Lost Heart in King Manor - An Interview & Review

I'm pleased to welcome Celeste Fenton to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Celeste writes the Mysteries of a Heart Series. LOST HEART IN KING MANOR is the first book in the series and was released earlier this year.

Kathy: In LOST HEART IN KING MANOR we meet Gabby Heart. When her mother has a health crisis Gabby discovers family secrets and a deadly agenda. Have you ever had to take care of a family member with health issues? Have you ever unearthed family secrets?

CF: Yes to both. Caretaking teaches you patience, resilience, and that sometimes the best medicine is a well-timed laugh. As a mother of twin boys, one or the other often had scrapes and bruises, but fortunately neither had serious injuries or illnesses. My late husband had a few surgeries that we got through together. As for family secrets—let’s just say I had a challenging childhood and learned early on that real life can be every bit as twisty as fiction. The difference is, in fiction, I get to decide how the story ends… and no one minds if I add a few dramatic gasps or saves. 

Kathy: Gabby teaches art and runs a gift shop. Aside from writing, do you create art?

CF: When I was younger, I sewed and quilted. When I retired, I took drawing lessons. And now here is my guilty little secret. I do paint by numbers!! People think I have done them freehand. Do I disabuse of their assumption? Maybe. 

 

Kathy: You published your debut novel later in life. How has age impacted your road to publication?

CF: You know...I believe in that old saying...make lemonade out of lemons. On the plus side, I have a lot of life experience to draw from. Both the joyful and the painful. All material for “well, that’s going in a book someday.” But, on the challenging side, I time is racing by, so I don't want to waste a second of it. I don’t waste time chasing what’s trendy. I write the stories I want to tell… and I do it before I forget them. 


Kathy: What first drew you to mysteries?

CF: Ah...I've always loved a puzzle. As a kid, I devoured Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. I like the challenge of digging up the clues buried in plain sight. 

Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

CF: I consider my writing to be a mystery and romance combo. My sweet spot is romantic suspense with a cozy mystery heart. But I also think the women’s fiction genre slips in. 

Kathy: Tell us about your series. 

CF: The Mysteries of a Heart Series follows the journey of Gabby Heart, a sharp-witted (and sometimes sharp-tongued) illustrator with an uncanny knack for stumbling into adventures of a lifetime and secrets worth killing for. Each book unravels a new mystery while deepening the emotional ties between characters. 

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

CF: Gabby, of course. She's smart, her life is messy, she's scared of love, but still secretly yearning for it. A close second is Jay Laird. He’s infuriatingly charming, maddeningly cocky, and yet surprisingly vulnerable. He’s also the kind of character I love to write banter for—because he always thinks he’s winning… until Gabby gets the last word. 

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

CF: My love of small, close-knit communities—where everyone knows each other’s business, but still shows up when it matters. It’s a place where gossip travels faster than Wi-Fi. And, I'll confess that the idea of ACHE came from a conversation I overheard while standing in line at the grocery store, and another conversation at a coffee shop. Not that I make a habit of eavesdropping!

Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

CF: When my husband passed away in 2021 I realized that time was flying by. I also realized that I had been letting fear (of rejection and failure) hold me back. I didn’t want to look back one day and regret not trying. Stories were stacking up in my head, and I had too many post-it notes with ideas all over the house. 

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

CF: That was a hard question!! If I have to pick only 4, I'll go with: Agatha Christie (her cozy style and twisty endings, plus I want to know the real reason she disappeared for a few days), Nora Roberts (genre-bending genius and great sex scenes), Jane Austen (for sharp wit and social commentary and more about Mr. Darcy), and M.C. Beaton (because her humor could cut glass and she’d probably start the best gossip). We’d have mystery, romance, and wickedly funny conversation over dessert.

Kathy: What are you currently reading?

CF: Just finished ATOMIC CITY GIRLS by Jane Beard and just started PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION by Emily Henry.

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

CF: Sure! Reading of course! In addition to the paint-by-numbers, I like escape rooms, playing Canasta and Hand and Foot, and my current project is creating a digital scrapbook for each year of my grandchildrens' life.

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

CF: Coffee (of course!), half-n-half for the coffee, blueberry preserves (I'm addicted), and bread and butter pickles.

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

CF: Oh yes! CAPTIVE HEART AT BRANTMAR CASTLE - Book Two in the Mysteries of a Heart Series – will be released on September 22. And BROKEN HEART AT AVALON CHATEAU will be released in late winter/early spring of 2026.

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

CF: Hearing from readers who tell me my book gave them an escape, made them laugh or comforted them when they needed it most. 

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Review

LOST HEART IN KING MANOR by Celeste Fenton
The First in the Mysteries of a Heart Series 

Dost Island is a quiet scenic location off the coast of Massachusetts. It's the home to King Manor and the enclosed ACHE, the Adult Care and Health Enclave complex, a rehabilitation center that also does research on elder care. After Gabby Heart's mother suffers some disturbing issues then falls and breaks her hip, her doctor recommends she goes to ACHE to recover. After a tour of the mansion turned retirement center the women agree. After all, it's not permanent. But not everything is as it seems at King Manor. As a hurricane is set to hit the island Gabby finds herself  at ACHE along with a good looking neighbor and annoying new office mate. Despite the attraction to both men, Gabby's more concerned for her mother's altered mental state and the odd things happening to other residents. Will the hurricane obliterate the mansion or reveal its dark secrets?

LOST HEART IN KING MANOR is an intriguing story that's part mystery and part romantic suspense. With wit, a healthy dose of sarcasm, and self confidence Gabby is a likable protagonist, even though she tends to ramble on and on when telling a story. I appreciate her long term friendship with Lola and Abe. The guys, both Rick and Jay, can be annoying. Very annoying. Jay's method for getting what he wants was a dead turn off for me and even Rick was problematic. Neither was any match for Lavanda, however. Ultimately, it's a novel of growth for Gabby. Letting go, letting in, and expanding to see who she really is.

There was a lot of excitement and I wasn't sure who to trust! I really liked how the history of the manor played a vital role. A few things did bother me, however. A main problem was the visitor in the hospital. A major thing, yet Gabby drops it and doesn't address it. It eventually is reintroduced near the end of the book, but it was driving me bonkers that she didn't look further into the situation at the start. Other things also happened and I couldn't understand the point, like teenaged Luke coming to ACHE during the hurricane.

Danger, excitement, and a bit of lust reside in LOST HEART IN KING MANOR. Check out the mysterious goings on and relationship issues in the first book in this riveting new series. I look forward to seeing what's in store for Gabby next!

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Author Links:

Website

https://celestefenton.com

Amazon Author page

https://www.amazon.com/stores/CELESTE-FENTON/author/B0F5HTW7RK

YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/@CelesteFentonWrites

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575815274859

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/celestefentonwrites

TikTok

https://www.tiktok.com/@celestefenton?lang=en

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/celeste-fenton-33811a357

Murder, She Wrote: A Body in Boston - A Review & Giveaway

 Review

MURDER, SHE WROTE: A BODY IN BOSTON
By Jessica Fletcher & Terrie Farley Moran
The Sixty-First Murder, She Wrote Mystery 

Jessica Fletcher is happy that she has time in her busy schedule to accept an invitation to go to Boston. Not only will she be speaking at a library function, she'll get to meet up with several old friends and get some sightseeing in too! She'll also have a travel companion as Seth is also headed to Boston for a medical lecture. Their happy reconnection with old friends is tainted, however, when Cookie's daughter Aileen rushes into the pub with bloodstained hands saying that her boyfriend is dead. Now Jessica, her PI friend Harry, and Seth will do what they can to provide the police suspects other than Aileen. The group soon learns that Aileen's young man was not so upstanding and there's more than one possible motive for murder. Will they find a killer in the midst of Boston while still managing to enjoy the sights of this historic town? 

I feel the same joy as Jessica does when she meets up with Harry, Cookie, and her other Boston friends, as I consider Jess and Seth my old friends, though I know there'll be a murder whenever we get together while Jess may just suspect it! This sixty-first outing is an enjoyable mix of friendship, murder, and healthy dose of Boston tourism. I enjoyed visiting vicariously, seeing the statues of Tadeusz Kościuszko and the Marquis de Lafayette as well as the tour of the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum, though I say forget the kids-I want to throw the tea overboard! I like that Jessica and Seth managed to fit in fun time with their work and their investigation. I also appreciated how everything dovetailed seamlessly.

I enjoyed how Jessica quietly went about solving the mystery. She didn't even intend to solve it, just drum up more suspects, but solve it she did. While I liked seeing Jessica's old friends I really enjoyed meeting some new ones as well. I loved Mahmood and his take on Jessica's adventures in particular.

MURDER, SHE WROTE: A BODY IN BOSTON brings familiar characters to Beantown where pharmaceuticals, libraries, and murder combine to make an enjoyable mystery.

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 Murder, She Wrote: A Body in Boston by Jessica Fletcher and Terrie Farley Moran

About Murder, She Wrote: A Body in Boston

Murder, She Wrote: A Body in Boston
Cozy Mystery 61st in Series
Setting - Boston, Massachusetts
Publisher: ‎ Berkley (July 1, 2025)
Paperback Print length: ‎ 304 pages

Jessica Fletcher has dinner with her old pal Harry McGraw and gets pulled into a puzzling murder case.

Invited to deliver a lecture at the Boston Public Library, Jessica Fletcher excitedly makes plans to see local friends. Naturally that includes dinner at Gilhooley’s with PI Harry McGraw. Harry excitedly talks about his latest client, the CEO of Cure All Pharmaceuticals, who’s received anonymous blackmail demands and wants Harry to identify the culprit. Cookie, Gilhooley’s longtime bartender, also has something he wants to tell Jessica: he asked Harry to investigate his daughter Aileen’s boyfriend, who Cookie thinks is too slick by half, but now Harry is too wrapped up in this new case. While Jessica wonders how best to approach Aileen, the young woman stumbles into Gilhooley’s covered in blood. She just discovered her boyfriend’s corpse -- and quickly becomes the chief suspect in his murder!

About the Authors

Terrie Farley Moran is the bestselling author of the Read 'Em and Eat cozy mystery series, including the Agatha Award-winning Well Read, Then Dead. Along with Jessica Fletcher, she co-writes the Murder She Wrote mystery series. She also co-writes the Scrapbooking Mysteries with Laura Childs. Terrie's short mystery fiction has been published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly, and numerous anthologies. "A Killing at the Beausoleil" was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best Short Story. "Inquiry and Assistance" received the Derringer Award for Best Novelette.

Author Links – Webpage, Facebook  

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

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Vacations Can Be Murder - A Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway

 Review

VACATIONS CAN BE MURDER:
A TRUE CRIME LOVER'S TRAVEL GUIDE TO NEW ENGLAND
VOLUME 1
By Dawn M. Barclay 

 

True crime enthusiasts who like to travel, even if it's only via armchair, will appreciate VACATIONS CAN BE MURDER: A TRUE CRIME LOVER'S TRAVEL GUIDE TO NEW ENGLAND VOLUME 1. This handy book gives each state its own chapter which is then divided into sections: basic crime statistics and brief segments about the crimes followed by a sampling of true crime books set in that state. The next section includes various places to see including accommodations, restaurants, and other attractions. Addresses, websites, and current hours and prices are also given as well as more snippets about the crimes that took place there. The last section for each state features the itineraries, multiple ones for each state giving driving directions to a set of true crime sights. As with any travel book the problem is that they can easily become outdated. Information such as prices and hours of operations can change quickly and the author urges people to call before making any definitive plans. In addition, the stories remain the same even if restaurants and tour companies fade away.

 

The book includes notorious true crime cases, such as Lizzie Borden and Kitty Genovese, and historical cases such as the Salem Witch trials and the Boston Strangler, however a large number of the cases are tawdry murders which only die hard true crime fans, or those with some association, would be interested. I personally wouldn't care to visit the site where a man repeatedly stabbed his neighbor, though I may want to pay respects nearby where a woman was hanged for witchcraft.

 

This book is exceedingly well researched with a wonderful bibliography and index at the end. I really enjoyed reading about the haunted restaurants and hotels and found those bit even more interesting than some of the true crime sections.

 

Well organized and easily readable VACATIONS CAN BE MURDER: A TRUE CRIME LOVER'S TRAVEL GUIDE TO NEW ENGLAND VOLUME 1 is an enjoyable travel guide for fans of true crime and those interested in more unique travel destinations.

 

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VACATIONS CAN BE MURDER

A TRUE CRIME TRAVEL GUIDE TO NEW ENGLAND

by Dawn M Barclay

April 28 - May 23, 2025 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

Vacations Can Be Murder

 

As Close as You Can Get to True Crime While Still Breathing!

For the true crime lover—finally, a travel guide from an award-winning travel journalist and suspense author that gives you the down and dirty on exactly where the major crimes occurred, and where the bodies are buried. For aficionados of paranormal, prison, and tombstone travel, there’s a goldmine of tourism suggestions for you here as well.

Along with summaries of the major crimes committed in New England, you’ll discover where to find the best crime and ghost tours; which hotels and restaurants are former jails, courthouses, or harbor paranormal activity; where infamous criminals are/were jailed, and which venues and attractions might feed your fancy for murder and justice. Reading lists in each chapter will guide you to books expounding on the crimes discussed.. Best of all, suggested itineraries bring all the pieces together to help you traverse New England’s criminal landscape in an organized and entertaining way. Up for a true crime road trip? Let Vacations Can Be Murder be your ultimate travel guide.

Praise for Vacations Can Be Murder:

"The perfect reference book for the U. S. crime traveler. Barclay rounds up a collection of known and obscure crimes, arranged by geographic area, that features museums, cemeteries, hotels, prisons, and private properties. She even offers itineraries, murder tours, a location-specific list of true-crime books, victim resources, and some ghost stories. This travel guide is a gem. Be packed and ready before you start reading because you’ll want to go explore."
~ Katherine Ramsland, author of Darkest Waters, The Nutcracker Investigations, and How to Catch a Killer

Vacations Can Be Murder Trailer:

Book Details:

Genre: True Crime, Travel
Published by: Level Best Books
Publication Date: March 25, 2025
Number of Pages: 340
Series: Vacations Can Be Murder, Book 1
Book Links: Amazon | Goodreads

Read an excerpt from Vacations Can Be Murder: A True Crime Lover’s Travel Guide to New England:

This is from the Crime Summaries section of the Connecticut chapter. The actual addresses of these crimes are all included in the Itineraries section of the chapter.

Hartford may be considered one of Connecticut’s most dangerous cities, but its suburbs have seen their fair share of crime over the years.

The Hartford Witch Trials occurred between 1647-1663. In all of Connecticut, there were 43 trials and 16 executions, many in Hartford and three in Wethersfield. On May 26, 1647, Alice (Alse) Young of Windsor was the first to be executed. Servant girl Mary Johnson was the first to confess to witchcraft in Connecticut but was likely coerced by extensive torture. She was executed somewhere between 1648-1650 (reports vary).

In 1839, The Amistad criminal and civil cases were tried at Old Statehouse in Hartford. The case revolved around a mutiny by, and subsequent charging of, 53 Mende African men, women, and children who had been captured and were being transported between Sierra Leone and Havana, Cuba aboard the ship to serve as slaves. The story was the subject of the Steven Spielberg film, Amistad. Several other Connecticut locations connected to the trial can be found at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/travelamistad/visit.htm.

Joseph “Mad Dog” Taborsky was a murderer sentenced to death after a string of brutal robberies and murders in Hartford and West Hartford in the 1950s. He was sentenced twice to be executed for two different crimes, but the first conviction was overturned due to the mental competency of a witness, his brother Albert, testifying against him. (Albert was later declared insane.) In December 1956, a little over a year after his release from prison, Taborsky launched a 14-month murder spree that killed gas station attendant Edward Kurpewski and customer Daniel Janowski, package store owner Samuel Cohn, shoe store customers Bernard and Ruth Speyer, and pharmacy owner John M. “Jack” Rosenthal. The second conviction stuck, and he died in the electric chair in 1960, the last execution in Connecticut until that of Michael Bruce Ross in 2005.

In 2004, Matthew Steven Johnson was convicted of the 2000 and 2001 slayings of three female sex workers he murdered—Rosali Jimenez (33), Aida Quinones (33), and Alesia Ford (37)—who were all found dead in the Asylum Hill neighborhood of Hartford. Each of the women had drugs in their system and were found with their bodies stomped upon, strewn with Johnson’s semen, and with their pants pulled down around one leg. Johnson was found guilty and sentenced to three consecutive 60-year sentences at the Cheshire Correctional Institution.

Lazale Ashby became one of the youngest prisoners on Connecticut’s death row for kidnapping, raping, burglarizing, and murdering his neighbor Elizabeth Garcia in 2002, when he was just 18. He was suspected of another Hartford rape, as well.

Ashby has actually been tried and sentenced three times for Garcia’s murder, the final time in 2023, when he confessed to the crime. Now that Connecticut has abolished the death penalty, he’s been sentenced to 46.5 years in prison. In addition, he was convicted and received a 25-year sentence for the 2003 fatal shooting of 22-year-old Nahshon Cohen of Manchester, whose body was found on a street in the city’s North End.

Speaking of Manchester, in August of 2010, the city became the location of a mass shooting at a beer distribution company, Hartford Distributors. Disgruntled former employee Omar Thorton, forced to resign after video evidence revealed he’d been stealing and reselling the company’s beer, fatally shot eight coworkers and injured two others. He then committed suicide on site. Those who knew him cited racism as the reason for his upset, but these allegations were disputed by the firm and not substantiated by the investigation that followed.

William Devin Howell’s rape and murder spree, which started on New Year’s Day in 2003, took place in Seymour, West Hartford, and Wethersfield, as well as New Britain. Triggered by a fight with his girlfriend, Howell succumbed to years-long rape fantasies, Referring to himself as the “Sick Ripper,” he would lure female drug addicts, unlikely to be missed, into his “murder mobile.” There, he would rape them, often videotaping bizarre sex acts, before murdering them and disposing of the bodies in a seldom frequented area behind a strip mall in New Britain which he called his “garden.” He was arrested in North Carolina and plea-bargained his way into a fifteen-year sentence for the manslaughter of Mary Jane Menard. However, new evidence that surfaced while he was already in jail earned him six consecutive life sentences (360 years in prison) to be spent at the Cheshire Correctional Institution.

In 1986 at the Jamaican Progressive League, a club in Hartford’s North End, Bonnie Foreshaw stopped to get a beer and ended up committing a murder that bought her the longest jail sentence ever handed down to a woman in the state. Having endured a lifetime of sexual and spousal abuse, when Hector Freeman offered to buy her a drink and wouldn’t let up when she turned him down, the encounter triggered her. She drew her handgun to fire a warning shot, but Freeman protected himself by using a pregnant woman, Joyce Amos, as a human shield. Foreshaw’s bullet killed her accidently.

Foreshaw spent the majority of her jail time at the York Correctional Institution in Niantic where author Wally Lamb taught a writing class for prisoners. Lamb took up her cause, believing she’d been over-sentenced, and thanks to his help, Foreshaw was granted clemency after serving just 27 years of a 49-year sentence. Once released, she changed her name to Bonnie Jean Cook and helped other ex-convicts adjust to life on the outside until her death in 2022.

All of these murders pale in comparison to the crimes of Amy Archer-Gilligan. While she was charged with five deaths (though only tried for one), she may have killed as many as one hundred. Archer-Gilligan ran the Archer Home for Elderly People and Chronic Invalids in the Hartford suburb of Windsor, where countless older residents were bilked out of money and then poisoned by arsenic, including the murderer’s own husbands. Other locations tied to Archer-Gilligan include Newington, where she and her first husband James Archer lived with John Seymour until he died, and then they transformed the home into Sister Amy’s Nursing Home for the Elderly. In 1917, she was convicted of the murder of Franklin Andrew and sentenced to death by hanging, but she appealed. During a second trial in 1919, she pleaded insanity and was convicted of second-degree murder, earning her a life sentence. In 1924, she was transferred to the Connecticut General Hospital for the Insane in Middletown, where she remained until her death in 1962. The play Arsenic and Old Lace is loosely based on her story.

Also in Hartford, the Circus Fire that killed 168 persons and injured 412-700 others through trampling and asphyxiation occurred on July 6, 1944 (“The Day the Clowns Cried”) and is considered one of the country’s worst fire disasters. The Big Top Tent was coated in paraffin plus gasoline or kerosene for waterproofing; therefore, it was highly flammable. On top of that, some of the exits were blocked by animal chutes. Arson was suspected; others blamed a carelessly tossed lit cigarette. A mentally ill man named Robert Dale Segee, 21, of Circleville, OH, confessed to setting the fire, as well as up to 30 other blazes in Maine, New Hampshire, and Ohio. He later recanted his confession and was never tried in Connecticut. However, Segee was indicted and convicted in Ohio on two charges of arson and served eight out of a four-to-forty-year jail sentence. He died in 1997.

Finally, on May 18, 1988, Billy “Hot Dog” Grant, a bookie who was in charge of Connecticut safe houses for New York’s five families, was reportedly murdered in the parking lot of the Westfarms Mall in Farmington. Grant, who had owned Augie and Ray’s Hot Dog and Hamburger shop in East Hartford, and later the South End Seaport restaurant on Franklin Avenue, was suspected of having given up details of the hiding spot of the brother of a mafia boss. He is supposedly buried underneath a Farmington residence.

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Excerpt from Vacations Can Be Murder by Dawn M Barclay. Copyright 2025 by Dawn M Barclay. Reproduced with permission from Dawn M Barclay. All rights reserved.

 

 

Author Bio:

Dawn M. Barclay is a veteran travel trade reporter and an award-winning author who writes nonfiction under her own name and fiction as D.M. Barr. Her first nonfiction book, Traveling Different: Vacation Strategies for Parents of the Anxious, the Inflexible, and the Neurodiverse (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022) received a starred review from Library Journal, and won the 2023 Lowell Thomas Gold Award from the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation, Honorable Mention from the American Society of Journalists and Authors (Books that Make a Difference), and first prize in the Maxy Awards. When not writing, she edits for various authors and publishers, creates book trailers, ghostwrites (nonfiction only!), plays competitive trivia, rescues senior shelter dogs, travel, reads, and apparently, drives her family nuts...but they won't admit it, of course, since she knows a lot about murder.

Catch Up With Dawn M Barclay:

www.VacationsCanBeMurder.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
Instagram - @authordmbarr
Facebook - @TrueCrimeTravelGuides

 

 

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A Whale of a Murder - A Review

 Review

A WHALE OF A MURDER by Valerie Taylor
The First Venus Bixby Mystery

Chatham Crossing is a quiet Massachusetts town where nothing much happens, at least on the outside. An old whaling town, it's best known for the Sofia Silva Whaling Museum. It's also home of Oldies and Goodies, a popular music store run by Venus Bixby. While the town is gearing to celebrate Independence Day, everyone is also planning to celebrate Venus' fiftieth birthday with a gala affair at the museum. But some people have motives other than wishing Venus well. As Venus walks through the museum's garden to check on her party's progress she manages to trip over a pair of platform shoes. Shoes attached to a body. A body who won't be around to sing Happy Birthday.

Murder and robbery put a halt to a big birthday bash in the first Venus Bixby Mystery. Like the whales at the Sofia Silva Whaling Museum, A WHALE OF A MURDER has good bones. I wanted to love it and while I didn't dislike it, I had some issues with it.

The first part of A WHALE OF A MURDER jumped timelines so much I felt I had whiplash.  The book started with a report of the murder, then we went to a time before, then after, and back and forth. In addition, the story was told from multiple points of view. While doing so gave readers some insight into these characters, it was a jumble and took away any sense of continuity. I preferred it when the author finally got to a linear time frame told from Venus' point of view, interspersed with the newspaper articles which were a nice touch.

The characters here are certainly unique. Venus could use a better circle of friends-who needs enemies when you have friends like hers! Venus herself is certainly flawed and not the most likeable of protagonists, especially in the first part of the book. I never did work out why she should be the toast of the town. I did enjoy seeing her relationship with her sister evolve.

The mystery and Venus' investigation were very drawn out. She and her sister made a suspect list, asked some questions, but mainly went sightseeing. Too much time was taken away from the actual plot and spent on things not germane to the mystery. 

With musical jokes, delicious cookies, and a birthday diva, A WHALE OF A MURDER is an interesting start to a new series.

A Whale of a Murder - An Interview & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Valerie Taylor to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Valerie writes the Venus Bixby Mystery series. A WHALE OF A MURDER is the first book in the series.

Kathy: In A WHALE OF A MURDER we meet Venus Bixby owner of the music store Oldies and Goodies. Does music play a big part in your life? What's your favorite musical style?

VT: I’ve loved music for as long as can remember. My interest in music emerged when I was a child in 1959; the year my father died. That was the year “Mack the Knife” by Bobby Darin hit the radio waves and Elvis Presley was shaking, rattling, and rolling. A year or two later, my mother enrolled me in a co-ed dancing class. Shortly thereafter, I was chosen for ballroom competition. Very different than Dancing with the Stars! Such memories, though. Not surprisingly, Venus owns an oldies music store, clearly my favorite kind of music.

Kathy: Chatham Crossing is a historic whaling town between Providence and Cape Cod. Were you interested in the history of this area or familiar with whaling prior to writing this book?

VT: Chatham Crossing is loosely based on New Bedford, Massachusetts. After I retired in 2016, I spent a day there and was so impressed. I especially loved the whaling museum because it opened my eyes to an important historic industry I knew virtually nothing about.

Kathy: In addition to playlists you also include cookie recipes in this book. Do you enjoy baking? Do you create your own cookies? Do you have a favorite cookie?

VT: I am the world’s worst baker. It took me years to accept the fact that, when baking, to ensure the recipe wasn’t a flop, the ingredients needed to be measured exactly. Except perhaps for the chocolate chips in my favorite cookie!

Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?

VT: Other than perhaps Agatha Christie novels, cozy mysteries were rarely on my bedside table. I can thank readers of my romantic comedy series for raising the prospect of my trying my hand at writing a cozy mystery. After I’d heard that suggestion from multiple readers, I figured they must know something I hadn’t thought of. The rest, as they say, is now history … or should I say cozy.

Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

VT: My debut novel in 2020, WHAT’S NOT SAID, was my first romantic comedy that evolved into a series I fondly call the What’s Not trilogy. WHAT’S NOT TRUE was published in 2021 and was followed by WHAT’S NOT LOST in 2023. I’d intended the first book to be my one great American novel, but readers had other ideas. They wanted more. So I obliged.


Kathy: Tell us about your series. 

VT: Set mainly in Boston with side trips to Venice, Paris, and Greece, the What’s Not romantic comedy trilogy tells the story of Kassie O’Callaghan who has been in her dysfunctional marriage way past its expiration date. When she’s ready to escape with a younger man she met on a solo vacation to Venice, she discovers her husband has a serious illness. This unexpected dilemma sets off a series of events where Kassie has to decide whether to uphold her marriage vows, to fight for what is legally and rightfully hers, and to figure out how to balance her career ambitions with her desire for happily ever after. Question is: can Kassie have it all?

The VENUS BIXBY MYSTERY series will consist of three cozy mysteries set in Chatham Crossing, a fictional whaling village. The first book, A WHALE OF A MURDER, introduces retro-music store owner Venus Bixby. On the morning of her 50th birthday party, Venus stumbles over a pair of orange platform shoes in the gardens of the Sofia Silva Whaling Museum and breaks her thumb. When it’s discovered the shoes are attached to the dead body of the manager of the museum’s gift shop, Venus becomes both a suspect and a sleuth. Will she sing and dance at her party, or will she and her broken thumb be hauled off in handcuffs?

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

VT: Not sure if this is strange, but my favorite character in the What’s Not trilogy is Topher, the cat. He’s an orange tabby that appears in the first book and then has a cameo in the second. Consistently, readers demanded more of Topher. Hence, in the third book, WHAT’S NOT LOST, Topher purrs a whole lot more.

One of my favorite characters in A WHALE OF A MURDER is Helen Davis, a minor character with a feisty attitude. She’s one of the bakers in Bixby’s Dozen, which is the bakery within Oldies & Goodies. In her mid-sixties, Helen assumes the world revolves around her. She reminds me of Ouiser Bourdeaux in Steel Magnolias. Like Ouiser, she also has a man who trails behind her and is at her beck and call.

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

VT: Venus Bixby inspired me to create a mystery series in her name. After I created her as a minor character in WHAT’S NOT LOST, I loved her so much I decided she needed her own story and series. Only recently did it occur to me that this cozy mystery series is actually a prequel to the What’s Not trilogy, especially WHAT’S NOT LOST. Talk about unintended consequences! 

 

Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

VT: While I was drafting WHAT’S NOT SAID, it never occurred to me that I wouldn’t publish it. The question eventually became How? As I was exploring the different publishing paths, I discovered hybrid publishing. After I published the first two books in the What’s Not trilogy with She Writes Press, I decided to shift to self-publishing for the last book in the series. Logically, I self-published A WHALE OF A MURDER and will continue in that direction going forward.

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

VT: I’d invite two women and two men to my dinner party. Two of the four are dead, two are living. Number one invitation would go to Charlotte Bronte, the author of my favorite novel JANE EYRE. I’d want to know what it really was like to be a female writer in her day. Next would be Ernest Hemingway because I study his writing. The third invitation would go to Maggie O’Farrell, the author of THE MARRIAGE PORTAIT and HAMNET, so I could learn to be a better storyteller. Lastly, I’d fill the last chair around the table with Walter Isaacson. What an amazing prolific writer he is. I’d want to know how he can write historical biographies and then pivot to contemporaries who have influenced our current society.

Kathy: What are you currently reading?

VT: Several years ago I read Sharon Dukett’s memoir, NO RULES, based on her life experience in the sixties. Her latest book, THE SHUTDOWN LIST, just came out mid-June. It’s a fast-moving and exciting thriller, showing the true breadth of Ms. Dukett’s talent. A must read.

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

VT: If I could roll back the calendar to my childhood, I’d learn how to play the piano or take up a sport, like soccer. One can dream, right? But since I can’t go back and change my future, I have to admit to being an exceptional sports spectator. I enjoy watching most sports either live or on television, even golf. Strange, huh?!

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

VT: Cheerios. Tea. Ice Cream. SmartWater.

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

VT: Currently, I’m writing the second book in the Venus Bixby Mystery series. I’m expecting there to be three in all. I’m about half way through the messy first draft. And then the fun begins!

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

VT: My most favorite aspect about being an author is creating a story out of whole cloth. My protagonists — Kassie O’Callaghan and Venus Bixby — are a figment of my imagination. They and their stories are as unique as each new flower that blooms. And that’s what gets me up in the morning! 

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 A Whale of a Murder: A Venus Bixby Mystery by Valerie Taylor

About A Whale of a Murder

A Whale of a Murder: A Venus Bixby Mystery
Cozy Mystery 1st in Series
Setting - Chatham Crossing, a fictional whaling town situated between Providence and Cape Cod
Publisher: ‎ Aspetuck Publishing (April 23, 2024)
Paperback: ‎ 358 pages

First in the Venus Bixby Mystery series from award-winning author Valerie Taylor.

Sea breezes and fireworks fill the air in cozy Chatham Crossing, the peaceful and historic whaling town situated between Providence and Cape Cod.

Venus Bixby, owner of the forever popular music store Oldies & Goodies, is counting on the festivities over the Fourth of July weekend to propel her to a position on the prestigious Town Committee.

After years of living in the shadow of her late husband, Venus will finally be the center of attention this holiday weekend: starting with her fiftieth birthday celebration and ending as the parade’s Grand Marshal.

Faster than a cookie crumbles, her dream collapses on the morning of her party when she trips over orange platform shoes in the gardens of the Sofia Silva Whaling Museum and breaks her thumb. When it’s discovered the shoes are attached to the body of the manager of the museum’s gift shop, Venus becomes both a suspect and a sleuth in Chatham Crossing’s first murder in decades.

Given this unexpected turn of events, will Venus ever sing and dance at her birthday party, or will her fractured thumb end up in handcuffs?

Includes cookie recipes and playlist!

About Valerie Taylor

Valerie Taylor tried to retire in 2016. But life had other ideas. After enjoying some of the best years of her life in Boston and Seattle, she moved back home to Connecticut and embarked on a second career as an author. Her first romantic comedy trilogy What’s Not Said, What’s Not True, and What’s Not Lost won multiple awards. Encouraged by her readers, she created a new cozy mystery series, spinning one of the secondary characters in What’s Not LOST into the role of amateur sleuth in A Whale of a Murder: A Venus Bixby Mystery. When she’s not writing or reading, Valerie enjoys practicing tai chi and being an expert sports spectator.

Author Links: 

Website: https://valerietaylorauthor.com  

Facebook: facebook.com/valerietaylorauthor  

Twitter/X: twitter.com/ValerieEMTaylor  

Instagram: Instagram.com/ValerieETaylor/  

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

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Currently Reading...

I’m currently reading A Whale of a Murder by Valerie Taylor. This book is the first in the Venus Bixby Mystery series and was released earlier this year.

Chatham Crossing is a quiet Massachusetts town where nothing much happens, at least on the outside. An old whaling town, it's best known for the Sofia Silva Whaling Museum. It's also home of Oldies and Goodies, a popular music store run by Venus Bixby. While the town is gearing to celebrate Independence Day, everyone is also planning to celebrate Venus' fiftieth birthday with a gala affair at the museum. But some people have motives other than wishing Venus well. As Venus walks through the museums garden to check on her party's progress she manages to trip over a pair of platform shoes. Shoes attached to a body. A body who won't be around to sing Happy Birthday.

Bearer of Secrets - A Guest Post, Review, & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Nupur Tustinback to Cozy Up With Kathy. Nupur writes the Celine Skye Psychic Mystery series. BEARER OF SECRETS is the third book in the series and was released last month.

Master Thieves Or Inept Hacks?
Nupur Tustin

Master thieves or inept hacks? That’s the question I asked myself when I began researching the Gardner Museum theft for the Celine Skye Psychic Mystery series.

Celine is a psychic art sleuth working with the FBI on the case, and every mystery in the series, including Bearer of Secrets, the newest release, develops on the theory I’ve developed of what happened and why.

But first let me tell you about the theft and why the jury’s still out there on whether the men behind the most notorious heist in American history were master thieves or inept hacks.

Here’s what happened:

On March 18, 1990 two men broke into Boston’s Gardner Museum. They didn’t smash doors or break windows to effect their entry. Dressed as policemen, they persuaded the night guards—college students trying to earn a little extra money—to let them in.

What’s intriguing about this theft is not how the thieves managed to get in nor how much time they spent in the museum—a total of 81 minutes—nor how many works they made off with—a total of 13.

No, what’s intriguing is that there’s absolutely no viable lead about who was behind the theft and where the works might have ended up.

And when one looks at what was stolen, invariably one has to wonder: were these truly masterminds or inept hacks?

The media has always been divided on the issue, tending toward the latter view. It’s fair to say investigators aren’t sure either.

On the one hand, the works taken from the Dutch Room—the Rembrandts and the Vermeer—were among the most valuable pieces taken. Today, the Vermeer alone is valued at about $500 million. I wasn’t able to find out how much the Chez Tortoni stolen from the Gardner was worth, but Manet’s works have fetched as much as $65 million at auction.

So clearly, the thieves knew the value of what they were stealing. That would suggest a master thief, right?

Not so fast. You see the more valuable a stolen painting, the more well-known the artist, the harder it is to get rid of the item. One way to move such a painting would be to use it as currency in the criminal underworld—as collateral for a loan, let’s say, that gets used to buy and traffic drugs or arms.

The other would be to sell it to an unscrupulous collector through perhaps a dealer with a less than stellar moral code.

Only a hack would steal a valuable painting worth millions of dollars. It would be very hard to get rid of. You could ransom it, of course. But that, too, is a tricky affair. Some art sleuths like Holland’s Arthur Brandt aren’t above paying “middlemen” for their help in recovering a stolen masterpiece.

Most in the art recovery business prefer not to go that route for the simple reason that it encourages more art theft.

The theft of the Degas sketches from the Short Gallery where Mrs. Gardner placed her drawings and sketches is a puzzle, too. There were Michelangelo prints that were of far greater value.

And the Degas sketches—the most finished of them was a watercolor, the least finished look like scribblings; nicely done scribblings, but scribblings none the less. Why would anyone want these? Where could they hope to sell them?

So the thieves must have been inept hacks, right? Maybe not.

The same argument that applies to the Dutch works applies here. Surely the Degas sketches would be easier to sell than the more recognizable Michelangelo.

And because artists typically proceed from small- and large-scale sketches to a full-fledged painting, sketches contribute to an art connoisseur’s understanding and appreciation of their favorite artist. Their presence can help authenticate a work and in its attribution and might also arguably make an artist’s finished work even more valuable.

So you can see why stealing the sketches might’ve been the work of a master thief.

So, master thieves or inept hacks? What do you think?

Share your thoughts with Kathy and me. And don’t forget to enter the Giveaway for a print copy of Bearer of Secrets, the latest Celine Skye Psychic Mystery.

If you enjoy art heists, intrigue, and murder, this is a book you won’t want to miss!

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Review

BEARER OF SECRETS by Nupur Tustin
The Third Celine Skye Psychic Mystery 

Back in California Celine Skye is trying to work at her newly inherited winery, but thoughts of the Gardner Heist and concern for the elderly Clara have her mind elsewhere. A news article and visions of danger around Clara soon compel her to return to Boston. While FBI Agent Blake Markham looks into a Degas sketch with questionable provenance and ownership, Celine and retired FBI Agent Julia Hood focus on Clara who just may hold the key to the Gardner Museum theft. Will they recover more of the stolen items? Will they finally find out who was behind the heist? Will they be able to keep Clara safe?

While BEARER OF SECRETS is a work of fiction, the Gardner Heist was real and is still unsolved. An unsolved mystery is compelling in so many ways. It's fascinating to read what may have happened and the slow reveal found here is executed so well. Leads pop up and are followed. Each step has us learning more, following clues. But supposition isn't enough. Suspects are tied together like flies caught in a web, but just who is the spider?

Emotions run high and danger is rife, as Celine tries to decipher the meaning behind her visions. I was enthralled and felt as if I was on a runaway train...knowing there was disaster ahead and unsure who, if anyone, would escape unscathed. 

With smart taut writing along with great characterization BEARER OF SECRETS will have you on the edge of your seat pondering the unsolved crime while waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

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 Bearer of Secrets: An Art Heist Mystery (Celine Skye Psychic Mystery Series) by Nupur Tustin

About Bearer of Secrets

Bearer of Secrets: An Art Heist Mystery (Celine Skye Psychic Mystery Series)
Psychic Mystery 3rd in Series
Setting – Paso Robles, CA and Boston, MA
Publisher: ‎ Foiled Plots Press (June 27, 2024)
Print length: ‎ 397 pages

SIZZLING SUSPENSE: Based on the True Story of Boston's Gardner Museum Theft!

Could a stolen Degas unravel a cold-case art heist? Celine must find out before murder closes in . . . Shattered by a journalist’s death and sensing danger to his mother, Clara, psychic art sleuth Celine Skye struggles to focus on the Gardner Museum theft. Until a stolen Degas taken eight years after the heist surfaces—along with new clues and visions of Clara in peril.

Compelled to investigate, Celine has a startling revelation linking Clara to a Gardner Museum insider. Could Clara’s son have uncovered evidence implicating her friend in the theft?

With the threat to Clara escalating, Celine must find the truth before murder finds them both. . .

About Nupur Tustin

Nupur Tustin is a former journalist who misuses a Ph.D. in Communication and an M.A. in English to paint intrigue and orchestrate murder. She is the author of the Joseph Haydn Mystery series set in eighteenth-century Austria and the Celine Skye Psychic Mysteries about a psychic art sleuth who takes on the still unsolved Gardner Museum theft of 1990. She also writes the Sophie's Adventure series about an art sleuth who recovers stolen art as an undercover tourist. For more about her and her books, please visit https://ntustin.com

Author Links

• Website (Get a Free Taste of Murder): https://ntustin.com
• N Tustin Bookstore: https://ntustin.com/shop
• Blog: https://ntustin.com/blog
• GoodReads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/nupurtustin
• Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/nupur-tustin
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ntustinauthor/

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