Meet Doris from Coastal Corpse by Rena Leith - Character Guest Post & Blog Tour

Today, I'm featuring a paranormal cozy mystery that I really wanted to read but didn't have the luxury of time. Luckily though, as part of this blog tour, I'm able to feature a character guest post, a post by one of the main characters in the book, Doris.

But first, a little about the book:

Book: Coastal Corpse

(A Cass Peake Cozy Mystery)

2nd in Series

Author: Rena Leith

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press, Inc 

Publication date: 30 September 2019)

Print Length: 183 pages

ASIN: B07W3YR7VH

Synopsis:

Happily settled in her cozy cottage with its resident ghost, Cass Peake looks forward to Halloween. Then another corpse is found on her beachfront. With the support of family and her ghostly roommate, Cass investigates. To her dismay, she finds the murder victim handled her goofy neighbor's trust fund and he was in dire need of money. The suspect list grows with a former husband, another needy relative, and a maybe shady accountant who suddenly disappears. To top it all off, rumors circulate about treasure hidden in Cass's cottage.

Detective George Ho doesn't like his ex-girlfriend snooping around. Despite that, sparks still fly between him and Cass. But superstitious George has no idea Cass's home is haunted. Can Cass solve the mystery and renew the romance with her ghost-adverse ex?

Character Guest Post from Doris!

Doris' Musings

I’m not sure where I was when those amateurs held their séance and pulled me out of the ether, but I’m here to stay. At least they had the good sense to hold the séance in my mother’s old house. I wouldn’t want to be stuck anywhere else. But then those lunatics fled into the night, leaving me all alone.

I guess I should have controlled my temper. Raging around the room in ghostly form, ranting and raving and threatening them with death wasn’t one of my better ideas. I tried to go after them. I tried to explain, but every time I got halfway down the front walk, I went poof. Later I materialized back in the house. I have no idea where I went, why I went, or how I got back. Really annoying. It took me a while to get over being irritated with them for calling me back to the earthly plane. Then the loneliness set in.

After a few years, when a squirrel got in through a hole in the roof, I discovered quite by accident that I could inhabit the squirrel and travel out beyond the invisible barrier. However, that presented another problem: how to get back home. Squirrels, at least, had some intelligence. I was able to gain control over them and start carrying nuts, berries, and snails back to the loft. That ensured that the squirrel—my ride—would return for dinner and let me scamper about outside freely when he was full.

Several people bought the place and tried to live here, but I sent them all screaming into the night. Until she showed up. Cass Peake was somehow different. I liked her. I liked to tease her. She had spunk. And I had to face it: I was bored. Squirrels can get you only so far in life. I was desperate for human companionship…even if it was living. The living can be quite terrifying. You merely try to say hi to them, and they start screaming. What’s with all the screaming? You’d think their mothers would have raised them to be more polite and well mannered.

 At least Cass didn’t flee. She stood up to me. I admired that. I decided to let her stay. I did have a bit of fun with her brother, though. And that Hawaiian cop. Now he’s a hot tamale! It’s everything I can do not to reveal myself to him.  I know murder brought the two of them back together, but she really has to be more careful. Bodies keep turning up, and where there are bodies, there are murderers. I ought to know. I was murdered on the beach in front of this very house long before she moved in.

A lot of other people met their demises there, too. That’s why the locals call it Murder Beach. Brrr! Gives the heebie jeebies just thinkin’ about it. If I were you, I’d stay away from the place or you might end up like me…

About the Author:

I currently live in Cape May County in New Jersey after spending years in the San Francisco Bay Area with my Maine Coon cats Sierra and Ginger. I attended Clarion Writers Workshop for Science Fiction and Fantasy at Michigan State University and sold a story I wrote there to Damon Knight for The Clarion Awards anthology. I wrote technical manuals in Silicon Valley and also published several poems and science articles as well as a couple of chapters in Research & Professional Resources in Children’s Literature: “Piecing a Patchwork Quilt.” I’ve also taught English in high school and community colleges.

Connect with Rena Leith via her Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and LinkedIn

Purchase Link - Amazon

GIVEAWAY TIME!

As part of this blog tour with Lori Great Escapes and Rena Leith there's a giveaway, use the link or widget below

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Keep up with the rest of the tour including other guest posts, spotlight, book reviews, and authorinterviews below. These are some amazing bloggers so leave the comment if you check out their blogs.

October 1 – Laura's Interests – GUEST POST & fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT

October 2 – Island Confidential & Hearts & Scribbles– SPOTLIGHT

October 3 – Mysteries with Character  GUEST POST & FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

October 4 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – CHARACTER GUEST POST 

October 5 – Babs Book Bistro – GUEST POST - Sapphyria's Books   

October 6 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT & Nadaness In Motion – CHARACTER GUEST POST

October 7 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW & Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

October 8 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT & I Read What You Write – REVIEW

October 9 – Kelley's Konundrum & Baroness' Book Trove REVIEWS

October 9 –– REVIEW

October 10 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW and AUTHOR INTERVIEW, StoreyBook Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST & eBook Addicts – REVIEW

Takhayyal Writing Prompt 100! Halloween

Welcome HALLOWEEN! And welcome Ladies and Gentlemen, Ghosts, Vampires, Werewolves, Fae, Zombies, Artists, Poets, Writers, Authors, Dreamers, Friends and Family; WELCOME EVERYONE to Nadaness In Motion's picture-prompt writing challenge Takhayyal!

The season of magic is BACK! 

There's something about Halloween that gets me excited, possibly because I like all things fantasy and October translates into fantasy and fun for me.

I won't keep you. The image is simple but you can image the magic wielder is a guy instead of a woman... Look at the image and let inspiration flow from your brain to your fingertips (and the screen)

Not sure who's responsible for this image, I found it online. It's not mine.  

Feel free to mix up or combine this image with the one from August, titled Magic Book, also about magic and possibly spells. 

Arabic for Imagine, Takhayyal is a means to find inspiration and spark creativity and writing.

Your post can be in English or Arabic, prose, poetry, short story, flash fiction; you name it and write it. (It can be in any language, but these are the ones I can read and comment on)

General rules:

·        No nudity, violence, and/or abuse.

·  Use the image for inspiration and write your piece in the comments below or publish it on your blog and leave the link to it in the comments

·        Your piece MUST be inspired in some way or other by the above picture

·        Multiple entries allowed

·     It is not required but it is a nice and encouraging gesture to comment on others' pieces.

·        Feel free to add your Twitter handle (@....) so I can tag you in my tweets or tag me @NadanessSobhi and I'll retweet you :)

Let's IMAGINE!

Exercise Is Murder by Carolyn Arnold – Book Review

Book: Exercise Is Murder

Series: McKinley Mysteries, book 12

Author: Carolyn Arnold

ISBN: 9781988353876

Publisher: Hibbert Stiles Publishing

Publication date: 24 September 2019

Synopsis:

Getting in shape isn’t an easy walk in the park…

Running junkie Katie Carpenter takes a tumble down a ravine and ends up facedown in the Hudson River. The police conclude her death was an accident, but those who were close to Katie aren’t buying that she just tripped and fell—including her pro-athlete boyfriend. But it’s Katie’s fitness trainer and friend who hires the McKinleys to investigate.

Anything but an easy case to solve, Sean and Sara will break a sweat trying to figure out who had the most to gain from the young woman’s death. Sadly for Sean most of the evidence seems stacked against Katie’s boyfriend—a man Sean idolizes. Can he put aside being starstruck long enough to view things objectively? If Katie’s killer is going to be caught, he and Sara will need to remain flexible and it might require bending the rules a bit.

Book Review by Nadaness In Motion

Exercise Is Murder is the 12th installment in the McKinley Mysteries by Carolyn Arnold. The book can easily be read as a standalone, which means you don't need to read previous books in the series before picking up this one.

The book opens with Sara and Sean McKinley reviewing a number of possible client applications, potential mysteries they need to solve, until Sara's trainer arrives claiming that one of her clients, Katie Carpenter, had been murdered, while the police had ruled her death an accident.

"It turned out, badge or no badge, that solving murder was in their blood–and for whatever reason, it seemed like dead bodies fell around them."

As each book in the McKinley Mysteries begins, Arnold is sure give background info for the reader. In Exercise Is Murder, the author notes how Sara and Sean McKinley originally met and how they'd turned into millionaires overnight. They had been police officers in the Albany Police Department until Sean did "one kind deed for an elderly man who saw fit to reward them."

In Exercise Is Murder, Sean and Sara have to go by their former police officers and friends, since they'd originally ruled Katie's death an accident. So they have to rework the murder, while at the same time not step on toes, especially, the detective who was in charge of the original case and who was known to move on the next case quickly. Not to mention, both Sean and Sara found him rude and irritating.

I also liked how the McKinley's try to look at things from different perspectives, while Arnold through Sara's thoughts gave ideas and notes about police procedures.

"If they approached Katie's death from the perspective of an accident from the start, they might have missed evidence that would indicate otherwise." The most important thing in any investigation was objectivity.

In Exercise Is Murder, Sean and Sara discover that the person who's possible-murder they were investigating, was seeing a star athlete, who to Sara's surprise, Sean is a big fan of. This makes for funny scenes, where Sean is star-struck. It also makes Sean defensive of the athlete, while Sara is seen to quickly point the finger because "so often it was the spouse or the lover who was the killer. Someone close to the victim."

Then, there's Jimmy Voigt, who was once Sara's and Sean's sergeant but is now working with them full-time in their Private Investigations (PI) firm, Pay It Forward. I enjoy the scenes he stars in; he's funny and he constantly has to interact with the obnoxious medical examiner Albert Needham.

"Carbon monoxide poisoning was somewhat more appealing than returning to the dungeon of Needham."

I don't know why, but Jimmy often reminds me of Steve Schirripa, who played Detective Anthony Abetemarco in Blue Bloods. And in Exercise Is Murder has to visit Needham several times… Poor guy!

Narrated in the third person, Exercise Is Murder has several view points and I really like how Arnold seamlessly alternates between Sara and Sean. There were other chapters from Jimmy's view point too, offering humor as well as information.

"Needham…most people would rather have a tooth pulled out than be around the man. Needham was definitely better suited to keeping company with the dead. They could suffer no further."

One of the things I like about Carolyn Arnold's McKinley Mysteries is how all the chapter names tend to align with the theme of the book. For example, this one is called Exercise Is Murder, so chapter titles include: "No Pain, No Gain," "Accelerating the Heart Rate," "A Jog in the Park,"…etc.

Overall, I enjoyed Exercise Is Murder by Carolyn Arnold, there was suspense and humor, lots of police work without being part of law enforcement, and lots of questions, work-arounds, and overall a ton of fun and excitement.

Overall rating: 4.5 stars

Other books and book reviews by Nadaness In Motion for the McKinley Mysteries:

Coffee Is Murder (Book 9 and my first read in the series)

Halloween Is Murder (Book 11 and my second read)

Money Is Murder (Book 3 and surprisingly my third read)

Note: I got an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) of Exercise Is Murder from publisher Hibbert Stiles Publishing in exchange for an honest review. This did not influence my review or rating in any way.

This review was meant to go up earlier but personal reasons prevented me from posting on release date.

Other books by Carolyn Arnold reviewed on Nadaness In Motion. These are FBI and police procedural mystery thrillers:

On the Count of Three (Brandon Fisher series)

Past Deeds (Brandon Fisher series)

What We Bury (Madison Knight series)

Buried in the Stacks by Allison Brook - Book Review, Character Interview

Today, I'm featuring a new author to me. But when I see a paranormal cozy mystery, I'm usually at the beginning of the train to read and explore a new author and series, which is what happened with Allison Brook and her Haunted Library Mysteries.

This post comprises 3 parts, my book review of Buried in the Stacks and an interview with Carrie Singleton, the main character in the book series.

Book: Buried in the Stacks

(Book 3 in the Haunted Library Mysteries)

Author: Allison Brook

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Publication date: 10 September 2019

Number of pages: 320

ISBN-10: 1643851381

ISBN-13: 978-1643851389

Digital ASIN: B07NKPTL81

Synopsis:

Librarian Carrie Singleton is building a haven, but one of her neighbors is misbehavin'. Can resident spirit Evelyn help Carrie catch the culprit who made her a ghost?

In winter, the Haunted Library is a refuge for homeless townspeople. When a group purchases a vacant house to establish a daytime haven for the homeless, Carrie offers the library as a meeting place for the Haven House committee, but quickly learns that it may be used for illegal activities.

As the new Sunshine Delegate, Carrie heads to the hospital to visit her cantankerous colleague, Dorothy, who had fallen outside the local supermarket. She tells Carrie that her husband tried to kill her--and that he murdered her Aunt Evelyn, the library's resident ghost, six years earlier.

And then Dorothy is murdered--run off the road as soon as she returns to work. Evelyn implores Carrie to find her niece's killer, but that's no easy task: Dorothy had made a hobby of blackmailing her neighbors and colleagues. Carrie, Evelyn, and Smoky Joe the cat are on the case, but are the library cards stacked against them?

Book Review by Nadaness In Motion

Buried in the Stacks by Allison Brook is the third instalment in the paranormal cozy mystery series the Haunted Library Mysteries. I was excited to read this book for a number of reasons, chief among them was the ghost and that the main character didn't own a small business like most cozy mysteries, which is also similar to a cozy I'm working on.

Narrated in the first person by Carrie Singleton, Buried in the Stacks is my first read for Allison Brook. The narrative is easy to navigate, though many times I felt that Carrie might have been older than the author intended, that or because she hadn't pointed out her age.

It takes a while for the 'death' to arise but as readers, we learn that a particular Dorothy Hawkins "made it her business to ferret out people's secrets, which she threatened to expose if they didn't do her bidding." At the start, Carrie reveals that Dorothy "had it in" for her because she wanted Carrie's post, which is head of programs and events. Despite that, Carrie and Dorothy "shared an uneasy truce."

Dorothy later slips on the ice and secretly tells Carrie that she suspects her husband tried to kill her. Later, Dorothy claims it was the meds talking. Later, the police find proof of this fear and tell Carrie that Dorothy thinks her husband was trying to kill her and claims that he'd killed her aunt, Evelyn, several years prior.

"We found something that supports what Dorothy told you in the hospital."

"So Dorothy really was afraid of her husband."

"Yes."

We also learn that Carrie, and her young niece Tacey, are the only ones who can see the library's resident ghost, Evelyn, who happens to be Dorothy's aunt. When Dorothy dies, Carrie's quest to find out her killer is mainly due to Evelyn's insistence that despite Dorothy's bad traits, an early death shouldn't have been her punishment.

Despite her position as an invisible ghost, Evelyn isn't as forthcoming as she should be. And Carrie points that out several times. She convinces Evelyn that she will have to "overcome her scruples about spying" if she wanted to find out what really happened to her niece. Referring to previous cases (and books), Carrie reveals that Evelyn had often withheld information that could have helped catch a killer. (Something Carrie also discusses in our interview, below)

Several mysteries are at play in Buried in the Stacks, in addition to Dorothy's death and its potential connection to her aunt Evelyn's, Carrie is drawn in the Haven House project, which is meant to help the homeless. Carrie is embroiled in the project, especially when rumors arise that it may just be a façade for gambling by night.

Though there are a lot of events and on-goings in the book, I felt that Buried in the Stacks dragged on a bit. I also came to conclusions a lot earlier than the main character Carrie did.

"Francesca seemed so bouncy and full of life, while [her sister] Dorothy was dark and gloomy and as sour as vinegar."

Like most mystery novels, character development isn't amazing but I liked how Carrie's views on family, whether immediate or in the larger sense, had developed along the way. Also, she at least tries to be careful in confirming her suspicions. She's not too reckless.

In terms of imagery, I didn't find much or anything that struck out. But I liked that the language was simple and I didn't have to revert to a dictionary too many times.

Last but not least, and though this is something I rarely comment on, I felt the book title Buried in the Stacks wasn't the right fit for this particular book. I know cozy mystery titles tend to have a pun in them but… I don't think this one was a fit. That or I didn't get it.

Overall, I think Buried in the Stacks is an interesting read. Carrie has her hands full and digs deep in Dorothy's and Evelyn's lives to unmask a killer who may have committed a crime nearly seven years prior to the present time.

Overall rating: 3.75 stars

Exclusive Interview with Carrie Singleton

As part of the blog tour, I'm doing an interview not with Allison Brook but with the main character in the Haunted Library Mysteries and Buried in the Stacks… Carrie Singleton. (This is called a character interview)

Can you tell us a bit about yourself? And why did you leave the big city for the small town?

Carrie Singleton: My name is Carrie Singleton. I spent the seven years after college moving from town to town, unable to settle down. I was feeling sad when I came to stay with my great-aunt and uncle in Clover Ridge, CT, where my family used to have a farm. I got a low-level job in the library and was planning to move on, when I was offered the position of head of programs and events of the Clover Ridge Library. Though I was qualified for the job, I wasn't sure if I wanted to stay in Clover Ridge. I decided to give it a try. I discovered that I loved the work and I was soon developing friendships and starting a romance.

What is your favorite food?

Carrie Singleton: I love ethnic food. That said, my favorite cuisines are Italian and Indian.  Oh, and Turkish.

Being a librarian, can you name a favorite book? What is it?

Carrie Singleton: Two of my all-time favorite books are A SUITABLE BOY by Vickram Seth and THE HOUSE OF MIRTH by Edith Wharton.

What was your first impression when you met your library's resident ghost? Can you tell us about that encounter?

Carrie Singleton: I was about to turn down the position of head of programs and events of the Clover Ridge Library, when a voice advised me to tell Sally, the director, that I'd think about it. The voice belonged to the ghost of Evelyn Havers, who used to work in the library. When we left Sally's office, Evelyn introduced herself. I was taken aback but was not as dumbstruck as most people would be.

Do other people in the town know about Evelyn – being a ghost?

Carrie Singleton: The only other person who can see and hear Evelyn is my little cousin Tacey. Tacey tried to give Evelyn cookies, until Evelyn and I got her to realize that Evelyn can't eat cookies.

How far has Evelyn helped you solve murders in the past?

Carrie Singleton: Evelyn lived all of her life in Clover Ridge and knows a good deal about the residents and some of their secrets that might impact homicide investigations. But sometimes Evelyn is less than forthright, as when her niece, the unpleasant reference librarian and my nemesis, was a murder suspect.  On occasion, Evelyn eavesdrops on patrons who are suspects or tells me if she sees them acting suspiciously during an investigation. She also offers me practical advice.

What is the funniest thing that's happened to you since you took over the Haunted Library?

Carrie Singleton: I can't think of anything that was especially funny.

Having encountered more than one dead body, do you think you now have a kind of immunity when it comes to dead bodies or do they still freak you out?

Carrie Singleton: It certainly freaked me out when a murder victim died right in front of me. I don't think I've developed any sort of immunity about this and would still get very upset if anyone else were to die in front of me or if I happened to find a dead body.

If someone were to solve a murder, what is the first piece of advice you would give them? Now that you're becoming an expert ;)

Carrie Singleton: My advice is: Consider who has something to gain with the dead person out of the picture. As an amateur sleuth, you can always question suspects, do research online, and I advise you to befriend the homicide detective in charge of the murder investigation.

About the Author:

Allison Brook is the pseudonym for Marilyn Levinson, who writes mysteries, romantic suspense, and novels for kids. She lives on Long Island and enjoys traveling, reading, watching foreign films, doing Sudoku and dining out. She especially loves to visit with her grandchildren on FaceTime.

Connect with Allison Brook via her Website, Amazon Page, Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Keep up with the rest of the blog tour including more book reviews, interviews, guest posts, and spotlights via Escape with Dolly Cas Virtual Book Tours.