Lisa Ks Book Reviews

BOOK TOUR

I'm thrilled to be a stop on the

blog tour for author

Mary Ellen Hughes

and her new book

A FATAL COLLECTION

Book 1 in the Keepsake Cove Mysteries

Callie Reed pays a long overdue visit to her aunt, Melodie, at her fairy-tale cottage in quaint Keepsake Cove, which is home to a bevy of collectible shops on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Just as they’re beginning to reconnect, Callie discovers her aunt’s body on the floor of the music box shop she owns. Grief-stricken, Callie finds she can’t accept Melodie’s death being ruled accidental. How could her strong and healthy aunt take such a fatal fall? And why was she in the shop in the middle of the night?

As Callie searches for the truth, signs seem to come from her late aunt through a favorite music box, urging Callie on. Or are they warnings? If Callie isn’t careful, she could meet a similar deadly fate amid Melodie’s collection.

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

Winners will be chosen after November 21

at the end of the tour

Two lucky readers will each win a print copy of

A FATAL COLLECTION

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

AN INTERVIEW WITH MARY ELLEN HUGHES

LKBR: Thank you for being here today, Mary Ellen!

MEH: Thanks, Lisa! It’s great to be here.

LKBR: When did you first know you wanted to be an author?

MEH: Probably back when I read my first Nancy Drew. I actually started my own mystery then, at age nine or ten. But I got bogged down on drawing the cover. (I’m not much of an artist.) The story had something to do with mummies, but that’s all I remember about it. Most likely because I didn’t write much more than the title!

I became more serious about writing much later, when my children were old enough to leave me some spare time. I still loved mysteries, so that’s what I concentrated on.

LKBR: What was your inspiration for this series? Where did the name come from?

MEH: It’s always interested me what collectors choose to collect. For A Fatal Collection, I created Keepsake Cove, a town of all kinds of keepsake and collectible shops, then gave my protagonist a collectible music box shop because I love music – all kinds. The title is a play on A Fatal Attraction, but my story is much cozier than the movie.

LKBR: Do you ever get writer’s block? If you do, how do you work through it?

MEH: I get stuck once in a while, trying to figure out how my protagonist can discover a certain clue or get out of a tight spot. Playing a few games of solitaire sometimes works by clearing my head. But talking it out with my husband works best for knotty problems. He’s a wonderful sounding board and inspiration.

LKBR: Do you have a favorite place to do your writing?

MEH: I have my laptop set up so that I can sit in a comfy chair next to a window. The view is of the yard with only birds and small wildlife to distract me.

LKBR: What is your writing schedule like? Do you write a certain number of hours a day, or go by word count?

MEH: I write in the morning. If I’m lucky, I’ll have several pages done by lunchtime, but if not, I still stop. It seems the creative part of my brain can do only so much at a time.

LKBR: What is the hardest part of writing? What is the easiest part?

MEH: The hardest for me is writing the middle of the book, where I need to keep myself from rushing to the end. The easiest is the end (which I always want to rush to.) I really enjoy pulling together all the pieces.

LKBR: Do you have plans for a new series?

MEH: A Fatal Collection starts my new series, so I think I’ll concentrate on that for a while.

LKBR: What book are you reading?

MEH: The Girl in the Spider’s Web, a continuation of the “Tattoo” series. Reading something out of the cozy genre gives my brain a little break - or maybe shakes it up a little.

LKBR: What are three things you want your readers to know about you?

MEH: I love writing, I love mysteries, and I love readers who love mysteries.

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

MEH: Thank YOU, Lisa. It was great to be here.

MY REVIEW

A FATAL COLLECTION will be a keepsake of mine for a very long time to come!

I have said many times that readers can’t go wrong with a book from author Mary Ellen Hughes. She has once again proven me right. This first book in her Keepsake Cove Mystery series is a real winner!

Many things made me want to read, A FATAL COLLECTION. The first of course is author Hughes. The second is the location of the series both real, and fictional. It takes place on the East Coast, in Maryland, close to the town of Ocean City, MD, where I have been visiting since I was a child. So I loved hearing familiar town names, and route numbers. These familiar places helped me to clearly picture the fictional town of Mapleton, MD, and Keepsake Cove. The idea of a “town” within a town is a wonderfully creative idea. And the shops of that town each being dedicated to a certain collectible is brilliant! It’s a place I would frequent most too often I’m sure.

Many things kept me reading A FATAL COLLECTION. First, the characters. I felt an instant kinship to protagonist, Callie Reed, her Aunt Melodie, and the many eclectic store owners. I felt they were people I would surely have called friends. I would have loved to see the relationship between Callie and her aunt grow. Ms. Hughes, how could you kill Aunt Mel?! You broke my heart! (You’re already forgiven.) However, that does bring me to the second thing that kept me reading. I had to know who killed Aunt Mel, why they did it, and most of all, see them caught and punished! Yes, I took it quite personally. LOL

As for the mystery, it was solid, and well plotted. There were enough suspects to caused me to spend time deliberating just who the murderer could be. In what I considered to be a major surprising turn of events, I was completely stunned when the killer was revealed! I was totally taken by surprise. Very clever.

One thing I want to stress about A FATAL COLLECTION is, it’s what a cozy mystery should be in every way. So many authors are making cozies edgier. While I have enjoyed some of them, they aren’t what I want in a cozy. But this book, this is what I want when I read a cozy mystery. This story is what has made cozy mysteries my favorite genre.

All of the things above, and so much more, have

made A FATAL COLLECTION one of my favorite cozy mysteries of 2017.

ABOUT MARY ELLEN

Mary Ellen Hughes is the bestselling author of the Pickled and Preserved Mysteries (Penguin), the Craft Corner Mysteries, and the Maggie Olenski Mysteries, along with several short stories. A Fatal Collection is her debut with Midnight Ink. A Wisconsin native, she has lived most of her adult life in Maryland, where she’s set many of her stories. Visit her at www.MaryEllenHughes.com.

Author Links

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MaryEllenHughesauthor

Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/mehughes13/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/mehughesauthor

Purchase Links

Amazon

B&N

kobo

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Participants
November 8 – Laura's Interests - REVIEW
November 8 – Back Porchervations – REVIEW
November 9 – Island Confidential – INTERVIEW
November 9 – Books,Dreams, Life – SPOTLIGHT
November 10 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews - REVIEW
November 10 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT
November 11 – A Blue Million Books - GUEST POST
November 11 – Bookworm Cafe – REVIEW
November 12 – The Power of Words – REVIEW
November 12 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews - REVIEW, INTERVIEW
November 13 – Bea's Book Nook – REVIEW
November 13 – Queen of All She Reads – REVIEW
November 14 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
November 15 – Socrates' Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
November 15 – Jane Reads – GUEST POST
November 16 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW
November 16 – The Montana Bookaholic – REVIEW
November 17 – That's What She's Reading – REVIEW
November 17 – Valerie's Musings – REVIEW
November 17 – My Reading Journeys - REVIEW, INTERVIEW
November 18 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST
November 18 – Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers – SPOTLIGHT
November 19 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW
November 20 – Melina's Book Blog – REVIEW
November 20 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
November 21 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
November 21 – Brooke Blogs – REVIEW