A Pawsome Summer for Murder - A Guest Post & Giveaway

I'm happy to allow Candie Parker- Hoganto to take over Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Candie on the pages of A Pawsome Summer for Murder by S. A. Kazlo. This book is the seventh in the Samantha Davies Mystery series and was released earlier this month.

Good morning, Candie Parker-Hogan here. And yes, I’m as sweet as my name implies. How’s the weather where you call home? Here, in upstate New York, where I live with my hubby, Mark Hogan, it’s colder than one of my Memaw Parker’s stares when I did something to upset the poor darlin.

Speaking of my dear memaw, she and Grandpop Parker raised me from the time I was five years old, when my parents were killed in an automobile accident, on their farm in Hainted Hollar, Tennessee. I spent my childhood playing in the fields, chasing fireflies, and fishing in the farm’s pond. Because I was orphaned at such a young age. I wasn’t blessed with any siblings but my bestie and cousin, Samantha Davies, would spend the summers with me on our grandparents’ farm. We were practically raised together during those sweet summer days.

About fifteen years ago, after breaking up with fiancé number eleven I moved north to Wings Falls New York to be near Samantha. And no, I am not a hussie. All my ex’s and I have remained good friends over the years. And being the refined Southern Belle that I am, I don’t kiss and tell either.

After I moved north, I was hired as the part-time secretary for the mayor of Wings Falls, Mark Hogan. I had given up trying to find Mr. Right, but couldn’t resist Mark’s charms and finally broke my “no dating” rule and went out with him. Well, one thing led to another, and we finally got hitched. I guess twelve is my lucky number.

I’m not only his secretary but I also write romance novels. My newest one, A Hot Day in Paradise, is doing quite well if I don’t say so myself.

Mark and I live in a big ol’ purple painted Victorian-style home, purple being my favorite color.

We have two pets that share our home—a calico cat named Dixie, and a rescue pup of indeterminate breed named Annie. Since I’m past the baby carriage days, and don’t ask how old I am as a Southern lady never tells her age, Dixie and Annie are our fur babies.

Along with my cousin, Samantha, we are hookers. Now don’t go rolling your eyeballs into your cranium. We are rug hookers. We belong to a group called the Loopy Ladies and love to pull loops of wool and fashion them into beautiful mats and rugs.

Wings Falls, where I live, is near a tourist town, Lake George. During the summer Mark and I battle the vacationers and take advantage of the thirty-two-mile-long lake. We stroll the streets and shoreline, sit by the lake and watch boats sail by. During the Fall we become leaf peepers and view the changing leaf colors of the forests that populate the Adirondack Mountains. Winter is time for skiers, but I’m more of a lodge bunny.

The last thing I’ll tell you about myself is this cousin of mine, Sam, has a nasty habit of pulling me into murder investigations. For some reason she keeps stumbling over dead bodies and I can’t leave her out there to discover who the murderer is all by herself. I mean we’re family and I can’t resist her when she pleads for my help. Could you?

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 A Pawsome Summer For Murder (Samantha Davies Mystery) by S. A. Kazlo

About A Pawsome Summer For Murder

A Pawsome Summer For Murder (Samantha Davies Mystery)
Cozy Mystery 7th in Series
Setting - New York
Publisher: ‎ Adk Foothills Publishing (May 1, 2025)
Paperback: ‎ 218 pages

It's summer in Wings Falls, New York and Samantha Davies is geared up for the annual trout tournament sponsored by Al Gorman, owner of the Sport's Shop. Sam, along with her Southern Belle cousin, Candie Parker-Hogan, are determined to beat the pants off their significant others, Sam's new fiancé, Hank Johnson, a detective on Wings Falls police force and Mark Hogan, Candie's husband. The ladies feel they have a secret weapon-they learned from the best fisherman in Hainted Hollar Tennessee, Grandpop Parker. Sam once won a trophy for the largest fish in the Fins and Tails Fishing Derby. To Sam's surprise instead of reeling in the day's biggest catch, she "hooked" into the body of the town's most vocal activist, Luna Wheeler. Raylene Carrigan, owner of a traveling doggie daycare Sam uses for her lovable dachshund, Porkchop, becomes a prime suspect, when it becomes known Luna tried to shut down the town's doggie park she depends on for the pets in her care. Since Sam has successfully helped solve murders in the past, Raylene begs her for help to prove her innocent. Sam reluctantly agrees but knows her fiancé won't be happy with her involvement in yet another murder case. Determined to help Porkchop's buddy, Sam starts digging for clues only to discover that Luna, with her over-zealous demands to many of the town's businesses to recycle, upset more than a few of her friends. Can Sam land Luna's murderer before she gets 'hooked' by the killer?

About S. A. Kazlo

Syrl, a retired teacher, lives in upstate New York with her husband and two lively dachshunds. She writes the Samantha Davies Mystery series, featuring Samantha Davies and her loveable dachshund, Porkchop. When not writing she is busy hooking, rug hooking that is, and enjoying her family. Her newest book, number seven in the series, A Pawsome Summer For Murder, was released May 1, 2025

Author Links: 

Website – https://www.sakazlo.com/  

Blog – https://www.sakazlo.com/blog  

Twitter-@sakazlo  

Instagram- sakazlo  

Facebook- sakazlo  

LinkedIn- sakazlo  

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Smashwords – Kobo – Bookshop.org 

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Mistletoe, Mutts and Murder - A Guest Post & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Samantha Davies to Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Samantha on the pages of the Samantha Davies Mystery series by S. A. Kazlo. Mistletoe, Mutts and Murder is the sixth book in the series and was released last week.

Hi, Samantha Davies here. My Southern Belle cousin, Candie Parker-Hogan and I live in a small town, Wings Falls, in upstate New York. We're more like sisters than cousins, both of us not having any siblings. Candie was raised by our Memaw and Grandpop Parker in Hainted Hollar, Tennessee after her parents were killed in a car accident. I spent my childhood summers with her running through the fields of our grandparents’ farm or hanging out in the barn’s hayloft, she playing with her Barbie dolls and me scribbling stories in my diary. Needless to say, she’s the fashionista, who never found a rhinestone she didn’t like. I tell her that her middle name is “bling”. I’m the storyteller who prefers yoga pants and tee-shirts.

Despite our differences, we both share a love for hooking. No not that kind of hooking but rug hooking. Every Monday morning, we gather with our fellow rug hookers, the Loopy Ladies, at the Ewe and Me Woolery. We hook, eat, gab and eat some more. It’s a fun group of ladies who range in age from their twenties to our oldest member, Gladys O’Malley, who if I had to guess was in her eighties, although she’d never tell. These ladies are more than just fellow hookers but are dear friends. They helped me about five years ago when I was going through a divorce from my husband of twenty-five years, George or as Candie calls him “an egg-sucking hound dog”. George and I co-own a funeral parlor together, the Do Drop Inn Funeral Parlor, which I financed for him when we were first married through an inheritance I received from an uncle. Apparently, he was doing the horizontal mambo with the secretary of business when I thought he was on late night body pickups. Silly me.

But maybe dumping George was the best thing I ever did because now I have a wonderful boyfriend, Hank Johnson. Not that I was looking for someone to take George’s place. Oh, no. I was quite happy snuggling on my sofa with my reddish-brown dachshund, Porkchop. In fact, he was a lot smarter concerning George than I was. He’d growl whenever George came near me. I should have taken that as a hint. But to get back to Hank, we didn’t meet on one of today’s popular dating apps and being in my mid-fifties, I feel is way past the age of hooking up with guys in bars. Nope, we met over a dead body and not one in the Do Drop, either. Nope, I found the owner of Wings Falls local pet shelter murdered when I stopped by to donate a bag of dog food that Porkchop had turned his nose up at. Hank happened to be one of the responding officers when I called the Wing Falls Police station. He was new to the force having transferred up from Albany to enjoy a quieter town. Unfortunately, my childhood nemesis, Sergeant Joe Peters, also arrived at the scene of the crime. He tried everything he could to pin the murder on me just because when we were in kindergarten together, I reported him to the teacher for peeing in the sand box. Really, who’d want to play in the sandbox after that. Joe has now taken to calling me a “Murder magnet” as I have developed the bad habit of stumbling across dead bodies. And much to Hank’s chagrin, I get involved in trying to solve these murders.

Hank loves me anyway even though I know I’ve caused him more than a few sleepless nights. Porkchop and he are now best buddies and that scores high on my checklist for a significant other.

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 Mistletoe, Mutts, and Murder (Samantha Davies Mysteries) by S.A. Kazlo

About Mistletoe, Mutts, and Murder 

Mistletoe, Mutts, and Murder (Samantha Davies Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery 6th in Series
Setting - Wings Falls, New York, a small town in upstate New York about 45 minutes north of Albany
Publisher: ‎ Gemma Halliday Publishing (December 3, 2024)

Christmas is coming and children’s book author, Samantha Davies, and her lovable dachshund, Porkchop, are caught up in the holiday festivities in beautiful upstate New York. Sam’s parents, Chuck and Barbara, who have been enjoying their retired life in sunny Florida, have flown into Wings Falls to spend the holidays with Sam and meet her new boyfriend, Detective Hank Johnson. Sam is also busy hosting this year’s Christmas party for the Loopy Ladies, Sam’s rug hooking group.

The Loopy Ladies know how to party and are enjoying an evening eating, drinking, and making merry... until Santa crashes the party. Unfortunately, this Santa is Sam’s next-door neighbor who her parents have had a long-running feud with. When not playing the local mall’s not-so-jolly old St. Nick, Leo Sayers is a newspaper reporter, and he announces to the group that he's written a damning article accusing Sam’s dad and his close friend, Herb Feinstein, of some very shady dealings in their past. To preserve peace on earth—and among the Loopy Ladies—Chuck and Herb escort Leo from the party.

Only, not long after being sent on his way, Santa is found dead—lying in the snow, run over by a plastic reindeer, with a string of Christmas lights around his neck! Are Sam’s father and Herb now on the naughty list? If Sam can’t prove them innocent of murdering Santa, she's afraid their stockings will contain handcuffs and a one-way ticket to prison this year!

About S.A. Kazlo

Syrl, a retired teacher, lives in upstate New York with her husband and two lively dachshunds. She writes the Samantha Davies Mystery series, featuring Samantha Davies and her loveable dachshund, Porkchop. When not writing she is busy hooking, rug hooking that is, and enjoying her family. Her newest book, number six in the series is, Mistletoe, Mutts and Murder.

Author Links:  

Website - https://www.sakazlo.com/  

Blog - https://www.sakazlo.com/blog  

Twitter-@sakazlo  

Instagram- sakazlo  

Facebook- sakazlo 

 Linkedin- sakazlo  

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

  a Rafflecopter giveaway