Meow-ry New Year!

Well, it's time to ring out the old - 2017 - and ring in the new - 2018!

What better way to do that than with a giveaway??????

And what better book for a giveaway than one with a holiday theme - namely, Liz Mugavero's PURRING AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Pawsitively Organic series it revolves around Stan Connor, former marketing executive who's made the transition to small town living along with a menagerie of pets.

Here's the teaser for PURRING AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE

In the New England town of Frog’s Ledge, the Holiday Light Festival is a Christmas tradition. Killing Santa is not. To bring joy back to the season, organic pet patisserie owner Kristan “Stan” Connor will have to find another Santa before it’s too late . . .

To the townspeople’s delight, the annual lighting of the tree is a spectacular success. Unfortunately, Santa pulled up in his sleigh, DOA. At first Stan is sure it’s Seamus, her boyfriend’s uncle, inside the red suit. But the victim turns out to be an employee from the town’s Christmas tree farm. Rumor has it the deceased was a mean drunk with a soft spot for feral cats. Stan has no idea why he was dressed as St. Nick—or why he’s dead.

Meanwhile, Seamus, a jolly Irishman who comes to America every December to visit his pub-owner nephew, is nowhere to be found. Could he just be off on a Boston bar crawl? Or is something more sinister under the tree? Seamus was supposed to be dressing up and posing for pet pictures with Santa at the shop, but the dogs and cats might have to find another lap to curl up in if Stan doesn’t solve twomysteries soon. Or murder might be the only thing under the mistletoe this holiday . . .


I highly recommend this series, meow!  To win my review copy, leave your email address in our comments section and tell me what your all time favorite Christmas movie is!!!!!!!!  (the human and I both love MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET - the original.  Also HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS)

 I and random.org will select one lucky winner at random. Contest ends midnight, January 5.

Meow-ry New Year, everyone. Here's to a great 2018!!!!!!!!!!  



ROCCO
Incredible Blogging Cat

A Christmas Giveaway from ROCCO!

Greetings of the Season!

Myself and my human, Toni (T.C.) LoTempio, and my brother Maxx, wish all our followers a very Merry Christmas and Holiday Season and a Prosperous and Healthy New Year!  We hope good things are on the way for 2018, meow.  Hopefully more Nick and Nora!!!!!!

(and maybe something new, says the human. Anyhow.....)

To celebrate the season, I shall be giving away my review copy of MISS JULIA RAISES THE ROOF.  This is a delightful series that I just discovered. It's the 19th instalment, so it's been around for awhile.  It will be reviewed in April, so be sure to watch for it.  I'm giving away my advance review copy to one lucky commenter!

Leave a comment in our comments section with your email address and tell us your favorite Christmas/Holiday Song!  I shall select one winner using random.org!  Contest closes midnight, December 28!

A Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!


ROCCO

ROCCO's December Cozy Roundup

Merow!  here are my December Penguin cozy mystery reviews!
Let's start off with a top pick:

HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SLAY
VICKI DELANY
NOVEMBER 28, 2017
FIVE PAWS!!!!!!

Synopsis:  The town of Rudolph, New York, has the Christmas spirit all year long—but when homicide heats up a summer holiday, it’s up to shop owner Merry Wilkinson to wrap up the case.

In Rudolph, Christmas in July heralds Santa’s arrival by boat to begin his summer vacation at the lake, and Merry Wilkinson, owner of Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, is looking forward to a busy weekend. But she’s caught off guard when her ex-fiancé, Max Folger, unexpectedly arrives with a team from a lifestyle magazine wanting to do a feature on the July festivities.

It’s clear that Max’s visit has less to do with business and more to do with winning back Merry’s heart. Merry has too much on her plate to deal with an old flame, but when Max is found strangled to death in Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, she must find out who wanted him dead—and stop a killer from ruining the summer holiday cheer.

ROCCO Sez:  I lurvvvve this series!  Maybe  because Christmas is my favorite holiday (after Halloween, of course!)  I have always enjoyed Vicki Delany's series, and I think this might be my favorite.  I love Merry and her band of friends, and who can resist a Christmas story in July??????  I have to confess, I didnt' trust Max and wasn't especially sorry when he died, but his death certainly put poor Merry in a pickle.  Want to find out how she gets out of it? You'll have to read the book to find out! Definite five paws!

A CRIME OF POISON

NANCY HADDOCK

DECEMBER 5, 2017

FOUR AND A HALF PAWS

Synopsis:

It’s early October, time for the Fall Folk Art Festival and Bake Sale in Lilyvale, Arkansas. Every business along the town square will benefit from the event, including the craft store run by Leslee Stanton Nix—aka Nixy—and the Silver Six, a group of retirees. In charge of making the festival go smoothly, Nixy is confident that it will be a success.

But things become knotty when local troublemaker Cornell Lewis is found dead with a plate of Snickerdoodles from the bake sale. Two members of the Silver Six are accused of cooking up a murder plot, but Nixy knows that the cookies weren’t literally to die for. With time running out, Nixy and company must catch the actual killer...before the Silver Six find their number permanently reduced to four.

ROCCO sez:   the Silver Six are back in another mystery, that is well thought out and plotted.  Readers new to the series will find the band of Sherlock Holmes retirees charming, and returning fans wont' hesitate to cheer them on!  four and a half paws!!!!!!

COMIC SANS MURDER

PAIGE SHELTON

DECEMBER 5, 2017

FOUR AND A HALF PAWS

Synopsis:  The visit of quirky world-famous horror author Nathan Grimes to Star City is especially thrilling for Clare Henry and her grandfather Chester. As the owners of The Rescued Word, a charming boutique shop in town, Clare and Chester specialize in restoring old typewriters and repairing beloved books. They’ve invited Nathan to their shop to use their equipment for his next book.

But all plans to work on the book take a step in the wrong direction when a tourist discovers an abandoned ski boot on the slopes—and the only sign of the owner is the dismembered foot he left inside! Nathan’s writer’s curiosity for all things horror is further piqued after the body of Clare’s high school friend Lloyd Gavin is discovered sans one foot. When all toes point to a class reunion gone wrong, Nathan can’t help but join Clare and her best friend, police officer Jodie Wentworth, as they hurry to track down the killer before more former classmates become Most Likely to Be Killed.

ROCCO sez:  Horror writers, dismemberd body parts, and a clever sleuth!  All right up my alley!   This is another good series and the third instalment definitely delivers!  Fans of Clare and Chester will not be disppointed as our amateur sleuths pull out all the stops to stop a killer at a class reunion!  It kind of reminded me of a Bones episode!  four and a half paws!

EGG DROP DEAD

LAURA CHILDS

DECEMBER 5, 2017

FIVE PAWS

Synopsis: Maintaining good personal relationships with their suppliers is one of the secrets of the Cackleberry Club café’s success, so Suzanne doesn’t mind going out to Mike Mullen’s dairy farm to pick up some wheels of cheese. She’s looking forward to a nice visit with the mild-mannered farmer before heading back to their hectic kitchen.

But when she arrives, Mike’s nowhere to be found. The moaning of his cows leads her to look in the barn, where she discovers a bloodcurdling sight—the farmer’s dead body. Apparently not everyone was as fond of Mike Mullen as the Cackleberry Club.

Churning with grief and outrage, Suzanne, Petra, and Toni vow to find the farmer’s murderer—but as they get closer to the truth, the desperate killer gets whipped into a frenzy and plans to put the squeeze on them...

ROCCO sez:  My tail starts flicking every time I read a Laura Childs book, and this time was no exception!  I always enjoy reading about the adventures of Suzanne, Petra and Toni, and trying to figure out whodunit before they do!  Laura Childs delivers another masterful edition in her Cackleberry Club series that will delight new and old fans alike!  Five paws, of course.

HONEY BAKED  HOMICIDE

GAYLE LEESON

DECEMBER 5, 2017

FOUR PAWS

Synopsis: It’s fall in Winter Garden, Virginia, and business at Amy Flowers’ Down South Café has never been better. So when struggling beekeeper Stuart Landon asks Amy to sell some of his honey, she’s happy to help. The jars of honey are a sweet success, but their partnership is cut short when Amy discovers Landon’s body outside the café early one morning.

As Amy tries to figure out who could possibly have wanted to harm the unassuming beekeeper, she discovers an ever-expanding list of suspects—and they’re all buzzing mad. She’ll have to use all of her skills—and her Southern charm—to find her way out of this sticky situation...

ROCCO sez:  I've been a fan of Gayle's other series and this one is a winner too!  Watching Amy buzz around (heh heh) trying to figure out who killed the beekeeper makes for an entertaining read!  four paws!

LIVE AND LET FLY

CLOVER TATE

DECEMBER 5, 2017

FOUR PAWS

Synopsis: With summer drawing to a close in Rock Point, Oregon, Emmy Adler hopes to beat the seasonal drop in business by winning the annual kite festival. What better way to garner publicity for the handmade kites sold in her shop, Strings Attached? In the days leading up to the festival, Emmy’s ambitions are soaring. Even an argument with reality TV star and contest judge Jasmine Normand can't bring her down. But when Jasmine is found dead the morning after their altercation, Emmy’s no longer flying high.

When the police open an investigation into Jasmine’s death and deem it a murder, Emmy falls under suspicion. With a national tabloid reporter convinced that she is guilty and business at her shop at a standstill, Emmy has to trade kite making for crime solving—or find all of her ambitions blown off course.

ROCCO sez:  I enjoy the kite shop premise of this series.  This instalment is the best yet.  Poor Emmy has a run in with the murder victim and then finds herself on the police radar.  Watching her try to solve the murder to exoneerate herself makes for some good reading!  The only problem I have with this book is the cover.  I think they could have done it more justice.  But then again, I'm no PIcasso, meow!   Four paws!

Win ROCCO's review copy of LIVE AND LET FLY!

To enter, leave your name and email address in the comments section. ROCCO will use random.org to select the winner!  Contest closes midnight, December 21!

Guest blogger - Maya Corrigan!

Meow, my guest blogger this week is Maya Corrigan!

Maya (Mary Ann) Corrigan lives in Virginia, an easy drive from Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the setting for her Five-Ingredient Mysteries: By Cook or by Crook, Scam Chowder, Final Fondue, and The Tell-Tale Tarte. The series features café manager Val Deniston, who solves murders with her live-wire grandfather, the Codger Cook, in a Chesapeake Bay tourist town. Each book includes five suspects, five clues, and Granddad's five-ingredient recipes. Before taking up a life of crime on the page, Maya taught courses in writing, American literature, and detective fiction at Georgetown University and NOVA Community College. Visit her website, mayacorrigan.com, for book news and trivia about classic mysteries. She loves hearing from readers.

Hello Everyone and thank you ROCCO!!!

The title of the latest book in the Five-Ingredient Mystery series derives from a story about a murder, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” written by the father of detective fiction, Edgar Allan Poe. As a Poe fan, I thoroughly enjoyed incorporating his writing and incidents from his life into the plot of a current-day mystery. The victim and suspects in The Tell-Tale Tarte are people inspired by Poe: an aging writer whose riffs on Poe’s stories are bestsellers; the author’s entourage, including his publicist and his writing protégé; an actor with a one-man Poe show; a Poe scholar and her son, a Poe look-alike. The event that embroils Val and her grandfather in the search for a murderer occurs at a book club dinner party, when Val serves a French dessert, tarte Tatin, that proves to be a tell-tale tarte.

Val fears for her grandfather’s life when an actor famed for his Edgar Allan Poe one-man show is murdered while dressed like Granddad. She soon learns the actor isn’t the only one doing an impersonation. The search for his killer takes Val to the home of the Poe-inspired author, Rick Usher. When she and Granddad are stranded at the “House of Usher” by an ice storm, they uncover clues to the murder, but will they live to tell the tale? The book’s climax occurs in the Baltimore graveyard where Poe is buried. In the shadow of Poe’s tomb, Val and Granddad try to prevent a murder and mete out some POE-etic justice.

The story features a number of Poe parallels. Themes that Poe explored in his writing emerge in The Tell-Tale Tarte: the double or look-alike character, guilt, and vengeance. Events from the recent past play a role in the plot, including some purloined Poe poetry. The book offers a solution to real real-life mystery–the identity of the elusive Poe toaster, who, annually for decades, left roses and cognac at Poe’s grave on his birthday.

In The Tell-Tale Tarte, you’ll find Poe people, Poe places, Poe parallels, and peppering of Poe puns. You don’t need to know much about the father of the detective story before you read the book, but you’ll probably know more about him by the time you finish it.

Meow! Win a Cozy Mystery!

Meow, ROCCO here!

As we brace for our first snow of the season (the HUMAN says it's too early!)  I thought now would be a good time to have my first cozy giveaway of December!

DEATH BELOW STAIRS which debuts January 2, 2018 is the first in bestselling author Jennifer Ashley's new mystery series.

The heroine of Ashley's popular novella, A SOUPCON OF POISON, returns as the protagonist of this new series.  Kat Holloway is as shrewd and calculating as ever, taking on a new position in the Victorian household of Lord Rankin.  She soon discovers an odd set of characters in the household, from Rankin's masculine spinster to an eccentric cast of servants and lastly the lustful tempestuous Lord Rankin himself.  Trouble boils over when Mrs. Holloway's young assistant is found dead.  As Mrs. Holloway and her enigmatic friend Daniel McAdam begin investigating the murder, they soon find themselves working against an even more dastardly scheme.

Jennifer Ashley has loaded the book with tons of authentic detail. If you love historical cozies, this is the one for you!

HOW TO WIN IT!

Just enter your name and email address in our comments section.  A winner will be chosen using random.com.  Contest ends midnight, December 12. Good luck!


ROCCO

Welcome backDawn Eastman

Meow,  my guest today is author Dawn Eastman!

Dawn Eastman lived in Michigan for many years, in a house full of animals, unusual people, and laughter. After attending medical school in New York City, she returned to Michigan to complete her training in Family Medicine. Much of that time was spent in a small town practice. She now lives in Iowa with her family and one extremely bossy small dog. She is the national bestselling author of The Family Fortune Mystery Series, which features psychics, quirky characters and murders. This is her first Dr. Katie LeClair mystery.

R:  Welcome back Dawn! For those not familiar with your work, tell us a bit about yourself and how you became interested in writing.

The short version of the story is this: I always wanted to write, but I took a bit of a career detour and became a doctor. My husband is also a doctor and once children came along it was too hard for us to juggle both schedules. I took some time off to be home with my son and daughter. After they were a little older, I went back to my first love, writing.

R: Tell us about your new series for Crooked Lane, the Dr. Katie LeClair Mysteries” !  Where did that idea come from?

See above as to where the idea came from! I worked in a small town clinic during residency and for a few years after. My favorite part of being a doctor was hearing the stories of the patients and getting to know them. The idea for this book actually began many years ago when I was a resident and it patiently waited in the back of my mind until now.

R:  What about your “Family Fortune” series.  Will we ever hear from Clyde and company again?

Yes! More books are planned, but Katie has taken center stage recently. I love Clyde and the gang and miss them very much.

R: What’s a must have for you when you are writing? What aids the creative process?

Tea. And also, tea. My small, bossy dog thinks he is necessary to the creative process. He thinks leaning against my arm while I type is particularly helpful.

R: If you had access to a time machine, which historical moment would you travel to and why?

That’s a tough one. I love historical fiction and there are so many time periods I like to read about. Elizabethan England is one, but they didn’t have the greatest plumbing. I might skip ahead to the late nineteenth century. It was such an amazing time with new inventions and discoveries (notably, indoor plumbing).

R:  If a movie were to be made of one of your books, which one would you want it to be and who would you pick for the lead roles?

There are scenes from all of the Family Fortune books that I would love to see on film. If Unnatural Causes was made into a movie, Emma Stone and Matthew Goode are similar to the way I imagine Katie and Matt.

R: What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to know about you?

Zip-lining with monkeys is on my bucket list.

R: What is the craziest thing you've ever done? 

I’m hoping it will be zip-lining with monkeys.

R: What do you hope readers will most take away from your writing?

I hope they will be entertained. I love hearing from readers who have adopted the Fortune family and consider them friends. I have read many books that made me care about the characters as if they are real people and it’s a great feeling to discover a new set of friends you can visit whenever you want.

R: What are you working on at the moment / next?

I am finishing the second Katie LeClair book and will work on the next Family Fortune in the new year.

R: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Plotter, but I’m not strict about it. It’s more of a framework.

R: Do you have any advice for beginning writers?

Write as much as you can and read as much as you can. Find a writer’s group and get feedback.

R: If you weren’t a writer, what would you be doing?

If I didn’t go back to medicine, I might open up a yarn store and knit all day. I’m sure there’s plenty of time to knit while running a small business…

R: What book is on your TBR shelf you can’t wait to get to?

Louise Penny’s Glass Houses.

Just for Fun:

Night or Day?  Night

Dog or Cat? (answer carefully)  both

Beach or Pool?   both

Favorite Book?  My new favorite series is Elly Griffith’s Ruth Galloway series.

Favorite TV Series?  Outlander

Favorite Movie?  A Christmas Story

Favorite Actor: There are so many, it’s too stressful to pick!

Favorite Actress: See above.

You can find Dawn at:

www.dawneastman.com

www.facebook.com/DawnEastmanAuthor/

Dawn will give away a signed ARC of her Katie LeClair mystery to one lucky commenter!  To enter, leave your name and email address in our comments section. For extra entries, you can do any or all of the below:

* Follow my blog (+ 1 point)
* Follow me on Twitter (+ 1 point) (Link: https://twitter.com/RoccoBlogger)
* Tweet about the contest (+ 1 point)
* Friend me on Facebook (+ 1 point) (Link: https://www.facebook.com/ToniLotempio)#!/

* Mention the contest on Facebook (+ 1 point)
* Mention the contest on your blog (+ 1 point)

 Winner will be chosen at random.  Contest closes midnight, December 8!  US entries only please.