Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Fungi Foul Play: A Small Town Colorado Cozy Mystery (Backyard Farming Series) by Vikki Walton. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
Fungi Foul Play: A Small Town Colorado Cozy Mystery (Backyard Farming Series)
by Vikki Walton
Fungi Foul Play: A Small Town Colorado Cozy Mystery (Backyard Farming Series)
Cozy Mystery
7th in Series
Setting – Colorado
Morewellson, Ltd. (May 7, 2023)
Paperback : 260 pages
Can Anne help her friend from being charged as a murder suspect?
Newlywed Anne is dismayed at the idea of closing the Inn and tensions run high as Hope leads a mushroom workshop. When fingers point toward Hope for causing a death, Anne must help her friend before she loses everything. Was the death a tragic accident or is someone out to destroy Hope? Or is there an even more sinister plot at hand?
Fungi Foul Play is Book Seven in the Backyard Farming series. Each book can be read as a standalone. However, if you enjoy getting to know the quirky characters who live in the town, here are the books in the series.
Chicken Culprit
Cordial Killing
Honey Homicide
Christmas Capers
Potager Plot
Duck Disaster
Fungi Foul Play
Author Guest Post
Vikki Walton has always been in love with the mystery genre. As a young girl, she devoured the Nancy Drew books, and later, the mysteries by the Queen of crime, Agatha Christie. Even though she’d been writing for many years, it wasn’t until her daughter had to write a novel for English class that it prompted Vikki to write her first cozy mystery, Chicken Culprit. Vikki based it on her own life at the time as a suburban homesteader or backyard farmer.
You’ll find that authors usually come up with stories in various ways. One is starting with something they know—such as keeping chickens and bees. Sometimes, an author will see a person or visit a setting, and their mind starts to form the story. This happened when Vikki visited the UK and found herself in a bed-and-breakfast with other guests. When she arrived, she was asked if she would like some tea after her journey. Responding to the affirmative, she met a couple that spoke in the “Queen’s English.” They were poised and used the word “one” versus I or you. That evening she arrived in the living room before dinner, and it was a bit like stepping into a Christie mystery. All the guests were assembled for drinks and appetizers before the meal. As the group sat chatting, ideas began forming in Vikki’s mind about the many stories around various characters. After dinner, she made her way back to her room. Because of the upside down layout of the house, she ended up opening someone else’s room by mistake. That set off an idea in her mind. That idea became her cozy mystery, Deception in Devon.
While the characters are composites of various people, often seeing someone will trigger an idea about the way a person looks or acts. For instance, in the Backyard Farming series, Kandi uses the word “like” as a filler word. This drives Anne crazy, and you may know someone who tends to use like in place of um. When one of Vikki’s daughters asked if she’d added that in because she does it, she said no. But it’s another area that author’s pick up on and use in their books.
Setting is always important. Even more so with cozy mysteries which are often set in small towns. While Vikki lives in the beautiful state of Colorado, Carolan Springs is, alas, not a real place. Many readers of Vikki’s books often comment that they want to visit the small town in the mountains. While not real, it’s a conglomerate of many towns and cities found throughout Colorado that are like Carolan Springs. As for the name, there are a lot of “Springs” in Colorado, hence the name of the town. Authors enjoy creating settings as much as characters because they are often characters in their own way. Setting plays a big part in how it makes the reader feel even before the characters utter a word. That’s why the setting is as important, if not more important sometimes as the characters themselves. For instance, you certainly get a different feeling from a dark, foreboding mansion versus a charming cottage with roses climbing up the wall. Each even speaks to the genre. While Anne moves into an old Victorian house from early settlers, her friends live in different houses. For instance, her model friend, Eliza, lives in a modern structure while friend, Sam, lives in a cabin. Each of their homes also reflect the character and their personality.
Finally, there’s always things that an author finds interesting that may find their way onto the pages of a book. In Fungi Foul Play, Vikki had become interested in growing mushrooms. She’d grown some before, but as she found specimens on her hikes, she realized the mushrooms could be deadly. With that idea in mind, the basis for the mystery appeared. In the mystery, she calls the mushroom itself by a fake name and is waiting to see if readers recognize what the mushroom is labeled.
So, there’s a glimpse into how mystery authors may come up with characters, settings, or plot ideas. And if you ever find yourself surprised at a plot twist, it may be that the author was too!
About Vikki Walton
Vikki Walton writes sassy sleuths and clever clues. Her mysteries are clean so no blushes. She has three cozy series: one set in a fictional town in Colorado, one set in a real town in Texas, and one that takes place at various places around the globe. When not out hiking the beautiful Colorado trails, you can find her pursuing her passions of gardening, traveling, and of course, reading great cozies!
Author Links
Website https://www.vikkiwalton.com/
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/vikki-walton
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/VikkiWaltonAuthor
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Vikki-Walton/e/B072BFPPH7?
GoodReads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16795441.Vikki_Walton
Purchase Links https://books2read.com/FungiFoulPlay7aff
Enter the Goodreads Giveaway! Ends June 3
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/366845-fungi-foul-play
Enter both of the giveaways
Fungi Foul Play TOUR PARTICIPANTS
May 30 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
May 31 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
May 31 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST
June 1 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
June 1 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
June 2 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
June 3 – Angel’s Guilty Pleasures – AUTHOR GUEST POST
June 4 – Indie Author Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 5 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 6 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
June 7 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
June 7 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT
June 8 – My Reading Journeys – CHARACTER GUEST POST
June 9 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
June 9 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 10 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee – SPOTLIGHT
June 11 – StoreyBook Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST
June 12 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
Hi Christy. Thanks for sharing about Fungi Foul Play. It’s appreciated! Have a great day.
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping!
This looks like a fun read.
Sounds like a cozy I will enjoy reading.
I love small town reads. Great cover!
Thanks for sharing!
Fungi Foul Play sounds like a fun and entertaining book.
Liking the greenery on the cover.
I love the cover art. The design and colors are attractive.
Such a cute title and I love the cover art
I love fun mysteries! Thanks for the giveaway!
I love cozy mysteries and this looks like a good one.