Wordless Wednesday: The Garden Statue

My Grandma gave Mommy this garden statue for Mother's Day. It's Angel Tara.

Book Review/Giveaway: Let Loose by Rae Davies

Blurb: Amateur sleuth and antique store owner, Lucy Mathews and her Alaskan malamute, Kiska are back for their 4th humorous adventure finding romance and murder in the mountains of Montana.

No good deed goes unpunished. The rule has kept Lucy Mathews out of trouble for most of her 29 years. That is until her part-time partner decides Lucy’s image needs a little polishing and shoves her in front of every do-good bandwagon she can find.

Luckily for Lucy, her dream charity runs right up to her doorstep in the form of a sexy Canadian musher who’s in town to help organize the local sled dog race.

Not so luckily for Lucy, sexy Canadians and detective boyfriends do not a happy mixture make.

One dead race organizer, a group of rambunctious octogenarians, and a team of sled dogs in need of a home later and Lucy is confident this punishment is more than anyone, much less one lone antique store owner, can handle.

Set in Helena, Montana, a capital city with a small town feel.

Mochas, Mysteries and Meows Review: This is the first book I've read in Rae Davies' Dusty Deals Mystery series even though I have the previous 3 on my Kindle, but if definitely won't be the last. Lucy Mathews is the owner of an antique/secondhand shop in picturesque Helena, Montana, who manages to find trouble wherever she goes. Always by her side is faithful Malamute Kiska. In this installment preparations are underway for the Silver Trail sled dog race. When the course is revealed Lucy is thrilled that it will run right past her house, but the local snowmobile club, the Skyers, is furious, claiming part of the route is theirs.

The next morning Lucy is shocked to discover an entire team of sled dogs "let loose" in her yard. Upon returning them to their owner Red, the race organizer, Lucy discovers that he has been murdered. Since the dogs are evidence the local Humane Society needs to find a foster home for them until the case is solved. Lucy quickly ends up the temporary guardian of 8 sled dogs. A rash of snowmobile thefts, meddling old ladies, and complications in Lucy's love life are all roadblocks to her attempts to catch a killer in order to get her life back.

What Made Us Purr:

* The cover: The cover alone reflects what a fun read this is going to be. Aren't you curious why Lucy's hair is blue?

* Lucy & Ethel Redux: Maybe it was planned, maybe not, but how appropriate that the protag in this book is named Lucy and her new friend is 80-something year old Ethel Monroe. The trouble these two get into, both separately and together, could have come straight out of an I Love Lucy episode.

* Sled dog racing, snowmobiling and skijoring: Being a lifelong New Englander I'm all about snow and snow-related sports. I've never seen a sled dog race but would absolutely love to, and when I was a little girl I used to love snowmobiling with my Dad. When Lucy is talked into skijoring (skiing while being pulled by dogs), mayhem is sure to follow!

* Favorite quote: I was a decent driver...going forward. Going backward for 100 yards? Where I'd end up was anyone's guess. For the record, it took Lucy 30 minutes to back out of the yard only to run over a trash can. Backing up is my Achilles heel too when it comes to driving so this passage really cracked me up.

Final Catcall: Put this one on your summer reading list for those hot and humid days when you're longing for a taste of winter.

Giveaway: Winner's choice between the three e-book bundle (Loose & Lethal), or a print copy of Loose Screw. Ending noon eastern 5/16/14, US entries only please.

Other books in the Dusty Deals Mystery Series…
Loose Screw
Cut Loose
Loosey Goosey
Loose & Lethal: Dusty Deals Mystery Series Box Set: Books 1 -3



Coming Soon….
Love on the Loose (A Dusty Deals Mystery Series novella)



About This Author
Rae Davies is the pen name of author Lori Devoti.
Lori Devoti worked for three different newspapers in two different states before deciding to stay home with her children and begin writing fiction. Lori has been a finalist for many awards including the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award and is a member of Novelists Inc., a prestigious group for professional writers. She lives near Madison, Wisconsin with her husband and children as well as two dogs.

Like Lucy, Rae/Lori loves antiques, Montana and malamutes.

http://raedavies.com/
https://www.facebook.com/RaeDaviesAuthor
http://pinterest.com/raedaviesauthor/
http://twitter.com/#!/LoriDevoti
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4731525.Rae_Davies

Purchase Links
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Maddie's Fund Free Pet Adoption Days

 Maddie’s® Pet Adoption Days
May 31 – June 1, 2014

Alabama | Arizona | California | Florida |New York | Nevada | Vermont | Virginia | Wisconsin

FREE PET ADOPTIONS May 31 AND June 1 

More than 200 shelters and rescues in 14 communities throughout the United States are participating in the fifth annual Maddie’s^® Pet Adoption Days sponsored by the Pleasanton, CA based Maddie’s Fund^®.  Maddie’s Fund has set aside $10 million to provide shelters and rescue groups with an adoption stipend per pet adopted during the event. Stipends range from $500 to $2,000.*

Maddie’s^® Pet Adoption Days is being held to increase awareness of homeless animals, boost adoptions, and support the shelters and rescue organizations in the 14 participating communities. To date, Maddie’s Fund has awarded $11.3 million to the participating groups which have adopted a total of 15,154 dogs and cats during the past four events. The money given by Maddie’s Fund has enabled shelters to treat and rehabilitate senior pets and those with medical conditions – animals who likely would have been euthanized otherwise.

The event honors the memory of the foundation’s namesake, a Miniature Schnauzer named Maddie.  Maddie was a little dog who made a big impact on the Duffield family, and they want every homeless dog and cat to have what she had – a loving home.

To learn more about Maddie’s^® Pet Adoption days and the participating organizations and locations, visit their website (http://adopt.maddiesfund.org).  They are also on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram!

* Maddie’s Fund will pay organizations $500 for each  healthy animal under the age of seven, $1,000 for each adoption involving a dog or cat who is seven  years of age or older or who has been treated for one or more treatable medical conditions, and $2,000 for each adoption involving a dog or cat who is seven  years of age or older and who has been treated with one or more treatable medical conditions (list is available at http://adopt.maddiesfund.org).

ABOUT MADDIE’S FUND^®

Twenty years ago, the love of a little dog inspired a $300 million legacy to revolutionize the status and well-being of companion animals. Maddie’s Fund^® (www.maddiesfund.org) is the family foundation endowed by the founder of Workday^® and PeopleSoft, Dave Duffield and his wife, Cheryl. It is named in honor of Maddie, their beloved Miniature Schnauzer who passed away in 1997. Today, through its grant giving, hands-on animal care, research and education, Maddie’s Fund is helping to achieve and sustain a no-kill nation by providing solutions to the most challenging issues facing the animal welfare community.



The Pickled Piper by Mary Ellen Hughes: Guest Author, Review & Giveaway

A Book Can Spring from a Single Word—if It’s a Tasty One

Mary Ellen Hughes

After having written and published five mysteries, including the Craft Corner mystery series, I was mulling over what to do next. Since I love writing cozy mysteries, I wanted a theme or topic that would fit with a cozy (no bounty hunters or blood-splatter forensic specialists, for instance) but that I would enjoy researching and writing about. I also wanted a subject that hadn’t already been done, and done well. After all, who could top Carolyn Hart’s Death on Demand bookstore mysteries or Kate Collins’s flower shop mysteries, though I’d love to write about both bookshops and flowers!

Then one day my husband looked at me and said, “Pickles.”

“Pickles?” I laughed, thinking at first he was joking. But it got me thinking. And the more I thought, the more a story started to form around pickles. Not only dill pickles, though, or gherkins or bread and butters. There’s a whole world of pickles out there, from artichokes to zucchini, and everything in between. Just about anything edible can be pickled, I found—and deliciously.

Then there’s jams and preserves, which also go through the canning process. And we shouldn’t forget freezer and refrigerator pickles, which are easy as pie. Easier, actually.

My enthusiasm increased, and I began to picture my main character—named Piper, of course—a young woman who, I decided, had learned all about pickling and preserving during childhood summers spent at her Aunt Judy and Uncle Frank’s farm in upstate New York. Uncle Frank grew the vegetables and Aunt Judy preserved and pickled them in her big farm kitchen. This, I was sure, had fascinated Piper as a child and came to be her chosen profession as an adult.

But not without a few bumps in the road. Piper had to first work in an unfulfilling (for her) job in the state tax office in Albany, New York. It’s also where she met and became engaged to Scott, an assistant district attorney—a decent enough guy, but perhaps not quite right for Piper. So when the engagement ended,  Piper took a long look at her life and decided it was time to do things that were right for her. She moved to Cloverdale, the small town near her aunt and uncle’s farm, and embraced her first love of pickling and preserving by setting up a shop called Piper’s Picklings.

Before I knew it, I had pretty much populated Cloverdale, including a new love interest for Piper (although her old one continued to distract her), and a variety of other shop keepers and friends. It became a delightful place, at least in my mind, but unfortunately I couldn’t let it stay that way. Conflicts had to brew, some small, but at least one huge one. I hated to spoil my newly-created Eden, but I bit the bullet and did it. I dropped a snake into my paradise, a person who appeared as likeable and harmless as everyone else, but who had committed that terrible crime of crimes: murder!

Poor Piper! Here she’d probably hoped I would let her spend her days whipping up batches of pickled watermelon rind or cooking raspberries into jams. But now I’ve gotten her involved in a murder investigation, and she’s getting death threats! What a pickle!

So my book was on its way. From a simple suggestion dropped by my husband to a town-full of characters and a mysterious plot. And for good measure, several enticing recipes scoured up and tested. That last part particularly pleased my husband, which, pickle-lover that he is, might actually have been his ulterior motive when he made his suggestion.

But then, I’d say he deserves his reward. After all, his single word—“pickles”—became the seed that grew about seventy-thousand more words. Hopefully my readers will find those words drawing them into an enjoyable read. A word of warning, though: more than one early reader has confessed to a craving for something pickled while flipping the pages of The Pickled Piper. It wouldn’t hurt to have a gherkin or a kosher dill on hand—just in case.

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Blurb: After her dreams of romance are crushed, Piper Lamb decides to pursue her dream of opening her own shop of pickles and preserves, called Piper’s Picklings, in the idyllic small town of Cloverdale. But she isn’t in town long before she encounters a barrelful of trouble…

The Cloverdale fair offers Piper a sweet opportunity to promote her business. With her new assistant, Amy, she sets up a booth centered around an eye-catching display of the ever-popular dills in an old-fashioned barrel of brine.

But things soon turn sour when fairgoers witness a fight between Amy’s boyfriend, Nate, and town council blowhard—and bagpipe player—Alan Rosemont. When Rosemont is found floating in Piper’s barrel, Nate becomes the prime murder suspect. With Amy’s boyfriend in a pretty pickle, there’s no time to dillydally. But as Piper searches for the real killer, she needs to be careful to preserve her own life…or she may end up a pickled Piper herself.

Mochas, Mysteries and Meows Review: I've always enjoyed a good dill pickle, especially with a burger in the summertime, but until reading this book I never knew the work that went into pickling. Even more surprising are the types of produce that can be pickled!

Following a breakup, Piper Lamb has returned to Cloverdale, New York, to be near her Uncle Frank and Aunt Judy, and to open her pickles and preserves shop Piper's Pickling. She's excited to sell her products at the local fair until town councilman/antique shop owner/bagpipe aficionado Alan Rosemont is found dead and stuffed in Piper's pickle barrel. Worse yet, Piper's assistant Amy's boyfriend Nate is the main suspect following a nasty fight with the victim.

Piper soon discovers many in town wanted Alan dead: librarian Lyella and her worshipful husband for having the library painted pink, Dorothy Taylor's son Robby for conning them out of some antiques in her attic, and Alan's neighbor who wanted to wrap his bagpipes around his neck. Even the chocolate shop owner isn't as sweet as the confections she sells. I was sure I knew the killer - someone not even on Piper's radar - but was proven completely wrong.

This is a new series filled with memorable characters, my favorites including Piper's new love interest Will Burchett, owner of a Christmas tree farm, and nosy Martha Smidley, who always has her binoculars nearby and is upset when a doctor's appointment gets in the way of her monitoring neighborhood activity.

This is a page turning mystery set in an upstate New York town I could easily find myself at home in. I can't wait to visit again, hopefully for the grand opening of "The Burchett Christmas Gift Shop".

Giveaway: Leave a comment by noon eastern on Friday, May 16th for the chance to win a copy of The Pickled Piper. (US entries only, please.)

Cat's Meow Mews & Mailbox #35

Cat's Meow Mailbox is inspired by the great weekly recap book memes (Mailbox Monday, Waiting On Wednesday, It’s Monday! What are you reading? and Sunday Post)

Last Week on Mochas, Mysteries and Meows:
* Murder Gone A-Rye by Nancy J. Parra: Guest Author & Giveaway
* A Tiger's Tale by Laura Morrigan: Guest Author & Giveaway
* Happy Cinco de Mayo!
* #PawItForward with Purina
* A Dollhouse to Die For by Cate Price: Guest Author & Giveaway
* The Goodbye Witch by Heather Blake: Guest Author & Giveaway
* Cats Are Part of His Kingdom, Too Blog Tour & Giveaway
* Last Licks by Claire Donally: Guest Author, Review, & Giveaway
* Caturday Art: Happy Mother's Day!

Won from Dru's Book Musings:


June Berkley Prime Crime/Obsidian Releases:
        

For Review Consideration:

  

Bought:

 

NetGalley:

      

Caturday Art: Happy Mother's Day!

Hey everybody, Truffles at the keyboard! 

This year is my very first Mother's Day with Mommy and I wanted to make her an extra special card to show her how much I love her. 

I know that her favorite flower is the lilac because she's patiently waiting for her lilac bushes in the backyard to bloom this spring.

Do you think she'll like it?

Check out more artsy kitties here.

Last Licks by Claire Donally: Guest Author, Review, & Giveaway

Making Lemonade

When I was asked to pitch some ideas for a cat mystery, there were certain elements I wanted in the mix. I knew parts of the book should be from the cat's point of view. Initially, I had the idea of Sherlock Holmes in a fur coat, but when it came to the writing, my cat's thoughts were less about logic and more about cat interests. Smells, comfort, what fools these two-leggity people be, getting one's own way . . . falling in love with someone for no apparent reason. Well, maybe because they smell good.

I wanted the human lead character to be an out-of-work reporter. Too many friends have found themselves in that situation or dangerously close to it, struggling to find a related field where they might use their skills and knowledge and still make a living. These notions made it into the Sunny & Shadow stories. Others, like my human working for a low-rent private eye and setting the stories in a fictionalized version of my own neighborhood, didn't make the cut. Apparently, where I live is neither picturesque nor small-town enough, so off the series went to Maine. And in a blue-collar town like Kittery – excuse me, fictional Kittery Harbor – well, a private eye just didn't seem to work.

Fine. But now another question arose. If Sunny Coolidge, my protagonist/reporter worked in a big city and lost her job, why would she come back to a small town? Real life provided that answer – taking care of a sick father. I wrote my second novel while also taking care of my dad during his final illness. Definitely one of life's lemons, but the conversations we had during those months told me more about him than living with him for the thirty years before.

As the only free-lancer in my family, I've found myself alternating between writing numerous books and working as a part-time home health attendant, first for my father, then my grandmother, and now my mom. In both fields, the work is demanding, makes those demands at odd times. . .and the pay doesn't leave you pricing yachts.

However, this difficult work has also provided grist for the writing mill. If, as Wordsworth said, poetry is emotion recollected in tranquility, comedy is stress reconsidered with a bit of distance. When Mike Coolidge, Sunny's father, complains about the pill police and the food police, that comes out of real (and sometimes loud) conversations. The three a.m. angina attacks were also reality based, but Mike no longer sufferers from them – nor, thank heaven, does my patient.

But there's always something: in this case a fall, a broken bone, and seven weeks in physical therapy rehab. For a writer with a twisted sensibility like mine, the thought hit me on my first visit. “What a wonderful place for a murder!”

Thus, the fourth Sunny & Shadow mystery, LAST LICKS, was born. Research was simple – basically keeping my eyes open, watching how therapy was administered, how patients responded. Mom was in a good facility, with a thoughtful, caring staff. But we're talking about human beings here, and I had a chance to stand in the background and watch them interact. The therapist who was interested in one of his colleagues and always getting shot down; the very kind music therapist; learning when the aides were overworked and when you could ask them for special help.

And, of course, there were the therapy animals. They usually didn't make their way to the PT floor, but Mom encountered them when I wheeled her down to the garden or the other common areas. There were plenty of dogs, always eagerly nosing around for someone to pet them. I also saw a single cat, whose residence was a cage on the route to the garden and who usually gave us a supercilious once-over from her hammock inside. On occasion, she'd vacate that location to startle people by sitting statue-like on pieces of furniture, favoring her victims with a “what's-the-matter-with you?” look when they jumped.

And if she made it to the facility's front parlor, she somehow had the ability to beat anyone to the most comfortable seat – pretty remarkable for such a languorous creature – and spend her time looking at the tank full of giant fish, doubtless thinking exciting thoughts.

Over the weeks I met additional cats who visited other floors, including one poor little guy who was undergoing cancer treatment, sick and apparently starved for attention but not lacking self-confidence. He gave me a little nip to tell me to stop wasting time signing out one evening and devote more time to petting.

Add in a news story tucked away years before about a nursing-home cat who could apparently predict which patients weren't long for the world, and I had a pretty good locale and setup for a murder mystery. Then came the motive, opportunity, and means mechanics, not just to determine whodunit, but who wanted to do it, when, and how.

Maybe I'm developing a soft spot for a crusty character, but after giving him a heart attack, I didn't want to put poor old Mike though the stress of rehab. So I got the notion of injuring Sunny's demanding, loud boss. Plus, what a lousy, impatient patient he'd be!

I've written novels set in different eras and locales that required plenty of research. Only occasionally have I been able to turn something I've lived through into a story. It's interesting to take an experience that caused a lot of strain and difficulty reconsider it through a creative lens (and some comedy).

Sort of taking lemons and making lemonade – finding the right balance between tart and sweet. 

Under many different names, Claire Donally has written mystery, science fiction, and fantasy stories – some of them also including cats. She lives in a quiet, non-picturesque neighborhood in Queens, New York and is presently between feline companions. The only animals presently in the house are dust bunnies.

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Look everybody! This is the very first time Mommy has had one of her reviews quoted in a book!!!

Blurb: When Sunny Coolidge’s curmudgeonly boss, Oliver Barnstable, lands in rehab after breaking his leg, Sunny is stuck shuttling between their offices in Kittery Harbor, Maine, and the facility where Ollie is recuperating. And if putting up with temper tantrums from her boss wasn’t enough, his rehab roommate, Gardner Scatterwell, is a shameless flirt.

But when Scatterwell dies unexpectedly in the night, Ollie is convinced it wasn’t from natural causes. He gives Sunny a new assignment—find out who killed the old tomcat.

And speaking of cats, Shadow, Sunny’s feline partner in crime, takes a peculiar interest in the rehab’s resident angel of death—a calico cat called Portia, with an uncanny talent for cozying up to patients right before they pass away. Together, Sunny and Shadow will have to nose out clues to discover if Portia’s jinx had anything to do with Gardner’s passing—or if all his catting around finally got him fixed.

Mochas, Mysteries and Meows Review: Amidst a plethora of cat cozies on bookshelves today, Claire Donally's Sunny and Shadow Mystery series is extra special to me, and one I don't believe gets the attention it deserves. Sunny's relationship with her father Mike and how she has returned to their Maine home to care for him following a heart attack is something I can totally relate to as an only child caring for aging parents. The addition of the precious Shadow has turned their house into a home.

This third book in the series features Sunny's cranky boss Ollie prominently which made me very happy. He breaks his leg and ends up in a rehab facility following a strange incident with a deer. Sunny and Shadow are once again called upon to solve a suspicious death when Ollie's rehab roomie is the latest in a large number of patients who have checked out permanently.

With shades of Oscar the cat this book introduces us to Portia the calico therapy cat who Shadow falls head over paws in love with. His antics and his views of the world around him had me grinning from ear, wondering if the same thoughts go through Truffles' head.

I found the setting of to be deliciously creepy, and the mystery a real puzzler with many suspicious characters that had motive to do the old man in. Cat lovers everywhere need to do themselves a favor and pick up a Sunny and Shadow mystery. The entire series will make you purr with delight.

Giveaway: Leave a comment by noon eastern on Wednesday, May 14th for the chance to win a copy of Last Licks. (US entries only, please.)