Book Title: A KILLER ROMANCE
Character Name: Summer Merriweather
How would you describe your family or your childhood?
I grew up on St. Brigids Island, with a single mom who ran and owned Beach Reads, a bookstore located on the boardwalk. I grew to hate the store. But now I’m running it. Funny, that.
What was your greatest talent?
A quick wit and a smart moth that often got me into trouble.
Significant other?
No.
Biggest challenge in relationships?
Trust.
Where do you live?
I’m back in St. Brigids.
Do you have any enemies?
No person that I know of. But my mortal enemy is spiders.
How do you feel about the place where you are now? Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place?
I’ve grown to love my home all over again, After being away for years, I love the community and the bookstore.
Do you have children, pets, both, or neither?
I inherited my mom’s African Grey, Mr. Darcy.
What do you do for a living?
Run the bookstore, though I am a Shakespeare professor, by profession.
Greatest disappointment?
Losing my mom at such an early age.
Greatest source of joy?
The words of William Shakespeare are a balm to my soul.
What do you do to entertain yourself or have fun?
Read, of course.
What is your greatest personal failing, in your view?
My relationship with my mom could have been a lot better. I had fanciful ideas as a young woman of what good literature is and she and I often disagreed. Now I just want a good story and respect all kinds of stories and authors.
What keeps you awake at night?
Fear of spiders, but I’m working on it.
What is the most pressing problem you have at the moment?
I’m trying to plan for an event at the bookstore - Romance by the Sea and the author has a long list of demands. Everything from what kind of tea she wants to a specific kind of chair.
Is there something that you need or want that you don’t have? For yourself or for someone important to you?
I am perfectly content. I’ve been able to add a classic section the bookstore and people seem to like it. I have plenty of friends. It would be nice to have a love-life.
Why don’t you have it? What is in the way?
The male population on St. Brigid is scant.
Love and murder are in the air this Valentine’s day in Maggie Blackburn’s third Beach Reads mystery, perfect for fans of Eva Gates and Miranda James.
When Beach Reads bookshop hosts a Valentine’s Day event, “Romance by the Sea,” bookseller Summer Merriweather has no idea that the guest author is under investigation for her own husband’s murder. When that same author is found dead at the local bed and breakfast, nobody assumes it’s natural causes–there were plenty of people who wanted her dead.
As Summer searches for the truth about the author’s stranger-than-fiction life, Summer finds suspicious indications of shady behavior in the author’s belongings. But the casual sleuthing is quickly derailed when Summer’s friend Glads gets hauled in for the murder, and they launch a full-blown investigation to clear her name.
As Summer and company pick through the scant clues to solve the case, they may find more treachery and heartbreak than they bargained for.
Mystery Cozy [Crooked Lane Books, On Sale: February 6, 2024, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781639106356 / ]
Maggie Blackburn is the author of the Cora Crafts mysteries and the Cumberland Creek mysteries under another pen name. Her books have been selected as finalists for an Agatha Award and a Daphne du Maurier Award and as a Top 10 Beach Reads by Woman's World. She has also been short-listed for the Virginia Library People's Choice Award. She is the mother of two young women who are off following their dreams in the music business. She currently lives in Waynesboro, VA, and works at the University of Virginia as a development associate.
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