DISCLAIMER: This content has been provided to THE PULP AND MYSTERY SHELF by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours. No compensation was received. This information required by the Federal Trade Commission.

Egg Drop Dead
by Laura Childs
After reading this book, you will have a smile on your face, it has a happy ending, but the best part of ending this book are the recipes you find at the last pages, to allow you to try the savoury dishes you read during all the story!
~Varietats

The author’s descriptive and colorful use of language effortlessly draws you in, making you feel like you’re experiencing what Suzanne is experiencing.
~Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder

These are people you want to spend time with. Laced with humor and heart, pull up a stool at the Cackleberry Club cafe or come for tea and gossip.
~Laura’s Interests

Great ending! Lots of action. Enjoyable cozy mystery!
~MysteriesEtc

EGG DROP DEAD is an enjoyable read with a surprising amount of humor and action…
~Readeropolis

Such a great mystery for anyone who loves small towns and quirky residents!
~Community Bookstop

Ms. Childs is quite talented in keeping each series separate in style and tone. These books are such a delight to read.
~Editing Pen

Suzanne, Toni, and Petra were such affable, believable women, that mid-way through the book I felt as though they were people I really knew, and not just characters in a story.
~The Book’s the Thing

EGG DROP DEAD entertains by providing a thought provoking mystery with numerous shady suspects while bringing attention to certain societal issues.
~Cozy Up With Kathy

Laura Childs is a talented writer who knows how to entertain readers with a well-crafted mystery, vivid setting, and engaging characters.
~The Power of Words

Egg Drop Dead (A Cackleberry Club Mystery)
Series: A Cackleberry Club Mystery (Book 7)
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Berkley (December 6, 2016)
ISBN-13: 978-0425281703
E-Book ASIN: B01CZCW4MW

Synopsis
In Laura Childs’s New York Times bestselling mystery series, Suzanne, Petra, and Toni—co-owners of the Cackleberry Club café—are back to track down another bad egg…

Maintaining good personal relationships with their suppliers is one of the secrets of the Cackleberry Club café’s success, so Suzanne doesn’t mind going out to Mike Mullen’s dairy farm to pick up some wheels of cheese. She’s looking forward to a nice visit with the mild-mannered farmer before heading back to their hectic kitchen.

But when she arrives, Mike’s nowhere to be found. The moaning of his cows leads her to look in the barn, where she discovers a bloodcurdling sight—the farmer’s dead body. Apparently not everyone was as fond of Mike Mullen as the Cackleberry Club.

Churning with grief and outrage, Suzanne, Petra, and Toni vow to find the farmer’s murderer—but as they get closer to the truth, the desperate killer gets whipped into a frenzy and plans to put the squeeze on them…

RECIPES INCLUDED!

Q&A with Laura Childs

What initially got you interested in writing?

When I was six years old I wrote George the Ghost and I’ve never stopped writing. School newspapers, short stories, and then almost 30 years in advertising writing and producing national TV and radio spots. After that, novel writing was a breeze.

What genres do you write in?

I write three cozy mystery series under the pen name Laura Childs – the Cackleberry Club Mysteries, Tea Shop Mysteries, and Scrapbooking Mysteries. I also have an Afton Tangler thriller series that’s written under my real name of Gerry Schmitt.

How did you break into the field?

I wrote two thrillers that didn’t get published, then my agent got me a shot at writing a cozy mystery for Berkley. I banged out three chapters and a forty-page outline in three evenings for Death by Darjeeling, which became my first Tea Shop Mystery. Sixteen years later I’ve written something like forty mysteries. How times flies!

What do you want readers to take away from reading your works?

I want readers to put up their feet, grab a glass of wine (optional), put their everyday stresses on the back burner, and get lost in an intriguing whodunit. The mysteries I write are like Nancy Drew for grown-ups. Great characters who get pulled into an offbeat adventure!

What do you find most rewarding about writing?

At the end of 300 or 400 pages there’s a great sense of accomplishment – and sheer relief. Also, I love to connect with readers at book signings and especially on Facebook.

What do you find most challenging about writing?

Ah, the challenge part. Well, there’s always the grim reality that you sit down at your computer at nine in the morning and write until six. And you’re all by yourself.

What advice would you give to people wanting to enter the field?

Take as many writing classes as you can. Write a little bit every day if that’s possible. And try to be very, very creative in coming up with a new type of character, plot twist, or resolution to your story. (Editors have pretty much seen it all these days so you kind of have to dazzle them). Also, don’t quite your day job unless you’re independently wealthy, have just won the lottery, or have a really good three-book deal.

What type of books do you enjoy reading?

Thrillers, mystery, World War II history, and business books.

Is there anything else besides writing you think people would find interesting about you?

I love the business end of things – creating a marketing plan for my books, developing business plans for entrepreneurial friends, investing.

What are the best ways to connect with you, or find out more about your work?

Visit my website at laurachilds.com and connect with me on Facebook.

About The Author

Laura Childs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries, Scrapbook Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. In her previous life she was CEO/Creative Director of her own marketing firm and authored several screenplays. She is married to a professor of Chinese art history, loves to travel, rides horses, enjoys fund raising for various non-profits, and has two Chinese Shar-Pei dogs.

Laura specializes in cozy mysteries that have the pace of a thriller (a thrillzy!) Her three series are:

The Tea Shop Mysteries – set in the historic district of Charleston and featuring Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop. Theodosia is a savvy entrepreneur, and pet mom to service dog Earl Grey. She’s also an intelligent, focused amateur sleuth who doesn’t rely on coincidences or inept police work to solve crimes. This charming series is highly atmospheric and rife with the history and mystery that is Charleston.

The Scrapbooking Mysteries – a slightly edgier series that take place in New Orleans. The main character, Carmela, owns Memory Mine scrapbooking shop in the French Quarter and is forever getting into trouble with her friend, Ava, who owns the Juju Voodoo shop. New Orleans’ spooky above-ground cemeteries, jazz clubs, bayous, and Mardi Gras madness make their presence known here!

The Cackleberry Club Mysteries – set in Kindred, a fictional town in the Midwest. In a rehabbed Spur station, Suzanne, Toni, and Petra, three semi-desperate, forty-plus women have launched the Cackleberry Club. Eggs are the morning specialty here and this cozy cafe even offers a book nook and yarn shop. Business is good but murder could lead to the cafe’s undoing! This series offers recipes, knitting, cake decorating, and a dash of spirituality.

Laura’s Links:

Webpage – http://www.laurachilds.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/laura.childs.31