Guest Post/Giveaway – Death Before Decaf by Caroline Fardig Great Escapes Book Tour

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Death Before Decaf
by Caroline Fardig

 

Playlist for DEATH BEFORE DECAF

 

I love music.  I’m a musician like my DEATH BEFORE DECAF heroine, Juliet, although I opted for a Music Education degree rather than a Music Performance degree.  The joke among the Music Ed students at my school was that our slogan should be:  “Music Ed—because we’re not good enough to be performance majors.”  (Which was totally true in my case.)  Not only that, I realized belatedly that trying to teach a little music to a lot of kids wasn’t my scene.  As a result, I have a rather useless degree, although I did come out of college with an awesome husband who encouraged me to follow my dream of becoming a writer.  So there you go.

Music inspires my writing.  Certain songs come on the radio, and it’s like someone has started a movie inside my head.  Sometimes it’s the lyrics that get me going and sometimes it’s simply the feelings the sound of the music invokes.  That being said, I can’t write while music is playing.  Like, at all.  I can’t concentrate.  So, when I’m formulating a story in my head, music plays a big role.  But when I’m actually putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), the music gets kicked to the curb.

Here’s my playlist of what inspired me throughout the writing of DEATH BEFORE DECAF.  It’s generally singer-songwriter type music like the kind you’d hear at a coffeehouse—laid back and mellow.  And yes, I do have a bit of an obsession with Obadiah Parker.  Listen to his music and you’ll totally understand.

“Check Yes Juliet” We the Kings

This song is just fun.  Pete (Juliet’s BFF) is always singing “Juliet” song lyrics at her, so I included one of my favorites.

“Let’s Stay Together” Obadiah Parker

This one is a cover of the famous Al Green song.  I love Motown soul as well as the thought of staying together forever in love.  Juliet had this idea about Pete once upon a time.

“If I Sing It” Obadiah Parker

This is an Obadiah original about wanting someone you love to just leave and let you go for your own good.  Juliet had to stifle her love for Pete in order to preserve their close friendship, and I feel like this song would have resonated with her while she was trying to get over her feelings for him.

“Baia da Santa” Obadiah Parker

Let’s just call a spade a spade.  This song is about sex.  Juliet needs a little comforting around the middle of the book, and one certain guy is more than happy to help her out.

“Begin Again” Taylor Swift

This should be Juliet’s theme song.  Her ex-fiancé didn’t appreciate her, but with a nice guy who likes to laugh, on a Wednesday in a café, she can begin again.

“Broken” Berteal

Berteal is the brother-sister duo of Chad Gentry and Kim Gentry.  Kim was one of my college friends, and I’m so thrilled that she’s taken her talent and run with it.  “Broken” is one of their originals, and it should probably be Juliet’s other theme song.  The song tells us it’s okay to be broken, but you have to go on living.

“She’s a Mess” Caroline Fardig

Of course my own song had to make the list!  While other cozy mystery authors include recipes or quilt patterns with their novels, I wanted to do something completely different and add sheet music.  Juliet and Pete sing “She’s a Mess” during one scene of the book, and at the end I’ve included the melody and guitar chords for it.  It’s a song I’ve actually performed at an open mic night at a coffeehouse in Nashville.  Cool, huh?

~Caroline

Death Before Decaf:
A Java Jive Mystery
Publisher: Alibi (November 17, 2015)
Random House LLC
ASIN: B00VOYNDKK

 

 

Perfect for fans of Janet Evanovich and Diane Mott Davidson, Caroline Fardig’s captivating new mystery novel takes readers behind the counter of a seemingly run-of-the-mill coffeehouse . . . where murder is brewing.

After her music career crashes and burns spectacularly, Juliet Langley is forced to turn to the only other business she knows: food service. Unfortunately, bad luck strikes yet again when her two-timing fiancé robs her blind and runs off with her best waitress. Flushing what’s left of her beloved café down the toilet with her failed engagement, Juliet packs up and moves back to her college stomping grounds in Nashville to manage an old friend’s coffeehouse. At first glance, it seems as though nothing’s changed at Java Jive. What could possibly go wrong? Only that the place is hemorrhaging money, the staff is in open revolt, and Juliet finds one unlucky employee dead in the dumpster out back before her first day is even over.

The corpse just so happens to belong to the cook who’d locked horns with Juliet over the finer points of the health code. Unimpressed with her management style, the other disgruntled employees are only too eager to spill the beans about her fiery temper to the detective on the case. Add to the mix a hunky stranger who’s asking way too many questions, and suddenly Juliet finds herself in some very hot water. If she can’t simmer down and sleuth her way to the real killer, she’s going to get burned.

 

About This Author

Caroline Fardig is the author of Death Before Decaf and the Lizzie Hart series. She worked as a schoolteacher, church organist, insurance agent, funeral parlor associate, and stay-at-home mom before she realized that she wanted to be a writer when she grew up. Born and raised in a small town in Indiana, Fardig still lives in that same town with an understanding husband, two sweet kids, two energetic dogs, and one malevolent cat.

 
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Tour Participants – Please visit them all 🙂

November 10 – Moonlight Rendezvous – Review
November 10 – A Blue Million Books – Interview
November 11 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – Review
November 12 – Community Bookstop – Spotlight
November 13 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book  – Guest Post
November 14 – Mallory Heart Reviews – Review
November 15 – Cozy Up With Kathy – Interview
November 16 – Queen of All She Reads – Review, Guest Post
November 16 – Cassidy Salem Reads & Writes  – Review
November 17 – StoreyBook Reviews – Review
November 18 – Musings and Ramblings – Review
November 19 – Book Club Librarian – Review
November 19 – MysteriesEtc – Review
November 20 – Tea and A Book – Review, Interview
November 21 – 3 Partners in Shopping; Nana, Mommy, &; Sissy too! – Spotlight
November 22 – LibriAmoriMiei – Review
November 23 – Booklady’s Booknotes – Review, Guest Post

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