Oh look it's a book

[sholio]

Julie's latest, and my first stab at a Christmas cozy! Full length novel, unlike the shorter campground mysteries.



Download on Bookfunnel. The link will stop working when the book goes live on Amazon on Dec. 1.


Deck the halls ...

The Cottage in Mistletoe Falls was Maisie's best-loved holiday getaway for years. Now, as a retired widow bringing her grandchildren with her to help fix up the Cottage for Christmas, Maisie can only hope to get back in touch with her younger, happier self.

Mistletoe Falls is still all she hoped it would be, impossibly charming under a blanket of snow, featuring businesses such as Frankie's Teddy Bear Repair and Ginger's Gingerbread. The Cottage itself has fallen into disrepair, and developed a few new mysteries, such as what happened to most of its beautiful antique furniture, and what exactly the mysterious key on Maisie's key ring goes to, when it doesn't seem to fit any lock on the property. Maisie can still see the hope in its beloved old bones, if she can just work up some elbow grease and make the place sparkle and shine as it once did.

... with festive murder?

But there's something amiss in the mistletoe when a greedy developer turns up dead at Maisie's "fix up the Cottage" party, and a friend's son is arrested for murder. Now Maisie must enlist the help of her eagerly sleuthing grandchildren, her cat Sugarplum, and her new neighbors to find out who in Mistletoe Falls is a killer—before this Christmas turns into a holiday slay ride.

A holiday cozy mystery full of laughs, festive touches, and heartwarming charm.


Cover or blurb suggestions are welcome if you have any. I've still got a couple of days left for changes.

Comments

[yalumesse]

Sounds like fun! I really love the last line - a holiday slay ride. Fully giggled at that.

[sholio]

Would it really be a cozy mystery without a ridiculous pun somewhere? xD

[sovay]

Julie's latest, and my first stab at a Christmas cozy! Full length novel, unlike the shorter campground mysteries.

Nice!

[sholio]

Thank you! :)

[sheron]

♥

[sholio]

COZY!!

[passingbuzzards]

Ooh this looks so fun! I'll have to give it a read, a Christmas cozy sounds like something I need in my life.

[vass]

Yoinked, thank you!

Cover or blurb suggestions are welcome if you have any.

I love the cover art, and I think two out of three fonts there are good. The font/colour/etc for "Maisie's" doesn't quite work for me. I don't know what (position? angle? colour? the font itself?) the problem is, but it reads to me like it isn't part of the title.

[sholio]

Thank you! That's easily the part I was least pleased with, and I think goss's comment gave me something to try for that.

[goss]

I know absolutely nothing about book cover typeface design, so this is mainly from an artist perspective. Instead of the attention going to 'Maisie's' in a red script font in the title, I feel like the cheerful cover could maybe place emphasis on the word 'murder' in an ironic way, like maybe writing it in a festive candy cane font, or adding a mistletoe with an old key hanging off it or something. Just a suggestion - YMMV.

[sholio]

Oh, I love that! Actually, that would solve my other problem, which is that the cover is a bit dark and the Maisie type vanishes into the background. I think I'm absolutely going to try that - thank you so much for the suggestions! (I was really struggling with that top font, but somehow I never thought of this solution and it's so much better than anything else I've come up with.)

[leesa_perrie]

I shall give it a go. I keep meaning to come back and say that, although not my normal genre and I have no interest in reading cosy mysteries written by other people (atm, anyway), I have fallen in love with Vicki Vandermoon et al and am enjoying the Campground books! But then, you've always been good at characters, and, of course, there's the lovely Barksley to fall for too!

And, oh dear, there's a cat in the new series...! :D :D :D

[cairistiona]

I've been in a reading slump and a cosy Christmas mystery might be just the thing. Thanks for the link/download!

[sgatazmy]

I downloaded it :). I need good reading for when I’m healing from surgery.

[cgbookcat1]

This sounds adorable and fun, thank you! I'm going to save it to read after I grade finals, and then I can buy a copy for Mom.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Thank you again! You're writing them faster than I can read them!

[rietta89]

Ooh, this looks fabulous, and just what I need to cheer me up! Thank you very much for the free copy; that's very generous of you <3

[philomytha]

Christmas cosy! Excellent!

[cornerofmadness]

sounds like fun

[umadoshi]

Thank you! <3

[lokifan]

Heyyyy! Very nice. I like the last paragraph best but it all seems good in terms of getting across what the book is about (esp the 'butter' of sorting out the Cottage).

[sealie]

very belated comment -- I did download this before I rushed off to work, and didn't have a chance to say thank you. The lack weighed on me. I haven't had a chance to read it yet!

thank you