Tag Archives: mystery series

blog tour, Checking the Traps, launch

Taking this Baby on the Road

My new mystery, Checking the Traps officially launches Friday, March 22. Wow. Yes, the book has been available in paperback for weeks now, but this is the day those who ordered the Kindle version will see them pop into their device. Procrastinators and those who are just finding my book can get the eBook version right away.

Checking the Traps is the third book in my Isabel Long Mystery Series. No. 4 is in the works.

Unfortunately, with my new job (more another time) I can’t have a Facebook launch that day. I had a lot of fun engaging with family and friends, including running contests. Ah, but duty calls.

So what I will be doing is spreading the word via social media that day … and Checking the Traps will be going on an official blog tour via Rachel’s Random Resources. Rachel Gilbey has drawn together 30 bloggers for this tour — three a day for ten days, ending on March 31.

You can see the tour in the image above. Many of the bloggers will be doing reviews. Others will be posting blogs I wrote for them. Each one is on a different subject. Yes, I’ve been busy.

Plus, my fellow authors at Crooked Cat Books have been kind enough to give me space to post on their blogs. (Yes, they are the best friends I’ve never met.)

My intention is to cast a wide net to snare readers, who will read Checking the Traps, hopefully enjoy and recommend it.

I will be posting links to each one.

So, what’s Checking the Traps about? Here’s a brief synopsis:

Isabel Long is a bit banged up from her last case with a broken collarbone and her arm in a sling. But that doesn’t stop her from pouring beer at the Rooster Bar or taking her third case with Gary Beaumont, a local drug dealer who once terrorized her. Gary is convinced his brother didn’t jump off a bridge known for suicides. Somebody pushed him.

Gary’s brother was a boozer who drove for a highway crew. But what interests Isabel and her ‘Watson’ — her 93-year-old mother who lives with her — is that the man wrote poetry.

The chief suspects are one of Gary’s business associates and a famous poet who plagiarized his brother’s poetry for an award-winning book. Yes, he was that good.

As a journalist, Isabel did regular meetups with her sources for stories. She called it checking the traps. She does the same as a private investigator, and this time, she’ll make sure she doesn’t get caught in one.

I do have two readings scheduled in Western Massachusetts: April 13, 4 p.m. at the Worthington Library in Worthington and April 14, 2 p.m. at Floodwater Brewing in Shelburne Falls. Yes, beer and books. My son, Zack makes the beer and I write the books.

One last thing. If you read my book(s), I would love it if you wrote a review on Amazon. A one-liner will do it … “Joan Livingston kept me guessing until the end” or “Darn, I liked this book.”  Hey, even a two-word review would make me happy and give me more status on Amazon.

Review or not, I am grateful for those who have shown their support. Thank you so much!

 

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Checking the Traps, Isabel Long Series

Up Next: Checking the Traps

I have news for fans of my Isabel Long mysteries series. The launch of the third book — Checking the Traps — is getting closer. My publisher and I haven’t set a date yet, but expect an announcement in the next few weeks. Right now, I’m working with my editor on the final edits. A cover is in the works.

With two cases under her belt, Isabel Long is ready for her third. So, is her ‘Watson’ — her mother, Maria, who turns 93 in this book. Isabel is a bit banged up from her last case. I won’t reveal how it happened for those who haven’t caught up with the second, Redneck’s Revenge, but I will say her souvenir from that case is a broken collarbone. Isabel spends the entire third book with her arm bound up in a sling. Fortunately, she only needs one to pour beer at the Rooster Bar.

Then she gets an intriguing call from an unlikely person — Gary Beaumont. As you may recall from the second book, Gary and his brother, Larry, are drug dealers who terrorized Isabel. The brothers live in a dump of a house and have the manners of feral dogs. But for reasons I won’t divulge here, Isabel has grown fond of them.

Anyway, Gary wants Isabel to find out what happened to their half-brother, Cary. He doesn’t believe for a second that Cary jumped off a bridge in a neighboring town that is known for suicides. He is sure somebody murdered him.

Cary was a bit of a boozer who worked on a local highway crew. But what clinches it for Isabel is that he was a sensitive soul who wrote poetry in his spare time. The chief suspects are one of Gary’s business associates and a famous poet who plagiarized his brother’s poetry for an award-winning book. Yes, Cary was that good.

One of the reasons I so enjoy writing this series is that it gives me a great excuse to hold onto the characters I love. They have become dear to me even the bad guys. That certainly includes Gary and Larry.

So who else is back? Jack, the owner of the Rooster and Isabel’s guy, of course. So are Annette aka the Tough Cookie and Marsha aka the Floozy, plus the Old Farts, those snoopy old guys in the backroom of the general store. There are a few more.

Who’s new? The people Isabel interviews for this case, including the plagiarizing famous poet.

Over the next few months, I will be posting stories here and elsewhere about Checking the Traps. It’s all part of my concerted effort to get you all interested in Isabel Long’s next adventure.

P.S. I am currently working on the fourth. Isabel sure likes to get herself in trouble.

FIRST TWO BOOKS: Need to catch up with the series? Here are the links:

http://mybook.to/chasingthecase

http://mybook.to/rednecksrevenge

ABOUT THE PHOTO ABOVE: Lake Fitzgerald in Northampton, Mass., where were took a recent hike.

 

 

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