Kathleen Marple Kalb releases A Fatal Overture, an Ella Shane historical mystery

 

The multi-talented Kathleen Marple Kalb returns with a great new cozy mystery! 

Kathleen Marple Kalb likes to describe herself as an Author/Anchor/Mom…not in that order. She’s the author of the Ella Shane historical mystery series for Kensington Books, including A FATAL OVERTURE, and A FATAL FIRST NIGHT, named to Aunt Agatha’s Best Of: History Mystery 2021 list. She grew up in front of a microphone and a keyboard, working as an overnight DJ as a teenager in her hometown of Brookville, Pennsylvania…and writing her first (thankfully unpublished) historical novel at sixteen. After a news career with stops in Pittsburgh, Vermont and Connecticut, she’s now a weekend morning anchor at 1010 WINS Radio in New York City. As Nikki Knight, she’s also the author of the contemporary Vermont Radio Mystery, LIVE, LOCAL AND DEAD, out now from Crooked Lane. Her short stories appear in anthologies, and her story “Bad Apples” was an Honorable Mention in the 2021 Black Orchid Novella Contest. She, her husband, and son live in Connecticut, in a house owned by their cat.

WHERE TO FIND ME:

Website: https://kathleenmarplekalb.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kathleen-Marple-Kalb-1082949845220373/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KalbMarple

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kathleenmarplekalb/ 

What would you write if you knew you couldn’t fail?

Something just for fun, like the part Princess Diaries, part romantic suspense, part modern cozy mystery piece that I work on between projects. It’s bonkers and genre-bending, but it’s relaxing sometimes to use everything I’ve learned about craft just for my own enjoyment…and ignore the rules if I want to!

How do you know when your story is finished?

When I can read it through without any real questions about characters, plot or voice. If I think something doesn’t quite hang together, my editor – and readers – will absolutely catch it, too. I don’t let anything out of my hands until it’s the best I can possibly make it. Even then, I’m often not done. The wonderful thing about working with good editors is that they see improvements writers can’t because we’re too close to the story. At least for me, it’s not “The End” until my editor and I agree that it is.

Do you write part-time or full-time?

I think of it as a full-time job, and approach it that way. If I added up all the hours I spent on writing, editing, social media and connecting with other writers, I would definitely be working north of 40 hours a week. A lot of that is fun, though, so it’s not really a fair calculation. However much actual time I spend on writing, I treat it with the same professionalism I bring to my “real” job as a radio news anchor: I’m always on time, prepared, and ready to accept changes or constructive criticism in the professional way it’s meant.

How long on average does it take you to write a book?

When I really have time to write, I can get a full manuscript in about two months. I don’t have a traditional first draft because I go over the previous day’s pages when I start writing in the morning, so that full manuscript is in decent shape, but still a few weeks away from a form I’m willing to show anyone. If I was working on only one project at a time (not my usual approach), I could finish a book in three to four months.

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

Patience. I have none. A lifetime in newsrooms has made me very good at making fast deadlines, and very bad at letting things unfold. One of the biggest things I’ve had to learn as a writer is to give story and plot ideas time to “cook.” It’s easier if I’m working on several projects at once – I can take a break and let one settle, and write something else, then switch, and bring fresh eyes to each.

What is your next project?

I’m polishing the next Ella book – no spoilers! I’m also working on a couple of different cozy mystery ideas. My NaNoWriMo project was to finish something I’d been working on for years, and I really loved the process, and the story, so I’m polishing that too. And of course my crazy little side project!

 

A FATAL OVERTURE finds trouser diva Ella Shane facing her biggest challenges yet: murder, marriage – and her potential mother-in-law. The mother and aunts of her swain, Gilbert Saint Aubyn, Duke of Leith, show up at her townhouse demanding to know when she plans to marry him…only to find a body in their hotel bathtub. As Ella and Gil try to work out their marriage contract, Ella’s newspaper reporter pal Hetty gets mixed up in the murder…and an old friend of Ella’s informs her that someone is trying to take out a contract on Gil. They may be able to work out a happy ending – but it won’t be safe, or easy!

Buy: A Fatal Overture (kensingtonbooks.com)

https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496727244/a-fatal-first-night/

https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496727268/a-fatal-finale/

Debra Goldstein reveals her Sarah Blair Mystery series

 

Mysteries with recipes and cuddly animals? Welcome to Debra Goldstein!!

Judge Debra H. Goldstein authors Kensington’s Sarah Blair mystery series including recently published Three Treats Too Many, 2020 Silver Falchion finalist Two Bites Too Many, and January 2019 Woman’s World Book of the Week One Taste Too Many. Debra also wrote Should Have Played Poker and 2012 IPPY Award winning Maze in Blue. Her short stories have been chosen as Agatha, Anthony, and Derringer finalists. Find out more about Debra at:

Website – www.DebraHGoldstein.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/DebraHGoldsteinAuthor/      

Twitter - @DebraHGoldstein

Instagram – debra.h.goldstein

Bookbub – https://www.bookbub.com/profile/debra-h-goldstein

What would you say are your strengths as an author?  

My biggest strength as an author is and has been my passion to succeed as a writer. That motivation is what has enabled me to willingly learn from other authors, readers, books, and classes how to better my writing. It also forced me to translate my ideas into written words that eventually were enough for a short story or a novel.

How often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine?  

I wish I could say that I write daily or have an established routine, but I don’t. When I was still on the bench, I was more disciplined – writing between midnight and four a.m., as well as on weekends, but now, days blend into each other and I only write when the muse hits me or I have a deadline.

Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?  

Five years from now, I hope I am a better and more disciplined writer who gives back in the same manner people have extended themselves to help me. In terms of my writing, I would love it if my Sarah Blair series is still going, my short stories are continuing to be accepted, and I have written a standalone that is well-received.

 If you could offer once piece of advice to a novice writer, what would it be?

Assuming the novice writer is writing rather than talking about it, my advice is “Be a sponge.” Take classes, attend lectures, read books on writing, network, learn from writers who are higher in the food chain, and read and dissect well-written and poorly written books in the genre you are writing in.

What would you consider to be the best compliment a reader could give your book?

The best compliment is that my book was fun and made the reader, for a little while, forget about the real world. 

What are you working on now? 

Because Three Treats Too Many, the third book in Kensington’s Sarah Blair series, was released on August 25, I’m busy juggling promoting it with writing the fifth Sarah Blair mystery. I recently turned in the fourth book. It will be published in June 2021.

THREE TREATS TOO MANY - published August 25, 2020

When a romantic rival opens a competing restaurant in small-town Wheaton, Alabama, Sarah Blair discovers murder is the specialty of the house . . . 
 
For someone whose greatest culinary skill is ordering takeout, Sarah never expected to be co-owner of a restaurant. Even her Siamese cat, RahRah, seems to be looking at her differently. But while Sarah and her twin sister, Chef Emily, are tangled up in red tape waiting for the building inspector to get around to them, an attention-stealing new establishment—run by none other than Sarah's late ex-husband's mistress, Jane—is having its grand opening across the street. 
 
Jane's new sous chef, Riley Miller, is the talk of Wheaton with her delicious vegan specialties. When Riley is found dead outside the restaurant with Sarah's friend, Jacob, kneeling over her, the former line cook—whose infatuation with Riley was no secret—becomes the prime suspect. Now Sarah must turn up the heat on the real culprit, who has no reservations about committing cold-blooded murder . . . Includes quick and easy recipes!

TWO BITES TOO MANY - 2020 Silver Falchion Finalist - published October 2019

Things are finally looking up for Sarah Blair following her unsavory divorce. Settled into a cozy carriage house with her sassy Siamese cat, RahRah, she has somehow managed to hang on to her law firm receptionist job and – if befriending flea-bitten strays at the local animal shelter counts – lead a thriving social life. For once, Sarah almost has it together more than her enterprising twin, Emily, a professional chef whose efforts to open a gourmet restaurant have hit a real dead end…

When the president of the town bank and city council is murdered after icing Emily’s business plans, all eyes are on the one person who left the scene with blood on her hands – the twins’ sharp-tongued mother, Maybelle. Determined to get her mom off the hook ASAP, Sarah must collect the ingredients of a deadly crime to bring the true culprit to justice. But as neighbors turn against her family, can she pare down the suspects before another victim lands on the chopping block.

ONE TASTE TOO MANY - published January 2019

For culinary challenged Sarah Blair, there’s only one thing scarier than cooking from scratch—murder!

Married at eighteen, divorced at twenty‑eight, Sarah Blair knew starting over would be messy, but things fall apart completely when her ex drops dead, seemingly poisoned by her twin sister’s award-winning rhubarb crisp. Now, with RahRah, her Siamese cat, wanted by the woman who broke up her marriage and her sister wanted by the police for murder, Sarah needs to figure out the right recipe to crack the case before time runs out. Unfortunately, for a gal whose idea of good china is floral paper plates, catching the real killer and living to tell about it could mean facing a fate worse than death—being in the kitchen!    

 [Recipes in One Taste Too Many include Jell-O in a Can.]

Buy Links:

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Three-Treats-Sarah-Blair-Mystery/dp/1496719492

Barnes & Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/three-treats-too-many-debra-h-goldstein/1135275342?ean=9781496719492

"Knot in My Backyard" by Mary Marks

I was lucky enough to receive and advance copy of "Knot in My Backyard" from Kensington Books in exchange for an honest review BUT I was already a big fan after Mary's wonderful first book "Forget Me Knot." So what's Mary Marks' new book about?

Baseball may be America's official pastime, but for Martha Rose and her friends, quilting is far more fun...and a lot less dangerous.
A diamond brocade pattern is more quilter Martha Rose's style than a baseball diamond--especially when it comes to the new eyesore of a stadium ruining her lovely San Fernando Valley neighborhood. Martha doesn't know a bunt from a bundt cake, but when she stumbles upon the battered body of baseball coach Dax Martin, she doesn't need a scorecard to know it's foul play. LAPD homicide detective Arlo Beavers is convinced one of her neighbors is responsible. But Martha and her fellow quilters Lucy and Birdie soon discover a whole field of suspects who might have wanted to take the coach out of the game permanently...

When Martha Rose stumbles across a dead body while on a walk one day as part of her latest weight loss plan, she stets off a chain of events that involves a group of homeless people, a motorcycle gang, and a giant of a man she refers to as a golem. Martha is a middle-aged, down to earth character who is thrust into several situations her conscience can't let her back out of and she is determined to discover who killed the baseball coach - in spite of the advice of her boyfriend Arlo Beavers. While she doesn't always make the safest decisions, Martha pokes her nose into a few dangerous situations and is lucky there is always someone there to save her.

Not being Jewish, I found I did stumble over some of the words Ms. Marks uses, but the charm and "homey" sense of the novel made it work and answered any questions I may have had. "Knot in My Backyard" neatly answers the question of who killed Dax Martin, but it also leaves us with a graceful lead in to Ms. Marks' next book to find out what will happen next in Martha Rose's romantic life.

You can find "Knot in My Backyard" on Amazon. Simply click on the book title!

Find more books by Mary Marks here.