When Harry Killed Sally by Beth Henderson is a Cozy Mystery Event pick #cozymystery #paranormalcozymystery #humorouscozy #mustread #giveaway
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  • N. N. Light
    • Feb 27
    • 6 min read

When Harry Killed Sally by Beth Henderson is a Cozy Mystery Event pick #cozymystery #paranormalcozymystery #humorouscozy #mustread #giveaway



Title: WHEN HARRY KILLED SALLY

 

Author: Beth Henderson

 

Genre: Cozy Mystery, Comedy, Paranormal

 

Book Blurb:

 

WHEN HARRY KILLED SALLY, the cops got it wrong!


Emmalyst Whichur knew there was no way Harry had killed her godmother. Harry adored Sally. But the evidence pointed right at him. As an investigative reporter, though freshly out of a job, Lyst had not only the chops to look into things, she had the time. In any case, she needed to be in Killaman Falls. Even though it was nearly the last place on Earth she would have chosen to be. And not just because killers were apparently loose in the miniscule mountain town.


Connor Wolfe knew his friend Harry hadn’t killed Sally Whichur either, but there was that damning evidence. As the official non-paid liaison for the sheriff’s department in Killaman Falls, New Hampshire, at least he had an “in” with law enforcement. But he had further problems to deal with, one of them being springing Harry before the Full Moon arrived. If he was still incarcerated then, a well-kept secret the two of them shared would be out in the open.


Sally had been an expert secret keeper herself though. Connor knew nothing of Sally’s life prior to arriving in Killaman Falls, and Lyst knew nothing about it prior to Sally’s arrival at the commune where Lyst had been born. Could Sally’s mysterious past have caught up with her? Or was the answer to her murder closer to home?


When Emmalyst Whichur met Connor Wolfe, it was a sleuthing match in the making. And possibly a bit more.


After all, in Killaman Falls, if a witch and a werewolf walk into the same bar, things really can't be the same ever again.

 

Excerpt:

 

It was still bright out but more clouds were beginning to build to the south and the west had the first dashes of pastel that heralded sunset.

 

“How long have you got?” I asked quietly.

 

“Two maybe two and a half hours. Looks like it will be a wet night later on. Best to leave the dog door unlatched. If you don’t mind, that is.”

 

“Sally used to do that?”

 

Both Harry and Connor grunted. Harry because he was in wolf form. Connor because he’d taken a bite of his sandwich.

 

“Your girlfriend stopped by. She didn’t buy anything. She was more interested in threatening me.”

 

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” he said.

 

“Curvy brunette in painted on jeans and a sweater that looked like it shrunk. Nails that appeared dipped in blood. You were engaged in giving her a year’s worth of Full Moon Protection when I walked into the tavern last night. Ring any bells?”

 

“Oh, her,” Connor said. “Francie Kolobash’s not a friend much less a girlfriend.”

 

“Well, be warned. She’s shopping for a love potion to slip you, pal. Pretty sure she thinks a down payment on an entwined future has been made.”

 

Although his mouth was full since he’d taken another bite of barbecue beef heaven, I think he said, “Not happenin’.”

 

The shadows were growing long when an old-fashioned dinner chime was struck to get everyone’s attention then one after another the residents of Killaman Falls stood to share memories of Sally Whichur with the crowd.

 

Some recounted illnesses she’d helped them through. Others financial problems by creating jobs locally. She’d started the historical society. A lending library. A childcare center for people with jobs down mountain in one of the larger communities. She’d babysat, did hospice like care for a few of the now passed on older residents of the town. They told me about a Sally Whichur I hadn’t known existed.

 

And then it was my turn.

 

I had to clear my throat a couple times before raising my voice to be heard. When the children were included in the count, there were perhaps a hundred souls silently waiting, their gazes settled on me. Even the kids were quiet.

 

“Thank you,” I said. “You’ve shown me a woman I didn’t know existed. A woman I should have visited more frequently rather than take for granted. The chance is gone now, and I’ll always regret the moments I lost.

 

“I know very little about who Sally Whichur was before she arrived here. I know that she assisted at my birth at the commune both she and my mother had joined. She taught me to read, to write. She told me stories that I later learned weren’t stories at all but history, for she presented them as action-adventure tales. She gave me the chance to become who I wanted to be, not another member of the commune. When the offer came to join my uncle’s family, she backed my decision to leave the only life I’d known behind, to embrace the adventure that the future would be. We weren’t of the same blood, but of the same heart. She was my godmother and always there when I needed her.

 

“But because of what she’d taught me, I rarely did need her, and in retrospect I find that was truly sad. I just hope that as I go forward without her counsel, that I continue to be what she always told me I was: a force to be reckoned with, just as she was.”

 

Someone handed me a yard long branch with fire blazing at the end. The bonfire was larger than one at a campsite but smaller than one at the Guy Fawkes remembrance I’d covered during a short assignment overseas. The tinder was dry and flared up the moment I poked the flame near it. One of the men took the brand away and shoved it deeper into the neatly arranged logs.

 

And into the moment of silence, Harry raised his voice in a howl that seemed filled with pain as he said his own farewell. The various family dogs that had accompanied people responded in kind, filling the evening with canine song.

 

Next to me, Connor lifted his chin and echoed the howl. The children were the first to join him but soon the entire community was howling in Sally’s honor.

 

My throat tight with emotion, I followed suit.

 

As the howls died away, Connor handed me his handkerchief to mop the tears I hadn’t realized were riling down my face.

 

The crowd began breaking up, everyone heading toward their vehicles and home. I stood staring into the fire.

 

“Someone’s on duty to wait the flames out,” Connor said. His voice sounded gruffer than usual, the shadows painting new angles on his face.

 

I stared into the sky. Clouds had moved in, but a crescent of the full moon peered from between them. His time was running out.

 

Connor took my hand. Pressed the keys to his truck into it. He was about to turn away when one of the men walked past and murmured, “Barracuda on your six, Wolfe.”

 

I glanced over his shoulder to see the brunette who was shopping for a love portion stalking our way.

 

“Hell,” Connor grated, obviously preparing to make a disastrously quick getaway. But if he did, she’d just follow him. That was too dangerous. She might catch his turn. So, I did the only thing I could think of that suited more than one purpose. I grabbed his jacket and yanked him close. Said something stupid about ye olde FMP and kissed him.

 

The move startled him at first but then Connor Wolfe wrapped his arms around me and kissed me like he had no intention of stopping.

 

Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):

 

Available only at Amazon for Kindle and in trade paperback: http://getbook.at/HarrySally

 

 

 


What makes your featured book a must-read?

 

What better reason could there be to curl up under a blanket as winter moves toward spring and lose yourself in a mystery set in a really small town on the side of a mountain in New Hampshire? Generous dollops of comedy have been stirred into this cozy, plus a budding romance, and danger for an uncommon pair of amateur sleuths. One of them forced to be a wolf when the moon goes full. Yeah, it’s set in the fall, but it’s also the first of four books with Emmalyst Whichur and Connor Wolfe. That means even more bad weather days can be relegated to joining them for further sleuthing. Besides, there are plenty of cozy fires lit to set the mood for sleuthing in Killaman Falls. All that remains of this recipe is for you  to turn the pages.

 

Giveaway –

 

Enter to win a $15 Amazon gift card:

 

 

Open Internationally.

 

Runs February 21 – February 28, 2024.

 

Winner will be drawn on February 29, 2024.

 


Author Biography:

 

Beth Henderson has always loved mystery and currently she writes quite a lot of it, just under various names. Connor Wolfe isn’t the only one answering to more than one moniker.

 

Henderson’s first published novel was a romantic suspense comedy, released in May 1990. Since then, she’s worn a variety of names and currently has 38 novels, plus several novellas and short stories, and the numbers keep growing. She also writes non-fiction about writing genre fiction. There are very few genres she hasn’t taken a fancy to when it comes to spinning tales.

 

Social Media Links:

 

at http://bit.ly/2GvFyog on Facebook

Twitter: @Beth__Henderson

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