When Curtsey Knifed Sammy by @Beth__Henderson is a Cozy Mystery Event pick #cozymystery #giveaway

Title: WHEN CURTSEY KNIFED SAMMY

Author: Beth Henderson

Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery

Book Blurb:

Whichur-Wolfe Detection series Book Two

The werewolf and the witch are back to solve another crime! This time a dog told them the deadman’s ghost told him who didn’t dunnit!

Excerpt:

“Did Sammy and his mate bicker about anything?”

“You mean like her being overly cozy with any man she thought could get her a better act?”

“Exactly like that,” I said, accepting his question as an answer to mine. From what Hannibal had told me thus far, the girl would feel extending sexual favors was the best way to jockey herself toward her dream. “You happen to know the name of the circus they traveled with?”

Hannibal sighed. “Do you read minds? Is that how we’re able to converse?”

I gave an infinitesimal shake of my head. A man doesn’t do overt moves when conversing with a pooch. If they caught you doing so, they’d put your name on a list of nutcases. “No. You ever hear of werewolves?”

“Like in the movies or a costumed man in a mirror rigged cage that a carney runs?” the dog asked.

The fact that he knew how the sideshows worked a metamorphosis attraction made me wonder how long he’d been with the couple. Time doesn’t mean the same to dogs as it does to humans though. Hannibal wouldn’t be able to answer that question with anything other than “since the old man died.”

“Neither,” I told him. “No con but for real. But just like those portrayals, I do turn into a wolf sometimes. Luckily, even when not a wolf I can hold conversations with intelligent four leggers.”

“Shame you can’t see inside my head,” Hannibal said. “Reading’s not one of my tricks, but I could have pictured one of those signs for you to see.”

That was a shame indeed. Definitely needed to complain about that lack of enhancement to the werewolf high counsel. If there was one.

It wouldn’t do any good asking about the colors that were used either since canines see most things in shades of gray with a splash of muddied red and some greens. In any case, circuses went for bright primary colors. You know. The attention snagging tones.

“Well, if the sheriff’s team don’t get enough information from the girl, Lyst will manage to do so. When she wants to know details, that girl’s got a talent for drawing people out.”

“Because she’s a witch,” Hannibal noted. “I might not have known werewolves existed, but I have met a few witches in my time. Usually, they’re telling fortunes or claiming they could talk to the dead.”

Sounded more like he’d lumped the mock gypsies of the carnival with witches to me. But if he could see and hear ghosts, he likely knew whether a ghost was present or had said what the clairvoyant claimed they had said was right.

“The trouble with Lyst is that she doesn’t believe she’s a witch, even though, as I understand it, her mother told her point blank that she was, just a different kind of witch. Lyst seems to think that if she accepts her abilities are a gene pool benefit that she’s undermining the hard work she does in tracking down details. She’s a reporter normally.”

“Met a few of those. Pesky, irritating types they were, too,” Hannibal said.

I grinned at him. “You don’t know the half of it, my friend. This woman goes out of her way to be irritating most of the time.”

“But you like her because of that,” the dog said.

“Yeah. I think I do,” I admitted, glancing back to where Emmalyst stood while the medics roused the possible murder suspect, then turned my thoughts in a different direction. “You been fed sufficiently for the day, or could you do with something to chew on?”

“Chewin’s not something I’m good at these days, boy. But a good thick gravy does hit the spot.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I promised as I pulled my cell phone from an inner vest pocket. Usually, I just left it in the glove box since there was no service in Killaman Falls. Hearing that though miraculous intervention, the local 9-1-1 operator had been contacted via a cell by the girl with the scary clown face—at least she had one temporarily—I’d brought it with me. Fortunately, the Killaman Falls Tavern was one of the few places in the area with a working landline. Within seconds I had Omay primed to supply an extra-large side of beef gravy order to go. Told her to box up Lyst’s and my meals as well. There was a 50-50 chance that the cops would want her to accompany the girl to the hospital. The medics might have been unsure of whether she needed attention above and beyond what they could supply earlier but fainting at their feet had nudged the decision into the affirmative position.

But, while they might want Lyst along until nurses stepped in to fill the bill, there was no guarantee that either of us would get back to The Falls before the tavern closed. That meant, our meals would be consumed down in Lebanon at the hospital near a microwave. I’d be picking them up before following everyone down mountain.

“Would you rather stay here or in the back of my truck?” I asked Hannibal. “Unfortunately, there isn’t a blanket to soften things but there is a cap over the bed, so you’ll be out of the evening chill.”

“Sounds good to me,” the Shepard said then added a caution. “Afraid I’m not up to hopping up that high anymore.”

“Not a problem,” I assured him. The old K-9 nearly creaked as his joints worked to get him back on his feet but after I scooped him up and got him settled in the truck bed, he said he’d kill time by having a quick snooze. I had a feeling it would be longer than “quick” and made a mental note to ask Omay if Hannibal could stay with them until Lyst and I returned. He’d be far more comfortable resting by the fired-up hearth and not have to wait for that gravy dinner.

Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):

Just at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09G38WCYX

What makes your featured book a must-read?

Personally, I’d call any of the Whichur-Wolfe Detection books a must-read because the main characters, Emmalyst Whichur and Connor Wolfe, are a great comedy team as well as leaning toward being a romantic one as well. And if you’re a dog lover, how could you not love a story where dogs get interviewed in relation to the murders of the homo sapiens they live amongst?

Giveaway –

Enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card:

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/92db7750136

Open Internationally. You must have a valid Amazon US or Amazon Canada account to win.

Runs October 5 – October 14, 2021.

Winner will be drawn on October 15, 2021.

Author Biography:

BETH HENDERSON spent a dozen years writing and rewriting the same three books during the 1980s but all those rewrites paid off via a romance spinning career now over 30 years long. Romantic-comedy and historical romantic adventure are her forte, but lately she dipped her pen into a different genre pool: that of comedic paranormal mystery. Since she loves reading cozy mystery, her characters drifted to a very out of the way spot on the side of a mountain in New Hampshire to solve local homicides in a town known as Killaman Falls. She really loves being the snarky Emmalyst Whichur and spending time with the flirty werewolf, Connor Wolfe. Find her at www.4TaleTellers.com.

Social Media Links:

Facebook.com/BethHendersonAuthor, or @Beth__Henderson on Twitter