Road Trip Reads Giveaway (Connecticut): Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass by Heather Day Gilbert

Posted July 8, 2023 by meezcarrie in contemporary, cozy mystery, giveaway, Heather Day Gilbert, mystery/suspense, Road Trip Reads Giveaway 2023 / 59 Comments

today’s book: Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass by Heather Day Gilbert

We are moving right along on our summer-long Road Trip Reads Giveaway where we will be visiting all 50 states on the pages of recently released books. Because road trips are always better with friends – and books – right? So grab your fave snacks, a cold soda or bottled water, an upbeat playlist and let’s head to the East Coast!!

today’s stop: Connecticut

Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass by Heather Day Gilbert

BELINDA BLAKE AND THE SNAKE IN THE GRASS by Heather Day Gilbert
SERIES: Exotic Pet-Sitter Mystery #1
GENRE: Cozy Mystery (Clean)
PUBLISHER: Woodhaven Press
RELEASE DATE: February 27, 2023 (2nd ed.)
PAGES: 284

When exotic pet-sitter Belinda Blake moves into a carriage house in tony Greenwich, Connecticut, she’s hoping to find some new clients. Instead she discovers a corpse in the garden—and a knack for solving murders…

Belinda doesn’t rattle easily, but move-in day has been eventful, to say the least. The python in her care tried to slither to freedom—just as she met Stone Carrington the fifth, her landlords’ disarmingly handsome son. With the constrictor back in its cage, she heads out to the garden, only to discover a designer shoe poking out of the boxwood hedge—and it’s attached to a woman’s dead body.

The victim was a Carrington family friend, and no one in their circle seems above suspicion. Between client trips to Manhattan and visits to her family in upstate New York, Belinda begins to put the pieces together. But even as she’s falling for Stone’s numerous charms, Belinda wonders if she’s cozying up to a killer. And soon, daily contact with a deadly reptile might be the least dangerous part of her life.

 

I stroked the glossy top of a nearby rhododendron leaf, glancing around. The carriage house was bordered by a small grassy plot, surrounded by well-kept flowerbeds that backed up to an old stone wall. Although the house secretary had told me I didn’t have to weed my flowerbeds, I had an itch to do just that. Flower gardening was a passion I’d developed as a teen in Upstate New York, where I had acres to experiment with color groupings and flowerbed styles. But today I’d have to settle for yanking those nuisance blackberry sprouts the gardeners had missed.

I ducked inside to grab my work gloves, then set about pulling the lemony-green, thorny weeds up from the roots. I had worked my way halfway down the bed when I noticed something tucked into the thick boxwood hedge that ran along the stone wall. The red sole on the heel gave me pause. Could it really be a Louboutin? And only one of them? Maybe some of these nouveau riche youth had wild parties outside and didn’t even notice when they lost such an expensive shoe. How very Gatsby.

I snickered. I wouldn’t know the difference between a nouveau riche and an established gent in this town. It hadn’t taken me long to realize that even though my family was well-respected in Larches Corner, New York, no one cared who I was in Greenwich, Connecticut.

I grabbed for the patent leather heel, but it took only a split-second for me to realize it was connected to something else. A tan foot.

And the foot was connected to a sleek, tan leg.

I dropped the heel like it was on fire, then stumbled backward onto the stone patio. I couldn’t make sense of what had just happened.

There was a body lying in my flowerbed.

Struggling to my feet, I didn’t take time to clear my head. I ran, willy-nilly, toward the manor house. I needed to let my wealthy landlords know there was a dead body in my back yard.

Heather Day Gilbert, Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass
Woodhaven Press © 2023. Used by permission.

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Check out the author’s Pinterest Board for this book!

Heather Day Gilbert

Heather Day Gilbert, a double finalist for the 2023 RWA Daphne du Maurier Award for Mystery/Suspense and 2-time ECPA Christy Award finalist, enjoys writing contemporary mysteries with unpredictable twists, much like the Agatha Christie books she read growing up. She also writes Viking historicals. Her novels feature small towns, family relationships, and women who aren’t afraid to protect those they love. Find out more at heatherdaygilbert.com.

Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass giveaway

Heather Day Gilbert is offering a print copy of Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass plus a Barks and Beans Cafe tumbler to one of my readers! (US only. 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.

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What about you? What makes you want to read Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass by Heather Day Gilbert? Have you ever visited Connecticut?

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59 responses to “Road Trip Reads Giveaway (Connecticut): Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass by Heather Day Gilbert”

  1. Lual Krautter

    Sounds like an interesting book, plus a new-to-me author. Don’t recall that I’ve traveled through Connecticut before. Would love to win a print copy! Thanks for the opportunity to enter a giveaway! God bless!

    Reply
  5. Nancy

    I would like to read Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass by Heather Day Gilbert because it sounds like a unique mystery. I have never visited Connecticut.

    Reply
  7. Anne

    The Snake in the Grass sounds intriguing and unique. What a treasure to enjoy. I have never visited Connecticut.

    Reply
  8. Stephanie H.

    This book sounds like a fun mystery story and I have been through Connecticut several times when I was younger.

    Reply
  9. Maryann

    I’ve heard good things about this series. We have a ferry in Port Jefferson, NY that goes across the Long Island Sound to Bridgeport, Connecticut. Mystic, Connecticut is a great place to visit also. Hymn writer Fanny Crosby spent some time in Connecticut.

    Reply
  10. Roxanne C.

    Definitely an interesting except… I would be more than second-guessing the plan of living in that carriage house.

    Reply
  11. Diana Hardt

    I have never visited Connecticut. It sounds like a really interesting book. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  12. Thomas Gibson

    I like having suspense and bit of horror without all of the devil stuff. This book fits the bill.

    Reply
  13. Amy Donahue

    I love cozies! They remind me of the Nancy Drew mysteries I loved so much growing up 🙂 I’ve been through Connecticut on the train as an adult and I’m pretty sure I was there as a child but that memory is vague.

    Reply
  20. Melissa Stands

    I have not ever visited Connecticut. I’ve read other books by Heather Gilbert, her barks and beans series is my favorite, and I’d love to read the exotic pet sitter series.

    Reply
  22. Becky W

    I loved the first book in her Murder in the Mountains series and would love to read more of her books now. I think we drove through Connecticut when I was young.

    Reply
  23. Leslie Price

    I love cozies, especially ones involving animals, so I can’t wait to read this. Growing up in New Hampshire made it easy to visit Connecticut many times in my life.

    Reply
  33. Betty Curran

    I’ve never visited but I have a goal of visiting the entire Northeast area at some time. The book sounds like a great cozy and that’s mt favorite genre.

    Reply

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