Today, I’m hosting a spotlight for a book I wanted to read but knew early on I wouldn’t have the time to do so.
Meet author Dorothy St. James
and her cozy mystery A Book Club to Die For.
Read on for a short excerpt from the book!
Book info
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Setting - Cypress, South
Carolina
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: 1 November 2022
Number of pages: 304 pages
ISBN-10: 0593098633
ISBN-13:
978-0593098639
Digital ASIN: B09PZSBCVW
Synopsis
When a member of an exclusive
book club is checked out, spunky librarian Trudell Becket must sort fact from
fiction to solve the murder.
The Cypress Arete Society is
one of the town’s oldest and most exclusive clubs. When assistant librarian
Trudell Becket is invited to speak to the group about the library, its
modernization, and her efforts to bring printed books to the reading public,
her friend Flossie invites herself along. Flossie has been on the book club’s
waiting list for five years, and she’s determined to find out why she’s never
received an invitation to join.
But not long after Tru and
Flossie arrive for the meeting, they’re shocked to find the club’s president,
Rebecca White, dead in the kitchen.
Rebecca was a former TV actress
and local celebrity, but was not known for being patient or pleasant. She’d
been particularly unkind to the book club’s host for the evening, who also
happens to be the mother of Detective Jace Bailey, Tru’s boyfriend. And Rebecca
had made it clear that she didn’t think Flossie was book club material.
With her boyfriend and one of
her best friends wrapped up in a murder, Tru has to work fast to figure out who
cut Rebecca’s story short before the killer takes another victim out of
circulation....
Excerpt from A Book Club to Die For
Librarians are keepers of knowledge,
caretakers of truth, and sowers of wisdom. Many of us rush out to share the
world with our communities with the enthusiasm of a child who has suddenly
mastered a new skill. We want people to know, to know…well, everything.
This is our mission. This is our
passion.
We are the bringers.
We are the beacons cutting through
the darkest of nights.
I should be thrilled to be able to
provide this service to a local book club that calling itself the Arete
Society. So why did I have this sudden desire to turn around, march back to my
car, and drive home as fast as my old Camry would take me?
I’d been asked to give a
presentation. I’d been tasked to share my knowledge of books and my experiences
working at the library with a group of ladies who love books as much as I do. I
lived for moments like this.
Didn’t I?
Usually, yes.
But.
Not.
Tonight.
“Trudell Becket, what’s got you
dragging your feet like this?” Flossie Finnegan-Baker turned her wheelchair
toward me. “I do believe a cornucopia of slugs just passed us.”
“Cornucopia? Of slugs?” I asked.
That couldn’t be right. But before she could explain that a group of slugs was
indeed called a cornucopia, I said, “Never mind.” Flossie was rarely wrong when
it came to grammar and etymology. Besides, slugs weren’t important. “This,” I
said. “This is a mistake.” I felt the truth of it like a stone in my gut. I
stood in the middle of the long, winding sidewalk leading up to Hazel Bailey’s
front porch and scrunched my eyes closed. “I shouldn’t be here.”
“You’re suffering from a case of the
jitters.” My friend touched my hand. I looked at her, and she smiled
encouragingly at me. Flossie had dressed for the book club meeting in muted
shades of turquoise and tan. The colors spiraled together on her long, homemade
tie-dyed dress, but it was quite a shift from the bright (and often) clashing
colors she usually wore. She’d attached a large golden pin in the shape of
Edgar Allen Poe’s face to the collar of the thick white button-up sweater she’d
worn over her dress. “Honey, even I get the jitters every time I do something
new. Everyone does. That’s why you brought me. To have your back. And I do.
I’ve got your back. And you’ve got this. Let’s go.”
Our host lived at the edge of town
in the middle of a forest of cypress trees that gave the town its name. The
cypress’s silvery trunks stood tall and straight, like the spines of books on a
shelf, gleaming in the fading embers of the sunset.
Books were the reason I’d been asked
to speak to the Arete Society. And those same books were the reason I couldn’t
go through with it.
About the Author
Author of a dozen novels,
Dorothy enjoys writing both cozy mysteries and romance.
Connect with author Dorothy St.
James via her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
1 November --> Spotlights via I'm Into Books and The
Mystery Section and Author Interview at Christy's Cozy Corners
2 November --> Character guest post via Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic and Spotlights via FUONLYKNEW and Brooke Blogs
3 November --> Character interview at Ascroft, eh?, Book Review at Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book, and Spotlight at Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews
4 November --> Book reviews via Cozy Up With Kathy and View from the Birdhouse and spotlight at Celticlady's Reviews
5 November --> Author interview at Ruff Drafts, and spotlights at Maureen's Musings and Sapphyria's Book Reviews
6 November --> Author guest post at – The Book Diva's Reads and Book Review at Books a Plenty Book Reviews
7 November --> Character guest post at Angel's Guilty Pleasures and Spotlight at #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog
8 November --> Book review at Book Club Librarian, and spotlight at Lady Hawkeye
9 November --> Book review at Reading Is My SuperPower and spotlight at Nadaness In Motion
10 November --> Author interview at Literary Gold and spotlight at MJB Reviewers
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