Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!
I am happy to welcome Connie Archer to Escapes With Dollycas.
She has just finished her Great Escapes Book Tour and
was gracious to make a stop here today!
Special thanks to Lori for inviting me to her blog today to spread the word about the third book in the souplover’s mystery series — A Roux of Revenge.
When a band of travelers arrives in the village of Snowflake, Vermont and a dead stranger is found by the side of the road, the past returns with a vengeance. Long kept secrets will be revealed, lost loves will be found and the lives of many in the village will be irrevocably altered.
Since today is April 23rd, I thought it only fitting to wish a happy birthday to the Bard. April 23rd is the assumed birth date of William Shakespeare, based on the fact that his baptism took place three days later on April 26, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.
Considered the greatest playwright of all time and known for some of the most beautiful romances in literature, Shakespeare certainly knew how to let his dark side out to play. He would have made any thriller writer proud! He managed to kill off countless characters in unique, brutal and gory fashion, and in his time, his most popular plays were the most violent.
Here are a few highlights. (This is not for the faint-hearted.) Get ready for an orgy of poison, stabbing, suicide, bludgeoning, beheading and general rollicking mayhem.
In a jealous rage, Othello smothers his Desdemona. Overcome with guilt when he learns she had been faithful after all, he kills himself with a dagger. But don’t forget Emilia who is stabbed by her husband, Iago, when he learns of her part in the plot against Desdemona and Cassio. Oh, Rodrigo is stabbed to death too.
In The Winter’s Tale, King Leontes orders the death of his wife Hermione and their two children. Antigonus, ordered to take the King’s infant to the beach to be left to die, is dispatched by a bear! A bear? Say what?
Romeo upon hearing of Juliet’s (untrue) death, drinks the poison at the Capulet crypt When Juliet wakes to find Romeo dead beside her, she ends her own life by stabbing herself with a dagger. Oh, and let’s see, Mercutio, Tybalt, and Paris are stabbed, while Lady Montague dies of a broken heart.
Macbeth kills Duncan, King of Scotland, while Duncan sleeps during a visit to Macbeth’s castle. Our protagonist is a busy man, dispatching Macduff’s wife and children, Duncan’s guards, Banquo and Seward. Macduff of course avenges himself by beheading the reckless Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth dies from . . . not really sure, maybe suicide, maybe lack of sleep.
Nothing in his life
Became him like the leaving it.
Macbeth, Act I, scene 4
Hamlet learns from his father’s ghost that he was killed by poison poured into his ear while he slept, causing scabs over his entire body. Hebenon? What is that? Must have been henbane, also known as black nightshade or Jupiter’s bean. Ophelia, driven mad, falls from a tree branch and drowns. Okay, that’s a suicide. Queen Gertrude drinks from the poisoned chalice of wine intended for Hamlet. She dies exclaiming, “The drink, the drink! I am poison’d.”
Hamlet stabs Claudius with the poisoned rapier and then forces him to drink from the poisoned goblet. Polonius, acting as a spy for King Claudius, dies when Hamlet strikes through the curtain and kills the eavesdropper. Before this piece of fluff is over, both Laertes and Hamlet are dead from sword wounds and poison.
In King Lear, Cornwall and Oswald are stabbed. Gloucester is blinded and dies of shock.. Regan is poisoned by her sister, Goneril, after she sets her sights on Goneril’s lover. Cordelia is jailed and hanged in her cell. Finally, Goneril commits suicide when her plots are exposed and Lear dies of grief.
Golden lads and girls all must
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.
Cymbeline, Act IV, scene 2
For sheer blood and guts Titus Andronicus tops them all. Lavinia is raped by Demetrius and Chiron who then cut out her tongue and cut off her hands. When Titus, her father, learns of the rape, he murders her by breaking her neck and kills the two men. He hangs them upside down to drain their blood and bakes them in a pie which he feeds to their mother. Shades of Sweeney Todd! Titus then stabs her in the face before being brought down by Saturninus, who in turn is also stabbed to death. A veritable feast of gore (if you’ll pardon the pun).
The body count is rising. Midsomer Parva can’t hold a candle to the seacoast of Bohemia in this play. Alarbus’s arms and legs are cut off and he is thrown into the fire, the nurse is stabbed, Tamora dies of indigestion, Mutius and Bassanius are stabbed, Martius and Quintus are beheaded, the clown is hanged and Aaron, is buried up to his neck in the sand and starves to death.
Woe, destruction, ruin, and decay;
The worst is death, and death will have his day.
Richard II, Act III, scene 2
Shakespeare died on his (probable) birthday, April 23, 1616.
Happy Birthday, Will – you’ve entertained us for centuries!
~Connie
About This Author
Connie Archer is the author of A Spoonful of Murder, A Broth of Betrayal and just released, A Roux of Revenge.
You can visit Connie at www.conniearchermysteries.com
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConnieArcherMysteries
Twitter: @SnowflakeVT
A Roux of Revenge
(A Soup Lover’s Mystery)
3rd in Series
Cozy Mystery
A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery
The Berkley Publishing Group
Published by The Penguin Group
Cover Illustration by Cathy Gendron
Cover Design by Diana Kolsky
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0425252420
E-Book File Size: 1846 KB
ASIN: B00F9F0T0M
It’s time for the Harvest Festival just outside of Snowflake, Vermont. Lucky’s By The Spoonful Soup Shop is busy with not only tourists coming to town for the festival but a group of travelers that have come to work at the festival. One of the travelers seems to be particularly interested into one of Lucky’s waitresses. Does Janie have a stalker?
An unidentified man has also been found murdered in a van just outside of town and the travelers seem to be the prime suspects. When Janie’s life is put in danger Lucky has no choice but try to help her even if it means working together with the travelers under suspicion.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
From A Spoonful of Murder to A Broth of Betrayal and now in A Roux of Revenge, Snowflake, Vermont is a hotbed of mystery.
In this installment tension is as hot as the soups. The travelers are sometimes referred to as gypsies as they travel around from place to place taking jobs like working at festivals like the one taking place in Snowflake. When one of them appears to be watching the soup shop and especially Janie, Lucky senses something is up right away.
Archer has crafted a very interesting mystery with very unexpected twists. She also mixes in Lucky relationship with Elias that seems to be ending its course unless something changes in a hurry. I will admit I found Elias’ actions or lack there of very frustrating myself so I was feeling heartbroken for Lucky.
I really enjoy the way all the characters meet and check in at By The Spoonful and the way Lucky and her grandfather, Jack, interact with everyone. If you want to know what is happening in Snowflake this is the place to be. It reminds me so much of the cafe my mother used to run.
The author continues to top herself and has left me anxiously awaiting my next visit to By The Spoonful.
Thanks to the people at Penguin I have 2 copies to give away!
Contest is open to anyone over 18 years old
with a US or Canadian mailing address.
Duplicate entries will be deleted. Void where prohibited.
You do not have to be a follower to enter but I hope you will find
something you like here and become a follower.
Followers Will Receive 2 Bonus Entries For Each Way They Follow.
Plus 2 Bonus Entries For Liking My Facebook Fan Page.
Leave a comment for Connie for 5 Bonus Entries !
If you publicize the giveaway on Twitter or Facebook or anywhere you will receive
5 Bonus Entries For Each Link.
Contest Will End May 7, 2014 at 11:59 PM CST
Winner Will Be Chosen By Random.org
Winner Will Be Notified By Email
and Will Be Posted Here In The Sidebar.
CLICK HERE FOR ENTRY FORM
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Prefer reading Archer to Shakespeare.
Hi Barbara, thank you! Snowflake has murders but nothing as gory as Shakespeare!
Gosh it looks great, i hope i get a chance to read it 🙂
Hi Lisa, best of luck in the giveaway. I hope you get to visit Snowflake VT soon!
Shakespeare would certainly not be classified as a cozy mystery author.
LOL! I can’t imagine what a publisher would say! Best of luck in the giveaway!
Thanks for the giveaway
Good luck, Tina. I hope you get to meet everyone in the village soon!
I’m dying to read this series , I love the setting , and who doesn’t love soup ??
Oh I’m with you. Nothing better than soup! Good luck in the giveaway, Kathy!
Love soup and love VT. What could be better!
Hi Gram – thanks for stopping by! Good luck today!
Congratulations on the publication of A Roux of Revenge! It sounds like an intriguing mystery, without all the blood and violence of Shakespeare.
Thanks so much! There are lots of mysteries in the village without all the bludgeoning, thank heavens!
I loved the first one and need to get caught up in the series!
Hi Alicia, I think you’ll really enjoy catching up with all the goings on in the village. Best of luck today!
This series sounds captivating and unique. I enjoyed this post and learning about the background.
Hi Sharon – I hope you get to visit Snowflake, VT soon. Good luck and thanks for stopping by!
I love cozy mysteries so I’m so excited to have found you! Can’t wait to start reading some of your series. Thanks!
I loved reading all about Shakespeare and I look forward to being able to read your book.
Hi Angie! Thanks for visiting and best of luck in the giveaway!
Sounds like a great series.
Hi Rita – Good luck! I hope you get to meet everyone in the village soon!
Will knew how to catch out attention, didn’t he?
He certainly did, and it’s true that his most popular plays were the most violent. He was the biggest thriller writer of his time, I’m sure!
Sounds real good. Thanks for the chance to win.
Best of luck, Nancy. Thanks for stopping by today!
I like to watch Shakespeare but I never liked to read his works. Now if they were rewritten in today’s English…
The best performances are the ones that make you forget you’re listening to English from hundreds of years ago. I love the modern film versions of Shakespeare too! Good luck today!
I totally agree with you, where Elias is concerned. I think when I read the book, I was unsure as to Lucky’s exact age. I found that she didn’t confront him to be a little irritating. But I gathered that she’s still filling her way around.
I CAN’T wait for the next book, to find out what happens. But I need to go back andh read the other two books in the series.
Connie~ Why is Shakespeare called Bard?
Hi Kim ~ I really hope you enjoy the first two in the series! It will also give you some background on Lucky and Elias’s relationship. I can’t say more because I wouldn’t want to give anything away — it would be a spoiler but thanks so much for stopping by today!
Oh, just saw your last paragraph. A bard is a storyteller, and Shakespeare’s considered “The Bard” of the English language because he was so prolific and still his stories are well known and popular.
Soup and festivals—anything with soup gets my vote.
Hi Ronna ~ Glad you could come by today. Funny you should say that, I was just thinking about getting some soup right now! Best of luck!
One thing with Shakespeare tragedies you pretty much know everybody is going to die, he didn’t seem to leave too many standing in the end. I really need to get started on this series, soup and murder, what could be better, LOL.
Hi Debbie ~ That’s so true. It’s a wonder there were enough actors left to take a bow!
I hope you get to visit the village very soon ~ best of luck in the giveaway!
I have a birthday coming up. I’m just looking around to see who would be fun to kill – in a story of course! Thanks for the Shakespeare info and good luck with A Roux of Revenge.
Thanks, Stephen ~ Shakespeare could give you some very good ideas! Thanks for stopping by today!
I have read this book and really enjoyed it! =)
Pinned to my Cozy board!
Oh, thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed A Roux of Revenge!!!
Enough to make me want to go over to the dark side. Cool!
Oh the dark side can be lots of (vicarious) fun. Glad you could stop by, Sheila!
Love the series! Thanks for the interview & giveaway.
Thanks so much! Best of luck in the giveaway!
I’m looking forward to reading this mystery 🙂
Thanks for sharing the info on Shakespeare. I haven’t read any of his work since highschool.
Reading Shakespeare can be difficult, but it’s absolutely wonderful to see a good production live. Good luck in the giveaway!
This sounds like a fun book, I like that travelers are involved in this one.
These travelers are very interesting people too! I think you’d enjoy reading about them. Thanks for stopping by today!
Strangers in a small town always make for an interesting time—those long buried secrets should spice it up, too.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
Hi Sue ~ Hope you get to find out everything that goes on in Snowflake in this book! Good luck!
I look forward to the unraveling the secrets with you in Roux of Revenge!
Hi Merry! thanks for stopping by. There are many secrets in Snowflake and they come to light in this book. Enjoy and good luck!
Oh my! Never realized Shakespeare was so grisly. Of course, don’t think I ever read much Shakespeare – and certainly not since college!
Much rather read newer authors, and newer stories. Cozies are more my cup of tea — or at least mysteries I can understand & follow.
Thank you, Connie, for writing books I like.
Long kept secrets and lost loves makes this book a must read. I can’t wait to read it. Thanks for having the giveaway.
Book sounds fantastic. Looking forward to reading it. Thank you for the opportunity of this giveaway.
This sounds marvelous! I love cozies that are set in small towns because I grew up in what used to be a small town where everyone knew everyone and the dynamics were so interesting. Thank you for this opportunity.
sounds good.thanks for the chance
This sounds like a nice book. I would like to check this out.
This books looks interesting, I would love to read it.
I love a good mystery
Love this series!
trivia is great … thanks
can’t wait to read these