Spotlight - Ripped From the Pages

I'd like to shine a spotlight on one of last month's releases, Ripped From the Pages by Kate Carlisle. This book is the ninth in the Bibliophile Mystery series.

From the dust jacket:

When book-restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright temporarily relocates to her parents' place in Northern California, she finds that wooden barrels aren't the only things buried in the wine caves of Sonoma....

Excited to explore the secrets of wine country, Brooklyn attends an excavation of the caves hidden deep under her parents' commune-and the findings are explosive. A room is unearthed, and it contains a treasure trove of artwork, rare books, cases of wine, a chest of jewelry...and a perfectly mummified body.

A closer examination of the  murdered man's possessions reveals a valuable first edition of Jules Verne's A Journey to the Center of the Earth. Hidden in the book is a secret map that unveils an even greater hoard of treasures brought to California by French winemakers fleeing the Nazi invasion with the commune leader's grandfather Anton among them.

As reporters and art appraisers flock to Sonoma to see the precious bounty, questions begin to rise --did Anton hide these items to protect them, or did he steal them for himself? Who is the mysterious man left for dead inside the cave? But not all crime is buried in the past. When a new presence threatens the town's peace, Brooklyn decides to do a little excavating of her own and solve the mystery of the treasure before anyone else is written off....

Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading As Gouda as Dead by Avery Aames. This book is the 6th book in the Cheese Shop Mystery series. It's almost wedding time for Charlotte and Jordan as the town begins its Lovers Trail Celebration, a weeklong festival honoring Valentine's Day. Charlotte's festivities are cut short when a cryptic phone call interrupts her bachlorette party. Worries end the party and the hunt begins for Tim, a favorite bartender and friend. The trail leads Deputy O'Shea and Charlotte to Jordan's bachelor party at his cheese farm where they finally find Tim, murdered, with the Sheriff and a houseful of people mere yards away. Shocked and distraught that his friend was killed on his property, Jordan suggests postponing the wedding, set to take place at the crime scene. With the wedding on hold Charlotte fears for her and Jordan's relationship. Determined that they will marry and get their happy ending she knows she must help to find the killer.

A Fatal Fairies Interview & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Joyce and Jim Lavene back to Cozy Up With Kathy. Fatal Fairies is the 8th book in their Renaissance Faire Mystery series and is being released today!

Kathy: Fatal Fairies is a Renaissance Faire take on It's a Wonderful Life. Is It's a Wonderful Life one of your favorite films?

J&JL: Yes! We’ve always enjoyed it. We thought it would be fun to create something different from the idea with a fairy godmother.


Kathy: What makes It's a Wonderful Life in its many incarnations such a special story?

J&JL: We think it’s the idea that there is always hope and that sometimes you can get a do-over. Wouldn’t most of us like to have one?


Kathy: Apple Blossom is such a great fairy name. How did you decide to add fairies to your Renaissance Faire Mystery series?

J&JL: We love fairies! They are such fun creatures. Our main character, Jessie Morton, isn’t especially fond of them because they flirt with her husband, Bailiff Chase Manhattan, but we like them anyway!


Kathy: Jessie has a fairy godmother. Do you ever wish you had a fairy godmother? Would you be tempted to make a wish?

J&JL: We think a fairy godmother – like any other wish-giver – would be a two-edged sword – which is what we portrayed in the book. You get a gift on one hand, but what do you have to give up to receive it? You have to be careful what you wish for – as Jessie found out the hard way.


Kathy: Was there a specific inspiration for this story?

J&JL: Sometimes people forget how great their lives really are and they need a reminder of how bad they could be. An appreciation of life was our inspiration for the story in Fatal Fairies.


Kathy: Are you able to share any future plans for Jessie Morton?

J&JL: We’d like to see her get pregnant and have a baby at some point but not sure she’s ready for it yet. We’re very interested in Steampunk. The next book might have a Steampunk theme.


Kathy: Will you share any other upcoming books?

J&JL: Our next mystery is Give’em Pumpkin to Talk About, available in August. That is followed by Be My Banshee in September, the first in the Purple Door Detective Agency series. After that is the next Retired Witches Mystery in October, Looking for Mr. Good Witch.

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Review - Fatal Reservations

Review

Fatal Reservations by Lucy Burdette
The 6th book in the Key West Food Critic Mystery series

There's a new floating restaurant in Key West, but it's causing a commotion at the city commission meeting, as it seems not to be bound to the same constraints as its on land competition. Add an unruly group of street performers to a volatile meeting and you have a recipe for disaster. Hayley's friend and confidant, the tarot reader Lorenzo, didn't see bad fortune lurking and when a fellow street performer winds up dead Lorenzo becomes the main suspect and flees town. Is Hayley right to believe in him? Even when his story keeps changing?

Truths will come out.  

The life of a psychic: able to see and read others, but unable to foretell his own future. Hayley has always relied on Lorenzo to guide her when faced with a crisis. In Fatal Reservations, however, Lorenzo is the one facing a crisis. Although Hayley wants to believe in him, and help him, Lorenzo's actions belie his innocence. Why run? As hard evidence begins to stack up against him, even Hayley has to wonder if her trust could possibly be misplaced. As Hayley discovers she really doesn't know much about Lorenzo, is she right to stand up for him?

With her mother back in wintry New Jersey caring for Sam, Wally acting more like a non-boyfriend, and  her roomie, Miss Gloria, caught up with her own friends and new hobby, Hayley finds herself more alone than ever. 

I enjoy being back in Key West with Hayley and her friends...and the food. Fatal Reservations is a wonderful addition to the series. Lucy Burdette brings the charm of Key West, but doesn't hide its dark side and faults as well. The popular fun tourist attractions can have a seedy underbelly. The author also has us question what we know. Are people really what they seem? Should we stay with the comfortable or reach for something better. What is worth the risk? Lucy Burdette combines cozy fun with the gritty details of life, past and present, with a hopeful look to the future showing us that how we deal with past crises can color our world, either positively or negatively. How will you see your world?

Recipes included.

Fatal Reservations will be released Tuesday, July 7, 2015. Amazon has it available for pre-order and is offering the mass market paperback for a sale price of only $5.45. I'm not sure how long the sale will last!
 

What's Opera, Victoria? An Interview & Giveaway

I'm so happy to welcome Victoria Hamilton back to the blog today. Victoria writes the Merry Muffin Mystery series, among others. Death of an English Muffin, the third book in the series will be released Tuesday, July 7th. Today Victoria and I talk about a favorite subject of mine: opera!

Kathy: In Death of an English Muffin Merry and her friends decide to put on a show. But no ordinary show, an opera! Why choose an opera, and why Die Zauberflote in particular?

VH: There is much more opportunity for comic scenes with an amateur company putting on an opera than, say, an Arthur Miller play, or even a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. I was looking for an opera that had an aria with a high degree of difficulty; Die Zauberflote fills that bill. And I must admit a fondness for all things German. I am somewhat of a Teutonophile… is that a word?


Kathy: The Queen of the Night sings my favorite aria, one that I studied years ago, " Der Holle Rache" (Hell's Vengeance). Not every soprano is capable of singing this role, as she must reach an F above high C. Are you able to tell us which of Merry's friends has this role? Is she up for the challenge?

VH: I certainly can tell you that it is Janice Grover who performs that exceptionally difficult part. And no… what fun would it be if she was up for it? But I didn’t do it just to have fun at Janice’s expense; it is actually an opportunity for another character’s redemption, in some way. You’ll see. It also introduces a particularly nasty aspect of The Legion of Horrible Ladies, who you will meet in the book.


Kathy: I am a huge opera fan. Are you? If so, how did you come to enjoy it?

VH: Okay, confession time… until recently I knew virtually nothing about opera, and I still know little. But I’ve become fascinated with it lately, and look forward to exploring it more, if only ‘virtually’.


Kathy: Do you have any favorite operas or composers?

VH: Composers, yes. I love Satie, Pachelbel, Rachmaninoff, Mantovani and Copland. This series, the Merry Muffin Series, is the only one that I actually listen to music while I write. I’ve used some music to give me mood, when I write, like Copland’s Hoedown, or Satie’s Gymnopédie.


Kathy: Have you seen any of the more recent operas? (Ones composed in the past 50 years or so) What are your thoughts of those as compared to the more old standbys?

VH: I have to plead resolute ignorance on this topic… maybe you can give me some examples I can look up? What I need is an opera mentor, someone who won’t mind giving me some ideas for a self-guided tour on great opera.


Kathy: Tenors have long been the rage (my favorite opera singer is Jonas Kaufmann) but the Barihunks are staging a takeover! Mariusz Kwiecien is another favorite and he’s my favorite baritone (who is also a hunk!). Do you have any favorite opera singers?

VH: I have an absolute fan girl crush on the sublime Luciano Pavarotti. (I know, I know… he’s passé and passed on. I can still fan girl out) His Nessun Dorma brings tears to my eyes. And I absolutely adore the horribleness of his duets. He went through this phase of singing with anyone and everyone, like John Denver and Celine Dion. Hearing him sing Jingle Bells reduces me to tears, too… of laughter. That august, composed, amazing man singing a silly little jingle is just sublime. Wretchedly hilarious.

But aside from the incomparable Pavarotti, when I was working on Death of an English Muffin I listened over and over again to Diana Damrau’s version of Der Hölle Rache, and she astounds me. I get chills… what a voice! In a completely oppositional way, you have got to listen to Florence Foster Jenkins, who gives chills in a completely different way. She also did the Queen of the Night aria, listen on YouTube: https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=worst+opera+ever&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001

Utterly amazing! And pretty much like poor Janice Grover’s performance.


Kathy: Was there a specific inspiration for this story?

VH: Kinda sorta. I know people who clothe their awfulness in the blanket of frankness. “I’m just being honest,” they’ll bleat, after saying something awful about someone’s looks, weight, or intelligence. It gets my goat. Not everything you think needs to be said. Your meanness is not honesty so much as a reflection of your bitter cruel soul. Think it bugs me? LOL. So… that was the genesis for the story; what if one of those ‘honest’ people… but no, I won’t say. Read on!


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

VH: You know the saying, the path of true love ne’er does run smooth? Nothing in Merry’s life ever runs smooth, not love or life. She may think she’s got her life sorted out at the end of this book, but of course she doesn’t.


Kathy: Will you share any other upcoming books?

VH: I’m always happy to share more about my books. In November, Book #5 of my Vintage Kitchen Mysteries, White Colander Crime is coming out. And in February of 2016 Book #3 of my Teapot Collector Mysteries, The Grim Steeper (written as Amanda Cooper). I’m starting now writing book #4 of the Merry Muffin Mysteries… there will actually be a #4 and #5, I’m grateful to say.

Thanks you so much, Kathy, for having me. I don’t get a chance to talk about opera often, certainly with no one I know!


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From the national bestselling author of Muffin but Murder, baker Merry Wynter returns with a fresh tray of muffins and a case that has authorities stumped…

They say one’s home is one’s castle, but when it comes to Wynter Castle, Merry would like it to belong to someone else. But until a buyer bites, she could use some extra dough, so she decides to take in renters. The idea pans out, and Merry’s able to find a handful of tenants eager to live in a real castle. The only problem is most of them are crumby, tea-swilling old biddies.

The Legion of Horrible Ladies, as Merry calls them, is led by the terribly nasty—and fabulously wealthy—Cleta Sanson. The abrasive Englishwoman keeps everyone whipped into a frenzy—until she meets an embarrassing end behind a locked door. Evidence reveals that Cleta was murdered, yet no one is privy to how the deed was done. Merry knows she must quickly find the killer before another of her guests gets greased…

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Victoria Hamilton is the national bestselling author of three bestselling series, the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries and Merry Muffin Mysteries as Victoria, and the Teapot Collector Mysteries as Amanda Cooper. She is also the bestselling author of Regency and historical romance as Donna Lea Simpson.

Victoria loves to cook and collects vintage kitchen paraphernalia, teacups and teapots, and almost anything that catches her fancy! She loves to read, especially mystery novels, and enjoys good tea and cheap wine, the company of friends, and has a newfound appreciation for opera. She enjoys crocheting and beading, but a good book can tempt her away from almost anything… except writing!


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorVictoriaHamilton

Merry Muffin Mysteries Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/MerrysMuffinsMysterySeries

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/vintagekitchenm/merry-muffin-mysteries/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MysteryVictoria


Title: Death of an English Muffin
Author: Victoria Hamilton
Series: Merry Muffin Mysteries
Release Date: July 7th, 2015
Website: http://www.victoriahamiltonmysteries.com
Email: Victoria@victoriahamiltonmysteries.com

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Do we have a prize pack for you! Victoria Hamilton has generously donated an incredible prize pack. One lucky reader will win a copy of Death of an English Muffin, a copy of Shadow of a Spout, and some Wynter Castle Blend teabags! To be eligible simply leave a comment on this blog post about opera and I'll use random.org to pick the winning comment. Please leave an e-mail address so that I may contact you, should you win and leave your comment no later than 11:59 EDT on Sunday, July 5th 2015. 

Currently Reading...

I finished Well Read, Then Dead, and am now reading Caught Read-Handed by Terrie Farley Moran. This book is the second in the Read 'Em and Eat Mystery series and will be released July 7th!

While dropping off a book donation at the local library Sassy sees a familiar face, but a closer look reveals it's not the man she thought it was, her former boss. Before she can continue into the library itself she hears a caterwauling, and the man rushes out of the library he had just entered. The carrying on came from a trouble making volunteer, who seems to be there only to placate her rich husband and give headaches to the librarian and patrons. However, when Tonya "Trouble" is found murdered the deputies zoom in on this homeless veteran who so recently had an altercation with her as a person of interest. Sassy can't believe this man, who looked haunted, not predatory, could possibly murder anyone,and when she discovers his name, she realizes he must be the brother of her former boss. With the real murderer still on the loose and a lawyer who seems more slimy than the giant anaconda threatening Bow and the small animals of Fort Meyers, Sassy and the gang at the Read 'Em and Eat Cafe delve into the thick of things once again!

Recipe Included.

A Criminal Kind Interview & Giveaway

I'm happy to welcome Mary Anne Edwards back to Cozy Up With Kathy. Mary Anne writes The Charlie McClung Mystery series. Criminal Kind, the third book in the series, is being released today!

Kathy: The Charlie McClung Mystery series is a traditional mystery series. While staying true to yourself, do you sometimes try to channel some of the authors of the Golden Age of detective fiction, such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers?

MAE: I love the Golden Age detectives and I truly hope my stories has at least a tiny bit of that spirit woven into them. Someone once compared my writing style to that of Agatha Christie. I was thrilled by the compliment, not that I think I’m anywhere near her caliber. Maybe one day. An old lady can dream, right?


Kathy: Speaking of these great authors of the past, many were very interested in true crime and often studied cases and came up with their own theories. Are you interested in true crime as well? If so, stories of the past only, or current true crime cases as well?

MAE: Love true crimes of the past! So interesting to see how crime-solving has evolved over the years. Current crime cases can be interesting as well. Even with the advancements we have now, solving a mystery can still prove to be most difficult.


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?

MAE:  I fall somewhere in between. For each story, I have a three-ring binder with loose leaf paper. I first come up with the crime, then the characters, and then write a few lines for each chapter. The chapters always change but at least I have a beginning, middle, and an ending.


Kathy: Your protagonist in the Charlie McClung Mystery series is a man. Is there a reason you chose to have a man instead of a woman take the lead role in your series?

MAE: Good question! Well, I wanted to write a traditional mystery and I’ve always liked a man in the lead. I’m old fashion, I guess. So, I decided to have a strong male who could handle a strong, yet feminine, female. They are equals as well. My characters are based on real people and real situations.


Kathy: In Criminal Kind Detective Charlie McClung takes a Caribbean cruise. Have you ever been on a cruise?

MAE: Yes, I’ve been on 10 or 11 cruises. Love cruising! I did take a few liberties with the staff and their job duties. But it’s fiction, right? Sometimes facts are not that exciting. I hope I will be forgiven.


Kathy: Was there a specific inspiration for this story?

MAE: I do a lot of people watching during a cruise. I wonder how many of the passengers are criminals in disguise. If any one of them, could toss someone over the side of the ship or push someone down the stairs without a second thought. My mind begins to spin and different scenarios pop into my head. I wonder how many people assume a different persona while on board and then return to their “real” life once they’re off the ship.


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

MAE: Charlie’s career advances. His and Marian's relationship will deepen. There will be surprises and tragedies.


Kathy: Will you share any other upcoming books?

MAE: The fourth book, “Sins of My Youth,” will be focused on Joan, Marian’s best friend. And you’ll see the stalker, again. Right now, I have a total of 10 books planned for this series. Who knows how far Charlie and Marian will go.

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The author has an e-book for two lucky readers. One reader will win a Kindle copy of Brilliant Disguise, the first book in the Charlie McClung Mystery series and the other a Kindle copy of A Good Girl, the second in the series.To qualify, simply leave a comment on this post no later than 11:59 EDT Wednesday, July 1, 2015. Tell us if you've ever been on a cruise. Be sure to leave your e-mail address so that I may contact you if you win along with which book you'd prefer to win.