A Sweet Treat for the Spooky Season

The arrival of October is always a reason to celebrate. Fall break, Halloween decorations, and candle weather make for a perfect month. But this year, there’s something extra special about October first—it’s the publication day of the second Sweet Dreams book, Pralines and Creamed.

When planning my YA cozy mystery series, I knew one of the books had to be an October story. Whether it’s Hocus Pocus or Halloween, there’s just something about the spooky season in a small town. Pralines and Creamed has plenty of tricks and treats, including killer desserts, a costume party, and another shocking murder in Pinewood, Arizona. Not to worry of course—our trusty teenage heroine and her BFF are on the case. Get your copy here! 

(And if you still haven’t grabbed your copy of the first book in the series, Murder by Milkshake, it’s FREE on Kindle this week!)

It’s the spooky season in Pinewood, Arizona, and when Genevieve Winterland isn’t creating killer new recipes for Sweet Dreams Ice Cream Parlour, she’s helping BFF Brandon Summers prepare for the party of the year. Brandon’s parents own Hidden Treasures Bookstore, where famed horror writer Jack Kelley is launching his latest novel on Halloween night.

Brandon’s dad isn’t thrilled that the arrogant Kelley, who was once sweet on Mrs. Summers, has chosen their store for his big event. Still, there’s no denying the author draws a huge crowd. Which makes it hard to narrow down a suspect list when Kelley drops dead onstage—the victim of a shocking murder straight out of his own book.

Fresh off Pinewood’s last cold case, Genevieve is happy to let the police handle this one. But when frosty Detective Christie zeroes in on Brandon’s dad as her prime suspect, Genevieve decides to take matters into her own hands. Can she get the scoop and solve the mystery haunting her hometown?

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Sweet Surprise: Happy Book Birthday to My Debut Cozy Mystery!

Today I am THRILLED to announce the publication of my debut cozy mystery, Murder by MilkshakeIf the title seems familiar, that’s because I first published it in installments years ago on Amazon’s serialized story platform, Kindle Vella. Murder by Milkshake did well on Vella—in seven weeks it earned more than my traditionally published book earned in seven years—but I always imagined it as a mass market paperback (and ebook, of course!). Today, that dream comes true.

The idea for the Sweet Dreams series goes back to the winter of 2019. Back then I was reading a lot of cozy mysteries, and also a lot of young adult fiction. It occured to me these two categories could be combined. Most YA at the time was pretty dark; the only lighthearted options tended to be romance. There were dark academia mysteries, and plenty of thrillers and horror, but nothing like a Scooby-Doo type mystery—something short and sweet, a little silly, and a lot of fun.

I started scribbling down ideas for a series that would feature a sprightly teenage heroine, her bookish best friend, and their charming small mountain town in northern Arizona. The teenage characters would solve crimes when not at school or working at their parents’ respective downtown shops.

The boy’s shop, I knew, would be a bookstore with a cafe, but I wasn’t sure about my main character. She was spirited, cheerful, energetic, and definitely not bookish. I considered a 50s-style diner, or a quirky antique store. And then, later that year, my daughter got her first job—at Baskin Robbins. She looked so cute in her pink uniform hat, and she always came home smelling like ice cream and waffle cones. So I gave my main character an ice cream shop, and I called it Sweet Dreams. 

Like I’ve said before, I have never had as much fun writing a book as this one. Obviously it is very different from my usual work, which is literary in nature and melancholy in tone. Cozy mysteries in contrast are bubbly, plot-driven, humorous, and fun. It’s been a blast switching gears and writing commercial fiction, and I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. If you do, you’re in luck, because the next entry in the Sweet Dreams series comes out in October!

Get your copy of Murder by Milkshake here.