I am so excited to welcome Monica Ferris to Escape With Dollycas today!!
THE LIFE OF CONNOR SULLIVAN
By Monica Ferris
I have a little talent that has proved itself useful over the years. I don’t need an alarm clock. Before I fall asleep, I picture a clock in my head with the hands set to the time I want to wake up. And I wake up within five minutes or less of that time. It doesn’t matter that I’m in a different time zone or that we’re going off or on daylight savings time, I will wake up at the time I set. Maybe I’m like Peter Pan’s crocodile and somehow swallowed a clock.
On an ordinary weekday I wake at six, bathe, dress, make breakfast for myself and my lady, annoy the cat Thai, log on to my computer and, if the world hasn’t come to an end, begin the unscheduled portion of my day.
This consists of housework, needlework, shopping, visiting friends, short sight-seeing trips, fishing, skiing, volunteering at a local nursing home, working occasional hours in a needlework shop, and reading history and action novels.
My lady, whose name is Elizabeth but who is called Betsy, owns her own small business, over which, like the Queen of England (of similar name, though I doubt she was ever called Betsy), she lives. It is a needlework shop, focusing mainly on needlepoint and counted cross stitch, with a side aisle devoted to knitting and a corner to crochet. I myself am a knitter – I spent many years at sea and there are long idle hours in that occupation, so taking up a craft that does not occupy a great deal of space or make a big mess is called for. Though I am now retired, I still knit. Fortunately, I am a muscular man with a harsh, weathered face, so no one dares to remark unkindly when they see me working with needles.
I sometimes help out in the shop, because Betsy has a second occupation, of which I secretly strongly disapprove, because it can be damned dangerous. She helps people wrongly accused of a serious crime prove themselves innocent. Often this calls for discovering the actual perpetrator, who very naturally resents her interference. I am clever enough not to try to talk her out of her sleuthing, because I want to continue living with her. So I support her efforts when I can, condole with her when things become difficult, and soothe her troubled spirit when it turns out that the culprit is someone she came to like.
Her latest adventure involved a local man injured when a tree fell on his house during a violent storm. When rescue crews broke in to save him, they discovered his house was full to the rafters with an astonishing mix of trash and treasure. A cousin drove all the way from Indiana to help care for him and organize a clean-up. While he was still in the hospital someone entered his room and smothered him with a pillow. The police, of course, suspected his cousin, who was seriously in need of the money she would inherit from the sale of his property. Betsy, bless her heart, set out to prove her innocent.
I would like to marry Betsy, but she is twice divorced and so does not trust her judgement of the male sex. I think she’s a terrific judge of character – how else could she so successfully investigate her cases? – but dare not press my cause too strongly for the reason given above: I want to continue to live with her. I am beginning to see how the characters in a romance novel come to live such tangled lives. I hope ours comes to as happy an ending as they do.
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Darned if You Do
Series: A Needlecraft Mystery (Book 18)
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Berkley Hardcover (February 3, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-0425270103
E-Book ASIN: B00L9AXXBS
The USA Today bestselling Needlecraft Mysteries have shown that when it comes to murder, Betsy Devonshire, owner of the Crewel World needlework shop, doesn’t mess around. But when a local hoarder is murdered, she’ll need all her wits to dig a new friend out of a heap of trouble…
After a tree falls on Tom Riordan’s house, landing him in the hospital, the police discover a mountain of junk piled high in his home. Locals in Excelsior, Minnesota—including Betsy and her Crewel World Monday Bunch—offer to help with the cleanup while Tom recuperates.
But when Tom is found murdered in his hospital bed, the sole heir to his property—his cousin Valentina—becomes the number one suspect. Betsy believes there’s more to the case than meets the eye, but finding clues to the killer’s identity in the clutter Tom left behind will be like looking for a needle in a haystack …
FREE CROCHET PATTERN INCLUDED
Want to find out more about Monica and her books? Visit her webpage here.
Thanks to the people at Penguin I have 2 copies of Darned If I Do 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.
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Contest Will End February 21, 2015 at 11:59 PM CST
Winners Will Be Chosen By Random.org
Winners Will Be Notified By Email
and Will Be Posted Here In The Sidebar.
CLICK HERE FOR ENTRY FORM
Looks like a good book I will be reading. Thank you for the giveaway!
Great series. I am eager to read the latest.
Darned If You Do looks like a really good book Thanks for giving us a chance to win one and the others look good Too 🙂
This sounds good!
Thanks for the giveaway…looks to be a good read and a good series to get into.
I love your Peter Pan remark. Also, love your cozies.:)
Love Monica Ferris’ books and I love needlework…win!win! Thanks for the opportunity!
This is a new to me series. I must look for #1.
love the series, thanks for the chance to win 🙂
Like your character Connor Sullivan, my husband doesn’t need an alarm clock either! I am an ex-knitter who never learned to crochet, but I’m planning to read a few cozy mysteries to see what they’re like soon (for a library project) so yours sounds like a good one to start with!
I can’t believe I haven’t read any from this series. It sounds like a fun read and would love to have a copy to read. Thanks for a great interview.
This series sounds captivating and unique. Thanks. Great interview.
Another new to me series and after reading about Connor I want to know more. Thanks for the chance to win.
I love the clever puns and the classic, vintage-looking covers. I think we’d have fun with all the books in this series. Thanks for the chance to win this one.
What a great post from Connor’s point of view! I enjoy this series a lot, thanks for the chance to win.
This is a great series, although I am a bit biased since I’m originally from Minnesota 🙂
As a crafter, I’m in. Through these books, I can craft vicariously and help solve crimes.
I love mysteries which take you into the world of sewing. This sounds like another one to add to my collection.
Ann
I love this series. It’s one of my favorites.
This sounds like it will be an awesome book. I am hoping to get the chance to read it. Thank you! 🙂
I have that inner clock thing too, but I never thought I might be like Peter Pan’s crocodile! This book sounds really interesting. How could I have missed this author and series? I have some serious catching up to do.
Thanks for the giveaway. This sounds like a fun book.
Would love to start reading this series! Even though I am seriously thread and needle challenged, I enjoy mysteries about sewing, quilting, and related crafts, including knitting and crocheting. I wish I had that inner clock – or at least one that would wake me at the right time 🙂 Thank you for the opportunity to win!
It’s different to have a male mc in a cozy…and I like that! :O)
Sounds good. Count me in, please.
Congratulations!
I love the series! Yes, please, I’d love to get a free copy of the latest book!
Thank you for doing the interview.
Love Monica ferris series & I don’t do any needlework! Thanks for the giveaway!
I have been reading these books since a librarian friend introduced me to them at a science fiction convention. I love needlework but do not always have time for it and reading also.
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR NEW BOOK AND THANKS FOR THE GIVEAWAY!
Looks like another great book to be added to a fun series
I’ve read and enjoyed the other books in the series. Have been waiting fot a new one!
Glad to see another one for this series!
Monica Ferris is a new author for me, and I will have to check out the Needlecraft Mysteries series. 🙂
Is the whole book written from the man’s perspective, or just the description? Either way cute idea! Sounds like a really good cozy mystery, and I’d love to win a copy.
Fun post! This sounds like a book I would enjoy.
I’ve been collecting the Needlecraft mysteries ever since I read the debut. Love this series! Thank you for a chance to win Lori and Monica.
congrats to Monica….continued success!!!
Would love to win! I have a lot of these books, but not this one or the one that came out last year.