Campfires & Corpses

Posted on June 3, 2025 by Dianne Ascroft

Noelle Cooper is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about Campfires & Corpses, the first novel in the Maine Campground mystery series.

Welcome, Noelle. Let’s get started, shall we?

Tell us about the novel that you live inside. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.

Hi there, my name is Noelle. I live inside the Maine Campground Cozy Mystery series. The first book in the series is Campfires & Corpses, and that’s when I first arrive back in my hometown in Maine. You see, I’ve been living in Nashville, Tennessee for the last eighteen years.

This is my first time back in Maine since I left when I was twenty years old. I really don’t know why I stayed away for so long. I wanted to work in the music industry, and Nashville is the place for that. I never did get my dream job, but I stayed in Nashville anyway. I just love music, something that my writer sprinkles into the story here and there.

In Campfires & Corpses, I come back to Maine as a favor to my parents. They run our family’s campground—camping is a big activity in the summer in Maine, both for tourists and locals—but my parents can’t be there this summer because my mom is getting medical treatment in Boston.

To be honest, I never wanted to run the family campground, which might be another reason I left town all those years ago. But I figure that doing it for one summer while my parents are away is no big deal. And it isn’t, until I find a dead body on my first day back.

There are two other books in the Maine Campground Cozy Mystery series. There’s Freedom & Fosters: A Beagle Rescue Short Story, which is a short story prequel you can read tolearn a little more about me, and my beagle named Corny. And if you enjoy Campfires & Corpses, the next book in the series, Whoopie Pies & Alibis, is coming out in June.

Does the writer control what happens in the story or do you get a say too?

Good question. I think it’s a combination. If I wrote the story, I certainly wouldn’t create such challenging circumstances for myself! Like having me butt heads with my ex-boyfriend, the local game warden, the first day I get back to town. Or making me live in a camping trailer (my family always stayed at the big house my grandmother had over on the lakeshore).

But sometimes I get my way. My dad says that I’m headstrong, and I use that trait to push the envelope in my story. Especially when it comes to dealing with State Trooper Thompson. He’s gruff and intimidating and I really just want him to go away, but my writer keeps writing him into scenes. I find ways to deal with him or to get around his mistreatment of me.

How did you evolve as the main character?

Like I said, my writer has written me into some really tight spots. I was already feeling down on my luck when my parents called me to ask if I’d come back to Maine to run the campground. From the moment I arrived back in the tiny, one-intersection town in the woods of Maine, I felt out of my element. Sure, I know the place like the back of my hand (hard not to in a place this small), but most of the other characters are new to me. To them, I’m the outsider, and that’s never a good feeling.

And of course, there’s the whole part where I find the dead body. And not just any dead body. It’s the body of my high school rival. Still, you’d think that being the daughter of the beloved campground owners would earn me the trust of the campers, but at least one of them seems to be pointing the finger at me.

It’s a lot, but I’m managing. In a strange way, I’m leaning into my years as an event planner to help me zero in on the murder and also to hold the campground’s annual bonfire (that’s a whole other story…you’ll have to read the book to find out).

Do you have any other characters you like sharing the story with? If so, why are you partial to them?

Oh, sure. There’s my cousin Mandy. She was just a baby when I left town. She’s a spunky eighteen-year-old now. She’s lived a pretty sheltered life and is just itching for something exciting to happen. She’s right by my side through the whole murder investigation drama. She’s also been working at the campground with my mom for years and I’d be lost without her knowhow.

I also have a beagle named Corny, and I love sharing the story with him. I only adopted him a few weeks before coming back to Maine, so we’re still learning how to be dog and owner, but I already love him so much. Corny was rescued from a research laboratory where he lived his whole life (three years), so he can be skittish around all the new people and dogs at Babbling Brook Campground. Thankfully, we have a whole summer for him to warm up to them.  

What’s the place like where you find yourself in this story?

Babbling Brook Campground sits right on the shores of Mirror Lake in Bluefield, Maine. That’s in western Maine, in the mountains by the New Hampshire border. Picture acres of pine trees, rolling mountains, dirt roads, houses nestled in the trees. In Bluefield, we have an antique store, a convenience store/café/laundromat, an inn, a mechanic, and my cousin Liz’s bakery that she runs out of her house.

The campground is all dirt roads and campsites. You can pitch a tent or drive in with your camping trailer or RV. It’s pretty bare bones, like camping should be. There is no swimming pool or internet; heck, you can’t even send a text on your cell phone. But on a warm, sunny day in June, it’s perfect. It’s like the Maine slogan says: The way life should be.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about you and the book?

Oh, definitely. First, readers should know that the Maine Campground Cozy Mystery series is a clean cozy series. There is no foul language or anything too graphic. There are no bedroom activities (unless you count the hours that my beagle Corny spends snoozing).

Second, the story is pretty fast paced. And if you like the kind of chapter endings that make you want to flip the page and keep reading, there are a lot of those.

Lastly, you’ll enjoy this book and the series if you like dogs, don’t mind a few song titles being dropped here and there, and enjoy analyzing character alibis and motives.

Thank you for answering my questions, Noelle, and good luck to you and your author, Nikki Weber, with Campfires & Corpses, the first book in the Maine Campground mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Noelle and her author, Nikki Weber by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook, Goodreads, and Instagram pages.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

Universal Book Link  – Amazon – B&N – Bookshop.org – Kobo

About Nikki Weber: Nikki Weber was born and raised in Maine, and spent her childhood summers camping with her family and their beagle. She loves to read, listen to podcasts, travel, and play tennis. Campfires & Corpses: A Maine Campground Cozy Mystery is her first book, and there are many more in the pipeline.

Posted in June 2025 | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The Diva Poaches a Bad Egg

Posted on May 29, 2025 by Dianne Ascroft

Sophie Winston is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about The Diva Poaches a Bad Egg, the latest novel in the Domestic Diva mystery series.

Welcome, Sophie. Let’s get started, shall we?

Tell us about the novel that you live inside. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.

I’m Sophie Winston, the main character, so I’ll speak for my friends. Much to our relief, it is a series. THE DIVA POACHES A BAD EGG is book number eighteen, which makes us pretty happy! There’s enough background information to read the books out of order, so no worries there!

I’m actually an event planner, mostly for large corporate events and conventions. They call me a domestic diva because I like to cook and entertain, and I have a syndicated newspaper column with lifestyle advice. In between events, I try to solve murders. Word has gotten out that I’ve had some luck doing that, so we get to meet new characters who come to me with their troubles.

Does the writer control what happens in the story or do you get a say too?

Krista is fairly nice about listening to us. For instance, my best friend, Nina Reid Norwood, often likes to bend rules, like sneaking around where she shouldn’t be! I don’t approve of that and try to stop her. But Krista doesn’t mind that Nina has her own ideas. We all have our own voices and sometimes we surprise Krista!

How did you evolve as the main character?

I never meant to solve murders, but I come from a nosy family. I guess I can’t help it. When friends or family get into trouble I come to the rescue if I can. How can you say no to people whose loved ones have been killed or who are being blamed for a murder?

It all started because everyone was coming to Thanksgiving dinner at my house. Everyone being my parents and siblings. But then my ex-husband’s new love interest set their house on fire, and they had nowhere to go. It was Thanksgiving! My family had known the new love interest since she was a child, and my mom pressured me to invite them along with my ex-husband’s mother, brother, and sister-in-law. You can imagine how thrilled I was about that!

Families are interesting. They all have their own dynamics. In THE DIVA POACHES A BAD EGG, I meet a fascinating family with a lot of quirks. They own a fabulous old house that has been passed down several generations. But the heir apparent is in big trouble when his wife is murdered in the house before they even move in!

Do you have any other characters you like sharing the story with? If so, why are you partial to them?

I do! My very best friend in the world is Nina. She loves to eat and so do I! She’s a hoot! And after the nightmare of divorce, I reluctantly admit that my ex-husband, Mars, is still kind of charming. Neither of us could bear to give up our hound mix, Daisy, so she goes back and forth between us, which means I still see him a lot. The best man at our wedding was Bernie Frei, who is British and has the most darling accent that makes him sound brilliant, no matter what he says. They’re always there for me and there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for them.

What’s the place like where you find yourself in this story?

Old Town Alexandria, Virginia is wonderful. It was an old port town on the Potomac River, across from Washington, DC. and still has beautiful historic buildings. The Federal style homes are stunning. The sidewalks are made of bricks and there’s even a cobblestone street. Some of the homes still have flickering gas lanterns like they did in the old days. It’s made for walking, which I love and do a lot. Daisy has to be walked and that’s always a good excuse to see what people are up to!

Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about you and the book?

My husband and I inherited our house from his aunt. I bought out my share, which wasn’t easy and have her portrait hanging in my kitchen over the fireplace. I wish I had known her. I’m not much of a believer in ghosts, but some people think her spirit is still in the house. She loved to entertain, like me! I got to know a lot more about her in this book, but not how you might think!

Thank you for answering my questions, Sophie, and good luck to you and your author, Krista Davis, with The Diva Poaches a Bad Egg, the latest book in the Domestic Diva mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Sophie and her author, Krista Davis by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook, Goodreads, Bookbub, Instagram, Pinterest and the Delicious Mysteries pages. You can also follow her on Twitter/X.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

Apple   Amazon    BAM    B&N    Bookshop.org   Hudson Booksellers    Indigo      Powell’s     Rakuten Kobo    Tantor   Target   Walmart

About Krista Davis: New York Times Bestselling author Krista Davis writes the Domestic Diva Mysteries, the Paws & Claws Mysteries, and The Pen & Ink Mysteries. Krista lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with a black Labrador mix, an English cream golden retriever, and two very inquisitive cats, all rescues. Her friends and family complain about being guinea pigs for her recipes, but she notices they keep coming back for more.

Posted in Archives, May 2025 | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Witch Awakens

Posted on May 27, 2025 by Dianne Ascroft

Ellis Elliott, author of A Witch Awakens, a Fire Circle mystery, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to introduce us to her character, Cece Chagall.

Welcome, Ellis. I’ll turn the floor over to you and Cece –

“Thank you for your time, Ms. Chagall. That will be all for today.”

As I carefully slid the tweezers to place the miniature books on the bookshelf of my newly built dollhouse, I couldn’t help but hear the phrase repeated after almost every dance audition I went to in New York play in my head. I wondered if it would ever go away.

Almost 30, I had recently moved back home to East Tennessee to teach dance in my grandmother’s dance studio and to figure out my “Plan B”, after finally having to let go of my dream of dancing in New York City. Having to dance in a giant M & M candy costume will do that to you.

The ring of my phone broke through my dark thoughts.

“Hi, Nana,” I answered, “Did you miss me?” I asked, semi-sarcastically, since I lived in the guesthouse behind her big Victorian, and we worked together at the dance studio. 

Nana chuckled, “Of course I did, Cece, darling. That, and I was going to see if you wanted to ride up with me to see Aunt Granny Hazel later this afternoon? I made her up a wild yam tincture for her arthritis and want to get it up to her. She’s been having a time lately,” Nana paused, and I could hear her shushing her cat, Blisters, off some tabletop. “But I know she’d love to see you.”

Aunt Granny Hazel is my grandmother’s sister, and she lives about 10 miles outside our valley town of Eureka Grove, up in the mountains. She and my Nana are as different as night and day, but devoted to one another. My grandmother had been a Radio City Rockette before she married my late grandfather, came back home, and started her dance studio here. Nana has traveled the world, raised a son, and is a savvy businesswoman. Aunt Granny Hazel has never married, had children, or strayed far from the house she was born in. Everyone calls her “Granny Hazel” and she stays busy tending to the sick in her community with her homegrown herbal remedies. Both she and my grandmother have uncanny intuition, whether it relates to when rain is coming or an ailment you hadn’t even told anyone about.

“I’d love to!” I answered. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you two about these recent peculiars I’ve been having, anyway.”

If you don’t know what a “peculiar” is, you’ll have to read the book to find out!

And, if you’ve ever had to switch gears unexpectedly in life, or have a relative/friend/partner that couldn’t be more different than you, but is your bestie, I’d love to hear your story. Please feel free to email me at ellis@bewildernesswriting.com. Thanks for reading!

Thank you for sharing this with us, Ellis, and good luck with A Witch Awakens, the first book in the Fire Circle mystery series. Readers can learn more about Ellis Elliott by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages.

The book is available online at  AMAZON

About Ellis Elliott: Ellis is a facilitator of the online writing group Bewilderness Writing. She also teaches writing and ballet in an after-school arts education program. Ellis holds an MFA from Queens University. She is a contributing writer for the Southern Review of Books, and serves as an editor/workshop instructor for The Dewdrop contemplative journal.

She is the author of the 2023 poetry chapbook, Break in the Field (Old Scratch Press), which KIRKUS calls “A deeply felt collection of candid verse.” Her work can also be found in numerous publications, including Signal Mountain Review, Plainsongs Poetry Magazine/Award Poem, Euphony Journal, and the Women of Appalachia Project Anthology. Ellis has a blended family consisting of six grown sons. She resides in West Palm Beach, Florida, with her husband, Tim, and a feisty dog named Mabel.

Posted in Archives, May 2025 | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Shudder Pulp

Posted on May 22, 2025 by Dianne Ascroft

Vanessa Westermann, author of Shudder Pulp, a Charley Scott mystery, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to tell us a bit about finding inspiration in cottage country. Since I grew up in Canada and have lots of happy memories of my times in cottage country, I’m looking forward to hearing about her experiences.

Welcome, Vanessa. I’ll turn the floor over to you –

Have you ever jumped off a dock into clear water and wondered what just brushed your leg?

I grew up spending summers in cottage country. Some of my favourite summertime memories are of eating s’mores around bonfires, reading thrillers in Adirondack chairs, watching canoes drift by. And diving off the dock.

In our cottage garage hung an old lake map, bordered with ads for local businesses that had long since closed. Hydrological features were marked out as well as rocks, bays and islands. The labels included thrilling names, such as: Snake Island. Frost’s Folly and Knight’s Nightmare. A hint at the dangers that wait out in the water.

Ontario, Canada is lakeland. Fresh water is everywhere. Canadian folklore is teeming with monsters. The monsters are a part of our collective unconscious. Oral tradition filled the lakes with threatening creatures. Horned water lynx who conjure storms. Mythical half-human creatures who lure children into underwater lairs. The lake monster Ogopogo is still a tourist attraction in British Columbia today.

There’s something unpredictable and wild about a lake, no matter how peaceful it may seem at times, and this element of the unknown is inspiring for a crime writer. I thought, why not have the killer blame the murder on a legendary lake monster?

In Shudder Pulp, Charley Scott is creating an immersive pulp art installation based on the local lake monster legend that is meant to fundraise money for a permanent gallery. She knows of the lake monster legend because of the cautionary tales her grandfather used to tell to stop her from swimming out too far. He’d say to her, The monster exists. This story really did happen and I can show you where. But he never had. Each time he told the tale, the location shifted, changing like the dimensions of a fish in dockside boasts about the biggest catch of the year.

Life imitates art when Laura, a mercenary newcomer, claims to have been attacked by the monster and, hours later, is found dead by dry drowning. To find the truth, Charley must unmask the villain before the murderer strikes again.

Part of the fun of writing a cozy mystery series is being able to invite readers to return to a familiar setting — or scene of the crime. You know the saying, life is better at the lake? In the Charley Scott mysteries, murder is better at the lake. The air is fresh and so is the crime scene.

Thank you for sharing this with us, Vanessa, and good luck with Shudder Pulp, the latest book in the Charley Scott mystery series. Readers can learn more about Vanessa Westermann by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook, Instagram and Goodreads pages.

The book is available online at the following retailers:

Amazon.com  –  Barnes & Noble  –  IndieBound/Bookshop.org

About Vanessa Westermann: An avid reader of mysteries, Vanessa Westermann is a former Arthur Ellis Awards judge, holds an M.A. in English Literature and a Bachelor of Education, and has taught creative writing. Cover Art, first of the Charley Scott Mysteries, was published to great acclaim in 2022. At the heart of all of Westermann’s stories are strong female protagonists inspired by the heroines in her own life. She currently lives in Ontario.

Posted in Archives, May 2025 | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Whisper of Treasure and Lies

Posted on May 21, 2025 by Dianne Ascroft

Trish Esden is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about Whisper of Treasure and Lies, the latest novel in the Scandal Mountain Antiques mystery series.

Welcome, Trish. Let’s get started, shall we?

Tell us about your novel. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.

Whisper of Treasure and Lies is the third book in the Scandal Mountain Antiques Mystery series. It can be read as a standalone, but it’s probably more fun to read the series in order. The series follows Edie Brown, a Vermont antique dealer, as she solves a wide range of antiques and art related crimes. In Whisper of Treasure and Lies the theft of a rare antique mineral springs bottle and a Bible box full of historical items, sends her and her crew on a mission to untangle a mystery with roots that stretch from the Victorian-era to the modern-day, and perhaps into her own past as well.

Where did the idea for the mystery that is central to the story come from?

I’m always inspired and center a novel’s mystery on an antique or type of art I’m curious about and would enjoy researching in depth. As I research, the plot comes into focus, and I think about ways to connect it to Edie on a personal level. In the case of Whisper of Treasure and Lies, I researched the history of photography, mineral springs bottles, early bottle manufacturing, and Victorian-era hydropathic resorts. Because this book deals with a modern-day crime as well as a murder in the 1880s, it took a lot of thought and finagling to weave both timelines into a cohesive story and whodunit.

Is there a theme or subject that underlies the story? If so, what prompted you to write about it?

In my books, the theme is what braids the story threads together. Whisper of Treasure and Lie’s theme is ‘secrets. Even before chapter one, Edie shares her thoughts on the subject:

Secrets. Everybody has them, large and small, the white lies and the deep, dark soul crushing ones. Some are revealed with the slightest prompting, often for money or love. Others are buried with their keepers.

Antique dealers and collectors, like me, are notoriously adept when it comes to holding our secrets close. Just try and discover where we acquired a prized piece or how much we paid for it. Perhaps we’ll brag about the procurement, more likely we’ll dance away from the subject as lightly as an auctioneer moving on to the next bid. Even if we offer up the information, can you be certain you’ve learned the truth?

Maybe. Maybe not… Signed, Edie Brown

How do you create your characters? Do you have favourite ones? If so, why are you partial to them?

I like to think my characters come to life organically as they evolve throughout the novels. Above all else, I put a great deal of thought into how each one of them affects Edie. I can’t say that I have a favourite character in Whisper of Treasure and Lies. However,Sandra holds a special place in my heart. But I’m not going to say why because that would be a big spoiler.

How do you bring to life the place you are writing about?

When I write, I see the setting like it’s a movie in my head. Seriously, it doesn’t matter if it’s a real Vermont location that I’ve visited or the fictious town of Scandal Mountain, I know every inch of the place. And I don’t just ‘see’ the locations. My mouth waters when Edie walks into the Jumping Café and smells the brick oven pizzas. I hear the buzz of the crowd when she’s sitting in Fisher’s Auction House. I feel the warmth of Shane’s body when she leans into kiss him…The trick is to remember to include these sensory details—or at least some of them—in each scene.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about the book?

Though Whisper of Treasure and Lies, and all my novels, may be inspired by researching something I’m curious about, my goal in writing the book is not to teach the reader about those subjects or about anything else for that matter. To me, writing is about creating characters and a mystery that can sweep readers away from the real world for a while. To me, storytelling is about entertainment.

Thank you for answering my questions, Trish, and good luck with Whisper of Treasure and Lies, the latest book in the Scandal Mountain Antiques mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Trish Esden by visiting her website and her Facebook, Bookbub, and Instagram pages. Readers can also follow her on Twitter/X.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

Signed Paperbacks: Call https://www.facebook.com/TheEloquentPage

 Bookshop    Barnes & Noble    Amazon  Apple     Kobo 

About Trish Esden: Trish Esden is an award-winning author of mystery novels that deliver feisty heroines, devious criminals, and as many twists as a back-country road. Set in contemporary, small-town New England, Trish’s stories promise skillfully-crafted whodunnits fraught with secrets, cunning schemes, and sometimes a touch of romance. Though a dead body or two might surface, Trish’s novels tend to focus on crimes other than murder. If you’re a fan of traditional mysteries with a diverse cast of friends and adversaries, you are in the right place. Immerse yourself today in an atmospheric world where danger, mystery, and a passion for justice collide.

Posted in Archives, May 2025 | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Cruises, Cocktails and Corpses

Posted on May 13, 2025 by Dianne Ascroft

Michelle L Clifton, author of Cruises, Cocktails and Corpses, a Taryn O’Kelly mystery, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to introduce us to Taryn O’Kelly and the world of Silver Springs.

Welcome, Michelle. I’ll turn the floor over to you –

Dianne, thank you so much for inviting me and the world of Silver Springs, Colorado into your cozy corner of the blogosphere.

When I first set out to introduce readers to Silver Springs, I had no idea how important the characters and their stories would become to me. I always loved writing, but I didn’t realize that joy would grow into such a deep passion or that I’d feel such a strong need to tell their stories.

Cruises, Cocktails, and Corpses is the second book in my Taryn O’Kelly Mystery Series. While it takes Taryn far away from Silver Springs something I hadn’t originally planned, the characters nudged (okay, shoved) me in that direction. But before I dive into book two, I’d love to step back for a moment and introduce you to Party Planning for Murder, the first book in the series, for those who haven’t yet met Taryn.

Taryn is a young, ambitious businesswoman with big dreams of building a successful event-planning company right in her hometown of Silver Springs, Colorado. Taryn’s a workaholic with a mile-long list of excuses for why her love life isn’t exactly thriving not that her big Irish Catholic family buys any of them. Especially her mother, who’s just as invested in Taryn’s business success as she is in seeing her settle down and start a family. But life in Silver Springs has a way of throwing curveballs, and when a murder disrupts one of Taryn’s first big events, she’s suddenly juggling more than just floral arrangements and seating charts, she’s dodging danger, too.

The town is set at 6,800 hundred feet in elevation and is surrounded by the towering peaks of the rocky mountains. Silver Springs, Colorado, is one of those places that feels like it stepped right out of a postcard. The kind where the air smells like pine and adventure. Tucked into the southwestern corner of the state, Silver Springs hums with old Victorian charm, historic brick buildings lining Main Avenue, and the ever-present smell of soot from the narrow gauge train that still puffs its way into the mountains like it’s got secrets to share. There’s an easygoing spirit here, where a good day might start with strong coffee downtown and end with your feet kicked up beside a fire pit, the stars so clear and close you’ll swear you could pluck them right out of the sky. It’s the kind of town where strangers smile at you, your cell service gets a little spotty on purpose, and the line between town and wild starts to blur the second you hit the edge of the pavement. Out here, time doesn’t just move slower it stretches wide open, daring you to breathe deeper, look longer, and remember what it feels like to be a little wild yourself.

Book 2 takes us on an exotic cruise, the perfect escape from life’s chaos. After my characters made it clear they were ready for a vacation, the cruise ship setting felt like the perfect choice. Sailing to ports of call like George Town, Cartagena, Aruba, and Half Moon Cay, Taryn finds herself surrounded by sun-soaked beaches, colorful markets, romantic old towns, and waters so blue they hardly look real. Every stop feels like a storybook until dead bodies show up. As the trip turns from romantic vacation to deadly homicide you’ll find Taryn is the kind of person that can’t stop until justice is served and the people she loves are safe.

Cruise ships are often called “floating cities,” but they’re also a perfect setting for a mystery. With thousands of people from all over the world, a maze of hidden corridors, and complicated legal loopholes depending on a ship’s country of registration, a crime at sea can easily get lost in the shuffle. Jurisdiction gets murky fast when you’re floating in international waters, and sometimes what happens on the ship, stays on the ship unless Taryn has anything to say about it. Even in paradise, the danger isn’t far behind, and Taryn quickly learns that not everyone on board is simply there for a good time.

Thank you so much for letting me share a little bit about Taryn, Silver Springs, and our latest adventure at sea. Whether you’re diving into Party Planning for Murder or setting sail with Cruises, Cocktails, and Corpses, I hope you find a few laughs, a little romance, and a twisty mystery to keep you guessing. There’s nothing better than getting lost in a good story and I can’t wait to bring you even more from Taryn’s world in the books to come. Happy reading, and thanks again for welcoming me (and Silver Springs) into your cozy corner of the world!

Thank you for sharing this with us, Michelle, and good luck with Cruises, Cocktails and Corpses, the latest book in the Taryn O’Kelly mystery series. Readers can learn more about Michelle L Clifton by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook, Instagram and Amazon pages. Readers can also watch the book trailer.

The book is available online at the following retailers:

Amazon     Bookshop.org    B&N    Kobo

About Michelle L Clifton: Michelle L. Clifton is the author of the Taryn O’Kelly series, which mixes laugh-out-loud humor, steamy romance, and gripping mysteries. Her books are perfect for fans of Janet Evanovich, offering a modern twist on cozy mysteries with amateur sleuth Taryn O’Kelly at the helm.

Michelle was raised in Southwest Colorado in the great valleys of the Rocky Mountains. There she married the love of her life and raised two beautiful kids, a cat, two dogs, and chickens! She has worked in the dental field, dance and theater industry, athletics, and event coordinating. She created Salty Inspirations to pursue her passion for writing.

However, her favorite job is being MOM. Her family made a major move to Cape Coral, Florida, just in time for Hurricane Ian. When not crafting tales of intrigue, Michelle can be found spending time with her family hiking and camping in Colorado and boating and beaching in Florida. Oh! And writing of course!

Posted in Archives, May 2025 | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

A Pawsome Summer for Murder

Posted on May 8, 2025 by Dianne Ascroft

Samantha Davies, from A Pawsome Summer for Murder, a Samantha Davies mystery, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to tell us a bit about her life.

Welcome, Sam. I’ll turn the floor over to you –

Hi, I’m Samantha Davies, but you can call me Sam. I’m a freelance writer for children’s magazines and have just published Porkchop the Wonder Dog, starring my very own wonder dog, a reddish-brown dachshund named Porkchop. We live in Wings Falls, a small town in upstate New York

Besides my writing career, I also co-own the Do Drop Inn Funeral Parlor with my ex-husband George. Since our divorce, George and I tolerate each other, mainly because he’s beholden to me for financing his dream of owning a funeral parlor which I made possible with an inheritance from an uncle of mine. I’m quite fond of the monthly checks I get from the business. This income allows me to pursue my career as an author and to scroll through eBay for deals on designer purses, a weakness of mine.

After my divorce from George, I swore off men for life, except for Porkchop, of course. At least I thought I had until a tall, dark, and handsome detective on the Wings Falls Police Force, Hank Johnson. entered my life and not in the usual way, either. We were introduced at a murder scene when I stumbled across the very dead body of the owner of the town’s pet shelter. Wings Falls Police Force was in need of a lead detective and were able to lure Hank away from Albany PD, He wanted a slower pace of life, but little did he know that murder would follow him to a small town in upstate New York. And eventually into my life and arms.

After discovering this first murder victim, I gained the reputation of the go-to person when someone was in need of proving themself innocent of a crime. Why me? It seems people believe that with the investigative skills I employ when doing research for the articles I write I can help solve the crimes they’re accused of. I try to tell them that researching the life cycle of a dragon fly doesn’t qualify me to be a crime buster. Do they listen to me? No. I decided early on that I wasn’t going to don my deer stalker cap without calling on my Watson, my dear Southern Belle cousin, Candie Parker.

Candie is the sister I never had and vice versa. Growing up, we spent summers together on our Memaw and Grandpop Parker’s farm in Hainted Hollar, Tennessee. They raised her after her parents were killed in an automobile accident when she was five years old. While we’re as close as two people can be she and I are complete opposites. Her middle name, I swear, is “bling”. She never met a rhinestone she didn’t like while I prefer my tee shirts and yoga pants. When we’re out questioning a person, we think might be involved in a murder, she will apply the full force of her Southern charm with her sexy Southern drawl and mesmerizing violet eyes. She could make Santa Claus confess to a crime. 

Enough murder talk. Right now I’m dreaming of spending the evening snuggled on my sofa with my two favorite males Porkchop and Hank. Porkchop snoozing on the end of the sofa, Hank with a chilled bottle of beer in his hand and me resting my head on his muscled chest clutching a glass of wine.

Thank you for sharing this with us, Sam, and good luck to you and your author, S. A. Kazlo with A Pawsome Summer for Murder, the latest book in the Samantha Davies mystery series. Readers can learn more about Sam and her author, S. A. Kazlo by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages. Readers can also follow her on Twitter/X.

The book is available online at the following retailers:

 Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Bookshop.org

About S. A. Kazlo: Syrl, a retired teacher, lives in upstate New York with her husband and two lively dachshunds. She writes the Samantha Davies Mystery series, featuring Samantha Davies and her loveable dachshund, Porkchop. When not writing she is busy hooking, rug hooking that is, and enjoying her family. 

Posted in Archives, May 2025 | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Stone Cold Murder

Posted on May 7, 2025 by Dianne Ascroft

Petra Cloch is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about A Stone Cold Murder, the first novel in the Reluctant Psychic mystery series.

Welcome, Petra. Let’s get started, shall we?

Tell us about the novel that you live inside. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.

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I don’t know anyone else with psychic powers, but I can touch an object and sense the emotions of other people who’ve used it. I studied rocks because they rarely ‘talk’ to me. I avoid making friends, because either I have to hide my power, they freak out, or they want me to use my psychometry for their benefit. I just took a job as the rock and mineral curator at an unusual museum in a tiny New Mexico town. My colleagues are friendly and it’s weird!

Then I picked up a jagged crystal in my new office and felt flashes of rage, fear and death. Everyone says the guy who had my job died in a car crash, but my senses are screaming violence, maybe murder. I don’t want to get involved, but what if the previous curator died because of something he did on the job? I could be next. I need to know what happened, and my psychic sense alone won’t tell me.

I never expected to solve a murder, let alone more than one. After solving the mystery of my predecessor’s death, I wanted to focus on my job. But Liberty, my coworker and friend (how did that happen?), got suspicious of the supposedly accidental death of Frank Underwood, a rockhound who died while hiking. Frank acted odd in his last weeks, talking about something incredible he found in the desert and whispering about aliens. I started helping Liberty uncover the truth, and before long our book club became a crime-fighting club.

Death at Rock Bottom (A Reluctant Psychic Murder Mystery series book 2) comes out July 30!

Does the writer control what happens in the story or do you get a say too?

I keep a lot of secrets, even from the writer. She might get to put me in danger and throw challenges in my path, but she doesn’t know everything about me. For example, if you’re expecting a typical cozy mystery novel romance subplot, you could have a long wait. I might be making friends despite myself, but that doesn’t mean I’ll fall for the first handsome guy who starts flirting.

How did you evolve as the main character?

My writer read some novels with psychometry and thought it was an interesting power, but most novelists make the “gift” sound too fun and easy. Kris thought it would be a difficult way to live, more of a curse than a gift. Interacting with people is challenging, so I just want to be left alone with my pets. All ten of them. Three cats, three ferrets, two guinea pigs, and two rats. Who needs people?

Well, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to have a friend or two, if I could find someone I could really trust. Anyway. Kris wanted to make sure I would be an entertaining narrator, and not too dour, so she let me talk a while and found out I have a dark, snarky sense of humor. She thought people would like it. I hope she’s right. An early reviewer said, “What got me was how human this story is. Petra’s fear of connection, her reluctant friendships, her need to do the right thing even when it terrifies her… It’s so relatable.” So I guess I’m not such an oddball after all.

Do you have any other characters you like sharing the story with? If so, why are you partial to them?

I just moved to a new town, so I’m meeting everyone for the first time. My boss, Peyton Banditt founded the museum 50 years ago and is the genial patriarch type. His grandson works here and is a little too friendly for my taste, though people enjoy his tours of Old West artifacts. My coworker Liberty is sensible and kind, while Haven is young and bouncy. They met me and immediately invited me out to lunch. Liberty also invited me to join a book club, which sounded like a fun and safe way to get to know people and maybe ask a few of the questions I wanted answered. Turns out that group is ready to embrace a new friend faster than I could have imagined. I’m not sure whether to be grateful or to flee.

What’s the place like where you find yourself in this story?

Bonneville, population 2000, has all the good and bad things of a small town. People are friendly and happy to meet someone new to break the monotony—but they are definitely interested in your business. It’s a small town on Route 60 through New Mexico, with a desert landscape and people passing through on the way to other places. The Banditt Museum is full of fascinating treasures poorly organized in a warren of confusing rooms and hallways. One early reviewer said, “The Banditt Museum feels like a character itself, full of hidden corners and whispered history.”

Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about you and the book?

I’m tempted to say, “Don’t pay any attention to me.” But maybe having friends is worth a little risk. So if you’d like to hear my story, I’ll be honest with you and we’ll see what happens.

Petra Cloch has the psychic ability of psychometry – she can glimpse the history of an object by touching it. Powerful emotions leave behind the strongest vibrations. If Petra touches a watch or ring someone has worn for years, she can sense the wearer’s personality and what they care about most. If she touches an object used as a murder weapon, she might sense the emotions of the killer and the killed – but that doesn’t mean she can identify the killer.

Readers say, “Kris Bock, you have created a novel that is both heartwarming and suspenseful. For those who appreciate mysteries that offer depth, a distinctive supernatural element, and a protagonist to cherish, A Stone Cold Murder is an essential read. Well done!”

“With a sympathetic main character, quirky secondary characters, and an intriguing mystery, this was a fun read. I am looking forward to Petra’s next adventure!”

Thank you for answering my questions, Petra, and good luck to you and your author, Kris Bock, with A Stone Cold Murder, the st book in the Reluctantly Psychic mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Petra and her author, Kris Bock by visiting the author’s website and her Goodreads, Bookbub, Mastodon, BlueSky and Amazon Author pages.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

Publisher    Amazon    B&N     Apple     Kobo    Google Play

About Kris Bock: Kris Bock writes mystery, suspense, and romance, often with Southwestern landscapes. In the Accidental Detective humorous mystery series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty. This humorous series starts with Something Shady at Sunshine Haven, which made Barnes & Noble’s list of “Handpicked Favorites You’ll Love!” Kris’s romantic suspense novels include stories of treasure hunting, archaeology, and intrigue. Readers have called these novels “Smart romance with an Indiana Jones feel.”

Learn more about Kris’s books or sign up for the Kris Bock newsletter and get an Accidental Detective short story and other freebies. Then every two weeks, you’ll get fun content about pets, announcements of new books, sales, and more.

Posted in Archives, May 2025 | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Risky Pursuit

Posted on May 2, 2025 by Dianne Ascroft

Nancy G. West, author of Risky Pursuit, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to why she has written a young adult novel.

Welcome, Nancy. I’ll turn the floor over to you –

Having written a series of successful cozy Aggie Mundeen Mysteries (aka rom/com mysteries), and psychological suspense, why would I write a book about an 18-year-old high school senior who plays baseball?  Because, just as Aggie Mundeen popped into my head and wouldn’t leave, Decker Savage moved into my brain until I had to write about him.

While Aggie’s main concerns are staying young despite passing 30, and helping her hunky detective friend solve murders, Decker’s stakes are higher: he grieves from the loss of a baby brother, his parents are about to divorce, his new friend might die, he has crossed a legal line, and an anonymous man writes notes threatening him and his family. Decker is worthy of sustained effort. While many young/new adults get a bad rap for being solely interested in sci-fi, fantasy,  and sex, Decker, an ordinary young man facing a dark dilemma, longs to grow enough courage to confront and derail the mystery man torturing him so he can preserve his family, safeguard his friend’s health, and have a future – the kind of character who can become unforgettable. 

Authors always strive to write a better book than the ones before. We love mystery/suspense, and we work to add elements of literary fiction to fast-paced stories to make our prose and characters memorable.

Consider these authors and their books: William Shakespeare’s tragedies, James Joyce’s Ulysses, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, William Kent Kruger’s Ordinary Grace, Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See, Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale, Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere, and Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder.

Krueger and Doerr are pegged as the mystery writers among them, but all of them present dilemmas and puzzles to solve, depict crime, and create suspense.

Mystery fiction restores justice. Shakespeare is big on retribution, or he plants the seed that justice will ultimately prevail. Joyce has his characters feel justified.

Prevailing wisdom says literary fiction is darker and less optimistic than mystery fiction. Yet, many mysteries are dark and pessimistic.

Literary fiction supposedly deals with more complex themes. Yet Krueger and Doerr, pegged as mystery writers, deal with complex themes, as do many others writing crime fiction.

That leaves memorable prose, pacing and emphasis. In mystery novels, events change the trajectory of the story more frequently. Slower-paced, melodic literary fiction gives the reader more time to absorb the prose and think…”perchance to dream”…perchance to  switch books.

While mysteries emphasize plot and pacing, a reader who isn’t captivated early by the lead character will search elsewhere. If When literary fiction emphasizes character over plot, it does so at the risk of having the reader long for something to happen.

Judging by books written by the last six authors listed above, it appears there’s increasing crossover between literary and mystery fiction. Master Shakespeare, of course, gives us exquisite language, moving plots, unforgettable characters, pathos, and humor, along with murder, mystery, and mayhem.

Harper Lee takes a serious subject, creates unforgettable characters with beautiful writing, a palpable sense of place, gravity, and humor, and produces a classic literary mystery.

William Kent Kruger creates an idyllic world where chaos should not happen; yet it does. We are so enmeshed with the  characters and descriptions, we tremble that events will destroy their world. Our world.

Anthony Doerr buries us in the hearts and minds of his characters until, as the evil of the past envelopes them, breathless chapter to breathless chapter, we can hardly bear it. Is this not the pacing of a mystery with literary prose?

Kristin Hannah starts with the lyrical, measured sense of place and deep characterization intrinsic to the literary novel.

 Then the increasing pace of horrific events fills us with such anxiety and urgency that we are propelled faster and faster to a heart-stopping climax on the very last page. Brilliant. Literary. Suspenseful. A mystery. 

Celeste Ng gives us ordinary families who create unintended chaos for others much like themselves. As they reveal their hidden evil deeds through her memorable prose, we ache for them.

Ann Patchett gives us love, greed, egotism, mystery, danger, suspense, and a touch of sci-fi in one literary novel.

While crime writers love mysteries, danger, suspense, and puzzles, we want order restored, justice achieved, and our prose and characters to be memorable. So we toil at our craft, trying to incorporate the elements of great fiction into our stories. A tall order. We change genres, ages, sexes, and dilemmas as new people like Decker Savage take up residence in our brains and induce us to tell their stories. We are compelled to keep working to find that sweet spot: literary mystery fiction. 

Thank you for sharing this with us, Nancy, and good luck with Risky Pursuit. Readers can learn more about Nancy G. West by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook page.

The book is available online at Amazon

About Nancy G. West: Nancy West is a recovering business major who discovered that creating stories is a lot more fun than accounting. Her novel of psychological suspense, Nine Days to Evil, won the Clue Award, and The Plunge, a mystery/suspense novella, was a June 2019 selection for ALA’s book club and is Book 1 of the spinoff series, Aggie Mundeen Lake Mysteries. Her Aggie Mundeen Rom-Com Mysteries included a Lefty Award Finalist, Chanticleer Awards, and a Raven Award from Uncaged Book Reviews. She loves writing stories about ordinary teens and adults thrown into dangerous, suspenseful situations…a literary thriller, like Risky Pursuit.

Posted in May 2025 | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Murder at Meadows Lake Clubhouse

Posted on April 25, 2025 by Dianne Ascroft

Soup, the Supernatural Kitten, is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about Murder at Meadows Lake Clubhouse, the first novel in Soup, the Supernatural Kitten mystery series.

Welcome, Soup. Let’s get started, shall we?

Tell us about the novel that you live inside. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.

Meow! This is Soup, the Supernatural Kitten from Murder at Meadows Lake Clubhouse. I don’t think it’s my place to tell you too much about the book because I want you and your readers to read it. However, I’ll say that it’s the Cat’s Meow. What I mean by that is it’s a purr-fect start to the Soup the Supernatural Kitten cozy mystery series. It has a great cast of characters. Rose, my special person, is a widow who moves to the Meadows Lake Community in South Carolina where she meets me. She also meets two eligible bachelors: the realtor who sold her our house and the sheriff. Although she’s still mourning her dead husband Harvey and her cat Moxie, her mind is taken off them by a murder in the community. I forgot to mention that she’s psychic. We make quite a pair; the psychic and the supernatural kitten. Anyways, that’s all I can really tell you without revealing too much.

Does the writer control what happens in the story or do you get a say too?

I get a lot of say. I’m a talking, supernatural kitten, after all.

How did you evolve as the main character?

I’m not exactly the main character, although I’d love to be known as that. Rose is the main character, but I’m a close second. I’m a supporting character, and I came to be because my author adopted a female ginger kitten her daughter named Soup after they moved to South Carolina. She likes to put her cats in books, but the only cat characteristics of the real Soup that she gave me was my name and my color, of course.

Do you have any other characters you like sharing the story with? If so, why are you partial to them?

As I said, Rose is my person. When you read the book, you’ll find out why. There’s a connection between me and Rose’s husband and cat who passed away. I also like Grant, the realtor. He convinced Rose to buy the house and move to South Carolina. That took some doing, so I give him credit. But it was Rose’s decision with a prompting from the beyond. More on that when you read the book.

What’s the place like where you find yourself in this story?

The setting is a community called Meadows Lake in South Carolina. It’s a nice safe place until Rose moves there, but her arrival didn’t cause the murder. In fact, the person killed is someone who deserved it in my opinion.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about you and the book?

No. Just read it. You can buy it in several places. My author is already starting on the next. Here are the places you can get it.

Thank you for answering my questions, Soup, and good luck to you and your author, Debbie De Louise, with Murder at Meadows Lake Clubhouse, the first book in the Soup, the Supernatural Kitten mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Soup and her author, Debbie De Louise by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook, Goodreads, Bookbub, Instagram, LinkedIn and Debbie’s Character’s Chat group. You can also follow her on Twitter/X.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

Amazon   UNIVERSAL BOOK LINK   APPLE BOOKS   BARNES & NOBLE   GOOGLE BOOKS   RAKUTEN KOBO 

About Debbie De Louise: Debbie De Louise is an award-winning author and a retired reference librarian. She is a member of Sisters-in-Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Cat Writers’ Association. She writes two cozy mystery series, the Cobble Cove Mysteries and Buttercup Bend Mysteries. She’s also written a paranormal romance, three standalone mysteries, a time-travel novel, and a collection of cat poems. Her stories and poetry appear in over a dozen anthologies. Debbie also writes articles for cat magazines. She recently moved from Long Island to South Carolina, where she lives with her husband, daughter, and three cats.

Posted in April 2025, Archives | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments