FEBRUARY MYSTERY LOVING: BLOG TOUR- A Well Timed Murder

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THE PULP AND MYSTERY SHELF February Mystery Loving Event!

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A Well-Timed Murder (Agnes Luthi Mysteries)
by Tracee de Hahn

A Well-Timed Murder (Agnes Luthi Mysteries)
International Mystery
2nd in Series
Minotaur Books (February 6, 2018)
Hardcover: 352 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1250110015
E-Book ASIN: B073TSWJMJ

Swiss-American police officer Agnes Lüthi is on leave in Lausanne, Switzerland, recovering from injuries she sustained in her last case, when an old colleague invites her to the world’s premier watch and jewelry trade show at the grand Messe Basel Exhibition Hall. Little does Agnes know, another friend of hers, Julien Vallotton, is at the same trade show—and he’s looking for Agnes. Julien Vallotton was friends with Guy Chavanon, a master of one of Switzerland’s oldest arts: watchmaking. Chavanon died a week ago, and his daughter doesn’t believe his death was accidental. Shortly before he died, Chavanon boasted that he’d discovered a new technique that would revolutionize the watchmaking industry, and she believes he may have been killed for it. Reluctantly, Agnes agrees to investigate his death. But the world of Swiss watchmaking is guarded and secretive, and before she realizes it, Agnes may be walking straight into the path of a killer.

Tracee de Hahn’s next mystery, A Well-Timed Murder, is another magnetic mystery that will engross readers from the opening page to the stunning conclusion.

Character Interview with André Petit

Officer André Petit is in his late 20s, married a few years, with a new baby. He grew up in Ville-sur-Lac where Swiss Vendetta took place. He first met Inspector Agnes Lüthi when he arrived at the scene of the crime as an officer from local gendarmerie. Since then he has moved to the cantonal Violent Crimes division where he continues to serve with Agnes.

Q: What can you tell me about your latest case?

Petit: That you never know who to trust. Sometimes when I go home at night I think about my family and friends and wonder if I really know them. It’s the job messing with my head and I have to learn to deal with it.

Q: What happened at Baselworld made headlines across the country. How did that case compare with what happened at the Vallotton château in the first case you worked with Inspector Lüthi?

Petit: I was frightened nearly the entire time we worked that first case. The power was out, it was freezing cold and we knew a killer was trapped there with us. This time I tried to approach the case like a puzzle. We knew something was wrong – that Chavanon was killed – but there were a lot of crossed signals. It did give me a peek at the watch industry and at boarding school life. Guess they’re kids like everywhere, but still, I’m not sure I’ll be jealous of their privilege anymore.

Q: What’s your biggest fear?

Petit: It used to be facing a crazed killer, but since I’ve survived that, I don’t know. Something happening to my baby? My biggest everyday fear is letting down the people who rely on me. My wife, Inspector Lüthi.

Q: Ville-sur-Lac is charming but I’d think a young man would move to Lausanne to enjoy the city. What keeps you here?

Petit: I’m not much of one to go out at night and now that we have a baby it’s easier to stay where my parents can help.

Q: What do you like most about living in Ville-sur-Lac?

Petit: That I know everyone and that my parents are here. Can you not print that last part? My wife’s starting to say my parents are too interfering and I have to pretend to agree with her sometimes.

Q: What do you like least about living here?
Petit: That my wife doesn’t like it anymore. She knows that we need my parents for help with the baby, but my mom may be helping too much. I’ve tried to explain to them both, but it’s hard.

Q: You were with the Ville-sur-Lac gendarmerie before moving to Violent Crimes. Did you always know you would join the police force?

Petit: My mother has a cousin who is well regarded in the police and I looked up to him. That’s why I joined the gendarmerie as soon as they’d have me.

Q: The violent crimes division is both new and prestigious. How did you go from a local force to this unit so quickly?
Petit: The chief, Bardy, is…. He’s my mother’s cousin. But don’t print that. Inspector Lüthi doesn’t know and I want her to think I was picked because I have potential, not because, well….

Q: What’s your biggest regret?

Petit: Now it’s not telling Inspector Lüthi why I was hired to work with her.

Q: What do you do in your spare time?
Petit: With the baby we don’t have spare time. Before, I liked to hike. I’m also on the committee to keep the cemetery orderly.

Q: Favorite food?

Petit: Rösti with sausage on the side followed by ice cream with vin cuit and meringue on top. That’s a perfect winter meal.

Q: What do you like best about your job?
Petit: Seeing other parts of the country. We are called to investigate violent crimes in other cantons and I like working in places where things are new.

Q: What is hardest with your job?

Petit: Living up to expectations. And knowing that my wife worries that something will happen to me. I try to tell her that violent crimes sounds more dangerous than it is. We arrive after the crime, not during it.

Q: Let’s end on a more relaxed note. What will you do the next time you have a few days off?

Petit: I’d like to go to Ouchy with my wife and son and take a paddle boat out on Lac Léman. Afterwards we’d go to Mövenpick and have an ice cream. My parents did this when I was a kid and I’d like to start the tradition.

Tracee de Hahn is the author of the Agnes Lüthi mysteries, which were inspired by her years living in Switzerland. Prior to writing full time she practiced architecture and was head of university alumni relations at a major west coast university. Currently, she and her Swiss-architect husband live in southwest Virginia with their Jack Russell Terriers. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America.