Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Sorry, Knot Sorry (An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery) by Lois Winston. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
Sorry, Knot Sorry (An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery) by Lois Winston
Sorry, Knot Sorry (An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
13th in Series
Setting – New Jersey and New York City
Independently Published (June 4, 2024)
Print length : 300 pages
Magazine crafts editor Anastasia Pollack may finally be able to pay off the remaining debt she found herself saddled with when her duplicitous first husband dropped dead in a Las Vegas casino. But as Anastasia has discovered, nothing in her life is ever straightforward. Strings are always attached. Thanks to the success of an unauthorized true crime podcast, a television production company wants to option her life—warts and all—as a reluctant amateur sleuth.
Is such exposure worth a clean financial slate? Anastasia isn’t sure, but at the same time, rumors are flying about layoffs at the office. Whether she wants national exposure or not, Anastasia may be forced to sign on the dotted line to keep from standing in the unemployment line. But the dead bodies keep coming, and they’re not in the script.
Craft tips included.
Character Guest Post
The Reluctant Amateur Sleuth
By Anastasia Pollack
My name is Anastasia Pollack, and I’m a reluctant amateur sleuth. I’m also the protagonist of the eponymous Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries by author Lois Winston.
Before Lois came along, I was living the American dream. Loving husband. Two kids. Great job. Home in the suburbs. Money in the bank. But because no one wants to read about a perfect protagonist, Lois turned my world upside-down.
Turns out, loving husband loved something a whole lot more than he loved his wife and kids. Twenty-four hours after Karl Pollack cashed in his chips at a roulette wheel in Las Vegas, I discovered he had not only cracked open, fried, and devoured our nest egg, he’d maxed out our credit cards and home equity line-of-credit, borrowed against his life insurance policy, cashed in his 401(k), and drained the kids’ college accounts. All for his one true love – Lady Luck. Not bad enough? Lois didn’t think so. She also left me permanently stuck with his communist mother.
Lois wasn’t done, though. She also saddled me with Karl’s bookie who demanded I pay off the fifty grand he was owed—or else.
Oh, and did I mention the dead body hot glued to my desk chair and keyboard? When I complained to Lois that this was overkill, she arched an eyebrow and said, “You do realize I’m writing a mystery series, don’t you? There will be dead bodies.” Actually, there have been so many since the debut of Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun in 2011, that I’ve lost count.
The bodies keep coming. Sorry, Knot Sorry is the thirteenth book in the series. There will be more – books and bodies – according to Lois. I have resigned myself to my role of reluctant amateur sleuth. It’s not like I have a choice. We fictional characters are at the mercy of our authors. I just wish mine had pulled me from the fictional firmament back when she was writing romance. Those always had happy endings.
I complained so much, though, that my author tossed me a carrot in the form of photojournalist Zack Barnes. However, Lois being Lois, she didn’t stop there. She’s constantly got me wondering if the photography gig is really cover for Zack’s true profession – that of an operative for one of the government alphabet agencies. I many never learn the truth. Lois is devious that way.
I do wonder, though, given the rise of artificial intelligence, would it be possible for a reluctant fictional character to kill her author? Inquiring minds want to know. And speaking of artificial intelligence, since Lois enjoys featuring current and newsworthy events in her plots, you’ll want to check out the jaw-dropping way she weaves everything from true crime podcasts to A.I. to everything mid-century modern into the plot of Sorry, Knot Sorry. Not to mention more dead bodies.
About Lois Winston
USA Today and Amazon bestselling author Lois Winston began her award-winning writing career in 2006 with Talk Gertie to Me, a humorous novel about a small-town girl in Manhattan and the mother bent on bringing her home. That was followed by the romantic suspense Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception. Lois wrote her first mystery thanks to a conversation between her agent and an editor looking for a crafting-themed cozy series. Thus, was born the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, which Kirkus Reviews dubbed, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” The series now includes thirteen novels and three novellas. To date Lois has published twenty-two novels, five novellas, several short stories, one children’s chapter book, and one nonfiction book on writing, inspired by the twelve years she worked as an associate at a literary agency. Learn more about Lois and her books at http://www.loiswinston.com.
Author Links
Website: http://www.loiswinston.com
Newsletter sign-up: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/r2e9v1
Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog: www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com
Booklover’s Bench blog: https://bookloversbench.com
The Stiletto Gang blog: https://www.thestilettogang.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/722763.Lois_Winston
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lois-winston
Purchase Links
(Paperback and Hardcover links available 6/4/24)
Enter the Giveaway
Sorry Knot Sorry TOUR PARTICIPANTS
June 10 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
June 10 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 11 – Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense – SPOTLIGHT
June 12 – Jane Reads – AUTHOR GUEST POST
June 12 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT
June 13 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – CHARACTER GUEST POST
June 14 – Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – CRAFT POST
June 15 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST
June 16 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 17 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
June 18 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
June 19 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
June 20 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
June 20 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
June 21 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER GUEST POST
June 22 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – AUTHOR GUEST POST
June 22 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT
June 23 – eBook Addicts – SPOTLIGHT
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Thank you for feature Anastasia and her newest adventure on your blog today, Christy!
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping today!
Sounds like a book I will enjoy reading.
Rita, I hope you give it a try. Thanks for commenting.
Love the pretty cover, and it sounds like a book I would enjoy reading.
Thanks, Anita! I hope you’ll enjoy it!
Cute cover