Absence of Alice and a Giveaway

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Victoria Hamel is the winner of Absence of Alice — look for an email from me!

I’m thrilled to be celebrating the release of the ninth Sarah Winston Garage Sale mystery, Absence of Alice. As I was thinking about writing this post, I started wondering about the number nine. After all cats have nine lives, babies are born in nine months (give or take a few weeks) but surely the number nine must have other significance.

Here’s a little of what I found.

Number 9 is an amazing number; if the number 9 is multiplied by any number of single-digit, after adding together the two digits of the product always get 9. For example: 9×3 = 27 = 2 + 7 = 9; 9×9 = 81 = 8 + 1 = 9; 9×5 = 45 = 4 + 5 = 9 and so forth.

The number nine is important in Norse mythology. The god Freyr was made to hold off on marrying Gerd for, you guessed it, nine days. When Odin hung himself from a branch of Yggdrasil, peering down into the dark waters beneath him, he stared downward for nine long nights, at the end of which he was permitted to see the secrets beneath.

There are many myths about nine maidens. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_maidens_(mythology)

Many ancient cultures regarded number nine as a symbol of perfection, unity, and freedom.

I wish I would have looked all this up before I wrote Absence of Alice because it might have been fun to incorporate some of this in the book. I was particularly struck by the idea of perfection, unity, and freedom.

Sarah is far from perfect and in Absence of Alice she is tested in a way she never has been. Sarah has always valued unity or loyalty to her friends be they old or new. She also is consumed with the concept of freedom since Stella her landlady and friend, has been kidnapped and it’s up to Sarah to free her.

Readers: Do you have a favorite number? I’ll give away a copy of Absence of Alice to someone who leaves a comment.

Absence of Alice:

For bargain hunter extraordinaire Sarah Winston, starting life over in Ellington, Massachusetts, has been a true trash-to-treasure success story, except when there’s a run on dead bodies…

Sarah’s latest client, Alice Krandle, is sure she has a fortune in antiques on her hands. She’s already gotten a generous offer for the whole lot before her garage sale has even begun, but she thinks she can earn more with Sarah’s expert help. The problem is that while Sarah’s sorting through items from decades past, her landlady, Stella, faces a clear and present danger.

Stella’s kidnapper has contacted Sarah with a set of instructions, and “Don’t call the police” is at the top of the list. But they didn’t say anything about Sarah’s friend Harriet–who happens to be a former F.B.I. hostage negotiator…

Signed copies are available at One More Page Books.

Published by Sherry Harris

Sherry Harris is the author of the Agatha Award nominated Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery series and the Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Mystery series.

91 Thoughts

  1. I’ve never been able to figure out why, but the number 7 seems magical to me.

    I would love to win Absence of Alice as I’m sure I would like it as much as the 8 previous books!

  2. 213 was the house number of the dwelling at which I spent the longest time of my childhood and it is also the number of the main highway between here and town.

  4. Happy release day! I’ve always been partial to the number eight, but I’m sure it’s not as magical as nine. I can’t wait to dive into the new adventure.

  5. Happy Book Birthday!!! Looking forward to reading book nine!!!
    I’d have to say number the number nine is special to me too. I got married on August 9th. We have been married 45 years now.

  6. I’m not sure I have a favorite number but if I must choose, then it would be “6”.

  7. Happy Book Birthday for “Absence of Alice”! On my TBR list and can’t wait to read it.

    Well, I use to say my favorite number was 3 because our family is made of of 3 – hubby, me and our little furbaby. However, I now say it’s 1. Not because I think of #1 first, but rather I love each ONE with all my heart and because the sum of all three of us equals ONE very happy family.

    Thank you for the awesome chance to win a copy! Shared and hoping to be the very fortunate one selected.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

  8. I have always been partial to the number 7, but I may have to switch to 9! I can’t wait to read Absence of Alice — I love this series! Thanks for the chance!

  10. Congrats on the release of Absence of Alice, Sherry! You have the best titles ever. I don’t really have a favorite number, but for my wife it’s 13. She was born on the 13th, so she considers it a lucky number!

  11. Happy book birthday! Can’t wait to read Absence of Alice.

    My number has always been 3 and my husband’s number 13 (go figure – he’s that kind of guy). There’s another thing to know about 9 though. If you are trying to balance your checkbook – or any financial document – and you come up with a discrepancy. See if you can evenly divide the discrepancy number by 9. If you can, you have a transposed number in your worksheet. Don’t know why it works, only know that it does!

  14. Just wondering every time I comment on this blog I get the message duplicate comment.Looks like you said this before Of course I have not .Do my comments still get entered. BTW love this series.

  15. Looking forward to reading this book win or no win. I like the number three. Mainly because things happen in three’s. Not always, but..

    Happy you have another garage sale mystery out. I used to watch the show below, but then main character got into some trouble.

    Thanks for the chance.
    Stay well!

    Garage Sale Mystery is an American/Canadian mystery film series starring Lori Loughlin as Jennifer Shannon. It is based on the garage sale mystery series books written by Suzi Weinert. Wikipedia

    1. I hope you love it! I know Suzi — we don’t live to far from each other. I met her after I’d written my first book but before the movie came out!

  16. I’ve always liked 7 because people say it’s lucky. That’s some really interesting info about 9 though. Thanks for the contest. The series sounds good.

  17. I don’t really have one number I like. But I like even numbers. Odd numbers bother me. Weird I know.

  18. 3 has always been my favorite number, starting with the song “We Three Kings…” when I was a child learning songs for choir. Forever since, there have been many other connections of 3s, with a sometimes unconscious, but mostly conscious, effort to arrange items in groups of three at the holidays.

    Congratulations on Book Launch Day! You’ll notice that ‘9’ is a multiple of 3s. 🙂

  19. I don’t think I have a favorite number. I’m more of a words person. Congratulations on the new release!

  22. My favorite number is 4. Not sure why exactly but it is a number that has repeatedly shown itself to me…

  24. I don’t really have a favorite number but I do like the number 13. Our daughter was born at 7:13 on a Friday the 13th

  26. I don’t really have a favorite number. If I did it would probably be either 11 or 56. I was born on 11/23/56, at 11:56 am, just in time for lunch. Using your addition theory I could just go with 11 because 5+6=11 So there you go, it’s 11! LOL

  27. No favorite number but I am so happy your series has made it to #9, I can’t wait to read it! Happy book birthday!

  28. Like others have commented I like even numbers, but I prefer reading to math any day or number of the week. I think when I came into the world I must have missed out on the talent for math. I barely made it through geometry…in my mind x was used for words like x-ray and y was best used for words like yellow or yell or yippee! 🙂

  29. Congratulations on your new release. I’ve always thought of 6 or 3 as my lucky number depending on my mood. It may change to 9 after reading your research. Looking forward to reading book #9.
    Happy New Year!

  30. Can’t wait to read this! My birthday is on the 11th so that is usually what I pick as my favorite number but I might pick another someday.

  31. Happy book birthday, Sherry! so excited for you! I loved hearing about the number 9. My lucky number is 22

  32. Congratulations on your new book Release! Your book sounds intriguing and I love the book cover. That is so very interesting about the #9 , thank you for sharing about it. My favorite # is 13, alot of people think it is bad luck especially if Friday happens to fall on the 13th. I was born on the 13th day of the month so that is why I consider it my favorite number and my lucky number. May you and your family have a Very Happy and Blessed New Year!

  34. The number three might have to be my favorite. In storytelling it’s the cornerstone to structure. I wonder why… It’s a recurring theme when I stop and think about.

  35. Seven is my favorite number. But the number three is magical. Three has a spiritual overlay & so, both numbers are significant for me.
    Kudos on book & continued writing success. @jkcosmos

  36. Number 8 is my favorite it is the day I was born on Feb. 8th and I was married on June 8th to my late husband. The Book looks amazing, Thanks for your great generosity.

  38. Sherry, does it help to win a copy if number 9 has always fascinated me because I knew about the examples you gave above? I have loved this series since it came out, and I would love to add this to my collection! Congrats to you on yet another addition to a wonderful series! Love and miss you my friend!! ❤️

  40. I really enjoyed your post because 9 is actually my lucky number! My birthday is 11/17. 7+1+1=9 9×1=9. My son’s birthday is 3/21. 3 squared=9 9×1=9. My dad’s birthday was 12/1/32. 1+2+1+3+2=9. My mom’s birthday is 9/22/34. (9×2) +(2+3+4)=18 +9= 27 2+7=9. I was married on the 27th. I am a cat woman and cats have 9 lives. I am a retired teacher and I worked 9 months of the year. I am a big SF Giants fan. Baseball has 9 innings. Congratulations on your book!

  43. It’s kind of funny, I do t really have a favorite number, although I like to eat things in even numbers…but if I had to pick I’d say 5 since that’s the number in my sweet little family.

  44. 7 I was born on the 7th my favorite number. I’d really enjoy reading your book. My youngest grandaughter is named Alice. Your title catches my eye. Thank you for the chance

  46. First, I’d like to say, Congratulations on #9! That’s wonderful!

    I always liked #7 but honestly I never had any “luck” related to it! But years ago, when I was 44 years old we were on my first casino trip to Atlantic City. In those days the slot machines had numbered printed on them that were easy to see and for a joke I always tried to sit at one with the number 44 on it! I didn’t win big or anything but never lost on a machine with 44 on it! Now I seem to like other matching double digit numbers of 22 and 77. Would love to find something “lucky” about #77 as I’ve been that age for 25 days now and no surprises yet! Perhaps a book win or two during #77! I’ll test that theory out starting today!! 😀
    Best of everything with book 10 and beyond!

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