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 …
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.
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/
Goodreads: https://tinyurl.com/y84uzloa
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
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
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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