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Love on the Rocks (Cobble Cove Mystery)
by Debbie De Louise
About the Book
Love on the Rocks (Cobble Cove Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Solstice Publishing (October 17, 2018)
Paperback: 241 pages
ISBN-10: 1625268505
ISBN-13: 978-1625268501
Digital ASIN: B07JHV9FJC
It’s February in the small town of Cobble Cove. Love is in the air . . . but so is murder!
When Alicia helps plan a Valentine’s Day Party at the Cobble Cove library that also includes a surprise for her newlywed friend, Gilly, things go wrong when a mysterious box of chocolates addressed to the director turns out laced with poison.
Clues Lead to A Dead Suspect
Although Alicia promised John she’ll no longer meddle in crime investigations, she and Gilly set out to find the person threatening Sheila who murdered the courier of the deadly candy. The three people they suspect include the professor from California who’s been romancing Sheila while she assists him with research for his book; the obnoxious patron Rhonda Kleisman who threw coffee at the director after refusing to pay for a damaged book; and a visiting widow staying at Gilly’s inn who’s unnaturally curious about Sheila and earns the nickname of Madame Defarge for her interest in knitting.
New Cat in Town
While Alicia and Gilly are trying to solve this new Cobble Cove mystery, Sneaky is introduced to Gilly’s new kitten, Kittykai, a calico she brought home from her honeymoon in Hawaii. It’s not like at first sight, but the two cats eventually become friends. They also both play a part in foiling the killer’s murder attempts, but will Alicia and Sheila survive unscathed?
Guest Post by the Author
The Role of Love in Mysteries from couples to mothers to cats
by Debbie De Louise
For those who’ve been following my Cobble Cove cozy mystery series, you know that there’s a smidgeon of romance in each book. Because they’re cozy mysteries, meaning that they have no explicit violence, language, or sex, the romance is more of the sweet variety with most amorous adventures taking place behind closed doors.
Do mystery readers enjoy romance in their books? I would venture to guess that they do as long as it isn’t mushy and doesn’t overpower the story.
In my new release, Love on the Rocks, the fourth Cobble Cove mystery, there are several different love themes. The book takes place around Valentine’s Day, so, of course, romantic love between a few of the character couples is featured. But there’s another love that is represented – the love between mothers and their children. As in real life, this relationship can be delicate. There are mothers who are pampering and overprotective and those who are strict and domineering. Psychologists have spent ages studying the mother/child dynamic. In Love on the Rocks, two different mothering approaches are depicted. Both play a pivotal role in the mystery in Love on the Rocks.
As I write this guest post, I reflect on my own relationship with my mother. As the youngest, I was the “baby” of the family. My mom married young and had my sister and two brothers over eleven years before me. When I came along, she was happy to have another daughter. We spent a lot of time together especially after my siblings married and left the house. We were more like close friends than mother and daughter. I remember having some arguments with her when I was going through my turbulent teen years but nothing major.
Me and Mom when I received my journalism award my work on the college newspaper
Mom and me on one of my visits to see her at the White Oaks nursing home where she was a resident for five years
One thing my mother taught me was a love of animals, particularly cats. We always had pets in our house, and I have photos of me as a young child holding or playing with one of my cats.
My mother encouraged me to write because she knew how much I enjoyed books and making up stories. Unfortunately, she started suffering from dementia just as I was beginning my publishing journey, so she didn’t get to read a lot of my books or remember the ones she did.
My mom passed away three months ago. I dedicated Cloudy Rainbow, the book I was writing at the time, to her. As in all my books, there was a cat in it. Floppy was the cat I got from the pet department in Newberry’s, a five-and-dime store in my area that is no longer around. I was shopping there with my mother one day shortly after I married and saw some kittens they had for sale. She knew a pet would make me feel less lonely while my husband worked nights teaching as he did at that time. I had Floppy for fifteen wonderful years, although he had diabetes and cost us a fortune through several hospitalizations. Years later, I would get another cat through my mother, Oliver, my Siamese who spent the first thirteen years with her until her decline into dementia. I had Oliver for five years until he passed away from chronic kidney disease.
My cat Floppy, a character in my book, Cloudy Rainbow, and Oliver, who Sneaky, the Siamese library cat in my Cobble Cove mysteries is based.
It’s been nearly a year since we lost Oliver, ironically eight months before my mother. We recently adopted two kittens from a cat café teamed with a shelter. I’m hoping to pass my mother’s love of animals on to my teenage daughter and teach her the responsibility of caring for a pet.
My new kittens, Harry and Hermione
I’m thankful to my mother for supporting my interest in writing and for cultivating in me a love of animals that I feature in my books.
About the Author
Debbie De Louise is an award-winning author and a reference librarian at a public library on Long Island. She is a member of Sisters-in-Crime, International Thriller Writers, Long Island Authors Group, and the Cat Writer’s Association. She has a BA in English and an MLS in Library Science from Long Island University. Her novels include the three books of the Cobble Cove mystery series: A Stone’s Throw, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, and Written in Stone. Debbie has also written a romantic comedy novella, When Jack Trumps Ace, a standalone mystery thriller, Reason to Die, and a paranormal romance, Cloudy Rainbow. She lives on Long Island with her husband, Anthony; daughter, Holly; and cat Stripey.
Author Links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debbie.delouise.author/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Deblibrarian
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2750133.Debbie_De_Louise
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2bIHdaQ
Website/Blog/Newsletter Sign-Up: https://debbiedelouise.com
Sneaky the Library Cat’s blog: https://sneakylibrarycat.wordpress.com
Debbie’s Character’s Chat Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/748912598599469/
Purchase Links: eBook & Kindle Unlimited: mybook.to/cc4
Paperback: mybook.to/cc4pap
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Free Offer from Debbie DeLouise
The characters from Debbie De Louise’s Cobble Cove cozy mysteries gather in the Cobble Cove library to celebrate the holidays. Each character receives a gift from the author, and Alicia, the main character, reads some excerpts from the first book, A Stone’s Throw, and the new release, Between a Rock and a Hard Place.
It will be free from Thursday, December 13 to Monday, December 17!
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TOUR PARTICIPANTS
December 10 – Mallory Heart’s Cozies – REVIEW
December 10 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too! – SPOTLIGHT
December 11 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
December 12 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – GUEST POST
December 13 – T’s Stuff – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
December 14 – My Reading Journeys – CHARACTER GUEST POST
December 15 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
December 15 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT
December 16 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
December 16 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
December 17 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
December 17 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
December 18 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
December 19 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW
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Debbie De Louise
Thanks so much for hosting a spot on my blog tour and featuring my guest post.
Kay Garrett
Thank you for being part of the book tour for “Love on the Rocks” by Debbie De Louise.
Really enjoyed reading the guest post by Debbie. I would like to express my sincerest sympathy in the pass of her Mom. I know all too well how dementia takes our loved ones even before they go to their heavenly home. I can relate to crossing the rainbow bridge to a beloved furbaby too.
Can’t wait for the opportunity to read this wonderful sounding book which is on my TBR list.