BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--ANASTASIA AND HER FELLOW SLEUTHS TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME

Anastasia here! If you love mysteries, you’re going to love this! Author Lois Winston, she who created moi, recently got together with nine of her writing buddies to join her in a project she’d had percolating for some time.

It turns out that there are actually mystery readers out there who have never heard of me. Can you imagine? So Lois figured if that was the case with me, the same was probably true for the sleuths her friends had created. We sleuths want readers to know about our exploits. We’re proud of the cases we’ve solved, especially when we figure things out well before the cops.

So Lois thought, what if she gathered together the first books in ten established mystery series and bundled them together into one awesome ebook boxed set? And what if she then priced that set of ten books at an incredible bargain? Wouldn’t that tempt mystery readers to get to know all of us? So that’s exactly what she did.

Sleuthing Women: 10 First-in-Series Mysteries is a collection of full-length mysteries featuring murder and assorted mayhem by ten critically acclaimed, award-winning, and bestselling authors. Each novel in the set is the first book in an established multi-book series—a total of over 3,000 pages of reading pleasure for lovers of amateur sleuth, caper, and cozy mysteries, with a combined total of over 1700 reviews on Amazon, averaging 4 stars. Titles include:

Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, an Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery by Lois Winston—Working mom Anastasia is clueless about her husband’s gambling addiction until he permanently cashes in his chips and her comfortable middle-class life craps out. He leaves her with staggering debt, his communist mother, and a loan shark demanding $50,000. Then she’s accused of murder…

Murder Among Neighbors, a Kate Austen Suburban Mystery by Jonnie Jacobs — When Kate Austen’s socialite neighbor, Pepper Livingston, is murdered, Kate becomes involved in a sea of steamy secrets that bring her face to face with shocking truths—and handsome detective Michael Stone.

Skeleton in a Dead Space, a Kelly O’Connell Mystery by Judy Alter—Real estate isn’t a dangerous profession until Kelly O’Connell stumbles over a skeleton and runs into serial killers and cold-blooded murderers in a home being renovated in Fort Worth. Kelly barges through life trying to keep from angering her policeman boyfriend Mike and protect her two young daughters.

In for a Penny, a Cleopatra Jones Mystery by Maggie Toussaint—Accountant Cleo faces an unwanted hazard when her golf ball lands on a dead banker. The cops think her BFF shot him, so Cleo sets out to prove them wrong. She ventures into the dating world, wrangles her teens, adopts the victim’s dog, and tries to rein in her mom…until the killer puts a target on Cleo’s back.

The Hydrogen Murder, a Periodic Table Mystery by Camille Minichino—A retired physicist returns to her hometown of Revere, Massachusetts and moves into an apartment above her friends' funeral home. When she signs on to help the Police Department with a science-related homicide, she doesn't realize she may have hundreds of cases ahead of her.

Retirement Can Be Murder, A Baby Boomer Mystery by Susan Santangelo—Carol Andrews dreads her husband Jim’s upcoming retirement more than a root canal without Novocain. She can’t imagine anything worse than having an at-home husband with time on his hands and nothing to fill it—until Jim is suspected of murdering his retirement coach.

Dead Air, A Talk Radio Mystery by Mary Kennedy—Psychologist Maggie Walsh moves from NY to Florida to become the host of WYME's On the Couch with Maggie Walsh. When her guest, New Age prophet Guru Sanjay Gingii, turns up dead, her new roommate Lark becomes the prime suspect. Maggie must prove Lark innocent while dealing with a killer who needs more than just therapy.

A Dead Red Cadillac, A Dead Red Mystery by RP Dahlke—When her vintage Cadillac is found tail-fins up in a nearby lake, the police ask aero-ag pilot Lalla Bains why an elderly widowed piano teacher is found strapped in the driver’s seat. Lalla confronts suspects, informants, cross-dressers, drug-running crop dusters, and a crazy Chihuahua on her quest to find the killer.

Murder is a Family Business, an Alvarez Family Murder Mystery by Heather Haven—Just because a man cheats on his wife and makes Danny DeVito look tall, dark and handsome, is that any reason to kill him? The reluctant and quirky PI, Lee Alvarez, has her work cut out for her when the man is murdered on her watch. Of all the nerve.

Murder, Honey, a Carol Sabala Mystery by Vinnie Hansen—When the head chef collapses into baker Carol Sabala’s cookie dough, she is thrust into her first murder investigation. Suspects abound at Archibald’s, the swanky Santa Cruz restaurant where Carol works. The head chef cut a swath of people who wanted him dead from ex-lovers to bitter rivals to greedy relatives.

Sleuthing Women: 10 First-in-Series Mysteries is currently available for pre-order and will go on sale May 1^st.

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BLINGING IT UP WITH GUEST AUTHOR NANCY WARREN

Can you imagine if your mother borrowed something like this and wore it all over town?

Nancy Warren is the USA Today bestselling author of more than 70 novels and novellas. She’s been nominated for the Rita award by Romance Writers of America three times, was the answer to a crossword puzzle in Canada’s National Post newspaper, and was featured on the front page of the New York Times. Learn more about Nancy and her books at her website. 

Mothers and Daughters and Fashion, Oh, My!

Why is makeup and fashion so seemingly easy for some people and so darned difficult for others? I have a daughter who was born with fashion sense. Literally born with it. She’s been my style consultant since she was about thirteen years old. Those who’ve known me a long time say I’ve been looking a lot better since Emma grew old enough to say, “No, Mom,” roll her eyes and actually fix me. Bless her. She is the only person I’ve ever known who dreams about putting outfits together.

As a writer, one of the really fun things I get to do is to put myself in the skins of characters who are entirely different from me. My amateur sleuth Toni Diamond is such a woman. She’s all about style and makeup. She’s a big-haired Texan with a big personality to match and she sells makeup to women through home parties and by giving free makeovers. Lady Bianca cosmetics not only keeps her in the bling and flashy outfits that would have my daughter locking me in the house if I attempted to wear them, but her job also puts Toni in the paths of a lot of different kinds of people, some of whom end up dead! There are three novels in the Toni Diamond mystery series so far.

I was very excited to be asked to join some other really fun cozy mystery authors for Happy Homicides, a collection of novellas out in time for the holidays. In my story, Toni’s mother, Linda Plotnik, who also sells cosmetics for Lady Bianca, gets a bit caught up in the law of attraction and decides the best way to bring really expensive jewelry into her life is to borrow some from her local jeweler and wear it to the Christmas party she hosts in her trailer park home.

Since Linda’s not exactly keeping quiet about her fabulous bling and insists on wearing it everywhere, Toni’s worried that something will happen to the fabulous necklace, her mother, or both. Naturally, something does!

I love these characters so much. I hope you will, too. A Diamond Choker for Christmas is just one of thirteen fun and fabulous holiday cozies. The collection is only 99 cents.

A Diamond Choker for Christmas

One of the novellas featured in Happy Homicides

In order to borrow an extremely expensive diamond and sapphire necklace to wear at Christmas party, Toni Diamond's mother Linda offers her home as collateral. But the necklace is stolen right off her neck, and Toni has to solve the crime or her mother will be homeless for the holidays!  

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HAPPY HOMICIDES: THIRTEEN COZY #MYSTERY HOLIDAY STORIES

Have you started your holiday shopping yet? Okay, maybe I’m pushing the season a bit. After all, we haven’t even gotten through Halloween. But there’s a method to my madness, and it’s called Happy Homicides.

HappyHomicides is a collection of thirteen cozy mystery holiday stories—nearly 800 pages of reading material—by a dozen different authors, all bundled into one ebook. When the holidays get you too frazzled, you can relax with a bit of murder and assorted mayhem from some of your favorite bestselling and award-winning mystery authors—Lois Winston, Joanna Campbell Slan, Neil Plakcy, Annie Adams, Jenna Bennett, Nancy Warren, Sara Rosett, Camille Minichino (also known as Ada Madison, Margaret Grace, and Jean Flowers,) Nancy Jill Thames, Linda Gordon Hengerer, Joyce and Jim Lavene, and Teresa Trent.

And because we know budgets are tight around the holidays, Happy Homicides is being offered for the incredibly low price of only 99 cents! Not convinced yet? How about a Bonus gift? We also have a free holiday gift for you. The authors put together a bonus file crammed with recipes, craft tips, projects, and more. You’ll find the link for the free bonus material inside Happy Homicides.

Featured stories include:

Elementary, My Dear Gertie (the sequel to the award-winning Talk Gertie to Me) by Lois Winston -- Much to the dismay of her conservative parents, Nori Stedworth and her boyfriend Mackenzie Randolph are living together. Mom and Dad cope as best they can when Nori and Mac arrive in Ten Commandments, Iowa for the holidays. Mac is all for exchanging “I do’s,” but before he can pop the question, an explosion hurls him and Nori into the midst of a murder investigation. Can they uncover which of the town’s not-so-pious residents is the killer in time to catch their flight back to New York City?

Lost and Found Holiday Gifts: A Cara Mia Delgatto Novella by Joanna Campbell Slan -- Santa isn’t the only one who delivers presents during the holidays. Cara Mia Delgatto sets out to do a few small favors and quickly learns how a thoughtful gift can change a life.

Dog Forbid by Neil Plakcy -- A Thanksgiving trip with friends takes reformed hacker Steve Levitan and his crime-solving golden retriever, Rochester, to Pennsylvania Dutch Country. When Steve’s friend’s golden goes missing in an area notorious for local puppy mills, can Rochester nose out the missing puppy and save the holiday?

  

Flowers, Food and Felonies at the New Year’s Jubilee Cook-Off by Annie Adams -- Busy florist Quincy McKay thought that judging the annual Jubilee food contest would be as easy as picking daisies. Will the event turn deadly when someone cooks up a scheme to slice and dice the competition?

Contingent on Approval: A Savannah Martin Christmas Novella by Jenna Bennett -- On Christmas morning Savannah Martin finds herself looking at Rafe Collier, a pair of fuzzy handcuffs, an economy-sized box of condoms, and the rest of her life. But before her happily-ever-after can begin, she needs to get through a holiday dinner with her mother. Savannah has plenty to worry about, not the least of which is whether her new boyfriend will still want to stick around after the meal.

Teddy Saves Christmas by Nancy Jill Thames -- When Jillian Bradley finds herself alone for the holidays, her dog Teddy latches onto a homeless woman with a dangerous secret. Jillian is forced to get involved. Can she find a way to save her new friend in time for a Merry Christmas?

Menace at the Christmas Market by Sara Rosett -- With the holidays nearing, Kate has time off, a rare occurrence for a location scout. She plans to spend her time shopping for Christmas gifts, but when she goes to the local Regency-themed Christmas Market, a new acquaintance is poisoned and Kate gets drawn into the investigation.

The Neon Ornaments by Camille Minichino -- Physicist Gloria Lamerino meets her friend Rose in Boston for what she thinks is a girls’ getaway weekend. But Rose has other plans. She volunteers Gloria to help solve a murder. Will the chemistry between Gloria and the homicide detective get in the way of catching a killer?

A Diamond Choker for Christmas by Nancy Warren -- In order to borrow an extremely expensive diamond and sapphire necklace to wear at Christmas party, Toni Diamond's mother Linda offers her home as collateral. But the necklace is stolen right off her neck, and Toni has to solve the crime or her mother will be homeless for the holidays!

Dying for Holiday Tea: A Beach Tea Shop Novella by Linda Gordon Hengerer -- Sisters Danielle, Chelsea, and Alexandra Powell rejoice when Alex finds their grandmother’s old recipe book--and plan to bake her gingerbread for their upcoming holiday tea. But someone else wants the recipes and is willing to kill for them. Can the Powell sisters cook up a way to catch a murderer?

The Dog Who Came for Christmas by Joyce and Jim Lavene -- A woman running from her deadly past finds hope, a dog, and possibly a new love, at Christmas.

The Deadliest Christmas Pageant Ever by Teresa Trent -- It's Christmas time in Texas. Betsy Livingston and her boys are caught up in the Pecan Bayou Christmas Pageant to raise funds for needy children. Betsy gets tricked into replacing the absent director and quickly learns that show biz can be brutal—and this Christmas pageant is downright deadly.

The Rowan Tree Twig: A Kiki Lowenstein Novella by Joanna Campbell Slan -- The holidays offer Kiki the perfect chance to keep a promise to her late friend, Dodie Goldfader. But this sweet thought hits a sour note when Dodie’s husband is wrongly accused of murder.

Happy Homicides is available for pre-order now and will be on sale October 15.

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