I am thrilled to welcome Tracy Weber back to Escape With Dollycas
for the first Cozy Wednesday of 2019!
She is sharing news and wants our input!
Hi Everyone,
I have to admit, the launch of my sixth Downward Dog Mystery is bittersweet. I’m delighted in every way possible with Murder Likes It Hot. The cover is fantastic, I’ve wanted to use the title forever, and Kate finally finds the maturity and contentment I always hoped she would. Plus, I got to name two characters—rats, no less!—after two of my favorite people, Ed and Lonnie.
But even as I celebrate the birth of my newest written child, I’m preparing to say goodbye to the series, at least for now.
I was about to start the final revisions of Murder Likes It Hot when I received some surprising news: My publisher, Midnight Ink, is closing its doors this summer. To be honest, I’m luckier than many of my Inker brothers and sisters. Since I was at the end of my second three-book contract, I was well aware that this might be the final installment of the series. So I closed with an ending meant to satisfy readers. No cliffhangers here! 😉
Readers who have read the entire series know how much Kate has changed since her beard-phobic, commitment-averse, serenity-impaired beginning. She’s still not a perfect yogi, and she struggles to live up to her ideals every day. But Bella, her German shepherd sidekick, has mellowed her. Michael, her partner, has given her stability. And finding justice for a half-dozen murder victims has helped her discover her life’s purpose. I hope my readers will cheer her on and miss her antics as much as I will.
Many of my readers have asked me, what will happen next, both for my writing career and for Kate?
Answer? I honestly don’t know.
My agent is trying to get the rights back to earlier books in the series. If she’s successful, I’ll self-publish them and—if there’s enough reader interest—get started writing Book 7 in the series. If not, I have an idea for a new series that I plan to start working on soon.
My life lately has been filled with change. Last year I sold my yoga studio, Whole Life Yoga. This past December, I graduated from the Northwest School of Canine Studies. I’m a third of the way through a certificate program in applied animal behavior at the University of Washington. Why wouldn’t my new interests find their way to a new series?
I think it would be a total kick to write a series starring an animal behaviorist, and Rainbow, a new character introduced in Murder Likes It Hot
So, dear readers, what do you think? Is this an end, or simply a new beginning? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
And don’t forget to give Murder Likes It Hot
~Tracy
Thank you, Tracy, for visiting today. I am very excited about where your future may take you.
Now let me give you my thoughts on Murder Likes It Hot
Murder Likes It Hot (A Downward Dog Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Setting – Washington State
Midnight Ink (January 8, 2019)
Paperback: 288 pages
ISBN-10: 0738750697
ISBN-13: 978-0738750699
Kindle ASIN: B07HL1HPJ5
Yogini and amateur sleuth Kate Davidson will need more than Warrior Pose to solve a murder and help homeless teens
Newly married yoga instructor Kate Davidson feels stuck in low-energy limbo, despite her high-energy life. She’s trying to conceive a child, keep her studio afloat now that the ultra-cheap Some Like It Hot Yoga studio has opened across the street, and start a yoga program at a local resource center for homeless youth.
When a center employee is found dead, Kate sets aside her fertility and financial woes to delve into the world of teenage homelessness. While digging for clues with her German shepherd Bella, Kate discovers that family can be formed by bonds stronger than shared DNA, and she must defend it at all costs.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Kate and Michael’s wedded bliss is facing a tough time. They both want a child so much but have been unable to conceive and fertility treatments are so expensive. Add to that, there is a new yoga studio opening up right across the street from Kate’s studio, so she is worried about keeping her clients and her classes full. She has been asked to teach yoga at a local youth center that gives homeless teens a place to spend their days and to get help and education to get them off the streets. She accepts to add some extra cash to their baby fund.
After only 2 classes the director of the center is killed and one of her teenage students is the prime suspect. Kate has only just met the girl and knows just a snippet of the home life she ran away from, but a killer, there is just no way. With a little bit of help from best friend Rene and hubby Michael, Kate sets out to uncover the real killer.
Deep breaths, this story is more than a cozy mystery. It is an emotional story not only for our amateur sleuth but a teenager who goes by the name of Rainbow.
Tracy Weber really took a hold of my heart with this story just like she did the last. (If you have read Pre-Meditated Murder
This time Weber also introduces readers to some incredible new characters. The homeless teens and the staff at the center and even two unusual pets. These characters, flawed and complex, are very well written and easily draw us in.
Kate throws herself into this mystery not only to solve it but to try to take her mind off her personal situations. The author really twists things up to not only drop the clues necessary but also showing us a side of Kate we are not used to seeing. I was totally captured by this story from the first page to the last.
I was reaching for the tissues at the superb ending. An ending not only for this book but probably the series. I feel these characters have been left in a good place, but my fingers are crossed that it will not be the last we see of them.
I have loved this series from the beginning. The books really need to be read in order to see the journey Kate has taken over the entire series. I highly recommend each and every one.
Read my review of Pre-Meditated Murder
Tracy Weber is a certified yoga therapist, the director of Whole Life Yoga Teacher Training, and the author of the award-winning Downward Dog Mysteries series. She loves sharing her passions for yoga and animals in any way possible.
Tracy and her husband Marc live in Seattle with their precocious German shepherd, Ana. When she’s not writing, Tracy spends her time teaching yoga, trying to corral Ana, and sipping Blackthorn cider at her favorite ale house.
For more information on Tracy’s writing, visit her author website: http://TracyWeberAuthor.com/.
Thanks to the author I have 1 copy to give away!
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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.”
I’m sorry you may be ending your series but I’d love to read one about an animal behaviorist. Good luck in whatever you decide to do!
I would never do “hot yoga”–I assume the yoga studio in the book does this, even though their name is obviously punning–but I think that reading this book I could appreciate it from a safe distance, all wrapped up in a fun mystery!
P.S. This form is working horribly, both to get it to open, and then to post comment–I’m having to highlight the text in the previous comment and then using the tab key to actually get into the comment widget–I think this is because of the “snow” wafting its way down the screen.
I like the setting of this series.
New author for me.
I love the picture of you and Ana Pup! I am so sorry about the fate of Midnight Ink Books, but know you will find a new publisher –the Downward Dog Myseries are too good to come to an end. Best wishes for all of your new endeavors!
You’re a new author for me so I have 6 books before I’m sad that the series may end. I look forward to reading all the books you’ve written.
A delightful series. A shame it has ended.
I’ve been interested in this series for a while now. I need to get caught up. I don’t know how I’m so behind. Thanks for the giveaway too.
Thanks, everyone for your feedback and comments. I will always have a love affair with Kate and Bella, whether the series continues or not. More to come as I know it!
I do hope the series continues and look forward to reading anything else you write, Tracy.
“Murder Likes It Hot” sounds amazing and I can’t wait for the opportunity to read it. Adorable cover!
Things don’t “end” they evolve. So should this situation. Definitely don’t stop, but continue to make notes, write and share your talents with us that can’t get enough. Sometimes we think we’ve come to the end just to find rainbows over the horizon or the best yet to come around the bend in the road. <3
2clowns at arkansas dot net
I really enjoyed the description and review of the book. Sounds like a great read. Sorry to hear this might be the end of the series, hopefully there are something else in the future.
I hope this is not the end of Kate (& Bella’s) stories. I also hope that we may soon see Rainbow’s (or some other new characters’) stories.
Tracy, I realized the situation, but didn’t think about it while I was reading the book.
I agree that the book does make a nice ending to the series…..but I am sad that it is coming to an end. The last time my wife was in the hospital, I read another yoga mystery series, and then went looking for another. I was so happy to find your series, and have devoured it with great pleasure. My wife doesn’t use the computer (yet!), so I ordered all the paperbacks (which she has also read with pleasure) and downloaded all the ebooks for myself. I was so glad to get the new book, and read it in two days. If I had recalled that it might be the last one, I might have read slower…NOT! I truly hope it will be possible to self-publish and write a 7th book. But a series featuring Rainbow also sounds like an excellent idea. There would still have to be some interaction with Kate, et al ! Whatever the future holds, thanks for all the pleasure your books have brought, and bless you in your future endeavors.
By the way, one of the things I like about your books is their social relevance; without being overtly “political,” you deal with some serious issues. I hope that will continue in future writings.
Tracy, I have been a fan of the series and you. I hope your agent is successful in securing the rights to your books; I also think a new series would be a wonderful adventure for you and your readers. Change is such a constant- I hope it is exciting and full of promise for you.
Hello Tracy, I am a new fan of yours. Lori has introduced me to Solomon’s many cozy mystery writers, and that is one of my two absolutely favorite genres. I look forward to reading your books. Thank you Lori & Tracy for this opportunity to win one of your books. ???
I hope my comments went through. ?
I love this series and cannot wait tore new !
Hi Tracy, I’m sorry to hear that this might be the end of the series. I hope that your agent is able to get the rights so that the series can continue. But the idea that you have for Rainbow sounds intriguing too. Good luck!
The answer to the Rainbow question is a resounding YES. Maybe with some animal communications added too.