BOOK TOUR

I'm thrilled to be a stop on the 

book tour for 

Susan Boles

and her new book

CHERRY CAKE AND A CADAVER

Book 2 in the Lily Gayle Lambert Mysteries

Lily Gayle and the gang set out to find a killer after local baker Luxen Natolovich is found dead hours before the grand opening weekend at the new Bed and Breakfast in town, Midnight Dragonfly. As Lily Gayle deciphers the clues around Luxen's death she uncovers a conspiracy of lies and half truths that could very well be tied to a refugee camp in Mississippi during World War II. The deeper Lily Gayle digs the deeper the consipiracy runs and the closer she comes to being the killers next victim.

An Interview With Susan Boles

LKBR:  Thank you for being here today, Susan!

SB: Hi Lisa! Thank you for having me. It’s always a pleasure to be here on your blog.

LKBR: Please tell us a bit about your book.

SB: Cherry Cake and a Cadaver is Book 2 in the Lily Gayle Lambert Mystery series. The series takes place in the fictional town of Mercy in north Mississippi. It’s a very small town where everyone knows everyone, but murder and mystery still happens. In Cherry Cake and a Cadaver, the local baker is found dead on the premises of an about-to-open bed and breakfast called The Midnight Dragonfly. Lily Gayle and the gang jump into action to solve the crime before the Inn opens.

LKBR: How did you come up with the concept for The Lily Gayle Lambert 

Mysteries? How about the idea Cherry Cake and a Cadaver? 

SB: The concept for the series came from my love of cozy mysteries, small towns and long histories. Mercy, Mississippi is a small town where you’d think nothing happens, but somehow it still does. This installment has a very unusual origin. I have a friend who has a dog rescue group called Streetdog Foundation. Last fall, at their big yearly fundraiser, I had given them the opportunity to raffle off a chance to name a character in my next book. The person who won the raffle wanted the name to be Luxen Natolovich. I was pretty taken aback when I received that information! Talk about out of left field. So, I put my thinking cap on to come up with how someone with the surname Natolovich came to be living in Mercy, Mississippi. I knew that there was a group of Latvians who had come to the U.S. at the end of World War II and settled in a town called Senatobia – which geographically is near my fictional town of Mercy. A friend from high school is a descendent of one of those original Latvians. So, I reached out to her to find out if Natolovich could be a Latvian name. She said it’s not even close, so I was stuck again. She told me it could be Chech, so I blended that into the story with the Latvians and created a mystery around Luxen from that perspective.

LKBR: Do you have a favorite character in The Lily Gayle Lambert Mystery series?

SB: I have to say I love all of my main characters equally. Like a mom loves all of her children equally. So…I can’t give you one who’s always my favorite. But, Lily Gayle has been through some hard times in her life, so she’s maybe a little close to my heart.

LKBR: Is there a certain type of scene that’s harder for you to write than others? Love, action, death, etc?

SB: Scenes where there are more than two or three people are the hardest for me to write. I want to have everyone who’s present be involved in the scene, but I don’t want to head hop, so it’s difficult for me to convey everything that’s going on while staying in one person’s perspective.

LKBR: In your writing, have you ever used experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

SB: I sometimes use things that are close to something that happened in real life. My mama has been a very nervous driver ever since my dad was killed in a car accident many years ago. She never completely stopped driving, but in my series Lily Gayle’s husband was killed in a car accident several years in the past and she has never driven again. And the relationship between Lily Gayle and Ben is loosely based on my own relationship with a male cousin who is less than a year younger than me.

LKBR: When you’re in the process of writing/creating a book, do you use a computer, typewriter, dictate, or use pen to paper?

 SB: I use a computer and pen/paper. When my eyes get tired from being on the computer for too many hours, I change over to pen and paper. Of course, since my handwriting is so horrible, I sometimes have difficulty figuring out what I wrote when I’m transferring it to the computer document! I have a friend who is a medical transcriptionist and offered to do transcription for me if I ever want to try that route. I’m still thinking about that one.

LKBR: Do you have any writing quirks or rituals that you do before, during, and/or after writing a new book?

 SB: Recently a friend gave me a heart-shaped soapstone with the word “BELIEVE” carved into it. I keep in on my desk, and when I’m thinking out a scene I hold it and run my thumb along the side. It’s very calming.

LKBR: What book are you reading?

 SB: Kathy Daley’s Murder at Dolphin Bay

LKBR: Where can readers go to learn more about you and your books?

SB: www.susanbolesauthor.com

         www.linkedin.com/in/susan-boles-9a1b6241

         www.susanbolesauthor.com/newsletter-street-team-sign-up.html

         www.goodreads.com/group/show/213755-lily-gayle-lambert-mysteries-fans

        https://sokybookfest.org/authors/susan-boles/

LKBR: Thank you so much for letting us get to know you better!

SB: Thank you for inviting me to be a part of you blog. It’s always a pleasure to be here.

About Susan

Susan calls McNairy County, TN her home ground even though she has moved away. It was here, at Bethel Springs Junior High School that she began her writing career with two friends. They formed their own little writers group that was so secret they were the only ones who knew it existed. She still has some of the stories they wrote carefully preserved in a loose leaf binder and tucked away for safety.

She has worked in retail management, briefly for the Census Bureau and for many years in the investment/insurance industry in the regulatory compliance arena. All of which are left brain activities. So she exercises her right brain activity with reading and writing…just to keep both sides even.

Reading has been a passion since she was very young. As a toddler, her mother read to her from her 'baby books' and her Mother tells a story about her holding one of them upsidedown and 'reading' by repeating the story verbatim from memory.

Susan writes mysteries set in the big city of Memphis, TN and the fictional small town of Mercy, Mississippi.

Stay in touch for upcoming releases!

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*****!!!GIVEAWAY!!!*****

Check the Rafflecopter form below for details and 
 a list of the amazing prizes!

Winners will be chosen after March 29 

at the end of the tour

Enter using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post.

This giveaway is through Great Escape Book Tours, not Lisa Ks Book Reviews.

www.escapewithdollycas.com

📘📖📙📖📙📖📘

TOUR PARTICIPANTS
March 16 – Blogger Nicole Reviews
March 16 – A Blue Million Books
March 17 – Books,Dreams,Life
March 17 – Celticlady's Reviews
March 18 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews
March 18 – A Holland Reads
March 19 – Sleuth Cafe
March 20 – Back Porchervations
March 21 – Queen of All She Reads
March 21 – Cozy Up With Kathy
March 22 – OFF 
March 23 – Laura's Interests
March 24 – Babs Book Bistro 
March 24 – My Journey Back
March 25 – Brooke Blogs
March 25 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book
March 26 – Island Confidential 
March 27 – Maureen's Musings
March 28 – Rainy Day Reviews
March 29 – Community Bookstop
March 29 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf 

MY REVIEW

Having read the first book in the Lily Gayle Mysteries, DEATH OF A WOLFMAN, I know author Susan Boles has a talent for creating unique characters and situations, so I was very much looking forward to, CHERRY CAKE AND A CADAVER.

Southern cozies are among my favorites. I found myself laughing at the antics of some of the townspeople of Mercy, Mississippi. LOL It’s a town I like to visit, but I think I’ll pass on living there.  ;-)

Ms. Boles has a good sense of mystery, and using clues to lead the reader down the right path to guessing the outcome, if the reader is paying close attention. Since I didn’t guess this whodunit correctly, it seems I missed a clue or two while reading CHERRY CAKE AND A CADAVER.

Make sure to keep reading once the story is over, or you’ll miss out on three great recipes!

If you loved the first book, then do give CHERRY CAKE AND A CADAVER a try.

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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