Hello everyone!
Today I am thrilled to be hosting one of my favorite cozy authors, and just an around awesome lady,
Connie Archer!
Connie writes The Soup Lover's Mystery series.
If you haven't read this series, you must add it to your reading list!
Connie has been thinking a lot lately about who she wants to kill. In her books that is!
After you read Connie's dilemma, maybe you can help her out by leaving a comment letting her know who you think she should and shouldn't kill.
And to thank you, Connie is giving away a copy of your choice of one of her first three
Soup Lover's Mysteries!
You can enter using the Rafflecopter form below.
So, lets see what Connie has to say.
Who should I kill next?
by Connie Archer
Someone recently asked me how I’ve managed to have one or
more murders in each book of the Soup Lover’s Mystery series without depleting the
admittedly small population of Snowflake, Vermont. Originally, the town census was 953 but now,
unfortunately, there are only 950 souls in the village. (Psssst . . . . don’t
tell anyone, but the murder rate in this charming village is rather high.)
Winter tourists come for the ski slopes, summer visitors for
the lovely scenery and the reenactment of the Battle
of Bennington and,
of course, the Harvest Festival in the fall.
Outsiders are safe. Well, I mean
they’re safe for me to kill, but Snowflake may not be a very safe place for them to be. And of course if anyone comes to town for nefarious
reasons, I feel I have a completely free hand in bumping them off.
So that got me to thinking . . . what would happen if one of
the village residents, one of the regulars in town, were murdered? Would that complete demolish the boundaries
of a cozy mystery? Would readers be
upset and write angry emails to me? And
if I should decide to do just that, who would I choose?
Speaking of bumping characters off -- I’ve watched pretty
much every episode of Downton Abbey. No,
I’m not a rabid fan, although I really have enjoyed the series. A reviewer recently described Downton as a
“perfect soap opera.” That gave me
pause. A soap? Wow! I
hadn’t quite thought of Downton Abbey as a soap, but maybe that reviewer had a
point. Maybe whatever factors caused
Downton to be so popular are the same elements that make a mystery series a
success.
Let’s examine some of the things that have happened at
Downton. Bates has gone to jail -- for a
good long time for the murder of his wife, leaving Anna heartbroken and
terrified. It wasn’t looking as if Bates
would ever be released. Anna’s been
raped by a monstrous valet. The younger
sister who ran off with the chauffeur (sorry, can’t remember her character’s
name), has died after childbirth, and then there’s Matthew. What a shocker that was at the end of the
season!
So here’s this marvellous series that pulls every fan in every
week even though terrible things are happening to the Crawley
family and other residents of Downton Abbey.
Could I take a leaf from that book? (Speaking figuratively that is.) Could I kill off a series regular
character? Is that actually DONE in cozies??? And who would I choose?
Jack? Lucky’s beloved
grandfather? Well, we know Jack has had
some health problems and then of course there are his flashbacks to the
war. But no! Not Jack!
Never! Even though he’s 85 years
young. Besides, who would tell time by
the bells if anything happened to that wonderful Navy vet?
Lucky? Nope. Can’t do that. After all, she’s my main protagonist. Without her there couldn’t be a series. She has to stick around to solve all the
crimes. Sophie? Lucky’s best friend? Can’t see that. Sophie just got married. Well, she will have been married by the end
of Book 4, Ladle to the Grave, which
is coming out on March 3, 2015. No, that
would be terrible.
Sage DuBois? The
Spoonful’s chef? Yikes! Who would make all those fabulous soup
recipes? And surely not Horace
Winthorpe! He hasn’t finished his book
on the Revolutionary War years in Vermont
yet. He has a ways to go. And definitely not his dog Cicero .
Never Cicero !
Perhaps a more minor character? Flo Sullivan who sends Jack into tailspins
with her flirtations? Hmmm. Hank or Barry, the Spoonful’s regulars? Uh, uh.
They’re the first customers of the day.
Killing them would cause a rift in the universe that is Snowflake, Vermont .
The more I thought about it, I realized how hard the choice
would be, if not impossible. I love them
all. I need them all. They people the pages of each book, lending
texture and color and idiosyncrasies. I
couldn’t bear to kill any of them. Just
can’t do it.
This title will be released on March 3, 2015.
What do you think?
Should everyone in Snowflake stay in Snowflake? The important people I mean? Even the ones who are so annoying, like
Cordelia Rank? Personally, I think it
would just be too too sad. I want them
all there the next time I sit down to plot the new crimes in the village.
What do you think?
Could you bear to lose anyone in Snowflake? Would you never speak or write to me
again?
Wow! Connie sure is in a predicament.
I'm going to throw in my opinion.
I would hate to see any of the people Connie mentioned above get murdered. But it occurs to me there are semi-regular characters that could be killed off and it would add just the right amount of angst to the story without completely breaking our hearts by losing one of our beloved regulars.
My pick would be Sage's brother, Remy DuBois.
What do you think? Do you think Connie can kill off a regular?
Or should she stick with visitors to Snowflake?
I can't wait to read your suggestions for her.
You can purchase Connie Archer's Soup Lover's Mysteries at you local bookstore or any of these online book sellers.
Connie
Archer is the national bestselling author of the Soup Lover’s Mystery series
from Berkley Prime Crime.
A Spoonful of Murder, A Broth of
Betrayal and A Roux of Revenge are set in the imaginary village of
Snowflake, Vermont.
The fourth book in the series, Ladle to the
Grave,
will be released in March 2015.
You can visit Connie at
her website and blog: conniearchermysteries.com,
Facebook.com/ConnieArcherMysteries and Twitter @SnowflakeVT.
As always, please leave a comment and
let me know what you think!
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Click on the link in the
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GOOD LUCK!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Please read on for the answers to yesterday's
Monday Mystery Mashup!
?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?
SOLUTIONS
1. A Haunting Is Brewing
2. Murderous Muffins
3. Golden Malicious
4. Murder Most Maine
5. Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye
Check back next Monday
for more Mashups!
