The Cozy Capers Book Group Convenes (and #GIVEAWAY)

By Mac Almedia from Maddie Day's Murder on Cape Cod.

Hey, everybody. I'm Mackenzie, but you can call me Mac. I'm so excited to tell you we finally have a December 18 release date for my new series - and it's a cozy mystery featuring a cozy mystery book group! That's right, the Cozy Capers read one cozy mystery a week. We meet and talk about the book, plus taste at least one of the recipes from it (if it doesn't include recipes, we make another food that's mentioned in the story).

Things got complicated last June, though, when I literally tripped across a body on my way home from book group. It was a foggy Cape Cod evening and...well, here's what happened.

Now I found the turn from the bike trail to the pathway that cut up to Main Street. Near the end of the path a hedge of scrubby coastal Rosa Rugosa separated the walkway from my postage stamp of a yard. The fragrant scent from the just-blooming native shrub mixed with the salt air and reminded me of my childhood here on the Cape. I slowed as I rounded a bend. I was scanning through the mist for the opening that would let me through the wall of roses when I tripped.

The obstacle in my path, oddly both soft and solid, was a sizable one. I yelled, arms windmilling like in a vintage cartoon. The air gave me nothing to grab hold of and I landed on my hands and elbows. I glanced down and back to see my knees resting on…Jake.

“Gah!” I shrieked and scrambled forward off of him. I crouched in place, my heart beating like the timpani in the Cape Symphony. Jake lay on his front with his head half-turned toward me, lips pulled back in a grimace, eyes unblinking.

I'd been publicly arguing with Jake earlier in the day, and later my brother became a prime suspect. Everybody in the book group pitched in to try to find the killer before someone else in Westham became the victim. 

Readers: What's your favorite waterfront getaway?

My author wants to give one of you an advance copy of the book, so be sure you leave your email address! If you don't win, you can preorder it from Barnes & Noble - they have a print exclusive on Murder on Cape Cod for the first year, but if you're a Kindle user, you'll be able to buy it in 2020.

Maddie Day creates the Country Store Mysteries and the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries. As Edith Maxwell, this Macavity- and Agatha-nominated author writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries, the Local Foods Mysteries, and award-winning short crime fiction.

Maxwell is President of Sisters in Crime New England. She lives north of Boston with her beau and two cats, and blogs here and with the other Wicked Cozy Authors. You can find her on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, and at her web site, edithmaxwell.com.