Audio books have become my favorite way to continue a story while keeping up with my busy schedule. It’s not like my husband is talking to me while reading his email on his phone, or the kid cares what’s on the car radio while watching YouTube on our commute. And don’t get me started about how tedious laundry, vacuuming, or steaming the floors can be! Audio books are a life saver! However, I must confess that I can be rather picky when it comes to the actor who presents the author’s characters. Finding the perfect marriage of mystery and voice can be difficult—but I discovered it in Elle Cosimano’s collaboration with Angela Dawe in FINLAY DONOVAN KNOCKS ‘EM DEAD, and naturally I had to get Elle here for just deeper look into her story!   Kym: Hi Elle, welcome to the Cozy Corner! Elle:  Thank you for inviting me, Kym! Kym: First off, I loved the audio version of FINLAY DONOVAN KNOCKS ‘EM DEAD which released 2/1/22. Angela Dawe brought all of the characters to life with amazingly different voices. What is your favorite thing about having your books in audio format? Elle: Angela is AMAZING! She is the perfect…

As I write this blog my flower beds are in bloom. My irises are gorgeous, my daisies are abundant, and my carnations are fragrant. It’s too bad something dark and sinister is creeping into the shadows. That’s right, a murderer is on the loose in my garden and an APB won’t do my beauties any good. Because tonight they will face one of the worst killers known to their kind—Jack Frost. Their death by his hand (or heroic saving by mine) might lead to some nail-biting moments on my part, but I have a feeling I’m the only one who’s truly invested or interested in their next chapter. I mean it’s not like the New York Times will write about their premature death or my valiant attempt to save their lives. But I have dug up some truly newsworthy mysteries Jack Frost can’t touch. The covers caught my eye like the blossoms in my yard, the plots are much better formed than my best buds and the characters charmed me with their style and wit. Yes, the mysteries are in bloom, and all we have to do to catch the culprits is keep turning the page. Wicked Honeymoon  An Ivy…

Kym: Welcome back to the Cozy Corner, Lynn! Lynn: It’s so nice to chat with you again. 🙂  With three working series, you are one busy woman! What keeps you on track the most? I do a lot of planning. A. Lot. I use Asana to track the projects – like writing a book. Or planning my release. It sets up dates to check in as well as gives me check list inside each project to backward plan the process. I have a google/phone calendar (as well as a day job online calendar) and I’m good at blocking out big things. Like deadlines.  And releases.  The other thing is I’m not afraid to re-plan/re-organize if things go sideways. (Like a few months ago when a novella took me twice as long to write as it was planned for. New series, I needed more time but I hadn’t planned for it. The good news is I had some free writing time that I could move somethings around.  Since book 4 in the Tourist Trap Mysteries, you’ve done two novellas in-between each full-length book. That alone is an incredible pace without sticking your other two series into the mix, and you’re the…

I think every reader has run across a series or two (or three or four) they didn’t want to end, with heroines they wanted to go to battle with, and heroes they couldn’t help but love. That was the way I felt about the Lola Cruz Mysteries. Lola was feisty and fun, and the series gave readers one caper after another. But then it ended, and tears were shed. How could I say goodbye to these wonderful characters? The good news? Not all good things must come to an end! Books one through three were re-released earlier this year, and when that happened, I immediately pre-ordered book four–what a treat to finally get What Lola Wants in my library! And what better way to celebrate than to interview the creator, Melissa Bourbon;) Kym: Welcome back to the Cozy Corner! For fans of Lola Cruz and Camacho and Associates, thank you for bringing back this awesome Latina PI! Did you have the fourth book in the series plotted out in your mind during the last couple of years she’s been on hiatus? Melissa: I’m so excited Lola’s back, too! I actually had plotted part of What Lola Wants a few years ago,…

Can it get any hotter? Yes, it can! Luckily, I’m talking about mysteries on my bookshelf and not the temperatures outside. (I refuse to listen to the weather reports at this point.) The books I’ve chosen this month are heating up the charts and bringing a biting blast to enflame your imagination. July started out rather nicely with temps below normal, and a novel release of a curious cat prowling around in Booking a Crook! Laurie Cass’s ninth Bookmobile Cat Mystery will have you dreaming of creating your own snow angels (preferably not the ones that accompany dead bodies) and wondering if it can actually get cold enough outside to make your teeth chatter as Minnie Hamilton struggles to keep her bookmobile on the streets of Chilson, Michigan. The name of the midwestern town alone should help you feel the chill in the air, but if you’re still looking for goosebumps, imagine looking at the people you’ve known your entire life as murder suspects. The shocking twist at the end is guaranteed to freeze the blood in your veins! BOOKING THE CROOK by Laurie Cass Bookmobile Cat #7 It’s all paws on deck as a librarian and her rescue cat…

Everyone has renovations they want to do, have to do, or are forced to do. We chose to do multiple renovation projects with one scheduled right after the other. I spent months choosing the right contractors. Some more expensive than others, but all of them with good reputations for the work they did and the timelines they kept. I even scheduled Murphy’s Law into my master plan. We were going to be done by May first. It’s Memorial Day and we still have contractors coming and going. My office has been covered with plastic for two weeks. Before that, it was loaded with furniture and boxes for a month. The month before that, it was empty. The last time I got to sit at my desk and write, was the last week of January. I’ve actually missed most of spring, not because of the weather, but because I’ve been working my butt off and keeping contractors inline, on time, and Murphy out of my blasted projects. (Ha!) The time that I’ve missed away from my work, I’ve actually gained in reading. It a known fact that I can get interrupted while I read, but if you interrupt me while I…

Everyone has someone they aspire to be when they grow up, but when exactly is a person grown-up? I know I have much growth still waiting for me, even if the wrinkles on my face say otherwise! And maybe that’s where the fountain of youth can actually be found—in one’s desire to continue to be more. Ann B. Ross introduced readers to such a woman in her Miss Julia mystery series. A woman set in her ways, until life threw her a whopper of a curve and made her look at herself in a much different light—a bright, glaring light that showed dust-bunnies and cobwebs no gently-bred Southern woman wants to be exposed! The way Miss Julia deals with her exposure is something to see—or read, and I had to interview the woman behind the brilliance. I hope you to will enjoy Miss Ann B. Ross unplugged;) Kym: Welcome to the Cozy Corner Ann! Ann: Thank you for having me, Kym. Kym: Your latest novel, MISS JULIA TAKES THE WHEEL releases April 2nd and is your twentieth Miss Julia novel. What do you think makes Miss Julia so popular with the readers? Ann: It’s still amazing to me that she…

It’s almost time for spring, right? Well, don’t put up those sweaters and galoshes anytime soon, and keep those shorts stored for now. I think that groundhog fooled us all last month. Instead, embrace the cold, or snow, or the rain and dig into a good mystery this month. I’ve got a few I didn’t feature last month you don’t want to miss, and some great mysteries releasing in March that will take up those last few (hopefully) chilly days Mother Nature has decided we can’t do without. After all, Mother does know best. Father Time is just making the season seem dramatically long 😉 LIVING THE VIDA LOLA by Melissa Bourbon A Lola Cruz Mystery 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…

I met one of my favorite cozy authors this past fall. Lynn Cahoon is as entertaining in person as she is on the page and I just had to hit her up for another interview. Check out why Lynn can make the pages keep turning for her readers! Kym: The last time I interviewed you at the Cozy Corner, you had one series and you were starting on your second. Now, you have three mystery series all going at once plus two romance series under Lynn Collins. How do you keep track of the different characters, their quirks, series businesses, and locations? Lynn: Keep track? I’m not sure I do. I’d love to say I have an extensive series bible that has all the characters, their likes, their hair color, when they came into the series, etc. I should have a series bible. But honestly, I do a lot of seek and find in the prior books to make sure I’m remembering things right. And, if I’ve timed it right, I’ve just read the last book in the series for copy edits or page proofs when I start the next one. Kym: We finally met in November at the Kensington…

It’s my favorite time of year…I get to choose my favorite cozies released in the past twelve months!  And yet, it’s the hardest thing to do, almost like looking at all of the ornaments on my tree and trying to decide which ones I like the most. Since they all belong to my kids and were gifts from my parents who have been gone for too many years, it’s a monumental task, emotional and heart-warming. Like our ornaments, each mystery I’ve featured, along with the books featured on the Cozy Corner by guest authors, has a special place on my bookshelf. Whether it be the hardback, paperback or the ebook, I tend to keep more than I should so that I can go back and reminisce about the wonderful experience. Maybe I should start a tree with book ornaments—my very own Charli Rae and Scarlet would love that in the Book Barn, don’t you think? Princess the armadillo, however, would probably root through the ornaments and knock over the tree. Goodness, but I do see a holiday novella scurrying through my brain for next year! Without further ado, I give you my favorite mysteries and blogs of 2018! Teen Drama…