Wednesday, September 4, 2019

BOOK TOUR


I'm excited to be a stop on the blog tour for
CRYPT SUZETTE
Book 6 in the Five-Ingredient Mysteries
by Maya Corrigan


Val Deniston is catering the debut of Bayport’s newest bookstore—but the death of a customer is about to draw her into a real-life murder mystery …
Suzette Cripps has been occupying a spare bedroom at Val’s granddad’s house while she takes classes in this Maryland Eastern Shore town—but she’s always seemed a little secretive and fearful, and any talk about her past is a closed book.
 
After winning the costume contest at the Halloween-themed bookstore party, Suzette is mowed down by a hit-and-run driver—and Val and her grandfather start to wonder whether it was really an accident or if someone was after Suzette. Granddad is a little distracted by his new enterprise as a ghost-buster, but as Val talks to Suzette’s coworkers and fellow creative writing students, she grows more convinced that the dead woman’s demons weren’t imaginary—and that she needs to rip the mask off a killer 

A CHAT WITH MAYA

LKBR:  Thank you for being here today, Maya!

MC: Thank you for having me as your guest, Lisa K. You perform a great service for readers and writers with your site.


LKBR: Please tell us a bit about you, and your book/series.

MC: My full name is Mary Ann Roman Corrigan.  I write crime stories under the name of Maya Corrigan. I owe my love of mysteries to my 4th grade teacher, who gave me her Nancy Drew collection, and to my mother, who brought home stacks of detective books from the library. Before writing crime fiction, I taught college classes in writing and literature, wrote nonfiction, and designed courses for online learners. I live outside Washington, D.C., an easy drive from Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the setting for my mystery series.

My Five-Ingredient Mysteries include By Cook or by Crook, Scam Chowder, Final Fondue, The Tell-Tale Tarte, S’more Murders, and Crypt Suzette. The series, set in a fictional town along the Chesapeake Bay, features a café manager and her live-wire grandfather, the Codger Cook. Each book has five suspects, five clues, and Granddad’s five-ingredient recipes.

In the most recent book, Crypt Suzette, Val is catering a Halloween party and costume contest at Bayport’s new bookshop. The contestants include the Fictionistas, a creative writing group started by Granddad's lodger, the secretive Suzette, who’s working her way through college. When she’s found dead of an apparent accident, Val and Granddad suspect foul play. So do her fellow Fictionistas, who accuse each other of murder. Did one of them kill Suzette or is her death rooted in the past she has tried to escape? It will take Granddad's ghost-busting, Val's foray into a haunted house, and a Halloween ruse to unmask the killer.


LKBR: Any hints or spoilers you can give us about your next book?

MC: I am working on the 7th book in the Five-Ingredient Mystery series. It’s a holiday-themed book revolving around a Dickens of a Christmas Festival in Bayport. The costumed volunteers, who dress as Dickens characters, include Val’s Granddad as Scrooge. The ghosts of Christmas Present and Future also appear.  


LKBR: Have you ever written a scene that you loved but had to remove it for the sake of the story?

MC: For a book yet to be published, I wrote a scene that takes place in a hospital where a woman recovering from a murder attempt is attacked and must fight off a man pretending to be a doctor as he tries to kill her. I loved the scene, but since the woman spends much of the book’s first half in a coma, she doesn’t appear often enough that I could insert a chapter from her point of view. Yet the scene couldn’t be written from anyone else’s point of view and be as dramatic. Maybe the next time I go through the book, I can think of a way to include it.


LKBR: Have you ever gotten reader’s block? Just find it hard to get into reading because you are so into your writing?

MC: I read every night before I go to sleep. If I can’t get into a book by page 25, I usually put it down and move on to another book. (I have a large to-be-read pile.) Once I’m hooked, I look forward to picking up the story where I left off, though it takes me longer to finish a book than it used to. I have less time to read now that I’m writing.


LKBR: Are there any magazines/publications that as a writer you subscribe to? Are these or others something readers could also benefit from?

MC: I belong to Sisters in Crime (SinC) and the Guppy Chapter of the SinC. Both the national organization and the Guppies have a publication that contains helpful information to writers and readers. The publications are free with membership, which carries a lot of other benefits.  


LKBR: Is there anything you would give up if you thought it would make you an even better writer?

MC: I would give up broccoli, arugula, and maraschino cherries—all things I hate. I’d also give up ice cream, which I don’t hate, but I’d never give up pie.


LKBR: Any new projects in the works?

MC: I’ve written a book called The Art of Deceit, which won the New England Readers’ Award and the Daphne du Maurier Award in unpublished Mystery/Suspense. My next project is to make some changes in that book, possibly turning it into the first in a series, and find a publisher for it. I also have ideas for a couple of historical mysteries, set in different eras in the US and England.


LKBR: If you could ask your readers 3 questions, what would they be?

MC: How much does the cover of a book influence you to read it?

How much does the title affect your decision to pick up a book?

Are you an organ donor?
I ask that question because of the vital impact organ donorship has on people’s lives. My immediate family includes two organ recipients and one live organ donor. On the bio page of my website (https://www.mayacorrigan.com/bio.html), you can read the story of my grandson, who underwent a transplant when he was five months old, and is now nearly ten years old. His life was saved by people who checked off a box on their drivers’ licenses to affirm they were donors.


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

Group Blog (twice monthly): https://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com/
Amazon Author Page: https://tinyurl.com/yakfszxo


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

MC: Thank you for hosting me, Lisa!

📚📖📚📖📚

!!!GIVEAWAY!!!

1 lucky reader will win a print copy of

CRYPT SUZETTE

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

Winner will be chosen after September 4 at the end of the tour.

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


MY REVIEW


Author Maya Corrigan has upped her game with this latest installment to her Five-Ingredient Mysteries. I think she must have enjoyed writing a cozy set at Halloween as much as I enjoy reading it. Easily my favorite in the series so far, CRYPT SUZETTE is a book I couldn’t put down. Really. It even went in the bathroom with me. TMI . . . I know, but it's true! ;-)

I enjoy all of the characters of this series, including protagonist, Val Deniston. They all have something different to being to the series that help to make it a cohesive whole. But I’m going to just put this out there . . . I am in love with Grandad. I could hang around that man every day. And, I totally want to go ghost hunting with him!

CRYPT SUZETTE had me hooked from page one. I love when a book does that. Nothing really big has to happen on that page, but there’s just some something that speaks to me, and I know I'm in for a good read. And this book was a good read.

The mystery element was really well done. I could tell author Corrigan put a lot of thought into the plot. I was seeing suspects around every corner. (Even my sister started to look suspicious to me.) By the end, I had two solid suspects. 50/50 has never been a good set of odds for me. I still guessed wrong, ummm, on both my guesses, but that made the reveal even better!

If you’re looking for a Halloween cozy (or any cozy) to enjoy, you can’t go wrong with CRYPT SUZETTE. Haven’t read the other books in the series? I don’t think you’ll have a problem jumping into the mix with this one. But be warned, it will make you want to go back and read the other five!

It wouldn’t be a Five-Ingredient Mystery without recipes. You’ll find five great ones at the end of the book!

About Maya Corrigan

Maya Corrigan blends her love of food and detective stories in her Five-Ingredient Mystery series set in a fictional historic town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The first book in the series, By Cook or by Crook, was published in 2014.
Before taking up a life of crime (on the page), she taught university courses in writing, detective fiction, American literature, and drama. She won the 2013 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Unpublished Mainstream Mystery / Suspense. Her short stories, written under the name of Mary Ann Corrigan, have been published in anthologies.
When not reading and writing, she enjoys theater, tennis, trivia, cooking, and crosswords. Her website features trivia about food and mysteries.

Author Links 
WebPage: mayacorrigan.com 


Purchase Links
Amazon    B&N    Kobo    Google Play 


a Rafflecopter giveaway


TOUR PARTICIPANTS

August 26 – Carla Loves To Read – REVIEW
August 26 – Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews - SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT
August 26 – LibriAmoriMiei - REVIEW
August 27 – Cozy Up With Kathy – CHARACTER GUEST POST
August 27 – Brianne's Book Reviews - REVIEW
August 28 – I'm All About Books - CHARACTER GUEST POST
August 28 – I Read What You Write – SPOTLIGHT
August 29 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – RECIPE, SPOTLIGHT
August 29 – A Wytch's Book Review Blog - REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
August 30 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
August 30 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW, GUEST POST
August 31 – Reading Is My SuperPower – RECIPE, SPOTLIGHT
September 1 – Baroness' Book Trove – REVIEW
September 1 – Laura's Interests – REVIEW
September 1 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
September 2 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW, EXCERPT
September 2 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
September 3 – Babs Book Bistro - SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
September 3 – Celticlady's Reviews - SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT
September 3 – That's What She's Reading – GUEST POST
September 4 – Melina's Book Blog – REVIEW
September 4 – ebook addicts – REVIEW
September 4 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews - REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW



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2 comments:

  1. Thanks, Lisa. Sounds great. Happy Wednesday!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for your review on "CRYPT SUZETTE" by Maya Corrigan and for being part of the book tour. Enjoyed reading the chat with the author and can't wait for the opportunity to read this wonderful sounding book. LOVE the cover!
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

    ReplyDelete