I’m delighted to be
participating in author Anna Gerard’s Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for PEACHY
SCREAM, the second installment in her Georgia B&B Mystery series.
As part of the tour, we
have Nina Fleet (the protagonist/amateur sleuth from PEACHY SCREAM)
visiting and Anna (AKA Ali Brandon/Diane A.S. Stuckart) is hosting a giveaway.
First, a bit about the book.
PEACHY SCREAM
By Anna Gerard
* Cozy Mystery
* 2nd in Series - A Georgia
B&B Mystery
* Publisher: Crooked Lane
Books (July 7, 2020)
* Hardcover: 320 Pages
* ISBN-10: 1643853066
* ISBN-13: 978-1643853062
* Digital ASIN: B07XXBK3CX
To die, or not to die? Georgia
B&B proprietor Nina Fleet turns amateur thespian to bring the curtain down
on a Shakespearean actor’s killer.
It’s nothing short of inevitable that
Cymbeline, GA, hosts an annual Shakespeare festival. But stage-struck Nina
Fleet is about to learn that putting on an amateur theatrical production can be
murder. Nina’s anticipating showbiz glamour and glitz when a community
Shakespearean troupe arrives for a two-week stay at her B&B. But the lights
dim when she learns the company’s director is her nemesis, struggling actor
Harry Westcott–who still claims to be the rightful heir to Nina’s elegant Queen
Anne home.
Meanwhile, the troupe members are not
content to leave the drama upon the stage. Accusations of infidelity and
financial malfeasance make a shambles of rehearsals. And then, two days into
the troupe’s stay, the lead actor is found dead in Nina’s formal Shakespeare
garden. Natural causes…or murder most foul?
Nina uncovers evidence that something is
indeed rotten in the town of Cymbeline. Too bad Harry is the only one who
believes that she’s not going completely off script. And exposing the truth
isn’t easy when the remaining troupe members say the show must go
on…particularly when all of them seemingly had a motive for wanting their
fellow actor to permanently exit stage right. Determined to keep the killer
from making a curtain call, Nina and her trusty Australian Shepherd, Matilda,
join forces with Harry to sleuth out the murder plot. Will they succeed before
someone else shuffles off this mortal coil? Find out in Anna Gerard’s
delightful second Georgia B&B mystery.
Now please join me in giving a warm welcome to Nina Fleet. Welcome, Nina.
What are some of the highs
and lows of operating a B&B?
The highs are meeting all
the wonderful folks who stay in my B&B. Plus, it’s fun to be caretaker to a
beautiful Queen Anne home in a tourist town like Cymbeline, Georgia. The lows
might be the early mornings…you can’t sleep in when you have arranged a 7:30AM
breakfast for your guests!
What led you to open a
B&B?
It was something of an
accident. I bought the house pretty much at first sight while I was antiquing
in town (at the time, I still lived in Atlanta). While I had a nice settlement
following my divorce from my professional golfer husband, I’m only forty (okay,
forty-one). I sure wasn’t ready to retire and lounge around the house all day.
So when Cymbeline’s mayor said she’d fast-track my permitting to operate a bed
and breakfast inn if I’d host a group of displaced nuns, I couldn’t say no. (I
really couldn’t…could you turn down a group of elderly sisters?). And
that’s how Fleet House came to be.
What drew you to this
Shakespearean event?
You probably know that
Cymbeline is the name of one of Shakespeare’s plays, and the town was named for
it. In fact, for a couple of decades the townspeople have played off the
connection and named their businesses in honor of the Bard. And they hold an
annual Shakespeare festival (Shakespeare on Cymbeline Square) that draws
in people from all over Georgia and beyond. It turns out that this year’s
Shakespeare troupe will be staying at my B&B for the duration. And this is
because of my sometimes nemesis, Harry Westcott, who is the troupe’s director.
How do you feel working
with your best frenemy?
As you might have heard,
Harry thinks that he should have had my house after his great-aunt passed away.
In fact, when I first met him he was plotting to steal it back from me. For the
moment, we have called a truce, mostly because he’s been helpful in solving a
couple of murders connected to my B&B. And I’m letting him stay in my third
story tower room while he gets back on his feet. I’m not sure if I trust him
100% yet. It sure would help if he wasn’t so charming and movie-star
good-looking.
What would the perfect day
consist of for you?
A houseful of happy and
quiet guests who spend the day roaming around Cymbeline so that I can kick back
on my front porch with my Australian Shepherd, Mattie, and enjoy a nice breeze
and good book.
Nina, thanks for joining
us today and sharing this look at your B&B and how it came to be.
Meet
the Author
 |
| Author Anna Gerard/Diane A.S. Stuckart |
Diane is a member of
Mystery Writers of America and served as the 2018 and 2019 Chapter President of
the MWA Florida chapter, receiving the “Flamingo” Chapter Service award in
2019. She’s also a member of Sister in Crime. In addition to her mystery
writing affiliations, she’s a member of the Cat Writers’ Association and
belongs to the Palm Beach County Beekeepers Association.
Diane is a native Texan
with a degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma, but has been
living in the West Palm Beach FL area since 2006. She shares her “almost in the
Everglades” home with her husband, dogs, cats, and a few beehives.
For more on Diane and her
writing, you can connect with her on the following sites:
Website – www.dianestuckart.com / www.georgiabbmysteries.com
Facebook – www.facebook.com/blackcatmysteries
PEACHY SCREAM is available for purchase
at the following sites: AMAZON * BARNES & NOBLE
You can also follow along
on Diane’s tour by visiting the sites below. Also be sure to enter the giveaway.
Do you think you could work with an ex like Nina does?
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
August 10 – Hearts & Scribbles
– SPOTLIGHT
August 10 – I'm All About Books –
SPOTLIGHT
August 11 – Reading Reality – REVIEW
August 11 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
August 12 – The Avid Reader
– REVIEW
August 12 – Mystery
Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
August 12 – Baroness' Book Trove –
REVIEW
August 13 – Socrates Book Reviews
– REVIEW
August 13 – Reading Is My SuperPower
– REVIEW
August 14 – MJB Reviewers –
SPOTLIGHT
August 15 – Angel's Guilty Pleasures
– CHARACTER INTERVIEW
August 15 – Celticlady's Reviews
– SPOTLIGHT
August 16 – Cozy Up With Kathy -
REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
August 16 – Books a Plenty Book
Reviews – REVIEW
August 17 – Christy's Cozy Corners –
REVIEW, GUEST POST
August 17 – Moonlight Rendezvous –
REVIEW
August 18 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR
INTERVIEW
August 18 – A Blue Million Books
– AUTHOR INTERVIEW
August 18 – Dee-Scoveries – SPOTLIGHT
August 19 – Reading,
Writing & Stitch-Metic – GUEST POST
August 19 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
August 20 – Sneaky the Library Cat's Blog
– CHARACTER INTERVIEW
August 21 – eBook Addicts – REVIEW
August 21 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR
INTERVIEW
August 22 – The Book Decoder – REVIEW
August 23 – Literary Gold -SPOTLIGHT
August 23 – Melina's Book Blog –
REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
Have you signed up to be a
Tour Host?
It sounds like a heap of fun - and huge congratulation to its diligent and versatile author.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a fun story! And I do like that Shakespeare context. Thanks for sharing the interesting interview, too, both.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Thoughts in Progress for hosting me, and for all of you for stopping by. Please be sure you register for the book giveaway! And you can learn more about me on my website. :)
ReplyDelete