I enjoyed this story by one of my favorite cozy mystery authors. Read her blogpost and get to know Julie HERE.
About the Book
How do horses, a thunderstorm, and a flowering bush combine to equal attempted murder?
Connie B. Wright is intent on finding out!
Izzy Gutierrez is the strong right hand for her beloved employer, Fanny Henderson. And she’s delighted for the help of Miss Fanny’s niece, Connie Wright, during a weekend retreat that will benefit one of the Wright Foundation’s newest projects.
Miss Fanny arranged the special weekend outing for a few hand-picked guests who might be willing to lend their financial support. Unfortunately, she included an attorney that is apparently well-hated by all the other attendees. So much so that someone is willing to poison him . . .
Match wits with The Visitor as she unravels another unexpected crime and the drama that tends to go with it.
Fay Lamb is a longtime friend and one of my favorite authors. Her “hallmark” is humor, so I was excited to see her name included on the list of contributors for The Visitor novellas. I have read this story and will soon be writing a review. It is a delightful suspense story. Delightful, because it’s funny with plenty of mystery and suspense.
–Betty Thomason Owens
Betty with Fay Lamb
When I was asked by my publisher if I wanted to take part in the writing of a contemporary mystery, light suspense series, of course, I said yes.
However, I must make a confession. The authors of the series gathered online in Zoom meetings, each one with a separate book. We began to plot out the secondary but title character of The Visitor who is the link to all of our stories. The Visitor shaped out to be a put-together professional, who wears her signature color red as a sign of her put-togetherness, with neatly trimmed nails and put-together hair. The job of the authors was to bring out her personality through the point of view of our main characters for each story.
The rebel in me saw Connie—the Visitor—only as the baby sister to my character, and my character is a lawyer turned stay-at-home-mom for eighteen years, whose baby and only child is about to go off to college and leave a hole in her heart. She’d already racked her brains on how to make his last summer before college memorable for her family, and she isn’t letting a put-together, red-wearing little sister take that away from her. Pollyanna Reagan will get her sister out in the woods hunting Bigfoot with her family or she’ll die trying—even if Connie’s signature color might attack other dangerous wildlife.
Never fear. Neither Pollyanna nor Connie meets their demise. But someone else does, and guess who becomes a chief suspect. I’ll give you a hint: his name is in the title.
So why was I so adamant about not letting Connie stay in her routine?
Because as an author, a lot of me goes into my characters, and while I was never the mother of Pollyanna’s caliber, I have two sons that are as different as day and night. My youngest son, Ethan, though, did reach his full potential of being a royal pain, and I loved every moment of it. This story allowed me to relive the playful nature of mother and child. My son’s name is Ethan as well.
Not only was The Visitor Meets Old Hairy a chance for me to live the old give-and-take with my boy, but it gave me a chance to visit one of my favorite places on earth. Shh… I can’t mention that place here or my publisher might hunt me down much the way Bigfoot is hunted, and I might not get away with just a shaky camera aimed in my direction. We’re having a contest, and you’ll have to stay tune for details. We want you to guess the location.
Added to the people and the place of my story, one of my favorite subjects is Bigfoot. I know just about everything there is to know about him. I love the big fella, and if you read the story, you’ll see how much I know through the knowledge of my characters. Did I research? Well, yes, I did, but that research has spanned a lifetime. Do I believe in the likes of a big hairy man-like creature?
I ain’t gonna tell you, but you might find some insight into my way of thinking when you meet Pollyanna, Connie, Ethan, and Marc and traipse through the woods with them in search of Old Hairy.
The Visitor goes camping? Pollyanna Reagan can’t wait to take her always-put-together, ultra-professional sister out into the boonies. But when they encounter what they thought was a mythical creature, they might both become sticks in the mud.
Of course, when they find a body, a stiff in the mud, Connie shifts into deduction mode. Was the deceased somehow scared to death or possibly attacked by what should be imaginary, or are there other, more human and certainly more vicious, intentions at play?
Match wits with The Visitor as she unravels this twisted puzzle and the family drama that surrounds it.
Fay Lamb is the only daughter of a rebel genius father and a hard-working, tow-the-line mom. She is not only a fifth-generation Floridian, she has lived her life in Titusville, where her grandmother was born in 1899.
Since an early age, storytelling has been Fay’s greatest desire. She seeks to create memorable characters that touch her readers’ hearts. She says of her writing, “If I can’t laugh or cry at the words written on the pages of my manuscript, the story is not ready for the reader.” Fay writes in various genres, including romance, romantic suspense, and contemporary fiction.
If you’d like to catch up with Fay, visit her at her website, on Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter. Also, Fay has become a “novel” gardener, and she shares her adventure in her newsletter, Tales from the Azalea Garden. You can sign up for her newsletter, Tales from the Azalea Garden, here.
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Write Integrity Press LLC
Read all about it & Join the Expedition: Enter the contest by guessing at the clues given to you as to the location of each book in The Visitor series: https://www.writeintegrity.com/thevisitor
I have always loved word puzzles and word games. Scrabble is more often set up on my dining room table than placemats and napkins. I play Words with Friends and Wordle daily. Even as a preteen, I would grab the newspaper section from my Dad so I could be the first to solve the Jumble, then try and find as many words as I could made out of the letters in the posted word of the day.
Back then I was a suspense and mystery buff, too. Still am. I binge out on British mysteries like Death in Paradise, Shakespeare & Hathaway, Father Brown, Vera … just to name a few (they do them so very well), and watch reruns of Diagnosis Murder, Columbo, Murder She Wrote, Psych, Quincy, etc. Since middle school―let’s not discuss how long ago that was―I’ve love reading cozy mysteries, my genre of choice.
So, is it any surprise my wise, older sister asked why I didn’t combine the two and write a cozy mystery series about Wordplay? Gauntlet thrown, how could I say no? Blessings abound, my publisher agreed. Thanks, sis.
I designed Scrub Oak, Texas, complete with the shops and shopkeepers, the police, the churches, and the town folk. It is a great place to visit, so I hope you will. I can honestly say this has been the most fun I have experienced in my writing career journey yet!
Here are brief synopses of the first three Word Play Mysteries…
Word Has It – Not prone to gossip, Wanda keeps herself to herself. But when she hears from her nephew Todd, now a local policeman, that a ring of thieves may be hiding out in the area, she begins to wonder if the old Ferguson place is still abandoned. When words like jewels, woodshed, landing, and evil appear on their weekly word game days after a deadly shooting on the property, she determines it is a sign she and her friends should investigate.
Word Gets Around – Each of the three ladies receive a nonsensical note slipped between the wiper blades of their cars. When the ladies combine the words on a word game board, it spells trouble for one of Betty’s former students, who is now a freelance reporter for the Oakmont County Gazette. Could it be she reported way too much?
In Other Words – Many English words contain the same letters but in different order, like stressed and desserts. After the local store owner is found dead in the alley, the ladies will need their word playing skills to unravel the dual meanings of the graffiti that appears around town before two more people’s games end.
On August 26th, number four releases.
Hang On Every Word – Wanda lands a gig as the word puzzle designer for the local newspaper. Then the answers to her clues end up as crimes. Some merchants wonder if she is feeding the crooks so she can get credit for solving more mysteries. Will her nephew Todd be pressured into arresting his own aunt?
And this is the exciting part – everyone who preorders the book on Amazon by July 1st will get a FREE chapter every Friday emailed to them until it releases. They get a sneak peek before anyone else! Plus, they are put in a drawing to receive a $10 Amazon gift certificate, too.
“No fingerprints were left behind, so he or she wore gloves. He or she knew the tills would be full. These robberies appear to be planned out, as most are. Not spontaneous as if the word puzzles you designed in the newspaper helped them decide who to hit.”
“How long does it take to grab gloves?” She waggled a finger at her nephew. “Pardon me for saying so, but these three all seem like hit and runs, no pun intended. My guess is the burglar lives elsewhere.”
“I hope you’re right. Vicki is an old friend. And Mason seems like a great guy.” He leaned in and brushed her cheek with his lips. “And I’m rather fond of my aunt as well. I don’t want to see any of you handcuffed.” Todd rose, put on his police Stetson, and left her kitchen.
Wanda stared as he closed the door behind him. Did he seriously think she might be involved? Surely not.
Images zipped across her imagination― red flashing lights, squawking highway patrol radios, and herself in handcuffs slammed face down against the hood of her car.
Oh, get a grip.
About Julie B Cosgrove
Freelance writer, award-winning traditionally published author and speaker Julie B Cosgrove leads retreats, workshops, and Bible studies. She writes regularly for several Christian websites and publications.
Julie has won “One of the 50 Writers You should be Reading” in 2015 & 2016 by the nationally syndicated radio The Author Show and is a Grace Award finalist, INSPY semifinalist, and winner of the Best Religious Fiction 2016 winner and Best Cozy Mystery 2017 by the Texas Association of Authors.
But her passion is story-telling and she loves to read mysteries and suspense as well as write them. She currently has three mystery series: The Bunco Biddies Mysteries, The Relatively Seeking Mysteries, and the Wordplay Mysteries.
Hi, Betty Thomason Owens here. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books of Wordplay Mysteries–Word Has It and Word Gets Around. In Other Words is on my TBR list and I have already preordered Hang On Every Word.
I’m a fan of Julie B Cosgrove. 🙂
I had not previously read many cozy mysteries, but her first book hooked me. The characters are delightful, warm, and charming. Small town candor and innocence abounds. If you’re a mystery reader, I encourage you to give Julie’s books a read. Just good, clean fun!
We are days away from the release of the first book in a new series called Home Found Suspense. The book is Still Water. Here’s a brief glimpse at the story:
Crime reporter, Jake Bradley, has stumbled onto a suspicious accident. The clues lead him to Lisa Oliver, the daughter of the victims. Something about her draws Jake Bradley, and he vows to help her at all costs. When the FBI warns him off the case, Jake is more determined than ever to find the truth and keep Lisa safe.
After the sudden death of her parents, Lisa Oliver yearns for a place to call home. When she meets Jake, she wants to trust him, but her father’s mantras of self-sufficiency and independence create a stumbling block. As the wall between them crumbles, the past encroaches, and Lisa fears she will never be free. Is she forever doomed to her parents’ nomadic lifestyle, fleeing unseen enemies?
I hope you’ll take advantage of this GREAT sale offered by my publishing company. Here are all the details about the new release:
What will it take to teach a spoiled heiress about the greatest legacy?
Amy Juliana Emerson might be a cultured debutante, but she’s doing her best to follow her mom’s rebellious footsteps. Her desperate attempt to escape her father’s control, however, comes at the worst possible time.
Robert Emerson has received a threat against his family in an attempt to take over his company, Sanderson Industries. To guarantee his willful daughter’s safety, he sends her to work on a produce farm run by her Aunt Rebecca. Maybe her quiet strength and unconditional love can work on Amy, keep her from becoming the prodigal daughter she seems insistent on being.
Matt Wordsworth is the man Robert calls upon to make sure his daughter stays in line. His only interest in the beautiful girl is purely part of his job. Purely. Amy considers him a fuddy-duddy which suits the situation perfectly, allowing him to stay close to her without concern for her losing her heart to him. And his own heart … well, his feelings didn’t matter. This was business.
Humiliated and angry, Amy contemplates a path that will lead her even farther from home and away from Dad’s protection. Rebecca’s influence begins to change her feelings about everything, even about Matt, but Amy might find she’s playing into the hands of the enemy.
Click this photo to buy Amelia’s Legacy and Carlotta’s Legacy!
NOTE: All my Write Integrity Press books are available in Kindle Unlimited.
Betty Thomason Owens 