And Today’s Guest at the Den is…

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I am delighted to welcome Jean Henry Mead, here to promote her new mystery novel A VILLAGE SHATTERED.  I met Jean through Make Mine Mystery, a new mystery author blog, and was delighted when she asked me to be one of her hosts on her Cyber Tour.  I admit to having a small ulterior motive when I said yes.  I knew I’d get an advance review copy of her book to read. And I can think of few greater pleasures in life than than a new mystery novel, especially one in which the protagonist shares my first name. 🙂

Before I turn over the floor to Jean, a few words about the book.  It’s the first of her Logan & Cafferty mystery/suspense series, featuring two 60 year-old feisty windows living in a California retirement village in the San Joaquin valley. Their friends and fellow members of their club the Sew and So’s start dying in alphabetical order, victims of a serial killer who has stolen their membership roster.  Dana Logan and Sarah Cafferty realize their name is on the killer’s list and decide to try their hand at crime solving to discover who’s hiding in the notorious ‘killer’ San Joaquin Valley fog, before they too become victims.

This book was a pleasure to read, starts off with a bang and never slows down.  The body count rivals that of a season in Cabot Cove, but I found the two protagonists much more realistic than Jessica Fletcher.  The supporting characters are equally well fleshed out and quirky, and some of my favorite moments in the book are when the surviving Sew and So’s are forced by the seemingly inept Sheriff to pair up and cohabit-ate for their own good.  The inevitable clashes of personality and lifestyle occur despite the life or death situation, and Jean does a stellar job of handling this believably and humorously.  Definitely a good read, plenty of suspects, and red herrings for any mystery lover!

And now, without further ado, here’s Jean to tell you a little more about her book and her tour!

Getting ready for your first book blog tour is both exciting and a little scarey. Lining up 15 hosts who are willing to host your blog is a mini nightmare during the Christmas shopping season, although buying books as gifts is a great idea. At least we writers think so.


I was lucky that everyone I asked agreed to host my tour and all have been very obliging, even when I asked some of them to interview my novel characters. That meant reading my book and getting acquainted with them. I have some unusual characters, so interviewing them could not have been all that easy.


For example:  Dana Logan and her friend Sarah Cafferty are widows living in a retirement village where their friends and club members are being murdered alphabetically. When the newly elected sheriff bungles the investigation, the two women decide to solve the murders themselves. Dana is a mystery novel buff and Sarah’s a private investigator’s widow.  Sarah’s a little flakey but Dana manages to maintain a cool head.


Marvin Wilson will be interviewing Sarah Cafferty on December 11 at his “Free Spirit” site and Dana will be interrogated by Beth Groundwater on December 6.


Sheriff Walter Grayson was a police dog trainer before he ran for sheriff and half his department quit when he took office. They accused him of running the sheriff’s department like a dog kennel.  Emma Larkins will be interviewing the sheriff at her site on December 5. 


Dana Logan’s beautiful daughter Kerrie is a journalist who not only lost her job but her fiancé, and shows up unexpectedly on Dana’s doorstep in the middle of the killing spree. Although she helps in the investigation she also becomes a potential victim. Vivian Zabel will be interviewing Kerrie on December 7 at her site.


Lillie Ammann  will be interviewing Micki Lagundos, a Portugese woman who lives in the village and is another potential victim. The sheriff has assigned every widow a buddy for protection, save one, and Micki’s partners keep turning up dead, so she feels as though she’s running a boarding house. You’ll  get to know her better after reading Lillie’s insightful questions.


The sheriff’s prime suspect is Pat Wilson, an alcoholic womanizer whose wife Betty was the second murder victim. Dana Logan and Sarah Cafferty think he murdered the other women to cover up his own wife’s death. On December 13, Holly Jahangiri will be interviewing Pat, if she can find him sober.
The rest of the tour will consist of interviews with me:  L.J. Sellers on December  3, as well as Angela Wilson  and Ron Berry on  December 8.  Ron will also write a book review the following day and Angela will run an excerpt of each of my latest books on December 9 and 10.


I’ll also contribute a few articles about writing for Helen Ginger, Charlotte Phillips, The Rule of Three (writers from the  British Isles, Australia and the U.S.) and Morgan Mandel at her Double M site.
Please join us on the tour. The entire schedule is available here.While you’re there, please sign my virtual guestbook and view my book trailer. Be sure to leave a comment at any of the above sites to be eligible for the three signed copies of my Village Shattered novel to be given away.


Thanks for stopping by and thanks to Dana for hosting my blog tour.

And thank you, Jean, for being my guest! 

*Note – I had to take the book trailer out as it unformatted my blog for anyone using Firefox – please check out Jean’s book trailer on her website, linked above!

21 thoughts on “And Today’s Guest at the Den is…”

  4. Lillie, I loved the senior sleuths (I’m 46) and related to them so much better than a lot of the 20 something heroines out there…

    Jean, my pleasure! Especially since I got to read the book for hosting you! 🙂

    Charlotte, I loved the trailer too and am very proud that I managed to get it on the post! Technology is NOT always my friend. 🙂

  5. This is obviously a very well thought out tour. I get soooooooooooo tired of those virtual tours that are just an endless string of “meet the author” interviews. Really enjoying reading “Shattered” and I’ll relish the opportunity to interview Sarah – she’s quite the character, Jean! (smile)

    Hey readers are going to be getting quite the treat the first half of December. My own tour with Owen Fiddler is almost a complete overlap with Jean’s, starts a couple days later and ends a couple days later, but it should shape up to a be a happy camper blogging time the next couple of weeks.

  6. What a great trailer! I have been wondering how one would make a book trailer and now that I’ve seen yours, I can imagine how it might work to do one for ours.

    Anyway, I’m enjoying following your tour. Hope you get lots of people. I will post your book trailer to some of my social network sites.

  7. I agree, Lillie. There aren’t enough books for seniors and, like the “Boston Legal” show last night, there aren’t enough TV shows either. I’m looking forward to your interview with my Portugese character, Micki, on Dec. 11.
    Thank you, Marv. I’m looking forward to your tour as well as your interview with Sarah Cafferty on the 10th. And thank you, Charlotte and Sharon. I’m glad you like the trailer. Reader Hook Productions does a great job on their trailers. I can give you the email addy, if you like,

  8. As a tour host, I can say that Jean definitely has her head in the right place when it comes to organizing tours! Which means, in some cases, taking names and kicking butts when her hosts slack off a little 🙂 I’m excited to learn more about the characters. Especially after A Village Shattered gave me nightmares… of which Jean is very proud of, by the way. I guess you can say you’ve done a good job when a book has that kind of effect! And yes, there was fog in my dream.

  9. Jean, what a great trailer! After viewing that, anyone shopping for a good mystery couldn’t help but want to read the book. The thing I loved best about your book is the quirky, yet realistic characters.

    I’m so proud of you! You’re doing a great job with your publicity campaign.

    Nadene

  10. Hi Jean,

    Great trailer – one of the best I have seen from authors. I love the book, too. It was a great read.

  14. Looks good to me, D.W. Thanks for dropping in.

    Thanks also Nadene and Joan for stopping by. It’s great to have my editor and fantasy editor from my publisher leave such nice comments.

    And L.J., I’m really looking forward to my visit at your site tomorrow.

  15. Links, links, we want LIVE links to all those places you’re going to visit. Good grief. LOL. I know there’s a tour schedule somewhere – now where did I put that, I wonder? Does anyone have Jean’s tour schedule? Hey! You back there, you got any links? This book sounds good and I wanna read the interviews….

    LOL.

    Dani
    http://quickest.blogbooktourguide.ever.com

  16. Emma, I still think you’re putting me on. I wouldn’t want to give anyone nightmares, but I hope you enjoyed the book. I look forward to visiting you on Friday, Dec. 5. Your site is one of my favorites.

    And thank you, again, Dana, for all your work in making me feel welcome. This was great fun!

  17. I have a question! Jean, every time I drive the 5 through the Valley (from LA to SF), I feel like I’m in a slightly surreal environment – I keep meaning to take the 99 just to check out some of the towns along the way. Is there a town your setting is based on or inspired by? In spite of the fact that I’m a California native, I don’t know this part of the state well at all, and I’m really curious about it.

  18. I’m also a California native, born in Hollywood. I lived in the San Joaquin Valley for a dozen years and placed my book just north of Modesto. But I don’t advise you take the 99 during the foggy season because it can be so opaque that you can lose your life in traffic. I’m not exaggerating.

  19. at least I know where not to drive in California now. Elders are often seen referring to others as so and so, thus the sew and so club is so fitting.

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