Bookseller Delaney Nichols is very much enjoying life as a newlywed in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her handsome husband Tom owns a pub just across the way from where she assists at The Cracked Spine, a local institution headed by the rich and eccentric Edwin MacAlister. Delaney is happy to work on cataloging the many treasures Edwin…
What goes best with a good cozy? A mug of coffee, sure. A cup of tea, absolutely. But nothing beats a good cocktail! Here are our hand-picked cocktail pairings for each book in the sampler. Of Manners and Murder by Anastasia Hastings Pimm’s Cup: A London staple created in the 1800s, the same city and century this…
What is the appeal of living in a practically off-the-grid Alaskan community? For Beth Rivers, who writes popular thrillers under the name Elizabeth Fairchild, the allure of Benedict is its remoteness. Folks in Benedict (a fictional town) respect one another’s privacy. Thin Ice was the first in Paige Shelton’s Alaska Wild mystery series. The series…
A messenger dressed all in black, his ensemble topped off with a “pillbox-like cap,” delivers a message to Delaney Nichols at the Cracked Spine, the bookstore where she works. Ms. Delaney Nichols, Your presence is requested this afternoon at 2:00 at Deacon Brodie’s Tavern to discuss Ms. Shelagh O’Conner’s vast collection of rare and…
I like it when writers write about writers—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Well, actually, it seems the best stories aren’t about the good. It’s just not as much fun to hear about those days—the days when the words flow, everyone who reads their books gushes and loves them, and nothing interrupts the creative…
Chapter 1 I lifted the curtain flap. Twilight was one of my new favorite things; an extended time here in my new neighborhood in Alaska before and after real sunrise and sunset. As we came upon the end of October, twilight in Benedict lasted about forty minutes at each end of the shorter days. We…
Start your spring reading with six cozy mysteries! Enter below for a chance to win: one ARC of Lineage Most Lethal by S.C. Perkins one mass market paperback copy of Hems & Homicide by Elizabeth Penny one mass market paperback copy of Egg Drop Dead by Vivien Chien one hardcover copy of The Stolen Letter…
Kings and queens being hanged, beheaded, and poisoned. It seems Scotland has seen more than its fair share of suspicious regicides. Before I started writing The Stolen Letter, I didn’t know much about Mary, Queen of Scots, but I’ve always held a fascination for the martyred queen. Over the years, of course, I’d picked up…
First in a new series by Paige Shelton, Thin Ice follows thriller author Beth Rivers as she tries to escape a fanatic’s obsession in the wide-open spaces of Alaska. Paige Shelton is a prolific mystery writer with several popular series already under her belt: the Scottish Bookshop Mystery Series, the Country Cooking School Mystery Series, the…
Alaska. Even when I think about it, a hollow sense of the vast wide open makes my stomach drop a little. I’ve traveled to Alaska a few times and I truly love it; its primitive beauty is breathtaking—though I’m not sure I could live there. I’ve visited the big city of Anchorage, the capital city…
