Murder at the Pontchartrain by Kathleen Kaska | Character Guest Post

Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Murder at the Pontchartrain by Kathleen Kaska. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!

Murder at the Pontchartrain

by Kathleen Kaska

Murder at the Pontchartrain
Cozy Mystery (Humorous)
6th in Series
Setting – New Orleans, Louisiana
Anamcara Press LLC (June 15, 2023)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 280 pages

“My name is Sydney Lockhart. I solve murders, most of which I’m the primary suspect.

My boyfriend/partner, Ralph Dixon, and I came to the Pontchartrain Hotel in New Orleans to get married. Instead, Dixon’s in jail for a double murder. I’m in a swamp, spying on the KKK. Helping me untangle this mess is my bubble-headed cousin Ruth who’s undercover as a chef at the Pontchartrain. My twelve-year-old charge, Lydia LaBeau, dressed as a voodoo queen, is looking for clues at Pat O’Brien’s in the French Quarter. Rip Thigbee, a ghost detective, is my only hope.

I’m not making any of this up. This is my life and this is what I deal with, like it or not.

So, mix yourself a Hurricane and join me in the Big Easy for another historic hotel murder case.”

Character Guest Post: Sydney Lockhart’s World By Kathleen Kaska

My name is Sydney Lockhart. I’m approaching thirty and have recently started a new career as a private detective after a short stint as a science teacher and an even shorter stint as a reporter. So why did I change careers? It had to do with a snake, my classroom pet, that escaped from its terrarium in the middle of the night and ended up in the math teacher’s room next door curled up on his desk. The vision of young students standing on their desks, screaming while my snake tried to swallow Mr. Thomas’s arm, put serious doubt in my mind about my chosen profession. But the real reason I switched careers had to do with a drop-dead handsome guy who tried to arrest me for murder.

At this point, you’re probably thinking, who is this crazy woman? Just hang with me here. The year was 1952 when women had few career choices; at least, that’s what we were told. I grew up in Houston, Texas, with a father who told me I could do and be anything I wanted and a mother who was determined to have me married with two kids before I turned twenty-five. Luckily, I like my father best, but my mother’s clutches still held firm. Then, during the last semester of my senior year, she started making out a guest list for my wedding before my high school boyfriend even proposed. I ran into my room, finished my application to the University of Texas, and was gone in less than a month. Austin suited me better, and I began my college career, swearing I’d devote my life to my career and forgo marriage.

Recently, my life took an unexpected turn only moments after checking into the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas. I was there to write a story about the hotel and the bathhouses the town is famous for when I stepped into the bathroom and noticed a man’s hairy leg hanging over the edge of the tub. He’d been murdered, and I was the primary suspect since the crime had been committed in my room. Lieutenant Ralph Dixon showed up to investigate, and it was attraction at first sight.

Nevertheless, he wanted to slap the cuffs on me, and I wanted to slap that lustful look off his face. We refrained from slapping, and I agreed not to leave town anytime soon. But I couldn’t let the matter rest, and I began my own investigation, much to Dixon’s annoyance. My involvement landed me in hot water. Two more murders occurred, and the evidence pointed to me. Over the next few days, Dixon knocked on my door several times, warning me to mind my own business and stay out of trouble. A lot of good that did. I ended up attracting the attention of a notorious gangster, which got me kidnapped. Long story short, having decided that I was innocent, Dixon had no choice but to work with me. Ultimately, I solved the crime before he did, which he handled surprisingly well. We agreed to stay in touch, but upon returning home to Austin, I got cold feet and began to ignore several late-night phone calls.

I moved on to my next writing assignment to cover at a New Year’s Eve Ball held in Palacios, Texas, a small town on the coast. That time, my room at the Luther Hotel was free of dead bodies, but on New Year’s Eve, I ended up on a crowded dance floor with a dead man in my arms. Unfortunately, the local police chief wasn’t as easygoing as Dixon. I ended up arrested and sitting in a damp, smelly jail. My cousin, Ruth, who was usually with me in my exploits, tried to talk me into contacting my detective, as she had begun calling Dixon, to come to my rescue. I refused, was released on bail, and told not to leave town. Thus, investigation number two began. That time Ruth was kidnapped, and several attempts were made on my life.

To make matters worse, I found myself trapped under the hotel, where I was ambushed by a family of rats. I managed to disentangle myself and pull a baby rat from underneath my blouse when, to my surprise, I looked up and saw Dixon smiling that irresistible smile. He claimed he was on his way to Corpus Christie to extradite a prisoner, but I knew he was really there to see me. He offered to stay and help, but despite my trouble, I told him I was handling the investigation just fine. He pulled some cobwebs from my hair, kissed me, and took off.

By the time we met at the third hotel and became involved in another murder, we’d decided we worked well together and joined forces to open up our own detective agency in Austin. Since then, it’s been nonstop chaos, and we enjoy every minute of it.

About Kathleen Kaska

Kathleen Kaska is the author of the awarding-winning mystery series: the Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series set in the 1950s and the Kate Caraway Animal-Rights Mystery Series. Her first two Lockhart mysteries, Murder at the Arlington and Murder at the Luther, were selected as bonus books for the Pulpwood Queen Book Group, the country’s largest book group. She also writes mystery trivia. The Sherlock Holmes Quiz Book was published by Rowman & Littlefield. Her Holmes short story, “The Adventure at Old Basingstoke,” appears in Sherlock Holmes of Baking Street, a Belanger Books anthology. She is the founder of The Dogs in the Nighttime, the Sherlock Holmes Society of Anacortes, Washington, a scion of The Baker Street Irregulars. Watch for Murder at the Pontchartrain: the 6^th Sydney Lockhart Mystery in June 2023.

• Author Links

Website http://www.kathleenkaska.com 

Twitter https://twitter.com/KKaskaAuthor

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/kathleenkaska 

Instgram https://www.instagram.com/kathleenkaska/ 

BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/search/authors?search=Kathleen%20Kaska

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/author/www.kathleenkaska.com

Purchase Links – Anamcara Press – Amazon

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Murder at the Pontchartrain Tour Participants

June 15 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – CHARACTER GUEST POST, GIVEAWAY

June 15 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT           

June 16 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

June 17 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR GUEST POST

June 18 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 19 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

June 19 – StoreyBook Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 20 – Indie Author Book Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST

June 21 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT

June 22 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee – SPOTLIGHT

June 23 – Brooke Blogs – CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 24 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

June 25 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

June 26 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 27 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT

June 28 – Jane Reads – CHARACTER INTERVIEW, GIVEAWAY

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