Venus Rising by Tammy D. Walker is a book worth reading #cozymystery #wrpbks #bookboost
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  • N. N. Light
    • Nov 21, 2023
    • 4 min read

Venus Rising by Tammy D. Walker is a book worth reading #cozymystery #wrpbks #bookboost



Title: Venus Rising

 

Author: Tammy D. Walker

 

Genre: Cozy Mystery

 

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

 

Book Blurb

 

Almost as soon as recent divorcee Amy Morrison begins her dream job as librarian aboard the world's most expensive luxury cruise liner, she nearly sinks it. She's tasked with hosting the debut of a painting celebrated but hidden for nearly sixty years. But the artist claims the painting isn't hers. And then, the artist goes missing. With the help of a retired academic couple lecturing aboard the ship, a dashing IT manager, and a housekeeping staff with a love of literature, Amy tries to solve the art fraud and kidnapping while rediscovering the adventurous side of herself.

 

A note from the author: 

 

I just signed a contract with The Wild Rose Press for a follow-up novel to Venus Rising titled Down to Earth. In the new novel, Amy's older sister Stacey solves the mystery of a fallen radio antenna while trying to balance life on her farm, her work for a local wine and pecan festival, and her concerns about her daughter's eagerness to leave their small Texas hometown.

 

Excerpt

 

Amy Morrison held her breath like she had so many summers diving into the creek that ran through her sister’s farm back in Texas. She held out her hands to the blue fabric before her. Beneath her fingertips, the navy velvet curtain rippled and swayed. Like so much aboard this luxury cruise liner, the curtain, which would be dropped soon enough, was rich and deep. Gold vines scrolled above the hem, just above a line of matching gold fringe. Even the ship’s name sparkled: The Cullinan Diamond. The library aboard ship glowed in the soft light of the evening through its picture windows and the gold pendant light fixtures above her. Leatherbound hardbacks in shades of wine and whisky lined up neatly on the polished oak cases beside her. A thrum of voices preparing for the gala event lay over the constant hum of the system that controlled the heat and humidity in which the books were kept. But Amy focused on little else beyond what was hidden behind the velvet.

 

She was careful not to touch the curtain too firmly, too closely, which was something she’d avoided since she arrived on The Cullinan Diamond. As the ship’s librarian, the duty fell on Amy to host the debut of the painting that hung behind the curtain. A painting even she had been forbidden to see before the evening’s gala one night after the ship had departed from London, that British city she’d longed to see since childhood, bound for New York. They were in the Atlantic now, 2,500 passengers and the thousand staff and crew members with them. Just before she’d come to the library, she’d run up to the deck to watch the waves dance in the warm August evening surrounded by the wide blue sky that reminded her of home. She’d wanted to witness the kiss of salt water against the metal of the ship. She’d needed to steady her nerves. August here in the north Atlantic was calm and mild. Amy reminded herself that she needed to be calm, too.

 

“Curiosity and cats. Remember the maxim, Amy?” Beatrice Taylor, the ship’s assistant entertainment director, stood with her matronly arms across the bodice of her beaded cobalt gown. Most days, she looked every bit the housekeeper she might have been had she gone into service on some stately aristocratic manor a hundred years ago. Now, though, with her amber hair swept up and the dazzle of gemstones at her ears and neck, she was even more imposing. “We must wait with the others. Per Mrs. Lewis’s request.”

 

“Of course, Mrs. Taylor.” Amy stepped back from the curtain. Wait staff moved quietly behind her, setting up a small bar where her librarian’s desk usually sat. Ice crashed against the steel container. “Have you spoken with Mrs. Lewis this evening?”

 

Beatrice looked down at her tablet. “Ms. Westgrove sent a message along for her sister,” she said, a veneer of standard British pronunciation just covering the twang of her working-class Manchester accent. “They’ll be along after dinner, which they are taking in their suite. Lucia is seeing to them.” She looked at Amy again, surveying her appearance, she guessed, by the squint Beatrice delivered to her. “Do notify the salon staff before the next event.” The assistant entertainment director patted her own hair, then bustled over to the bar.

 

Amy looked down at her own dress, floor-length cobalt satin above her sensible heels. Her dress must have wrinkled a bit in the strong wind from her excursion to the deck. Too late to change now. Too late to go back to her room and fix her wind-tousled hair and the mascara that had smudged in the humidity. She picked up her laptop where she’d left it on the armchair that was to be Mrs. Lewis’s in half an hour. Amy looked at the curtain over the painting again. This was her gala to steer, not Beatrice’s.

 

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Author Biography

 

Tammy D. Walker writes mysteries, poetry, and science fiction. Her debut cozy mystery, Venus Rising, was published by The Wild Rose Press in 2023.  As T.D. Walker, she’s the author of three poetry collections, most recently Doubt & Circuitry (Southern Arizona Press, 2023).  When she’s not writing, she’s probably reading, trying to find far-away stations on her shortwave radios, or enjoying tea and scones with her family.  Find out more at her website: https://www.tammydwalker.com 

 

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