Thursday, December 17, 2015

Blog Tour: Murder Mansion by M.K. Scott


Murder Mansion 
The Painted Lady Mysteries #1
By: M.K. Scott
Released November 9th, 2015
Sleeping Dragon Press

Blurb

Donna’s dream of running a Victorian Bed and Breakfast is almost a reality. Her lack of inn keeping expertise, a shabby house in need of dire renovation and lack of money has slowed her down a bit. The murdered man in the upstairs parlor is her biggest obstacle. Less determined people might give it up, but not Donna. No killer is going to stop her from serving apple crumb cake to high paying guests.

Her natural skill at the Clue board game, along with the grudging assistance of veteran detective, Mark Taber, an overweight Puggle, and a chatty octogenarian neighbor should help her sniff out the killer unless she’s snuffed out first.



Buy Links: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Smashwords

Author Info
M.K. Scott is the pen name of husband and wife team, Scott & Morgan. This is their first cozy mystery together, although Scott has worked with several of the Morgan K Wyatt books.  The couple has several books planned for the series. In an effort to give the series an authentic touch, Scott and Morgan participated in cooking lessons, winery tours, and stayed at several Bed and Breakfasts. Research is a hard job, but someone has to do it.
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads 


Excerpt #1

The residents bold enough to venture out in the morning chill leaned toward one another and whispered. She wouldn’t be surprised if someone commented about the neighborhood going south. Not good. Time to establish her reputation, and The Painted Lady Inn’s, before they both ended up with unsavory ones. Suck it up, Donna. Go do what you need to do. Damage control.

Her lips lifted up in a parody of a smile as she crunched across the frosted lawn. An elderly woman glanced up at her husband and took a step back. Seriously, did she look that bad? Okay, no makeup and her father’s old pea coat paired with a ball cap worked for her initial purpose of cataloging repairs, but was hardly appropriate for making a good first impression. Even still, the woman’s reaction didn’t make sense.

“Hello. I bet you’re wondering what’s going on.” She held out her hand to the man since the woman’s pinched mouth and panicked eyes didn’t encourage neighborliness.

He hesitated for a brief second before taking her hand and giving a brief, firm shake. “Stan Whitaker. Yes, I did wonder what was happening. The sirens interrupted our breakfast.”

Ah yes, a complaint. Somehow, she had ruined their breakfast. Finding a dead man in her newly purchased home put her off her cereal too, especially considering there wasn’t one there yesterday when she did the walk through with the realtor. “Um, sorry about that. I came over early to start on the renovations.”

The man’s bushy eyebrows lifted with the word renovation. Yeah, she knew the type. They didn’t think a woman could do anything besides cook and clean. Forever single, she had termed herself after being left at the altar at twenty-two. However, it gave her the opportunity to do many things most would consider man’s work, including renovating a neglected Victorian.

Ignoring his attitude, she plowed on. “I wanted to get a rough feel for what I need to do first.”
She nodded her head while considering ripping out walls as opposed to holding up paint chips and looking for mouse droppings. Her brother, Daniel, a construction supervisor, agreed to give his professional opinion and should be arriving any time now.

A car door slammed. “Hey, Donna!” Her sibling’s voice cut across the chaos ensuing on her front lawn.

Her hand went up to acknowledge the greeting. She wished Daniel didn’t have to yell everything, but probably the natural result of working with power tools. “My brother,” she explained, noticing the frightened woman had no trouble peering around her for a look at her brother. Donna rolled her eyes. Geez, seriously. The octogenarian was checking out her brother in front of her husband. The animated look on the woman’s face demonstrated her brother’s attractiveness.

“I’m Donna, if you couldn’t tell.” She forced out a little chuckle as if commenting on her brother calling her by name was humorous. It wasn’t. Knowing any chance at meaningful conversation disappeared with Daniel’s appearance, she spoke faster. Not only did the Universe bless him with the wicked good looks of a fallen angel with blonde hair and dark thick eyelashes all women envied, but he had charisma. Women, men, children, even dogs loved him. As a sibling, it would be normal for her to hate him, but his constant concern for his older, single sister cancelled out the uncharitable emotion. Well, at least most of the time.


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