Unbroken

A Sleuth and a Dog Walk Into a Small Town with ACF Bookens

08.31.2020 - By Alexandra AmorPlay

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Attention dog lovers who also love mysteries. (Or mystery lovers who also love dogs.)

A few years ago, a dear friend read my romantic mystery and said she liked it, although she got tired of hearing about the dog in the story, which made me laugh. I LOVE DOGS! In fact, I've even got a series of children's middle grade novels where the main character is a dog. So it should be fairly obvious that I'm crazy for dogs and they're going to crop up in my writing. ;-)

ACF Bookens and I are cut from the same cloth that way. She loves dogs too, has one of her own, and in the excerpt from Publishable by Death, the first book in the St. Marin's cozy series that she reads to us, there are no less than four dogs mentioned. A writer after my own heart.

In the intro I also mention another podcast you might like called Mysteryrat's Maze. Episodes consist of mystery short stories, and first chapters of mystery novels, read by local actors. To listen to the episodes, and subscribe to the podcast, you can go to mysteryratsmaze.podbean.com, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and more. 

This week's mystery author

ACF Bookens lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with her dog Meander (the fictional Mayhem's inspiration) and her young son. She loves books almost more than people, and when she's not chasing a toddler or writing, she appreciates a good cross-stitch pattern and a British murder mystery on TV.

To learn more about ACF Bookens and all her books, visit her website.

Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher, Android, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, and Spotify.

Excerpt from Publishable by Death

It was a brisk March morning as I walked away from the cove toward Main Street in St. Marin’s, Maryland. In the shadow of the buildings, I was just beginning to see the tops of daffodils poking up their heads, but today, I tugged the hood of my long sweater up higher on my head and pulled the collar of my peacoat closed. Short hair was perfect for the warmer days – and for owning my ever-graying locks – but in these cold months, I sometimes missed my long ponytail. Spring was coming, but it didn’t feel much like it today. We’d had ice overnight, and while the temperature had gone above freezing already, the roads were still wet and ice clung to the edge of puddles.

Still, I practically skipped down the sidewalk, even though skipping isn’t always that flattering on a slightly plump forty-four-ye...

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