First, the winner of Lelsie Budewitz's giveaway of BETWEEN A WOK AND A DEAD PLACE is...Elizabeth Varadan!!! You can contact Leslie with your mailing info at: at leslie@lesliebudewitz.com
Jenn McKinlay: And now we have a treat! For those of us who are sick to death of summer (it's 115 here in AZ, so that's me) we have a spooky pumpkin infused post for you today from our guest Darci Hannah to bring on all those autumn vibes!
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Darci: It is such a pleasure to be a guest on Jungle Red Writers today. Thank you so much for inviting me, Jenn, and here’s to the rest of you awesome Jungle Reds!
The fourth book in my deliciously fun Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant, comes out on July 25th, and I am so excited to tell you a little bit about this book and why it means so much to me.
In the summer of 2019, I was just about to start work on the third book of my very first cozy mystery series, The Very Cherry Mystery series. This was going to be my haunted lighthouse book, and I had, like any good author, strategically dropped little hints throughout the first two books in the series foreshadowing my epic (epic in my own mind!) lighthouse adventure. However, just as I was beginning to put the pieces together, I learned that the publisher was closing and book #3 would never happen. That made me very sad.
There’s that old saying, When one door closes another one opens, and I realized pretty quickly that I didn’t have to stop writing my haunted lighthouse book. I could just turn it into something different. Something better. And that’s what I did. I shamelessly combined all my passions—baking, lighthouses, paranormal dealings, Lake Michigan, and dogs-- into one series, the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, and I have loved every minute spent writing it.
Now, this series is really about my protagonist, Lindsey Bakewell, a former Wall Street investment banker who buys a lighthouse in Michigan and opens a bakery. Bodies show up and the mysteries commence. I purposely keep the ghost story to a minimum, because to me that’s what ghosts are, echoes of lives past, poking their heads into our world for a moment or two, and making their presence known. The ghost in this story, Captain Willy Riggs, is based on a real ghost story I once heard while visiting a lighthouse. In fact, among the many lighthouses I’ve visited over the years, there seems to be a common thread regarding ghosts. Sometimes the old lightkeepers remain on duty, even after they’ve died. That stuck with me, and I gently explore it in this series.
One of the former light keepers, who looks a lot like Captain Willy Riggs, and a small lantern he would have carried with him as he made his rounds.
However, when I got the opportunity to write a Halloween book, I thought, “Now’s the time for my haunted lighthouse tale!” I knew that I wanted to make Captain Willy a bigger part of this story. Poor Captain Willy. Because he’s a legend in the town, the kids want to see him. He suffers pranksters, parties, pumpkin spice baked goods, and even a livestream ghost hunt that turns deadly. Through it all he remains true to his earthly calling, a steadfast keeper of the light. Oh, but how Halloween in Beacon Harbor tries his patience!
I know that July is a bit early to start thinking about Halloween and pumpkin spiced baked goods, but what about you?
Jenn: No, it's never too soon! LOL.
Do you believe in ghosts? Do you have a spooky story to share?
Below is a picture I took at a winery on the Old Mission Peninsula near Travers City, MI. I thought the chainmail looked cool. It wasn’t until a few months later that I blew it up and saw a ghostly face peering out of the hood at me. Can you see it? What do you think? Is it ghostly or a trick of the light?
Thank you for joining me today. Wishing you all a beautiful summer and a happy Halloween!
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Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series (Kensington Cozies), as well as the Very Cherry Mystery Series (Midnight Ink), and two works of Scottish historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall (Ballantine Books).
Darci is a native of the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan. She is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. When Darci isn't baking for family and friends, hiking with her furry pals, Ripley, and Finn, or concocting her next cozy mystery, she can be found wandering through picturesque lakeside villages with her hubby, sampling baked goods and breaking for coffee more often than she should.
Purchase links for Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant:
For more information on Darci, her books, and more printable recipes, please visit her website:
Listen to Darci on the Motherboy podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/motherboy/
You can also find Darci on your favorite social media platforms:
