Deadly Traditions: A Cozy Mystery Christmas Anthology

About the Book

Deadly Traditions: A Cozy Mystery Christmas Anthology by Justine Maxwell, Gayle Leeson, Estelle Richards, Erin Scoggins, Sage So, Dianne Ascroft, Ellie Ballard, Melicity Pope, Mollie Cox Bryan, and Sam Cheever

Have yourself a DEADLY little Christmas.

Celebrate the holidays with mistletoe, mayhem, and murder. Join your favorite authors as they cozy up by the fire with twelve festive short mysteries that feature treasured holiday traditions. Serve up a slice of fatal fruitcake and deck the halls with danger, because the holiday season has never been so much fun. 

This original collection is available for a limited time only, so grab your copy today.

Includes:
A Pickle in a Pear Tree by Erin Scoggins
Mistletoe and Murder by Dianne Ascroft
O Deadly Night by Estelle Richards
Larceny and Gingerbread Lattes by Justine Maxwell
Have Yourself a Scary Little Christmas by Gayle Leeson

~~ Amazon ~~

Guest Post by Mollie Cox Bryan

Meet Irene Calhoun

Irene Calhoun here. I own the Mourning Arts shop in Victoria Town, Va,, a place I’m happy to call my home. A well-preserved Victorian Town, we are well known for our architecture and our authentic shops. For example, if you want a fan or a corset, made in an authentic manner, Victoria Town has the shop for you. Of course, one can’t really speak of Victorian culture without looking deeply at their mourning traditions. That’s where I come in. 

My recently departed husband left the shop to me. I must admit this is not the path I cut out for myself as a young woman, but love will find you in odd places. I have found my own way in the shop, now I’m designing mourning clothes, with a bit of a modern twist. I also must admit a fascination with mourning jewelry. We have quite a collection of jet, lover’s eyes, and hair-jewlery. Some modern people think of making jewelry from a deceased person's hair macabre, but the Victorians found it very comforting. 

As a historic town that has reinvented itself into a tourist mecca, we are steeped in tradition and tourist events. One of our busiest times of the year is Christmas, of course. The Sweet Victoria Bed and Breakfast always has a fancy Christmas tea, which is one of my favorite events. Many of the other businesses build their promotions around it. Fans & Feathers offers a special fan one would just use for tea parties, for example. And Cee-Cee’s Chocolate offers Christmas tea-infused chocolates in gorgeous tin containers. 

Our popularity is a mixed blessing. We are well known for our heartfelt hospitality. But at the same time, it can be overwhelming. One of the measures we’ve taken is having some self-care events for ourselves before a big event. One of those events is a card-making party for the local business owners. It’s a way to get creative and have fun, let loose a bit, before the tourist descend on us. This year, I’m hosting at Mourning Arts. It’s my first year and I’m a little nervous about it. I don’t know why. I mean, it’s a crafty party. We’ll have goodies and make cards. What could go wrong?

 

About the Authors

Gayle Leeson

Gayle Leeson is a pseudonym for Gayle Trent. Gayle has also written as Amanda Lee. She is currently writing the Kinsey Falls chick-lit/women's fiction series, the Down South Cafe cozy mystery series, and the Ghostly Fashionista cozy mystery series. Her book KILLER WEDDING CAKE won the Bronze Medal in the 20th Anniversary IPPY Awards. Gayle lives in Southwest Virginia with her family and enjoys hearing from readers.

Mollie Cox Bryan

Mollie Cox Bryan writes cozy mysteries with edge. She's the author of several bestselling mystery series, also writing under the pen name Maggie Blackburn. Her books have been selected as finalists for an Agatha Award and a Daphne du Maurier Award and as a Top 10 Beach Reads by Woman's World. She has also been short-listed for the Virginia Library People's Choice Award. She's also penned a historical fiction: MEMORY OF LIGHT: AN AFTERMATH OF GETTYSBURG. She's the mother of two nearly perfect daughters, each pursuing careers in music.

Erin Scoggins

USA Today Bestselling Author Erin Scoggins is a long-time Southerner with a fondness for offbeat humor and fresh fried chicken. After fifteen years in marketing with a Fortune 500 company, she traded her MBA for fictional crime scenes and feisty small-town families. She writes fun, flirty mysteries that are celebrations of food, family, and the killer South.

Visit her at www.erinscoggins.com for book news and shenanigans.

Estelle Richards

Estelle Richards lives in the beautiful American Southwest and writes cozy mysteries. Connect with Estelle at estellerichards.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/estellerichardswriter/.

Justine Maxwell

Justine Maxwell writes cozy mysteries with brave heroines, strong family bonds, and a touch of romance. She has degrees in psychology from Northern Arizona University and Grand Canyon University. She hopes to one day become a reclusive author in a mountain cabin near Flagstaff, AZ. Until then, she'll be a busy mom of four small children and one (allegedly) hypoallergenic pup, writing in the midst of chaos.

Wendy H. Jones

International Award Winning Author Wendy H. Jones lives in Scotland, and her police procedural series featuring DI Shona McKenzie are set. Wendy has led a varied and adventurous life. Her love for adventure led to her joining the Royal Navy to undertake nurse training. After six years in the Navy, she joined the Army where she served as an Officer for a further 17 years. Killer's Countdown was her first novel and the first book in the Shona McKenzie Mysteries. Killer's Crew won the Books Go Social Book of the Year 2017. The seventh book in the series. Killer's Curse will be released early august 2020. The Dagger's Curse, the first book in The Fergus and Flora Mysteries, was a finalist in the Woman Alive Magazine Readers Choice Award Book of the Year. Turning to humorous crime the Cass Claymore Investigates series was born. She is also a highly successful marketer and is currently in the process of rereleasing her completely updated marketing book Marketing Matters. This will be part of the Writing Matters Series following the release of Motivation Matters. She is also the author of the Bertie the Buffalo picture book and associated soft toy and colouring book. Wendy is delighted to be one of the authors in two anthologies aimed at empowering women - The Power of Why, and Women Win Against All Odds. She is proud to be the President of the Scottish Association of Writers and is the host of The Writing and Marketing Show podcast, a writing and marketing coach. and CEO of Writing Matters online writing school, Authorpreneur Accelerator Academy.

Dianne Ascroft

Dianne Ascroft is a Canadian writer living in Britain. Since moving to Britain in 1990 she has lived in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Online she can be found at http://www.dianneascroft.com.

She writes cozy mystery, historical and contemporary fiction, often with an Irish connection. Her non-fiction articles and short stories have been printed in Canadian and Irish magazines and regional newspapers including the Toronto Star, Ireland's Own, Senior Times, Celtic Connection and Irish Connections Canada.

She was co-editor of The Fermanagh Miscellany, the Fermanagh Authors' Association's yearly anthology for several years and she also contributes material to other local history and writers' anthologies.

Dianne is a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, Sisters in Crime, Historical Novel Society, Writers Abroad, Fermanagh Authors' Association and Fermanagh Writers.

Dianne started life in a quiet residential neighbourhood in the buzzing city of Toronto and has progressively moved to smaller places through the years. She now lives on a small farm in Northern Ireland with her husband and an assortment of strong willed animals. If she ever decides to write her autobiography the working title will be 'Downsizing'.

Sam Cheever

USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author Sam Cheever writes mystery and suspense, creating stories that draw you in and keep you eagerly turning pages. Known for writing great characters, snappy dialogue, and unique and exhilarating stories, Sam is the award-winning author of 80+ books.

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TOUR PARTICIPANTS
September 20 – Reading Authors Network – SPOTLIGHT
September 20 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog – SPOTLIGHT
September 20 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
September 21 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT
September 21 – Lady Hawkeye – SPOTLIGHT
September 21 – Christy's Cozy Corners – REVIEW
September 22 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
September 22 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
September 23 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
September 23 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
September 23 – fundinmental – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
September 24 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
September 24 – Mystery Review Crew – CHARACTER GUEST POST
September 24 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT
September 25 – The Mystery Section – GUEST POST
September 25 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
September 26 – Maureen's Musing – SPOTLIGHT
September 26 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW  
September 26 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
September 27 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
September 27 – Sapphyria's Books – REVIEW
September 27 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT
September 28 – Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – SPOTLIGHT
September 28 – Novels Alive – REVIEW – SPOTLIGHT
September 29 – I Read What You Write – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
September 29 – My Journey Back – CHARACTER GUEST POST  
September 29 – Novels Alive – REVIEW – SPOTLIGHT