Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Cat Got Your Tongs: A Vintage Kitchen Mystery by Victoria Hamilton. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
Cat Got Your Tongs: A Vintage Kitchen Mystery
by Victoria Hamilton
Cat Got Your Tongs: A Vintage Kitchen Mystery
Cozy Mystery
12th in Series
Setting: Queensville, MI, USA
Publisher : Beyond the Page Publishing (March 18, 2025)
Paperback : 228 pages
A perplexing murder on a local river leads Jaymie into uncharted waters in the new Vintage Kitchen Mystery from the author of Sieve and Let Die . . .
Despite the brutally cold winter, vintage cookware collector Jaymie Müller is happy to help out a friend by looking after a colony of cats while its caretakers are away. The location on a high bluff overlooking the St. Clair River makes for bone-chilling work, and her task takes on an air of menace when an elderly neighbor reports suspicious goings-on at the river. Jaymie’s inclined to dismiss the woman’s fears as the product of an overactive imagination, but it’s not long before she discovers a dead body there.
When it becomes clear the dead man was the victim of foul play, Jaymie turns to the older woman looking for more information. What she learns is that the river has long been used for illicit smuggling, and Jaymie suspects there was a falling out among thieves. But then mysterious clues begin turning up at the cat colony and another victim is found, and Jaymie realizes there’s something much more sinister behind the killings. And while cats may have nine lives, Jaymie has just one, and she discovers too late that she’s perilously close to losing it . . .
Includes a vintage recipe!
Interview with Victoria Hamilton
Q – Thanks for taking the time to share a bit about yourself with my readers and me!
A – You’re welcome, but thank YOU for hosting me!
Q – Tell us a little about yourself.
A – I’m a writer, and have been a published author for over 25 years. I started my publishing career writing Regency romance novels, then moved to historical paranormal romances, and now write historical and cozy mysteries: Lady Anne Mysteries; Vintage Kitchen Mysteries: and Merry Muffin Mysteries. This latest cozy mystery, Cat Got Your Tongs, is #12 in my Vintage Kitchen Mysteries. The first came out in 2012, and I feel so fortunate to still be writing it thirteen years later!
Q – How long have you been writing?
A – I’ve been writing a lot longer than I’ve been published, I can tell you that. When I was a kid, I wrote short stories all the time and even won an essay contest in grade 8 with a story about a bear and a hunter. I was in my mid-twenties when I submitted my first mystery to a publisher with my co-writer, my sister Mickey. I would write several more mysteries before finally seeing one in print, in 2012, after thirteen years as a romance novelist. I hope that is encouraging to those who want to become a novelist. Your first effort may not be publishable. Nor your second or third. But you learn with every novel you write, and you will find your own style. I wrote at least three or four novels (maybe more!) before selling my first (a Regency romance!) in 1999.
Q – Did you always want to be an author? What made you choose the cozy mystery genre?
A – Being an author is all I ever wanted. Why did I choose the cozy genre? Well, I didn’t. Not really. It chose me. To be frank. I didn’t know what a cozy mystery was when I started submitting mystery proposals while trying to get a literary agent. I had read hundreds of mysteries by Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy L. Sayers, Joan Hess, Charlotte MacLeod/Alisa Craig and many more. But I clearly didn’t understand the particular sub-genre of cozy mysteries.
Jessica Faust, of BookEnds Literary, passed on a proposal for a mystery I sent her. She was just going on maternity leave but I asked her, what would she advise I do to make my proposal work? She said, ‘read a whole bunch of first books in cozy mystery series and tailor your work more to that style’. I did and came up with a whole new proposal. When she was open to submissions again, I sent her the new proposal – for the Vintage Kitchen Mystery series – and she took me on as a client! THAT’S when I learned what a cozy mystery was.
Q – Do you prefer to read cozy mystery books, or do you have another favorite genre? What are you reading now?
A – I read widely. A few are ‘cozy’ mysteries, but I’m more likely to pick up a historical mystery, or something by Sue Grafton or Sara Paretsky. Right this moment I’m reading We Have Always Lived In The Castle by the inimitable Shirley Jackson. It reminds me of the kind of stuff I wrote as a kid, kinda weird, kinda off kilter.
Q – Do you have a favorite place to write?
A – My desk in my office. With the cat nearby purring, as he is doing right now.
Q – What’s on your desk (if you write at one!)?
A – What’s on my desk? What isn’t on my desk is the question. Let’s see…stacks of mail, a mug of pens, rulers, a basket of assorted charging wires, my day-by-day calendar (I write down what I did every single day) a basket of nail clippers and pencil sharpeners, etc, but most of all… notebooks. Can’t do without notebooks. I have a pile of them on the desk and in cubbyholes, but the main one sits right in front of me with a small clipboard so I can make notes on the WIP (Work In Progress), which right now is Thanks For Muffin, the next book in my Merry Muffin Mysteries.
Q – What is the first book you remember reading as a child? What was one of your favorite books you read as a child?
A – The first book I read was probably Jack and the Beanstalk, or Millions of Cats, by Wanda Găg. But the first book that I truly loved was Walter Brooks’ Freddy the Detective. It was about a pig who is the ‘smallest and cleverest pig on the Bean farm’. Inspired by Sherlock Holmes, Freddy sets up a detective agency. I loved that book! I read the others in the series, but Freddy the Detective was my favorite.
Q – Do you like audiobooks, physical books, or e-books better? Why?
A – I almost exclusively read ebooks. After staring at a screen all day you’d think I’d prefer physical books, but ebooks are awesome. The font is bigger and the screen is backlit so I can read in any light. My close-up vision is kinda crappy, so they make it easier. I’m not a fan of audiobooks, though all my novels have been published in audio, and in theory I love the idea of them. But I never did like being read to. My oldest sister claims that clever little me could read by the time I was three or four. I’m not sure about that, but I did want to read books by myself.
Q – If you had the opportunity to live anywhere in the world for a year while writing a book that took place in that same setting, where would you choose?
A – Oh, England, without a doubt. Probably Yorkshire, which is the setting of my first Lady Anne Addison historical mystery, Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark. There’s something about the rugged terrain that I adore, and it’s England, after all. My paternal grandparents came over to Canada from Colchester, England, in the southeast. One of my first favorite books as a ten- or eleven-year-old was a Reader’s Digest condensed version of Jane Eyre, again… Yorkshire.
Q – What or who has influenced you the most as a writer?
A – What a jumbled answer I have for you! First I have to say, my sister; I wouldn’t be a writer if not for my sister, Mickey Simpson, who encouraged me and wrote with me. I lost her June 23rd, 2024, and my heart still aches. But also my mom, who handed me my first Agatha Christie novel to read at twelve. And the mysteries of Sue Grafton, my favorite mystery novelist of all time. And many many more.
Q – Do you have any author friends who support you while you’re writing? Do you belong to any writing groups?
A – No and no. I’m a devoted loner, I’m afraid. I appreciate all of my writing friends online, and it’s nice to chime in on things on social media on occasion, but I don’t belong to any groups and I don’t have beta readers.
Q – Finally, what are you working on now? Can you tell us a bit about it?
A – I am sooo excited about the next Merry Muffin Mystery (Out this fall) Thanks For Muffin. It’s been a while since the last one came out. Readers have been so patient, and it’s nice to get back to my Autumn Vale friends and Wynter Castle. Merry and her friends are planning the grand gala that will open their passion project, the Wynter Woods Center for the Performing Arts. Merry is crossing her fingers and toes that everything goes well, but of course… murder will interfere in the best laid plans!
Q – Thank you again for taking the time to answer my questions!
A – Thanks for having me, Christy! I really enjoy interviews. As I said, I don’t talk much about my writing, so it’s nice to have questions to answer.
About Victoria Hamilton
Victoria Hamilton is the pseudonym of nationally bestselling romance author Donna Lea Simpson. Victoria is the bestselling author of three mystery series, the Lady Anne Addison Mysteries, the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries, and the Merry Muffin Mysteries. She also write a Regency-set historical mystery series, starting with A Gentlewoman’s Guide to Murder. Visit her website at victoriahamiltonmysteries.com.
Social Details:
Website: http://www.VictoriaHamiltonMysteries.com (Sign up for her newsletter for all the latest!)
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VictoriaHamiltonMysteryAuthor
On BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/mysteryvictoria.bsky.social
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mysteryauthorvictoriahamilton/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/598635.Victoria_Hamilton
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/vintagekitchenm/_saved/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Victoria-Hamilton/e/B007T7LGAU
Purchase Links for Cat Got Your Tongs:
Ebook Version:
Amazon Canada Kindle Amazon US Kindle Barnes & Noble nook Kobo Smashwords GooglePlay
Paperback Version:
Amazon Canada Paperback: Paperback Link to come on publication day.
Amazon USA Paperback Barnes & Noble Paperback
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Cat Got Your Tongs TOUR PARTICIPANTS
March 17 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
March 17 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
March 17 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
March 18 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST
March 18 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
March 19 – FUONLYKNEW – RECIPE
March 19 – Carla Loves To Read – REVIEW
March 20 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
March 20 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
March 21 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
March 21 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
March 22 – Sneaky the Library Cat’s Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
March 22 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR GUEST POST
March 22 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – CHARACTER GUEST POST
March 23 – Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder – REVIEW, RECIPE
March 23 – Frugal Freelancer – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
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Great interview.
Thanks Shelly!
Enjoyed reading the post. This sounds like a good book.
This sounds like a book I would love! I really enjoyed the author interview.
Captivating cover
Cozy Mystery and with cats, my kind of book!
Thank you for sharing.