Book giveaway and a new fan

Best-selling mystery author and my good friend Susan Wittig Albert is offering an autographed ARC (advance reading copy) of her new book, Darling Dahlias and the Unlucky Clover, exclusive to readers of this blog. Leave a comment, and Susan will use a blind number system to choose a winner. Hey, I’m just the middleman here, but glad to do it. Susan’s a wonderful writer, and the Darling Dahlias is a terrific series.

Take a nostalgia trip back to 1934. FDR is in the White House, the New Deal is in full swing, and Prohibition has finally been repealed. In Darling, Alabama, ladies of the local garden club aren’t afraid to dig a little dirt if that’s what it takes to cultivate a mystery. A string of bad luck may have ended for Darling’s favorite barbershop quartet—just when the Dixie Regional Barbershop Competition is about to take place. To complicate things, there’s a serious foul-up in Darling’s telephone system. The town’s party lines may have to go out of business, which would be bad news for the gossips.

This is a charming story of richly human characters who face the Great Depression with courage and grace. Albert reminds us that friends offer the best of themselves to each other, community is what holds us together, and luck is what you make of it. Traditional southern pie recipes (and a little cookery history) included!

And my brag: I got a new fan today. I’ve been exchanging emails about rescuing feral cats with a neighbor I’ve never met. She’s given me great material for a piece for the neighborhood newsletter that I edit. But today, she happened to read the slug line after my signature—it hawks one of my books, Murder at the Bus Depot. She wrote that she’s going to buy it right away. I thanked her and suggested it’s part of a series, and I also have a series set right here in our part of the city. She said she’s going to order them all. I may hire her as a publicist! But it’s proof those tag lines work.

And a meatloaf note: I had the best meatloaf ever last night at the Tavern on Hulen. Menu says the Monday night special is made with USDA Prime. Served with buttery mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach. I may have to go back every Monday night.

Don’t forget—leave a comment on this blog (not on the Facebook listing) to be included in the drawing for the giveaway of The Darling Dahlias and the Unlucky Clover.