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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BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--MYSTERY AUTHOR LAUREL PETERSON TAKES US ON A VIRTUAL TOUR OF NEW ORLEANS IN HER NEWEST BOOK

Laurel Peterson is a community college English professor who lives and works in Connecticut. She has published two mystery novels, Shadow Notes and The Fallen and several books of poetry. Learn more about Laurel and her books at her website.  

 

The Charms of New Orleans, Food and Otherwise 

One of the attractions of attending conferences is the cities in which they are held. Years ago, before Hurricane Katrina hit, I paid my second visit to New Orleans for the Associated Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference. After the requisite number of panels and readings (I always reach a point after which nothing else can be absorbed!), I headed out to explore the city, spending an afternoon in the New Orleans Museum of Art, where they had an impressive blown and pressed glass collection, including some Chilhuly, followed by a late lunch in the French Quarter. The restaurant I chose—I’ve forgotten the name—put me at a table looking out over the street, and the waiter brought me a plate of divine oysters (broiled—don’t even talk to me about raw) with some sort of creamy, garlicky sauce. Here are some of the various ways oysters are cooked in NOLA: Oyster Recipes. I imagine that restaurant is gone now, a victim of Katrina or the vagaries of the restaurant business. 

 

New Orleans’ charms (and the horrors of Katrina) lingered in my imagination, and later gave birth to the character of Kyle DuPont, a black police officer who served during Hurricane Katrina, and then came north to Connecticut because of racism and corruption in the force. In my latest novel, The Fallen, Kyle must return home after one of his officers is shot because he believes some threads from his past may be threatening his future, especially his future with Clara Montague, the psychic protagonist of the series.

 

While Kyle’s food preferences aren’t mentioned in the novel, he does have fried chicken and a Southern pecan cake (Lee Bailey's recipe here: Yum!) after church with his family, and he makes a beef stew with cumin for Clara upon his return to Connecticut, over which they discuss what he’s discovered about an old nemesis and whether he is safe now. (He’s been shot at twice, so it’s a reasonable question!) 

 

While doing my research for the novel, I got to explore virtually this wonderful city, including a little airport along Lake Ponchatrain and the Garden District where Kyle’s mother lives in the family home. As well, I looked at photos of Houma and “drove” on Google maps down to the bayou where a modern-day healer/witch shelters a young girl pregnant by a gang member who may be threatening Kyle. Her concoctions tend toward herbal teas that make Clara see purple smoke. What does that mean?!

 

Clara, of course, saves the day and Kyle, and the book wraps with them eating at my favorite local Italian restaurant, Pasquale's Restaurant, Norwalk, CT, martini in hand. Isn’t it grand to live through the characters? They get to do all the things I haven’t been able to during COVID. 

 

What ways have you found to travel and eat yummy things during the pandemic? Is there a place you’ve been longing to visit? Thanks so much for dropping by! 

 

The Fallen

A Clara Montague Mystery, Book 2

 

Clara Montague is having dreams again, the kind that should steer her away from trouble but always lead her to it. She survives a drive-by shooting that takes the life of a cop but complicates her new romantic relationship with police chief Kyle Dupont. Her conservative tony town isn’t thrilled to have an African American chief or have him dating on of their own. The deeply hidden motives behind the shooting eventually lead Kyle and Clara to New Orleans. Will Clara’s visions be enough to keep them safe from Kyle’s past? 

 

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AN INTERVIEW WITH LINCOLN STEELE FROM PATRICIA BRADLEY'S NATCHEZ TRACE PARK RANGERS SERIES

Natchez, Mississippi

Today we sit down for a chat with Lincoln Steele from author Patricia Bradley’s Natchez Trace Park Rangers series.

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

I was a successful FBI investigator/sniper. And I didn’t have PTSD from almost killing a ten-year-old boy. Oh, and thanks for giving me an opportunity to rat out talk about my author.

 

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

That I can adapt. If I can’t be an FBI agent, then I can feed my other love—history—as an interpretive ranger for the National Park Service.

 

What do you like least about yourself? 

I hate that I can’t overcome this thing about guns. After all, I was an FBI sniper…

 

What is the strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you? Going back to the gun thing—I just don’t understand why she had to do that. I mean, couldn’t she have just made me afraid of alligators? There’s plenty of them in the sloughs around Natchez.

 

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

All the time. It’s always about the gun thing. I mean, how can a former FBI sniper be a hero without a gun?

 

What is your greatest fear? 

That Ainsley will be in danger, and I can’t save her. I let her down once, and I never want to do that again.

 

What makes you happy? 

Having Ainsley smile that special smile at me. The one that says, “I forgive you…I love you…”

 

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

I would never hurt Ainsley like I did when we were in college. See, she had this great dream of being a country/gospel singer, and I told myself the music industry would chew her up and spit her out. I told myself I didn’t want to see her hurt, but really, I was afraid I’d lose her. I lost her anyway,

 

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

The escaped convict bugs me the most. He’s like a chameleon and I’m afraid he’ll get to Ainsley when I’m not around. 

 

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

Actually, none of them. Because her dad was so controlling, Ainsley doesn’t let anyone get close to her emotionally, so it wouldn’t do any good to trade places with one of them. I’ll just have to prove to her I’ve changed so she’ll trust me again.

 

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

Patricia Bradley and her two rescue kitties Suzy and Tux live in Northeast Mississippi just four miles from Tennessee and twenty-five from Alabama. She’s a Carol finalist and winner of an Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award in Suspense, and three anthologies that included her stories debuted on the USA Today Best Seller List. 

 

She sets most of her romantic suspense novels in the South, and they include the Logan Point series, the Memphis Cold Case Novels, and the Natchez Trace Park Ranger series. You can find links to her books at https://ptbradley.com/books/.

 

Patricia would love to connect with you on her blog—you see, on Tuesdays she writes posts with mystery questions, usually about dumb criminals. Three of the stories are true, but she makes up one of them. It’s up to the reader to guess which one she made up. Then on Fridays, she tells her readers about a book she’s read lately. And you can always connect with her at her website where you can find links to all her social media. 

What's next for you? 

Crosshairs, my third book in the Natchez Trace Park Rangers series released Monday, November 1, 2021, and I just turned in the fourth book of the series, Deception.

 

Crosshairs

Natchez Trace Park Rangers, Book 3

 

Investigative Services Branch (ISB) ranger Ainsley Beaumont arrives in her hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, to investigate the murder of a three-month-pregnant teenager. While she wishes the visit was under better circumstances, she never imagined that she would become the killer’s next target–nor that she’d have to work alongside an old flame.

 

After he almost killed a child, former FBI sniper Lincoln Steele couldn’t bring himself to fire a gun, which had deadly and unforeseen consequences for his best friend. Crushed beneath a load of guilt, Linc is working at Melrose Estate as an interpretive ranger. But as danger closes in on Ainsley during her murder investigation, Linc will have to find the courage to protect her. The only question is, will it be too little, too late?

 

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#CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--DEBUT MYSTERY AUTHOR LIZ BOEGER ON HOW WRITING A MYSTERY IS LIKE BEING A CRAFTER

Crayola's box of 64, 1958. Notice the randomness of the
crayon placement. Still makes me twitch!
(Wikipedia-4 September 2021)

Today we welcome award-nominated debut mystery author Liz Boeger who writes the Moccasin Cove Mysteries. She describes them as mysteries with a cozy edge, a hint of Southern snark, and always a happy ending. Learn more about Liz and her books at her blog.

I don’t remember being a particularly crafty kid, nor was I a wannabee writer, despite reading most of the Nancy Drew series as a preteen. However, I can trace my concrete-sequential origins back to coloring in the lines and to sorting my box of 64 Crayolas into the proper order before I could even consider any doodling. I had the same issue with LEGO. 

Luckily, my artsy side emerged when I was in high school. I was drafted to spray-paint the school’s mascot on the football field before home games. Think of it as a flat mural on grass with thirty cans of spray paint. I still have a couple of watercolor trays from my art classes, both good as new 40+ years later. My artsy interests morphed from painting, to crafting dolls, and stitching needlework in my twenties and during the fraught young parenthood years. That’s also when I discovered the traditional mystery and series that kept me sane. 

 

In retrospect, I think my fabric and books fetishes may be genetic. My maternal grandmother was a single, city girl working in a bookstore before she become a farmer’s wife. During snowy midwestern winter evenings she honed her needlecraft and quilting skills, stitching lovely textiles for her children, and later for her fourteen grandchildren. I still have a few of her unfinished quilt tops and the log cabin quilt she made me for my eighteenth birthday. 

My early experimentation with cross stitch was probably inspired by her pillowcases. But the quilting eventually wiggled its way into my creative corner and by the time I was in my mid-forties, I had a full-blown addiction to fabric and freestyle quilting. I say freestyle, because I am not disciplined enough to perfectly match my corners or make my points pointy. 

 

I also took a happy detour into scrapbooking when the craze hit—what better way to enjoy the gazillion photos of our son and family outings. Many years past my son’s childhood, my current project is a collage quilt featuring a sea turtle I am planning for my future daughter-in-law. The planning stokes my creative muscle between writing stints.

So, what does all this chatter about my artsy-craftsy-quiltsy endeavors have to do with the publication of my first mystery? Crafting and quilting were largely self-taught, like my writing. The creative process gave me the courage and fortitude to experiment. Being a crafter requires risk, and planning, and thinking step by step from start to finish. Just like writing a mystery. The mental and emotional benefits of being a crafter are so tangible, that I’ve instilled some of these talents in my main character Ana Callahan. 

 

Ana is a veteran school principal who spent her entire career moving from one troubled school to another, attempting to turn their failures into success stories. She has a heart for children in impoverished communities, and luckily, her hard work has paid off. But in her demanding career, she’s never had time for relationships nor time to mend her broken heart. Her limited leisure time was devoted to quilting and the occasional dabbling in watercolors. Neither hobby takes up much space and is easily portable for her frequent interstate moves.

 

By the time she makes her way back home to Florida to turn around the troubled school of her childhood, she’s still single. Then, an interesting man captures her heart, just as she finds herself investigating a murder. But as any school principal will tell you, progress does not come easily. Ana is confident she can save the school but solving a murder and mending a broken heart are not in her skillset.

 

As an author I felt badly about layering on Ana’s troubles, but that is my job. So, I thought I’d soften the plot blows I’d inflicted by giving Ana time to build a scrapbook and take out her watercolors to ease her pain. In future books I am certain her quilting will emerge, probably with more skill than mine. Such is the stuff of fiction. I wish you happy crafting and hope you have a chance to get to know Ana and the kind folks of Moccasin Cove.

 

ChainLinked

A Moccasin Cove Mystery, Book 1

 

Principal Ana Callahan knows a thing or two about turning around troubled schools, but she can’t fix the grief constricting her own heart. Now she must do both…while solving a murder.

 

Ana Callahan’s life fell apart, so she went out to save the world, one failing school at a time. Fifteen years later she’s back home in Florida, working her magic on the floundering elementary school of her childhood. But Moccasin Cove is not the sunny, middle-class beach town she left behind. With one eye on her school rescue plan and the other on her exit plan, Ana gets to work and chalks up a few small victories. 

 

Her confidence falters when a school contractor is killed, and a friend is implicated in the murder. An ambitious journalist tries to link Ana’s tragic past to the crime, and a powerful charter school corporation seizes on the political chaos by threatening a takeover of Ana’s school. Adding “investigate murder” to her lengthy to-do list, Ana finds herself paired with the school district’s handsome new security chief. The disturbing secrets they uncover about her friend and the killer’s twisted motives force Ana to admit she has a lot to learn about murder. 

 

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#CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--MYSTERY AUTHOR MAGGIE TOUSSAINT ASKS IF WRITING IS ART OR SCIENCE

Somehow Maggie Toussaint survived her Mary Poppins reenactment of jumping off the carport with an umbrella and of riding horses in sleeping bags as a preteen. She applied her acrobatic skills to mystery writing and has been juggling plots ever since. A friend to animals, Maggie’s motto is  “Seas the Day,” which is coincidentally the title of her newest culinary cozy release. This book demanded to be written after the “Trouble with Horses” appeared in the Trouble with Cupid short story anthology. Learn more about Maggie and her books at her website. 

Is Writing an Art or a Science?

Welcome, everyone. I hope you’re staying safe from the virus and encouraging your loves ones to do the same. Seems like more and more of my time is dedicated to survival tactics. I, for one, am thankful for stores that have hours just for seniors early in the morning.

With that said, the weight of the pandemic is hard to escape, even if you have a book to write or to launch. I’ve been focusing on completing a list of tasks each day because that helps me stay on track. I hope you’ve found ways to deal with any stress our global situation may be causing you.

So, on to my topic for the day. It is always a heated discussion when writers who go strictly by an outline meet up with writers who go with the flow to discuss plotting. Each is sure there way is great, and it is to them.

Not all writers are alike, same thing for readers. We need the space and freedom to do things our way and in our own good time. My personal journey led me to combine the two methods, though I have written using both styles of plotting before.

It worried me that my composition style changed, but I’ve changed. I’m not the same person I was in the 1990s when I was first starting out. Further, the world has changed in 25 years. So I want to reach out to others who worry about change in any aspect of their life and encourage you to re-navigate how you do things. I’ve had to do that often in my writing career.

For me, I need a framework to have that sense of structure and purpose, but I also need the freedom to let scenes and characters go where they may. In that way, writing is both an art and a science to me.

I’ve always been drawn to creative projects, and yes, I still own a big box of crayons (for my grandkids is what I tell everyone). Arts and crafts are a lifelong hobby of mine, and I’ve enjoyed embroidery, counted cross stitch, sewing clothes, reupholstering chairs, and more in the Fabric Arts category. My collection of gel pens for adult coloring keeps calling my name, so I need to get those out again. My grandkids love to do arts and crafts, too. Last year we made tie-dyed shirts, and that was so much fun.

Music is another favorite means of self-expression for me. I sing in a church choir and occasionally play my guitar. I love music almost as much as I love reading and writing. So now we’re back to the Literary Arts. I love it when an author’s style rises above the pages and stays with me. When that happens, I know the author is a true literary artist.

The scientist in me always tries to analyze how they achieved that effect. I often reread books and try to take the craft apart. It always works out that the sum is greater than the whole, as in no matter how you break it down, you can’t treat it like a scientific experiment because often the “it” factor is the art of how the author used their words.

So for me, writing is both an art and a science; further, in looking at how I manage each day, I see a similar pattern. I have a to-do list but it doesn’t matter how and when things get accomplished for the most part. By using creativity in daily activities, I stay inspired for writing.

Seas the Day is the title of my new book, and in my seaside lifestyle, I embrace the coastal atmosphere every day. I hope you’ll try this new cozy culinary mystery that I consider a work of art.

Seas the Day

A Seafood Caper Mystery, Book 1

Caterer River Holloway has talents beyond her to-die-for cooking. She is also known among friends and family on Shell Island as a “finder” of things. Which is why a desperate mother begs River to track down her grown son, Chili Bolz, who’s seemingly vanished.

Deputy Lance Hamlyn, a newcomer to Shell Island, has hit a dead-end in trying to locate the missing man. Familiar with River’s reputation, he attempts to team up with her, hoping that her inside track with the locals might aid his investigation. But the simple missing person case begins to boil over into something far more frightening when Chili’s mother falls victim to a brutal assault. Worse, her dying words to River seem to incriminate more than one of River’s friends in both kidnapping and, now, murder.

While Deputy Hamlyn conducts the formal criminal investigation, River uses her time between catering events to do some sleuthing of her own. Her efforts are hampered by the unexpected return of her absentee boyfriend, who has his own reasons for wanting her to stay safely in the kitchen. With the number of suspects growing longer than her food shopping list, River soon finds herself caught in an unsavory recipe for disaster. She must locate the missing Chili and discover who killed his mother before her own goose is quite literally cooked! 

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VISIT AUTHOR RAEGAN TELLER'S FICTITIOUS TOWN OF MADDEN, SC

Glitter Lake Inn

Raegan Teller is an award-winning mystery author. Her debut novel, Murder in Madden, received Honorable Mention in the 2017 Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards. Her second novel in the series is The Last Sale. Both were inspired by actual cold cases. Learn more about Raegan and her books at her website.

I’m Raegan Teller, mystery author of the Enid Blackwell series. Both Murder in Madden and The Last Sale are set in and around a fictitious town: Madden, South Carolina. It’s about a 30-minute drive from the capitol city of Columbia, at least in my mind.

Why a fictitious setting? As a fiction author, I didn’t want to be constricted by reality. There are a number of small town around me, each of which is charming and quirky in its own way. But none had all of the characteristics I needed. Just as fictional characters are typically a composite of several actual people, Madden is a composite of several small towns in South Carolina: Blythewood, Ridgeway, Camden, Chapin, and Winnsboro. I plucked a thing or two from each.

In my first book, Murder in Madden, some of the pivotal scenes take place at the Glitter Lake Inn, just outside of town. The inn is a century-old mansion, handed down from generation to generation. The current owner plays a key role in the story. When I was writing this book, I had no idea readers would be so attracted to the setting—both Madden and the inn. Yet, when I attend book club meetings to discuss the book, the setting is always a significant and lively part of the discussion. People assume the inn is real, but, sadly, it isn’t. It, too, is a composite of the many wonderful inns we’ve stayed in. I created it to be the perfect place to get away from it all, a place where tea and civility can solve all problems. In doing so, I created a setting that has become a character itself in these books.

 But if you think Murder in Madden and The Last Sale are typical cozies, be forewarned. They are not. By the publishing industry’s definition, a cozy mystery is one where the protagonist is an amateur sleuth. Enid Blackwell is a journalist, so technically my series fits the description. And food and an old inn are featured, both of which are often included in cozies. But that’s where the similarities to the genre end.

I invite you to come to Madden through my stories. But remember—small towns aren’t always what they seem, and family secrets and decade-old lies can have deadly consequences. Like Enid, you may be forced to ask yourself, how much would I risk to learn the truth?

Murder in Madden

Enid Blackwell thinks she has discovered the perfect story to revive her journalism career. Her husband's cousin, Rose Marie Garrett, was brutally murdered 10 years ago in a small town in South Carolina, and the killer was never found.  Everyone in the family seems eager to forget Rosie because of her “bad girl” reputation, but Enid is determined to tell the story of the young girl’s tragic life. But bringing the truth to light may cost Enid more than she bargained for. When Rosie’s killer targets Enid, she knows the only way to save herself is to bring Rosie’s killer to justice. 

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#CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--GUEST AUTHOR ELLEN BYRON

Ellen Byron’s TV credits include Wings and Just Shoot Me. She’s written over 200 magazine articles, and her published plays include the award-winning Graceland. Now she’s writing the Cajun Country Mystery series. Learn more about Ellen and her books at her website. 

My Growing Gator Jewelry Collection

Every so often I get what my mother calls a bug up my butt about something. (Although she doesn’t use the word butt. She’s a bit of a potty mouth.) This recently happened when I became obsessed with alligator-themed costume jewelry.

My Cajun Country Mystery series is set in, well… Cajun Country. The swamps and bayous of this fascinating region are rife with alligators. One day when I was looking for a new way to procrastinate, I logged onto eBay and typed in “alligator brooch.” I thought it might be fun to buy one and wear it to the Malice Domestic Convention. Lo and behold, a long list of options greeted me. So I started to shop.

I bought a number of brooches, many of which I gave away at Left Coast Crime and Malice banquet tables. I graduated to necklaces, then earrings, rings, and bracelets. My collection has even branched out into clothing. When author Sherry Harris posted a picture of a flamingo sweater she’d found on eBay for a friend, I wrote to her, “Hey, if you ever find a sweater with alligators on it, LMK.” Within minutes, she posted three of them. I bought one, and love it. It’s become such an obsession, that as I wrote this blog post, I got an itch to do an eBay search, found a great top, bid on it, and won. Score!

Friends get a kick out of my hobby. Author Alyssa Maxwell recently tagged me in a post where she wore a top decorated with a darling gator applique. (Alyssa, I so want a shirt like that!) A few weeks ago, I was in New Orleans to promote my newest book, A Cajun Christmas Killing, and mentioned my passion for gator jewelry to my friend Celeste. She said, “Oh, I’ve got a gator necklace I can give you.” I told her I wasn’t comfortable taking her jewelry. Her response? “No worries, I have two.” Yes, she had two of these necklaces. #onlyinNewOrleans.

Back to that Malice panel I mentioned earlier. Moderator Shawn Reilly Simpson sent us panelists a list of questions ahead of time, and one was “What’s your spirit animal?” Personally, mine is a rescue dog. But I realized that my series has its own spirit animal: the alligator. So when it comes down to it, I owe my whole collection to Shawn. I should thank her with some kind of present. Hmmm… sounds like it’s time to search “alligator jewelry, clothing, or anything” on Ebay again!

A Cajun Christmas Killing: A Cajun Country Mystery

Maggie Crozat is home in Cajun Country during the most magical time of the year. But the Grinch has come to stay at the Crozat Plantation B&B, and he’s flooding travel websites with vicious reviews. Maggie ID’s him as rival businessman Donald Baxter–until Baxter is found stabbed to death. With her detective boyfriend sidelined as a suspect, Maggie must catch the real killer or it will be the opposite of a Joyeux Noel for her.

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A VISIT TO PINEY BLUFFS, TN WITH TRIXIE STILLETTO'S P.I. ALLY CALHOUN

A southern girl, Trixie Stilletto traveled north when she found the love of her life, and they enjoyed more than 20 years together working as journalists. Now she's back home in Tennessee writing stories that range from short, hot romances with a kiss of humor to southern-flavored mysteries. Today Trixie lives seven miles from the neighborhood where she grew up with three adored pets and a host of characters waiting for her to tell their stories. Learn more about Trixie and her books at her website. 

An Interview with Ally Calhoun from Trixie Stilletto’s Tempest

When I first got the idea for Ally and Tempest. I did a short interview with her to learn what motivated her to pack up and leave her Boston home for a place in Tennessee she’d never seen or visited. This is the result.

You left a thriving business and life in Boston to come to Piney Bluffs, Tenn. Why?

“Weather is a big draw. Can anyone say nor’easters? My husband always talked about his childhood here, and he said he wanted to have a place in the mountains. After he passed, I found he still owned the family land and property. It seemed only fitting when I needed a change after his death, to come and take a look. I’d never been here – we were so busy getting and keeping the Agency going ….”

Sorry for your loss. He was very young …

“Yes. It wasn’t a good thing. I wish we’d never taken on that job, but there are no do-overs.”

That last job. Can you talk about it?

“I don’t want to. That wasn’t what I agreed to when you said we have to do this.”

But you uprooted your life, sold the PI business you loved and created with him. All to move down to Tennessee, a place you’d never visited, never wanted to, because of how that last job ended. Don’t you think you need to talk about it?

“Now isn’t a good time.”

Ok. I’ll let it go. But you know you’re going to have to address it at some point. What are you going to do now that you’re here? This place is a mess.

 “Only one thing came to my mind the day I first saw it. Wow. Not in a good way. I honestly didn’t know how I was going to be able to stay here.”

I can imagine. This property has belonged to the Calhoun family for two hundred years. The first settlers to come across the mountain settled here.

“Yes. I discovered that. Along with several unopened letters from the Tennessee historical society requesting that Mike either restore it or sign it over to them.”

Is that your current plan? To restore it and open it as an historical site?

“Uh, no. I just want to make it safe enough I don’t think the fire department and building inspector are going to come in and make me move.”

Who’s doing the work?

“Right now, me. I spend a lot of time Googling things. I’m a pretty quick study. That’s a good thing.”

That’s a surprise. I figured someone with your background, would hire everything done.  Contractors, subs and designers. Have you done renovations before? I believe you had a maintenance-free condo in Boston.

“Never. Being a private investigator is mostly about research. I also think it will be helpful in my new career.”

That’s right.  Your plan is to be a writer. What are you writing? Is anything published?

“Nothing published. Just polishing my first story. It’s a thriller. I’ve always been good with my hands, too. Lots of time when I was deployed, things would break or just not work like they were supposed to. I learned to adapt and overcome.”

Isn’t it one thing to jury-rig a piece of equipment for a relatively short op in the desert where you have a team to help you vs. trying to rehab a house that’s falling down around your ears?

“Maybe. But it doesn’t feel right hiring out this stuff. Mike would have fixed it himself.”

You’re not Mike. Besides, isn’t this more a money thing?

“Have you been talking to my accountant?”

More he’s been talking to me. How can you be broke? I thought your PI business was doing well?

“I did, too. Mike handled all that ….”

Tempest

Widowed ex-private eye Allison Calhoun has left behind the career of heart and her native Boston for the sleepy Tennessee town of Piney Bluffs. All she wants to do is heal and write the great American novel. Only Piney Bluffs is a hotbed of decades-long secrets and lies, all seething just under the surface of the humid summer.

Enter C.J. Lanahan. Once the best friend of Ally's husband and always a thorn in her side, journalist C.J. pushes all of Ally's buttons and not all in a good way. On top of that, his newspaper and editorials seem to be stirring up a hornets nest folks 'round here want left alone. When C.J. is a murder suspect and then almost kills, himself, things go from hot to deadly quicker than a heat-driven storm in this Tennessee valley.

Can Ally and C.J. live long enough to expose the truth, or will the long-held secrets stay buried forever?

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