My new paranormal cozy mystery is Nozy Cat 1. It should appeal to cozy fans who enjoy reading about small town bookshops, funny sleuths, and clever cats. Check out the sampler taken from Chapter 1:

“You don’t have to be an astrophysicist to know the romances outsell the recipe books,” Peggy Sue said.

Hope shrugged. “We haven’t kept track of our sales by book category to know that for a fact,” she said.

“Then I’m basing it on what I’ve observed. More of our customers pick up the romances, and we should display them, not the recipe books, on the front shelves. Our customers will spot the romances, and we’ll get a bunch of impulse buys.”

“That just can’t be so at all,” Hope said, shaking her head. “More women like to bake pies than romance men.”

“Look, if I had a choice to make between dating a gorgeous hunk and baking a pie, it’d be a cinch to decide. Apologies to my fellow bakers, but a good kiss beats a slice of apple pie on any day of the week.”

Hope turned sly. “What if the slice of apple pie is served a la mode?”

Smiling, Peggy Sue regarded her tall, brunette, and blue-eyed friend. “Is the slice of apple pie served a la mode with three scoops of homemade vanilla ice cream piled on top of it?”

Hope nodded.

“Is the slice of apple pie also homemade with Granny Smiths and a pinch of extra nutmeg added to it?”

Hope nodded again.

“That makes it a tougher choice, doesn’t it?”

You’d know better than me, Hope thought, but she’d never say anything to Peggy Sue about her “slight weight” problem. She was a short, blonde, and brown-eyed lady happily married to Travis Roswell, an insurance salesman who was laidback as a Sunday afternoon spent at the beach. The best friends were also business partners who ran the Brontë Bookshop on Main Street in Sweet Springs, a small town nestled in the rolling, green hills of the rural Virginia piedmont.

“Wake up Nozy Cat and get his input.” Peggy Sue nudged their tuxedo cat in the ribs. He was sleeping by the cash register as he did a great deal of the day with no shame. “Are you with us, Nozy Cat?” Peggy Sue asked as she poked her finger into him again.

Nozy Cat lifted one sleepy eyelid, and his marble blue eye glared at her for interrupting his sacred nap. He wore a yellow collar with little red stars printed on it. His second eyelid also opened, and he gave them his irritated blue-eyed glare.

“He couldn’t tell us even if he knew,” Hope said. “He just meows when his food dish is empty, or when he gets bored and wants us to play with him.”

“He’ll amaze you by how capable he is if he sets his mind to it,” Peggy Sue said.

“Then I wish he’d amaze me by dusting the bookshelves, cleaning the windows, and running the vacuum over the carpets, so I didn’t have to do it.”
“His duties aren’t in housekeeping. He heads up the bookshop security. See how well he guards the cash register?”

Hope wanted so badly to roll her eyes. “He doesn’t need to worry. The door locks should be adequate to keep out the bad guys. I’m working on a way to get the covert surveillance cameras in the ceiling repaired.”

Peggy Sue pressed her palms to cover up Nozy Cat’s pointy ears. “Don’t listen to a word Hope is saying. She doesn’t know about the wonderful things you do for us.”

End of reading sample.

Here are the links:

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CW9SRII
Barnes & Noble link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nozy-...
Kobo link: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebo...