Got the perfect book for your Christmas reading list.
Such a fun title and delightful cover.
Check out Mystic Mistletoe Murder.
Enjoy the excerpt.
And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!
Mystic Mistletoe Murder
by Sally J. Smith & Jean Steffens
Genre: Mystery
Synopsis
‘Tis the season at The Mansion on Mystic Isle, and Melanie Hamilton, resident tattoo artist at the resort renown for its supernatural atmosphere, can feel the holiday spirit everywhere in the Louisiana bayou. The festive mood runs deeper than just the tinsel, mistletoe, and twinkling lights, as the milk of human kindness is flowing with gift giving, good cheer, and donations. But when Papa Noël turns up as dead as the Ghost of Christmas Past, and all the bounty from a recent charity drive is stolen, Melanie turns to Jack Stockton, the handsome resort’s general manager, to help her find the killer and get it all back.
Who wanted Papa Noël dead and why? Was it the bag of loot they were after, and Papa just got in the way? Or was it a more personal attack on the jolly man in the red suit? Not only does Mel find herself in a fight to prove one of her co-workers innocent, but she’s also in a race against a ticking clock to save the life of a sick child. Before long, she closes in on the killer—or maybe it’s the killer closing in on Mel!
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Enjoy this glimpse inside.
Poor Jack ran frantically from place to place, picking up the robes off the ground and pleading with the Ravens to take them from him and put them on. His frantic voice carried up the hill on the chill breeze. “Please, please, people. This just isn’t…isn’t…what management had in mind when we encouraged you to celebrate the holidays in your own way.”
It only took another minute or two for the rest of them to get naked. Poor Jack finally gave up, opened his arms, let all the robes fall back to the yellowed grass, and turned around. That was when he noticed me. He lifted his arms in a what-the-heck-can-I-do gesture and began to trudge back up the hill.
When he joined me, he put one arm around my shoulder and placed his other hand over my eyes, blocking the view, which had begun to get a little out of hand with all the mistletoe being passed around.
“I’m hoping they’ll get cold pretty soon and give it up,” he said.
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Authors Sally J. Smith and Jean Steffens
The USA Today Best-selling writing team of Sally J. Smith (right brain) and Jean Steffens (left brain) make up equal halves of one totally functional writer’s mind. Creative and intuitive and organized and systematic? What could be better than that?
The two desert dwellers work together side-by-side, literally finishing each other’s sentences, putting together their novels faster and more efficiently than they ever could individually.
When their heads aren’t together over a manuscript, you’ll find them with their families, at a movie, the yoga studio, the mall, or out-to-lunch—in the food sense, not the spaced-out sense, well…most of the time. Their current series include Jordan Welsh & Eddie Marino Novels, Mystic Isle Mysteries, Danger Cove Pet Sitter Mysteries, Aloha Lagoon Gabby LeClair Mysteries, and Digby Sloan Mysteries. Visit our website, look around, and sign up for our newsletter. We love hearing from our readers and always answer our e-mails: smithandsteffens@cox.net.
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I like that one author is the right brain and the other author is the left brain. That is hysterical!
Thanks. We have to make someone laugh in the morning. 🙂
What a great page! Thank you for hosting us today.
Jean Steffens & Sally J. Smith
Authors
The pleasure is all mine! I’m looking forward to your fun Christmas story. I’m a confessed mystery/cozy addict and always thrilled to find more authors and books!
That’s great! I love mysteries too. My kindle is full of them.
The lowdown on our nifty cover…
Our favorite book cover designer, Janet Holmes created the wonderful design for Mystic Mistletoe Murder and Mystic Mayhem. We love the bright colors and the holiday theme.
I love the bright, vibrant covers!
You might be wondering what sparked the idea for the Mystic Isle Mysteries?
In the Hollywood hills, there’s an awesome private club called the Magic Castle. It’s housed in a spooky Victorian mansion and is one of the most interesting places in the country, maybe even in the world. Magicians are mentored and perform there. It’s creepy and charming and a little hokey all at the same time. Mystic Isle Mysteries is the offspring of our wish to write the equivalent of Scooby-Doo cartoons for grown-ups and our fascination with the Magic Castle. One of those “what ifs” writers come up with all the time—what if there were a hotel that catered to fans of the supernatural as a setting for a cozy series?
The Mystic Isle Series…
Sally and I had so much fun creating the Mystic Isle series, dreaming up the resort mansion, the employees, and the townspeople. Melanie Hamilton has a big heart and is always helping people. Jack Stockton, her boyfriend, who doesn’t love a man that helps his girlfriend solve a murder.
In the Mystic Isle Series, we do not base our characters on real people. We make them fun and quirky to add to the storyline.
You can read all about the crazy cast in Mystic Mistletoe Murder & Mystic Mayhem ~ Book 1.
Thanks for hosting!
Wouldn’t have missed it! Thank you:)
Congrats on the tour and thanks for the chance to win 🙂
Great to see you Lisa. We’re glad you followed the tour.
So glad to see you made the tour again, Lisa.
Murder for Christmas, I can’t ask for much more. LOL
sherry @ fundinmental
I know. Such a fun mystery and cover!
There are some very fun scenes that take place at the Mystic Isle Mansion Resort.
It is 7:00 am here in Arizona. Good Morning!
Is the time stamp correct? It’s 2:00pm out there in blog land? The sun isn’t up in the sky yet here.
Some of you may not know what (feeroberts64) was referring to so here is the post.
We thought you might be interested in what our writing day is like…
Sally & I work 3 days a week from 9am to 2pm. After fifteen or so minutes of hey-what’s-new, we take care of the business end of our partnership, then work on our project. We’re currently writing three series: Mystic Isle Mysteries, Danger Cove Pet Sitter Mysteries, and Aloha Lagoon Gabby LeClair Mysteries. It takes a lot of great organization to keep things straight. And while Sally is more right-brained, and I (Jean) is awesomely left-brained and about the most organized person in the state. It definitely takes two to keep track of three series.
Wow. That takes determination and dedication.
Would you like to know what our writing process is like?
Our writing process for a new book…
We start by plotting the new storyline, then we get approval from our publisher, moving on to writing the lengthy synopsis. Now we outline the first three chapters and finally start writing the book. We have a 3 month deadline, so we must write fast. We have never missed a deadline yet.
Do you have any reading rituals?
I like to eat popcorn & drink Fresca while reading. (Jean)
I like to drink tea while reading. (Sally)
I munch on Doritos and nibble on chocolate! Have to limit how much though.
Our writing space.
Sally and I (Jean) work at two desks side-by-side with 2 large monitors set up attached to our two laptops. Papers, coffee cups, dog treats, and the occasional snacks fill up any clean spots that aren’t already taken up with notes and research. Right now we have holiday music in the background.
I feel I can speak for Sally when I say ~ we make a great writing team. We have been writing together for 7 years.
Sounds good.
Glad you could stop by the tour, Kim.
Hope you enjoy book, Sherry. 🙂
Question for the people who bought the book.
How tall is Lurch?
This sounds good it’s going on the list. 🙂
Glad to here it, Stormi. Thank you.
Sounds like a great read.
You made it Rita. Hope you enjoy the book.
Edits are what you make them and we groan just like everybody else.
A note on the editing process…
Editing can be a difficult and lengthy process when you’re on a tight writing schedule. They usually come in when Sally and I are in the middle of writing another book. And they take us out of the world we are creating. Since there is a two-week turnaround, we just dig in. Usually, we can accomplish the edits in three to four days.
I’ll be saying goodnight!
Thanks for sharing the excerpt, I enjoyed reading it!
Thanks for visiting Victoria and I’m glad you liked the excerpt. They are hard to pick out.