Weddings Gone Wrong By Jennifer J. Chow

 JENN McKINLAY: I am delighted to have our friend Jennifer J Chow back on Jungle Reds today! She pens one of my absolute favorite series and her latest STAR-CROSSED EGG TARTS looks to be another top-notch delightful mystery. If you're looking for a hint about the subject, check out the gorgeous picture below! 

(Yes, it's WEDDINGS)!

Now here's Jen to tell us more about it!

JEN J CHOW: You look forward to the special day when you get to marry your beloved…and then something goes awry. I’ve definitely had that happen. My musicians called me the wee hours before my wedding and told me they were still at the airport…on standby. All the time I was prepping, I wondered if they’d make it on time (yes, they did!). 

I also made trouble of my own at my cousin’s wedding. She’d failed to let me know she would be asking relatives to come up front and acknowledging them; as we took turns, I realized they were all giving her red envelopes. And I hadn’t brought any with me! 

Other mishaps at weddings I’ve attended have been minor: the bride and groom showing up super late to the reception because of photo taking, last-minute flowers needing to be swapped in for the originals, and people stepping on each other’s toes while dancing. 

A few atrocious cases I’ve read about online: a hostess carrying a cake, tripping, and falling face-first into it; a mother-of-the-bride saving money and doubling up on her daughter’s wedding, using it for vow renewals; and a very nervous groom vomiting all over his bride. 

But the worst I can think of? Finding a dead body at the wedding. Hidden under the cake table, because of murder. Which is exactly what happens to my protagonist in Star-Crossed Egg Tarts. 

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What’s the worst thing you know of that’s happened at a wedding? 

About the Book:

Felicity Jin returns in the second book in the heart-warming and deliciously mysterious Magical Fortune Cookie series from Lilian Jackson Braun Award-nominee Jennifer J. Chow.



Jin Bakery has been asked to cater the Lum-Wu outdoor wedding at Pixie Park. The day of the ceremony, Felicity is finishing the “cake” of tiered egg tarts as the wedding party arrives for the ceremony. When one of the groomsmen, Miles Wu, doesn’t arrive, Felicity’s best friend and local florist Kelvin generously steps in for him and the wedding goes smoothly―until cake cutting time.

That’s when Felicity finds Miles’ dead body beneath the table with her egg tarts display, stabbed by Kelvin’s gardening shears. 

With the detective’s sights on Kelvin, Felicity starts sleuthing away to prove his innocence, revealing dark secrets about all the wedding's attendants. They each had something to hide―and a reason to quiet Miles forever. To make matters worse, Felicity’s powers of prediction are on the fritz thanks to the emotional turmoil of a surprise visit from her estranged father.

When the groom gets poisoned at the send-off party and winds up in a coma, the stakes are even higher, not to mention Felicity’s feelings for Kelvin are beginning to feel more than friendly. Will Felicity’s magic return in time to catch the true culprit and rescue her budding relationship with Kelvin?

https://read.macmillan.com/lp/star-crossed-egg-tarts-9781250323255/

Author Links:

https://jenniferjchow.com/

https://www.facebook.com/JenJChow

https://www.instagram.com/jenjchow/

Bio:

JENNIFER J. CHOW writes cozies filled with hope and heritage. She has been a finalist for the Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Lilian Jackson Braun Memorial Award. The first book in her Magical Fortune Cookie series, Ill-Fated Fortune, was highlighted in Book Riot, Criminal Element, and Woman’s World. Jennifer is a past president of Sisters in Crime and an active member of Crime Writers of Color and Mystery Writers of America. She regularly blogs at chicksonthecase.com. Connect with her online and sign up for her newsletter at JenniferJChow.com.

BOOKED ON MURDER by Marilyn Levinson

JENN McKINLAY: If you know me at all, you know I have a soft spot for stories about libraries. Well, our today's guest Allison Brook (aka Marilyn Levinson) has given us an even better setting -- a haunted library! Take it away, Marilyn.

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MARILYN/ALLISON: One reason why I love writing cozy series is because it gives me the opportunity to write about many subjects. Of course my characters and their story lines are my major concern. I love the excitement of setting up murders and sprinkling my plots with clues and red herrings. But writing cozy series also offers me the chance to explore other topics. Here are two I've included in BOOKED ON MURDER, the eighth and final book in my Haunted Library series.

My sleuth, Carrie Singleton, the head of programs and events at the Clover Ridge Library in Clover Ridge, Connecticut, has come across a centuries-old diary while helping the reference librarian put the library's historical collection in order. It was written by a woman named Verity Babcock, who lived in the sixteen hundreds and was hung as a witch. Verity Babcock's diary never existed because Verity Babcock is a character I created based on what I'd read about people who were accused of being witches. Between 1647 and 1663 of the 43 cases of witchcraft, 16 resulted in executions, mostly hangings. Or at least 34 were accused of witchcraft and 11 were hung.  Numbers vary somewhat because of poor documentation. The first Connecticut hanging took place years before the Salem Witch Trials.

JENN: I was raised in CT, and I had no idea. Fascinating!

Carrie and other characters are outraged by what Verity had experienced when she was accused of witchcraft by a neighbor whose husband died after taking some of Vertity's herbal medicines. This woman had begged for Verity's help when her husband was deathly ill and had little chance of recovering. I explore the reasons why women and a few men were accused of witchcraft when witchcraft was a capital offense in the Colony of Connecticut. For years, relatives of victims and other concerned citizens tried to get these victims exonerated with no success. Finally, in May 2023, while I was writing this book, both the Connecticut House of Representatives and Connecticut State Senate voted in overwhelming numbers to exonerate 12 people who were convicted of witchcraft in the seventeenth century. I was delighted that that long overdue wrong had been righted, but for the purpose of my novel I took literary license and continued to write it as though the victims had yet to be pardoned.

A secret society is another topic I explored while writing BOOKED FOR MURDER. Carrie receives a formal invitation to attend a meeting of the Wise Women's Circle, a loosely formed organization in Clover Ridge. Carrie has never heard of the Wise Women's Circle, and she is astonished to discover that many of the women she knows, including a few she is close to, are members. At the meeting she learns that the group's mission statement is to help women in trouble or danger; women who suffer in painful silence. 

Carrie has been invited to join the group because she has helped many people. She is shocked to learn the Wise Women sometimes resort to "other" methods to achieve their ends, and has to think good and hard whether or not to join.

How about you, Reds and Readers, would you join a secret society?

About Marilyn: A former Spanish teacher, Marilyn Levinson writes mysteries, novels of suspense, and books for kids. Her books have received many accolades. As Allison Brook she writes the Haunted Library series. Death Overdue, the first in the series, was an Agatha nominee for Best Contemporary Novel in 2018. Other mysteries include the Golden Age of Mystery Book Club series, the Twin Lakes series, and Giving Up the Ghost. Her suspense, Come Home to Death, was released in April, 2024, and her suspense, Dangerous Relations, will be republished in 2025.

Marilyn's juvenile novel, Rufus and Magic Run Amok, was an International Reading Association-Children's Book Council Children's Choice and has recently come out in a new edition, followed by Rufus and the Witch's Drudge, the second book in the Rufus series. And Don't Bring Jeremy was a nominee for six state awards. Her YA horror, The Devil's Pawn, came out in a new edition in January, 2024.

Marilyn lives on Long Island, where many of her books take place. She loves traveling, reading, doing crossword puzzles and Sudoku, chatting on FaceTime with her grandkids and playing with her kittens, Romeo and Juliet.

Buy links:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3uuPRDZ
PRH: (all buy links): https://bit.ly/PRHBookedonMurder
 Social Links:
website: http://www.marilynlevinson.com where you can sign up for my newsletter
social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.levinson.10?ref=ts&fref=ts
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/161602.Marilyn_Levinson
X: https://twitter.com/MarilynLevinson
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/marilyn-levinson
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marilynlevinsonauthor/

The Stolen Legacy: The Shocking True Story of Book Theft that Inspired a Novel by Kate Carlisle

Jenn McKinlay: I am delighted to have my dear friend and plot group buddy here with us today to share what inspired her latest (and greatest!) bibliophile mystery! Woo hoo!

Kate Carlisle: We mystery writers are a warped lot. We have to be—we put ourselves into the minds of people who do some pretty awful things. You know, like murder.

Yet, I can still be shocked by real-life villainy. Archivist and supposed booklover Greg Priore stole eight million dollars of rare books and ephemera from the antiquarian library he managed. It gets worse. With an X-acto knife, Priore cut out the heart of many precious books, removing maps and illustrations to sell to unwitting private collectors. How could he????

For almost 20 years, Priore fenced stolen goods through a rare book dealer. Both men pled guilty to their crimes.

The ending of the story—the sentencing—is perhaps the most shocking part. Zero jail time. Just a few years of house arrest followed by probation. (The judge explained to the New York Times that they weren’t incarcerated because of the coronavirus pandemic.)

Full story: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/theft-carnegie-library-books-maps-artworks-180975506/

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/20/us/Carnegie-library-theft-schulman-priore.html

When I read that story, I was as shocked and as disgusted as the rest of the book-loving community. But I was also inspired. (I told you we writers are warped!)

In my latest Bibliophile Mystery, The Twelve Books of Christmas, twelve rare and valuable books have mysteriously gone missing from the library of Castle MacKinnon, in Oddlochen, Scotland. Bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright flies with her husband Derek Stone to Scotland to attend the holiday wedding of dear friends and to find the missing books. When she arrives, she’s disturbed to discover that the castle library is locked, and that the only person with a key is the librarian under whose watch the books went missing.

Unfortunately, as Brooklyn and Derek search the castle for the missing books, they come across something far more sinister—the body of a murder victim. Could the death and the book thefts be connected?

I’ll be at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, AZ on Saturday, November 5 at 2 pm, with Hannah Dennison and Michelle Hoffman. We’d love to see you there! If you can’t make it in person, you can purchase a signed copy of The Twelve Books of Christmas here: http://bit.ly/3JeFQj3

GIVEAWAY

For a chance to win a $25 gift card to Poisoned Pen Bookstore*, tell me about a favorite holiday tradition—any holiday! 

*The giveaway is open internationally, but if the winner is outside the US, the prize will be a $25 gift card to the bookstore of his or her choice, as long as it can be purchased online with a US credit card.

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ABOUT THE TWELVE BOOKS OF CHRISTMAS

The first ever Christmas mystery in the beloved New York Times bestselling Bibliophile Mystery series!

San Francisco book-restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright and her hunky security-expert husband, Derek Stone, face a locked-room murder mystery during the holidays in Scotland.

In the middle of a wonderful Christmas holiday in Dharma, Brooklyn and Derek receive a frantic phone call from their dear friend Claire near Loch Ness, Scotland. The laird of the castle, Cameron MacKinnon, has just proposed to her! They plan to be married on New Year’s Day, and they want Derek and Brooklyn to be their witnesses. And while they’re visiting, Claire hopes that Brooklyn will be able to solve a little mystery that’s occurred in the castle library—twelve very rare, very important books have gone missing.

Once in Scotland, Brooklyn starts working on the mystery of the missing books but is soon distracted by all of the thumping and bumping noises she’s been hearing in the middle of the night. You’d think the Ghost of Christmas Past had taken up residence. But when one castle employee meets an untimely end and a guest is killed by an arrow through the heart, Brooklyn and Derek know this is not the work of any ghost. Now they must race to find a killer and a book thief before another murder occurs and their friends’ bright and happy future turns dark and deadly.

Kate Carlisle is the New York Times bestselling author of two ongoing series: the Bibliophile Mysteries featuring San Francisco bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright, whose rare book restoration skills uncover old secrets, treachery and murder; and the Fixer-Upper Mysteries (as seen on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries), featuring Shannon Hammer, a home contractor who discovers not only skeletons in her neighbors' closets, but murder victims, too. Kate’s latest book is The Twelve Books of Christmas, Bibliophile Mystery 17.

What's in a name? by Edith Maxwell/Maddie Day

 JENN McKINLAY: As always, it is delightful to have out Reds friend Edith Maxwell (aka Maddie Day) here to celebrate her latest release!

Edith/Maddie: Thanks so much, Jenn, for hosting me on one of my favorite blogs. I’m delighted to be back on the front half to celebrate last week’s launch of Murder Uncorked, the first in the new Cece Barton Mysteries. I’m super-thrilled to finally have a series set in my native and beloved California, and I’m more than grateful you took time to read an advance copy and offer a glowing endorsement.

JENN: My pleasure. It's a wonderful mystery!

It’s been quite a celebratory week. On Friday evening we packed the house at Jabberwocky Books in Newburyport, MA for a launch party. I flew to San Francisco a few hours (literally) later. On Sunday the Pedroncelli Winery in the Alexander Valley opened their doors for my author event at a location not far from my fictional town of Colinas. 

The next afternoon I had a lovely conversation at Book Passage in Corte Madera with Rhys, a bookstore I’ve always wanted to do an event at. Tonight I’ll be chatting with Catriona MacPherson in Davis at The Avid Reader, with wine and cheese. Then I’ll retreat to San Francisco for a couple of low-key days with family and old college friends before heading back east.

Quite apart from release week, I support several fabulous charities in my area. The Merrimac River Feline Rescue Society (MRFRS) does great work accepting cats and adopting them out, as well as trapping, neutering, and releasing feral cats who really don’t want to be inside. I have adopted cats from the society and have volunteered for them.

The Pettingill House supports families in need with food, clothes, school supplies, and many essential services. And Amesbury’s Carriage Museum is our historical museum. It educates and entertains about my town’s industrial history, from water-powered nail factories through carriages and textile manufacturing to the early 1900s electric cars and other car bodies made right here.

All three organizations have silent and live auctions as part of their annual fundraising galas. I realized that, after I started going to auctions like the one at Malice, offering the right to name a character is super popular with readers. Who doesn’t want to see their own name in a mystery novel? (For the MRFRS auction, winners often choose to have their cat remembered instead of a human.)

The high bidder on my first naming offering was Diane Weaver. I had thought she would have a walk-on part as a farm customer in one of my first Local Foods Mysteries. To my surprise she ended up being an undercover DEA agent! The real Diane was delighted.

I offered naming rights for a Pettingill House auction a few years ago, and they called me up on stage to introduce the item. Cathy Toomey, a local real estate agent (whom we bought our house from eleven years ago) was the aggressive high bidder and became Catherine Toomey, shopkeeper and grandmother, in the next few Quaker Midwife Mysteries. 

I loved watching the numbers go up and up during the bidding. The donation is free to me and brings much-needed funds into the charity’s coffers.

A year ago, when I was about to send in the Murder Uncorked manuscript, Kelly Daniell was the high bidder at the Amesbury Carriage Museum’s Driving Through History auction. She happens to be the executive director of the museum and is the mom of two young children. When I asked what name she wanted me to use, Kelly said, “I can’t pick one kid over the other. So, name the character after me!” Me: “I can do that.” 

I’d already written the Sonoma County sheriff’s detective with a different name, but I had time to slide Kelly Daniell into the manuscript, instead. She and I had fun a month ago posing at this year’s fundraising event – which had, in case you can’t tell, a 1920s theme – in front of a 1927 Ford with its owner and a fellow antique car enthusiast.

I can’t wait to hear what Kelly thinks of her alter ego in the Alexander Valley. That same evening, I again offered naming rights to a character in my next book.

This time Pamela Fenner, a friend, small publisher, and staunch supporter of the museum, was the high bidder. Her bidding contest with another local resident exceeded any amount my character naming donations had previously raised (thanks for your generosity, Pam!). After the auction, she said she wanted me to use her late husband’s name. They had lived in northern California for some years, and she said he loved researching and making wine.

I am currently writing Deadly Crush, the second Cece Barton mystery. Paul Fenner is now getting a second life as the chief of the Colinas Police department - a tall man who makes and sells wine on the weekends.

Pam had also won the Carriage Museum high bid a few years ago and asked me to name the character after her twin sister, Penelope Johnson, who at the time was in very poor health. Penelope died before the book came out, but she was delighted to know she would live on as a Westham police department detective in my Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries.

I don’t plan to stop offering these auction offerings. Winners often need to be very patient, with the long lag time between when books are turned in and when they’re published. They don’t seem to mind. By the way, if you run one of these live auctions, plying guests with alcohol first lends itself to reckless bidding, just saying.

Readers: Reds, what real people’s (or animal’s) names have won a spot in your books? Commenters, what name would you use if you won this kind of auction? Have you ever won? 

I’d love to send one US reader a signed copy of Murder Uncorked (ebook to commenters outside the US).

As the manager of Vino y Vida Wine Bar in Colinas, Cecelia “Cece” Barton’s first Alexander Valley harvest is a whirlwind of activity. Her twin sister, Allie Halstead, who owns a nearby Victorian bed & breakfast, is accustomed to the hustle and bustle of peak tourist season. But Cece barely has a moment to enjoy her new home while juggling her responsibilities at the bar and navigating the sticky politics of the local wine association. Just when it seems things can’t grow any more intense, Colinas is rocked by a murder within the wine community . . . and Cece is identified as a possible suspect.

With her reputation and her livelihood on the line—and the Sonoma County deputy sheriff breathing down her neck—Cece has no choice but to uncork her own murder investigation. Tensions are already high in the valley, as a massive wildfire creeps toward Colinas, threatening homes, vineyards, and the vital tourist trade. And now, with a murderer on the loose, and Cece’s sleuthing exposing the valley’s bitterest old rivalries and secret new alliances, Colinas feels ready to pop. But with Allie’s help, Cece is determined to catch the killer and clear her name before everything she’s worked so hard for goes up in flames.

Maddie Day pens the Country Store Mysteries, the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, and the new Cece Barton Mysteries. As Agatha Award-winning author Edith Maxwell, she writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries and short crime fiction. A member of Mystery Writers of America and a proud Lifetime member of Sisters in Crime, Day/Maxwell lives with her beau and their sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook. Find her at EdithMaxwell.com, wickedauthors.com, Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, and on social media:

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

SUGAR PLUM POISONED is available now!

 

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JENN MCKINLAY: Usually, the cupcake bakery mysteries drop every April or May, as reliably as the tide coming in...except this year. Because when I decided to write a holiday mystery a spring release just seemed silly. 

I mean I know some stores like to put up Christmas and Halloween displays at the same time (the SHAME!!!) and some places even start plugging the holidays in August (there should be laws against this, I'm just sayin') but to be honest having the cupcake mystery book come out in October after fifteen years of always releasing in May...it has me all kinds of messed up! I have no idea what day or month it is. I'm a hot mess, I tell ya. 

And, of course, publishing being publishing, my Christmas themed cozy mystery is out NOW weeks BEFORE Halloween. Every bit of me recoils in horror at this. Because I love Halloween and I do not like having my holidays get all mashed up. Santa riding a broomstick is just wrong. Okay, end of rant. 

It did get me to pondering which of these holidays do I prefer? I figured it would be Halloween hands down. I mean CANDY and dressing up, and CANDY and, frankly, less work and CANDY -- LOL. But I wanted to be certain so I took a Buzzfeed quiz (they have a quiz for everything) and it said...well, I'm not going to tell you...yet. Take it for yourself: QUIZ: Halloween vs. Christmas

All that being said, I suppose readers can buy their copy of SUGAR PLUM POISONED and wait until December to read it. I just know myself and when a new book in a series drops, I have to read it RIGHT NOW! 

How about you, Red and Readers? Do you devour books in a series as they drop or can you wait? And which do you prefer Halloween or Christmas or a different holiday all together? 

My quiz result said I enjoy both holidays equally. Hmm. I think this depends upon whether I've been naughty or nice ;-)

More about the book:

It’s Christmastime, and this holiday season, things are heating up for the bakers at Fairy Tale Cupcakes, in the newest Cupcake Bakery Mystery from New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay.

When up-and-coming singing sensation Shelby Vaughn arrives in town for two weeks of concert dates, she hires her old friend Angie and the rest of the bakery crew to supply cupcakes for the VIP guest lounge every night.

After overhearing Shelby in a heated argument with her manager, Mel is concerned, but she and the crew decide to make the best of their time working with the star. Just as the bakers fall into the rhythm of the job, Shelby’s manager is found dead, clutching a bit of fabric from a Santa suit and a cupcake. With the bakery crew and Shelby’s backup dancers all dressed in similar Santa costumes, it’s impossible to say who is the killer. When all suspicions lead back to Shelby, Mel and Angie stand up for their friend, determined to prove her innocence before she’s frosted for a crime she didn’t commit.

Adventures in Book Research by Vicki Delany

Jenn McKinlay: I'm absolutely chuffed to have our friend Vicki Delany visit us today to talk about her upcoming travels and plots and tea!  

Vicki Delany: I’ve been reading this marvelous blog for a long time, and I’ve noticed something: If there’s one thing the Reds love it’s Britain and Ireland, and food. 

What a coincidence, because I love those things too.

As it happens, I’m traveling to England next month to do location research for not one, but two, of my books. 

First stop will be Halifax in Yorkshire. I’ve been to the UK many times, but never to Halifax. 

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In the Tea by the Sea series from Kensington Books, the point is made (many times) that the grandmother character, Rose, once was a kitchen maid in a stately home near Halifax. She collided with a visiting American by the name of Eric Campbell coming out of a shop in that city, and visited him in hospital. When he was released, the relationship blossomed, they married, and Rose moved to Iowa where they raised their family. 

For book six in the series, I have the brilliant idea of Rose returning to Thornecroft Castle, for Lady Frockmorton’s 100th birthday celebrations. Of course, being an elderly lady, Rose can’t travel on her own so her granddaughter, Lily Roberts, the series protagonist, comes with her. What do you know: by total coincidence Lily’s neighbour, Matt, a true crime writer, is doing research in Yorkshire at the same time and Lily’s friend Bernie has gone with him. By even more of a coincidence, Lily’s love interest, the English gardener, Simon, has returned to England at the end of his contract at Victoria-On-Sea, Rose’s Cape Cod B&B, and has a job at a stately home near Halifax. 

Thus, off goes Vicki, to Halifax to check it all out. I’m throwing monetary caution to the wind and staying at a hotel I’m hoping to use as the inspiration for Thornecroft Castle (not a castle but an 18th century house built on the remains of a castle).  I chose Holdsworth house (Luxury Hotel West Yorkshire - Holdsworth House Hotel & Restaurant). If you’ve seen the TV show Last Tango in Halifax (which is great, with a fabulous cast including Sarah Lancaster, Nicola Walker, Anne Reid, Derick Jacobi), some scenes were filmed at that very hotel.  

For you British TV lovers (that includes me) Happy Valley and Gentleman Jack, among many others, were also filmed in near Halifax. I’m hoping to get to Shibden House, Anne Lister’s home, when there.  (Shibden Hall | Calderdale Museums). I’m excited about seeing the exact location for Thorncliffe Castle as well as the areas my characters will see and visit.

And, of course, because the Tea by the Sea series is about afternoon tea, they will be having tea. Meaning, I have to find the best places to go. 

A future book in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series from Crooked Lane Books will also be set in England as the gang travel to London for Pippa and Grant’s wedding. 

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I have been to London a few times, and went in 2017 for an earlier Sherlock Holmes book, A Murder is  Game is Afoot. That time I found the house where Gemma’s parents live and a nice hotel for my characters to stay in. 

London research is more about tube time-tables and stations, and the time it takes to from X to Y by foot or taxi than the scenery or castle ruins. I’m going to give Pippa and Grant a flat in Greenwich, for the precise reason that I’ve never been to Greenwich. So I’ll have to check it out.

Gemma will be in London for her sister’s wedding and to solve a mystery, but Jayne Wilson, her ever loyal and always confused best friend, will be hoping to sample the delights of that city. And for Jayne, that includes afternoon tea.

My daughter Alex, who’s coming with me, and I are already searching out the perfect locations for afternoon tea in London.

Book research: It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. 

Reds and Readers, I bet you know all the best places for tea and other English delights. Any suggestions? 

Alex and I are heavy into tradition when it comes to afternoon tea, but we’re always open to new and interesting things. Anyone have a must-see destination in or near Halifax? A favourite restaurant in London? Remember, it’s all in the cause of research. 😊

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than forty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing four cozy mystery series: the Year Round Christmas books for Crooked Lane, the Tea by the Sea mysteries for Kensington, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series for Crooked Lane Books, and the Lighthouse Library series (as Eva Gates) for Crooked Lane.

Vicki is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It Crime Writing Festival. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards.

Vicki is the recipient of the 2019 Derrick Murdoch Award for contributions to Canadian crime writing. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.

You can find out more about her many wonderful series at: www.vickidelany.com

It's Never Too Early for Halloween by Darci Hannah

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.

Point Betsy Lighthouse, the inspiration for the lighthouse 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! 

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:

www.darcihannah.com

Listen to Darci on the Motherboy podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/motherboy/

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