What is the title of your latest release?
MURDER PAYS A CALL
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Personal concierge Keri Armstrong will accept almost any job, but when she finds her friend and favorite client dead in bed, she adds solving murders to her To-Do List.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I live in the Orlando area and modeled my fictional town after Winter Park, an upscale community with shops, restaurants, and attractions that appeal to residents and tourists alike.
Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Absolutely. In fact, I’d like to hire her to help me organize things around the house and get rid of the clutter.
What are three words that describe your hero?
Keri likes Dr. Matt, who treated her arm after she was injured in a near-miss hit and run accident. He’s compassionate, cute, and a good listener.
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned about the business of silver restoration. A trained professional can take your silver heirlooms that are dented, tarnished, or missing pieces and transform them into shiny new works of art.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
A little bit of both. I keep up with critique group corrections as I go along. When I finish the first draft, then I’ll read from the beginning to polish the prose and to catch any repetitions or inconsistencies. Some of these always slip through, so I rely on my editor and beta readers to help catch them.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
I’m a salty over sweet person. Give me a bag of Cheetos or Fritos to make me happy.
Describe your writing space/office!
I have a home office all to myself. I love my space, which holds a computer desk with multiple shelves, drawers and hutches. There’s another wood desk that I use mainly for correspondence and household management. And of course, I have bookshelves filled with books, novelty paperweights, reference texts, notebooks and tchotchkes related to my various works. Also, a must in Florida is a stash of flashlights for power outages.
Who is an author you admire?
I admire all my friends who are authors. We face the same struggles, setbacks and successes. We support each other and commiserate over our careers. It takes perseverance and dedication to keep writing through life’s changes, and I couldn’t do it by myself without having other writer friends to consult. I think that wherever you are on this path, you still need guidance. You can pay it back by helping newly published writers find their ground.
Is there a book that changed your life?
Cherry Ames books inspired me to pursue a nursing career. I have a master’s degree in nursing and worked ten years in that field before retiring to raise a family and write full-time.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published). Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
When I was in grad school for nursing, I bought a book called “Structuring Your Novel.” This taught me step-by-step how to write a book-length work of fiction. I wrote three books that got rejected. Then I joined Florida Romance and acquired an agent at their conference. She went on to submit three more of my books. But it wasn’t until I wrote CIRCLE OF LIGHT, a paranormal sci-fi romance, that my work sold to Dorchester Publishing in New York. This title became my first published book and won the HOLT Medallion Award. I went on to write more titles for Dorchester as well as Kensington, Wild Rose Press, and Five Star. When Five Star cancelled its mystery line, I decided to go indie. I’ve been independently publishing my work since then.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
I enjoy historical romance and historical mysteries.
What’s your favorite movie?
Galaxy Quest. I’m a Star Trek fan and I loved this parody. I wish they’d make a sequel.
What is your favorite season?
Fall is my favorite season in Florida when the humidity drops and we have fun festivals to attend. We can visit farmers’ markets, Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival, U-pick farm festivals, corn mazes and more. Mild temperatures tempt me to go outdoors and enjoy the parks and nature trails. It’s the best time of year for Florida, in my opinion.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Lunch with family or friends.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
The Gilded Age on HBO. I’m a fan of period dramas and this is another successful show by Julian Fellowes who wrote Downton Abbey.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Italian is always easy and tasty, although I often order salmon when I go out. I’m a foodie and like to try different restaurants and go to food events. Even on cruises, I tend to look for food tours on shore excursions.
What do you do when you have free time?
Go out to eat with friends, play with my grandkids, read, watch movies on TV, visit Disney World, and sail away on Caribbean cruises.
What can readers expect from you next?
Bad Hair Day Mystery #19 is coming next. This one is tentatively titled Hanukkah Hairloom Mystery. I’m also releasing an audiobook edition of my award-winning instructional guide, Writing the Cozy Mystery. Then I’ll need to get to work on the next installment of the Keri Armstrong cozy mysteries.
Keri Armstrong
Personal concierge Keri Armstrong will accept almost any job, but solving murders wasn't on her to-do list-until now.
When personal concierge Keri Armstrong swings by her favorite client's mansion to drop off groceries, she expects a heartfelt chat along with a cup of tea-not Fiona Sullivan dead in bed and her room ransacked. Though police chalk it up to a botched robbery, Keri isn't so sure. Whispers around town suggest Fiona wasn't as adored as Keri had believed, and many of the philanthropist's so-called friends in affluent Sunny Grove, Florida seem glad she's gone.
Keri refuses to let Fiona's memory be reduced to malicious gossip. Armed with a keen eye, insider access, and a fully charged tablet, she sets out to uncover the truth. Soon her file of suspects grows faster than her to-do list. Between sneaky neighbors, resentful relatives, and tight-lipped charity board members, Fiona left behind a trail of frenemies who'd happily skip her memorial brunch.
As Keri digs deeper, she discovers her late mentor had a gift for extracting people's secrets and using them like fine china-carefully storing them until they could serve a purpose. But Fiona also kept a few skeletons in her own walk-in closet. Now, with danger creeping closer, Keri must race to crack the case before her number comes up next... and Murder Pays a Call.
"Fans of award-winning author Nancy J. Cohen's long-running Bad Hair Day Mysteries will be thrilled to learn there's a new sleuth in town. Murder Pays a Call is the debut book in her Keri Armstrong Cozy Mystery Series featuring a personal concierge who adds solving murders to the services she offers her clients." - Lois Winston, author of the bestselling and award-winning Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries
Mystery Cozy [Orange Grove Press, On Sale: September 9, 2025, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781952886379 / eISBN: 9781952886362]
Nancy J. Cohen writes the Bad Hair Day Mysteries featuring South Florida hairstylist Marla Vail. Titles in this series have been named Best Cozy Mystery by Suspense Magazine, won the Readers’ Favorite Book Awards and the RONE Award, placed first in the Chanticleer International Book Awards and third in the Arizona Literary Awards. Her nonfiction titles, Writing the Cozy Mystery and A Bad Hair Day Cookbook, have won the FAPA President’s Book Award, the Royal Palm Literary Award, and IAN Book of the Year.
Nancy’s imaginative romances have proven popular with fans as well. These books have won the HOLT Medallion and Best Book in Romantic SciFi/Fantasy at The Romance Reviews.
Active in the writing community, Nancy is a past president of Florida Romance Writers and Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. When not busy writing, she enjoys reading, fine dining, cruising, and visiting Disney World.
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