Let's Talk with Lois Winston

Tomorrow is the release day for A CRAFTY COLLAGE OF CRIME, the 12th book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series. I’m a Jersey girl, born and raised in the Garden State, but as some of you who have followed my posts at Booklover’s Bench know, two years ago, my husband and I moved to Tennessee. Ever since then, I’ve had readers asking when Anastasia would make the move.

She won’t.

Like her author, Anastasia is also a quintessential Jersey girl. Given everything else I’ve dumped on her, forcing her to move would probably be the last straw. I have no doubt she’d go on strike and probably take my muse with her. My muse is temperamental enough. I can’t risk having both permanently desert me.

So to appease my Southern readers, I did the next best thing in this latest book. I sent Anastasia off to Tennessee wine country on her honeymoon with photojournalist (and possible spy?) Zack Barnes.

Some of you may be scratching your heads at this point. Tennessee wine country? Isn’t Tennessee known for its whiskey? Well, yes. It’s not Napa, but as I’ve learned, Tennessee was a thriving wine producing state prior to Prohibition and has since revived the industry. I live less than ten miles from one of those wineries, the inspiration for one of the wineries in A Crafty Collage of Crime, and I can attest to the quality of the wine it produces.

However, even on her honeymoon, Anastasia has the misfortune of discovering a dead body, and thanks to a mysterious podcaster, she’s drawn into investigating the victim’s murder.

Hey, I write cozy murder mysteries. You can’t have a murder mystery without a murder.

Here’s the official blurb:

A CRAFTY COLLAGE OF CRIME
An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 12

Wherever crafts editor and reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack goes, murder and mayhem follow. Her honeymoon is no exception. She and new husband, photojournalist (and possible spy) Zachary Barnes, are enjoying a walk in the Tennessee woods when they stumble upon a body on the side of a creek. The dead man is the husband of one of the three sisters who own the winery and guest cottages where Anastasia and Zack are vacationing.

When the local sheriff sets his sights on the widow as the prime suspect, her sisters close ranks around her. The three siblings are true-crime junkies, and thanks to a podcaster who has produced an unauthorized series about her, Anastasia’s reputation for solving murders has preceded her to the bucolic hamlet. The sisters plead for her help in finding the real killer. As Anastasia learns more about the women and their business, a host of suspects emerge, including several relatives, a relentless land developer, and even the sisters themselves.

Meanwhile, Anastasia becomes obsessed with discovering the podcaster’s identity. Along with knowing about Anastasia’s life as a reluctant amateur sleuth, the podcaster has divulged details of Anastasia’s personal life. Someone has betrayed Anastasia’s trust, and she’s out to discover the identity of the culprit.

Craft project included.

Have I whet your appetite? Need more convincing? Click HERE to read the first chapter. Buy Links can be found HERE.

How do you feel about authors switching things up occasionally in your favorite series? Did you want Jessica Fletcher to stay put in Cabot Cove, or did you enjoy when she branched out to discover dead bodies in other parts of the country? Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free download of Decoupage Can Be Deadly, the fourth Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery.

While you’re here, visit our contest page to enter our two-book giveaway for June. Click HERE.

Want to know more about author Lois Winston? Visit her WEBSITE.