Fall is Here, Killer Anniversary, and FREE Cozy Mystery Reads! 🍂📚

Winter is Coming…

The outdoor goldfish have entered hibernation for the winter, the final pruning of the bushes is done, and I’ve put the sandals away for the winter, or until we head to Southern California for a few days with friends in March. That means I have more time to work on my newest book and to pay attention to marketing and other book-related details.

I know I’ve mentioned my pair of resident kitties—Button (aka Bunny, Kitten, Black Lightning, Queen of Sheba) and Cheddar, who doesn’t really have any other nicknames but is the chattiest cat ever! I swear sometimes he’s ratting on his “sister” when she’s doing something he can’t do, like jump over the gate at the top of the stairs that go to the lower level. Button jumps over it, races down the stairs, then races back up and jumps over it again. And again. Other times he has come to let me know that she’s gotten herself closed in to a room, or in a closet, and can’t get out. They’re quite entertaining.

My book-in-progress is taking shape. I don’t know if you believe in ghosts (I haven’t decided for myself just yet) but it’s been fun to think of the possibility that they exist. For example, what if it really was the ghost of the wife of my home’s original owner who moved the curtains aside when the kids were playing outside? What would she think about the changes we’ve made to the house since then? Does she approve of how we closed the breezeway and pushed out the back wall? Is she the one making sounds from time to time that I simply can’t explain? I hope it’s the kitties instead.

I must get back to work on the manuscript and figure out how to work in some of those ideas that I picked up in Scotland. Meanwhile, I hope you find a new book to consider in the rest of this newsletter.

Until next time, happy reading!

Want updates in your inbox? Subscribe here.
Did you miss a newsletter? View past issues here.

It was a great party, until it wasn’t…

Christie’s Flower Shoppe is celebrating its first anniversary and its biggest commission yet: a fiftieth wedding anniversary party that puts Christie’s floral designs in a prestigious social spotlight. But when her extravagant bouquets set the scene for a murder, she finds herself dreading the headlines—again.

Luckily, she has a new venture to distract her: a garden landscape sideline with her best friend, Anita. With Christie’s knowledge of flowers and shrubs, and Anita’s flair for design, the business promises to take Christie beyond her shop walls.

When Anita overhears a shady backyard conversation while on the job, the murder victim’s past falls into their laps. But is this a garden-variety dispute, or a ruthless act of revenge?

KILLER ANNIVERSARY, the third cozy mystery novel
in the Christie’s Flower Shoppe series.