Blog Tour

Chorus Lines, Caviar, and Corpses 

by Mary McHugh 

Review, Guest Post, & Giveaway!

This is the first in a new series - with recipes. There's no pussy-footing around murder...It's never too late to kick up your heels. Just ask Tina, Janice, Pat, Mary Louise, and Gini - aka the Happy Hoofers. After posting a video of their tap-dancing routine on the Internet, the leggy ladies find themselves booked to perform on a Russian river cruise up the Volga from Moscow to St. Petersburg. But when murder cuts in, the five fabulous friends find it's not so easy to tap their troubles away. A crew member has been killed, and a passenger is missing. With a killer on board, the Hoofers need to watch their step. But with a little fancy footwork, these soft-shoe sleuths may get a leg up on a killer who's cruising for a bruising...It includes travel tips and tasty recipes.

My Review

Author Mary McHugh did a great job with this first book in a new series. An enjoyable story, with a good mystery.

If you're looking for a different type of cozy, look no further. While CHORUS LINES, CAVIAR, and CORPSES is a "traditional" mystery, being set on a Russian river cruise gives this story a fresh feel
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This was a quick read, with a good plot. I had a lot of fun with Tina, Janice, Pat, Mary Louise, and Gini, the ladies of the Happy Hoofers. Well, let me make that a little more clear. I had a lot of fun reading their story. I would not have wanted to be on their cruise with them. Murder is just one, and admittedly the worst, thing that happens during their trip. Things just seemed to keep going wrong for these ladies.

Ms. McHugh also includes some helpful travel tips at the beginning of almost every chapter, and a few recipes throughout the book.

And now a visit from author 

Mary McHugh!

Writing cozy mysteries has turned out to be one of the best things I ever did!!  For years I wrote non-fiction books (19 of them) on every subject from Crotchety Old Men to 365 Reasons not to Diet.  Then about five years ago, I tried writing fiction and out popped a series of cozies starring five gorgeous women who dance on cruise ships, luxury trains and resorts and solve murders in between dances. It has been more fun than anything.

          Each cozy is narrated by a different dancer:  Tina, the magazine editor, Gini, the documentary film maker, Janice, the actress and director, Pat, the family therapist, and Mary Louise, the housewife. And each cozy is set in a different country:  “Chorus Lines, Caviar and Corpses,” published on November 4, 2014, takes place in Russia on a cruise ship sailing from Moscow to Saint Petersburg; “Flamenco, Flan and Fatalities”, due out in March 2015, is on a luxury train in northern Spain;  “Cancans, Croissants, and Caskets,” is in Paris; the fourth is in Rio, and the fifth is looking for a place to go.

                   My husband and I actually took that cruise from Moscow to St. Petersburg a couple of years ago  -- luckily no one was murdered.  We had never been to Russia before and found it fascinating. It was so different from any other place we’d ever been.  I tried to make it come alive for you in “Chorus Lines, Caviar and Corpses”, and would love to know if you felt like you were actually there. I take you to 

St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow: 

To Gumm’s vast department store in Red Square where there were ceramic cows lining the main corridor:    

The hoofers in my book danced around this blue cow.  

And they marveled, as everyone does at the immaculate subway system in Moscow.  Look at this one with an incredible mural at one end: 

          And the hats in Russia!  Here’s my husband (his name is Earl) trying on a spectacular one:

I take you to the Hermitage art museum and Catherine the Great’s Palace in in St. Petersburg, and to the island of Kizhi that is preserved the way it was for centuries, where women like this one wove their own fabric:

  In my book, I gave her a little cat because I love cats.  This is my tortoise shell cat Pandora checking out the printer to make sure there’s enough paper:

            Besides introducing you to Russia and giving you a couple of murders to solve, I have included some cooking lessons and recipes in my book, which are easy to follow and really delicious.  I’ve been making them for years and I wanted to pass them on to you.  You might want to try the Blini with Caviar or the Chicken Kiev or the Beef Stroganoff. Let me know how they turn out.  

I welcome all your comments about my book, the recipes, or anything else you want to tell me.  I’d love to hear about your life.  Write me!

www.marymchugh.org

You can purchase 

CHORUS LINES, CAVIAR, and CORPSES 

at you local bookstore or online

Barnes & Noble 

Book Depository

Amazon

Kensington is offering a copy of 

CHORUS LINES, CAVIAR, and CORPSES

for giveaway!

To enter, just leave a comment for Mary by 
Nov. 9, 11:59 pm EST and a winner will be picked by random draw. 

The next great book in this series will be

Flamenco, Flan, and Fatalities. 

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