Book Details
Genre: Cozy Mystery
4th in the Pecan Bayou Series
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (July 13, 2013)
Paperback: 342 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1490942919
E-Book File Size: 338 KB
ASIN: B00DSU1S8W
Synopsis
Betsy Livingston is planning a wedding so what could go wrong? After publishing a recipe for homemade calamine lotion in the newspaper, the ladies in the community church make a large batch. Everyone loves the stuff until someone in Pecan Bayou is found dead after using it. The town points to Betsy and she starts rethinking her whole career as a helpful hints columnist. Now she must clear her own name in between dress-fitting, cake-tasting, and all those things that turn a bride into a bridezilla. Is Betsy at fault or could there be something else that leads her down the aisle to murder?
My Review:
Well, Teresa Trent has done it again. I think this has been the best Betsy Livingston book yet. I really enjoy visiting Betsy and all the great folks of Pecan Bayou, TX. In Buzzkill, Betsy is marrying Leo and they have hired cranky Lenny Stokes and his wife, Martha, to do the flowers for the wedding. When her aunt, Maggie, hires Mr. Andre to be her wedding planner, he decides to use someone else to do the flowers for the wedding. When Betsy and Leo go to get their deposit back from Mr. Stokes, they find him dead from an apparent unfortunate attack by his bees. But as Betsy and her father, Judd Kelsey, dig deeper they discover that Mr. Stokes was really murdered. As if Betsy doesn't have enough on her plate, she accidently sends her estranged mother an invitation to her wedding, and she shows up, a month early, there is another wedding scheduled for the same day, and that bride seems to be out to get Betsy. Then throw in another murder. Will Betsy's wedding go off without a hitch? This was a book that once I started reading, I couldn't hardly put it down. It was filled with so many pitfalls for Betsy, but she never lost her cool. This book kept me gusssing till the very end, and what a surprising ending. I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Buzzkill, it is great. Wonderful job, Teresa.
I received a complimentary copy of this book for my honest review.
Teresa Trent lives in Texas and loves writing about small town life. She first got the idea to create Pecan Bayou after visiting the Texas Hill Country to view the millions of springtime flowers alongside the roads and highways. The town of Pecan Bayou does not exist in Texas, but there is a body of water in the state with the name. Pecan Bayou does exist in Teresa’s imagination and heart. Buzzkill is the fourth book in the Pecan Bayou series featuring all of the crazy characters who live in this cozy little town in Texas.
Connect With Teresa
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/teresatrentmysterywriter
Twitter- @ttrent_cozymys
Goodreads-
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5219581.Teresa_Trent
Buzzkill Excerpt
“Okay now, let’s see.” Mr. Andre lowered his head, revealing the roots of his mousse-spiked, bleached hair. He wore a dark maroon suit with a matching jewel-toned silk shirt unbuttoned midway, showing sparse hair on his skinny chest. “Do you have a photographer?”
“Yes,” I ventured.
“No,” Aunt Maggie cut in. “She has some guy who shoots kiddie team pictures.”
“Oh my.” Andre circled something on his clipboard. “No photographer.”
“And you’ve gone for a wedding cake tasting?”
“A tasting? I think I already know what vanilla and chocolate tastes like by now.”
Andre shook his head as if I were a child. “No, my dear. You will be pleased to find out there are other flavors like white amaretto, champagne – girl, you can even get peanut butter if that’s what floats your boat. So I take it you haven’t had a cake-tasting session?”
“You would be correct,” I replied.
“I see.” He circled another line. “And your flowers?”
“She’s using Lenny Stokes, and she’s already put a deposit down,” Aunt Maggie said.
Andre grimaced.
“I see. I’ll need his number and address so I can get in contact with him to put him on my approved vendors list.” He circled another line. “And what is the venue?”
“We are going to have the ceremony at the community church.”
Andre’s eyebrows raised as he nodded and smiled. I had finally done something right.
“Do you have any kind of documentation on this?” he asked.
“Not officially, no,” I said. “I have talked to the pastor about it, though and he says it’s open. We live in a small town, Andre. Documentation isn’t always required.”
“Mr. Andre,” he corrected.
“We just don’t have the same kinds of waiting lists like there are in the big city.”
He clutched his hand to his chest. “Well, that’s a relief.”
“And your invitations?”
“We weren’t going to send those out until mid-January. We were afraid people would lose them. I have them ordered.” Mr. Andre’s eyes slanted toward me. “Well, they’re not exactly ordered, but I do have them picked out.”
A pause hung in the air as Mr. Andre summoned up the strength to go on. “Are you sure we’re planning a wedding and not some kind of country barbecue where they cook a pig over a spit?” He clasped his hands together in front of him to emphasize his point. “You are in crisis mode, Madame Happy Hinter.”
I gulped. So maybe, just maybe, I hadn’t nailed down enough of the details. I felt a tear escape onto my cheek. Andre, used to overwhelmed brides, reached over to a satin-covered tissue box and slapped it down on the table in front of me.
“Dry your eyes, sweetie. We’ve got work to do,” he said. “You should know what a lucky girl you are. I just removed myself from a wedding on the same day. No one – I repeat, no one – does a wedding like Mr. Andre, but even I have my limits on troublesome brides and monster mothers. As fate would have it, I’m yours.”
He walked over to a filing cabinet and pulled out a large white leather binder. Mr. Andre’s picture was on the front, and underneath that, “Weddings Exclusively by Mr. Andre” was embossed in gold lettering.
“I don’t care what religion you are,” he said. “This, lovey, is your new bible. Carry this with you everywhere and fill it with notes, questions, business cards, quotes and everything – I mean everything – that has to do with your wedding. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir,” I said and saluted before I could stop myself. Aunt Maggie broke out into a laugh, but Mr. Andre turned quickly, fixing his eyes on her. She quickly stifled her reaction and stood up a little straighter, becoming just another draftee in the world of white satin.
Purchase Link
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Guest Post
In the Age of Graphic Storytelling Cozy Mysteries Still Doing Well
by Teresa Trent
In the Age of Graphic Storytelling Cozy Mysteries Still Doing Well
by Teresa Trent
When I started writing mysteries I knew that I wanted to have an element of romance in all of them because that is something a little extra I am happy to find in reading other people's mysteries. The romance should be a sub plot, but not overtake the mystery. In my latest mystery, Buzzkill, Betsy is getting married so there are romantic scenes, but first and foremost she must solve the mystery of the death of her florist and deal with all of the craziness in planning a wedding. I've only planned one wedding and funny how writing this book brought back my own Bridezilla memories.
One of the things that I was concerned when I first started thinking about publishing my writing was that many of the mysteries have some pretty explicit scenes both in the sex and violence areas. Could I actually write anything like that? These books are exciting to read, and I've read my share, but I have to admit that when they get to the gory parts I have to put them down. Whenever my husband and I watch horror movies on DVD, I always make sure I have a knitting project. That way I can look down whenever it gets too scary. My dogs never had so many sweaters.
The traditional structure of the cozy mystery is cozy-not realistic. If I'm going to write love scenes into my stories, then I'm going to emphasize romance and sweetness and I'm not going to emphasize sweaty bodies and bulging bosoms.
Of course one of the things that I worried about in writing cozy mysteries was that my books were not going to be as marketable as a 50 Shades of Gray or a realistic thriller. I was pleasantly surprised when I started getting comments and reviews from readers who specifically pointed out that they enjoyed books without any graphic sex, violence and strong profanity. What a relief! There are more of me out there! What I learned from this is that preferring something that is cozy, sweet or inspirational is not a bad thing. There are all kinds of different reading tastes out there from erotica to Grace Livingston Hill and cozy mysteries just fall on that spectrum. I'll admit I grew up watching movies like The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Steel Magnolias, the old Miss Marple movies and even the television show Murder She Wrote. I wanted to live in that town and I wanted to know those characters. All you have to do is watch the evening news to know that life is gritty and graphic enough, so spending a little time in a cozy mystery can be a good place to come home to. I'll leave a pitcher of sweet tea on the porch and you won't need any craft projects for the scary parts.
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About Whispers on the Dock: Three sisters. A charming inn. Hints of mystery and romance. And a gorgeous seaside setting. Escape to Misty Harbor Inn.
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