Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Laurie Cass | Exclusive Excerpt: A TROUBLING TAIL
Excerpt / August 2, 2023

Excerpt from A TROUBLING TAIL The next day was a library day. The sunshine seemed to be sticking around for the time being, so it was an easy decision to walk to work. In my head, blue skies and sunshine went along with the month of May, and it was nice that reality was, for once, matching my imagination. “Lambs are coming,” I announced to the downtown sidewalk, because maybe it could use a reminder that no one would throw salt on it for at least five months. “And baby cows. Plus tulips and lilacs.” I smiled in anticipation. We had an ancient lilac bush at the house, underneath the bedroom window, which meant I was only two or three weeks away from keeping the window open at night and falling asleep to the scent of lilac blossoms. That is, if Eddie didn’t get too carried away. Last year, back at the boardinghouse, at two in the morning, he’d clawed a cat-size rip in my bedroom screen, squeezed himself through, and trotted out onto the steep roof. I’d lunged after him, but he was out and free, and only the dulcet tones of treats rattling in the can had lured…

Kym Roberts | Cozy Corner: What Lola Wants – We Love!
Author Guest , Cozy Corner / August 26, 2019

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,…

Kym Roberts | Cozy Corner: Cool Book Treats to Beat the Heat!
Author Guest , Cozy Corner / July 29, 2019

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…

GIVEAWAY: Wrong Side of the Paw by Laurie Cass
Giveaways / August 28, 2017

And you thought the bookmobile life would be perfect: peaceful, serene rolling around the countryside, meeting new people, giving out books. But murder? Who knew? WRONG SIDE OF THE PAW by Laurie Cass Bookmobile Cat #6 As Laurie Cass continues the national bestselling Bookmobile Cat mystery series, librarian Minnie Hamilton is happy to take her bookmobile for a spin with her rescue cat, Eddie—but her tenacious tabby always seems to find trouble… As the bookmobile rolls along the hills of Chilson, Michigan, Minnie and Eddie spread good cheer and good reads. But when her faithful feline finds his way into the middle of a murder, Minnie is there, like any good librarian, to check it out. Eddie turns a routine bookmobile stop into anything but when he makes a quick escape and hops into a pickup truck…with a dead body in the flatbed. The friendly local lawyer who was driving the pickup falls under suspicion. But Minnie and Eddie think there’s more to this case than meets the eye, and the dynamic duo sets out to leave no page unturned. Mystery Cozy | Mystery Pet Lovers [Berkley Prime Crime, On Sale: July 25, 2017, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN:…

A Puniful Name
Cozy Corner / August 28, 2017

This week I’m featuring three cozies that caught my attention with their titles. I love a good, quirky title. To be specific, one that can make me smile or release an inner snicker at the puniful twist the author used. Not only does it give a good sense of what the book is about, but it also gives the reader a taste of the author’s sense of humor. I dare you not to see the humor in these three mysteries;) MUFFIN TO FEAR by Victoria Hamilton Merry Muffin In the latest from the national bestselling author of Much Ado About Muffin, newlywed baker Merry Wynter has some unwanted guests looking for ghosts at Wynter Castle… While Merry is distracted by her quickly planned marriage to Virgil Grace and a blissful honeymoon in New York, her friend Pish invites the ghost-hunting crew from the TV show Haunt Hunt to investigate Merry’s home, Wynter Castle. Merry soon discovers that not only is the crew out of sync, there are so many feuds and squabbles, it’s a miracle they get a show produced at all. It all goes from bad to worse when the show’s psychics claim to have contact with people murdered…

Laurie Cass | Weird Writer Habits
Author Guest / March 2, 2015

There are probably as many weird writer habits as there are writers. Well, more than that, really, because I know I have more than one weird habit and though I’m willing to bet everyone else does, too, we don’t have time to go into all of them, interesting as that might be. But we can make an effort, yes? This particular author’s weirdnesses start with sitting in the car with my laptop to write because that’s the only place where I won’t be interrupted. And then there are the times I stare off into space with a completely blank look on my face because what’s going on inside my head is a lot more real than what’s going on in front of me. My long suffering husband has grown so accustomed to this look that he can diagnose it in half a second. Sadly, it’s not uncommon for this to happen when we’re out for dinner with friends. I’ll see and hear things going on around me but they don’t sink into my brain because my brain is suddenly busy with working out a plotting problem. Someone will ask me, “Are you okay? You look a little funny,” and my…