Aired January 2022
She’s a talented pastry chef―with a secret recipe for solving crimes…
WELCOME TO THE COOKIE HOUSE
Kate McGuire’s life was sweet in Manhattan before she lost her restaurant job and fiancé both. But sometimes that’s just the way the cookie crumbles, and soon she finds herself starting from scratch in the island town of Coral Cay, Florida. It has everything she’s looking for: sunny beaches, friendly locals, and a Help Wanted sign in the bakery shop window. Once she convinces the shop’s crusty owner Sam Hepplewhite to hire her, Kate can’t tie on her apron fast enough. Little does she know that trouble, like warm dough, is on the rise. . .
WHERE CRIMINALS GET THEIR JUST DESSERTS
Stewart Lord is a real estate developer with a taste for a different type of dough: the green kind. He knows that he could make a killing by purchasing the Cookie House from Sam, who flat-out refuses to sell. But when Stewart turns up the heat on Sam―then turns up dead after eating a fresh batch of Sam’s cinnamon rolls―all eyes focus on the town’s beloved bakery. When the police arrest Sam for murder, Kate must somehow prove that her curmudgeonly boss is innocent. Enlisting the help of a team of lovable locals, Kate sets out to catch the real culprit with his hand in the cookie jar…before someone else gets burned.
Angela: Technology, yes? There’s always that seven-second delay; please, YouTube. (fingers crossed)
Ben: Yeah, like, are we on, are we not on?
Angela: What is it? “Bueller, Bueller, Testing, 1-2-3.” Well, I mean, I might as well post… okay, we are live!
Ben: Yay!
Angela: And, so, we might as well post the little intro. I was just showing Ben, who is my amazing guest host. Why am I the only one who’s on screen right now?
Ben: I’m on screen.
Angela: Here we go, okay! All of a sudden it was zoomed in on my forehead as I was looking down, so I was like, “I apologize.” I don’t know what that was. I was going to say, because we have the fun little intros (displays image Welcome to The Cozy Mystery Book Club Livestream). I was so proud of them.
Ben: Yes!
Angela: I wanted to make sure I showed them off tonight and welcomed everyone properly to our Book Club. And, so, we also have, as it just keeps going.
Ben: Just looping.
Angela: Yeah, again, with the seven-second delay. So, you’ve got to make sure, if you’re looking over at StreamYard versus the actual YouTube. So, tonight, we are doing (holds up book) And Then There Were Crumbs by Eve Calder, and I am so excited to talk about this book with Ben.
Ben: (holds up book) Yes.
Angela: I love how you have your copy, “He’s ready to go!”
Ben: I’m ready.
Angela: I adore him. So, I wanted to introduce you, and I did the screen grab (displays bio) because I wanted to make sure I gave you a proper shoutout and people knew where to find you. Ben is @botanyandbooks across platforms, and I pulled it from his bio. He’s an avid reader and a proud member of the Cozy Crew, and I love the way you have that in your Twitter bio. Ben is amazing, he talks about cozy mysteries, he’s a sweet human being! Follow him, otherwise, you’re missing out. I wanted to make sure that I showed this and see, he even took a photo of our book of the month for his Instagram. I mean, he is on his game.
Ben: Thank you!
Angela: All the shoutouts to Ben. So, January is also Ben month. This is a new tradition; this is official, now that we’re doing this.
Ben: I love this.
Angela: We did our book for January 2021, Ben was the host for January 2021, and it was one of my favorite books, it was Killer Chardonnay, and that was probably one of my top reads of the year, and I’m talking about like out of all the books that I read, and so it was kicked off on a great note. I think you’re my good luck charm, because I feel like we’re doing that again for 2022 with this book.
Ben: Yeah, we’re repeating it.
Angela: Yeah, he has to be our guest every New Year.
Ben: Killer Chardonnay was one of my favorite books from last year too; it was phenomenal.
Angela: I am so happy to have you back and I’m so excited to chat with you and everyone with this book, Hopefully, okay, so, the window, my YouTube channel is just showing a different angle. So, hopefully, if the angle is wrong, we can fix that. This is not accurate because as soon as I go over to YouTube, it’s like there I am.
Ben: No, I see, I see. Mine is, yeah, we’re good.
Angela: Okay, there we go, because we have all these comments and that’s why I wanted to go over to YouTube. So, I’m like, “Please work, YouTube.” So, we have Elle, Renee, oh, my gosh, the whole gang is here.
Ben: Hey, everyone.
Angela: This is so exciting. Manon, oh, she posted her photo; you posted your photo on Instagram, and she had hers, and she said in her comments, one of the things that you and I had just been talking about, the book does not have recipes at the end. And, so, we’re all on the same wavelength.
Ben: Yeah, I looked in the back, I was like, “Where’s the recipes?” but it’s a minor thing.
Angela: Oh, my gosh. I love this comment. Let’s see if I can do this over with StreamYard, if I can feature some of the comments, because y’all are already talking about the book, this is so cool. So, we were talking about this earlier. So, what did you think of And Then There Were Crumbs by Eve Calder? I’m kicking it over to you first.
Ben: To me first? Okay. Well, I enjoyed it so much, so much, like I was telling you before with a setting in Florida, I don’t see many cozies set in Florida, or I just haven’t read many cozies set in Florida, so it was a nice change of pace. And then, yeah, I just enjoyed, you’re seeing Kate start her life off in a new space and meeting new people and all the warm welcoming people, her friend Maxi, who becomes her friend, and, ah, Oliver is probably my favorite character. I love Oliver.
Angela: I am so happy he is on the book cover; this dog. (holds up book cover and points at Oliver)
Ben: Yeah, he’s there. (holds up book cover and points at Oliver)
Angela: He’s so cute. He is adorable. There’s something about cozy mysteries and just authors, in general, when you have an animal, and this is not a Homeward Bound situation where they have no dialogue, and you love them and they have a personality. That is, I mean, I got to give her props for her writing with this book, I was very impressed.
Ben: (nodding) Yeah, being able to give Oliver so much personality without saying anything really.
Angela: (displays comment by SharonElizabeth “Ginger snaps! I need to make my grandma’s family recipe”) The ginger snaps. (laughing)
Ben: (laughing) Yeah, ginger snaps.
Angela: I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to think of cookies the same way again. So, I even put through a Panera Bread order because I wanted to make sure I had cookies for tonight. (holds up a dish of large cookies) I just had to do it. So, we have the whole array of chocolate chip because it’s in the book so many times. We have the oatmeal raisin and we learned that one of the boys likes the oatmeal raisin without the raisins, which I fully support.
Ben: (nodding) I agree with that, yes.
Photo by @botanyandbooks on Instagram
Angela: And then we have the regular macadamia one. I was looking for the almond one that was in the beginning of the book, but Panera didn’t have that, unfortunately. I was looking for that one.
Ben: How about you? How did you like And Then There Were Crumbs?
Angela: I really enjoyed this book. Again, I truly think you are the good luck charm (Ben smiles) because this book, I was so happy; it checked all the boxes for me!
Ben: (nodding)
Angela: We have the, “We’re going to the new cozy town.” We have the protagonist starting up a new career of sorts, so we have the usual boxes, but then we also have the book club reference. We also have them referencing Agatha Christie in there, and then there’s all these food references; she’s baking. And then I love the best friend, Maxi.
Ben: Yes!
Angela: She was just a hoot. I loved her dialogue. Anytime she’s in a scene, I’m going, “I’m going to enjoy this.”
Ben: Exactly! She walks in, and I’m like, “Oh, this is a good scene. This is going to be good.”
Angela: I’m like, “I know you’re a fictional character and I’m a grown woman, but can you adopt me? I want to live in your house too.”
Ben: We’ll all just be in a tent in the living room. It’s fine, it’s cool, yeah.
Angela: Yeah, I will seriously, though, this is the difference, I think, with cozy mysteries and the mentality with the subgenres. So, if you pick up this book and you have never read a cozy mystery before, you’re going, “Oh, my goodness, you are staying above a shop, you’ve never been to, this is going to be a horrible book,” a horror novel like Stephen King wrote this. Now, you’re visiting this woman at her home like you’re going to be a Lifetime girl who’s held hostage. But in cozy mystery land, everything is perfect.
Ben: Yeah, it’s fine.
Angela: Everything is great. I was so happy with her. I’m sucked in, I already looked it up. There are two more books in the series right now. I wrote down the titles because they’re really cute and I didn’t want to get them wrong. (looking at notes) I think one of them was Sugar and Vice. And then, what was the other one? As I have like all of the notes and she’s at the back of the book. Let me see what she has; it’s that crazy. I mean, if there’s something in particular y’all want to talk about tonight, please comment away. So, the other one is A Tale of Two Cookies.
Ben: A Tale of Two Cookies.
Angela: So, you have some great titles, and with book two, Evan comes to town to win her back.
Ben: Oh, yeah, I’ve been wondering. Yeah, that’s good.
Angela: And then in book three, we have a wedding that goes awry. And, so, that seems like a different premise because she has a friend from her old life come back. So, I am in it. I need to read books two and three.
Ben: (nodding) Gotta catch up!
Angela: (smiling) Oh, my gosh, there’s so many comments going on. (displays comment by Mama Rox 2.0 “I really want some Cubano coffee!”) Who else wanted coffee?
Ben: Same here, same here.
Angela: I love that she was Cuban; that made me so happy because, again, I said this off camera before, but I don’t really know too much about Florida, and I thought of Dexter and I know that they’re always talking about immigrants, and how there’s a lot of things in Florida in regards to the population with diversity, and I’m going, “Thank you for having Kate,” you know, someone who represents.
Ben: Yeah!
Angela: She’s an amazing character. Eve Calder, if you’re watching, (holds up book) I am making a plea, nothing can happen to Maxi. (hugs book)
Ben: She needs to stay safe. She needs to stay safe.
Angela: Her and Oliver, we protect them at all costs. I was like, we cannot. In book two, I read the abstract and, so, she has to clear Maxi of murder and I’m going, “Okay.”
Ben: She’s okay.
Angela: She’s not the victim. She can never be a victim.
Ben: Yeah, yeah, no, yeah.
Angela: Oh, my gosh! (displays comment by Janet Larson “My 1st time in this book club. Really enjoyed the book.”) Welcome to your first Book Club!
Ben: Welcome!
Angela: Oh, my goodness. I’m missing all, there’s so many comments, and I’m going to hop over to, let’s see if I can go back and forth between this, because there are all these different things you can do with StreamYard. So, I wanted to make sure I referenced this, because I uploaded the image (displays GIVEAWAY prize). So, every comment tonight, translates to one giveaway entry. After the YouTube livestream, I go back through the comments, and I convert each comment to a giveaway entry. So, more comments, the more you have a chance of winning. And tonight’s giveaway is Double Shot Death, which actually isn’t coming out until April 26th. Emmeline Duncan is doing this amazing giveaway, so shoutouts and credits to her. So, all of these comments that are popping up right now, you guys are entered to win! Just want to make sure I told you guys that at the beginning and I did not forget.
Ben: Going to plug, also, the first book in that series (Fresh Brewed Murder) is amazing. So, yeah, it’s definitely worth the read.
Angela: I probably should have thought of it before when we were talking about the Cuban coffee. Coffee, coffee.
Ben: Coffee, it tied in; it tied in.
Angela: Yeah, I love how Max has abandoned me now; as long as he’s quiet. So, my little guy, my little dog is abandoned, but everyone’s talking about the fur babies with Oliver. Okay, he was the town dog. At first, I was really worried about him, I’m going, “Is he a stray? What’s going on?”
Ben: Well, no, you see, like, she walks into town to like, you know, the downtown, and you see all the dog water bowls everywhere. So, I was like, “What is going on here with this?” And then you meet Oliver, and I’m like, “Okay, it makes sense.” And then his little name tag had the town (Angela smiles) and I’m like, “Aww,” so great, so great.
Angela: I mean, again with Maxi, this woman is phenomenal. So, she’s a small business owner. She’s a florist, she owns her own shop. She is a mom of three, plus, she has her own mother living there, her husband, and then her kids always have their friends over, and then she’s also taking care of the little guy. She’s bringing him to the vet, making sure he gets his heartworm medicine.
Ben: Yeah!
Angela: She gives him a bath. Again, “We’ve got to protect Maxi,” because as soon as she said that, all of my usual worries just went out the window, and I was able to enjoy Oliver.
Ben: Because he’s being taken care of, yeah.
Angela: Exactly. I was so concerned before, I’m going, “Is he eating out of the garbage? What’s going on with Oliver?” Nope.
Ben: Nope. He just has free range over all of town, which is awesome, that’s so awesome.
Angela: I mean, they all just know him, and I thought it was so cute how he was the one protecting her. He’s the one who alerted her. (hugs the book)
Ben: Yes! The break-in, yeah, he was alert, he was barking, and they said that he never did that before; he never barked like that. So, it’s like amazing.
Angela: I kind of want to know if he stays with her now, like, she’s his new home instead of going about town?
Ben: I hope so.
Angela: So, I am curious about that.
Ben: Maybe he can have the best of both worlds, you know, he stays there, but then still kind of roams around town as he feels like it; it would be cute.
Angela: (laughing) I just saw this, (displays comment by Carli Spina) “Raisins should not be in baked goods, in my humble opinion.”
Ben: (laughing) I agree.
Angela: I mean, there was a John Oliver segment one time, where he was talking about raisins in the oatmeal cookies, and he referred to Donald Trump as the raisins, and it was so funny the way he did it. It just reminded me of that, and he had all these raisins pour down from the ceiling, and I’m like, “I like raisins for a snack, but when you start throwing them in cookies and sweets, it’s different. Not the same.”
Ben: Different.
Angela: (reading comments) Oh, my goodness. Oh, you guys are commenting so much, I don’t want to miss anything. It’s always so much fun when I go back and convert them for the giveaways, because I will always see comments that I will not see during the livestream, because there’s just so many of them, and I can’t keep up, and then you guys make my day. It’s just so much fun. I love that I get to go do the comments and you guys make sure that you give me a reason to read them.
Ben: Aww.
Angela: You guys are amazing. I just want to give you a shoutout. If I don’t notice it tonight, I will be noticing them tomorrow. (displays comment by Debbie Lind “The stalker was great”) Okay, so we also have to talk about our fake stalker. (laughing)
Ben: (laughing) I love the build-up; it kept me like, “Who is this person stalking her?”
Angela: The thing, I think, I appreciated the most, again, I have all my notes written out, so I don’t know where it is in my notebook, but I know exactly one of the things I wanted to point out was everything in this book mattered and it contributed to the story or the plot or the characters in some way, and same thing with the stalker. She could have totally done one of those writer things where it played it off as a joke, just a misunderstanding. I love that she tied it into it.
Ben: Yeah!
Angela: There was a PI following her, because of the ex-fiancé, and then she uses him for his PI skills.
Ben: Yeah, she ingeniously was like, “Hey, I need some help too,” so like let’s pull you in here, “You’re still getting paid from the ex,” but, you know, I love it.
Angela: (laughing) She’s like, “I’ll pose for the candid photos.”
Ben: (laughing) Yeah, I love that, I was like, “It tied in,” which was nice. It wasn’t a throwaway, like, “Oh, this person,” and then you never hear from that person again.
Angela: That’s exactly, like, again, maybe this is because there are things like that in cozy mysteries where that’s what I was kind of expecting. So, then, when she didn’t do that, I was going, “Oh, thank you Eve Calder, you upped the writing.”
Ben: Yeah!
Angela: Again, I’m not writing things as I go, but I’m like, “Oh, if this was a four star, you’re now a five star.” It just ups the quality, because there are so many references where there are just sort of like, “Here’s a red herring that you never see again.”
Ben: (nodding) Yeah, you never hear from this person ever again. It’s nice that everyone’s tied in; it feels like a community itself, like, really good.
Angela: Yeah, oh, my gosh. (displays comment by Sayres) So, Sam, I just saw this comment, he was one of your favorite characters.
Ben: Aww, I love that he’s the character that’s usually like maybe a red herring, someone you don’t like necessarily, because he’s kind of like a cranky old guy, but he’s a real sweetheart, which I really loved, and you’re rooting for him, too, because you hear about his backstory and you’re like, “You want only good things for him.”
Angela: Oh, my gosh, and I’m glad, I think, that this came up. I don’t want to throw any books under the bus, but there was a book where the backstory wasn’t revealed until, I think, a quarter of the way in with a character, and I was going, “Oh, finally, thank you for explaining that,” because there was a detail that was alluded to, and I just didn’t understand, so I was really annoyed. I was so glad that she was upfront about why it’s called The Cookie House, and we’re not serving cookies, because if you did not explain that to me within the next like ten pages, I was going to lose my mind.
Ben: Yeah, why is it called Cookie House?
Angela: I mean, it’s called The Cookie House and he doesn’t cook any sweets. He does all baked goods; it’s all breads. And, so, if she did not explain that near the beginning of the book, that would have been one of those, “What’s going on? Explain, please.”
Ben: Yeah, so, it was nice to know, “Okay, now you understand his kind of process,” like what’s going on.
Angela: (displays and reads comment by Mama Rox 2.0) So, “I love that the characters were authentic and not caricatures, except for the incompetent police officers.”
Ben: (laughing) I mean, you have to have an incompetent police officer. I mean, but then, you know, Kate wouldn’t have started sleuthing. So, yeah.
Angela: I mean, I love the fact that this guy just writes off a break-in. He’s like, “Yeah, it was kids,” and I’m going, “It wasn’t kids.”
Ben: Unless it’s happened before, but I’m like, “This is a small town,” I don’t think (shaking his head) yeah.
Angela: I mean, it’s also more of an upscale community in regards to her saying, again, our bad guy, our victim, Stewart Lord, there, he comes with the limo, and she gives the introduction or she has some of those, sort of prelude to it, saying, “Oh, there are a lot of celebrities and rich people who visit the area,” but they usually tone it down and him toning it up, you know, it’s very out of character. But you didn’t really get the sense that, you know, (displays and reads comment by Knitted Librarian) I was just pulling up this one, only “Oliver owns Oliver.”
Ben: (laughs)
Angela: (reading comments) And, so, oh my gosh, these guys are right on it. The small community with Oliver and just the community, in general, I think that this book just totally touched my heart. I was just so happy reading this book; even just something so simple as our leading lady, Kate, they buy her a bed, so that she can be more comfortable living above the bakery, and they all contributed, you know, someone gave the duvet, someone else bought the mattress, someone else, you know, occupied her to get her out of the bakery so they could bring it in. So, it was an actual town effort to give her this gift. And then, same thing with Oliver, they’re all taking care of him together. Oh, my gosh. (hugs the book)
Ben: Yeah, they’re all Oliver’s friends, you know, taking care of his needs, so it’s really sweet.
Angela: I just love that. I was so happy that the community, so I’m not going to spoiler right now, but I was so happy, like, “Oh, my gosh, these are great characters! Nobody can be the bad guy.” I was so upset. There was only one person I was iffy on and he kind of clarified things; it was the wine guy, Harper.
Photo by @thebookhangoverisreal on Instagram
Ben: Oh, yeah.
Angela: He had a question mark; everyone else, I mean, we didn’t really get to meet the doctor or other members of the book club per se, but the characters we interacted with were so great, I’m like, “You cannot be the killer.” (reading comments) Okay, other people want to see if Oliver stays. Okay, thank you. I was just sort of, I’m concerned, like, Max is my baby, if he liked someone else more than he liked me, I’d be devastated. Okay, I just saw this one pop up (holds up book). I love the title of this book; it makes me so happy. But I forget where it is, which one were they reading in the book club? It was an Agatha Christie book, I’m forgetting off the top of my head, but they were reading an Agatha Christie novel, and I was so excited. Oh, Affair at Styles or the curious, that’s the one, curious affair of, it was the one with Styles.
Ben: Yeah, I forget which one they were reading. Oh, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, yeah.
Angela: Okay, I was so close. A little jumbled, but I was going, “Okay, so maybe it would’ve been too on-the-nose if they were reading And Then There Were None,” but it’s like an Agatha Christie tribute. I’m going to go with it, it’s fine.
Ben: Love it; that would have been actually kind of funny.
Angela: If they were reading And Then There Were None?
Ben: (laughing) Yeah, there were also Dante references in the beginning, too, which I found really interesting.
Angela: Again, I feel as if, I almost think we need to have sort of like a checkmark system of, there’s coffee referenced, we have our cookie reference or baked good reference, a dog reference, and so she had a reference for libraries too. This wasn’t even referenced, really, it was like, “The library is underfunded,” and she referenced, I mean, she had all of the cozy mystery hallmarks in here. She had the library reference, and then she had, there was something else that was just kind of mentioned along the way, and I’m going, “Ah! My cozy mystery reader heart is so happy!”
Ben: Yeah, it’s in a bakery, we got baking, we have like cookie whispering, so you kind of have like the magic in there, not really there, but it’s awesome.
Angela: I was so happy. Oh, as I’m looking down, I love the humor too. So, Maxi’s son, who thought, “I have a sticker,” it’s actually a bandage, just the humor with the tone, it was just so light-hearted. I just really appreciated that, and then all my notes about Oliver, I’m just keep going back.
Ben: All the notes about Oliver.
Angela: Oh, so, one of the random notes, this is not meant to be jumping ahead, but she broke off her engagement with the fiancé, and so her new BFF, Maxie says, “Everyone in town is going to want to set you up,” and then it’s Oliver who brings in the cute Vet.
Ben: (nodding) Ah-huh, the cute Vet who just moved from Denver, right?
Angela: Denver, yeah.
Ben: His name is Jack, yeah.
Angela: He’s also a matchmaker! He protects her, he’s sleeping next to her as her little cuddle friend; now, he’s setting her up on a date with a Vet!
Ben: I do want to see how that goes, because I was telling you earlier, when we were introduced to Gabe, I was like, “Oh, maybe, a knight in shining armor comes to save her,” because for me, the car breaking down at an intersection, worst nightmare ever, and he’s there to help her, save her, and then, you kind of don’t hear from him again.
Angela: Ah, I know!
Ben: Oh, you do, but.
Angela: I actually liked the fact that she had just broken off the engagement and there wasn’t an instant, “Oh, this is my new person.”
Ben: Yeah! Yeah, yeah. She had space to kind of come into her own, find her own place, you know, for which I really enjoyed that.
Angela: I mean, we know what’s coming, we can figure out the cozy mystery hints with the love interest. I liked that we got a taste of it, and so it kind of satisfied me in that way but, sometimes, they jump in almost too quickly. There was one book where the husband had only been dead a year and, all of a sudden, two guys are interested in her, and she was grieving, and I’m going, “Weren’t you just on the couch a minute ago depressed?”
Ben: Yeah, it was just nice for her; she’s in a new town, so she’s enjoying herself. I mean, she’s trying to solve a murder too. Like, she’s making friends, she’s on her own, so it was nice not to be, have her like weighted down with a romance, also, on top of it.
Angela: Oh, yeah, I mean, there’s a lot going on with this book. Again, why I was so impressed with the writing, Eve Calder, shoutout! Because we’re trying to save the bakery, we’re getting introduced to the new town, if you had thrown a love interest in there, the book would have been a lot thicker.
Ben: Yeah, so, it was nice, it was nice. Oliver’s bringing in a possible love interest for the next book, maybe.
Angela: (reading comments) Okay, I was just looking, we have the fake stalker comments.
Ben: Oh, yeah! (laughing)
Angela: I saw someone referenced his khakis.
Ben: Manny!
Angela: He was just wearing the same khakis. I like how, it was Ben, for a second, I almost forgot his name. He goes, “Do you just wear these every day? Do you wash them?”
Ben: He’s all, “I have five pairs; five pairs of the same one.” I love that.
Angela: I, actually, for a minute, was kind of thinking Ben might have been the love interest, because we hear about him before we see him.
Ben: (nodding) Yeah.
Angela: But I also liked the fact that he’s the police officer and she’s not trying to circumvent the police.
Ben: (nodding)
Angela: So often they’re like, “I know better,” and I’m going, “No, you don’t, you just confronted a killer.” (reading comments) Oh, my gosh, everyone seems to be on the same page. I love that everyone’s, yeah,
Ben: Love the townspeople.
Angela: Yeah, everyone seems to be enjoying this book. I posted the comments, not comments, but the questions on the social media accounts for the Instagram and Twitter, and the average, I think, was four or five stars.
Ben: Awesome.
Angela: Everyone seems to have been really positive. Everyone’s saying how much they enjoyed the book. So, I’m thinking, I’m going, “We started 2022 off right!”
Ben: We did. We did it right again, which is always great.
Angela: (displays comment by Debbie Lind “I am really curious to find out if Sam jumps on board with the cookies in the next book”) Okay, yes. We do have to go read the next book to find out about how the cookies are doing.
Ben: Yes. (laughing)
Angela: So, we didn’t really talk about Sam, we sort of referenced him, but there’s so much going on; he’s in jail the whole time.
Ben: Yeah, he’s in jail for most of the book.
Angela: I love how they made it his home there; they’re bringing him all sorts of stuff.
Ben: Yeah! Everyone’s visiting him, everyone’s bringing him food.
Angela: They brought him magazines, and I love how he actually got healthier staying in jail.
Ben: Yeah, that reference, when he comes out of the car, she’s like, “He looks like he’s not so gone; he has a little pink on his cheeks.” I’m like, “Aww.”
Angela: It’s almost as if he got a vacation by staying in jail.
Ben: Being in jail, yeah.
Angela: I don’t know if there are any other Parks and Recreation fans out there, but I’ve watched that show on Netflix on repeat for a while, and there’s an episode where Leslie Knope is arrested and she’s put in the Eagleton jail and they’re offering her scones, and they’re like, “Oh, do you want this sort of pillow?” I mean, that’s what I was thinking.
Ben: That’s what you’re imagining, like a nice (laughing).
Angela: I mean, they were also letting them have all these visitors. I mean, talk about a nice jail.
Ben: Small town, I feel like, yeah, it’s just one with a couple of cells.
Angela: (displays and reads comment by Renee) Oh, my goodness, I just saw this one pop-up. “The kids were actually good, nice kids in this one.” I thought the kids were really cute.
Ben: They’re adorable.
Angela: I loved the kid with the bandage, “She bit me.”
Ben: Yeah!
Angela: I thought that was so funny. I mean, again, the whole, “Oh, pulling on the pigtails means he likes you.” – “No, pulling on them means (not interested).”
Ben: Yeah, and Kate being like, “Yeah, I don’t think she’s good either.” – “I know it Jessica, I don’t think she’s good,” or whatever her name was.
Angela: Yeah, she’s going, “No, I agree with you. Enjoy your sticker bandage.”
Ben: Yeah.
Angela: Oh, my goodness. I love how I just had like a random note on some of these pages, and then I find the Mysterious Affair at Styles note, twenty-eight pages later. So, I also think one of the things I was noticing was that there was a little bit of irony for some of the situations. We have The Cookie House that doesn’t serve cookies and then we have the wine owner who’s married to an alcoholic.
Ben: Oh, yeah.
Angela: So, Harper was the only one who I was kind of curious about because she said he was twenty years her senior but he was giving her a little bit of a flirtatious look. What did you think of Harper?
Ben: I felt not threatened by Harper. I mean, I had some questions. I felt like, maybe, he was a little bit of a red herring, because you didn’t really know that much at first, but I felt bad for him. I’m like, “Yeah, your wife’s an alcoholic; she’s in rehab,” and now you’re like, “What do I do with the business?” It’s just (shakes his head).
Angela: Yeah, I was just pulling up the other comments. So, some people were suspicious. I love the reference of, “I want the food at his house.” That’s true, yeah, the wine and cheese.
Ben: I mean, that’s why they have the meetings at his place because it’s nice and good food.
Angela: They actually did the Murder Board.
Ben: Got the Agathe Christie Murder Board going on. Agatha Raisin, yeah.
Angela: (reading comments) Oh, my gosh. The Agatha Raisin ones make me so happy.
Ben: Ghost, the picture of ghost. Yeah, I think you posted that one, specifically.
Angela: I was going to say I have a screenshot of that one. I’m pretty sure.
Ben: All the random objects that are supposed to be people that she uses too, I just love that so much.
Angela: There was one, she had melons, where she was just naming the people. And then, someone was a random thing and, so, Gemma goes, “Why is this one an apple or something?” She’s like, “Well, I ran out of melons.”
Ben: Did you see the Christmas one?
Angela: I know! Oh, my gosh. So, I, actually, because I subscribe with Amazon to Acorn TV, and I need to go re-subscribe, because I want to watch it. I was so upset that I didn’t have access at first. I thought, “Oh, my gosh. I need my Acorn TV.”
Ben: You’ll have to let me know how you enjoy it. It was fun.
Angela: Okay, because I want to watch that because I also know once I watch it, I get sucked in.
Ben: So, you’ve just been watching Agatha Raisin, over.
Angela: I have seen those episodes more times than I should admit.
Ben: No, that’s good. It’s such a fun series.
Angela: I love how we’re talking about the Murder Boards. So, the reason why I’m going, “I took a screenshot,” a snapshot of that one was, I’ve actually been going back, the last time I rewatched the series, because I rewatched it more than once, I was screenshotting the Murder Boards.
Ben: Yes.
Angela: I actually have this blog post that is literally just all the images and screenshots.
Ben: I love that.
Angela: So, someday, when I finally have the time, I’ll finish and do the little captions of where each episode it comes from.
Ben: I cannot wait to see this.
Angela: Oh, my gosh, I have a folder and it’s just called Agatha Raisin, and then, in that folder, there’s more folders.
Ben: Yes.
Angela: (displays comment by Manon) Okay, so, “The murder was clever too!” So, are we going to go into spoilers?
Ben: Do it, jump into it.
Angela: Okay, so I got a flashback to Psych, there was an episode where the husband killed the wife and the wife killed the husband. She electrocuted him and he poisoned her and everyone’s looking for a killer, but they killed each other. And, so, I was so happy that all of my townspeople whom I loved were innocent.
Ben: Yes.
Angela: Because I was really worried that their kindness was fake, and that was starting to get to me a little bit. I’m going, “Oh, please, please don’t think,” you know, “You’re giving her a good deal on the bike, it can’t be you.” – “Oh, you’re being nice to her, it can’t be you.”
Ben: Yeah, the bike, because her being British, I was like, “Oh, no.”
Angela: I was concerned, because I was falling in love with the characters and the community, and I saw someone mentioned before how everyone was pitching in and they painted the house. The former cop, he had a couple of moments that were later explained where he already knew Sam was in trouble because the assistant had died from the same poisoning. So, he knew why there was a sad face of Sam getting out soon, sad face. I’m going, “Oh, are we supposed to be suspicious of you?” And, so, then we sort of pushed that under the rug because we understood the sad face, but I just, I love them all. I didn’t want them to be guilty of anything.
Ben: Yeah, I didn’t want anyone to be guilty.
Angela: I would’ve been so sad if it was one of those, “Oh, I was so kind to you, but it was only because I was using you.”
Ben: Not that it would be Maxi, but I would have been really devastated.
Angela: Oh, my gosh, this book would’ve been thrown across the room, if it was Maxi, I would’ve been sitting here steaming with my arms crossed.
Ben: Not wanting to talk.
Angela: I mean, again, I always say I don’t talk about books unless I enjoy them. I don’t read Book Club books in advance but, luckily, I love cozy mysteries, so I’m usually very happy. But if that was the case, I would’ve been like (crosses arms) one star; so unhappy.
Ben: But it shows how great Eve did, wrote her book, like, we’re so in love with all these characters that we don’t want anyone to be the villain.
Angela: Yeah! I was getting so sad because I loved the community. I didn’t want it torn apart.
(Max barks)
Ben: And Max agrees, he agrees.
Photo by @crystalteaknits on Instagram
Angela: I think I appreciated the fact that the murder was done in a way where it was exceptionally clever, and it was the bad guy. So, it was a bad guy killing a bad guy, and it was not a matter of, “Oh, a good person who lost their way,” or felt this, or who had a moment of weakness or something. I’m glad that everyone who was kind stayed kind.
Ben: Yeah, no one was like double crossing, no one was being sneaky; it was, yeah.
Angela: (reading comments) Oh, see, even the gingerbread house. I loved the protagonist; everyone was so thoughtful. I kind of got teary-eyed. I got a little emotional with the gingerbread house.
Ben: (nodding)
Angela: Okay, I made the note, because this came up at the beginning and, again, I’m giving her extra credit, gold star, for this writing detail. So, we had the red ginger flower, which Ben had done for his wife. And then for the gingerbread house at the end, she put the red ginger flower on the gingerbread house, and I’m going, “This is the cutest detail ever.” And it was just one of those, it was mentioned, I think it was twice, because in the conversation with Maxi and her noticing it when she moved in, and then at the end with the gingerbread house. So, it wasn’t as if, “Oh, I want to make sure you catch this. I want to make sure you catch this.”
Ben: It was kind of thrown in there.
Angela: (hugs book) Ah! My heart. I’m trying to catch up on the comments. Yes, okay. This book, totally, I want to say she knows the cozy mystery subgenre. She knows what we want and she gave it to us.
Ben: Yeah, she put it in a book for us.
Angela: Oh, my goodness. I’m scrolling down. Okay, everyone else is going to watch Agatha Raisin too. I actually saw it and I was tempted to buy it on Amazon, but I’m going, I saw that Queens of Mystery has a season two.
Ben: Yes, I haven’t watched that one yet. I haven’t watched that one yet.
Angela: That’s why I’m resubscribing to Acorn TV. Like, I can’t not watch that Agatha Raisin and, again, we know, once I watch Agatha Raisin I’m falling down into the cozy mystery Acorn TV hole.
Ben: You’re doing research for all the Murder Boards, so it’s totally justified.
Angela: I can’t do ‘share screen’ with StreamYard, otherwise, I would show you guys the draft I have. It’s hysterical, because I actually started to make, it looks like an infographic of them almost, like, we got this one, we’ve got a top ten.
Ben: Love it.
Angela: (reading comments) Okay, so people are understanding my references. This is why everyone’s on the same sleuther network, on the same idea. Okay, yes! Queens of Mystery is amazing. That show was so well done and they left it with a cliffhanger. So, again, once I start watching season two, I’m watching season two; that’s my day.
Ben: That’s the whole day.
Angela: Oh, yeah, if we’re going to be watching, this is why, I know how I am, so that’s the same thing with books that are long series, I’m going, “There’s twelve books in that series. If I buy book one, I’m in it.” Can’t just read book one.
Ben: I’m so bad. I’ll start a series, and then it takes me a while to get back into it. I’m so bad at it.
Angela: Oh, my gosh. (shows notepad) I love how just random notes about Maxi just pop up. I’m like, “Instant BFF!”
Ben: Yeah, that’s what I thought when Maxi was introduced. I was like, “Oh, she’s a florist and she’s right next door.” I was like, “Yes, this is awesome.”
Angela: So, this is just a random note. Again, they instantly are just Sherlock and Watson and Sex and the City. I was going to say, well, I mean, Samantha’s gone, and now it’s this weird show. Think Shawn and Gus, Shawn and Gus (Psych). Just imagine they’ve known each other their whole lives, they just click, but her husband is in the know. Peter, he tells Maxi what’s going on, and Maxi says, “Oh, Peter told me not to tell, so you can’t tell.” He tells her, “You can’t tell anyone.” I just love the way she trusts her instantly with, “Okay, he told me not to tell, so you can’t tell anybody, but I can tell you.” Like, we’ve got an exception to the rule here.
Ben: I just love like the first, she goes for dinner, and it’s kind of like, “Oh,” and then, “I’m staying here at the house,” after Sam’s taken away, like, it’s just like, “No questions,” she’s all, “No, you’re staying here, you’re not going to a resort. No!”
Angela: It was so cute. Again, if this was a Lifetime movie, she’d be locked in the shed in the backyard. But in cozy mystery land, she’s got Star Wars. What was it?
Ben: The Millennium Falcon alarm clock, and she has a Batman toothbrush, which is awesome.
Angela: The details made me so happy. The kids were adorable too.They were having the best time with her there because they got all the cookies and I, actually, listened to the audiobook. So, I read it, and then I listened to the audio because as I’m folding laundry, you know, I want to make sure I’m all prepped for tonight. I don’t want to forget someone’s name and, so, the audiobook narrator would do the voices for the kids and the way she made some of the lines come alive and she goes, “cookieees.” The way she just yelled it, it was amazing. I was so happy.
Ben: Commitment, commitment, I love that.
Angela: I don’t know if anyone else listened to the audiobook, but the way she did the kids’ voices, it went from just being one of those lines that you read, you know, it’s cute, you take it in, to, “Oh, my gosh, this is amazing.” It just ups the reading level. I was going to say I don’t know the narrator’s name (Christa Lewis) off the top of my head, but she did a great job with it.
(reading comments) Oh, yeah. She’s baking at the house. She goes, what was the, there was a line, I’m totally paraphrasing because I can’t remember in its entirety, but Kate says something to her along the lines of, “Oh, I guess I’m going to have to use your kitchen,” and Maxi goes, “Oh, that’s so bad. All those great smells are going to be in my house.” Her sarcasm jumped off the page, and I loved it. She was so sassy. Like, on the Golden Girls before, she had some of those Dorothy moments, where you’re like, “Oh, my gosh, that’s hysterical.”
Okay, other people did listen to the audiobook, okay. So, I’m not alone in enjoying this. I was very impressed with the way that she did the different voices and she did the Cuban accent. I was going to say, I think she did a good job with it. I mean, I can’t do accents, so I’m always impressed.
Ben: Same here, yeah.
Angela: Because she had to do Cuban and English.
Ben: Yeah, she had English accents, yeah.
Angela: So, I mean, they must have really had to do some auditions for that one. Oh, (big smile) we also have landlines again.
Ben: We do, we do, which is always fun. (laughing)
Angela: She goes to call 911 and there’s no signal.
Ben: Yeah.
Angela: I mean, the poor little thing. If someone breaks in and you want to call 911, you should be able to call 911 Oliver has to stay to protect her now.
Ben: I’m looking around, yeah, I don’t have a landline either.
Angela: That was one of my things, when I first moved to DC on my own, and I’m going, “Okay, at least if I’m in the apartment building and I scream, someone will hear me.”
Ben: Yeah, I share a wall, so, hopefully, my neighbors will hear me.
Angela: But she was there by herself and she grabs a bottle of Windex.
Ben: Yes, the giant bottle of Windex. I’m just picturing her walking, carrying that bottle.
Angela: I was so, again, the details with this book made me so happy because this was relatable. She’s going, “Oh, if I can just blind him.” I mean, again, those are the things that take it from, “Oh, we’re going to enjoy the read; it’s guaranteed for us.” But I’d be like, “Five stars, gold stars.” The Windex bottle just such a random detail, but it made my heart happy.
Ben: Yeah, and also, we start off with my worst nightmare. So, I’m already captivated. I’m like, “Okay, car breaks down; this is going to be good.”
Angela: Again, if this were a Stephen King book, very different outcomes.
Ben: Well, also, like, the people honking, impatient. I’m like, “Ugh!” you just felt so bad for Kate in that moment.
Angela: I thought it was so nice that he, again, sometimes we have the protagonist, where they are the unlikable heroin, or you like them, but you don’t love them. I loved her and right from the get-go because I really appreciated the fact that here’s this guy who’s clearly got the towing capabilities, and she says, “I can’t afford to pay you right now. I’m not entitled. I’m not expecting you to help me, you know, if you want to work something out.” I just love that she was upfront with him and didn’t expect him to help just because he saw her, or just because, oh, you know, “I need help. Help me.” I thought she was so upfront and then he just sort of waved it off, like, “Yeah, give me some sourdough bread, we’ll be even.”
Ben: Yeah, she was very, not approachable, I forgot what the word is, but you connect really well with her, as a person, which I really appreciated. She was grounded, I guess.
Angela: Yeah, grounded. She was thoughtful. I mean, she made the gingerbread house, that was all her.
Ben: So sweet, such a sweet thing to do.
Angela: Again, I was getting emotional at the end with, because I do the thing where if I love a notebook with a cover on it, I will not write in that notebook. That notebook is now put aside, I just leave it there and, so, same thing with the gingerbread house. I probably would’ve just put it aside, and she goes, “No, it’s cookies; they’re meant to be in your belly,” and the way she said it just gave me a little teary-eyed going, “Oh, that’s so cute.” Again, I get emotional talking about that; but the way it was written just made me like Kate, she was a good protagonist. (reading comments) Oh, my gosh, we got Francine Junior Junior.
Ben: Francine, oh.
Angela: Sam, oh, Sam.
Ben: That was such a touching moment too.
Angela: The back stories, I’m kind of curious how she came up with all of them, because she was able to interweave them seamlessly because we end up finding out Sam gave the sourdough to another couple because I think the guy said it was him and his husband had started the restaurant and they were like, “Yeah, if you need a little bit, we’ll send it to you, we’re gonna do free of charge, overnight delivery.”
Ben: Yeah, it was so sweet, it was like, “Aww.”
Angela: All of the characters were just so amazing; this is why none of them could’ve been the killer. So, I was very happy with the outcome.
Ben: Me too. I was reading and I was like, “Oh, yeah, hopefully, none of these people.”
Angela: So, did you solve it? I’m just curious.
Ben: No, I feel like I never solve it. So, it’s okay, I like to be surprised.
Angela: I was concerned about this one because, again, I was loving these characters. I didn’t want anyone to be guilty. There are some characters where I’m like, “Oh, I don’t like you. If you get killed off in the next book, fine. I’m not going to miss you.”
Ben: Which is funny because Sam is the character that, usually, I wouldn’t care for, and then we learn about him, but he’s an old cranky guy, and you’re like, “Oh, whatever,” but he’s so sweet that I’m like, “Okay, yeah, I’m concerned.”
Angela: At the very end, when he saw what they did with The Cookie House, with the painting and the fresh flowers.
Ben: Yeah, he comes out of the car and it’s like, “Aww.”
Angela: He got all emotional. He had to put the sunglasses on so nobody could see his teary-eyed.
Ben: Exactly.
Angela: He wanted to make sure that he preserved that curmudgeon.
Ben: Yeah, he’s like, “People can’t see me emotional.”
Angela: I just thought that was so cute, and he had to take a minute. They were all expecting him to get out of the car and he just stayed in the car.
Ben: Yeah, yeah, it was so drawn out. I was like, “Oh, gosh.”
Angela: Oh, random note. I appreciated the fact that the assistant who was killed off earlier in the book, before we get into the story, I’m glad that we actually included her death because some of the time in mysteries, you’re like, “Oh, and this person died,” and you’re going, “Okay, no justice, no funeral, what’s going on?”
Ben: And it goes back to the point, yeah, she ties everything really well with this book. Nothing’s really a throwaway thing; it’ll come back, which I appreciate.
Angela: I was just looking at the comments. Okay, so, (comment by Regina Williams) “made sense, it wasn’t some random person.” There was a book we read one time for Book Club and, again, I’m not throwing any book under the bus, but it was an accidental death, and because it was a nice character, he goes, “Oh, I didn’t mean to stab him,” and I’m going, “I can’t play the whodunit game, if it’s an accident! Can’t do this!”
Ben: (laughing)
Angela: And, so, I’m glad that the bad guy was the bad guy. So, would you like to explain what I mean by that?
Ben: Well, so, our dear friend, Stewart Lord, Lord Stewart Lord. So, he was a real estate developer and he really wanted to buy up all of Coral Cay, Florida, and so he got a survey report of the whole town and had, I guessed it was fudged up. So, it made it seem like there was a sinkhole and there wasn’t a sinkhole, and so he was trying to buy up places of real estate so he could buy the whole town up, and his assistant is the unfortunate person who died before Kate came into town, and he killed her.
Angela: Yep.
Ben: So, he poisoned her, and then, he was the person that broke into, when the first break-in happened, and he had switched the rum with the poison rum hoping that Sam would drink it, because everyone was talking about how much he was drinking, and it was made before the cinnamon rolls, it was a secret ingredient, and he bought those cinnamon rolls, unknowingly.
Angela: (big smile) He killed himself.
Ben: (laughing) He killed himself!
Angela: I was like, “Karma!”
Ben: Yes, it was really perfect. I’m sad that the assistant died, but it was really perfect, the way that he got what came to him.
Angela: Again, with Killer Chardonnay, I’m going to reference it because our protagonist, she calls herself out for this. She wasn’t sure about one of the characters and he made her food, and she ate it, going, “Oh, my gosh, our victim was killed by poison and I just ate the food of the guy I’m suspecting.”
So, this guy poisons the rum in a bakery and then eats some of the baked goods. If you have poison somewhere, would you actually eat something from that location?
Ben: I wouldn’t eat any of it. I would’ve been like, “Nah, we’re good,” but he was being rude because Sam wasn’t going back, because Sam was busy all day, like, he was tired. He was like, “Oh, I made these for us to eat,” which thankfully they didn’t.
Angela: Exactly. I think, again, the irony of the situation, I think we got to give her (Eve Calder) some props to the irony which was in this book. He wanted to provoke him. He wanted to get him upset. He wanted to make him want to go drink. He wanted to infuriate him and, instead, Sam didn’t want to get upset, and so he goes, “Okay, fine. I’m going to get rid of you and give you the most recent thing I baked,” which happens to be with the poisoned rum.
Ben: Yeah, just happens (laughs).
Angela: If he hadn’t gone in and been the instigator, he would have eaten the poison rum.
Ben: Yeah, Kate and Sam would have eaten those and had died.
Angela: And the book would have been over very quickly, it would have been a little novella snippet.
Ben: (nodding) Yeah.
Angela: But because he had to go the extra mile, and be the bad guy, (Ben nodding) it’s his own fault. I mean, of course, it was going to be his fault with the whole poisoning, but I thought that was great.
Ben: Yeah, it was perfect, it was perfect.
Angela: Oh, my goodness, and then, again, with the writing, giving her (Eve Calder) props, Oliver was so helpful. This little guy with his peanut butter toy, I thought it was so cute how she did this thing where I felt as if I had sort of a, I could picture it in my head as if I was watching a movie or watching a TV episode. I could picture Shawn making the connection on Psych. I could picture Monk having the realization. So, we have the moments of he’s playing with a toy trying to get something out of it, and she looks down at the charm bracelet and goes, “Oh, maybe I can get something out of the charms,” (Ben nodding) and then same thing at the end, where Maxi refreshed the cup of coffee and she didn’t realize it.
Ben: Yeah, yeah.
Angela: And she goes, “Oh, why is this hot? This has been sitting here.” And then she has the realization-epiphany moment. I love things like that, that is the writing, you know, elevating it, just, ah, (hugs book) I love things like that! It gave me the TV show, Monk, Psych, Agatha Raisin vibes where everything kind of fits into place.
Ben: Yeah, you see her physically connecting the dots, which is awesome.
Angela: (laughs, displays comment by Venessa Arthur “I love that Lord got his comeuppance”) I just saw, “comeuppance,” that’s a good way of saying that.
Ben: (laughs) Oh, Lord, Stewart Lord.
Angela: (displays comment by Manon “I felt so bad for the assistant… heartbreaking but at least Lord got his just desserts”) Yeah, I mean, I felt bad for the assistant, because this woman, this almost gives you that whole Kate got out just in time sort of vibe of, “Okay, this is why you should live your dream and shouldn’t stay in a job you dislike.”
Ben: (nodding) Yeah.
Angela: I mean, maybe that’s the moral of that story, but she had just realized she wanted to live there, she wanted to do the right thing.
Ben: She appreciated the whole town and she didn’t want to see it leveled off forever; whatever he was going to do with it, it was sad.
Angela: (displays comment by SharonElizabeth “Yes, he never sold those cinnamon rolls”) I just realized, yeah, he made the cinnamon rolls. I mean, that’s one of those, “I’m glad I didn’t make a profit on those; just take them, get them away from me.”
Ben: I’m glad they didn’t eat them. I was like, “Oh, cinnamon rolls sound good,” but it’s like, “Nah.”
Angela: I know, right? If that had been one of the recipes, like, if there was actually recipes in the back, I mean, I could’ve skipped that one, sorry.
Ben: I would have laughed and made them.
Angela: That would have been hysterical; again, we’re going for irony here. I, also, liked the fact that she recognized this scent. I thought that was a unique way of identifying the break-in.
Ben: Yeah.
Angela: Usually, it’s, “Oh, we’re trying to match the color of the hair,” – “Oh, we’re trying to get a DNA sample.” I just thought that was, again, one of those, she was doing the senses of, “We heard the shoe.”
Ben: Yeah, you heard the shoe.
Angela: “You smelled the cologne, the cigarette smoke.”
Ben: Yeah.
Angela: (holds up book) Eve Calder did a good job. She’s joined us in a previous Cozy Corner Chat but I’m going to have to ask her back for another one, and I’m going to have to write out all my questions after having read the book, and go, like, “How did you learn to write? How many practices do you do? How do you plot? give me examples,” because, I mean, this book was just so well done.
Ben: Yeah, everything tied up so well, it’s just amazing.
Again: Okay, so, (flipping through notes) there’s so many things in this one, so if you guys have questions or comments about characters or something.
Ben: Yeah, please let us know.
Angela: Yeah, I’m just skipping around now with the notes, because I have, randomly, “I liked the pacing,” which we already talked about.
Ben: I appreciated the ‘cookie whisperer moment’ which was, I like a little bit of fantasy in mine, so having that little, like, her giving me this element to guess is amazing; it was a little touch, which was really nice.
Angela: Did you say who your favorite character was? Or, are you going with Maxi?
Ben: I’m going with Maxi; it’s between Maxi and Oliver. I can’t pick between both of them, I love them so much.
Angela: I’m kind of curious if we’re going to have a cat in books two or three, because I love, because this is something that I would say about Max, my fur baby, I’ll be like, “Okay, I got to do grocery shopping for Max,” I mean, yes, I need milk and bread and eggs in the house too, but I have to go grocery shopping and make sure he has food. So, I loved it when our PI was going, “Yeah, I need dog food for my beagle.”
Ben: Oh, and Manny and his dog. What was the beagle’s name? I didn’t write it down.
Angela: John Quincy!
Ben: John Quincy, yeah. It was so cute, he was showing the photos to her, he was like, “Look.”
Angela: That’s what I do! If you didn’t know Max was a dog and you heard me talking about him, you would assume I gave birth to him. Like, you would just assume, naturally, because I do the same thing too. He’s the background on my phone.
Ben: Yeah, and it’s just the cute little touches like that. I’m glad that Manny became a character.
Angela: I also loved how he goes, “I need my pockets. I need to put things in there.”
Ben: He had five pairs; he wasn’t wearing the same one.
Angela: So, what did you think about the ex-fiancé hiring a PI?
Ben: I feel like if he was cheating or whatever, and she broke it off, I feel he would be like, “Okay, whatever,” he would’ve moved on. I don’t know why he was really so set on keeping tabs on her, unless he, maybe, he came to the realization that, you know, she was the one, but he could have easily gone down there too, because he doesn’t have a job.
Angela: That was the other thing, Maxi called him out for it. It’s one thing if you have money, but it’s another, if you have money and don’t do anything. She’s like, “He has to do something.”
Ben: Yeah, I’m like, he could have, but you said the second book, so we will find out what happens there.
Angela: He could’ve been a volunteer, he could’ve been an organizer, he could’ve worked just because he loved his job. I mean, what is Evan Thorpe doing with his life? I got questions.
Ben: He could’ve gone down there and have seen first-hand.
Angela: (reading comments) Okay, I see other people are talking about the beagle. I just thought of this, this isn’t a note, but he was the cadaver dog.
Ben: Yeah!
Angela: And he found two bodies on his first day! That’s so coming up in a future book; that has to, he has to find a future body. If he doesn’t, I’ll be so disappointed.
Ben: Will Manny move in, and then Quincy and Oliver can be best friends? I hope so.
Angela: That would be adorable; they’d be their own little dog pack!
Ben: Yeah, yeah.
Angela: Oliver can have the leash in his mouth and be walking himself. I loved it when he came over with the leash and Kate was like, “Does he have a leash? Where did this come from?”
Ben: I’m just thinking where Maxi was in the garden, he’s running around her and then, she was like, “Oh, is he helping digging?” And she’s like, “The only thing is, he can’t stop once he starts digging,” which I’m like, “Aww.”
Angela: Okay, I’m seeing the comments come back about “if the ex hired (the PI),” “it’s creepy,” and “crazy ex.”
Ben: Yeah.
Angela: Yeah, that was a little much for me. (reading comments) Oh, this one! “He’s used to having other people do things for him,” that’s very true.
Ben: True, true, so it would make sense to have a PI.
Angela: I’m going to go with, we only met him in one scene and it doesn’t take much to outdo this guy. I’m going with that. The bar is really low right now.
Ben: (laughing) The bar is really low.
Angela: Like, it’s not hard. It’s not hard to beat Evan in my mind right now.
Ben: No.
Angela: He cheated. He’s hiring someone to stalk her.
Ben: No, we’re good, we’re good.
Angela: Because if I saw a guy following me, I would not have been as calm as her.
Ben: No, she was, I think, maybe, she just thought, you know, maybe it was all in her head, but I would have been not as calm as her.
Angela: Again, she actually stayed in a new location by herself. I mean, I would have had something more than the Windex.
Ben: I mean, it was a big Windex, so.
Angela: Yeah, it was a huge bottle of Windex. You just want to make sure that it works as the mace and actually does blind him.
Ben: Just switch the top off very quickly and just throw it.
Angela: But, again, with me appreciating Kate as a character, I liked that she thought about Maxi and her children and said to her, “There’s this guy following me and I don’t want to put you in danger,” and she told her that and she was upfront.
Ben: She was upfront.
Angela: I appreciated that.
Ben: Yeah, it just really grounded her as a character, and I totally would just grab, whatever, if I heard a noise; just grab whatever, and then I’m like, “I have a Salsa bottle!” I don’t know what I’m going to do with this, but we’re committed to it.
Angela: I just got this flashback, it’s been so long since I read the books, but it was A Series of Unfortunate Events, and I think it was probably one of the earlier books, three or four, one of the guardians, because they went through twenty million of them in that series, one of them would put soup cans behind the door, so that if a burglar came in, they would knock over the soup cans and she would be alert, “There’s a burglar,” because they knocked over the soup cans. For some reason, I thought of that with this book. I don’t why but I did.
Ben: It’s the process, it’s there, it makes sense.
Angela: (reading comments) Oh, my gosh, this is another great reference. (displays comment by Lyn McEnaney “The Windex made me think of the dad in Big Fat Greek Wedding”) The dad in my Big Fat Greek Wedding, that is so true.
Ben: The Windex.
Angela: It’s for everything! “You got a paper cut? Use Windex.” (displays comment by SharonElizabeth “For a while I thought the ex-girlfriend in real estate was involved with the killer”) Oh, interesting, the ex-girlfriend involved in real estate, the one he cheated with.
Ben: That makes sense.
Angela: That’s a good guess too. I mean, again, she’s the cheater, she knew he was engaged. With cozy mysteries, it’s got to be a bad person! And I was loving these people too much. I would’ve been devastated if it was one of them. I couldn’t have dealt with it.
Ben: Yeah.
Angela: (displays comment by Janet Larson “I was curious how this stalker plot would play out. I ended up really liking Manny and hope he returns with John Quincy in the next book”) Yeah, I mean we liked the stalker. How often does that happen in a cozy mystery?
Ben: Yeah.
Angela: We end up liking the guy creeping you out.
Ben: I’m like, “I want more Manny.” So, it’s like, “Come on, bring him in.”
Angela: Yeah, if he shows up in books two and three, I’m not gonna mind. I mean, I don’t want him killed off though.
Ben: No.
Angela: I’d be kind of sad if he was a victim.
Ben: Poor Quincy, no, we can’t do that.
Angela: No, he’s been through enough. He found bodies. He’s traumatized. We have to protect him. (Ben nodding) I think those are all my notes as I just flip through. There’s so much with this book to unpack, to talk about, I mean, it was so detail-oriented and just all of the lines and the way it was written, ah, I was a happy little cozy mystery reader, I really was.
Ben: Same.
Angela: I mean, sometimes, I’ll be doing a Book Club read and I’m going, “Oh, it’s not a bad book, but it’s not my book.” I have those things, sometimes, where, “Oh, this is a good book, but this isn’t one I would choose myself,” or, “Oh, this isn’t my trope or this isn’t my character.” This book just really resonated with me as a reader. I was really happy that this book won.
Ben: Yeah.
Angela: I want to say January was our second-chance poll of all of the books that came in second or had tied and then lost in the runoff. And, so, this book was on the list and people had wanted to read it, and so it won the second-chance poll and so I had put this book aside and I hadn’t read this before, so I’m going, “You guys have really good taste, whoever voted for this book, you guys did a good job.” I’m like, “Credit to you, it is deserved.” I’m going, “You guys have good taste. Thank you.”
Ben: Yeah, I was kind of in a reading slump, so it’s great to be reading. I’m excited now. I’m like, now, I’m going to read more and, now, I’m going to request the next book from the library. It hit all the spots, all the checkpoints.
Angela: I mean, exactly. This is the type of book that gets you excited about cozy mysteries or gets you excited about reading, and let’s be real, it hasn’t been an easy couple of years.
Ben: Yeah.
Angela: And this book made me laugh, it made me smile, it had the light-hearted tone that cozies are meant to have. So, I was really happy that this was how we’re kicking off 2022.
Ben: Same here, and I’m excited, now I have another book, too, for all my friends who don’t read cozies, because I’m always hesitant for any like too fantasy or too little niche. Like, this is a great approachable book along with Killer Chardonnay too. Those have been my request ones I’ve been telling friends.
Angela: I haven’t checked the Google Form after 12 Days of Cozies, but for 12 Days of Cozies, I had everyone’s sleuther profile on the website, and it was so funny because everyone’s favorite cozy or recommended cozy, Killer Chardonnay was referenced so many times in those bios.
Ben: (clapping) I’m glad to hear that.
Angela: That was the most-referenced cozy mystery. I was so happy and impressed, I’m going, “I agree with you!” It was just so cute because everyone was referencing it as a book they would recommend or a book they themselves enjoyed or that’s the book that got them into cozies. So, every other bio, there was a Killer Chardonnay reference.
Ben: You love to see it. You love to see it.
Angela: That was actually how I broke them up at one point, because it was just like Killer Chardonnay, Killer Chardonnay, Killer Chardonnay. It’s not alphabetical, in case you’re wondering, so I was able to move it around, give it a little bit of a space, but, yeah, Killer Chardonnay is definitely a good recommendation. If you guys haven’t read that, Kate Lansing, very, very talented. I think she’s actually, okay, this one’s (And Then There Were Crumbs) St. Martin’s, she’s in Berkeley. I was going to say, if they were in the same publishing house that would have been very, very cute, like, that would have been cute; but, no.
I have the list here. (displays image The Cozy Mystery Book Club TBR with titles for January, February, March, April, with January now checked off) So, we have our check mark for this one (And Then There Were Crumbs). So, February is Cake & Punishment.
Ben: Yes.
Angela: March is The Cracked Spine and then April is On Borrowed Crime. So, you have three more books that are currently selected and please visit the Twitter because we currently have the poll going on for the May read.
Ben: Yes!
Angela: This is where we stood as of a couple of hours ago. (displays poll for May 2022: Trouble on the Books 19%, To Kill a Mocking Girl 19%, The Bodies in the Library 21.5%, Secret, Book & Scone Society 40.5%) So, the votes may have changed, the numbers. There’s always a book that can come back from behind, so there’s no guarantee.
Ben: Yeah, it’s never too early to call it.
Angela: There’s no guarantee, so if you want it to be The Secret, Book & Scone Society, vote for it.
Ben: It’s a mouthful.
Angela: Yeah, you also have to love how they cap the polls, so I couldn’t do spaces or have the word and.
Ben: Oh, that’s why.
Angela: Yeah, there was literally no characters left so I could barely get it in. I almost had to get rid of this, the little.
Ben: The first comma? Yeah.
Angela: I almost had to get rid of it. I was so excited I lost the second one too. I couldn’t do it, it was devastating. So, whichever book, as I’m pulling it back up again, (displays image The Cozy Mystery Book Club May 2022 poll) Trouble on the Books, To Kill a Mocking Girl or The Bodies in the Library vote for whichever one you want, because that’s coming up. I asked y’all on Instagram and Twitter, if you wanted to continue to do the quarterly ones, or if you wanted to just do the whole year TBR. I was kind of curious about that, so if you guys have any thoughts or you want to cap it at August or something, I was just curious because I’m a planner, and I was thinking about how some people mentioned the long-term library releases and being on a Wish List and waiting lists. So, that’s why I was curious about that. Plus, if all of the books are planned, there shouldn’t be any overlap with other things. So, I was kind of curious if you guys had any opinions or requests in that regard.
Ben: I appreciate it, being able to plan it out, and being able to request, because I use the library a lot. So, being able to request it or if I see there’s a long wait, I’m like, “Okay, I’m going to request it now, in a couple of months, it’ll be there.” So, I really appreciate being able to plan out my whole year; so, that’s my two cents, yeah.
Angela: I am a planner. You guys have seen that, you’ve witnessed that. So, I would very much probably lean towards ‘Let’s Vote on Them’ because this way, too, there’s no rushing when it comes to the votes.
Ben: Yeah.
Angela: What I was more concerned about too, because I’ve been keeping track of your recommendations, and I have the notebook. I actually had to start getting sticky notes and, now, there’s sticky notes. I’m going to have to get a new notebook very, very soon and transfer all the pages. Luckily, the notebook I have has the three-hole punches, so I’ll make a binder at some point; just go for it, full-on out.
I’ve been keeping track of everything and I want to make sure that everyone’s recommendations and all the polls get the proper credit that they deserve, that there’s no rushing or overlap or trying to get in under-the-wire because I leave the polls ‘Live’ for the full week. So, I leave them; that’s the longest you can do for a Twitter poll, seven days. So, I leave it open for the full seven days, and I don’t want anyone to miss it. That’s one of my biggest things, if there’s a poll, I want to make sure you know it’s there. So, that’s why I was also thinking, putting them all out in advance, this way you can check in every so often and be like, “Oh, yes, there’s this poll,” instead of being like, “I missed it. Oh, my gosh, I didn’t know that this existed.”
Ben: Yeah, yeah.
Angela: Now that you know that it’s coming, you’ll be aware of, “Oh, yeah, I have seven days to check in” or “I have a couple of weeks now.” So, that was also on my mind when I was thinking of putting it for the whole year.
Ben: It’s so considerate, too, for everyone, because everyone has busy lives, they’re doing things, and so it’s really thoughtful to be able to plan ahead.
Angela: (looking at some of the comments in chat, “I like the idea of the full year as well!!” – “Full year!” – “It helps knowing the titles ahead, because then I can mark them on BookBub so if they go on Kindle sale, I will get an alert” – “I would like all the books chosen for the year. I often get books from the library and there is sometimes a long wait” – “I love that! I use the library a lot too” – “I agree that is another nice thing about doing all of the voting now”)
Okay, so people are saying, “I love knowing the titles ahead.” You guys are making me happy; this might be a good idea.
Ben: Yeah!
Angela: (reading comments) Okay, that makes me feel better. Okay, so a lot of, this is why we like cozies, and there’s the library cozies. So, I forget which month it is, but one of the months that, again, I looked through it before I brought it up. I have all the categories and I put them aside for the holidays and the seasons. So, one of the categories is library cozies, so I’m going, “There’s referencing libraries, I have a category for library cozies, it was meant to be.”
Ben: We love a good library cozy, so, yeah.
Angela: (reading comments) Okay, so it seems as if the majority like the idea for the whole year. (nodding) I can do that. (Ben clapping) Plus, too, that gives me a reason to post! Another thing I get to post about on Instagram and Twitter!
I went to my local cafe that does the latte art, and I have all my new photos! I’m excited. I have new cozy mystery photos to share.
Ben: Yes.
Angela: So, things to actually post in the captions. I’m always posting in the captions, but you know what I mean. I get to actually be like, “Yes! This is what’s going on.” Sometimes, it’s just what I’m reading or books that I’ve gotten, but I have more things to share. (reading comments) Okay, other people are planners too.
Ben: Yeah.
Angela: Okay, if there’s something else, I don’t want to miss any comments. Okay, everyone’s, I will do the full year, that is what we will do. We have a consensus. So, was there anything else about the book or any other questions, as I hold it upside down. If there’s any other comments about the book, if you have something you want to talk about; characters, scenes, dialogue. If there’s a Book Club question, or Max is just making noise at this point.
Ben: Aww, Max has something to say too.
Angela: He’s been so good! I don’t think I’ve had to hold him up so far. You guys haven’t seen the little fluffy face, he’s overdue for his grooming, so it looks like he has bangs, and I keep pushing them aside, so he looks as if he’s bigger than he is. When you go to pat him, the little fluff, it goes down.
Ben: It’s just all hair.
Angela: It is all fluff. I mean, he’s five pounds. Right now, he looks fuller. I gave him a bath a couple days ago; oh, my gosh, he looked like a little white rat. It was hysterical.
Ben: Yeah, I made a reference about foodies because Kate had mentioned that Coral Cay has been on her radar for a while because of the food scene from our foodie friends. I thought that was interesting too.
Angela: Which one?
Ben: It was on page 125. She said that she’s been hearing about Coral Cay, kind of the reason why she had picked Coral Cay.
Angela: Yes! I love that.
Ben: Yeah, so she had been hearing about it from friends for years. I’m like, “Oh, that’s cute; it was meant to be.”
Angela: So, I love the fact that she’s having a conversation with the new BFF and Maxi asks her, “If you could be anywhere, where would you want to be?” And she goes, “Here, this is really where I want to be.”
Ben: Yeah, she’s like, “Not Paris?” She was like, “Nope, this is where I want to be.”
Angela: “In Paris or Rome?” – “Here, actually.” – “For real?” “Kate nodded vigorously.” I’m going, “It’s so cute,” my little reading heart.
I was looking down at one of the comments and, so, yes, Vivian Chien, she has a book out today. I believe, oh, my gosh, one of our 12 Days of Cozies authors, whose name I’m blanking on right now, she has a book. I retweeted it to the Twitter page. So, I know that there are a few books that came out today. Today’s been a pretty busy day for cozy mysteries all around. I was going to say the last Tuesday of the month, it was just meant to be; books coming out, things going on.
(displays a comment by Lu G “Not gonna lie – I wouldn’t mind living in Coral Cay!”) I like this one, “you wouldn’t mind living there.” I don’t think I would mind either.
Ben: It would be kind of nice, kind of nice.
Angela: I mean, it would be a very cute little cozy mystery community of readers and (holds book up) just happiness.
Ben: Yeah, and no one was the killer. So, it wouldn’t had been, I mean, none of the nice people were the killer.
Angela: Right!
Ben: So, I appreciate that.
Angela: So, whoever dies, you can’t miss them, you’re not gonna mourn over them. If they die, you get to move on and fall in love with the other characters. So, it was a bad guy who died, and it was the bad guy who killed himself. It wasn’t meant to be suicide, but it was still he murdered himself somehow. I don’t know how to categorize that.
Ben: Just some good justice there.
Angela: But I was so happy that my characters, I get to still enjoy them. So, if they’re one of the bad people in book two, I’m going to be very, very sad. Book three, it seems as if there’s going to be outsiders coming in. It seems as if there’s a film crew and all this other stuff going on, but that happens in cozy mysteries. Agatha Raisin, I was talking about that show before, she has characters come in all the time. She’s a party planner, so she’s going to different events. So, I’m totally fine with that. If they want to have an outside killer, fine by me.
Ben: As long as Maxi and Oliver are fine, we’re good.
Angela: They must be protected at all costs. I just got this picture of, oh, my gosh, I know it’s Gollum, when he’s going, “My precious.” (folding her hands)
Ben: Is that you, with the (hands folding)?
Angela: Yeah, Oliver, he’s precious. (responds to comment by Conne Lyons “Book 2 & 3 are great”) Okay! You’ve read books two and three, okay.
Ben: Okay, good. Glad to hear it.
Angela: I know we already have the Buddy Read going for #SherlockHamsters for the Library Lover’s Mystery series (by Jenn McKinlay), but I am game for books two and three, because I really enjoyed this one.
Ben: I am going to read them next. Yeah, it’s gonna happen.
Angela: And if there’s any other, I’m just looking down, if there’s any other questions, comments. I was looking down because I made the overlays. So, I’m going, if there’s something else that I was going to reference, I think that we touched on them.
(displays Ben’s bio) Also, Follow Ben! We have his little insert, so I’m just going to give you the shoutout, too, and just thank you for joining me tonight. I am so happy that I get to chat with you. He is just a bright little ray of sunshine and I adore him, and (holds up tonight’s book) he has really good taste in cozy mysteries, in case you haven’t noticed.
Ben: I appreciate you having me on. I remember the first time, I was so nervous, and then we talked for a couple of minutes before it happens, and I was like, “I’m at ease.” Like, this is a friend I’ve known forever, it just feels so natural, and I don’t feel so nervous. I just appreciate coming back.
Angela: It’s so funny with the way technology is. We haven’t met in real life (finger quotes) “offline”.
Ben: (shakes head) No.
Angela: But when I finally do meet you someday or, eventually, whenever that happens, with traveling or whatever, or we’re at a cozy mystery event, I’m going to be running up to you and giving you a hug.
Ben: Yes!
Angela: We know that is gonna happen.
Ben: Same here, we’re going to be like, “Ahh!!”
Angela: I’m also going to have to buy you a Dorothy Funko Pop or something.
Ben: Aww.
Angela: I mean, I sent you, I think, the Jessica Fletcher one.
Ben: Yes, which I appreciate so much.
Angela: (big smile) He has to have his own little Funko Pop collection; we’ll work on it. But I’m so happy that you joined me tonight.
Ben: Thank you!
Angela: Because every year is going to be, January is Ben’s month! He’s our Good Luck charm. (big smile)
Ben: (big smile) I’m just going to mark it; it’s going to be done.
Angela: I’m not kidding, you are January! I think, Colleen dressed up for October in her little witch’s costume, so I’m going, “Okay, October, Colleen and I are going to have to do some costume coordinating. So, both of you have your own months; you’re January and Colleen is October.
Ben: We’re set.
Angela: They’ve taken over. (big smile) I mean, you are also welcome back anytime because I just adore you so much.
Ben: Aww, thank you, thank you.
Angela: (displays comment by Carli Spina “A cozy mystery club cozy con would be great!”) Okay, oh, I just saw that pop up.
I was looking if there was anything else that I missed before we say goodnight. (looking at comments in chat) “Love you both” – “You two have great chemistry. It’s always fun hanging out with you” – “Thank you both for hosting” – “Thanks for another great book club meeting” – “This was my first book club meeting. I loved it!!! Great pick, great hosts, and great crowd” Oh, you guys are so sweet.
Ben: So sweet.
Angela: I love how they’re thanking you because, “Yes, thank you, Ben, for joining.”
Ben: Thank you for being here everyone.
Angela: I want to have one of those soundboards to do the applause. (reading comments) Oh, my gosh, thank you so much for joining tonight. Oh, I’m so glad you were able to join, that makes me so happy. I have to admit, it’s been a weird January, in regards to either motivation or inspiration and, so, today was the first day I was just so excited. I was like, “It’s Book Club Day! And we’re talking about the book!” So, thank you, guys, because that definitely brightened my day. And, so, hopefully, I can channel this day and positivity into tomorrow and the day after that. So, you guys definitely brightened my January with this livestream. So, thank you for joining and talking about this; that makes me happy. So, thank you, guys. I get a little teary-eyed, you mean so much to me.
Ben: I mentioned earlier, like, my reading motivation has been down. So, this book just helped me catch back up and, like, I’m excited to read now.
Angela: It’s been a bit of, there’s something about this month so far, where I don’t know if it’s just because of Covid’s been going on for so long or whatever. Maybe, because everything, you know, you wake up in the dark, you go to bed, it’s just dark. I don’t know what it is.
Ben: Yeah, that’s seasonal.
Angela: But this is definitely the first time where I was going, “So excited, so positive.” I even have cookies for after the livestream as a reward. (big smile, holds up three large chocolate chip cookies on a plate)
Ben: I’m glad you thought ahead and got those cookies.
Angela: Oh! I was just looking down, my little reminder. So, if you guys post a photo of the Book of the Month, so there’s also, I have the breakdown. So, if you post four months in a row, I have a pen and I have stickers and stuff. So, the more you post, I’m offering. Apparently, I am getting tired because I’m mixing my words. But, basically, I wanted to mention and remind y’all that if you post a photo of a Book of the Month on Instagram or Twitter, tag me, let me know, and as a thank you, I have some sleuther bookmarks. (holds up Purrlock #SLEUTHER bookmarks)
Ben: (clapping)Sleuther bookmarks!
Angela: As a thank you, and just so you have the bookmark to go with the book that you’re showing the photograph of. So, we have, I just wanted to remind you that there’s this (holds up Purrlock #SLEUTHER bookmarks). So, that’s my little thank you to you because I know that you (Leslie W in chat) just mentioned tonight was your first Book Club night, and you might not know that yet. So, one of the things is if you post a photo of the Book of the Month, I want to thank you for being a Member of the Book Club. So, this is my little “Thank You” gift.
The reason why I was stumbling before is I can’t remember how I broke it down, but if you post four months in a row, I believe there’s a really cool pen that I have that has this sort of diamond look on top and it says Sleuther with Book Club. And I have the stickers of Purrlock Holmes, our mascot; I believe, the holographic one. And we also have Casey, who’s the Cozy Corner Chat penguin mascot. So, I believe it’s Purrlock and Casey for what is it? Eight months and then twelve months is a mug with the Book Club logo on it.
So, there’s the levels of it, how many months in a row. So, keep track and tag me because I want to make sure if you guys are participating, you know how much I appreciate you. Just wanted to make sure that I mentioned that before we say goodnight for the evening.
Ben: Yeah.
Angela: (responds to comment by Manon “Your swag is the best!”) Oh, I’m so glad you like that, thank you. I’m glad you liked the swag. I try to make it as appealing and, again, I love you guys so much and I appreciate you joining. I want to do a good job for you, so I’m glad you like what I’m doing because it is all for you.
Ben: Yeah, we have little mascots for each little kind of section of The Cozy Mystery Book Club, which I appreciate.
Angela: I just finished making the brackets; so, we have a new cozy companion who has yet to be named. He’s an otter, but we have to name him. So, now, we’re going to have to be voting off on the name; we’re going to have names going up against each other. I just finished the little image with the Canva because, again, I get very perfectionist when it comes to the lines with the brackets, they had to be even.
Ben: I love it. Exactly.
Angela: And they’re color-coded too. So, it had to be perfect, but that is all ready to go. So, we have another cozy companion that we’re naming. So, he’ll be a little future swag, a little future sticker of some sort. He has to be named, though, before that happens.
Ben: (nodding) Yeah.
Angela: (reading comments) Oh, thank you for joining. You guys are so great and a huge shoutout and thank you to Ben, again. I just adore you. You are welcomed back anytime. January is your month.
Ben: Yes, I’m marking it on my calendar for every year now.
Angela: You don’t have to wait until January 2023 though.
Ben: Okay.
Angela: Follow him across platforms @botanyandbooks. He is so sweet and so thoughtful, and he’s a member of the Cozy Crew, which is in his Twitter bio. And I’m going to be posting the additional polls on @cozymysteryclub for Instagram and Twitter. And then, I have it here, yes, @writerahart. I wanted to make sure before I said it, it was there. So, that’s my personal one.
So, please stay up-to-date with what’s going on with the Book Club, because I’m going to be posting the polls. You guys said you liked the idea of planning for the year, so I want to make sure that you know to follow up, because sometimes I get messages at least once a week where people are asking me where to find things, where can we look for the Reading List or where can we see these things? So, I want to make sure that you’re aware that this is going on. So, that will be happening.
Ben: And the Newsletter too. Don’t forget the Newsletter.
Angela: Oh, yes, thank you! It used to be the very first day of the month. Now, I’m giving myself the first week of the month. So, the first week of the month, I’ll be sending out the Newsletter, which will have links to the YouTube videos, the upcoming Giveaway news, the authors for the Cozy Corner Chat, and I always include additional, I mean, I work really, really hard on things, so we have the adult coloring pages.
Ben: Love those.
Angela: I made the calendar for y’all, so you can mark out the dates for future Book Club events, and I’ve also started doing the month, I got really into this, with the funky holidays that you don’t know about, so, today was National Bubble Wrap Day. I made a calendar of all the fun events in January. (Ben clapping) I was going to do the same thing again for February of all the fun days, and mark on the calendar which days are Book Club days. So, all the fun extras in the Newsletter; there’s always something in there.
Plus, if you can subscribe, I love it when people find things that have been in existence, and I’m going, “Yeah, I forgot I did that.” So, someone stumbled upon, because she didn’t realize that this existed, and I just got this random DM (Direct Message) and it made me so happy, because I was able to brighten her day. She goes, “I didn’t know you had all these things on the website!”
So, if you subscribe to the Newsletter, there’s a secret page just for you, with all the coloring book pages, all the archived emails from 12 Days of Cozies from last year and this year, it also has all these coloring book pages and mazes and all sorts of extras and memes, and gifts, and stuff that I make for that page that are not shared anywhere else. And, apparently, some people didn’t realize that, but it’s there.
So, again, I do all these things, and then I go onto the next thing, and I forgot to mention the first things I worked really hard on it. So, please, take advantage of it.
Ben: We appreciate, we appreciate it so much.
Angela: Well, same thing for International sleuthers; some of y’all wanted bookmarks, but, again, I mail out the “Thank You” gift myself, but mailing Internationally can get expensive. With this, I can just use the (USPS) Forever Stamp and all is good with U.S. and Canada. But what I did was, I made a page just for International sleuthers. If you post a photo of the Book of the Month and you still want a bookmark, there’s a page just for you with bookmark designs and extras, and I also have the Etsy store. Again, I’m not looking to make a profit, this is just my way of knowing who wants what.
Ben: Yeah.
Angela: Also, if you want additional things, the shipping is covered and Etsy handles all that. But basically, I’m still going to stuff that envelope with extras. I mean, if you order a sticker, you’re going to be getting multiple stickers.
Ben: Right, you know it’s an envelope from Angela (gesturing with his hands) you feel the weight of it. (laughing)
Angela: (big smile) I mean, there’s going to be extras in there. There’s going to be a vinyl; there’s going to be extras in there. So, if you put through an order for one item, you’re going to be getting more than that. I, basically, just did that because I didn’t know who wanted what, and this way you’re not waiting for a giveaway or something, because some people want things right away or they want multiple things.
I just got an order; it was so cute. She wanted multiple of the Purrlock stickers, and I’m like, “Oh, you like Purrlock! That makes me so happy.” So, that’s just my way of knowing who wants what really. So, if you want to place that, please don’t feel pressure. I’m always doing giveaways. There’s a future giveaway coming up just for stickers with Casey, and that was probably why he was on my mind because there’s National Penguin Day. Again, me with my random holidays, and I’m going, “Okay, I can give away a sticker of Casey for that day.”
There’s always something going on, so don’t feel pressured. I’m not trying to pitch or anything, I’m not making a profit. I think it was, what was it? I think it said I made $7 and I was like, “Oh, well, I spent $50 to have the stickers made,” so, you know.
Ben: It’s out of love, it’s out of love for the community.
Angela: It’s just my way of knowing who wants what, that’s really all it is. I think that’s it though. I think I went over all my notes. Post a photo, get a bookmark. So, if you guys have any other, oh, Lu! (displays comment by Lu G “I printed off a crap-ton of bookmarks and I even laminated them! So fun!”) I was going to say, during 12 Days of Cozies, she did print off the bookmark and showed me. It made me so happy because, again, I do all these things and I don’t know if it’s being enjoyed, or if it’s just going out into the void of the Internet. So, to actually see things being used makes me very, very happy. So, thank you for showing me that my little time on ProCreate, that’s what it’s called, that’s the name of the App, ProCreate. My mom thought I said something weird, like, your procreator.
Ben: Ah-huh. (laughs)
Angela: Yeah, my little time on the App was well spent. So, I’m glad you enjoyed them. But I think that’s everything, as I went off on a little tangent. But thank you so much for joining and thank you guys for being here and being a part of The Cozy Mystery Book Club.
The last Tuesday of the month, every month, we’re going to be talking about (holds up And Then There Were Crumbs) our Book of the Month. The second Tuesday of the month is Cozy Corner Chat night and authors will be tweeting Live on Twitter. So, speak with your favorite and soon-to-be-favorite cozy mystery writers. The third Tuesday is just a goal date for the Library Lover’s Mystery series, but you can talk about it any time using the hashtag #SherlockHamsters. So, don’t wait just for that date. People are asking me about that, but it is just a goal for the To-Be-Read. But the last Tuesday of the month is always YouTube Livestream Day. There are plenty of things going on to keep you cozy. So, no matter what is happening, there’s always going to be a little bit of brightness and sleuthing fun going on.
Ben: Yes.
Angela: I just wanted to say thank you, again, and please stay safe and healthy, and I hope you have fun reading and sleuthing. (waves) Goodnight, everybody.
Ben: (waves) Goodnight, everyone.
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