Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Paws for Concern (A Canine Confections Mystery) by Amy Hueston. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
Paws for Concern (A Canine Confections Mystery)
by Amy Hueston
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Paws for Concern (A Canine Confections Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Publisher: Donelson Press (August 22, 2020)
Paperback: 264 pages
Life is good for Samantha Armstrong. She left her cheating boyfriend, settled into her cozy cottage on her Aunt Mary’s Palm Beach estate and is finally opening Canine Confections, her dream dog bakery on the ritzy Worth Avenue.
But Samantha’s happy new life goes doggone crazy when Palm Beach resident and pastry shop owner Whitney Goodwin is found dead on Canine Confections’ floor, whisking Samantha into the middle of a murder investigation. The only bright spot is that she finds herself adopting Whitney’s lovable dog Sweet Pea.
As the killer strikes again, it’s obvious that the shopkeepers on Worth Avenue are the target. Samantha’s impatience won’t let sleeping dogs lie. She takes it upon herself to move things along by padding around town with Sweet Pea and sniffing out clues to clear her name and Canine Confections’ reputation—before it is too late …
Includes a recipe from Chef Sarah Deters at the test kitchen of Three Dog Bakery, the original bakery for dogs!
Character Interview
Hi, Samantha, thanks for talking to us today! First, I’d love to hear a bit about your background. Where are you from? Do you have family aside from Aunt Mary?
Hi, Christy! Thanks so much for having me. I’m beyond excited to be here! I’m from a town called Sun Haven. It’s several hours Southwest of Palm Beach. My parents still live there and so does everyone else I know. So moving to Palm Beach was a big leap for me. But my Aunt Mary needed me to help her recover from knee surgery and now she’s given me money to open my dream of a dog bakery. Between you and me, I’m scared I won’t be able to live up to her belief in me and as someone who always thought of herself as confident, this is saying something. I guess it’s because I got my heart broken recently by my ex and my best friend. I’m feeling especially tender.
It sounds as if Aunt Mary must be loaded if she’s got an estate in Palm Beach! What can you tell us about her?
She met her husband, my Uncle Joseph, when she was young, like 20 or something. He was a good husband but, as my aunt admits, he was one of those old-fashioned guys who makes the money and then leaves his wife in the dark about it. She feels stupid for going along with it but she says in her day this is how it was done and if she had to do it again, she would march up to the plate and take financial responsibility for herself.
Anyway, Uncle Joseph died a few years ago and Aunt Mary still has their estate but I think she’s lonely. That’s really why she called on me. She knew I was just at a dead-end job in Sun Haven working for a bakery and when my boyfriend and best friend betrayed me, Aunt Mary thought it was a perfect confluence of events. That’s her phrase … I just would have said it was perfect timing.
Have you always loved baking, and what made you decide that you wanted to specialize in baking for dogs?
Yes, I have always loved baking, ever since I was a little girl back in Sun Haven. There’s something so cozy and relaxing about it. Plus, you get to share it with other people and that adds another element of fun. And I’ve always loved dogs. Like, really love. I remember making a birthday cake for my dog when I was about seven. There’s a picture of me in one of those old-fashioned photo albums my parents keep, and my poor German Shepherd is salivating at the cake as I’m kneeling in front of her with it. Anyway, putting my two loves together is a match made in sweet heaven, far as I’m concerned.
Tell us a little bit about your typical day. Hopefully they don’t all include murder!
Hah! No. Usually most of my days don’t include murder. A typical day now that I live in Palm Beach is I get up before dawn ever since the murder happened and I’m trying to get my business of the ground. It’s nerve-racking. I drink strong coffee from my favorite chunky mug in the cottage my aunt lets me live on next to her mansion. She gave me the option to live in the mansion, and goodness knows there are enough extra rooms, but I like the idea of having my very own space. So while I drink my coffee, I usually work a crossword puzzle. It sets my mind at ease and my baked goods for the day are already planned so I don’t need to worry about that.
After awhile, Sweet Pea tells me she’s ready for her morning walk, so we walk around the block and I try to peek in at the other mansion estates. Unless they’re getting deliveries, I can’t see inside past the gates and hedges. Except the other day, I was able to see in to my neighbor’s estate and the married couple who always seem so uptight and conservative were playing tennis in their underwear! I guess it gets hot in Florida, but it wasn’t that humid at seven in the morning. Oh well, to each his own and they were on their own property, after all.
Sweet Pea and I make our way to Canine Confections on Worth Avenue after our breakfast and I shower. I’m hoping things settle down soon so I can have a steady stream of customers. Right now, I’m struggling to get people more interested in my dog pastry than interested in where exactly the dead body was lying. (Right next to the display case, in case you want to know.)
After work, I take a swim in the Atlantic Ocean and visit with Aunt Mary in her mansion. Afterward, I return to the cottage with Sweet Pea and plan the following day’s baked goods while Sweet Pea snoozes. I wind down by watching the old, cozy TV shows and the Travel Channel.
How did you come to adopt Sweet Pea? Was she at your shop when Whitney was found dead at Canine Confections?
Yeah, the poor furry little girl saw the whole thing. When I asked the police officer who showed what was going to happen to Sweet Pea, he said they had more important things to worry about. So I took her in and then went over to Whitney’s parents to see if it was okay if I could keep her. They have a chihuahua that wasn’t fond of sharing their attention, so they were all for it. Thank goodness! I still can’t believe I let my ex get in the way of my adopting a dog just because he didn’t like them. I should have known then that he was a guy I could never be with.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with us that I haven’t asked?
Thanks for asking. I hate to tell you this, but there’s more bad news coming in “Paws for Alarm,” Book 2 of the Canine Confections series. I can’t tell you much right now but suffice it to say, I cannot believe what happened next on our little strip of Worth Avenue.
Thanks again for taking the time to chat with us! I’m sure you’ve got lots of baking to do!
Thank you, too. And yes, I do! I’m trying out yet another new recipe involving peanut butter and Sweet Pea loves peanut butter. You’d think that wouldn’t be a problem, except she loves everything I bake so she’s not much of a tester as she is simply an eater. Now that we have a cat who you’ll meet in “Paws for Alarm,” maybe I could try out the recipes on him … oh, geez, Sweet Pea just heard me mention the C word … I have to run …
About Amy Hueston
Author Amy Hueston writes mini-mysteries for Woman’s World when she isn’t writing mysteries and suspense books. Paws for Concern is the first book in A Canine Confections Mystery series.
Author Links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amy.hueston.73
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amyhueston/?hl=en
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HuestonAmy
Website: https://amyhueston.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20626879.Amy_Hueston
My CD Download on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Talk-Love-Amy-Hueston/dp/B08C252M8D
Enter the giveaway ENDED
Paws for Concern Tour Participants
October 19
Literary Gold – CHARACTER GUEST POST
October 20
I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
October 21
Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT
Christy’s Cozy Corners – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
October 22
Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – GUEST POST
Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
October 23
Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
October 24
StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
October 25
Brooke Blogs – CHARACTER GUEST POST
October 26
Sneaky the Library Cat’s Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
October 27
Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
October 28
I Read What You Write – REVIEW, GUEST POST
October 29
MJB Reviewers – REVIEW
October 30
The Avid Reader – REVIEW
Maureen’s Musings – REVIEW
View from the Birdhouse– SPOTLIGHT
October 31
Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
November 1
Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW
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Thank you for having me on your blog! I’m thrilled to be here!
Amy
Thanks for stopping by, Amy!
🙂
Christy, you are welcome! It’s fun seeing you over on Twitter, too! I feel like I made a new online friend.
Same for me!
Would love to read this book! I love dogs, cats, and baking so it’s a win-win!
Michelle, so glad to hear that, thank you!
Just love the book cover and excerpt. Love books like this. I sure would love to read and review this book and your other books in print format. This book looks interesting and very intriguing.
Thanks for chance to Win.
Hope I Win.
Crystal, thank you! Is this your cat? If you don’t win and would like to talk about reviewing feel free to email me or FB message me. 🙂
This looks like a cute and fun cozy that I would enjoy reading!
Nancy, thank you so much.
It looks like a good read.
sounds like a fun read and love the cover
My kids would love this.