Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche

Enola Holmes is back! Nancy Springer’s nationally bestselling series and breakout Netflix sensation returns to beguile readers young and old in Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche.

NANCY SPRINGER is the author of the nationally bestselling Enola Holmes novels, including The Case of the Missing Marquess, which was made into the hit Netflix movie, Enola Holmes. She is the author of more than 50 other books for children and adults. She has won many awards, including two Edgar Awards, and has been published in more than thirty countries. She lives in Florida.

Nancy Springer

Q: What inspired you to write the Enola Holmes series?

NS:   My literary agent suggested writing books with a “classic chassis,” so I did some set in the King Arthur mythos, and some based on legends of Robin Hood, and then moved on to the world of Sherlock Holmes.

Q: How do you feel about the film based on your book?

NS: I love it, which surprises me, because I don’t generally like the movies based on books I respect. Actually, I don’t generally like movies, period. I find them too intense. They make me shake, and give me bad dreams.

Q: Are you planning to write more titles in the series?

NS:  I’m working right now on another Enola Holmes novel. I don’t yet have a title for it, and who knows whether it will ever be published? There’s no way I can tell at this point whether it will be good enough.

Q: What has been the biggest challenge with this series so far?

NS:  The amount of research I’ve had to do. Getting the historical setting correct.

Q: What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

NS:  To stick to one genre, which I totally have not done. Or do you mean writing advice? I had good advice early on about story logic, and synchronizing the psychodrama with the external drama, and lingering longer with the most emotional scenes.

Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche

ENOLA HOLMES AND THE BLACK BAROUCHE 

Enola Holmes is the much younger sister of her more famous brothers, Sherlock and Mycroft. But she has all the wits, skills, and sleuthing inclinations of them both. At fifteen, she’s an independent young woman–after all, her name spelled backwards reads ‘alone’–and living on her own in London. When a young professional woman, Miss Letitia Glover, shows up on Sherlock’s doorstep, desperate to learn more about the fate of her twin sister, it is Enola who steps up. It seems her sister, the former Felicity Glover, married the Earl of Dunhench and per a curt note from the Earl, has died. But Letitia Glover is convinced this isn’t the truth, that she’d know–she’d feel–if her twin had died.

The Earl’s note is suspiciously vague and the death certificate is even more dubious, signed it seems by a John H. Watson, M.D. (who denies any knowledge of such). The only way forward is for Enola to go undercover–or so Enola decides at the vehement objection of her brother. And she soon finds out that this is not the first of the Earl’s wives to die suddenly and vaguely–and that the secret to the fate of the missing Felicity is tied to a mysterious black barouche that arrived at the Earl’s home in the middle of the night. To uncover the secrets held tightly within the Earl’s hall, Enola is going to require help–from Sherlock, from the twin sister of the missing woman, and from an old friend, the young Viscount Tewkesbury, Marquess of Basilwether!

Enola Holmes returns in her first adventure since the hit Netflix movie brought her back on the national bestseller lists, introducing a new generation to this beloved character and series.

My Book Review

I stumbled across the Enola Holmes YA mysteries by accident. I’d seen the Netflix film and absolutely loved it. Naturally, I had to follow up with the books, which I proceeded to devour. When offered the opportunity to host Nancy on her upcoming blog tour for Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche, I leapt at the chance.

Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche by Nancy Springer
In this enthralling adventure, Enola Holmes and her brother Sherlock accept a case involving a missing woman. The client has received word from her twin sister’s husband that Lady Felicity had caught a fever and died. He had her body cremated. The twin doesn’t believe a word of this odd message and hires the sleuthing duo to find out what really happened. When it turns out the Earl of Dunhench’s first wife expired in a similar manner, Enola believes it can’t be a coincidence. Using her skills at disguise, she gains entry to the nobleman’s gloomy mansion. Here her situation rapidly deteriorates as she begins to suspect the horrifying truth. Suspenseful and clever, this story is one you won’t be able to put down.

ORDER YOUR COPY NOW: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250822963
Release Date is August 31st, 2021

 

New Mystery Release – Box Set Volume Three

I am excited to announce the release of The Bad Hair Day Mysteries Box Set Volume Three: Books 7-9

Bad Hair Day Mysteries Box Set Volume Three

Copyright © 2021 by Nancy J. Cohen
Published by Orange Grove Press
Digital ISBN: 978-1-952886-18-8
Cover Design by The Killion Group, Inc.
Digital Layout by Formatting4u.com

Meet Marla Shore, a Florida hairstylist and salon owner with a knack for styling hair and solving crimes. In this trio of cozy mysteries, Marla stays at a haunted hotel, works at a beauty trade show, and sails on a Caribbean cruise with a killer onboard.

DEAD ROOTS
Hairstylist Marla Shore is eager to introduce her fiancé, Detective Dalton Vail, to her extended family over Thanksgiving weekend at Sugar Crest Plantation Resort. Their festive turkey dinner turns into a serious bad hair day when she finds her aunt suffocated in bed. Aunt Polly isn’t the only ghost at this haunted hotel. Marla uncovers secrets and skeletons that should have stayed buried. It’ll take all her sleuthing skills to untangle the clues and root out the killer, even if it means exposing her family’s unsavory past.

“Dead Roots has all the right ingredients for a great hair day, absolutely fun, winsome characters, a fast‑paced, wonderful mystery read!” Heather Graham, NY Times Bestselling Author

PERISH BY PEDICURE
Salon owner and amateur sleuth Marla Shore ends up fixing more than just hair at a Fort Lauderdale beauty show. When the much‑disliked director of Luxor Beauty Products is murdered, Marla finds herself investigating a quirky group of industry characters including a pompous celebrity stylist, an ambitious salesman, and a rival hairdresser.

“Find your favorite beach chair and a tall glass of lemonade to enjoy another Marla Shore mystery amidst the fashionistas! The perfect read for a beach chair or under the hair dryer.” Nancy Martin, author of the Blackbird Sisters mystery series

KILLER KNOTS
Florida hairstylist Marla Shore hopes for a romantic interlude with her fiancé on a Caribbean cruise, but troubled waters lie ahead when their dinner companions disappear one-by-one. Then Marla learns a killer is along for the ride. Onboard art auctions, ports of call, and sumptuous buffets beckon, but she ignores temptation and musters her sleuthing skills to expose the culprit. She’d better find him fast, before her next shore excursion turns into a trip to Davy Jones’s locker.

“Delightful…The Love Boat meets Sex and the City. A charming heroine and a hero to die for, pick this one up posthaste!” MaryJanice Davidson, NY Times Bestselling Author

BUY LINKS

Amazon – https://amzn.to/3y6d3ov
Apple Books – https://apple.co/3fNeSzQ
BN Nook – https://bit.ly/3g4gd4i
Kobo – https://bit.ly/3cEnhn9
Books2Read – https://books2read.com/BadHairDayBoxSetThree
Goodreads – https://bit.ly/3jF2ynC

Add to your beach read list - The Bad Hair Day Mysteries Volume Three! #beachreads #cozymystery #boxset Share on X

GIVEAWAY

Enter Here Aug 1-18 to win a free book from Booklover’s Bench cozy mystery authors

Booklovers Bench Monthly Book Giveaway

 

Writing the Cozy Mystery – Howdunit

When writing a cozy mystery, you need to decide upon crime scene details even though interpersonal relations, and not forensics, are your story’s focus. The murder might even be off scene, but you’ll still have to determine how it happened.

Writing the Cozy Mystery - Howdunit

In Trimmed to Death, the story begins at a farm festival bake-off contest, which my hairstylist sleuth Marla Vail enters as a contestant. But I was stymied regarding the setting because our city’s fairs were held at athletic fields or local parks. I was telling this to my manicurist when she suggested Bedner’s Farm as a possible model for my story. The next day, my husband and I drove north to visit this farm in Boynton Beach. See my post for a report on this visit. The varied structures and grounds were ideal for my purposes, but I’d move my fictional site nearer to Marla’s hometown.

Now what? I had to select a victim. Spoiler alert!

After looking up farm festivals online, I decided my story would include a live scavenger hunt with the prize going to the guest who collected all of the stamps. Francine Dodger is the final target of the festival’s Find Franny game. Unfortunately, she is slated to die.

Next, consider the five Ws to expand the details.

Who ends up dead? Francine is the victim.

Where is she killed? In the strawberry field. How does she arrive there? Is she lured on purpose, or it is a crime of opportunity? Did the killer follow her? Determine Where-dunit.

 

strawberry plants

How does she die? Will it look like an accident or right away be clear it’s a homicide? Water-filled canals line the U-pick rows. She could be drowned in a ditch. Or she can fall down a silo and smother in the grain. But what would make her climb up there in the first place? Or maybe we should run her over by a tractor.

What knowledge does the killer need? If the murder involves an equipment accident, it’ll have to be someone who knows how to operate the machinery. Ditto the hazards inside a silo. You don’t want to point the finger at a particular suspect like the farmer, because it’s too obvious. Maybe give one of the other characters a secret history of working on a farm or of selling agricultural machinery if you go this route.

If you poison a victim, who has knowledge about the type of poison plus has access to it? Is it fast-acting enough for the circumstances, or do you need a slower more insidious death? What are the particular symptoms? In a cozy mystery, we want to avoid anything messy or too graphic. 

When does it happen? Think about not only about the time of death, but also why not a week or a month ago? Why NOW? What happened to trigger the killer at this point in time?

How does the killer get away? Does he have blood on his clothes? Are his shoes wet or muddy? Is he able to blend back into the crowd at the farm festival?

Now let’s throw a wrench into the works. What if it’s a case of mistaken identity? The murderer thought he had killed one woman, but he got somebody else who was similarly attired. How will he react upon seeing his intended victim alive and well? This leads to another set of problems. It means he can’t see the victim’s face before he kills her, or he’ll realize it’s the wrong person. So again, we go back to Howdunit?

Once you figure out these details, you’ll have to determine how your amateur sleuth stumbles across the dead body. And this is when the story actually begins.

Writing the Cozy Mystery - Howdunit #amwriting #plotting Share on X

Previous posts on this topic:

Writing the Cozy Mystery – Whodunit
Writing the Cozy Mystery – Whydunit

Note: This post topic originally appeared in Feb. 2017.

GIVEAWAY

Enter Here Aug 1-18 to win a free book from Booklover’s Bench cozy mystery authors 

Booklovers Bench Monthly Book Giveaway

Writing the Cozy Mystery – Whydunit

When writing a cozy mystery, you need to identify the victim and then figure out who has something to gain from this person’s death. It can be friends, relatives, or colleagues. Give each person a secret that may or may not provide a motive for murder.

Writing the Cozy Mystery - Whydunit

Next figure out how these people relate to each other. Imagine a spider web. Put the murder victim in the center circle. The spokes coming from the center are the suspects. These spokes have branches that are their motives. Then connect these people to each other like a web. If you want to see this web of deceit illustrated, pick up a copy of my book, Writing the Cozy Mystery.

Here are examples from Trimmed to Death to show you how it’s done. Hairstylist Marla Vail enters a bake-off contest at a local farm during a fall festival. She finds a dead body face-down in the u-pick strawberry field. Spoiler Alert!

Tally Riggs, Marla’s best friend, met Becky Forest at a local historical museum. Becky told Tally about the bake-off, who invited Marla to participate with her. Here is Becky in her office.

Becky Forest in Trimmed to Death

Becky, a scientist, is a cookbook author and curator of the museum. She studies plant remains of ancient peoples, including early Florida food practices. Every time Becky has a new cookbook out, she’s a guest on Chef Raquel Hayes’ TV show.

Raquel Hayes in Trimmed to Death

Raquel, a judge at the bake-off contest and a TV chef, did something in the past that could cause a scandal. Francine Dodger recognizes her on TV and threatens to spill her secret.

Francine, a contestant at the bake-off, is a food magazine editor. While researching an article on the farm, she uncovers something that could ruin the owners’ reputation.

Zach Kinsdale, eldest brother of four siblings who run the family farm, hasn’t told his two brothers and sister Janet about this looming disaster.

Janet is married to Tony, who runs an import-export business. He sells his imported olive oils to Zach for the farm’s marketplace. But Janet suspects something is unethical about her husband’s business. She organized the bake-off since her husband’s company is a festival sponsor.

Tony Winters in Trimmed to Death

Tony, Janet’s husband, is worried about an exposé that Francine has mentioned. He’s also concerned about Tristan Marsh, pastry chef at The Royal Palate and a judge at the show. Tristan has been making inquiries that concern him. Then there’s Alyce Greene, a blogger who supports the farm-to-table movement. She has been troublesome as well.

Alyce is a contestant at the bake-off. She’s married to Jon, a food truck operator. Jon got a loan to start his business from Alyce’s brother, Steve Madison. Steve, an investment advisor, manages Tony’s accounts.

And so on. You see how these people are interrelated. It helps when the puzzle pieces fit together as a whole, but this process may take a while. In the meantime, allow your subconscious to stew on your characters until story magic happens. The connections will pop into your brain. It’s a joyful moment when this occurs.

Writing the Cozy Mystery - Whydunit? #amwriting #writetip Share on X

If you missed my previous post on this topic, go here: Writing the Cozy Mystery – Whodunit

NOTE: This post topic originally appeared in Feb. 2017.

Next comes Writing the Cozy Mystery – Howdunit.

GIVEAWAY

Enter Here to win 48 exciting Cozy Mystery series starters, including my book PERMED TO DEATH, and a brand new eReader!

Cozy Mystery First in Series Giveaway

 

New Mystery Release – Box Set Volume Two

I am excited to announce the release of The Bad Hair Day Mysteries Box Set Volume Two: Books 4-6!

Bad Hair Day Mysteries Box Set Volume Two

Copyright © 2021 by Nancy J. Cohen
Published by Orange Grove Press
Digital ISBN: Digital ISBN: 978-1-952886-17-1
Cover Design by The Killion Group, Inc.
Digital Layout by www.formatting4u.com

Meet Marla Shore, a Florida hairstylist and salon owner with a knack for styling hair and solving crimes. In this trio of adventures, Marla helps her ex-spouse solve a murder, searches for her missing pet-loving neighbor, and stumbles across the body of a rival hairdresser.

BODY WAVE – Book 4

In a story braided with unexpected twists and curls, salon owner Marla Shore takes on a role as nurse’s aide for wealthy Miriam Pearl. While Marla snoops into the elderly matriarch’s affairs, her boyfriend, Detective Dalton Vail, is afraid that the only affair she’ll snag is with her ex-spouse, Stan. Juggling work at her salon, crime solving, and two amorously inclined males, Marla fights a race against time to save Stan before the dashing detective nails him for murder. RONE Award Winner!

“Ms. Cohen’s plot has more twists than a French braid, and Marla is a shear delight.” Joanne Fluke, author of the Hannah Swensen mysteries

HIGHLIGHTS TO HEAVEN – Book 5

Hairstylist and amateur sleuth Marla Shore lands a case close to home when her animal-loving neighbor—a man aptly named Goat—disappears, leaving his pets alone and a dead body in his master bedroom. Even more disturbing is the pattern of highlights Marla notes in the victim’s hair. She recognizes the signature technique of her former mentor, master stylist Cutter Corrigan. Soon she’s untangling clues that link Goat, Cutter, and the unsavory pet fur trade to her own past. Someone at her former beauty school has a hair-raising secret worth killing to keep.

“Full of twists and turns, great characters, and an interesting setting. Who could ask for more?” Denise Swanson, author of the Scumble River mystery series

DIED BLONDE – Book 6

Hairstylist Marla Shore stumbles over her rival’s body in the meter room behind their competing salons. When her boyfriend, hunky Detective Dalton Vail, asks for her help in solving the murder, she jumps on the case. The stakes rise when the victim’s trusted psychic warns her that someone she loves is in danger. Her investigation takes her to a smoky bingo parlor, a spooky town run by spiritualists, and sunny Delray Beach. But what scares Marla the most is her relationship with Dalton that takes a surprising turn.

“Nancy Cohen has penned another follicle‑raising frolic with a wry twist of romance.”  P.J. Parrish, NY Times Bestselling Author

Get Your Copy Now

Amazon – https://amzn.to/3b7xyb0
Apple – https://apple.co/3tqS7Fw
BN Nook – https://bit.ly/3uoQ862
Kobo – https://bit.ly/33ggBGU
Books2Read – https://bit.ly/3nSLQBy
Goodreads – https://bit.ly/2QWmEOm
BookBub – https://bit.ly/3yrcc1B

The Bad Hair Day Mysteries Box Set 2 is now available! #cozymystery #boxedsets Share on X

GIVEAWAY

Enter Here July 1-18 to win a free book from Booklover’s Bench in our monthly giveaway.

July Booklovers Bench Book Giveaway

UPCOMING EVENTS

Summer Book Blast Celebration – July 8, 2021

Save the date! Join us for a fun Summer Book Blast Celebration with 6 authors, prizes, and giveaways! The Facebook party is Thursday, July 8 at 8:00 – 9:30 pm EDT  https://www.facebook.com/NewReleaseParty

Summer Book Blast

 

“And the Women Gather” Annual Book Event – Aug. 21, 2021

Saturday, Aug. 21, 2:00 pm, “And the Women Gather” Annual Book Event with authors Nancy J. Cohen and Cecilia Rodriguez Milanes at the Museum of Art, 100 N. Woodland Blvd, DeLand, FL. https://www.desert-sage.co/single-post/and-the-women-gather-annual-book-event  Cost is $19.00. Buy tickets here – https://www.desert-sage.co/events

Desert Sage

 

How to Create a Box Set

Setting out to create a book box set can be a daunting task. Join the online writing community and gather data on this topic as soon as you think you might go in this direction. Lots of great advice is out there and it will help you with these steps to create your own book bundle.

How to create a box set

Series Title

You’ll need to invent a series title for your box set that is different from your actual series. It helps to include the words “box set, boxed set, collection, or omnibus” to show that it’s a bundle. Avoid the word “anthology” because this has come to mean a collection of works by different authors. You’re doing a same-author set. I went with The Bad Hair Day Mysteries Box Set for my new series.

Then you must give each individual book a title. For me, this became Volume One, Volume Two, etc. The subtitle is Books 1-3 and so on. Go to Amazon, put in the search window any of the terms above along with your genre, and study the titles. For example, put “cozy mystery box sets” and see what pops up. Note how those authors handle the series title and subtitle. 

Manuscript Preparation

For each book, strip out the front and back matter. Decide if you will keep the individual title pages or will insert a book cover photo instead.

Format each book the same, i.e. single space, one-inch margins, chapter header styles, indent first line, etc.

Compile the set. At the end of book one, copy and paste book two. Repeat for book three if this is a triple bundle.

Front Material

Add a title page to the front of each boxed set.

Create a blurb page with a story blurb for each individual book title. Here’s where you can mention any awards a book has earned. I include a review quote for each book as well.

Obtain an ISBN number and assign it to your box set title at MyIdentifiers.com. [See my previous post for instructions.] Add this to the copyright page for your box set. Put the copyright info for the box set volume at the top, followed by the original copyrights for each individual title. I put the credits here also for my cover design artist and my professional formatter. 

Back Material

Include one Author’s Note with a Call to Action (i.e. Request for Review, Newsletter Signup) at the end of the box set.

Add an “About the Author” page with your bio and social media links.

If you wish, present a Book List at the end with all your titles in series order. Don’t forget a buy link. I send readers to the books page on my website so as not to run into conflict with distributor policies. For example, you can’t have an Amazon link on a book you upload to Apple.

Cover Considerations

Hire a cover designer to create an overall theme that carries through from volume to volume. This may include a new logo for your box set series. (Credit to Kim Killion at The Killion Group, Inc. for my designs). Consider placement and fonts for series title/logo, subtitle, and author name for consistency. Choose a color scheme (i.e. bold colors, tropical hues, pastels). Decide on a background image. Note all mine take place in the salon with small variations. Marla, my hairstylist sleuth, is on each cover holding a drink or item related to one of the stories.

Order both 2D and 3D covers for each set. The book distributors will have different policies in this regard. I use 2D covers at Apple and Kobo, and 3D covers at Amazon and BN. Having both types is also helpful when marketing your work.

   The Bad Hair Day Mysteries Box Set Volume Two         Bad Hair Day Mysteries Box Set Volume Two

Get Ready to Publish

Format for your distributor(s) of choice. I send the assembled manuscript to my formatter, who makes sure any errant coding is removed, checks chapter headers for consistency, inserts book covers in place of individual title pages, and converts the set into my choice of ePub format. You can also upload to Draft2Digital for free conversion.

Marketing Tips

Decide on a release strategy. How many volumes will you be releasing? How soon together do you want to launch them?

Create a short blurb for each set to use as part of your book descriptions. Examples:

Set 1

Meet Marla Shore, a Florida hairstylist and salon owner with a knack for styling hair and solving crimes. In her debut case, the brazen beautician unravels a shocking murder that’s making waves all over Palm Haven, a small southern town where almost everyone has something to hide. A coastal fundraiser and a murder at a fitness club round out this trio of fun, light reads.

Set 2

Meet Marla Shore, a Florida hairstylist and salon owner with a knack for styling hair and solving crimes. In this trio of adventures, Marla helps her ex-spouse solve a murder, searches for her missing pet-loving neighbor, and stumbles across the body of a rival hairdresser.

Set 3

Meet Marla Shore, a Florida hairstylist and salon owner with a knack for styling hair and solving crimes. In this trio of cozy mysteries, Marla stays at a haunted hotel, has a blast at a beauty trade show, and sails on a Caribbean cruise with a killer onboard.

Create several memes at BookBrush.com for the first volume in your series.

Once you have the cover and blurbs, begin a page on your website for volume one and save as a draft.

Upload to the distributors and collect your buy links. Add these links to your web page.

Write blogs in advance for pre-order and for launch date.

Prepare a newsletter to announce the new book.

Write a page of tweets and FB posts that you can use with your memes.

Plan a Launch Party and decide upon giveaways.

Determine if you will seek reviews for this volume or let them populate at will.

Think about ads to attract new readers to your series via your box sets.

Consider applying for a BookBub deal for volume one after volume two launches.

How to Create a Box Set #amwriting #writingcommunity Share on X

Want to get started reading The Bad Hair Day Mysteries? Check out my Box Sets at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08ZDVH1VW

GIVEAWAY

Booklovers Bench

Enter Here June 1-18  to win a free book from Booklover’s Bench cozy mystery authors

 

 

New Mystery Release – Box Set Volume One

I am excited to announce the launch of The Bad Hair Day Mysteries Box Set Volume One: Books 1-3!

The Bad Hair Day Mysteries Box Set Volume One

Copyright © 2021 by Nancy J. Cohen
Published by Orange Grove Press
Digital ISBN: 978-1-952886-16-4
Cover Design by The Killion Group, Inc.
Digital Layout by www.formatting4u.com

The first three books in the award-winning Bad Hair Day cozy mystery series are now available in a brand new box set! Here’s your chance to get started or to get caught up if you’ve missed these earlier titles. Or buy the set for a Mother’s Day gift!

Launch Party on Tuesday, May 4 at 7:00 – 8:00 pm EDT. Fun & Prizes! https://www.facebook.com/NewReleaseParty/

Launch Party

Meet Marla Shore, a Florida hairstylist and salon owner with a knack for styling hair and solving crimes. In her debut case, the brazen beautician unravels a shocking murder that’s making waves all over Palm Haven, a small southern town where almost everyone has something to hide. A coastal fundraiser and a murder at a sports club round out this trio of fun, light reads.

PERMED TO DEATH – Book 1

Sassy salon owner Marla Shore is giving grumpy Mrs. Kravitz a perm when her client dies in the shampoo chair. If that isn’t enough to give her a bad hair day, handsome Detective Vail suspects Marla of poisoning the woman’s coffee creamer. Figuring she’d better expose the real killer before the next victim frizzes out, Marla sets on the trail of a wave of wacky suspects. Her theory regarding whodunit gels only after she looks for the culprit closer to home.

“A terrific mystery debut for Nancy Cohen. Marla the beautician is a delight!” Tamar Myers, author of the Pennsylvania Dutch Mysteries and the Den of Antiquity Mystery Series.

HAIR RAISER – Book 2

When South Florida hairstylist Marla Shore takes charge of a fundraiser for a coastal preservation society, she has to comb through a knot of suspects to determine who’s sabotaging their gala event. Participating chefs are dropping off the roster like hot rollers, and it’s only through a series of hair-raising exploits that she can tease the truth from a tangle of suspects. Too late to stop a murder, Marla must salvage the grand affair before she’s moussed into oblivion.

“Curl up with Nancy Cohen’s stylishly witty and chillingly suspenseful tale of murder on the Florida coast—Hair Raiser is a cut above.” Joanne Pence, author of the Angie Amalfi mystery series

MURDER BY MANICURE – Book 3

Hairstylist Marla Shore joins a fitness club to get in shape but discovers a dead body instead of an exercise routine. Jolene Myers—a client at Marla’s salon—has drowned beneath the frothing waters of the whirlpool. When Homicide Detective Dalton Vail determines Jolene’s death was no accident, Marla decides to give her deductive skills a workout and help solve the case.

“Marla Shore is a beguiling, very clever sleuth who teases out every clue. Absolutely delightful!” Jill Churchill, author of the Jane Jeffry & Grace and Favor mystery series.

Don’t Wait – Get Your Copy Now!

Amazon
Apple
BN Nook
Kobo
Books2Read

Goodreads
BookBub

Get your copy of The Bad Hair Day Mysteries Box Set Volume One and start reading this hilarious cozy mystery series now. #amreading #cozymystery Share on X

*A Word About Reviews*
My new box set will need reviews. If you’ve already read these three books, I’d appreciate it if you might say a few words on this box set page at any of the above sites. Ditto for when you read this volume for the first time. My thanks in advance!

GIVEAWAYS

April 26 – May 5  Mysteries with Humor

If you haven’t read EASTER HAIR HUNT, you can enter to win it on BookSweeps — plus 25+ exciting Mysteries with Humor from a great collection of authors AND a brand new eReader! Enter here: bit.ly/HumorousMystery-Apr21

May 1 – May 10  Florida Writers Book Expo

Browse sixty booths across genres at this virtual event, all books by Florida authors. They even have freebies at every booth! Even better? There’s a Reader Rewards program, so the more you spend, the more ebooks you get for free! I’m one of the participating authors, and I hope you’ll join us. Prizes and free books for attendees! Also, I’ll be interviewed on site Monday, May 3 at 2:00 pm. Go Here to browse, pick up some freebies and join the fun: https://floridawritersbooks.com

May 1 – May 18 Booklover’s Bench

Enter to win a free book from Booklover’s Bench cozy mystery authors. Click Here: https://bookloversbench.com/win-a-free-book-may-2021/

 

Deals and Steals from Nancy J. Cohen

This month offers a number of books and bargains for my booklover friends. Check out these deals and steals with contests, giveaways, book fairs and upcoming new releases.

May 1 – New Box Set Release

The Bad Hair Day Mysteries Box Set Volume One

Guess what’s coming in 2 days? My first mystery series box set! That’s right, The Bad Hair Day Mysteries Box Set Volume One: Books 1-3 arrives on Saturday. Put it on your wish list or order now and start reading at the beginning of Marla the hairstylist’s crime-solving capers. Or… order it as a Mother’s Day gift for a loved one! https://books2read.com/BadHairDayBoxSetOne

April 26 – May 5 Mysteries with Humor

Enter Now to win 25+ exciting Mysteries with Humor from a great collection of authors… AND a brand new eReader! My book, EASTER HAIR HUNT, is one of the prizes. Don’t delay! bit.ly/HumorousMystery-Apr21

 May 1 – May 10  Florida Writers Book Expo

Browse sixty booths across genres at this virtual event, all books by Florida authors. They even have freebies at every booth! Even better? There’s a Reader Rewards program, so the more you spend, the more ebooks you get for free! I’m one of the participating authors, and I hope you’ll join us. Prizes and free books for attendees all while shopping from home! Note that I am being interviewed at the event on Monday, May 3 at 2:00 pm. Hope to “see you” there! https://floridawritersbooks.com

May 1 – 18 Booklover’s Bench

Enter to win a free book from Booklover’s Bench cozy mystery authors in our monthly giveaway: https://bookloversbench.com/win-a-free-book-may-2021/

April – June Cozy Mystery New Releases

Are you a cozy mystery fan? Check out these April – June new releases. https://books.bookfunnel.com/cozyreleaseswide/n0aaf361pb

How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America

This all-new MWA handbook helps writers create compelling stories and navigate an ever-shifting publishing landscape. From pacing and dialogue to creating diverse characters and building reader outreach, How to Write a Mystery is a complete guide for mystery writers. I am proud to have a small contribution in this volume. https://mysterywriters.org/mwa-anthologies/how-to-write-a-mystery/

Scribner is giving away 10 copies. Go here to enter for a limited time: https://www.simonandschuster.com/p/how-to-write-a-mystery

Author Newsletter

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Deals and Steals from Nancy J. Cohen #giveaways #amreading Share on X

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