I'm happy to welcome Lord Peter Wimsey to Cozy Up With Kathy today. This is not Dorothy Sayer's aristocratic detective, but rather the orange tabby cat who lives in the pages of the PIP Inc. Mystery series by Nancy Lynn Jarvis. The Funeral Murder is the second book in the series and was released earlier this month.
A Chat with the Cat
By Nancy Lynn Jarvis
We need to get a couple of things straight right away. I know there are magical, crime solving, talking cats in some cozy mysteries, but I am not one of them. Those of you who are privileged to have cat companions and computers know we occasionally like to help you type. So, because I don’t speak and, therefore, can’t really be interviewed, we all have to agree that, for the sake of this blog, I typed this post. If you can accept that, we can work together and I can tell you my story.
My name is Lord Peter Wimsey. Word and some copy editors not familiar with Dorothy Sayer’s 1930’s British mysteries don’t understand that I was named after a great aristocratic detective and keep trying to make me Whimsy. I am not a whimsical cat, I am a large orange tabby, a ginger to those of you who, like me, prefer that description, who lives with amateur private detective, Part Pirard and―this is hard for me to admit―my best friend in the animal word, her Dalmatian, Dot.
My main responsibility is to nap on the back of a wingchair in her home office until, warm from nice sunbeams, I fall so deeply asleep that I roll off the top of the chair onto the seat without waking up or emitting so much as a startled meow. Usually, at the first hint of a household disturbance, I hightail it out the cat door in the kitchen, escape to the back yard, and go over the neighbor’s fence to safer, calmer environs.
I was content when there were just the three of us in the house, but now she’s met this sheriff’s sergeant, Tim Lindsey, and seems overly fond of him. Dot likes him, too, but I’m not sure I do. He stepped on my tail once. Yes, he’s apologized, promised to mind where he puts his big feet even in the dark, and has brought me cat toy offerings. Still, I’ll reserve judgement about him a little longer.
At the moment, I’m on a people tuna diet. People tuna is my favorite food, and Pat says I earned a weeks-worth of it after how I saved her and Dot from a gun wielding murderer…no, people, I am not exaggerating, but you’ll have to read almost all the way to the end of The Funeral Murder to find out what happened and what I did.
I liked it better when Pat was the Santa Cruz Law Librarian, but she got downsized and took up this PI gig to make ends meet and to keep me in cat food, so I suppose I shouldn’t complain. Fortunately, or unfortunately, she’s making a go of it so far and seems intent on getting involved in murder, which does not bode well for my peaceful, tranquil life, at least not until she starts making enough money to afford an office somewhere away from where I like to lay my fuzzy head.
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The Funeral Murder A PIP Inc. Mystery by Nancy Lynn Jarvis
About The Funeral Murder
The Funeral Murder A PIP Inc. Mystery
Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series
Publisher: Good Read Mysteries, An Imprint of Good Read Publishers
Number of Pages: 248
In The Glass House, the first book in the PIP Inc. Mysteries series Pat Pirard, recently downsized Santa Cruz Law Librarian, needed to find a new job in a hurry. She printed business cards announcing she was Private Investigator Pat and crossed her fingers, hoping she could earn enough money working for attorneys as a PI to survive.
Pat’s first investigation went well, so she’s excited when she gets a call from an estate attorney who offers her a second job. The attorney tells Pat his client died at a funeral and he needs help sorting out who is entitled to inherit her estate.
Pat quickly discovers the dead woman’s past is as complicated as her estate. And when an autopsy indicates she had two deadly toxins in her body when she died, Pat’s new case becomes not only complicated, but dangerous.
About Nancy Lynn Jarvis
Nancy Lynn Jarvis left the real estate profession after she started having so much fun writing the Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries series that she let her license lapse. She’s enjoyed writing about Regan and her husband, Tom, but decided it was time to do a new series.
PIP Inc. introduces protagonist downsized law librarian and not-quite-licensed Private Investigator Pat Pirard. “The Funeral Murder” is the second book in the series.
After earning a BA in behavioral science from San Jose State University, Nancy worked in the advertising department of the San Jose Mercury News. A move to Santa Cruz meant a new job as a librarian and later a stint as the business manager for Shakespeare/Santa Cruz at UCSC.
Currently, she’s enjoying being a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and Santa Cruz Women of Mystery.
Author Links:
Website https://www.nancylynnjarvis.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SantaCruzBooksforyou
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard?ref=nav_profile_authordash
Purchase Link - Amazon
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The author is graciously giving one reader a digital copy of The Funeral Murder. In order to qualify simply leave a comment on this post telling us why cats are important characters in mysteries no later than 11:59pm Eastern, Monday, September 28, 2020. Please make sure to leave an e-mail address so that I can contact you should you win.
