Guest Post: Writing Mysteries And A New Series: DEATH IN THE PERFECT HOUSE by Caroline Clemmons

Please welcome back to the blog my friend, award winning romance and mystery author Caroline Clemmons. As she notes below, we have been friends for quite a number of years now. At one time, we were in the same critique group with a number of other cool folks. Everybody had at least one traditionally published novel, I had zero (as I do now), and Caroline had many. It was back then that I saw parts of an early draft of this book. Major thanks to Caroline for not only being a friend, in good times and in bad, but for being part of the blog here again today.

 

Thanks to Kevin for allowing me to steal… er, I mean share his award-winning blog today. Kevin and I have been friends about twenty years. He is graciously supportive of authors.

I’m Caroline Clemmons and I love a mystery. I first learned how much I enjoyed them as a child. My dad was a mystery fan, and we listened to probably every mystery show on radio. (Yes, I’m that old.) At the time, I usually sat with my legs curled up under me so none of the boogey men could reach out from under the couch and grab my legs. As frightened as I was, I couldn’t resist listening. My parents were very frugal and we didn’t have a television until I was about ten. At that time in Lubbock, Texas, television reception was not the greatest. My dad watched the few shows available, but mostly he read mystery magazines and paperbacks. My mom wouldn’t let me read those because they contained (gasp) curse words. I was thrilled when I discovered Nancy Drew.

Even though I love mysteries, I got sidetracked by writing western romance for many years. Those usually had a mystery in them, but the romance was most prominent. I’ll still write them occasionally as well as cozy mysteries.

 

I am thrilled to announce that the first of my Zoe Wilder Cozy Mystery series, DEATH IN THE PERFECT HOUSE, is available at Amazon. It’s in Kindle and paperback, and is enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. The url is https://amzn.to/3v2Cbh2. 

The second in the series, DEATH IN THE GRAVEYARD, will be released near the end of April. It will be available for preorder as soon as my talented cover artist completes the cover. She’s recovering from Covid-19, but she’ll have the cover to me soon. 

In the meantime, here’s a description of DEATH IN THE PERFECT HOUSE: 

Zoe Wilder is a reporter for the local newspaper, The Spencer’s Ridge Gazette, in Winston County, Texas. She also writes cozy mysteries. Perhaps that’s why she sees a crime where there may not be one. Members of the local Winston County Sheriff’s Department view her as a pretty kook and don’t take her seriously. When she finds her wealthy friend, Margo Kingsley, dead, Zoe is certain Margo was murdered and Margo’s housekeeper agrees. The investigating officer doesn’t believe her, and the death is ruled an accident due to a fall while inebriated. 

Zoe is determined to find the killer. A new Chief Deputy, Caleb McBride, arrives a few days later, hired from Fort Worth PD’s homicide division under unusual circumstances. Deputy McBride is determined Zoe will leave detecting to him and his officers. He warns her she is sticking her pretty nose in where it’s neither needed nor wanted. He also warns her he’ll arrest her if she interferes again. Undeterred, Zoe fears he is only going through the motions to appease the late woman’s daughter. Surprisingly, the new Deputy is the nephew of the dead woman’s housekeeper, a woman of fragile nervous disposition of whom Zoe is very protective. 

Just as Zoe decides Deputy McBride is good at his job, the killer targets her home. Zoe is forced to cooperate with Deputy McBride. Will the killer be stopped before Zoe is the next victim?

 

DEATH IN THE PERFECT HOUSE is a light-hearted cozy mystery which contains humor, but no graphic sex and no cliffhangers.

Here’s an excerpt while Zoe is doing some investigating on her own by talking to the dead woman’s neighbors:

 

I turned at the sound of a vehicle. A sheriff’s office patrol car pulled into the drive at Margo’s, but I didn’t recognize the driver behind the wheel. Waiting on the Hamptons’ front porch, I watched the deputy climb out of his car and walk toward Margo’s, but then he stopped, changed direction, and veered toward the Hampton’s.

Pretending to look at my notepad, I observed him from beneath my lashes. I thought I’d met all the Winston County deputies. Nope. I’d have remembered if I’d ever talked to this guy.

Wow, would I ever.

He sauntered up the walk with a long-legged gait just short of a swagger. The man filled out his uniform as if he were the poster model for a recruiting campaign. He stepped onto the porch and I looked up. And up. My four-inch heels raised me to six one, but he was two or three inches taller.

His lips twitched in a smile that displayed a dimple in each cheek. “Get an eyeful?”

I ignored his remark. “Who the heck are you?”

Mirrored sunglasses hid his eyes. “Ma’am, you must be confused. I wear the uniform, and it’s my job to ask questions.”

“I thought I knew all the deputies, but we’ve never met, um . . .” I peered at his name badge, “Deputy McBride .”

“That’s right, we haven’t. You are . . .?”

“Zoe Wilder. I work for the newspaper.”

He lowered his sunglasses to peer at me, displaying deep blue eyes. “I guessed that’s who you were.” He looked me up and down, which wouldn’t have been bad if he’d displayed at least a little lustful appreciation. But no, it was as if he were inspecting a possible drug dealer in a line-up.

I ignored his rude perusal. “You’re wasting your time here. The Hamptons are on a cruise for another week with City Councilman Kirk Stevens and his wife.”

“You don’t mind if I find out for myself, do you?”

I stepped aside and gestured toward the door. “Be my guest.” But I was thinking, what did he mean, he’d guessed that’s who I was?

He rang the bell and the same maid answered. This time she appeared a little tense, no doubt when she saw his uniform. She repeated her story then shut the door again.

I smirked at him. “Satisfied?” 

“I’ve heard about you.”

What kind of answer was that? “Heard what? That I’m an excellent feature writer? Or that I write mystery novels?”

I tapped my notebook against my leg then stopped when I realized it made me appear nervous. “Perhaps you’ve read my latest release, Sentimental Journey To Death? You see, I always use old standard songs for my titles, like that one and the previous, I’m In The Mood For Murder. Or, have you read my newspaper articles?” It was as if this handsome man—this very, very handsome man—had unleashed my tongue and I was powerless to stop babbling.

Inside, I was thinking, God, why don’t you just strike me dead now and shut me up? But The Almighty didn’t do either, because He was too busy working toward world peace and eliminating hunger—or perhaps He was flat out laughing at me.

I took a deep breath and finished, “Is that what you heard?”

“Not exactly.” Sarcasm tinged Deputy McBride ’s voice. “It was something about a pretty, red-haired kook who works for The Spencer’s Ridge Gazette and thinks every event is a major crime in masquerade.”

“Kook? I am not a kook.” I comforted myself that at least he’d said I was pretty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you’ll try DEATH IN THE PERFECT HOUSE. If you enjoy it, I’d appreciate a review on Amazon. If you don’t like it, please let me know why. My email is caroline@carolineclemmons.com

Here are my bio and places you can find me online:

Caroline Clemmons and her Hero live in North Central Texas cowboy country where they ride herd on their rescued pets as well as provide nourishment outdoors for squirrels, birds, and other critters. She writes full time in a small office surrounded by research books and mementos while being supervised by a couple of cats and a dog.

The over seventy titles she has created have made her a Top 100 Amazon author, a bestselling author, and won awards. She writes sweet contemporary cozy mysteries and sweet to sensual romances, both historical and contemporary, as well as time travels.

When she’s not writing, she loves spending time with her family, reading books written by her friends and other favorite authors, dining out with friends and family, browsing antique malls, checking Facebook, and taking the occasional nap. Find her on her blog, website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads,  and Pinterest. 

Join her and other readers at Caroline’s Cuties, a Facebook readers group for special excerpts, exchanging ideas, contests, giveaways, recipes, and talking to like-minded people about books at https://www.facebook.com/groups/277082053015947/ 

Click on her Amazon Author Page for a complete list of her books and follow her there. 

Follow her on BookBub. 

To stay up-to-date with her releases and contests, subscribe to Caroline’s newsletter here and receive a FREE novella of HAPPY IS THE BRIDE, a humorous historical wedding disaster that ends happily—but you knew it would, didn’t you? 

Stay safe and keep reading!

 

 

Caroline Clemmons ©2022 

Through a crazy twist of fate, Caroline Clemmons was not born on a Texas ranch. To make up for this tragic error, she writes about handsome cowboys, feisty ranch women, and scheming villains from a small office. She and her Hero live in North Central Texas cowboy country where they ride herd on their rescued cats and dogs. The books she creates there have made her an Amazon bestselling author and won several awards. She writes sweet contemporary cozy mysteries and sweet to sensual romances, both historical and contemporary, as well as time travels.