Author: Melissa Bourbon

There is a charming bookshop in Buxton, North Carolina, just outside of Hatteras on the Outer Banks. The owner converted a little house into what is one of just a few bookstores along North Carolina’s Atlantic coastline. Buxton Village Books. Gee Gee, the owner, loves my books—especially the Book Magic series—and displays them prominently in her shop. This little store—and it is small—sells more books per square foot than any other in the US. When I asked Gee Gee why that is, she flashed a little grin and said, “Books and the beach. They just go together.” I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a truer statement. Books and the beach…The beach and books…they do go together…like chocolate and peanut butter. Like popcorn and butter. Like pancakes and syrup. When I go to the beach, all I want is an engrossing book (and sunscreen and some water). If you’re like me, that precious beach time is so amazing when you’ve escaped into a magnificent fictional world. Going to the lake or the pool or the beach…all you need is a page-turning book. Here are ten that will keep you blissfully happy this summer. 1. Beach Read Let’s just start with the obvious…a book called Beach Read. Now I have to say that romance is not usually my favorite genre. But this one got so much buzz and was so popular out of the gate that I decided to give it a go. I was happily surprised. It was entertaining and well done. There is something fun about a book about a person (or in this case two persons) who write books. It’s like getting a glimpse into the world of our favorite passion—reading. It’s the typical trope of enemies to lovers, but the new trend in romance is to give these books illustrated covers reminiscent of the chick-lit genre. It has worked to bring non-romance readers (me) into the genre and to keep reading within it. (See book #2 on this list!) About the book: A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters. Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast. They’re polar opposites. In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block. Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really. 2. The Unhoneymooners   Along the same lines as Beach Read is The Unhoneymooners. It’s another fun, new approach to a romance book. A brightly colored illustrated cover doesn’t scream romance. The first person narrative and her very contemporary voice. The fact that there is conflict, but there was no head-thumping on my part because a single conversation could sort out that conflict. The writing is smart and the conflict is just enough to warrant the issues Olive and Ethan have with each other. I really loved this book. I’m a convert to this new take on the romance genre thanks to The Unhoneymooners. About the book: For two sworn enemies, anything can happen during the Hawaiian trip of a lifetime—maybe even love—in this romantic comedy from the New York Times bestselling authors of Roomies. Olive Torres is used to being the unlucky twin: from inexplicable mishaps to a recent layoff, her life seems to be almost comically jinxed. By contrast, her sister Ami is an eternal champion…she even managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a slew of contests. Unfortunately for Olive, the only thing worse than constant bad luck is having to spend the wedding day with the best man (and her nemesis), Ethan Thomas. Olive braces herself for wedding hell, determined to put on a brave face, but when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. Suddenly there’s a free honeymoon up for grabs, and Olive will be damned if Ethan gets to enjoy paradise solo. Agreeing to a temporary truce, the pair head for Maui. After all, ten days of bliss is worth having to assume the role of loving newlyweds, right? But the weird thing is…Olive doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, the more she pretends to be the luckiest woman alive, the more it feels like she might be. With Christina Lauren’s “uniquely hilarious and touching voice” (Entertainment Weekly), The Unhoneymooners is a romance for anyone who has ever felt unlucky in love. 3. The Cartographers The Cartographers! This book was so inventive and original. I love the fact that a bunch of mapmakers are at the core of the story. Add to that the terrible rift between father and daughter, a parent’s ultimate sacrifice, and the mending of a love that never should have ended all weave in riveting layers to the bigger story being told…that of a fantastical and magical town. This is a book I will definitely reread. I also love books from which I learn things. The Cartographers fits the bill. I will never look at maps the same. About the book: What is the purpose of a map?  Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field and Nell’s personal hero. But she hasn’t seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old, cheap gas station highway map. But when Dr. Young is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable and exceedingly rare. In fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence…because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every last one—along with anyone who gets in the way. But why? To answer that question, Nell embarks on a dangerous journey to reveal a dark family secret and discovers the true power that lies in maps… 4. Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide I devoured this book. It was so clever and so well-written, and well…who knew that the man who sings the Pina Colada song can write? I didn’t, but trust me, he can…and with great finesse. Rupert Holmes weaves together several storylines, each with a different, complex, and riveting murder scenario. This book makes you root for the killers…because they’re like Dexter…the serial killer you hate to love…because they’re biting the good fight. Their moral compass—and that of McMasters School—is to make the world a better place. There are solid rules students must abide by. About the book: Who hasn’t wondered for a split second what the world would be like if a person who is the object of your affliction ceased to exist? But then you’ve probably never heard of The McMasters Conservatory, dedicated to the consummate execution of the homicidal arts. To gain admission, a student must have an ethical reason for erasing someone who deeply deserves a fate no worse (nor better) than death. The campus of this “Poison Ivy League” college—its location unknown to even those who study there—is where you might find yourself the practice target of a classmate…and where one’s mandatory graduation thesis is getting away with the perfect murder of someone whose death will make the world a much better place to live. Prepare for an education you’ll never forget. A “fiendishly funny” (Booklist) mix of witty wordplay, breathtaking twists and genuine intrigue, Murder Your Employer will gain you admission into a wholly original world, cocooned within the most entertaining book about well-intentioned would-be murderers you’ll ever read. The Library Journal starred review says it all: “Holmes is a gifted wordsmith whose latest is a top-notch read that both entertains and amuses. . . . Delightfully wicked . . . An amusing and cheeky tale with excellent pacing replete with droll observations.”  5. One for the Money Everyone knows who Stephanie Plum is. Janet Evanovich’s iconic bounty hunter laid the groundwork for the mystery chick-lit genre. If you’ve already read it, I recommend giving it another read…at the beach, because hanging out with Stephanie and Lulu and Grandma Mazur and Joe and Ranger…it’s like hanging out with friends, and what is better than that? About the book: Meet Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter with attitude. In Stephanie’s opinion, toxic waste, rabid drivers, armed schizophrenics, and August heat, humidity, and hydrocarbons are all part of the great adventure of living in Jersey. She’s a product of the “burg,” a blue-collar pocket of Trenton where houses are attached and narrow, cars are American, windows are clean, and (God forbid you should be late) dinner is served at six. Out of work and out of money, Stephanie blackmails her bail-bondsman cousin Vinnie into giving her a try as an apprehension agent. Stephanie knows zilch about the job requirements, but she figures her new pal, el-primo bounty hunter Ranger, can teach her what it takes to catch a crook. Her first assignment: nail Joe Morelli, a former vice cop on the run from a charge of murder one. Morelli’s the inamorato who charmed Stephanie out of her virginity at age sixteen. There’s still powerful chemistry between them, so the chase should be interesting…and could also be extremely dangerous. 6. Living the Vida Lola If you love Stephanie Plum, then you will adore Lola Cruz, too. She is everything I want to be: Smart, sexy, sassy, clever, and determined. SO determined. If I was a Latina PI, that is. The underlying theme of each book is: How far is Lola willing to go for her job? She is willing to go pretty far, but her upbringing as a good Latina Catholic girl raised by traditional parents keeps her toeing the line. After rereading the entire series recently, I found myself craving more. More Lola. More Jack Callaghan. Lola and Jack. More Manny Camacho. More everything! With 400+ reviews on Goodreads, this book and series will keep you on the beach well past sundown! “A fast-paced and witty read! The main character is a Latina PI learning the ropes and coping with family expectations and love life issues. It is a fast read and very entertaining.” “This is the perfect book after a stressful day. Lola and her family will ease every bit of that stress. I highly recommend it.” “If you like Stephanie Plum, you will love Lola Cruz! She is smart, funny, relatable, and a totally badass PI.” About the book: Meet Lola Cruz. After paying her dues as an intern, she’s now a full-fledged detective at Camacho and Associates. Her boss is Manny Camacho, a muy caliente former cop with a mysterious ex-wife, a Lara Croft look-alike girlfriend, and a sudden personal interest in Lola. Her first big case? A missing mother who may not want to be found. And to make her already busy life even more complicated, Lola’s helping her cousin plan her quinceañera and battling her family and their old-fashioned views on women and careers. She’s also reunited with the gorgeous Jack Callaghan, her high school crush whom she shamelessly tailed years ago and photographed doing the horizontal salsa with some other lucky girl. Lola takes it all in stride, but when the subject of her search ends up dead, she realizes she has a lot more to worry about. Soon she finds herself

There are Ten Things to Love About the Cozy Mystery Genre While the mystery genre is huge, there are 10 things to love about reading and writing cozy mysteries. They include the lovely, quaint settings, the fun and relatable sleuth, and, of course, furry friends. Sure, there are thrillers, suspense, and police procedurals on one end, domestic suspense and straight mysteries in the middle to capers and cozies on the other side of the spectrum. There is, literally, something for everyone.   The Puzzle No matter the sub-genere, mysteries draw you in with the promise of a puzzle. That and the promise of justice being served, something which doesn’t always happen in real life. Now I love the tense emotional build-up, the back and forth of the cat and mouse chase, and the heart-stopping suspense that comes with the darker side of mysteries, particularly domestic suspense. But cozies…ahhh, cozies…they offer something so much more than just the mystery.   Hanging out with Friends as a Writer As a writer, I love the fact that I get to hang out with a cast of characters that are interesting and unique and would be my friends in real life (well, not the killer, but almost everyone else). I love the challenge of figuring out how to write what I like to call ‘happy murder’, because cozies aren’t dark and brooding. They aren’t sad and filled with distress and the dark side of things. They are…funny and warm and, well, cozy. Striking a balance between the gravity of murder and the tone of a cozy takes some deftness. I’m always up for that challenge!   And as a Reader… As a reader, I love so many other things about the cozy genre. They are about so much more than just the solving of a murder. They are about community. Relationships. Setting. These things give them a wide-spread appeal because they speak to our collective consciousness in terms of what we’d like our world to look like, both in the place we live, and with whom we live our lives. They give us a community we’d love to be part of, and through the immersive writing of so many wonderful authors, we get to do just that. We get to visit with friends and be alongside them in their lives as well as during the crime-solving adventures.   Here are just ten reasons I love cozy mysteries:   ? The Punny Titles and Charming Covers that Bring You In The first thing you notice about cozy mysteries is that the majority of them have punny titles, and they also have wonderfully appealing covers. They show us a glimpse of the world we’re about to enter and the charming life that lives between the covers. Flour in the Attic, from my Bread Shop series, was one of the best titles one year in a cozy title round-up. A Murder Yule Regret and The Walking Bread are other favorites from that series. Pleating for Mercy is the first in series book in the Harlow Cassidy Magical Dressmaking series, which is a paranormal cozy series. Bodice of Evidence and Bobbin for Answers are two other favorites. Punny titles are so much fun. ? The Friends You Meet on the Page Cozy mysteries are flush with warm and caring people. The sleuths are smart, clever, and appealing. They may be unique and sassy. The sidekicks are equally winsome. There usually is some sort of love interest with someone who compliments the sleuth perfectly. These people truly feel like friends, which is what makes a long-running cozy series so wonderful. As readers, we get to hang out with these folks who are or will become like real friends in our lives. When I sit down to write, it is truly like hanging out with friends. I get to play PI with Lola Cruz, or sleuth with Harlow Cassidy or Ivy Culpepper, or do some bibliomancy with Pippin Lane Hawthorne. Friends on the page can be just as important as friends in real life. ? The Locales You Get to Call Home Beach towns. A mountain oasis. A close-knit community in the city. An English moor. A rural farmhouse. Wherever cozies are set, there is sure to be a ton of charm, and it will likely be incredibly picturesque. Being inside the pages of a book with a charming local is akin to visiting the place in real life. It’s almost like having another (or many) home. My Bread Shop mystery series is set in a fictional town (named Santa Sofia after my daughter) on the central California coast. Bliss, Texas, from my Harlow Cassidy Magical Dressmaking series (a paranormal cozy) is a fictional small town in Texas. Love Alaska? Crazy about the Outer Banks? If you have an affinity for a particular type of locale, chances are good that there is a cozy mystery set there! ? A “Happy Murder” that Let’s You Sleep at Night In a cozy mystery, blood, violence, and sex happen off the page. A murder is a murder, of course. In a cozy, by definition, there is death. There might be people put in harm’s way. There probably will be a progression in a relationship. But cozy readers don’t have to get the down-and-dirty details of these things. They exist and we know they exist, but we’re slightly removed from them in a cozy. Inevitably, someone stumbles upon a body that has some connection to the sleuth, either directly or peripherally. ? Furry Friends More often than not, cozy mystery sleuths have some sort of furry friend as a companion. Whether they’re dogs, cats, horses, teacup pigs, or goats, chances are good a much-loved pet will make an appearance. They’re often on the covers, too! In Bread Over Troubled Water, book 8 in the Bread Shop cozy series, Agatha the pug (named after the grand dame of cozies) is the one to discover the body.   In my Harlow Cassidy paranormal cozies, Thelma Louise (the grand dame of Sundance Kids) is a cantankerous goat who adds some comedy. She’s also on every cover. Bottom line, furry friends are fun!   ? A Touch of Romance Romance is never the focal point of a cozy mystery, but it’s usually an element. The typical scenario is a romantic prospect in law enforcement that forces contact with the sleuth. I tend to go the opposite way in my cozy mystery series. In the Bread Shop cozies, Emmaline Davis, Ivy Culpepper’s best friend is the law enforcement character. The romance comes in the form of Miguel Baptista, a restauranteur. In my Harlow Cassidy Magical Dressmaking series, the love interest is an architect with the town. The sheriff is not a relation, and another deputy is an old schoolmate, but not really a friend. ? Amateur Sleuth The star of a cozy mystery is an amateur sleuth. They aren’t trained in law enforcement. They may or may not have some special skill that helps them with their investigation, but it’s typically not formal training. This makes it fun and easy for readers to follow right alongside the sleuth in the crime-solving. It makes the sleuth very relatable and easy to love because we can root for their success. Remember, they’re like a friend! ? A Cozy Hook Cozy mysteries have cozy hooks. That means there is always a hobby or creative interest or some other something that is the central focus of the cozy world in any particular series. Coffee or tea houses, culinary connections or bakeries (Yeast of Eden is the bread shop in my Bread Shop series), fiber or fabric tie-ins like sewing (my Harlow Cassidy Magical Dressmaking series), or other hobbies like photography, horseback riding, motorcycles, painting, knitting, or book shops. Whatever your jam, there is a cozy series with that hook. ? The Puzzle of an Intriguing Mystery Every mystery on the mystery spectrum offers a puzzle to be solved. The reader may know what happened and know things the protagonist doesn’t know (as in suspense), or they may know just what the sleuth knows and be right alongside, or even ahead, in the crime-solving. Either way (or somewhere in between), the mystery drives the plot. The puzzle of the mystery brings a reader to the mystery in the first place. The other elements of a cozy keep those cozy readers along for the ride. ? Justice is Served and Good Prevails One of the reasons mysteries have wide appeal is the underlying end result of the bad guys being brought to justice. Good prevails. In cozy mysteries, this is especially true. The crime is solved, justice is served, and the community and life of the sleuth get to move forward, with the reader in tow. This isn’t how it always happens in real life, but in cozies, it absolutely is. This means there is always a happy ending and the sleuth is ready to solve another crime Remember, there are ten things to love about the cozy mystery genre. They are a special mystery sub-genre. Fix a cuppa, snuggle up, and settle in for a blissful escape into wonderfully cozy worlds. See all my books HERE. Join WriterSpark on Pinterest!

                                                            Holiday Cozies are the best! If you’re like me and love to get festive with holiday-themed books, check out Deadly Patterns and A Murder Yule Regret. Deadly Patterns From the author of the Harlow Cassidy Mystery Series comes a Christmas story filled with merriment, mystery, and murder. Bliss, Texas, is gearing up for its annual Winter Wonderland festival, but when a mysterious Scrooge ends the merriment with murder, it’ll take more than a ghost from Christmas past to set things right. Designing a holiday fashion show set in the town’s most prominent historic mansion seems like a job tailor made for dressmaker Harlow Jane Cassidy. But with the mansion’s restoration still in progress and threatening weather on the horizon, she’s feeling on pins and needles more than reveling in holiday cheer. Having volunteered to play Santa in this year’s festival, Dan Lee Chrisson was ready to move on after his divorce—until Bliss became his final resting place. Discovering his body puts Harlow at the scene of the crime. She’ll need plenty of help from friends and even her late great-grandmother’s spirited sleuthing if she’s to have a ghost of a chance of catching a killer who’s just jumped to the top of the naughty list…. A Murder Yule Regret                                                                                                    Freelance photographer and Yeast of Eden bakery assistant Ivy Culpepper has just scored the job of a lifetime shooting the Dickensian dress-up X-mas party thrown by It Girl film actress Eliza Fox . . . until an unwanted guest appears. A holiday costume party in the sleepy coastal town of Santa Sofia could be just the boost Ivy needs for her fledgling photography business. At the party, Ivy enters a Victorian fantasy come to life, all courtesy of the fabulous Ms. Fox. Ivy gets to play shutterbug while hanging with Scrooge, Marley, the Cratchits, and more classic Dickens characters.  But what begins as the best of times turns out to be the very worst for one of the party guests—a tabloid journalist with more enemies than Ebenezer himself. When the man’s body is found sprawled across the jagged rocks below the house, the fingers begin pointing at Eliza. Meanwhile, Ivy gets roped into helping prove the starlet’s innocence. Her festive photos are now official evidence—and the Ghosts of Christmas Present could mean the party for Eliza is over, once and for all. Universal Link for all retailers       

Chapter 1 “Will you welcome to the stage, the one, the only… Mr. Magic Mike!” ~Magic Mike North Carolina’s Outer Banks were legendary. From Cape Hatteras to the isolated island of Ocracoke, the place was ripe with legends and lore. The Graveyard of the Atlantic attracted treasure hunters, fishermen chartered boats, and sun worshipers flooded the place each summer. Albermarle Sound was to the north of Devil’s Cove. Roanoke Sound was to the east. Croatan Sound flowed to the west. And to the south was the inlet of Pamlico Sound. A swing bridge connected the island to the mainland, and ferries ran several times a day with cars and people starting their vacations or ending them. The town itself was quaint and beachy and was home to generations of families, and would continue to be for generations to come. The beaches on the island…the old fishing pier…the marinas…the protected cove…all of it gave Devil’s Cove its own charm. Its own sparkling personality. So did Hattie Juniper Pickle. Hattie came from a long line of locals. Her great-great-great-granddaddy had built the house she still lived in. Like so many other old’uns, he’d worked on the water, fishing mainly, but crabbing some. And he’d enjoyed a good, stiff drink—or two—after a day battling the fickle waves of the Atlantic. Hattie’s great-great-granddaddy had also planted the Loblolly Pine, which stood sentry in her yard, keeping an eye on the residents—both permanent and temporary—on Rum Runner Lane. Hattie had been born and raised here, and she knew very well that she would die here—but not anytime soon. She’d quit smoking, which, had she kept on, would have been the most likely thing to kill her. Now, she carried around an unlit cigarette, because if she could resist the constant temptation it threatened, well, she could survive anything. She was, what some call, a free spirit. No one…and she meant no one…was ever going to tell her what to do or how to do it. If she wanted to dye her silvery hair neon green, that’s what she did. If she wanted it purple or periwinkle or orange, she made that happen. The fact of the matter was, her free-spiritedness lived side by side with her rules and boundaries. Her devil-may-care side meant she used the hottest pinkest lipstick known to man. She wore whatever she wanted—and the closer the colors were to the rainbow, the better. She believed in mixing patterns. Why couldn’t plaid go with polka dots? Who were the fashion police, anyway? Her rules were that she never left home without a ciggy. She might keep it in her lunchbox, purse, dangling from between two fingers, or tucked behind one ear, but she always had one. And she went to bed every night at ten o’clock. That regular sleep kept her body and skin in tip-top shape. She had learned over the years to set boundaries. People tried to guess her age—that was fine—but she never…ever…told them if they were right. She drew the line at marrying the same man twice. That lesson had come the hard way when she had jumped the broom with the same man. Husband #1 had also been husband #3. The third time was not the charm. Finally, if someone crossed a person she cared about, she would hunt them down and pounce like a hungry tiger. Her daddy had often told her she was an enigma wrapped inside a cunundrum. Once she understood what those words meant, she happily agreed. Embraced the idea, even. The island’s stilted beach houses were painted all the colors of the rainbow, and that made her heart rejoice. Hers was lavender and teal. Sometimes it matched her hair, sometimes her clothing, and it always matched her personality. At the moment, she stood under the Loblolly pine, an unlit cigarette dangling from between her fingers, wondering what in the world she had done. Agreeing to a…to a…date? With a stranger? The twang of bluegrass music coming from next door momentarily distracted her. Aaron Cox clanked around under the hood of his old Ford pickup truck. “Magic Mike!” he hollered above the music, though not to her, and that was a shame, because she did love her some Magic Mike. Rumor had it that Channing Tatum was going to be in Myrtle Beach over the weekend. There weren’t many things she’d go off island for. Magic Mike was definitely one of them. Aaron hollered at another man, tall and thick, who leaned against the car. “It’s fixed. A done deal. It’s Magic Mike.” The friend guffawed. “Whatever. You gotta chase your dreams, dude. Chase your dreams.” The song ended and they dropped their voices to a normal level. Aaron waved an oil-stained blue rag around. “Nah. Nah. It’s a done deal. Magic Mike.” The bulky man threw up a hand in resignation. “Okay, man, if that’s what you want, then it’s Magic Mike. It’ll happen. It’s gonna happen.” A new song started, muffling their conversation. A giggling passel of preteen girls drew her attention across the street. The dark-haired one lived in the house next to Sea Captain’s Inn. What was her name? Tawny? Taylor? Hattie couldn’t remember. They’d moved in a month ago, and from the looks of it, the girl—Tiffany! That was it!—had wasted no time making friends. The girl’s parents—jeez, what were their names?—piddled around in the front yard pulling weeds and trimming shrubs. Hattie waved her cigarette hand to them. “Mornin’! Beaut of a day,” she said, and it was. Spring had sprung, the temps were sticking in the upper 60s, and flowers were starting to bloom. “Morning, Hattie!” the woman called just as the music next door faded again. The girls all stopped and stared at her. One of them turned to Tiffany’s mother and spoke plenty loud enough for Hattie to hear. “Who’s that? It’s like a rainbow threw up on her.” Hattie arched a brow and notched her hip to one side. Like a bag of Skittles threw up. She’d heard her fair share of comments about her aesthetic: You’re a Garanimals Grammy! No, she wasn’t, in fact, a grandmother.  Look! She has rainbow hair! She rather liked that one. Being compared to a bag of Skittles, that was new. It was the throwing up part she took exception to. Tiffany came to her defense, batting her friend on her arm. “That’s rude. Miss Hattie’s funny.” Hattie aimed a toothy smile like an arrow, straight at Tiffany. She knew she liked that girl. She looked down at her pink almost mini-skirt, the striped knee socks that stopped under her boney knees, and her rainbow Crocs. Eclectic, yes. Peculiar, maybe. But Skittle vomit? No. “Hey ya, Hattie.” She whipped around at the sound of a man’s voice. Ah, it was Tank Jones and he strode toward her. She and Tank had grown up together. They were friendly, but not exactly friends. His real name was Tracy, but he’d taken enough grief over it that he’d embraced the nickname given to him by his football teammates back in high school. “Tank,” she said. “What’re you doin’ on this side of DC?” “Came to see how the other half live,” he deadpanned as he came to a stop. It was true, this side of the island was closest to the water, which made it one of the pricier areas, but Devil’s Cove itself wasn’t the most popular Outer Banks island. Other locales were much more exclusive and expensive. If she remembered correctly, Tank lived in a newer neighborhood on the south end of the island. It was hit or miss if the cookie cutter houses would be able to withstand the hurricanes that blew through every few years. “Educating your taste, as I like to say.” Next door, Aaron Cox left his Ford and his friend and came to the sidewalk. “Yo, Tank! Good to see you, man!” Tank lifted his arm. “Yo.” Aaron tapped an invisible watch on his wrist. “You comin’, or what?” “Yeah, yeah. Coming.” He lifted his chin at Hattie. “Poker game. Gotta go.” “Midday gambling. Nothin’ better. Is Maude playin’ today?” He grumbled. “Every Tuesday and Wednesday.“ Hattie took that to mean that Tank lost money to her old friend, Maude Whistler, every Tuesday and Wednesday. Thatta girl, Maude! Tank frowned at Hattie’s wide smile. “You can do me a solid and tell her to back off once in a while.” “No can do, Tank. Would you back off if it was you winnin’?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Good luck.” Sounded like he was going to need it. She noticed a slight limp as he sauntered past her, following in Aaron’s wake. The bluegrass music stopped once and for all, and the men disappeared inside. She shifted her gaze to Sea Captain’s Inn. As if on cue, Pippin Lane Hawthorne, owner of the inn, appeared on the porch. She spotted Hattie, waved, and practically skipped down the porch steps. She moved as if a load had been lifted off her shoulders. Which it actually had—Irish curses and all that. Hattie waited for a car to pass then started across the street. Pippin had cut across the patch of grass, intercepting her on the sidewalk. Her eyes skimmed over Pippin. She wore jeans and a plain coral-colored t-shirt and was cuter than a baby dolphin. Most telling, though, was the glow in her cheeks. “You off to see Jamie?” Pippin smiled. “Close. Book club with Heidi at Devil’s Brew.” Jamie McAdams ran the bookshop in town, and Heidi was his tween-age daughter. A book club was good for those two. For Hattie? She was too antsy for that. She liked to be up and moving, wearing out the route she took to Main Street, the pier, and everywhere else she went in town. Pippin was a sweet girl, though. So much like her mother. Cassie had lived briefly with Hattie. She’d rented a room when she’d first come to Devil’s Cove from the West Coast, and then when she’d married Leo Hawthorne, they’d bought the old Hubbard house across the street. Now it was owned by twenty-nine-year-old twins, Pippin and Grey, who had turned it into a successful inn. Even though Devil’s Cove was an off-the-beaten-track island, there was rarely a shortage of island vacationers. “You’re bright as a star. Did you find them?” Hattie asked. For the past few months, Pippin had been on a hunt for her mother’s old journals. Hattie knew they had existed, once upon a time. She’d caught glimpses of Cassie writing in them, but after she married Leo, Hattie had never seen them again. “No,” Pippin said, her smile faltering slightly. “I’ve searched everywhere.” “She loved the garden. Remember she worked at Bloom for years,” she said, referring to the garden center north of downtown. “Checked, checked, and checked again.” They’d torn apart the room Cassie had rented before she’d met Leo. Theirs had been a love affair for the books. “Hattie?” If there was such a thing as true love, Cassie and Leo had had it. Maybe Pippin and Jamie did, too. Time would tell. “Hattie?” But would she, Hattie Juniper Pickle, ever find that kind of love again? Pippin snapped her fingers in front of Hattie’s face. “Are you okay?” Hattie blinked. “Online dating,” she blurted. Talk about a non sequitur. Pippin blinked at her. “What about it?” Hattie pressed her lips together, then popped them apart. Darn, now she needed to reapply her pink lipstick. She looked down. Around. She hadn’t brought it with her. “Hattie?” She scrunched her face up as if she couldn’t bear to think about what she’d done. And then she spilled her guts. “I signed up for online dating! Husband number four is out there waiting on me somewhere. I just hope he’s here on island.” Pippin cupped a hand to her ear as if she hadn’t heard Hattie, which was, of course, impossible since they were standing three

  Reviewer Praise for Murder and an Irish Curse “I wholeheartedly recommend!…This book is rich with mythology and history with a bit of intriguing spell-casting and tarot, and the multi-generational characters add an exciting range of personalities from helpful to interfering, from sane to quirky, from open to secretive, from good to evil…Top contender for my Best of 2022!” ~Kings River Life Magazine “To say it’s a page turner is not doing it justice. The writing is so well done that the reader feels as though they are actually entrenched with the characters experiencing all the twists and turns that kept me enthralled throughout.” ~Amazon Reader “I can honestly say that I could not stop reading this once I started…” ~Amazon Reader “I do not know where to begin with a review of this book except to say that this series remains one of the best I have ever read.“ ~a BookBub Reader “This series quickly became a favorite, and this book’s a prime example of why. The book is well-written with well-rounded characters, and a well-thought-out, original plot. The various relationships are well-done. I was drawn into this enchanting story from the beginning and kept hooked throughout.“ ~a BookBub Reader “The book’s nail-biting conclusion and the events leading up to it will have readers holding their breath! …The author puts the reader in a perfectly rendered Outer Banks setting. She brings myth and legend to life and her imaginary characters come alive on the page. Kudos for an outstanding cozy!“ ~a Goodreads Reader “No matter how much I tried to slow myself down while reading this book, I just wasn’t successful. I flew through this book. I wanted to slow down because I could tell we were coming to an end and I wasn’t ready.” ~Amazon Reader “The author expertly weaves a tale with enough twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the very end where the answer to the mystery is hiding in plain sight.” ~Amazon Reader

Diane Kelly and I will be at Buxton Village Books on June 30th for a Porch Book Signing Event! I love this bookshop on the Outer Banks, and Gee Gee, the owner, is such a delight. She supports local authors and has made her bookstore a destination for so many people. If you’re in the North Carolina area, come to the Outer Banks and Buxton Village Books on June 30th from noon-2!

I haven’t done very many reading events, especially in the last several years. When I was invited to be a guest at Murder in the Magic City in Birmingham and Murder on the Menu in Wetumpka, both in Alabama, I jumped at the chance. It was so much fun to be around readers and other mystery writers. And–so fun!– the lovely Deborah Holt won the auction event to have her name as a character in one of my books. I already know who she’ll be! So many talented authors! Lovely masked audience ? Murder in the Magic City Panel With Deborah Holt, who will appear in one of my books! Diane Kelly, SC Merritt, and moi ?

In my newsletter a few weeks ago, I asked my lovely readers what they were thankful for. So many people replied with really touching, meaningful, and often personal reflections. Thank you to those who shared. I am honored you shared your thoughts with me. I compiled these reflections into some fun holiday word art. I couldn’t decide which one I liked best, so I’m sharing several of them here. Feel free to download and share so we can continue to spread holiday spirit and thankfulness. 

For America, it’s Thanksgiving week. Whether you’re here in the U.S., or somewhere else in the world, I want to take a moment to share with you my gratitude, and to reflect on the year gone by. I have so much to be thankful for. My family, friends, my sweet pups, the forest, and that we’re all healthy are givens. I have so much more for which I have gratitude, especially in my writing world. Here are just a few, just because… ?  The fact that I have a career doing the thing I love doing the most…writing!?  Words! I am a vocabulary lover. We have a box of SAT words at the dinner table and quiz ourselves regularly!?  Grammar. Enough said.?  WriterSpark Writing Academy! I’m so thrilled to be able to pay it forward and help aspiring writers.?  All the writers who came before…JRR Tolkien; Margaret Mitchell; Frances Hodgson Burnett; Homer; Orson Scott Card; CS Lewis; Jane Austin; Shakespeare; Mary Shelley; Dickens; Poe; Hemingway; Fitzgerald; Steinbeck; Robert Louis Stevenson… I could go on and on!? And the poets, especially Robert Frost, because like him, I took the road less traveled. ?  All the stories yet to be told, simmering in writer’s minds.?  All the words yet to be written, that will make up those stories.?  Art and how it influences my writing.?  And you, lovely readers. I am SO thankful for each and every one of you. Wishing you all a wonderful week full of hope and gratitude, and good books. Happy Reading!