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BLOG TOUR
and
GIVEAWAY

I'm so excited to be a stop on 

Sparkel Abbey's blog tour for

DOWNTON TABBY

Book 7 in the Pampered Pets Mystery series

Sparkle Abbey aka authors 

Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter

are giving away 

2 $10.00 Amazon Gift Cards!

Just leave a comment for your chance to win!

A word from Sparkle Abbey

Meeting a New Book

First off, a big thank-you to Lisa for letting us stop by. As readers as well as authors we are amazed by all the new books out there. There are so many great choices and it can be difficult to pick a new book to read. It’s a bit like meeting someone new for the first time.

When we first pick up a new book (especially a cozy mystery) we’re hopeful this is the beginning for a great long-term relationship. Because we’re always looking for that next new series to fall in love with.

So where does a book relationship start?

For us, most often with the cover. We love what our publisher does with our covers. At a recent mystery conference, a reader said the covers reminded her of a Cary Grant movie like To Catch a Thief. We were thrilled. That’s exactly the feel of the books. Mystery with a light-hearted but sophisticated twist.

What do you look for next? We always go for the back cover blurb. Something that tells us a little bit more about the storyline. Our friend, Susan Boyer’s book, Low Country Boil says this:

Liz Talbot thinks she’s seen another ghost when she meets Calista McQueen. She’s the spitting image of Marilyn Monroe. Born precisely fifty years after the ill-fated star, Calista’s life has eerily mirrored the late starlet’s – and she fears the looming anniversary of Marilyn’s death will also be hers.

Okay, so we know: mystery, ghost, sounds like there’s some humor. We like it!

And here’s the back cover blurb for Downton Tabby, our upcoming book:

Anyone for tea and crumpets . . . and murder? 

Caro Lamont, amateur sleuth and well-respected animal therapist to Laguna Beach’s pampered pets, works with office mate and tech wizard, Graham Cash, whose beloved Scottish Fold tabby cat, Toria, is purported to have anger management issues. But when Caro drops by the charming Brit’s Tudor-inspired mansion to return Toria, she finds his business partner dead and Cash missing. 

Caro is left with the cuddly cat and a lot of unanswered questions. Is Cash the killer, or has he been kidnapped? What’s up with the angry next door neighbor? And what about Cash’s girlfriend, Heidi, who isn’t sharing everything she knows with homicide detective Judd Malone? 

Suddenly there are more secrets and intrigues than there are titles in England. Add in a stranger in a dark SUV stalking Caro, feisty senior sidekick, Betty, hiding in restaurant shrubbery, and wannabe investigative reporter Callum MacAvoy who seems to be constantly underfoot, and you’ve got a cat and mouse mystery of the first order. 

Again, mystery and humor but also pets. Is that enough for a reader to say, “Here’s a new book I’d like to get to know better?”

Maybe. Especially for pet-loving mystery readers.

If still in doubt after checking out the cover and the back cover blurb, we’re big believers in first lines.  Here’s the first line in Susan’s book: “The dead are patient.” We ask you, who could not read more?

The first line in Downton Tabby is: “The Irish Setter and I had a lot in common, and I don’t just mean hair color.” We hope that line also makes you wonder what comes next!

In contrast, Nancy Pickard’s The Scent of Rain and Lightning begins: “Until she was twenty-six, Jody Linder felt suspicious of happiness.” A much different feel to this story. Definitely a must-read-on beginning, but you know this is not so light-hearted. Still we fell much like Dorothy in the movie Jerry Maguire, “Nancy Pickard, you had us at hello.”

Those are the three things that help us figure out what to read next.

If you’re like us, you never feel like you have enough time to read. So when you take a chance on a new book, it’s with the hope of maybe finding a new cast of characters to spend time with.

How do you choose? What makes you pick up a new book?

Comment below for a chance to win one of two $10 Amazon gift certificates to use to “meet a new book.” 

MY REVIEW

Pet therapist, Carolina “Caro” Lamont, is back and better than ever in this seventh installment of the Pampered Pets Mystery series. Author Sparkle Abbey have penned another wonderful story. The author's sense of humor shines through as well as her fantastic way with crafting an entertaining mystery.

Fast moving, but not so much as to be confusing, DOWNTON TABBY was as tight as a newly would ball of yarn and just as fun to unravel. With each turn of the page the questions kept coming, making this mystery even more intriguing, right until the surprising reveal.

This was such an addicting read, I couldn’t stop reading it! Now I know how cats must feel about catnip! Cat lovers and mystery fans will be in their glory with this excellent read. DOWNTON TABBY will leave you purring in delight.

And make sure to check out the two great cat treat recipes at the back of the book!

About the authors

Sparkle Abbey is the pseudonym of two mystery authors (Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter). They are friends and neighbors as well as co-writers of the Pampered Pets Mystery Series. The pen name was created by combining the names of their rescue pets—Sparkle (Mary Lee’s cat) and Abbey (Anita’s dog). They reside in central Iowa, but if they could write anywhere, you would find them on the beach with their laptops and, depending on the time of day, with either an iced tea or a margarita. 

Visit them at sparkleabbey.com.

Remember to leave a comment for your chance to win one of two Amazon $10.00 Gift Cards!