Welcome Guest Emily George

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Edith/Maddie here, in a month that doesn’t know what to do with its own weather.

The Wicked Authors are multi-published many times over by now, but we all started somewhere. I’m delighted to welcome Australian-Canadian Emily George to the blog with A Half-Baked Murder, her debut cozy mystery!

The book came out two weeks ago. Get a whiff of this fabulous blurb:

Formally trained pastry chef Chloe Barnes is opening a cannabis bakery. That’s not at all what the twenty-eight-year-old envisioned while living the dream in Paris with a hot fiancé and a Michelin star restaurant gig around the corner. But the rising “it girl” of choux puffs rethinks everything after a scathing food review and humiliating breakup make her long for home in sunny California. When her beloved grandmother falls ill, Chloe returns to quaint Azalea Bay to start over in the most satisfying way possible—concocting delicious edibles with her quirky Aunt Dawn.

Combining French luxury and THC, Baked by Chloe will take pot brownies to another level. That is, until a creepy past acquaintance rehashes old drama and shockingly turns up dead—landing Aunt Dawn as the number one murder suspect. Now, alongside her closest confidants, a stunned Chloe must alternate between budding entrepreneur and amateur sleuth to clear her aunt’s name, open the best bakery in town, and weed out the real culprit from a list of unsettling suspects!

Take it away, Emily!

I’m extremely lucky to have been surrounded by many amazing women in my life, so it’s no surprise I gravitate to writing characters with an army of smart, quirky, confident, and loving women in their lives, too! And what better genre is there for showcasing all these great women than cosy mysteries?

My debut cosy mystery features sleuth and baker Chloe Barnes whipping up some very “special” treats while solving crimes in her local hometown with the help of her bohemian Aunt Dawn and sassy Grandma Rose. So, I thought I might share some of the inspirations behind Grandma Rose in particular, because she was heavily inspired by my own grandmother.

In fact, Grandma Rose’s name was taken from my grandmother’s favourite flowers, which were always blooming in her front garden. They share an affinity for gardening and flowers, always wanting to bring a little colour to their streets. Both women have a fierce sense of family and an unshakable inner strength, having lost husbands in their fifties, and they have decades worth of hilarious stories about how they were clever enough to pull tricks on the people around them. They’re both mischievous and young at heart.

In A Half-Baked Murder we see that Grandma Rose has a huge weakness for animals, particularly dogs, when she and Chloe adopt an adorable little Chihuahua named Antonio. My own grandmother was a dog person, too. You could always find her sitting in her chair and reading with her dog, Lady, curled up by her feet.

Like my own grandmother, Grandma Rose is whip smart! She and her friends have a bi-weekly cards night (Euchre is the game of choice) and they take no prisoners. If you want to play with their crew, then you’d better be prepared to lose some coin.

Another area that I pulled inspiration from is that Grandma Rose is currently dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis. This is something that both my own grandmother (and my mother) experienced, and while it might seem a serious topic for a cosy mystery I really wanted to show how women band together to care for one another in tough times—like Chloe does in returning home to Grandma Rose, and how my own family did, not once but twice. Family is super important to me and it’s also integral to A Half-Baked Murder, especially since Chloe’s aunt is the number one suspect!

A Half-Baked Murder is a story with loads of heart. If you love a twisty murder mystery plot with a fun cast of characters, adorable small-town setting and lots of heartfelt relationships, then I hope you’ll take a chance on my debut cosy mystery. Huge thanks to the Wicked Authors for letting me chat to you all today.

Readers: Who is the person who has inspired you most in your life? I’ll give away a signed print copy (advanced reader edition) of A Half-Baked Murder (open to US and Canada only).

Emily George is an Australian author who writes modern murder mysteries. Like her sleuths, she’s an elder Millennial who grew up on a steady diet of late 90’s romantic comedies, Spice Girls songs and Babysitter’s Club books. When she’s not figuring out creative ways to kill people (fictionally, of course) she enjoys knitting, baking, playing video games, and listening to true crime podcasts.  She resides in Canada with her husband.

Website: https://www.emily-george.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083181023724

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stefanielondon/ (this is the correct link, I have both pen names under one profile)

Buy links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Half-Baked-Murder-Emily-George-ebook/dp/B0B358Z4FN/

International & other retailers: https://www.emily-george.com/a-halfbaked-murder

Published by Edith Maxwell

Agatha Award -winning author Edith Maxwell writes the historical Quaker Midwife Mysteries (Beyond the Page) and short crime fiction. As Maddie Day she writes the Dot and Amelia Mysteries, the Country Store Mysteries series, the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, and the Cece Barton Mysteries (all from Kensington Publishing). She lives north of Boston in an antique house with her beau and cat Martin, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook.

33 Thoughts

  2. My Dad was my inspiration. He instilled in us a love of family, to save for your future and lots of yummy recipes. Mom did too. Thank you for this chance at your giveaway. pgenest57 at aol dot com

  4. Excited about your new series. I know i’ll Also be drooling over the goodies. My Mom was a WWII bride. After the wars, she went on to raise four children, basically by herself. Dad’s work involved a lot of travel.

  5. My Mom was my biggest inspiration for sure. My Dad was a career Army man, which in turn turned my Mom into a career Army woman. She had to take over both mother and father roles and do things that at the time weren’t “women’s work” every time Dad was deployed. She continued to maintain the home spotlessly, cooked delicious home cooked meals when pre-made or microwavable foods were non-existent, did the laundry, which at the time meant hanging them up and ironing everything because there was no perma press material, and tended to all our needs. At the same time, she mowed the yard, made sure the car was in working condition (even learned how to drive by herself during one of the deployments), paid the bills, shopped for anything needed – or anything considered “men’s work”. She never complained even though her day started way before we got up and never ended until way after we went to bed. She taught me the never give up attitude and that there’s nothing you can’t do if you put your mind to it.

    Love meeting new to me authors. Hello, Emily – good to meet you! I’ve already liked you on Facebook and followed you on Amazon and Goodreads. I’ve added ” A Half-Baked Murder” to my Goodreads TBR list and I can’t wait to dive into this fabulous sounding book. Love that Grandma Rose is based after your Grandmother.

    Shared and hoping to be the very fortunate one selected. I would love the opportunity to read and review it.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

    1. Your mother sounds like a really special woman and I love those life lessons she taught you. So important! Lovely to meet you 🙂

  7. Congratulations on your new book! Loved reading your story about your grandmother. Your book sounds so fun!
    My inspiration would be my mother. She was such a strong and loving woman.

  8. Welcome to the blog and congratulations on your first book! It is such an exciting time and I loved reading about your Grandma Rose!

  9. Congratulations on your debut! What a great inspiration you had.

    So many people inspired me in so many different ways, but if I had to pick one – it would Sr. Marie-Therese. She stepped into my life at a time when I really needed it (those angsty teen years) and gave me the confidence and courage to follow my dreams.

    1. Thank you so much! And thanks for sharing your inspiration, sometimes the right people appear at just the right moment 🙂

    1. Big time congratulations on your debut, Emily! My wife is my inspiration. She works in a prenatal clinic, is a breast cancer survivor, and is an amazing mom to our two adult kiddos. Cheers!

    2. Thank you so much Barbara! I have been a huge cozy mystery fan for years, so it’s a massive thrill to write one 🙂

  11. There have been a lot of people who have inspired me through the years. Because you asked who inspired me for MOST of my life, I will have to say that it was both of my older sisters. Both of them inspired me at different times and for different situations. They are very unlike each other, but the one thing that they have in common is that they love me!

  12. What a unique subject for a cozy mystery series. The cover is very eye-catching. And I love the photo of your grandmother!

    1. Thank you so much, Karen! I’m so glad you love the cover and the picture of my grandmother, she was a very special woman.

  14. My Dad was my inspiration. He instilled in me a good work ethic and to treat people with respect. Congratulations on your new release, looking forward to reading the book.

    2. My dad was my inspiration. He taught me to always be kind and respect others.

      Thanks for the chance! Your book looks so good!

  15. My mom was my inspiration. Growing up she was the example of a loving and supportive wife and mother that I wanted to aspire to be in the future.

  16. My Mom has always been the biggest inspiration in my life. She went into the arms of the Lord on January 16. It leaves a void in my life, but I am blessed that I have the many memories of all she has taught me throughout my life. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.

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