Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Spectral Revelations: A Karina Cardinal Mystery by Ellen Butler. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
Spectral Revelations: A Karina Cardinal Mystery
by Ellen Butler
Spectral Revelations: A Karina Cardinal Mystery
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Setting – Williamsburg, Virginia
Power to the Pen (October 5, 2023)
Print length : 285 pages
Is Karina’s missing aunt on vacation…or on the lam?
Karina is trying to keep her mind on getting a cosponsor for a bill, but it’s tough with her Mom blowing up her phone. By the time Karina finally stops hitting “ignore”, Mom is frantic. It appears Karina’s Aunt Vera has disappeared, fibbed to her employer about the reason for her absence, even abandoned her beloved cat, Nightshade—which is completely out of character. Karina would bet her favorite pair of designer shoes that Vera is in some kind of trouble.
However, when Karina hauls her cookies from D.C. to historic Williamsburg to search Vera’s house, she finds nothing suspicious. Except for a mischievous Civil War ghost who scares the bejesus out of her and keeps trashing Vera’s office. Until Karina realizes his seemingly random ectoplasmic tantrums have a purpose—revealing key evidence.
Something is definitely fishy, but the clues aren’t adding up. And as the spirit’s visitations become more urgent, Karina calls on reinforcements for help—her latest squeeze Rick Donovan and her sister Jillian. Because the cops are following faulty leads, which could put Vera on the wrong end of an arrest warrant … if she’s found alive.
International bestselling and award-winning author Ellen Butler presents book six in the Karina Cardinal mystery series! Fans of Elizabeth Peters and Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum will adore this gripping mystery adventure.
Character Guest Post: Through the Eyes of a Capitol Hill Advocate
I’m Karina Cardinal, a lobbyist for the National Healthcare Advocacy Alliance (NHAA). We work with doctors, nurses, and other industry leaders to make health care affordable and accessible to everyone, but especially at-risk populations, like low income urban and rural neighborhoods. I grew up in Northern Virginia, so Washington politics was in my blood. I went to law school at the University of Virginia and came out ready to change the world. Wearing my rose-colored glasses, I headed to Capitol Hill to make that change happen. Now I’m thirty-one, and I’ve been around the Washington block, so to speak, and while I’m not completely jaded, I know how to play the game of politics. Let’s say, the rose-colored glasses are a bit fogged over, but I’m still plugging away trying to make the world a better place.
My parents live in Colorado. My older brother lives with his wife and daughter in Seattle, and I’ve a younger sister, a school teacher, living about twenty minutes away. While I’m rather successful at what I do, I am not so successful when it comes to men. I’ve had a few failed relationships, but I’m still hoping to get it right one of these days.
I was happily bobbing along in my boring life when, one day, things changed. It was like a marionette puppeteer began yanking strings around, and now I find myself wrapped up in some of the most bizarre and fantastical escapades, including an art heist, a Capitol Hill murder, a diamond theft, an artifact forgery, and a mafia money laundering scheme. The latest caper has to do with my Aunt Vera, who lives in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.
Williamsburg is a bustling town catering to tourists. With historic triangle of Jamestown, Yorktown, and Williamsburg grouped within a fifteen mile radius, visitors can get their fill of American colonial history. Aunt Vera works at the local art museum as a conservator, and when she went missing, I hauled myself down to investigate towing an entourage that included my sister, her paramedic fiancé, and my current boyfriend, the head of a D.C. security firm. What we found caused more questions than answers, including Aunt Vera’s acknowledged, but heretofore unseen, Civil War ghost. He liked to pop up from time to time to scare the bejesus out of me and drop obscure clues. Then my sister insisted on bringing in a psychic medium to try to reach him.
I mean really, I’ve a law degree, I own my own condo, and have a good job. How did my life turn into a series of I Love Lucy skits? Granted, I’ve been accused of taking too much on my shoulders, and I’m desperately loyal to my friends and family. And … I’ll admit, I am not as patient as I should be. Perhaps some of my escapades could have been avoided … if I’d waited for more information to trickle in. But when a life is on the line, who wants to wait around?
Anyway, I’m rather hoping this latest incident is my last because I’ve had enough adventures to endure a lifetime.
About Ellen Butler
Ellen Butler is the internationally bestselling author of the Karina Cardinal mystery series. Her experiences working on Capitol Hill and at a medical association in Washington, D.C. inspired the mystery-action series. Book critics call the Karina Cardinal mysteries, “intelligent escapism” and “unputdownable adventures that will take readers on an electrifying yet light-hearted and humorous journey.” Butler also writes historical spy fiction. Her WWII spy novel, The Brass Compass, recently won a 2022 Speak Up Talk Radio Firebird Book Award for historical fiction. The second book in the duology, Operation Blackbird: A Cold War Spy Novel, is Butler’s latest historical fiction. The novel is inspired by true events, and won a Next Generation Indie Book Award gold medal for historical fiction. Reviewers are calling it “riveting,” and, “a thrilling adventure.”
You can find Ellen at:
Website ~ www.EllenButler.net
Facebook ~ www.facebook.com/EllenButlerBooks
Instagram~@ebutlerbooks
Goodreads ~ www.goodreads.com/EllenButlerBooks
Bookbub ~ www.bookbub.com/authors/ellen-butler
Amazon ~ www.amazon.com/Ellen-Butler/e/B00HS3Q48E
Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo
Enter the giveaway
Spectral Revelations TOUR PARTICIPANTS
October 16 – Lady Hawkeye – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT
October 17 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – CHARACTER GUEST POST
October 17 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
October 18 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
October 19 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
October 19 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT
October 20 – Bigreadersite – REVIEW
October 21 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT
October 22 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee – SPOTLIGHT
October 23 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
October 24 – Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense – AUTHOR GUEST POST
October 24 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
October 25 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
October 25 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
October 26 – The Book’s the Thing – SPOTLIGHT
October 27 – Literary Gold – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
October 28 – Cassidy’s Bookshelves – SPOTLIGHT
October 29 – Cozy Up WIth Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
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Thanks for having me at Christy’s Cozy Corners! I had fun telling readers about Karina.
You’re welcome! Thank you for stopping!
This sounds like a great cozy mystery read. I haven’t read anything in this series yet so need to catch up
Thanks for sharing!
I really like the cover! It’s a little haunting and fits the description perfectly.
Love the title. Makes me curious and want to read it
I love cozy mystery! It sets the tone for the book!
I’m new to the series. Sounds great!
I love a good mystery.
This book has my name on it!
Thank you for sharing it.
Sounds like a really interesting read.
intriguing
Spectral Revelations sounds like a fun fall book for mystery readers!
Sounds like a great book, very relatable.
Thanks for hosting. It looks like a good book.
I need to catch up on the stack of books I have by my bed