No podcast today, but don’t worry. I’ll be back at it next week.
I’ve been busy working on the fifth book in The Swinging Sixties Mystery Series and am happy to report it is finished. A manuscript is never perfect, especially at this stage, so I’m doing some last minute editing and will send it in to my publisher, Level Best. This book is titled “Crying in the Chapel” another great hit from the year 1965. Yes, I’ve had Elvis in the back of my thoughts singing away, driving me crazy as I put Dot in the two weeks before her wedding in August. I had a lot of fun writing this one and introduced a few new characters who will continue in the series, but now the book goes into production so expect to see it sometime in 2026!
I have reviews for a few new mysteries to add to your TBR pile! One of my favorites was a cozy mystery that puts The Golden Girls (yes, those Golden Girls) into the world of amateur sleuthing.
If you loved The Golden Girls, great news! They are solving a murder in their new cozy mystery, Murder by Cheesecake. (Of course there would be cheesecake involved.) Rose must bring all of the pomp, circumstance and herring balls of a St. Olaf wedding to sunny Miami. Dorothy, Sophia, Blanche and Rose get wrapped up in a murder mystery after they find a dead body. The author did a beautiful job of locking in the original characters causing me to laugh out loud on more than one occasion. Between the need for a wedding donkey and the “adult” clown at the bachelorette party in the gay club, this was a very enjoyable mystery. I look forward to more cozy adventures from The Golden Girls.
Another one I just finished is coming out on July 1. Murder She Wrote: A Body in Boston
This is another great Jessica Fletcher mystery, true to form to the television series. Jessica goes to Boston to do a presentation at the public library and takes Seth Hazlett along with her. Harry McGraw, PI meets them and gets Seth interested in his case involving big pharma. Jessica finds herself in the middle of another mystery when the daughter of the bartender at Gilhooeys is accused of murdering her boyfriend. This has all the classic “Jessica-isms” from the information about the Boston sights to the helpful cab driver. If you are a fan of Murder She Wrote, this is the book for you.
Harper, a member of a family who owns an island on a lake inherits an ancient house that is riddled with secrets and bad omens. Like the house, Harper has her own troubled past, but as an adult, she’s finding out things were not what she was told all those years ago. I loved the tension and the gradual unfolding of characters’ secrets. I also loved the setting and the ability Harper had to see into other character’s homes with a high-powered telescope. I recommend this book
A Party of Liars takes us to a sweet-sixteen party of a well-off daughter whose parent’s are divorced. There is a fascinating tightening of tension as we see the party through the eyes of multiple characters. Nothing is what it seems in the beginning. Between the first wife and the second, the nanny and the two sixteen year old girls, I couldn’t put it down. Excellent! A Party of Liars comes out July 1.
