Thursday, February 6, 2014

A Tough Nut to Kill by Elizabeth Lee: Guest Author/Review/Giveaway

A Tough Nut to Kill



When I started writing A Tough Nut to Kill I knew my main character was a good person. I knew Lindy studied at Texas A&M to become a botanist so she could help her family, the Blanchards, and the others in the town of Riverville, Texas, where a lot of pecan ranchers lived.

Pecan trees can have real bad years. The trees get diseased or hit by drought. Some families go under, ranches and homes go to the highest bidder. Lots of broken hearts and broken lives. Lindy’s grown up with that fear in her and wants to help change things in Riverville. Now she’s on the verge of developing a drought resistant and disease proof pecan tree that will change things for the better among the ranchers of Riverville.

Until the day she stumbles over her Uncle Amos’s body on the cement floor of her greenhouse and the quiet town of Riverville is turned on its head, secrets coming out, neighbor telling on neighbor and, because Uncle Amos was the black sheep of the family, everybody eventually settling on the killer as one of the Blanchard’s themselves.

Soon Lindy and her meemaw, Miss Amelia, 77, the matriarch of the family, the woman who runs The Nut House in town, a store filled with every imaginable pecan goodie from Miss Amelia’s prize winning pecan pie to her Outhouse Moon Cookies, are after a killer or killers who strike out at anything to protect their secrets.

Granddaughter and grandmother are drawn into worlds they’d never been part of before. Soon Miss Amelia is sedately line dancing with the best of’em at the Barking Coyote Saloon in Riverville; seeking help from two gun toting octogenarian sisters; tracking down a private detective with information in Columbus, Texas; then on to Houston to meet a mysterious woman named Virginia.

The one thing about southern women—young and old—is they always get their man. Even if it’s with a big bat of the eyelashes in a saloon or an insincere “Why, bless yer heart . . .” while setting a trap to catch a ruthless killer.

*********************

A Tough Nut to Kill can be purchased here

About A Tough Nut to Kill: Lindy Blanchard has devoted five years of her life to saving the pecan trees on her family’s farm—but someone is going to deadly lengths to see that she fails…

Riverville, Texas, is pecan country, and the Blanchard family farm is famous for its acres of tall pecan trees and the delicious pies and cookies sold at the Nut House, the aptly named family store. Miss Amelia, Lindy’s feisty grandmother, makes the best pecan pies for several counties and the farm is attracting visitors from far and wide to sample the wares.

Until the day Lindy walks into the greenhouse to find her uncle Amos murdered and her new stock of trees destroyed, with the best of the bunch stolen. Who is out to ruin the Blanchard family? And who wanted Uncle Amos dead? With the sheriff stumped, it’s up to Lindy and Miss Amelia to save the ranch and tree a killer.

Mochas, Mysteries and Meows Review: As a pecan pie fanatic, I've been looking forward to this new series for a long time. A Tough Nut to Kill is set in the heart of pecan country at a family store named the Nut House, and stepping foot inside is pure nirvana for pecan lovers.

Lindy is a plant biologist and a bioengineer who has returned home to help her Grandmother Miss Amelia run the Nut House and attempt to develop drought resistant, disease proof pecan trees. Trouble comes to town in the form of her Uncle Amos, the black sheep of the family. Then one morning Lindy arrives at her office to find it on fire and ransacked, the seedlings in her greenhouse either destroyed or missing, and Uncle Amos dead with a plant stake stuck in him. Things only manage to get worse when her brother Justin is arrested for the murder.

My favorite characters in this book are the Chauncey twins. They are over 80 years old, ride their horses while packing rifles, appear to be hoarders, and bicker all the time. These ladies *so* need to be the stars of their very own mystery series!

This book is the beginning of an exciting new mystery series filled with Southern charm. Definitely the perfect escapist read while we're all stuck waiting out the latest snowstorm!

GIVEAWAY: What's your favorite kind of pie? Tell us by noon EST on February 12, and you will be entered to win a copy of A Tough Nut to Kill. U.S. entries only.

* I received a copy of this book from the publisher with the request for a review.

28 comments:

Unknown said...

My favorite is Dutch Apple, it was the first pie I learned to make all by myself !

Brooke Showalter said...

I love so many kinds of pie! Apple is my classic pie favorite, but my scrumptious pumpkin cheesecake is my favorite of that variety. :)

brookeb811 at gmail dot com

Susan P said...

This sounds fun! Well, ok, so a murder isn't fun, but the twin 80 year olds sound fun. ;) I love strawberry pie and key lime pie. I can't pick one favorite, that would be mean to the other pies.
lattebooks at hotmail dot com

Karen B said...

I have 2 favorites that I make - Blueberry and Peach Crumb.
kpbarnett1941[at]aol.com

Rita Wray said...

I love apple pie.

Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

ceblain said...

First of all, I am looking forward to reading this book. And would love to win it of course. As to pie, if I am making the pie, I love homemade fruit pies the best. I adore peach pies if I make them and also apple and fresh picked blueberries (which I don't get to do very often anymore. I love a lot of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg and clove in my apple pie along with fresh lemon juice and a bit of lemon zest. I also love to make (and eat) my homemade pecan pies served with a good amount of heavy sweetened whipped cream. Gosh I am hungry now for some reason. :) Thank you for the book giveaway.

Cynthia

Anonymous said...

I'm a kitty, so of course my favorite is nip pie! MOL Mom's favorite chocolate silk.

Sue said...

My favorite pie is pecan. I don't have it very often since my hubby doesn't like it so it's a real treat when I do get a piece.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com

Unknown said...

I love pecan pie, but a little goes a long way.
libbydodd@comcast.net

Deerwalker said...

lemon
countfool(at)aol(dot)com

RachelAnne345 said...

My favorite is apple pie!

Unknown said...

If there was a sugar-free pecan pie, I'd probably be huge, because I'd live on it. michelle_willms at yahoo dot com.

Carol M said...

My favorite pie is pumpkin!

CBarton said...

Peanut Butter pie!

hotcha12 said...

PECAN AND LEMON!

lindarb49@hotmail.com

Anita Yancey said...

My favorite pie is cherry. Thank for having the giveaway.

ayancey1974(at)gmail(dot)com

cyn209 said...

my favorite pie is the good ole' American Apple Pie!!!!!

cyn209 at juno dot com

Unknown said...

I love pumpkin pie

Kimberlee
www.girllostinabook.com
girllostinabook@hotmail.com

Cathy Keisha said...

Tuna pie! You don’t have to enter me cos I’m a cat and I can’t read books. The peeps like Pizza pie.

kiki w said...

I love pumpkin pie with vanilla ice cream.

CatInTheFridge said...

Pumpkin. Or banana cream. Or coconut cream. Oh, rats, I love them all and am not allowed to eat any of them! But I would love to read this book. -Crepes.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

My favorite is pumpkin pie with lots or real whipped cream.
marybrandis@gmail.com

Kaye Killgore said...

I love pumpkin pie with whipped cream. This book sounds like a fun read.

kaye.killgore@comcast.net

Anonymous said...

I always say, the best part of fall is that pumpkin pie appears in restaurants in Minnesota.

Mariodacatsmom said...

I would love to win a copy of this book too. I love all pies, but my favorite is Pumpkin and second would be Pecan Pie with good fresh pecans.

Sharon Braswell said...

You had me at meemaw! This sounds like my southern neck of the woods. I live in Southwest Georgia and I can relate to the pecan plight big time! Love to read this one! My favorite pie is pumpkin,closely followed by my second favorite Chocolate...My precious southern grandmother's homemade Chocolate pie, that is!

Melissa, Mudpie and Angel Truffles (Mochas, Mysteries and Meows) said...

Entry for Linda (tennisace50@yahoo.com) who emailed me, unable to leave a comment.