Lynn Cahoon Mission to Murder Blog Tour with a Spotlight

I am so excited to have Lynn Cahoon here Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews with a Spotlight.

Thanks Lynn and Kensington for allowing me to join your Mission to Murder Blog Tour!

Please take it away, Lynn!

Lynn Cahoon is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Guidebook to Murder. An Idaho native, her stories focus around the depth and experience of small town life and love. Currently she lives in a small historic town on the banks of the Mississippi where her imagination tends to wander. She is accompanied by her husband and two fur babies.


Changing Gears

Change is hard. It’s stepping out of your comfort zone. It’s trying something new. Sometimes it’s releasing something near and dear to your heart.

And sometimes, it’s the best thing that ever happened to you.

For me, as an author, embracing my cozy mystery side where I get to have dead bodies and still talk about coffee and books, that change was a no brainer. I’m the girl who sees a phantom arm rising out of Silver Lake as we drive past to visit the in-laws. When I stop at a road side truck stop, I scan the woods behind the building to see if the area looks like a body dump. And of course, I’d planned my ex-husband’s death many times before the divorce. (Relax, he’s still alive and annoying someone else.)

Don’t get me wrong, I love writing my romance stories. Cowboys who tip their hat with a southern, yes, ma’am, tend to make my heart beat a little faster. My visit to Texas last month made me wishing for a trip home to Idaho – cowboy heaven. But moving my stories into the cozy realm, has given my dark side permission to play.

I’ve changed up my life a lot in the last twenty years. As an empty nester, the only person I have to worry about is my personal cowboy. We moved over 1600 miles in 2006 to start a new life in Illinois. And although I like living near the big city of St. Louis for the cultural opportunities as well as the day job, I miss the mountains and rural farm land of Idaho. Or at least the Idaho I still carry around in my mind.

My character, Jill Gardner, Owner of Coffee, Books, and More, as well as being the council liaison for the South Cove Business-to-Business meetings, knows a little bit about change. She left the big city, quit her job, and moved to South Cove because it felt right.

I’d love to react on a feeling like that. For Jill, she hasn’t regretted her decision at all. At least not yet (insert evil author planning laugh).

 

In the California coastal town of South Cove, history is one of its many tourist attractions, until it becomes deadly. Jill Gardner, proprietor of Coffee, Books, and More, has discovered that the old stone wall on her property might be a centuries-old mission worthy of being declared a landmark. But Craig Thomas, the obnoxious owner of South Cove's most popular tourist spot, The Castle, makes it his business to contest her claim. When Thomas is found murdered at The Castle shortly after a heated argument with Jill, even her detective boyfriend has to ask her for an alibi. Jill decides she must find the real murderer to clear her name. But when the killer comes for her, she'll need to jump from historic preservation to self-preservation.