AN INTERVIEW WITH KATE GOLDSTEIN FROM AUTHOR REBECCA OLMSTEAD'S GABRIELLE DORIAN MYSTERIES

Today we sit down for a chat with Kate Goldstein (Gabrielle Dorian’s Best Friend) from award-winning author Rebecca Olmstead’s Gabrielle Dorian Mystery Series.

What was your life like before your author started pulling your strings?

I was new in Whitman, Washington, trying to make a fresh start after my no-good husband Byron left me for a barely legal piece of fluff. Having lived most of my life in Beverly Hills, California, Whitman was quite the culture shock, but Gabrielle Dorian befriended me and came to be my best friend and business partner in our fashion boutique, Belle Femme.

 

What’s the one trait you like most about yourself?

There are two, actually. Honesty. I would never lie to a client just to make a sale, and I have no problem speaking my mind. And fierce loyalty. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to protect my friends and family.

 

What do you like least about yourself?

It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if I were a little younger…It might also make it easier to find love again. A little more height would also be welcome. But what I lack in stature, I make up for in heart.

 

What is the strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you?

Well…there was the time I threw the plasma TV off the balcony through the windshield of Byron’s new Ferrari. But that was justified.

 

Do you argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about?

I am a caretaker at heart, and I love to spoil my friends. But the author wants Gabrielle to be a strong, independent woman. She has no clue what poor Gabrielle has been through. She needs me, and I will keep trying to take care of her regardless of what the author wants.

 

What is your greatest fear?

Gabrielle is a beautiful, generous human being, and she has a great gift—her dreams are prophetic and help her help others. When I met her, her faith inspired me. But, since losing her parents and then her husband, she seems to be angry with God. My greatest fear is that Gabrielle will lose her faith altogether.

 

What makes you happy?

Like my best friend, helping people makes me happy, like making women look and feel beautiful in our boutique, and helping Gabrielle through her grief…and helping her solve cases, and bring victims closure.

 

If you could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why?

I’ve gone through a lot in my life, some good and some bad. But I don’t know that I would rewrite any part of my story. It’s all made me the person I am. And I’m pretty happy with that. Now, if only I can help young Gabrielle reach that point in her life.

 

Of the other characters in your book, which one bugs you the most? Why?

That would have to be Trevor Bruthert. He may have been Gabrielle’s husband’s best friend and business partner, but he also thinks he’s God’s gift to women with his blond hair and skin-tight T-shirts and jeans. He doesn’t fool me, though. I know a poser when I see one.

 

Of the other characters in your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why?

Easy. Gabrielle Dorian. Tall, slender, beautiful, and gifted. But honestly, I feel blessed just to have her as my best friend.

 

Tell us a little something about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog?

Just between us, my author started this series over thirty years ago! In all fairness, she was homeschooling five children, but I think she’s on a roll, now. She also writes short stories, which have been published in numerous anthologies and periodicals, and Christian nonfiction. You can find her at www.rebeccaolmstead.com.  She loves to hear from her readers.

 

What's next for you?

I’ll be helping Gabrielle find a friend’s missing son in Dreams and Deceptions. Then, when evidence turns up suggesting Gabrielle’s husband was murdered, she becomes suspect number one! I’ll have to help her decipher her dreams to get to the bottom of both mysteries. She’ll need me now more than ever!

 

Dreams and Illusions

A Gabrielle Dorian Mystery, Book 1

Gabrielle Dorian leaves the comfort of her hometown, Whitman, Washington, to help her estranged sister, Tina, who has been charged with first-degree murder in Seattle. Will her prophetic dreams lead her to the truth? And will the truth set Tina free or condemn her?

 

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS -- PISTACHIO CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA MUFFINS RECIPE

Those of you familiar with the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries know that I can’t start my workday without an infusion of coffee and something sweet, courtesy of food editor and my bestie Cloris McWerther. Author Lois Winston recently began writing the latest installment in the series (because she takes such joy in dropping dead bodies into my life,) and she asked Cloris to come up with a new muffin recipe. (Did she really think this would make me forget she’s planning to add more murder and mayhem into my future?) 

 

I must admit, though, this muffin is delicious, and because it’s not overly sweet, I didn’t feel guilty helping myself to a second. But muffins are not just for starting the day. Grab your beverage of choice and curl up at any time with this newest baked creation and Seams Like the Perfect Crime, the latest Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery. 

 

Spoiler alert: I do survive to experience whatever torments Lois has planned for me in the next book.

 

Pistachio Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

 

Ingredients:

1-1/2 C. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

3 lg. ripe bananas, mashed

6 T. unsalted butter, melted

1 lg. egg, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 T. milk

2/3 C. packed brown sugar (lt. or dark)

1 C. mini chocolate chips

1/2 C. salted pistachio meats

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a 12-ct. muffin tin with cupcake liners.

 

In a med. Size bowl, whisk together first five ingredients and set aside.

 

In stand mixer on med. speed, beat together mashed bananas, melted butter, egg, vanilla, milk, and egg.

 

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, beating until combined. Fold in chocolate chips and pistachios.

 

Divide batter evenly into liners. Batter should fill liners to the top.

 

Bake at 435 degrees F. for five minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F. and continue baking for 16 minutes or until toothpick stuck in center of muffins comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in tin for five minutes, then transfer to wire rack.

Check out all the books Lois Winston has written about me and more at her website.

NEW ANASTASIA POLLACK CRAFTING MYSTERY BUNDLE

Guilty as Framed and A Crafty Collage of Crime, the 11^th and 12^th books in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series, are now available as a 2-ebook set.

Guilty as Framed

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 11

 

Inspired by the true-crime cold case of the largest art heist in history

 

When an elderly man shows up at the home of reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack, she’s drawn into the unsolved mystery of the greatest art heist in history. 

 

Boston mob boss Cormac Murphy has recently been released from prison. He refuses to believe Anastasia’s assertion that the man he’s looking for doesn’t live at her address and attempts to muscle his way into her home. His efforts are thwarted by Anastasia’s fiancé Zack Barnes. 

 

A week later, a stolen SUV containing a dead body appears in Anastasia’s driveway. Anastasia believes Murphy is sending her a message. It’s only the first in a series of alarming incidents, including a mugging, a break-in, another murder, and the discovery of a cache of jewelry and an etching from the largest museum burglary in history.

 

But will Anastasia solve the mystery behind these shocking events before she falls victim to a couple of desperate thugs who will stop at nothing to get what they want?

 

Crafts projects included.

 

A Crafty Collage of Crime

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 12

 

Winner of the 2024 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award for Best Comedy

 

When an elderly man shows up at the home of reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack, she’s drawn into the unsolved mystery of the greatest art heist in history. 

 

Boston mob boss Cormac Murphy has recently been released from prison. He refuses to believe Anastasia’s assertion that the man he’s looking for doesn’t live at her address and attempts to muscle his way into her home. His efforts are thwarted by Anastasia’s fiancé Zack Barnes. 

 

A week later, a stolen SUV containing a dead body appears in Anastasia’s driveway. Anastasia believes Murphy is sending her a message. It’s only the first in a series of alarming incidents, including a mugging, a break-in, another murder, and the discovery of a cache of jewelry and an etching from the largest museum burglary in history.

 

But will Anastasia solve the mystery behind these shocking events before she falls victim to a couple of desperate thugs who will stop at nothing to get what they want?

 

Crafts projects included.

 

Wherever crafts editor and reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack goes, murder and mayhem follow. Her honeymoon is no exception. She and new husband, photojournalist (and possible spy) Zachary Barnes, are enjoying a walk in the Tennessee woods when they stumble upon a body on the side of a creek. The dead man is the husband of one of the three sisters who own the winery and guest cottages where Anastasia and Zack are vacationing.

 

When the local sheriff sets his sights on the widow as the prime suspect, her sisters close ranks around her. The three siblings are true-crime junkies, and thanks to a podcaster who has produced an unauthorized series about her, Anastasia’s reputation for solving murders has preceded her to the bucolic hamlet. The sisters plead for her help in finding the real killer. As Anastasia learns more about the women and their business, a host of suspects emerge, including several relatives, a relentless land developer, and even the sisters themselves.

 

Meanwhile, Anastasia becomes obsessed with discovering the podcaster’s identity. Along with knowing about Anastasia’s life as a reluctant amateur sleuth, the podcaster has divulged details of Anastasia’s personal life. Someone has betrayed Anastasia’s trust, and she’s out to discover the identity of the culprit.

​

Craft projects included.

 

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COOKING WITH CLORIS--AUTHOR BARBARA PRONIN'S NEW WWII HISTORICAL NOVEL AND A RECIPE FOR CHALLAH

Brooklyn born Barbara Pronin is the author of nine novels acclaimed by such notables as Mary Higgins Clark, Tony Hillerman, and Faye Kellerman. Learn about this SoCal transplant and her books on her website.

Full disclosure: my newest novel, a WW II historical called Winter’s End, is not about a crafty killer. It is about three crafty killers, three amazing young women of the Dutch Resistance who learn to blow up trains and take out Nazi tyrants in their mission to help Jewish escapees and save their homeland from starvation in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. 

 

Led by young Evi Strobel, who, I swear, walked into my head one night and would not leave until I told her story, the three are as different as night and day, yet they work together like the tiles in a Rubik’s cube to outfox their Nazi enemies. 

 

Here is 16-yearold Evi, enticing Nazi officers from smoky taverns to their deaths until the fateful night when she is saved from rape by a downed American airman.

 

There is Dr. Zoe Visser, a veterinarian by trade, picking pockets for Dutch ID cards for use by escaping Jews, and leading frightened escapees to their border destinations in the dead of night. 

 

And here is Mila Brouwer, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy collaborator, passing secrets she learns at her father’s dinner table to waiting Resistance leaders.

 

Their stories evolve on several levels – as an unexpected love story, as a coming-of-age story, and as a tale of incredible bravery – a remarkable journey I fell in love with, from its beginnings in the cobblestoned streets of Amsterdam to its ending more than seventy years later and a world away, where one of these women learns to bake a delectable Sabbath challah from her Jewish-American mother-in-law.

 

Winter’s End will be published on May 15, but it is on pre-sale now at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com. While you wait for it, you may want to try your hand at making a golden loaf of homemade challah bread. (It takes a bit of work, but trust me, it’s worth it!)

 

Golden Challah

(makes one loaf)

 

Ingredients:

1 packet dry yeast

1 tsp. sugar

1 cup warm water

1 egg

1/4-cup honey

3 tbs canola oil

1 tsp salt

4 ½ cl. Flour, approximately

 

For the egg wash:

1 egg

2 tbsp. honey

1 tbsp. vanilla

 

Directions:

Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1/4-cup warm water in a medium-sized bowl. Let sit about 15 minutes until thick and frothy.

 

Add the egg, honey, oil, salt, remaining 3/4-cup of water, and 3 cups of the flour. Mix until a loose batter forms. Add the remainder of flour slowly. You may need all, less, or more flour, so use your hands to add it in slowly. The dough should be soft but not sticky. Once the dough has enough flour, knead it for a couple of minutes right in the bowl.

 

Cover the dough with a wet towel and put it in a warm place to rise for about 1—1-1/2 hours. Dough should double in size.

 

Punch the dough down and let it rest for 10 minutes.

 

Divide the dough into thirds and with your hands, roll each piece into a long (13-14 inch) piece. Attach the three pieces at one end, tuck the end under, and braid the dough as you would if it were Evi‘s hair. Tuck the second end under, place the braided loaf on a lightly greased cookie sheet, and let it rise for another 30-40 minutes.

 

Beat the egg with the honey and vanilla and gently brush over the loaf. Bake at 375° F for approximately 35-45 minutes. Loaf should be golden on top, and firm on the bottom.

 

Winter’s End

Luring Nazi officers from smoky taverns to their deaths was not what Evi Strobel bargained for when she agreed to join the Dutch Resistance. But that is what she did until that fateful night she was saved from rape by a downed American Airman.

 

Nor did Zoe Visser expect to be picking pockets for Dutch ID cards for use by escaping Jews, much less leading frightened enemies of the Reich toward uncertain treks to the Belgian border - nor did Mila Brouwer, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy German collaborator, expect to be passing secrets learned at her father's dinner table to help Resistance stalwarts blow up Nazi trains and meeting halls.

 

But four years into German occupation, with the Dutch surviving on boiled tulip bulbs, and Hitler tightening control ahead of advancing Allies, that is what they did. Follow them as Winter's End traces a harrowing journey from the cobblestoned streets of Nazi-occupied Holland to an astonishing finale seventy years later and a world away.

 

Preorder (available 5/15/25)

MYSTERY AUTHOR HEATHER AMES ON LIFE UPSTAGING ART

 

Image by Robin Olson from Pixabay

Heather Ames writes two mystery series (one with a paranormal twist,) standalone suspense, romantic suspense, and short contemporary romances. When she’s not writing, she’s traveling the world or dreaming up new adventures. She’s lived in five countries, seven states, hitchhiked around Europe, lived in a 6^th floor walk-up in Paris with a view of the Eiffel Tower and worked as a bartender in Madrid. During a long career in healthcare, she has seen more dead and/or mangled bodies than the average person and carried pepper spray for safety when going to treat patients in the barrios of L.A., All these experiences enrich her novels. Learn more about her and her books at her website.

A Moment of Reflection

Serendipity is a strange and frequently bizarre journey into unknown territory. Sometimes it can be called karma. Other times, just plain annoying. But it’s always one of those sudden, out-of-the-blue experiences that makes anyone, even the most cynical among us, take a moment to wonder why and how it happened.

 

I had one of those moments this week. I’d worked on a blog post I thought was almost ready to roll when life lobbed one of those curve balls that, if written into a novel, would be dismissed as plot manipulation. 

 

More than ten years ago, the transmission on my vehicle started experiencing problems. First it was one thing, which was fixed, but only a couple of weeks later, a bigger problem developed. My car went into the service department and ended up staying there two weeks. During that time, I was put into a rental at no cost while a decision was made about whether the repair would be covered by the manufacturer. While I wondered whether an extremely expensive repair was going to make me purchase a replacement, I found I really liked the rental vehicle. I also found that particular model was out of my price range, even one that had been previously owned. Luckily, the repair was covered, and when I did trade in that car, it was for one within my budget, not my fanciful daydreaming.

 

Jump ahead to two weeks ago. The vehicle I now owned suddenly stopped talking to me. When I took it in for that issue and a routine servicing, I received bad news…the cost of replacing the part was not only prohibitive, but another big-ticket problem was also discovered. I opted to fix the major oil leak, but not the silence. I figured I could always tune into a radio station on my phone, and I was assured the lack of verbal communication from the car wasn’t a safety issue. 

 

But less than a week later, a warning message notified me that my transmission had failed. This time, there was no coverage to bail me out. With two big outstanding repairs, I realized I was going to have to find a replacement. While still in shock, I searched online, then tramped around a big used car lot with a hundred choices. But yesterday the dealership called. A newer version of the vehicle I had driven for two weeks all that time ago and really liked had just been traded in. It was within my price range, and it’s now in my driveway.

If I had written this story into a plotline, I know I’d have seen raised eyebrows, even eye rolls, and heard this was too much of a coincidence. Although all books in my Ghost Shop series have magical elements, I’m sure I’d have been told this particular subplot’s outcome could only have occurred as the result of using a spell or waving a wand. Detractors would tell me to rewrite the story, leaving serendipity by the wayside.

 

Sometimes, life not only imitates art, life upstages it. Those strange little unexpected, quirky moments that whisper to us from the ethers need to be acknowledged. This was one of those moments. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has experienced a momentary chill, or a moment of déjà vu. But writing one into a book? Maybe not.

 

Tapped by Fate

A Ghost Shop Mystery, Book 1

 

A reluctant psychic inherits a spooky metaphysical shop in Salem, Oregon and teams up with a retired detective who suspects his daughter’s drowning was no accident. Dark forces lead Sunny Kingston to rely not only on her new partner, Ash Haines, but her enigmatic, fortune-telling assistant, a gargoyle more animal than mineral, and a questionably human winery owner in search of redemption. Vincente Valderos has a hint of sulphur about him and a proposition that’s difficult for Sunny and Ash to ignore. But it comes with a bigger price tag than either of them may be willing to pay.

 

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VALENTINE'S DAY FACEBOOK PARTY! THERE WILL BE PRIZES!

Get ready for A LOVE OF COZY MYSTERIES Facebook Party! ❤️  Join us on Friday, Feb. 14, from 7:00-8:00 PM ET, for a night of mystery, fun, and fabulous prizes!

Meet all seven amazing authors from Booklovers Bench, read intriguing posts, share your thoughts, and maybe even win a prize or two! Mark your calendars!

Sign up at https://www.facebook.com/share/1BCquhcGkC/ if interested or attending. Party will be at https://facebook.com/NewReleaseParty/ Friday, Feb. 14th 7-8pm ET.

MYSTERY AUTHOR LORI P0LLARD-JOHNSON ON DEATH BY CHOCOLATE

Lori Pollard-Johnson is a retired educator and current wife, mama and grandma. She writes from her homes in Washington and Arizona, and has been published in fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Toxic Torte is the first book in her "Just Desserts" series. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her grandbabies, braiding rugs, perfecting her shavasana, swimming, hiking, practicing her releves, renovating fixer-uppers, reading, or watching javelinas dance through her backyard. Learn more about her and her books here.

What Made Me Think of…Death by Chocolate? 

Writers are often asked what the inspiration is for their mystery novels. It seems our brains are hardwired to create chaos and mayhem in clever ways that surprise readers. I’m not sure why that is, but I’ll take it as a compliment. 

 

The book I’m most asked about, though, is Toxic Torte, a cozy mystery about an (in)famous restaurant critic who is poisoned in a very delicious way the day after Valentine’s Day: Death by Chocolate. What inspired me, however, are all my experiences writing about chefs and the food and wine industry. 

 

My writing career started as a creative and profitable hobby while being a stay-at-home mom. I queried and wrote nonfiction articles about a variety of things—kid-friendly activities, business profiles, music reviews—but one of my favorite topics was covering gourmet dining and the chefs who create sumptuous meals. What I discovered early on is that the average chef donates an extraordinary amount of time above and beyond their chef duties to helping others. After prepping, planning, and ordering, they oversee sous chefs, and then, most notably, spend their off days volunteering at food banks, educating others on nutrition, and cooking for nonprofits. 

 

They inspired me!

 

But then I watched how a well-placed review by a harsh critic could crumple their reputation and devastate their reservation list. It made me angry! So I began to think of how a chef might retaliate. In reality, chefs have to simply continue being the best they can be—maybe open a new restaurant under a different name or go to work in another city. But in a fictional world, they could exact the perfect revenge: a delicious death. Thus, Toxic Torte rose like a decadent chocolate souffle in my brain. 

 

While writing, I experimented with a bunch of chocolatey confections—I’m partial to flourless tortes—and found a recipe for a not-too-sweet, nutritionally healthy, vegan dessert called Cocoa Balls. Reminiscent of a chocolate torte, I adapted the following recipe to my family’s tastes. They’re easy to make, freeze and refrigerate well, and satisfy our cravings for a decadent, flourless (and gluten free), chocolatey confection that are chock full of natural energy, fiber, protein and antioxidants.

 

Cocoa Balls

Ingredients:

1 cup dates (I like to use a specialty date: Black Gold from Sam Cobb Farms in Palm Desert, CA, but if you can’t get them, a pitted Medjool will do)

1 cup walnuts (I love the heartiness and oiliness of a walnut, but you can experiment with other types of nuts—make sure they are unsalted)

2 T cocoa powder (I like to use the extra dark variety, but others like a softer taste)

 

Chill the dates and walnuts for a few hours in the refrigerator, then process the dates and walnuts in a food processor until they form a slightly sticky, slightly crumbly mix. 

 

Add the cocoa powder and pulse a few times until mix is coated and becomes dark brown. 

 

Scoop with a spoon and form into approximately 20 balls, 1-1/2 inches in diameter. 

 

We like to eat them in place of cookies or biscuits with tea or coffee, or as a garnish with a scoop of non-dairy ice cream. They keep well in the refrigerator for at least a month in a sealed container or frozen for at least six months. They won’t last that long, though!

Toxic Torte

A Just Desserts Mystery, Book 1

 

Jess Harriet writes for the Seattle Sun, a weekly newsrag best known for its personal ads. When her latest assignment turns out to be yet another obituary, this time for caustic restaurant critic Perry Lowell, she seriously considers quitting. But before the memorial buffet is replenished, detectives appear. Perry didn't die of a heart attack after all. He was murdered...with a toxic torte, likely served at the Valentine's Day Chocoholic Ball. Jess seizes the opportunity to solve the murder and scoop the story, but she'll have to outwit Cherrie Belle, fellow Sun Reporter by week, cheerleader by weekend; Tom, a college dating disaster who holds a flame for Jess and the elusive Chocoholic Ball guest list; and a cadre of unsavory chefs who invite her to a dinner she suspects is a recipe for danger.

 

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