Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Deadly to the Core (A Cider House Mystery) by Joyce Tremel. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
Deadly to the Core (A Cider House Mystery)
by Joyce Tremel
Deadly to the Core (A Cider House Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Pennsylvania
Crooked Lane Books (January 16, 2024)
Hardcover : 250 pages
Perfect for fans of Amanda Flower and Julie Anne Lindsey, when Kate Mulligan inherits her great uncle’s fruit orchard, she quickly realizes that apples aren’t the only thing that can have rotten cores.
After losing her husband in a terrible car crash, thirty-five-year-old Kate is left to pick up the pieces of her life alone. Although she has physically recovered, she worries her spirit never will. But when she learns that she has inherited a fruit orchard in a small town just outside Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, from her great uncle Stan, she takes this as an opportunity ripe for the picking. Kate knew immediately what to do with it: open a cider house. Her hopeful plans fall far from the tree when she finds the body of the orchard manager, Carl Randolph, leaving her to figure out who is at the core of this murder.
She had been in correspondence with Carl, who had agreed with her brilliant idea of opening a cider house. But not everyone is so quick to buy what she was selling—Uncle Stan’s lawyer, Robert Larabee, paints a less rosy financial outlook of the orchard’s past, present, and future.
Kate discovers that Carl had large, unexplained deposits to his bank account and it becomes clear that either he was blackmailing someone, or someone was paying him to keep quiet. Meanwhile, Kate and her neighbors receive offers to buy their property from a mysterious buyer. And there’s more than meets the eye with the neighboring orchard owner, Daniel Martinez, although Kate can’t quite put her finger on if it’s sweet or sour.
Will she be able to pick out the bad apple among the bunch before it’s too late?
Character Guest Post
WHY COZY MYSTERIES?
By Joyce Tremel
For being an author, I have a terrible time figuring out what to write about when I’m asked for a guest post. Do I write about writing? About why I write mysteries? About my latest book? About my characters? About why I’m horrible at promotion?
See what I mean?
But since this blog is called “Christy’s Cozy Corners” I figure I’d focus on cozy mysteries. I recently wrote an article for CrimeReads on why cozy mysteries are important—especially in this day and age. There’s so much turmoil in the world that I feel readers (including myself) really need a place to escape to. In a cozy, the reader knows that by the end of the book, all will be right in the character’s world. Justice will be served—there’s no ambiguity regarding the outcome. That’s one of the reasons I love to read and write cozies. There are enough criminals in real life getting away with all sorts of things. I don’t need to see that in fiction.
Another favorite thing about cozies is the small town feel. Even though I set an earlier series in Pittsburgh, it was set in a neighborhood very much like a small town. My historical cozies (written under the name Joyce St. Anthony) were set in the fictional small town of Progress. My new book, Deadly to the Core, is set in a town called Orchardville that I placed not far from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In the town, there’s a café, a tavern, a candle shop, a tea shop, and a souvenir shop. My character, Kate, inherited an orchard and is opening a cidery.
And it wouldn’t be a cozy without great characters. When I’m reading, I need to see characters that I like and care about. I want to know what happens to them even after I’m finished with the book. My all time favorite cozy series was the White House Chef mysteries. Even after all these years, I still wonder what Ollie is up to. The characters feel like friends to me. I try my best to put those types of characters on the page when I’m writing. My main character, Kate, is a young widow. Her husband was killed in a car accident the previous year and she was seriously injured. She’s still trying to make sense of everything and learning to live without her husband. She spent her childhood summers in Orchardville and when her great uncle leaves her the orchard, she feels it’s the new beginning she was waiting for. Most of the residents of Orchardville welcome her with open arms especially her childhood friend Marguerite. Kate has found a new home.
There also should be a quirky character or two. The tea shop owner in Deadly to the Core is definitely on the peculiar side. When my husband read the book, I knew exactly what scene it was when he laughed out loud. Cherry Perry is a hoot. At least I think so! And what about a future love interest? I put one of those in the book, too. Kate’s not ready for romance yet, but I set the stage for something to develop down the road if I get a chance to write more books in the series.
I almost forgot the food! In many cozies, the food descriptions make my mouth water. I made sure to put some yummy recipes at the end of the book. There’s one for apple pie, Marguerite’s gourmet grilled cheese, dill aioli, Kate’s pasta sauce, and tomato bisque. I hope you’ll try them out.
Readers, what do you like best about cozy mysteries? What must be included for you to enjoy the book?
About Joyce Tremel
Joyce Tremel was a police secretary for ten years and more than once envisioned the demise of certain co-workers, but settled on writing as a way to keep herself out of jail. In addition to the Cider House Mysteries, she wrote the Brewing Trouble Mysteries. As Joyce St. Anthony, she writes the Homefront News historical mysteries. She lives in the beautiful Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania with her husband and two cats named Hops and Lager.
Author Links
Website www.joycetremel.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/JoyceTremel
X/Twitter www.twitter.com/JoyceTremel
GoodReads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13746162.Joyce_Tremel
Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Bookshop.org – PenguinRandomHouse
Enter the giveaway
Deadly to the Core TOUR PARTICIPANTS
January 15 – Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense – SPOTLIGHT
January 15 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
January 16 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
January 16 – Literary Gold – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
January 17 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT
January 17 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
January 18 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST
January 18 – Eskimo Princess Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
January 19 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
January 19 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee – SPOTLIGHT
January 20 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
January 20 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
January 21 – StoreyBook Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST
January 21 – Brooke Blogs – REVIEW
January 22 – CelticLady Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
January 22 – Cassidy’s Bookshelves – SPOTLIGHT
January 23 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
January 23 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
January 24 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
January 24 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – REVIEW
January 25 – Socrates Book Reviews – REVIEW
January 25 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
January 26 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
January 26 – Novels Alive – REVIEW
January 27 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
January 27 – Cozy, Suspenseful, and Sweet – SPOTLIGHT
January 28 – Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW
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Sounds like a book I will enjoy reading.
I like the mystery, the small town, a great sidekick, a cat or dog, and a hint of romance.
I love cozy mysteries1 Thanks for the giveaway!
I love a good cozy mystery