Special Guest – Denise Swanson – Author of Murder of a Cranky Catnapper – #GuestPost / #Giveaway @BerkleyMystery

I am just super excited to welcome Denise back to
Escape With Dollycas! 

This time to tell us about her new Scumble River Mystery!! 

From One to Nineteen in the Blink of an Eye
(Guest Post Provided by Publicist)

Getting my first book traditionally published was a long and arduous journey. It took a long time and two hundred and seventy rejection slips to find an agent. And even then, it took that agent eighteen months to find a publisher. Nearly twenty years ago, cozy mysteries were nowhere near as popular as they are now. And since I had my own ideas on setting, sleuth’s appearance, and sleuth’s occupation, it was lot harder than if I’d have put Scumble River in Alabama, made my sleuth Skye a size six, and had her own a bookstore or work in law enforcement.

Few editors wanted to take the gamble on a book that didn’t fit the mold and am I ever glad the editor at NAL/Signet/Penguin was willing to give me a chance! With the first book, Murder of a Small-Town Honey, in its fifteenth printing, and the nineteen book, Murder of a Cranky Catnapper, that was released September 6, I think it’s safe to say there was more interest in a curvy, Midwest, school psychologist than a lot of folks ever realized.

I’m thrilled that my series is such a long running one, and I’m always a bit surprised when someone asks me when I’m going to end it. I love Skye and her pals, and I’d be sad never to visit with them again. Because I was a school psychologist myself for twenty-two years, I still have tons of great plots. In fact, in my new book, Murder of a Cranky Catnapper, I used one of my own run-ins with a school a board member. The guy who gave me a hard time didn’t end up dead—at least not in real life.

And having recently moved back to rural Illinois, I’m now collecting more small-town stories, too. Expect some interesting future plots about my experience hunkering down for a tornado.

I realize with a long series that stagnation is always a risk, but I have made a continued effort to allow my characters to change and grow. This means that Skye has lost cars, houses, and boyfriends. She’s altered her goals, expectations, and how she deals with her mother. And most of all, she’s matured from a woman who was running away from a life she didn’t want, to someone who runs towards the life she does want.

In my sixteenth book, Murder of a Stacked Librarian, Skye got married, and folks started asking if I planned on ending the series. But because I don’t think a woman’s journey end when she finds the man of her dreams, the answer is no. In fact, in her newest adventure, Murder of a Cranky Catnapper, Skye deals with sleuthing while pregnant. Certainly, a growth experience for her and her new husband.

Having a husband and children will push Skye into even more exciting adventures and will surely change the dynamic of her relationship with her mom and friends. So to everyone who is concerned that I’ll end the series, all I can say is stay tuned for book number twenty!

~Denise

Murder of a Cranky Catnapper (Scumble River Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
19th in Series
A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery
Berkley (September 6, 2016)
An Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0451472120
E-Book ASIN: B0191WS14E

In the latest from the New York Times bestselling author of Murder of an Open Book, a school psychologist has her hands full after a school board sourpuss meets a bitter end…
 

With her morning sickness finally abated, Skye Denison-Boyd is ready to pounce on the pertinent problems she faces as Scumble River Elementary School’s psychologist. After trying almost every trick in the book to aid a handful of socially awkward fourth grade boys, Skye opts for the innovative approach of pet therapy with the assistance of the local vet, a Siberian husky, and a Maine coon cat.

Unfortunately, the first session only breeds disaster and draws the ire of cantankerous school board member Palmer Lynch. But Skye’s worry over the episode changes to dread after Lynch is found dead in his home with the therapy cat hidden in his garage. With a clowder of questions unleashed, Skye finds herself dealing with a killer who isn’t pussyfooting around…

About The Author

New York Times Bestselling author Denise Swanson writes the Scumble River and Devereaux’s Dime Store mysteries, as well as the Change of Heart contemporary romances. She lives in rural Illinois with her husband and big black cat.

For more information, please visit at DeniseSwanson.com or on Facebook.

Also by Denise Swanson

Click on covers for more book info or to order from Amazon.

Thanks to the publisher I have 1 copy to give away!
Contest is open to anyone over 18 years old
with a US mailing address.

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Contest Will End September 24, 2016 at 11:59 PM CST
Winner Will Be Chosen By Random.org
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and Will Be Posted Here In The Sidebar.

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