Title: Pups, Pumpkins and Murder
Author: S.A.Kazlo
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Book Blurb:
When Samantha Davies finds a murdered man—crushed beneath a 2,000 pound pumpkin!—her upstate New York fall suddenly turns very chilly. And when her good friend and owner of the local cafe becomes the police's prime suspect, Sam takes it up on herself to find the real killer. With her faithful dachshund, Porkchop, by her side, can Sam get to the truth... before the killer gets to her?
Autumn has arrived in the small town of Wings Falls in upstate New York, and children's book author Samantha Davies couldn't be happier. She's excited to attend the town's annual Taste of Wings Falls craft and food festival with her boyfriend Detective Hank Johnson. The fair features several booths, like the one Sam's rug hooking group, the Loopy Ladies, have set up as a fundraiser to send underprivileged children to summer camps, as well as home-grown vegetables, like the 2,000-pound pumpkin grown by Farmer Scooter that he's proudly displayed on the back of his truck. But maybe the biggest draws for the fair is the barbeque cook-off. Samantha is friends with the owners of the three restaurants participating, but she is betting on Franny Goodway, the owner of Sweetie Pie's Café, taking home this year's coveted first place prize. But things take a stomach-churning turn when several fair goers become ill after chowing down on Franny's pulled pork delight. Franny insists it's not her fault... but when Sam sees Franny vehemently arguing with the new loan officer at the town's bank, she knows something is wrong. Little did Sam know how wrong. That evening as Sam takes her dachshund, Porkchop, for a stroll, she finds the body of the loan officer...crushed under a 2,000 pound pumpkin and deader than the fall leaves covering the ground! Franny instantly becomes the number one suspect, and it's up to Sam to prove her friend innocent of the man's murder. Can she find a killer, and navigate her relationship with her detective boyfriend, and save Sweetie Pie's Café?
Excerpt:
Chilled to the Dog Bone
CHAPTER ONE
"How do I look? Should I wear a crown?" Gladys O'Malley, the senior member of my rug hooking group, the Loopy Ladies, sat on her 'throne' in the outhouse we were sponsoring. The outhouse race would take place on Sunday morning. This weekend, the Firemen's Convention was being held at the Civic Center in Lake George, a resort town in upstate New York. My local fire company, Wings Falls Fire Department, was the host. It was held annually as close to Saint Patrick's Day as possible. Fun and green beer abounded. All the local fire companies who attended entered a homemade outhouse, decorated by a local group, like the Loopy Ladies, who volunteered to sponsor this year's outhouse for our hometown fire company. We often lent our services and talents to worthy causes. This past fall, we sold small rugs we hooked to raise money for Camp Adirondack, a summer camp that invites kids from the inner city for two weeks of fun in the fresh mountain air.
I stomped my feet. Even though I wore my warmest fleece-lined boots and a pair of heavy wool socks, cold seeped through from the cement floor of my garage. A space heater blasted out warm air, but barely made a dent in the freezing March air flowing into the garage. I glanced at my cousin, Candie, and noticed her tugging a purple wool cap over her ears to stave off the cold air. I envied my dachshund, Porkchop, Candie's calico cat, Dixie, and the newest member of her family, Annie, a small dog of indeterminate breed, snuggled on the rug next to the fireplace in my living room.
Helen Garber poked at the bright orange glasses sliding down her nose. "Haul your skinny old butt out of there and help us finish hanging the rugs we hooked on the wall of the outhouse, so we can get out of this blooming cold."
I rolled my eyes towards the rafters of my garage. Leave it to Helen to pick a fight with Gladys. She was the most outspoken member of the group. Her tongue knew no boundaries. She often said she 'told it like it is'. Not only did her tongue know no boundaries but neither did her wardrobe choice. The louder and bolder the color the better. Today her ample figure sported a lemon-yellow jacket she paired with hot pink pull-on polyester slacks.
I walked over to the outhouse and admired our handiwork. We had painted green shamrocks over a white background in honor of Saint Patrick's Day on the outside walls.
Candie stood next to me. "Not a bad painting job, don't y'all think?"
I smiled. My cousin had moved north over fifteen years ago from Hainted Holler, Tennessee, and you could still cut her thick southern accent with a knife.
"We Loopy Ladies are a multi-talented group. Not only can we hook with the best of them, but we wield a mean paint brush, too." I turned to the six of us who were gathered in my garage. "Don’t you agree, ladies? Our outhouse will leave the others in the dust."
Cheers erupted from my fellow hookers. There are usually twelve of us who gather every Monday morning at our friend, Lucy Foster's rug hooking studio. Although our absent members were busy elsewhere, everyone had contributed a rug to decorate the outhouse.
Susan Mayfield clapped her hands to get our attention. "We'd better finish hanging our rugs. Hank, Mark and Brian will be here shortly to lift the outhouse onto the back of Brian's truck. They need to drive it to the staging area for the race on Sunday morning."
Susan and her husband, Brian, own Momma Mia's, which I believe is the best Italian restaurant this side of the Big Apple. Brian had volunteered his truck for transporting our outhouse to the race's starting area, a park next to the Civic Center. The race course was covered with snow and groomed to perfection for the outhouses. Hank Johnson, my boyfriend, and Mark Hogan, Candie's newly minted husband, were going to help provide the brawn to lift the outhouse on and off the truck. There were official rules for the race. The outhouse had to weigh two-hundred and fifty pounds and measure four feet square by five feet tall. Once at the park, the fellows would attach skis to the bottom of the outhouse, to help it move smoothly across the snow. Every outhouse had to have a rider and, this year, we had nominated Gladys for the honor.
"Need a hand up?" I asked Gladys, as she tottered a bit when she tried to push off the wood board that served as the seat in the outhouse or, as she liked to call it, her throne.
Gladys patted her green-dyed curls. She changed the color of her hair to match a season or event—orange for the fall, red for Valentine's Day. Last summer she even dyed her hair violet to coordinate with the color scheme of Candie's wedding.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
https://www.bookbub.com/books/pups-pumpkins-and-murder-samantha-davies-mysteries-book-4-by-s-a-kazlo
What makes your featured book a must-read?
The sleuthing adventure continues at Wings Falls annual autumn festival when a local banker is found under a 2,000 pound pumpkin. Sam's good friend and cafe owner, Franny, becomes suspect #1. Once again it is up to Sam and Porkchop to prove a good friend innocent of murder.
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Runs January 23 – January 29, 2024.
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Author Biography:
Syrl, a retired teacher, lives in upstate New York with her husband and two lively dachshunds. She writes the Samantha Davies Mystery series, featuring Samantha Davies and her loveable dachshund, Porkchop. When not writing she is busy hooking, rug hooking that is, and enjoying her family. Her newest book, number four in the series, is Pups, Pumpkins and Murder.
Social Media Links:
Website: www.sakazlo.com
Twitter: @sakazlo
Instagram: sakazlo
Linkedin: sakazlo