"This is the second in the Big Lake Mysteries (the first was Dumpster Dying) featuring Emily Rhodes, retired preschool teacher and bartender turned amateur snoop.
It seems as if Emily is destined to discover dead bodies. This time she finds one of the contestants at the local barbeque cook-off dead and covered in barbeque sauce in a beer cooler. She should be used to stumbling onto corpses by now and the question of who killed the guy should pique her curiosity, but Emily decides to let Detective Lewis handle this one, at least until she figures his theory of who did the deed is wrong, wrong, wrong. Lewis’ denigration of Emily’s speculations is condescending enough to stimulate her dormant snooping skills. As the two of them go on their separate paths to find the killer, Lewis’ old partner, Toby the dirty, tobacco-spitting cop interferes in the investigation leaving Lewis with the wrong man in jail. Killers, bootleggers, barbeque and feral pigs—it’s a lethal game of hide and seek in the Florida swamp."
Grilled, Killed, and Chilled is Lesley Diehl;s second book in the Big Lake Mysteries Series. Keep reading to get to know more about Lesley.
Lesley retired from
her life as a professor of psychology and reclaimed her country roots by moving
to a small cottage in the Butternut River Valley in upstate New York. In the winter she migrates to old Florida—cowboys,
scrub palmetto, and open fields of grazing cattle, a place where spurs still
jingle in the post office, and gators make golf a contact sport. Back north, the shy ghost inhabiting the
cottage serves as her literary muse.
When not writing, she gardens, cooks and renovates the 1874 cottage with
the help of her husband, two cats, and, of course, Fred the ghost, who gives
artistic direction to their work.
She is
author of several short stories and several mystery series: the microbrewing
mystery series set in the Butternut Valley (A
Deadly Draught and Poisoned Pairings)
and a rural Florida series, Dumpster
Dying and Grilled, Killed and Chilled. She recently signed a three-book deal with
Camel Press for The Consignment Shop Murders including A Secondhand Murder. For
something more heavenly, try her mystery Angel
Sleuth. Several of her short stories
have been published by Untreedreads including one (Murder with All the
Trimmings) in the original Thanksgiving anthology The Killer Wore Cranberry and another (Mashed in the Potatoes) in
the second anthology The Killer Wore
Cranberry: A Second Helping. Lesley Diehl invites readers to visit her on her blog and website.
Looks like an intriguing series. It's the settings in your books that appeal to me, Lesley.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the setting quite a bit. She really showed a more realistic side of Florida than shows like CSI: Miami seem to. Great part of the book!
DeleteIt's an exciting part of Florida. one that not many tourists visit. They drive through from one coast to the other.
ReplyDeleteLeslie - nice interview. I retired my professorshiip 15 years year ago this spring. And I have two cats. But no more wife - I live alone and like it. I had a ghost years ago but she stayed behind when we moved. She was a mean, bitter ghost and i don't miss her a bit. Seems only men could see her. (little germ of an idea there...)
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Dac
Lesley,
DeleteI loved both books in your Big Lake mystery series. Emily Rhodes sure does get herself into some "interesting" situations. I look forward to the next book.
I haven't read the first book in the Big Lake series yet, but would really like to! This one worked really well as a stand alone book, though, which can be hard to do! Thanks for stopping by, Patricia!
DeleteLesley - I love Emily already and I'm excited to read your book. Love your description of Florida "where the gaters make golf a contact sport"! Simply love it! I've been to Naples, but never cattle country. Great post!
ReplyDeleteLesley writes such strong and entertaining characters. I really enjoyed Detective Lewis as well. Thanks for stopping by, Dixie.
DeleteThank you all for liking my characters so much and the setting. I really enjoy writing this series and can't wait to get started on the next one. You must come visit the Big Lake country in Florida. It's like Texas with palm trees, but I think the cowboys here are cuter!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Lesley, I've read one of your books and must read these, too.
ReplyDeleteDelSheree, Your blog is one of the prettiest ones around.
This was a fun book to read. Definitely give it a try, Marilyn! Thanks for the compliment as well :)
DeleteLesley, You're one of my favorite authors and I've enjoyed all of your books. Keep it up and keep us entertained.
ReplyDeleteMarja McGraw
Thanks for stopping by, Marja!
DeleteI see some of my old friends here and some new faces. Thanks for visiting and sorry I was offline for several days. I hope those of you who don't know my work will read me and enjoy me. Thanks so much to DelSheree for featuring me this week.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like quite a good book. I'd like to read it.
ReplyDeleteI hope you give it a try. It was a fun read! Thanks for stopping by, Gloria.
DeleteCatching up on my e-mails, Leslie. I'm reading Dumpster Dying but much too slowly. Can't wait to get to Grilled, Chilled and Killed -- a title I repeat to colleagues and students. So great.
ReplyDeleteI just love her titles! Thanks for stopping by, Eileen.
Delete