Hello lovelies! It gives me
great pleasure today to host T.C. LoTempio and her new book, “Crime and Catnip”! For other stops on her Goddess Fish
Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the end
of this post to enter to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card. Also, come back daily to interact with T.C.
and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you lots of luck in this exciting
giveaway!
Crime and Catnip
by T. C. LoTempio
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GENRE: Cozy Mystery
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BLURB:
While catering a gala
for the Cruz Museum, Nora Charles agrees to look into the disappearance of
director Violet Crenshaw’s niece, a case previously undertaken by her frisky
feline friend Nick’s former owner, a private eye whose whereabouts are also
currently unknown.
As Nora and her curious
cat Nick pull at the string of clues, they begin to unravel a twisted tale of
coded messages, theft, false identities, murder, and international espionage.
Nora dares to hope that the labyrinth of leads will not only help them locate
the missing young woman, but also solve the disappearance of the detective.
That’s if Nora can stay alive long enough to find him...
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EXCERPT THREE:
“Well,
Nick,” I murmured. “Looks as if you’re two for two tonight for valuable clues.
Now we just need to figure out what they’re clues to.”
“Er-ewl,”
mewed Nick. His tail went straight up, and his eyes gleamed in pure kitty
satisfaction. The cat was good and he knew it, damn him.
“Okay,
Sam Spade Junior. Let’s get back home.”
Nick
suddenly tensed, tail straight, back hunched. His head swiveled toward the
motel room door, and I heard a loud rumble, almost a grr sound, deep in his
throat.
Someone
was outside that door.
I
tiptoed over to the window and moved the curtain a fraction so I could peep
out. I could hear a gusty wind blowing, and I saw swirls of leaves flit across
the parking lot. I saw a few cars, including my own SUV, but not a sign of a
human anywhere.
Nick
had stopped growling, but he still paced to and fro in front of the door,
keeping his eyes fixed firmly on it. I stepped away from the window and moved
back to press my ear against the door. I listened for a few minutes, but not
another sound reached my ears. I slid the safety chain into place and opened
the door a crack, peering first right, then left.
Nothing.
The walkway around the motel was deserted.
I
opened the door, walked back to the bed, grabbed Nick, and then got out of
there and over to my SUV as fast as my legs could move. As I put Nick in the
passenger seat, I thought I saw a shadow flit out of the corner of my eye. I
whirled around, but the parking lot appeared to be deserted. The only shadows I
saw were those of the trees, their branches swaying in the late autumn wind.
Imagination.
It’s a wonderful thing, and the mainstay of every writer, but right now I had
no time for it.
I
buckled myself in, started up the car, and swung back out onto the main road. I
could save time getting back to Hot Bread if I took a short cut, a little
travelled road that ran along the coast. In the interests of time, I opted for
that route. The road was narrow and quite dark, as there were no lights, and I
sped rapidly along the road. I heard a sound beside me and spared Nick a quick
glance. He’d risen in the seat, hackles up, and his head was cocked to one
side, listening. Since a cat’s hearing is way more sensitive than ours, I
didn’t doubt for a second he’d heard something.
“Hey,
relax, buddy,” I said. “This is a shortcut. We’ll be home before you can say
‘Friskies’ – say what?”
The
car had come up from out of nowhere. I saw the lights in my rearview mirror and
heard the groan of its motor a second before the car’s front fender connected
with my rear one.
“Hey!”
I shouted, gripping the wheel tighter. “What are you doing, you lunatic?”
I
cast a quick glance out the window. The road wound along the coast, and there
were no guardrails on this stretch. If the other car should bump me along the
side, and run me off the road…well, there would be nowhere to run. It would be
a good fifty-foot drop down into the raging waters of the Pacific.
“Hang
on Nick,” I said through gritted teeth. “Fasten your seatbelt, buddy, it’s
gonna be a bumpy ride.”
I
slid a glance in the cat’s direction. He had his head buried in my purse.
“Don’t worry, boy,” I whispered. “I won’t let this nut hurt us.”
I
pulled hard on the wheel and pushed my foot down on the accelerator, turning
the car sharply to the left just as the car following me as about to smack my
rear fender again. I made a swift ninety degree turn and started racing down
the road back the way I had originally come.
“I
guess this shortcut wasn’t such a hot idea,” I ground out. A quick glance in my
rearview mirror showed the twin headlights boring down on us again. It closed
the gap between us in record time. Now its grille was about ten feet away from
my rear bumper.
I
gritted my teeth and then a soft whirring sound made me look over. Nick had his
paw down on the automatic window release and was lowering the passenger window.
He had an object clenched between his teeth. The pouch!
“Nick!
What in Hell—“
I
slowed down just a fraction and Nick took that opportunity to leap out of the
car. Headlights reflected in my rear view mirror blinded me for a second, and I
gave the steering wheel a sharp twist to the left, sending my SUV up over a
grassy knoll just as the other car whizzed past.
“Whew,”
I murmured, glancing over at the taillights of my pursuer as it vanished, “that
was close – CRAP!”
The
tree loomed large in front of me. I pressed down hard on the brake, but it was
too late. I braced myself as the hood of the SUV made contact with the tree,
and the last thing I remembered was the airbag deploying and enveloping me as I
slipped into unconsciousness…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST POST:
Deadly
Plot Twists – What They Are and How To Do ‘Em!
Every mystery lover knows any good mystery has plot
twists – as a matter of fact we thrive on them.
What better to keep up the level of suspense and have the reader
guessing?
Getting down to basics: A plot twist is simply an unexpected
occurrence, something that happens in the course of the story that the
detective (and the reader) doesn’t see coming. It’s what makes msyteries great.
Jessica Fletcher is a past master at uncovering red herrings and dead
ends. While the plot twist might throw
our sleuth off a bit, we know in the end he or she will uncover the clues that
will lead to the killer’s downfall (quite often at great peril to our hero/heroine).
Here are some examples of plot twists:
• Having
more than one suspect
• A
character who starts out as a villain and then turns heroic
• A
trusted character who lies about an important event in the story
• The
detective thinking the culprit’s been apprehended, only to find out – he’s
innocent and the real killer is still at large
• A
plot that seems to work toward an easy solution, only to have obstacles and
barriers come up that throws an entirely different light on the situation.
Plot twists can add a whole new dimension to a
story. A good plot twist should be
somewhat unique. If you do the same old
thing, your readers won’t be surprised now will they? The whole point is to catch readers off
guard – in order to do that, you have to foreshadow the twist just enough to
have it all make sense, but not enough so that you tip your hand. This takes practice, trust me!
A plot twist can’t be all about fooling readers,
however. A good plot twist advances the story while creating interesting story
situations. There should be a point to
the twist; it shoudn’t be there simply for the sake of being there. You’ve got to be careful, though. If the
focus is too tight on the twist, the story could loose some of its
‘oomph’. It’s a delicate balance.
What are some of your favorite plot twists in
literature?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
While Toni LoTempio does not
commit – or solve – murders in real life, she has no trouble doing it on paper.
Her lifelong love of mysteries began early on when she was introduced to her
first Nancy Drew mystery at age 10 – The Secret in the Old Attic. She (and ROCCO, albeit he’s uncredited) pen
the Nick and Nora mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime – the first volume,
MEOW IF ITS MURDER, debuted Dec. 2, 2014. Followed by #2, CLAWS FOR ALARM. #3, CRIME AND CATNIP, is out this December.
She, Rocco and Maxx make their home in Clifton, New Jersey, just twenty minutes
from the Big Apple – New York. Catch up with them at www.tclotempio.com and www.catsbooksmorecats.blogspot.com.
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CONNECT WITH T.C.:
ROCCO’s blog:
Website:
Facebook:
Twitter:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon:
Barnes and Noble:
Kobo:
Google Play:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ADDITIONAL BOOKS BY T.C. & AMAZON
BUY LINKS:
Meow If It’s
Murder
Nick and Nora
Mysteries
Book 1
Claws for Alarm
Nick and Nora
Mysteries
Book 2
Purr M
for Murder
A Cat
Rescue Mystery
Available
03/14/17
Pre-Order
Full
Amazon List:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
T. C. LoTempio will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes
and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and
Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions. Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not
Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are
solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
