Blog Tour: Pearls and Poison by Duffy Brown (Review/Guest Post/Giveaway)

About the Book

Genre: Cozy Mystery, #3 in A Consignment Shop Mystery Series
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Mystery
Release Date: March 2014

Synopsis from Goodreads:

It’s election time in Savannah, Georgia, and Judge Guillotine Gloria—aka Reagan Summerside’s mom—is neck and neck in the polls with Kip "Scummy” Seymour.  But the already dirty campaign is about to get downright filthy—with one candidate getting buried six feet under….

With her strong opinions and knack for getting into trouble, Reagan is not an ideal volunteer for her mother’s alderman campaign. Plus, she’d rather be running her consignment shop, the Prissy Fox, and eating doughnuts with her dog, Bruce Willis. But when her mother’s opponent, Kip, is found poisoned and her mother is pegged as a suspect, Reagan nominates herself as lead murder investigator.

Reagan is intent on finding Kip’s killer and clearing her mother’s good name, but she soon finds herself on the bad side of Kip’s enemies-turned-suspects. This time, no amount of costumes and makeup can keep her inconspicuous and out of danger. Because the closer Reagan gets to the truth, the hotter things get….

My Review

Reagan Summerside’s Mamma, Judge “Guillotine” Gloria, is running for alderman of Savannah and the election is getting nasty. Her opponent, Kip “Scummy” Seymour is fighting dirty and Reagan is very protective of her Mamma.

Ready to give Kip a piece of her mind, Reagan goes to his office with her Auntie Kiki but when they get there they find him dead as a doornail. To make everything more complicated, all the evidence points to Gloria as his killer. Reagan is convinced someone is framing her Mamma and she intends to find out who and why. With the help of her Auntie, Mamma, and a host of other town friends, the women find themselves getting deeper and deeper into trouble and danger.

Attorney Walker Boone is determined to keep his eye on Reagan and protect her from herself, but she’s not about to let anyone stop her from clearing her Mamma’s good name - least of all the attorney who destroyed her during her divorce proceedings. However, she must admit, despite her own misgivings she does find the man attractive.

What a fun ride this series is! It will keep you laughing and cheering for Reagan and her cohorts through the entire book. Duffy Brown keeps her readers on their toes with so many twists and turns, your head will spin. The author has a true flair for writing snappy dialogue and bringing the reader right into her story. Her characters aren’t just characters in a book, they become friends. I know I felt as if I was visiting with old friends.

Duffy Brown splashes Southern charm and coziness throughout the entire book. Nobody does it better than she does.



For reading challenges:
2014 ARC Reading Challenge
Where are you reading? challenge (Georgia)
Cruisin’ thru the Cozies
2014 My Kind of Mystery Reading Challenge

FTC Disclosure: The author provided me with a copy of this book to review for this blog tour. This did not influence my thoughts and opinions in any way. All opinions expressed are my own.

Author Bio

 

 

Duffy Brown loves anything with a mystery. While others girls dreamed of dating Brad Pitt, Duffy longed to take Sherlock Holmes to the prom. She has two cats, Spooky and Dr. Watson, her license plate is Sherlock and she conjures up who-done-it stories of her very own for Berkley Prime Crime. Duffy’s national bestselling Consignment Shop Mystery series is set in Savannah and the Cyclepath Mysteries are set on Mackinac Island. Duffy writes romance as Dianne Castell and is a USA Today bestselling author.

Guest Post

A title like Pearls and Poison doesn’t leave much to the imagination on the murder weapon of choice but the question is how to get the job done.

With a gun you pull the trigger and bam it’s over. With a knife it’s slash and dash, but with poison the possibilities are endless. Where do you get it? You just don’t walk into Walgreens and ask which aisle has the cyanide. How much do you need? Which ones work the best? What do you mix it in?
So, like I always do when I have a question, I hit the Google and there it was…plants! With Pearls and Poison set in Savannah there are lots and lots of plants year round. All I had to do was pick one…decisions, decisions.

Everyone knows Poinsettia berries are a big no-no but I bet you didn’t know those lovely spring daffodils you adore can cause big problems. You may not die; you’ll just be so sick you wish you were dead.

I have a whole hedge of oleander in my back yard and one plant could probably wipe out my neighborhood. Good thing we never used the sticks to roast marshmallows!

Rhododendron, jasmine azaleas and wisteria, foxglove is so beautiful, they are the focal point of spring and toxic to extreme. The victim gets deathly ill then a coma and then he kisses his butt goodbye. ( I used one of these in Pearls and Poison)

Yew is fatal and has no symptoms you just keel right over. Up minute dead the next.

And then there’s Lantana, buttercups, foxglove, periwinkle Vinci rose. These are in every summer garden and pot and totally lethal. How can thing be so lovely and so deadly?

Never feed your dogs onions. Chokecherry is death to horses.

I did a ton of research for Pearls and Poison to get the right poison and figure out how to get the victim…who deserves to die…to drink it.

When doing this research I was invited to a dinner party and asked to bring ice cream instead of the salad. Wonder why?

I had a cleaning lady. All my poisonous plant books along with Deadly Doses, Armed and Dangerous and Intent to Kill were on my desk. She never came back. Life is not easy for a mystery writer.

Have a wonderful summer, enjoy your flowers...just don’t eat them.

Hugs,
Duffy

GIVEAWAYS!!!!

I have two giveaways going on here!

One is for  a paperback copy of  Pearls and Poison by Duffy Brown. Thanks to Berkley, I have one paperback to giveaway to one lucky winner.

The second is for a tote bag from Duffy.  I have two bags for two lucky winners.  Thanks to Duffy for this great prize!  Check it out...

Just a few simple rules...

1) You must fill out the rafflecopter form below.

2) Contest is open to anyone over 18 years old

3) US Residents Only

4) For an one extra entry: Tweet about this giveaway.

5) For an one extra entry: Leave a comment for the author.

No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.

The giveaway begins on March 4th (midnight est) and ends on March 11th (midnight est).

The winner will be chosen randomly by Rafflecopter. The winner will be notified by email and has 48 hours to respond, otherwise a new winner will be chosen. I will announce the winner here on my blog.

Good luck!

Giveaway #1

Paperback of Pearls and Poison by Duffy Brown

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway #2

Two Winners for Two Totebags

a Rafflecopter giveaway