Murder Strikes a Chord: A Pearly Girls Mystery by Heather Weidner | Book Review and Author Guest Post

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Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Murder Strikes a Chord: A Pearly Girls Mystery by Heather Weidner. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!

Murder Strikes a Chord: A Pearly Girls Mystery

by Heather Weidner

Murder Strikes a Chord: A Pearly Girls Mystery
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Virginia
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Keylight Books; 1st edition (March 18, 2025)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages

Veronica Mars meets The Golden Girls as event planner Cassidy Jamison and her four sixty-year-old employees race to solve a rocker’s murder before the curtains close on their show and their business.

When Cassidy Jamison inherited her late grandmother’s event planning business, she also inherited her grandmother’s friends—four sixty-year-old women known around town as the Pearly Girls—as part-time employees. Now Cassidy barely has time to breathe between spending every waking hour trying to keep her business afloat and the Pearly Girls out of trouble and focused on event planning.

So when she lands a three-weekend event complete with a chart-topping band, she’s thrilled. Until she and her chihuahua mix Elvis find the body of the Weathermen’s lead singer in her venue’s koi pond. With the help of the not-so-helpful Pearly Girls, Cassidy must stave off the bad publicity, navigate the prying questions of the local police department, and solve the murder before the media frenzy shutters her business for good, and takes one of the Pearly Girls with it.

Author Guest Post

Finding Time to Write by Heather Weidner

With life, my day gig, family, and other responsibilities, sometimes, it’s hard to find time to write. Here are some ways that I’ve been able to squeeze in some time.

Make an Appointment – When you have time off, reserve some of it for writing. If you’re serious about writing/editing, you need to make the time. I do better when I treat my writing as work that I need to do. People make the time for things they schedule.
I use my lunch hour for writing time. That gives me an extra five hours a week. On days that I work from home, I use my morning and evening commute times to write.
Join a Critique Group – Your group will keep you motivated and inspired. Writing is a solo thing, and you need interaction with other writers. It will also help you keep a writing schedule with deadlines.
Keep Score – Keep a count of your writing progress. You will quickly be able to see the peaks and valleys. It is also another good motivator. When I’m working on a book, I keep a word count each day, and it helps me hit my daily writing goals.
Get up Early – Get up early and devote the time to writing.
Turn off the TV (Sometimes) – I tend to record or binge shows that I want to watch, so I don’t sit for hours watching TV or movies. (And I can fast-forward through the commercials.) I devoted that time to writing.

What would you add to my list?

My review of Murder Strikes a Chord

Murder Strikes a Chord is the first book in the new Pearly Girls Mystery series by Heather Weidner. The girls are 4 sixty-somethings who were best friends with Cassidy Jamison’s late grandmother. Cassidy inherited her grandmother’s event planning business, and the next big event is a Groovin’ Through the Decades concert series. Unfortunately, one of those “groovers” ends up dead, and Cassidy, worrying that this will lead to the demise of the business, sets out to find whodunit!

All in all, Murder Strikes a Chord is a fun start to what is sure to be an enjoyable series. I really love the idea that Cassidy works with these 4 older women who are all like surrogate grandmothers to her. I’m just not quite sure that they are old enough. I suppose it depends upon how old Cassidy is, but I think being in their 70s would fit a little better unless she’s closer to 20 than 30. But once I got past that, I liked this fun group. And this group is hyped up for the concert headliners, the Weathermen who were a famous rock and roll band in the 70s. The Pearly Girls are in 7th heaven getting to meet the band, especially the lead singer, Johnny Storm. Needless to say, they’re very sad when he ends up dead!

I’m looking forward to getting to know each Pearly Girl as the series progresses. I am also looking forward to seeing if Cassidy begins dating someone in her hometown. I love her little chihuahua, Elvis. The members of the Weatherman are about what you’d expect from aging rock stars, and they made interesting side characters. It was fun watching Cassidy and the girls search for clues and start putting the pieces together.

Cozy mystery lovers, I recommend that you put Murder Strikes a Chord on your lists (especially Heather Weidner fans!!)! The premise and fun characters make it a very enjoyable read!

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

About Heather Weidner

Through the years, Heather Weidner has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager. She writes the Pearly Girls Mysteries, the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries, The Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, and The Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries.

Her short stories appear in the Virginia is for Mysteries series, 50 Shades of Cabernet, Deadly Southern Charm, and Murder by the Glass, and she has non-fiction pieces in Promophobia and The Secret Ingredient: A Mystery Writers’ Cookbook.

She is a member of Sisters in Crime: National, Central Virginia, Chessie, Guppies, and Grand Canyon Writers, International Thriller Writers, and James River Writers, and she blogs regularly with the Writers Who Kill.

Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers.

Social Media Links

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