On Being a Main Lady in a Cozy Mystery - A Guest Post & Giveaway

I'm happy to welcome Lacy Purdy to Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Lacy on the pages of the Running Store Mystery series by T. C. Wescott. Running from Arrows is the second book in the series and was released last month.

ON BEING A MAIN LADY IN A COZY MYSTERY
by T. C. Wescott

My name is Lacy Purdy. I don’t like to give my age, but I’m fond of saying that I’m still in the Nielsen Ratings’ preferred 18-49 demographic, albeit not for much longer. I moved to Cedar Mills, OK from Kansas City, MO almost two years ago and following a rather disheartening divorce from my husband of too many years. I don’t have kids, but I do have Meatball—my chubby Russian Blue kitty. We live alone in a small two-bedroom in a quiet, old neighborhood, not far from Main Street.

You could say Main Street is the nerve center of my life. The small insurance office I work at is off a shady turning, but my favorite place is dead center of the street—Run For It, a local running store owned and operated by Marti and Chase Reynolds, two great people. I don’t shop there all the time (a woman can buy only so many sports bras and shoe inserts) but I love the people, and twice a week I’m in charge of one of the running groups that take out from the store. The running groups help prepare runners for upcoming 5k, 10k and marathon runs in the area. I learned so much going through the training that I’m thrilled to be able to pass the knowledge on to newbies.

It was here at Run For It that I made my two best friends. Stax came along just when I needed her. I was new in town and even newer in the running group when she extended the hand of friendship. Well, what she actually did was follow me on runs telling me everything I was doing wrong. It was annoying and mildly offensive so to keep her off my back I took her suggestions and next thing you know I was running faster, longer, and maximizing my lung capacity. So, I let my guard down and let her into my life. We’ve been pretty inseparable since. She owns an indie bookstore on Main Street that is another of my regular hangouts.

It was also at the bookstore that I met a woman I am pretty sure will change my life if she hasn’t already. Her name is Ruby Maplethorpe, but you might know her better as Pearl Oakley, the author of over 20 mystery novels in the 50s and 60s. Since widowed and retired, Ruby decided to take up long distance walking to remain in shape. What she didn’t count on was murder.

Around the time I met Ruby a fellow runner from our group went missing under the most mysterious circumstances imaginable. If that wasn’t enough, someone was leaving pairs of scissors in very conspicuous places. When the runner turned up dead, I found myself cast as a prime suspect. If not for the brilliance of Ruby and the tenacity of Stax and a very capable (and handsome) detective, I might have been strung up for a crime I never committed. But being the great friends they are, they came through. I relay the harrowing events of this murderous adventure in Running from Scissors.

This Valentine’s Day has been even more trying. Not one, not two, but three people have been murdered. And, lo and behold, I’ve got a secret admirer. There’s a maniac called the Cupid Killer at large and for all I know he and my admirer are one and the same.

But I trust myself and my friends to get to the bottom of this mystery, as perplexing as it is. There’s something about Cedar Mills that makes it hard for bad people to flourish. And if I know Ruby, she’ll figure out who our invisible killer is and save the day once again.

I just hope she does so before I become the Cupid Killer’s latest victim!

To find out what happens, be sure to check out Running from Arrows in Kindle, paperback, or Audible format now!

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

Running from Arrows (A Running Store Mystery) by T.C. Wescott

About the Book

 

Running from Arrows (A Running Store Mystery)  

Cozy Mystery/Romance/Humor 2nd in Series  

Better Mousetrap Books (January 7, 2019)  

Print Length: 192 pages 

One of Lacy's beaus has a bow. Unlike Cupid, his arrows kill. There's more than romance in the air this Valentine's Day!

Running from Arrows is the fun, twist-filled, romantic cozy mystery romp you've been waiting for!

Valentine's Day is coming up and Lacy is single. If that's not bad enough, she has a secret admirer. Is it the compassionate, haunted detective, the ruggedly handsome businessman, the suave maître de, the guy in her running group who likes to stare, or maybe someone who's not on her radar? She'll find out soon enough because he's invited her to dinner. Now the question isn't how long Lacy will remain single but how long she'll remain alive.

During the Sweetheart Run through the town of Cedar Mill a fellow runner is murdered and a notorious burglar called the Black Cat is found dead with an arrow sticking out of him. Somehow these strange murders are connected to the ladies of Run For It - Lacy the divorcee, Stax the quirky bookseller, and Ruby the old-time mystery novelist. They're back in a race against time to catch an invisible killer and exonerate an innocent man!

If you love a delicious mystery dripping with romance, humor, and chills - and a Valentine's Day dinner no reader will ever forget - then buy Running from Arrows now and run it right to the top of your TBR pile!

You'll want to tell all your friends about Running from Arrows, but whatever you do, DON'T TELL THE SECRET OF THE SECRET ADMIRER.

Running from Arrows is part two in a series but can be read as a stand-alone.

About the Author

T.C. Wescott was born in Missouri but has lived in Oklahoma most of his life. Like pretty much every author who has ever breathed, he is an avid reader. His favorites are classic mysteries from the Golden Age, as well as just before or just after that period (which is widely considered the period between the two World Wars). His first mystery novel, Running from Scissors, was published in July 2018 and will be the first of at least three books in the Running Store Mystery series.

The Christmas Village Mystery series was launched in November with the debut title Slay Bells. The formula for his books is simple – mixing the classic, traditional detective fiction standards with all the trappings of the modern cozy mystery.

Wescott is also (under another name) the author of two award-winning non-fiction books as well as a slew of essays and articles.

• BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/t-c-wescott
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterMousetrapBooks/
• Website: tcwescott.com
• Twitter: @MousetrapBooks
• GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18176277.T_C_Wescott

Purchase Link – Amazon

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Gone With the Wings - An Interview & Giveaway

I'm happy to welcome Leena Clover to the blog today. Leena writes the Meera Patel Cozy Mystery series. GONE WITH THE WINGS, the first book in the series, was released earlier this summer.

Kathy: In GONE WITH THE WINGS we meet Meera Patel who has moved back with her family after dropping our of graduate school. What makes a small college town in Oklahoma the perfect setting for your mystery series?

LC: College towns have a vibe of their own. Even tucked away in the heartland, they are a melting pot of different cultures and influences. There is a variety of people from across the world interacting with each other. This provides plenty of possibilities for a mystery setting. Anything can happen, and it does!


Kathy: Meera mixes up fusion recipes at Sylvie’s Cafe & Diner in Oklahoma. My mouth watered when I read the words Masala Fried Chicken. What do you love most about South Asian food?

LC: South Asian food is so versatile. All the aromatic spices and rich flavors give a cook plenty of ways to experiment. I love mixing and matching various spices to create unique dishes.


Kathy: Do you enjoy cooking or do you prefer to just write about it?

LC: I love cooking! I’ve been trying out recipes in the kitchen since I was very young. Writing about it allows me to share my creations with my readers. I really hope they try out the recipes given in the books. Some of the recipes like the Masala Fried Chicken are just an extension of the basic recipe and not too intimidating, I hope.


Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?

LC: I always enjoyed reading mystery books. I rediscovered the ‘cozy mystery’ genre as it is called today when I started reading on my Kindle. I have always liked a good puzzle. Writing a cozy mystery allowed me to focus on clues without dealing with any guts or gore or profanity. Meera and her friends talk to people and do some old fashioned analysis. Readers can follow the clues and often figure out who the culprit is.


Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

LC: Not yet. I want to write more cozy mysteries. Look out for a new series next year.


Kathy: Tell us about your series.

LC: The Meera Patel Cozy Mystery Series centers around Meera and her family. Meera finds herself at a crossroads in life. She gets pulled into solving mysteries to help her friends and family. But what does the future hold for her?

All books can be read as a standalone. But there is also an overarching plot about Meera and what is happening in her life.

The series offers a glimpse into South Asian or Indian culture, highlighting food and festivals and certain aspects like the joint family with many generations living in the same house, stress on higher education etc.

Translations are included inline wherever ethnic terms are used and a glossary is also included at the back. Every book contains both fusion and Indian recipes for adventurous cooks.


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

LC: Motee Ba or Meera’s grandma. She raised her own kids, moved to a foreign country and then raised her grand kids. She’s elegant and lady like with a strong loyalty toward friends and family. She is the one Meera always goes to in times of crisis. And she’s an active senior. I hope I have half her energy when I cross 70.


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

LC: As a mystery writer, Agatha Christie is my greatest inspiration. With the Meera Patel series, I wanted to depict diversity against a familiar backdrop.

Life in a college town has always fascinated me. The setting is inspired by my own college days. The Patels are immigrants who have almost completely assimilated themselves into the American way of life, although they retain their own customs and culture. Individual characters are partially inspired by people I have known or read about.

I hope readers find the series as enticing as I do.


Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

LC: Writing a book was part of my life plan. But I had never assigned a timeline to it. I took up the NaNoWriMo challenge one year, where writers pledge to produce fifty thousand words in the month of November. Meera Patel was born and I never looked back.

So publishing a book wasn’t a conscious decision. But now that I have written almost four books in the series, I can’t imagine not being a writer.


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

LC: That’s a hard one. M C Beaton, Donna Andrews, Janet Evanovich and Debbie Macomber.


Kathy: What are you currently reading?

LC: MURDER UNDERGROUND by Mavis Doriel Hay


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

LC: Reading and cooking, and eating of course! I love to try out different cuisines.


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

LC: Tomatoes, rice, pepper and ice cream


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

LC: The fourth book in the Meera Patel series, BACK YO THE FAJITAS is coming on October 11. Join the Patels on an epic road trip to California. There’s more than one mystery with amazing Route 66 experiences.

I am planning a new series for next year. Join my newsletter to be the first to know about it.


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

LC: Being an author allows me to reach people across the world. I hope my books give them some respite from their daily drudgery and bring a smile to their face. I love connecting with readers and hearing what they think about my books.

Links –

http:/facebook.com/meerapatelcozymystery

http://twitter.com/leenaclover

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071WHNM6K

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072Q7B47P

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072V3T2BV/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072V3T2BV/



a Rafflecopter giveaway

An Interview at Grace Gulch

I'm happy to welcome Darlene Franklin to Cozy Up With Kathy. Darlene writes the Dressed for Death Mystery series.

Kathy: Gunfight at Grace Gulch deals with the ancient, yet ongoing, feud between the Graces and the Gaynors. Have you personally been involved with a feud? Is this feud based on a real one?

DF: No, I haven’t personally been involved with a feud, unless disagreeing with my roommate about which TV shows to watch counts,

Gunfight at Grace Gulch isn’t based on an actual feud, but disputes over land claims were numerous and heated and took a long time to settle. In the book, Dick Gaynor always claimed Bob Grace had been a “Sooner,” that he had camped out on the land before the actual run.


Kathy: A reenactment gone wrong starts this mystery. Have you participated in any sort of reenactments?

DF: I’ve taken part in a Christmas and Easter pageant or two, which is a form of a reenactment.


Kathy: Cici Wilde owns a vintage clothing store. I love clothing from past generations. Do you have a favorite period for vintage clothing?

DF: Oh, to have the figure for any period of clothing! The lovely Edwardian era dress—or how about Regency—or even Renaissance. Of course, the Fifties are just plain fun.


Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?

DF: Mysteries have always been my favorite genre. I have a theory that the first two great detectives—Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot—represent the two branches of mysteries. Holmes, of course, relied on evidence. He was the original forensic detective. Poirot (and his contemporary, Jane Marple) relied on his “little gray cells,” what he observed of other people, and what she knew of human behavior—the basis of cozy mysteries. I inhaled them all. I love to read and watch both, book and screen.

I write cozy mysteries for two reasons. Marketing was the first reason; the publisher who picked up my first book formed a book club for cozy mysteries. It took three tries, but they bought my Dressed for Death series. The second reason was practical. I’d love to write any style of mysteries, but cozy utilize my strengths: character, motivations, relationships, settings—good old fashioned logic and nosiness.


Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

DF: After the mystery book club went defunct, I dived head first into writing historical romance, with a few contemporary romances as well. I believe I have about fifty titles under my name on Amazon. That’s not as many as it sounds; several novellas have been included in more than one collection.

I also have contributed devotional and personal experience stories to about two dozen books. Now I’m starting my own devotional series.


Kathy: Tell us about your series.

Dressed for Death follows vintage clothing store owner Cici Wilde, her beau Audie Howe, her even wilder sisters, and the zany characters of small town Oklahoma when death comes calling.

Most of my romances are part of small series, so I’ll just mention a few of them.

My magnum opus to date are the eight books set in Maple Notch, Vermont, stretching from the Revolutionary War to today. The series are called Maple Notch Brides, Maple Notch Dreams, and Maple Notch Days.

I wrote two of the six books in the Texas Trails series from Rivernorth Fiction. The series followed one Texas family from the 1840s to the 1890s (one book per decade).

Most recently, I wrote four holiday-related stories for Holidays of the Heart. All the stories take place in actual western towns with holiday-themed names. I also put together the Christmas Mail Order Angels collection, about a Wyoming mining town with marriage-ready miners and a Maine town full of single women.


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

DF: Apart from Cici, my heroine, I love Magda Grace Mallory. Keep reading the series—more about her later.


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

DF: As I said, Dressed for Death was my third proposal. In the first two, I tried to create a small-town atmosphere in the city. They failed. I decided to go for the jugular, creating a small town in Oklahoma. I lived in Oklahoma for about ten years, so I knew the area, and I added the small town feel of my parents’ home in East Boothbay, Maine.

Cici grew out of paragraph in a newspaper about a vintage clothing store. The occupation brought numerous murder plots to mind. Her interest in historical clothing tied into my interest in history, which I explore in all three books.


Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

DF: Oh, I’ve always wanted to publish. As soon as I write something, I want someone to read it. However, I only went to self-publishing, and now working with a small press, about a year ago.

For the first ten years, I published maybe one article a year. My first book came out after I had been writing for fourteen years. Since then, it’s gathered speed.


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

DF: Charles Dickens—his passion for the poor and destitute and his amazing stories. He helped change his country. Dick Francis—I devoured every one of his books. He has written some of the most riveting books I’ve ever read (and read again and again) and they always make me think. I like Tolkien’s books more, but I’d rather talk with C.S. Lewis. I have to include one woman. Maybe Nancy Pickard, because her Jenny Cain series is sheer perfection.


Kathy: What are you currently reading?

DF: I have three books going at present: One Walk Year Walk with God Devotional by Chris Tiegreen (so yes, that’s a long-term read); Be the Miracle! By Delores Leisner. I finished Soul Identity by Dennis Batchelder on New Year’s Day, so I’ve already read one book in 2016. Now I’m trying Augusten Burrough’s memoir, Running with Scissors. (I have to force myself to read something other than mysteries, although historical fiction runs a close second.) I recently finished reading everyone else’s entries in the Christmas Traditions collection.


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

DF: I do a lot of word search puzzles, watch T.V., and read (of course!)


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

DF: I live in a nursing home, so I have neither a fridge or a pantry. However, how about diet coke and fruit cups? I go to the vending machine for snacks.


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

DF: Cici won’t have any more mysteries to solve, at least none that I know about.

However, I’m starting a new series called Murder by the Case series. I want to finish the second book before I finish the first one (which is written and being edited), so they’ll come out later this year. My heroine, Carlie Cooper, is a home health aide who has “cases” which keep getting linked to murder and other crimes. Physical therapist Deacon Wells flirts with her, but she’s not ready to settle down. In Case Closed, she finds the dead body her 80-year-old patient the morning after her birthday party.

I’m also writing at least three historical novellas this year. The first one, An Infusion of Love, takes us to 1774 New Jersey, which had its own tea party. That will be released in March.


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

DF: I love creating stories. People frequently ask, where do your ideas come from? Where don’t they come from? Give me a place, a theme, an occupation—or all three at once—and a story strides into my head, demanding to be written.

I also like “having written.” Writing and editing is just plain hard work, although I wouldn’t do anything else.