About the Book
Publisher: Penny Plume Books
Release Date: April 22, 2018
Synopsis from Goodreads...
Someone in Lost Haven is a cold-blooded killer.
The artsy little town on the coast of Lake Michigan has always been home to Jenna Hooper, owner of The Welcome Shoppe and the unofficial (to everyone but her) town historian. The only excitement she needs is coffee that is a bit too hot while she's lost in one of her beloved books, but local millionaire Harrison Kavanaugh is dead-set on tearing down the Main Street shops and building a hideous resort that will destroy Lost Haven's quaint, quiet appeal.
Jenna and her fellow shop-owners are desperate to stop the resort and save their livelihoods, but when one of them turns up dead, they quickly become more concerned about their actual lives. Everyone is a suspect--including Jenna--and it's up to her to find the killer and save her friends from being framed, killed, or possibly the worst fate of all: finding a real job.
The Last Resort in Lost Haven is the first book in the Lost Haven cozy mystery series. If you love plot twists, wisecracking characters, and a town with endless mysteries in its history, start reading now!
Author Interview
Please join me in welcoming author Penny Plume to Socrates' Book Reviews. Penny has graciously agreed to be interviewed. Thank you for taking the time to visit Socrates’ Book Reviews.
1. To start things off, tell us about your new cozy mystery series. How many books do you think will be in the series?
Thank you so much for having me! My new cozy series is about an artsy, mysterious little town on the coast of Lake Michigan called Lost Haven. The protagonist is Jenna Hooper, who runs The Welcome Shoppe and considers herself the official town historian.
As more secrets about Lost Haven and its residents come to the surface – and more murders happen because of them – Jenna finds herself pulled into solving all sorts of problems, including how to stay alive long enough to bring Lost Haven’s worst to justice.
Well, maybe she isn’t exactly pulled…she seems to have a great time diving head-first into these murder cases.
2. How did you come up with the idea for this series?
I first got the idea from a real Michigan town called Saugatuck. There are a few things this great little town has in common with Lost Haven (I don’t want to be too specific with any spoilers), but Saugatuck has a much lower murder rate.
3. Do you outline your books? Do you know where you want the book to go or are you as surprised as your readers?
I do outline the books, and I’m still surprised! I map out the major plot points, characters, twists, and the endings, basically creating a set of dots that need to be connected, but I’m constantly amused and surprised by what the characters say and do.
4. What is your first published book?
The Last Resort in Lost Haven is my first!
5. Do you write any other genres?
Not yet...
6. Who is the greatest influence in your writing career?
Oh, great question! Steven Pressfield has been an amazing influence when it comes to sitting down and getting the writing done. His book The War of Art is the first and only time I’ve seen someone capture what it’s truly like to want to create for a living.
7. Who are your favorite authors and/or books?
I enjoy a lot of authors and books outside of the cozy genre – once I find a new author I like, it’s such a great feeling to know I’m all set for something great to read, at least for a while.
John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers series are at the top of my list, along with Elmore Leonard. He has such a fun, effortless style (after a lot of effort, anyway) and his female characters are tough and funky. If you put a Nora Roberts book in front of me, I’ll forget to eat and sleep.
For historical fiction, I love Ken Follett and Kate Quinn. I can’t get enough of her writing!
8. Do you have a favorite cozy mystery series?
Oh, I love so many of them. And while I love animals, I’m not a huge fan of them in mysteries. I of course love Agatha Christie and Miss Marple, Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Kitty French’s Chapelwick Mysteries, and the Cleo Coyle Coffeehouse Mysteries. And now that we’ve chatted about them, I have to go back and re-read all of them!
9. How long does it take for you to write a book?
It varies quite a bit depending on what’s going on in real life. The Last Resort in Lost Haven took me about two years because of my growing family, but I’m working to finish the second book in about six months. Wish me luck!
10. Can you tell us anything about any future book releases?
The second book is titled A Grave Halloween in Lost Haven, and here is the current book description (this may change, of course!):
The graveyard plots in Lost Haven are deep, dark, and deadly.
Jenna Hooper and her fellow Main Street shop owners are preparing for Lost Haven’s annual Halloween celebrations and just barely getting comfortable with the massive changes in their artsy little town when they literally stumble upon a dead body in Lilac Park.
Another murder in quiet Lost Haven is unsettling enough, but this particular corpse may destroy the town's beloved Halloween traditions from beyond the grave, and the killer is still roaming free, willing to strike again to protect their deep, dark secrets. Now Jenna and the crew must do some grave-digging of their own to find the killer and save Halloween in Lost Haven—hopefully without dying first.
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