CRUISING INTO MURDER!

Lois Winston has done it again. Ever since she decided to write a series about me, she just can’t give me a break. I should have known her devious mind was at work the moment I discovered she’d written the gift of a cruise to the Bahamas for me and my family into the end of the previous book in the series. I’ll admit, I did suspect there would be strings attached to the gift, given who gave us the cruise. It’s the reason I had massive trepidations about going even before we set foot aboard the ship. What I didn’t expect were the dead bodies. 

Why are there always dead bodies?

Lois thinks it’s funny that I should even ask such a question. After all, she reminds me, she does write murder mysteries.

Lois also asked that I provide a disclaimer for this latest book. I’m not sure why I should do her a favor, given the aforementioned dead bodies, but I’ll take the high ground here. She wants readers to know she got the idea for A Sew Deadly Cruise last autumn, months before the world turned upside-down. She had always wanted to write what’s known as a “locked room” mystery. That’s a mystery where a crime has been committed in a location that’s sealed to the outside world. Think Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, which takes place aboard a train during a trip across Europe.

A cruise ship seemed a perfect venue for such a plot, but in order for the “locked room” mystery to occur, the ship wouldn’t be able to dock at any port. That’s when Lois came across a news article about a ship that had been denied debarkation at its intended port of call. And no, there was no outbreak of norovirus or people trapped due to a pandemic or any other ship-wide illness that would make readers squeamish. She just doesn’t want me giving away too much of the plot.

In addition to wanting to write a “locked room” mystery, Lois also decided it was time she shared Zack’s origin story with her readers. And boy, does he ever have a doozy! After the year she’s written for me, you’d think nothing would surprise me at this point, but I never expected what she had up her sleeve about Zack.

Most of all, she wants readers to laugh, especially with all that’s going on in the world right now, we all need to laugh more. The universe released the Kraken on us. We need to release the endorphins to fight back! So rest assured, like all of the other Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, this book will give you an escape from the reality of life.

A Sew Deadly Cruise officially releases October 1, 2020, but the ebook version is now available for pre-order. Want to read an excerpt? Click here.

A Sew Deadly Cruise

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 9

Life is looking up for magazine crafts editor Anastasia Pollack. Newly engaged, she and photojournalist fiancé Zack Barnes are on a winter cruise with her family, compliments of a Christmas gift from her half-brother-in-law. Son Alex’s girlfriend and her father have also joined them. Shortly after boarding the ship, Anastasia is approached by a man with an unusual interest in her engagement ring. When she tells Zack of her encounter, he suggests the man might be a jewel thief scouting for his next mark. But before Anastasia can point the man out to Zack, the would-be thief approaches him, revealing his true motivation. Long-buried secrets now threaten the well-being of everyone Anastasia holds dear. And that’s before the first dead body turns up.

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