect, including Aline, Merry’s mother, and Merry's shop assistant Jackie O'Reilly, who was desperate for a starring role. It could be curtains for Christmas—and for Merry—unless the killer can be ferreted out of the wings.

About Vicki Delany 

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. Author of more than fifty books, she is currently writing the Tea by the Sea mysteries, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, the Year-Round Christmas mysteries, and the Lighthouse Library series (as Eva Gates). Vicki is the recipient of the 2019 Derrick Murdoch Award for contributions to Canadian crime writing. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.

Author Links: 

Website – www.vickidelany.com  

Facebook – www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor; 

 Twitter: @vickidelany and@evagatesauthor  

Instagram: vickidelany  

Bookbub: Vicki Delany Books – BookBub  

Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Kobo - Bookshop.org - PenguinRandomHouse 

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Currently Reading...

I just finished reading Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas by Vicki Delany. This book is the sixth in the Year-Round Christmas Mystery series and will be released next week.

Christmas is coming and Rudolph, NY is gearing up for it’s busiest season. The Year-Round Christmas town is counting on its production of a musical version of "A Christmas Carol" to make up for last year's debacle. With Merry’s mother, former opera star Aline Wilkinson, providing musical direction as well as performing, shows are quickly being sold out. But all is not Christmassy cheer with the amateur company. The new artistic director is throwing her money around, but making enemies with longstanding members, including the director and wardrobe mistress, and Tiny Tim is being played by a ten year old bully! The less Merry has to do with the amateur production the better, but when Mrs. Cratchit is murdered in her shop, she can’t help but get involved.

Deadly Summer Nights - An Interview and Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Vicki Delany back to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Vicki starts a new series with DEADLY SUMMER NIGHTS. This book is the first in the Catskill Summer Resort Mystery series and will be released September 14, 2021.

 
Kathy: You start a new series with DEADLY SUMMER NIGHTS. Why choose the historical (albeit recent history) time period of the 1950s?

VD: Mainly because I thought it would be fun. I didn’t want to go too far back in time, and recent history is so easy to research. You can watch movies actually made in that time period and read books written then. Plus there are so many photographs. It makes research easy and fun! 

 

Kathy: What led you to the Catskills for this new series?

VD: The time frame came first. I was thinking of either the 1920s or the early ‘50s and once I thought of the ‘50s I thought Catskills and the heyday of the big resorts. It’s important in a cozy series to have a regular turnover of victims and suspects, so a hotel is perfect.

Kathy: The Catskill region was, and still is, a lovely resort area. Did you ever spend the summer in a similar place?

VD: I’ve spent a lot of time in the Muskoka region of Ontario. I would imagine they are much the same. Unfortunately my plans to explore the Catskills in the spring of 2020 came to naught, for obvious reasons (I’m Canadian) so I relied on books and the internet for the feel of the place.

Kathy: Was there a specific inspiration for this story?

VD: Nothing at all.


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?

VD: I’m a half and half. I’ll start a book completely free-flowing from the first word to get the characters and the beginning of the plot down. Then about ¼ in, maybe around the time of the murder, I stop and plot the rest out.


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?

VD: My favourite part is unquestionably travelling to bookstores and conferences and meeting readers and my fellow authors. Which is why the past year and a half has been so frustrating. Zoom and the like make up for that a bit, but it’s not the same. I dislike the immediacy of online efforts sometimes. It has to be done, when it has to be done and not when I’m ready to do it.


Kathy: Will you share any other upcoming books?

VD: Happy to. The Seventh Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery, A THREE BOOK PROBLEM, will be out in in January. The second Catskills Resort mystery, DEADLY DIRECTORS CUT, in March. Then the ninth Lighthouse Library book by me as Eva Gates, DEATH BY BEACH READ, in the spring followed by the third Tea by the Sea Mystery, MURDER SPILLS THE TEA, in the summer. 

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If you haven't already done so, I hope you'll read my review of DEADLY SUMMER NIGHTS that I posted yesterday.

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 Deadly Summer Nights (A Catskill Summer Resort Mystery) by Vicki Delany

About Deadly Summer Nights

Deadly Summer Nights (A Catskill Summer Resort Mystery)
Cozy Mystery 1st in Series
Publisher: ‎ Berkley (September 7, 2021)
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages

A summer of fun at a Catskills resort comes to an abrupt end when a guest is found murdered, in this new 1950s set mystery series.

It’s the summer of 1953, and Elizabeth Grady is settling into Haggerman’s Catskills Resort. As a vacation getaway, Haggerman’s is ideal, and although Elizabeth’s ostentatious but well-meaning mother is new to running the resort, Elizabeth is eager to help her organize the guests and the entertainment acts. But Elizabeth will have to resort to untested abilities if she wants to save her mother’s business.

When a reclusive guest is found dead in a lake on the grounds, and a copy of The Communist Manifesto is found in his cabin, the local police chief is convinced that the man was a Russian spy. But Elizabeth isn’t so sure, and with the fate of the resort hanging in the balance, she’ll need to dodge red herrings, withstand the Red Scare, and catch a killer red-handed.

About Vicki Delany

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than forty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing four cozy mystery series: the Tea by the Sea mysteries for Kensington, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series for Crooked Lane Books, the Catskill Resort mysteries for Penguin Random House, and the Lighthouse Library series (as Eva Gates) for Crooked Lane.

Vicki is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It Crime Writing Festival. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards. Vicki is the recipient of the 2019 Derrick Murdoch Award for contributions to Canadian crime writing. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.

Author Links: 

Website – www.vickidelany.com  

Facebook – www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor;  

Twitter: @vickidelany and@evagatesauthor 

 Instagram: vickidelany  

Bookbub: Vicki Delany Books - BookBub  

Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Kobo - IndieBound  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Deadly Summer Nights - A Review & Giveaway

 Review

DEADLY SUMMER NIGHTS by Vicki Delany
The First Catskill Summer Resort Mystery 

Summer in the Catskills is about relaxing, eating and drinking well, and being entertained. Unless, of course, you're the woman in charge. For Elizabeth Grady it's about managing staff, paying bills, and placating guests while her mother provides a star's panache. Haggerman's Catskill Resort is in its second year and despite machinations from nearby Kennelwood resort, is doing well. Their modest success could be at an end though when a guest is found murdered. Not believing the quiet man was actually writing a novel the chief of police cries "Reds!" and starts implying that Haggerman's is a hotbed of communists while calling in the FBI. Elizabeth will have to minimize the damage that red scare gossip causes or else this summer in the Catskills may be her last!

DEADLY SUMMER NIGHTS is a great start to a new series. Strong female characters in a world that tries to belittle them stand out as they reach for their own success. The mystery was unique and the path to its solution ingenious. While the book started slowly, once Elizabeth figured out what was going on, it was a thrilling rush to the end.

The patronizing attitude of the men and the haze of cigarette smoke brought the 1950s to life while simultaneously making me happy I didn't have to live through it, although I wouldn't have minded all the cocktails and associated hors d'oeuvres.

Along with a first rate mystery, plenty of laughs, a little romance, and a sweet bulldog named Winston make DEADLY SUMMER NIGHTS a summertime treat that transports you back in time. Now, who's going to make me a pink squirrel?

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 Deadly Summer Nights (A Catskill Summer Resort Mystery) by Vicki Delany

About Deadly Summer Nights

Deadly Summer Nights (A Catskill Summer Resort Mystery)
Cozy Mystery 1st in Series
Publisher ‏: ‎ Berkley (September 7, 2021)
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages

A summer of fun at a Catskills resort comes to an abrupt end when a guest is found murdered, in this new 1950s set mystery series.

It’s the summer of 1953, and Elizabeth Grady is settling into Haggerman’s Catskills Resort. As a vacation getaway, Haggerman’s is ideal, and although Elizabeth’s ostentatious but well-meaning mother is new to running the resort, Elizabeth is eager to help her organize the guests and the entertainment acts. But Elizabeth will have to resort to untested abilities if she wants to save her mother’s business.

When a reclusive guest is found dead in a lake on the grounds, and a copy of The Communist Manifesto is found in his cabin, the local police chief is convinced that the man was a Russian spy. But Elizabeth isn’t so sure, and with the fate of the resort hanging in the balance, she’ll need to dodge red herrings, withstand the Red Scare, and catch a killer red-handed.

About Vicki Delany

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than forty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing four cozy mystery series: the Tea by the Sea mysteries for Kensington, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series for Crooked Lane Books, the Catskill Resort mysteries for Penguin Random House, and the Lighthouse Library series (as Eva Gates) for Crooked Lane.

Vicki is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It Crime Writing Festival. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards. Vicki is the recipient of the 2019 Derrick Murdoch Award for contributions to Canadian crime writing. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.

Author Links: 

Website – www.vickidelany.com  

Facebook – www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor;  

Twitter: @vickidelany and@evagatesauthor  

Instagram: vickidelany  

Bookbub: Vicki Delany Books - BookBub  

Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Kobo - IndieBound  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Opening My Own Tea Room - A Tea & Treachery Guest Post, Review, & Giveaway

I'm happy to welcome Lily Roberts to Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Lily on the pages of the Tea by the Sea Mystery series by Vicki Delany. TEA & TREACHERY is the first book in the series and was released just this week!

Opening my own Tea Room!

By Lily Roberts from the Tea by the Sea Mysteries by Vicki Delany

Hi, there. I’d like to introduce myself. My name’s Lily Roberts and I hope we can get to know each other better. I’ll make my first appearance in print in July in TEA AND TREACHERY, the first in the brand new Tea by the Sea Mysteries from Kensington.

I own, manage, and bake at Tea by the Sea, a traditional English afternoon tea room near North Augusta, on Cape Cod. The tea room sits on the property of Victoria-On-Sea, a huge monstrosity of a 19th century Victorian mansion now run by my grandmother Rose Campbell as a B&B.

Rose hates having a B&B but that’s the only way she can afford the taxes and the upkeep on the house, and it has long been her dream to have a multi-turreted, front-porched, gingerbread-encrusted house (with a full formal English garden) on the bluffs overlooking Cape Cod Bay.

My grandmother is English, you see, and she came to America in the 1950s when she married my grandfather. They lived their entire married life in Iowa which, as Rose will tell you, is no place for an Englishwoman who needs to be near the sound of the sea. They had, by all accounts, a very happy marriage, but when Granddad died, Rose pursued her dream and bought Victoria-On-Sea.

She then set about trying to convince me to help her run it. I had no desire to do that, but we hit on the idea of turning an abandoned stone cottage on the property into a tea room. Unlike Rose I’ve lived my entire life in Manhattan (yes, near the sea but not exactly what Rose had in mind). I’m a pastry chef, and I’ve worked in Manhattan bakeries and Michelin-starred restaurants. Owning my own place has long been my dream, and I was taught by my very English grandmother to appreciate everything about the ritual of afternoon tea.

And so, here I am. Trying to make a go of my tea room and keep my grandmother’s head above water, and her out of trouble. I have a feeling it’s not going to be easy.

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Review

TEA & TREACHERY by Vicki Delany

The First Tea by the Sea Mystery

Lily Roberts is living her dream by running her own tearoom, despite family telling her she's crazy to work with her grandmother, Rose. Rose certainly doesn't pull any punches and is furious with the developer who wants to turn the neighboring property into a hotel and resort center. When the man is found dead off the cliffs on Rose's property the local police zero in on Rose as a murderer. Egged on by her friend Bernie and Rose herself, Lily is pulled away from her tearoom and Rose's B&B in order to investigate who else could have wanted the developer silenced. She soon discovers shady business dealings as well as unexpected relationship issues. Will Lily find the real culprit or will she find herself in hot water? 

The first Tea by the Sea Mystery introduces readers to an interesting group of characters. I found it difficult to like the brash and demanding Rose and Lily comes off a bit like milquetoast compared to her grandmother and the loyal, but extremely flighty, best friend, Bernie. I was suspicious of everyone else, including the seemingly perfect new gardener. The setting was actually my favorite character in the book. Cape Cod can be an idyllic locale and I could picture the charming tearoom with the stately home decor and the Victorian Bed and Breakfast with the gingerbread trim, too small kitchen, and secret room perfectly. The scents also made the story come alive, and not just the baking from the tearoom and sausages frying for the B&B breakfasts. I could actually smell the salt from the bay as it wafted through the gardens and cliffs and I wish I could actually stroll through the grounds.

Despite not warming to the main characters, the story was compelling. I appreciated the complex mystery as I wondered who actually killed the shady developer. There were several appealing suspects and the author lay plenty of red herrings to lead readers astray.

TEA & TREACHERY serves English tea with a dollop of murder in an engaging start to a new series.

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Tea & Treachery (Tea by the Sea Mysteries) by Vicki Delany

About Tea & Treachery

Tea & Treachery (Tea by the Sea Mysteries) 

 Cozy Mystery 1st in Series 

Publisher: Kensington (July 28, 2020)  

Hardcover: 304 pages

In this charming new cozy mystery series from nationally bestselling author, Vicki Delany, a New York City expat-turned-Cape Cod tea shop owner must solve the murder of a local real estate developer to help her feisty grandmother out of a jam . . .

 

As the proud proprietor and head pastry chef of Tea by the Sea, a traditional English tearoom on the picturesque bluffs of Cape Cod, Roberts has her hands full, often literally. But nothing keeps her busier than steering her sassy grandmother, Rose, away from trouble. Rose operates the grand old Victorian B & B adjacent to Lily’s tea shop . . . for now. An aggressive real estate developer, Jack Ford, is pushing hard to rezone nearby land, with an eye toward building a sprawling golf resort, which would drive Rose and Lily out of business.

 

Tempers are already steaming, but things really get sticky when Ford is found dead at the foot of Rose’s property and the police think she had something to do with his dramatic demise. Lily can’t let her grandmother get burned by a false murder charge. So she starts her own investigation and discovers Ford’s been brewing bad blood all over town, from his jilted lover to his trophy wife to his shady business partners. Now, it’s down to Lily to stir up some clues, sift through the suspects, and uncover the real killer before Rose is left holding the tea bag.

About Vicki Delany

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than thirty-five books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing four cozy mystery series: the Tea by the Sea mysteries for Kensington, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series for Crooked Lane Books, the Year Round Christmas mysteries for Penguin Random House, and the Lighthouse Library series (as Eva Gates) for Crooked Lane.

Vicki is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It Crime Writing Festival. She is the 2019 recipient of the Derrick Murdoch award for contributions to Canadian crime writing. Vicki lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.

Author Links:
Website – www.vickidelany.com  
Facebook – www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor;
 Twitter: @vickidelany and@evagatesauthor  
Instagram: vickidelany  

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

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading Tea and Treachery by Vicki Delany. This book is the first in the Tea by the Sea Mystery series and was released yesterday.

Lily Roberts is living her dream by running her own tearoom, despite family telling her she's crazy to work with her grandmother, Rose. Rose certainly doesn't pull any punches and is furious with the developer who wants to turn the neighboring property into a hotel and resort center. When the man is found dead off the cliffs on Rose's property the local police zero in on Rose as a murderer. Egged on by her friend Bernie and Rose herself, Lily is pulled away from her tearoom and Rose's B&B in order to investigate who else could have wanted the developer silenced. She soon discovers shady business dealings as well as unexpected relationship issues. Will Lily find the real culprit or will she find herself in hot water?

Not Another Murder! - A Read and Buried Guest Post & Giveaway

I'm happy to welcome Charles the Library Cat to Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Charles on the pages of the Lighthouse Library series by Eva Gates. Read and Buried is the sixth book in the series and will be released October 15, 2019.

Not Another Murder!

By Charles the Library Cat, from the Lighthouse Library series by Eva Gates

Not again! Once again one of those blasted humans has interrupted the peace and quiet of my library by getting themselves killed. Come on people: I work hard all day being the library cat. I allow people to fuss over me and stroke me. I let small children pull my tail (most amusing). I comfort the old and the lonely. I do my very best to keep Lucy out of trouble. Although, I have to admit that sometimes even my very best isn’t quite up to the task.

I expect a lot of fuss and bother during the day, but a cat needs his rest in the evening. (Besides, any comings and goings in the evening dissuades the mice from tentatively venturing out of their hiding places.)

Case in point: In the midst of all the noise and fuss and bother going out on outside where work is being done to repair the crumbling foundations of the lighthouse, they dug up an old box. A box! Much ado about nothing, I say.

In this box they found an old journal containing a hand-drawn map and a page written in some sort of code. So that caused more fuss and bother as everyone jostled for a peek. And then at closing time more people came in for more jostling for a peek.

Finally, Bertie sent them all away, and locked the box in her desk. Lucy and Connor left for their dinner date and peace and quiet fell over my library. As for Lucy and Connor, it’s long past time they realize how much in love with each other they are and get on with it. Does anyone listen to me? Ha.

I digress. I was settling down next to where I think the mice are hiding, when the door fell down. Yes, the front door actually fell down! As you can imagine that sent any mice scurrying deeper into the walls.

Two people entered through the broken door with flashlights. They didn’t bother switching on the library lights, so that told me right away they were up to no good. They tip-toed through the library and into Bettie’s office. I followed them of course. Like typical humans up to no good, almost immediately they began fighting. Much yelling and throwing things and then one of them fell down, hit his head, and now he isn’t moving!

Oh, my goodness. Before I could check if he was okay, the other fled. Shutting the office door behind him. So now I’m trapped in Bertie’s office.

I hate it when that happens.

Hold on, is that the sound of little mice feet I hear?

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Read and Buried: A Lighthouse Library Mystery by Eva Gates

About Read and Buried

Read and Buried: A Lighthouse Library Mystery  

Cozy Mystery 6th in Series  

Crooked Lane Books (October 15, 2019)  

Hardcover: 325 Pages

Librarian Lucy Richardson unearths a mysterious map dating back to the Civil War. But if she can't crack its code, she may end up read and buried.

The Bodie Island Lighthouse Library Classic Novel Book Club is reading Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne while workers dig into the earth to repair the Lighthouse Library's foundations. The digging halts when Lucy pulls a battered tin box containing a Civil War-era diary from the pit. Tucked inside is a hand-drawn map of the Outer Banks accompanied by a page written in an indecipherable code.

The library is overrun by people clamoring to see the artifact. Later that night, Lucy and Connor McNeil find the body of historical society member Jeremy Hughes inside the library. Clearly Jeremy was not the only one who broke into the library--the map and the coded page are missing.

Lucy's nemesis, Louise Jane McKaughnan, confesses to entering the library after closing to sneak a peek but denies seeing Jeremy--or his killer. When Lucy discovers that fellow-librarian Charlene had a past with Jeremy, she's forced to do what she vowed not to do--get involved in the case. Meanwhile, the entire library staff and community become obsessed with trying to decode the page. But when the library has a second break in, it becomes clear that someone is determined to solve that code.

About Eva Gates

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than thirty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing four cozy mystery series: the Tea By The Sea mysteries for Kensington, the Year Round Christmas mysteries for Penguin Random House, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series and, as Eva Gates, the Lighthouse Library books for Crooked Lane.

Vicki is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It crime writing festival. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.

Author Links

• Website: www.vickidelany.com www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor;
• Twitter: @vickidelany @evagatesauthor
• Instagram: vickidelany

• Purchase Links - Amazon B&N Kobo

a Rafflecopter giveaway