What's On Your MInd?

 JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Hi everyone! To paraphrase Taylor Swift, hi, it's me, I'm the technical difficulties, it's me. Everyone loved Hank's prompt - bless you, Hank, for leaping to my rescue - so I'm just going to add a few things and throw the question, What's on your mind?, back to you all!

 

The whole Lionel Messi giving a baby bath to Spain's Lamine Yamal event. Is it just me, or does it seem like something out of an ancient Greek drama to you, too? And will ambitious football parents be lining up, begging the soccer superstar to give their kids a wash-up?

 

Heat domes, or whatever they're calling them these days. Right now, it's literally perfect weather in Maine: high of 80°/27°, nights cool enough that I pulled out my duvet again. But then every couple of weeks, it feels like we've been put inside God's E-Z Bake Oven. 

 

I'm going to complain about the wildfire smoke. C'mon, Canadians. We KNOW you have Giant Atmospheric Shield Technology, why aren't you using it to protect us here in the US?!? It's because we beat you in hockey this past winter, isn't it. 

 

I've got to get a cat bubbler because 1) my vet suggests it to encourage my older cat to drink more for her kidney health and 2) the $15,000 cat won't drink until he's tossed enough water around to splatter all over my wooden kitchen floor. Any brand recommendations?

 

 I had a birthday last month, and now I'm enrolled in Medicare. On one hand, ugh, I'm officially a senior citizen. On the other, that sweet, sweet socialized health care! This is why we need Medicare for All in the US, so no one has to experience the moment as "Congratulations! One year closer to death! Here's your new insurance!"

 

This has been a weirdly tick-free summer in my neighborhood. Anyone else getting this?

 

Finally, a call to have a new type of celebration: the Friendaversary. This September will be the 50th anniversary of my high-school friend and I meeting. We've been through boyfriends, marriages, raising kids, widowhood, empty nesting and the above senior citizen thing, and we've decided we're going to do something fancy to celebrate US. What do you think? Do you have any friendaversary candidates in your life?

Kincaid/James Book Report

DEBORAH CROMBIE: You may have notice that I've been very mum about the progress of the latest Duncan and Gemma book (Kincaid/James#20) recently. But I do have NEWS!!

I finally, finally turned in the manuscript on the 2nd of June (a Tuesday--it's marked in huge red letters on my calendar.) I was jublilant, and giddy, and consumed with fingernail-gnawing nerves. Would my editor like it? This book is the first time we've worked together, and although she'd been enthusastic and supportive throughout, would she like the end? Did it all work?

And, yes, she did like it! Not only that, she made a lot of really helpful and insightful suggestions. All of you fellow writers will know how important it is to trust your editor and to have that sort of feedback. 

So I went back to work for another couple of weeks of revision, and then a break before a few last minute tweaks, and now the book has been sent off to production and I am waiting for the copy edit to land in my in-box any day.

Meanwhile, Book #20 has a title, A LONG COLD SLEEP (I got to keep my working title!) and a release date, 4/13/27, and a gorgeous cover.

I'm so thrilled with this!

I'm also happy to announce that the wonderful illustrator Laura Maestro will once again be doing the endpaper map, and that Gerard Doyle will be reading the audio version!

About the book:

When the shocking discovery of a body in the Regent’s Canal interrupts a riverboat tour, Metropolitan Police detectives Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid are called to investigate in the next twisty mystery from New York Times bestselling author Deborah Crombie.

A few months after his beloved wife’s death from cancer, Miles Deering wonders if he’ll ever get used to her absence. Then he discovers papers among her belongings that make him wonder if he ever really knew her at all…

The next day, Detective Inspector Gemma James is called to investigate a body that surfaced during a boat tour on the Regent’s Canal. It’s none other than Miles Deering, and it doesn’t look like he went into the water of his own accord. Still adjusting to her new station after a recent transfer, and mistrustful of her colleagues given the station’s reputation for discriminating against outsiders, Gemma calls on Duncan Kincaid for assistance.

Along with Gemma’s former partner, Melody Talbot, and Duncan’s sergeant, Doug Cullen, they begin to unravel the details of Miles Deering’s life. According to his friends and family, he was a well-off property developer with no obvious enemies. But Gemma can’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t a random killing—which means one of Miles’s nearest and dearest is lying.

Someone is hiding a secret worth killing for, and the detectives are determined to discover who. But as the team gets closer to a real answer, another attack puts the pressure on. To make matters more complicated, Gemma’s new boss seems intent on stymying her investigation. But Gemma, Kincaid, and their colleagues are willing to risk everything, including their careers, if it means catching a killer.

A LONG COLD SLEEP is now up for pre-order at all your favorite booksellers!

And of course I hope that everyone will pre-order, as it makes such a difference to the book's success.

Thanks to everyone--and especially my fellow Reds--for bearing with me over the loooooong making of this book. I hope you will find it worth the wait!!

 

A Delicious Deception is out today!

 Good morning Jungle Reds! This is me, Lucy, popping in to remind you that my Key West food critic mystery #16, A DELICIOUS DECEPTION is in bookstores today! You can order it here. 

It's been so interesting to read all kinds of reactions to this book--I take this as a compliment because it confirms that I didn’t play safe with extending the series. I'm dying to hear what you all think!

ABOUT THE BOOK: Mother-to-be Hayley Snow bites off more than she can chew in the sixteenth installment of Lucy Burdette’s USA Today bestselling Key West Food Critic mysteries.

When Sheriff’s Deputy Darcy Rogers asks Hayley for a small favor, she can’t say no. Nine months pregnant and temporarily benched from her food critic duties, Hayley’s itching for a distraction and eager to help. All she has to do is tag along while a young woman picks up her daughter from her father at Monroe County’s safe custody exchange location. Easy, right?

Wrong.

In the chaos of the Sheriff’s Office open house, the mother disappears. Then the father bolts, leaving Hayley with a terrified girl and the realization that something has gone terribly wrong. Hayley and Deputy Rogers head north up the Keys to search for answers. 

When a body turns up, Hayley realizes this isn’t just a missing-persons case—it’s a race against time. With the little girl’s safety at risk, Hayley must trust her instincts—and her heart—to uncover the truth.