It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (Reads) GIVEAWAY: Christmas Cloches and Corpses (+ guest post)

today’s book: Christmas Cloches and Corpses

Welcome to another post in my annual blog series spotlighting new and recently-released Christmas reads! (Over 50 this year – And I’m SO EXCITED about it!)

Christmas is only SIX DAYS away (wowza!) and I think we all could benefit from some extra Christmas cheer this year, right? Continuing through just before Christmas, I’m going to spotlight several new/recent Christmasy releases. So… snuggle in, grab your fave hot beverage and comfiest blanket, turn on some Christmas tunes and start your bookish Christmas list! Oh… and did I mention there are GIVEAWAYS with EACH POST in this series??!! (Because authors are awesome!)

Today’s next book is a cozy mystery with a fashionista ghost – plus author Gayle Leeson talks about feeling nostagic!

CHRISTMAS CLOCHES AND CORPSES
SERIES: A Ghostly Fashionista Mystery #3
GENRE: Paranormal Cozy Mystery
PUBLISHER: Grace Abraham Publishing
RELEASE DATE: November 13, 2020
PAGES: 314

Bodies are dropping like gumdrops off a gingerbread house!

Max’s nephew, Dwight, is in a nursing home; but instead of the holiday season being a time of goodwill, several of Dwight’s friends have died under mysterious circumstances.  Is the facility merely suffering a run of bad luck, or is there something sinister going on?

Either way, Max, the Ghostly Fashionista, is determined not to let her beloved nephew be the next victim and enlists Amanda to help keep an eye on him. But someone drugs the cake that Amanda gives Dwight, and Amanda is banned from visiting him again. It’s going to take a Christmas miracle for Amanda to clear her name and stay out of the killer’s line of fire…

affiliate links used

feeling nostalgic

by Gayle Leeson, author of Christmas Cloches and Corpses

In my Ghostly Fashionista series, I have a sassy ghost named Maxine “Max” Englebright who died in May of 1930. In the first book in the series, Designs on Murder, I wanted to add historic tidbits about the town of Abingdon, Virginia, where the story is set, to tie into Max’s life.

I started with the building. The series is set in a fictional structure called Shops on Main which houses small, independently owned shops. Shops on Main is based on the Greenway-Trigg building, constructed in 1964. When I worked in Abingdon, I used to enjoy taking my lunch hour to walk to Greenway-Trigg and visit the bookstore located there at the time. There was a bench swing on the large porch, and I’d sometimes spend the remainder of my break swinging while reading the book I’d bought.

For Christmas Cloches and Corpses, I researched songs that Max might have known while she was living. Since she was a native of Abingdon, I decided she’d likely be a fan of the 1927 Bristol Sessions. The recording sessions were conducted by Ralph Peer and said to be the birth of country music.

Also, for the current book, I had an inspiration and searched the Internet for an answer to the question, “Did Babe Ruth ever visit Bristol, Virginia?” Well, yes, he did! Not only did I quickly get my answer, but I also got a link to the newspaper article heralding the event (https://bit.ly/3lHGx5I). It just so happened that in the 1920s, Major League baseball players used to have exhibition games in some cities as they traveled by train north from spring training to open the season.

I find it fascinating to look back and see how our towns and cities have grown into what they are today. Things we might never have imagined, we can discover now through the wonder of the internet. I, for one, would never have thought that Babe Ruth and Al Capone spent time in our little corner of the world (Al Capone visited Johnson City); but a quick search can yield surprising answers and make you want to learn even more.

What historic or unusual things took place in your town/city? Comment below for an entry into our giveaway!

Gayle Leeson is a pseudonym for Gayle Trent. Gayle has also written as Amanda Lee. She is currently writing the Kinsey Falls chick-lit/women’s fiction series, the Down South Cafe cozy mystery series, and the Ghostly Fashionista cozy mystery series. Her book KILLER WEDDING CAKE won the Bronze Medal in the 20th Anniversary IPPY Awards. Gayle lives in Southwest Virginia with her family and enjoys hearing from readers.

website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Gayle Leeson is offering an ebook copy of Christmas Cloches and Corpses to one of my readers! (Open internationally but void where prohibited by law or logistics.) This giveaway is subject to Reading Is My SuperPower’s giveaway policies which can be found here. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What about you? What makes you want to read Christmas Cloches and Corpses by Gayle Leeson?