I love the chance to get to explore fun settings in my fiction.  That’s one of the reasons OUT OF TEMPER: Bean to Bar Mysteries Book 3 is set Aboard a cruise ship.  The ship in my fictional cruise line is sailing out of Galveston, from the terminal just down the street from where I placed Felicity’s shop.  In the book, she’s still active in her role as chocolate maker: this time she’s been asked to do demos of her work aboard the ship. I’ve been on a number of cruises, even done enrichment lectures aboard ships myself.  And there are so many things that make me want to go back.  Here’s my top 10. 10–Eggs Benedict.  Because I’m not going to get up early enough to make Hollandaise for myself at home. I’ve found Eggs Benedict on the breakfast menu of every ship I’ve been on. (Though I’ve by no means been on all cruise lines, so your mileage may vary.)  The fictional cruise line in my book offers a Texas-themed menu, so Felicity gets Chicken Fried Steak Benedict. 9–Shore excursions!  You never know where you will be able to go. (Bonus: It is always warm in the Caribbean.)…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present CLEO COYLE! Writes: Cleo Coyle writes the New York Times bestselling Coffeehouse Mysteries, a fun series of endearing and suspenseful murder mysteries set in a landmark coffeehouse in New York’s picturesque Greenwich Village. Don’t miss HONEY ROASTED, the latest release in Cleo’s long-running, richly layered series. About: Cleo has sold more than one million page-turning cozy adventures to her longtime fans and would be honored to welcome you to her Coffeehouse world. Cleo writes books in collaboration with her husband, which is why the complicated love life of her amateur sleuth (coffeehouse manager and master roaster Clare Cosi) and the two men in her life (globetrotting coffee hunter Matt Allegro and NYPD detective lieutenant Mike Quinn) is so entertaining. As devoted partners, Cleo and her husband are able to portray the ups and downs of romantic relationships with real-world insight and a unique blend of wit, wisdom, and (above all) honesty. Cleo’s ideal reader match will enjoy. . .  -The roller-coaster fun of a twisty…

1–What is the title of your latest release? It’s called the PINT OF NO RETURN. Cutest title ever, right? I take no credit. It was my editor’s idea. 2–What is it about? Here’s the blurb. Trinidad Jones is a woman trying to find her way again after a betrayal. The Shimmy and Shake Shop, home of the fantastic freakshake, is supposed to be her magnum opus in the idyllic town of Upper Sprocket…until the dead body turns up. It’s going to take a super-sized scoop of courage to flush out the killer! 3–What do you love about the setting of your book? I simply adore Upper Sprocket because it’s the kind of town I would like to visit. It’s set in Eastern Oregon, “the Swiss Alps of Oregon”, so the postcards say. It’s the kind of place where folks can stroll the main street, visit Three Egg Lake, and pick their own apples. It’s small-town America, where everyone knows everything about everyone, at least they think they do! 4–How did your main character(s) surprise you? Trinidad has way more courage than I first imagined. Not just the kind needed to be a sleuth, but the courage required to find your…

Excerpt from Eve Calder’s latest Cookie House mystery, “A Tale of Two Cookies,” exclusively for Fresh Fiction! Pastry chef and recent Manhattan transplant Kate McGuire is loving her new life on the laid-back island of Coral Cay, Florida. Now a junior partner in the Cookie House bakery, she’s thrilled when old pal Desiree announces a visit — and an impromptu beach wedding. When the marine biologist groom disappears on the eve of the wedding — after spotting criminals in a protected cove — Kate resolves to help her friend find out what really happened. Was it a case of cold feet or something much more sinister? *** Kate wheeled up to the Cookie House just as Andy Levy’s yellow van was pulling up to the curb. He hopped out with two brown-paper carry-out bags. “Don’t tell me you’re making deliveries now?” Kate asked the pub owner. “Hey, from what Sam said on the phone, it was a spaghetti-and-meatball  emergency,”  the pub owner returned,  his face lighting up. “So two specials coming up. And you might recognize the garlic bread—we used Sam’s baguettes.” “That smells wonderful,” Kate said. “But I’d have been happy to pick it up.” “Nah, we need a…

One of the most common questions writers are faced with is: where do you get your ideas? And we usually answer, from everywhere! That’s true, but a little too general. My ideas do come from everything I read, watch, think about and experience. But each different series I write calls for different kinds of ideas. Take, for example, the Merry Muffin Mysteries I write for Beyond the Page Publishing. It is a given that when you own a castle and need to make money for the upkeep, you are bound to think of ways to make a few bucks that include TV and movies. Merry Wynter (Merry Muffin Mysteries – Beyond the Page Publishing) has that dilemma and has solved it a few times with movie shoots of the exterior and interior of her American castle in Western New York State. She and her friend and business partner Pish Lincoln even hosted a ghost hunting show in one memorable instance! But an opera-singing reality TV show? When Opera DivaNation is tossed from the hotel where they are shooting, Pish – as a fundraiser for the Lexington Opera Company, a couple of members of which are judges and mentors on the…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Amy Pershing! Writes: I write the Cape Cod Foodie Mysteries, which (obviously) revolve around food and Cape Cod. And murder.  And romance. Or, at least in the first book of the series, A SIDE OF MURDER, it was a romance. Now it’s, well, complicated. It all begins when Samantha Barnes — once an up-and-coming New York chef until an unfortunate YouTube video went viral — retreats home to Cape Cod.  There Sam finds herself dealing with a falling-down house, a ginormous puppy, and a job writing restaurant reviews. Oh, yeah, and a dead body. And the town’s new harbormaster, Jason Captiva.  Who, it turns out, was Sam’s high school crush. . . About: Like Sam, I am a total foodie.  I’ve edited cookbooks, reviewed restaurants, and pretty much eaten my way around the world. I’m also a total fool for love.  Especially first loves.  At 16, I thought my guy was the cutest, smartest, funniest, sexiest guy in the room.  I still do.  For more about me…

from Chapter 7 Helen, Wendy, Pearl, and Opal, our beloved Mahjong Matrons, filed into the restaurant at nine o’clock sharp. The four widows didn’t bother to pause at the hostess station for a seating assignment. They had their own table they occupied every morning, always sitting in the same spots. When I’d first started working full time at the restaurant, I’d bring them menus as a formality. They really didn’t need them as they ordered the same thing without fail, day in and day out. After a while I gave up on bringing the menus and just headed straight for the kitchen to place their order with Peter and prep their tea. When I returned to the dining room and approached their table, the elderly women turned to greet me with pleasant smiles and twinkles in their eyes. “Good morning, Lana,” Helen sang in a cheerful voice. “Good morning, ladies,” I returned, giving them all a smile as I set the teakettle down in the center of the table. Helen, who often acted as mother hen, reached for the kettle, and as the women flipped over their teacups, she filled each one to the brim. “Have you heard the latest…

Where did you come up with the idea for A BIG FAT GREEK MURDER? I was sitting in the chair at my hair salon watching in the mirror as my stylist wielded her long sharp scissors. I started thinking about scissors as a murder weapon, and since my main character Athena’s sister Selene is a hairstylist, it seemed like a great idea to use her in a plot. As I watched customers walk past my chair, I realized how easy it would be to snatch a pair of scissors off a tray at an unmanned station and stuff them into a purse. Because the other stylists are busy with their customers, talking, snipping, blow drying, etc., no one would even notice. Naturally, it would take advance planning. Timing would have to be right, so the perpetrator would have to know the stylist’s schedule. But as I plotted out the story, I realized that a determined murderer would be able to pull it off. Then it would be a matter of wiping the scissors clean and incriminating the stylist, leaving misleading evidence in places like a dumpster behind the salon. There’s more, of course, but you’ll have to read the book…

Hi! My name is Denise Swanson and I’m really excited to participate in this fun challenge!  My newest mystery, WINNER CAKE ALL, is the third book in my Chef-to-Go series.  This series is perfect for readers of culinary cozy mysteries and small-town cozy mysteries. Dani Sloan will have to solve the murder of a bride to clear her almost-boyfriend’s name. Once again, it looks like Dani will get a slice of the action. . . In the small town of Normalton, IL, there aren’t a lot of opportunities for business owner Dani Sloan to cater big-ticket events. But that’s about to change–a client named Yvette Joubert is marrying Franklin Whittaker, the richest guy around, and they want Dani to cater their engagement party! The swanky event is the perfect opportunity to put Dani on the map for wealthier clients. But when a storm hits the party after guests arrive, it becomes clear that more than the dinner is ruined: Yvette is found dead beneath the marquee. Is her death a tragic accident, or a perfectly orchestrated murder? Then the case gets even juicier–it turns out that Yvette’s ex-husband is Spencer Drake, Dani’s almost-boyfriend, and the police start circling. Now Dani…