Spunky Author Duffy Brown Does Mystery Parties

All my life I thought launch was what those really smart rocket science people do to get something into space and never in all those years did I expect to be involved. Yet here I am dong a launch of my very own. Not that I’m putting a rocket in space...though right now that seems like a snap...but I’m launching a book.

What do you mean launch, I asked. The book comes out on a specific day, booksellers, B&N and Amazon put it up for sale, end of story. Done.

To launch my first cozy mystery, Iced Chiffon, I though it would be fun to do something different. I’ll have a mystery party at my house, I decided! I have the house, I like parties. A match made in heaven.

Sixty is a nice number and I can just buy one of those inter-active mystery party things online. Piece of cake.

You can see where this is going, can’t you. Murphy’s Law on steroids.

First off there are no mystery parties online for sixty that has everyone involved all the time. That means I have to write the mystery. And if people are coming to my house I have to feed them and drink them.

Thirty years ago I decided I wanted kids and my husband went along with it. That gave me four waiters and barkeeps for my party. It took me a week to write the party with characters and clues.

A few things I discovered along the way. The most important is the more alcohol, the better the party and my ability to write the mystery. The second is that your friends are there for fun more than finding out who-done-it. And did I mention the alcohol?

The theme was Roaring 20’s and Duffy’s Speakeasy. Lots of decorations online to buy and an easy theme

to dress in costume for and did I mention the alcohol? I divided the guests into families...Manicotti family, Ravioli family...you get the picture. I think I did this at night when hungry. Working in families made everyone pull their info and come up with the killer.

I’ve had three parties now and each time it gets better. If you’re a mystery author it’s a great gig...do it. If you’re a mystery reader get invited to one. If I do party four I’ll let you know. I’d love to have one at the Cincinnati conservatory with a Clue theme. You know, Miss Scarlett in the conservatory with the candlestick. That’s my dream. I’ll let you know when the invites go out.

So…what is the best party you’ve been to? What makes a party special? Got any suggestions if we go to the Conservatory? 

 I'll give away two Killer in Crinoline totes from the answers.

When Reagan Summerside is asked to make an emergency bowtie delivery to Magnolia Plantation for a wedding, she finds the groom face-down in five-tiers of icing and fondant, a cake knife in his back and her good friend and local UPS driver accused of the murder. Can Reagan find the real killer without winding up in the local swamp as alligator meat? Will Walker Boone, pain-in-the ass attorney and once-upon-a-time gang member, help her out or feed her to the alligators himself?

**Facedown in five-tiers of icing and fondant a dead groom leads to wedding chaos for the bride, the bff and the hotshot attorney. 

Duffy Brown

Berkley Prime Crime

Consignment: Murder series

-Iced Chiffon  Oct, '12

-Killer in Crinolines May '13

www.DuffyBrown.com

Spunky Author Duffy Brown Gets Inspired by Consignment Shopping

     Duffy Brown loves anything with a mystery. While others girls dreamed of dating Brad Pitt, Duffy longed to take Sherlock Holmes to the prom. 

Spooky

Dr. Watson

     

     

     She has two cats, Spooky and Dr. Watson, and conjures up who-done-it stories of her very own for Berkley Prime Crime. Iced Chiffon, out October, 2012, is the first in the Consignment Shop Mystery series. Duffy writes romance as Dianne Castell and is a USA Today bestselling author.

And Now, Here's What Duffy has to say about her Consignment Shop Inspiration:

      When I decided to follow my dream and write mysteries I went with the old adage of write what you know and love. Killing off my kids and husband in books didn’t seem like a good idea...though there are times when it was very tempting so instead I went with my job and favorite vacation spot. I adore Savannah, Georgia, and I work in an upscale consignment shop. That’s how the series Consignment Shop mysteries got started.

     Consignment shopping is the fun of wearing designer clothes on the cheap. I could never afford a Coach handbag or an Armani jacket but I do love the expensive look and great quality. Most of all I love bragging to my friends how much I paid! The conversation goes something like, “Oh, isn’t that a great Kate Spade purse.” And my reply is, “I got it at the Snooty Fox for forty bucks!” instead of the usual three-hundred and fifty!

     For years I shopped consignment stores then decided I needed to work at the Snooty Fox since I was there all the time looking for deals. My kids were some of the best-dressed on campus and I did it for K-Mart prices.

     Don’t you love the name Snooty Fox! The Snoot is an upscale consignment shop. How many times have you bought something, wore it once, decided it wasn’t your color or didn’t fit the way you liked and you were stuck with it? Well, that’s where the Snooty Fox comes in. You can sell your green plaid jacket that you just had to have but then decided you hated at the Snoot. There is a customer out there who will love that jacket and pay you good money for it.

     How this works is that you open an account and hand over your clothes. The Snoot chooses which clothes they will take...it’s called Snooty for a reason, we only take the good stuff. The clothes must be cleaned, pressed, on a hanger, gently worn, in very good condition, and within a two-year style period. The price is a third to a fourth of retail and you get half of that when the item sells. Not a bad deal for something hanging in the back of your closet that you’re never going to wear again!  

     Consignment shopping is a lot like solving a mystery. It’s all about the hunt for the perfect scarf, skirt or shoes. I think that’s why the Consignment Shop mysteries seemed like a perfect fit. The hunt is on!

     I’m always amazed at where someone’s hobby or special interest leads them. I have a friend who loves to paint and is now doing murals on nursery room walls. Another friend loves to dance, took lessons and met her future husband at an Arthur Murray studio.

    

    So what about you and your hobbies or special interests? Did you meet a best friend? Your mate? Visit a new place? Get an award for perfecting your hobby or even teach a class on it?

     Hobbies enriched our lives and often take us to places we never expected...like a murder mystery series. Who would have thought.

I’ll give away two Iced Chiffon totes from the answers. Please leave your email address so you can be contacted.

About Iced Chiffon:

To pay for rehabbing the dilapidated Victorian house she loves, Reagan Summerside opens the Prissy Fox consignment shop on the first floor and gets involved in the lives of her Savannah customers, neighbors, ex husband and the attorney who screwed her over in the divorce.

  

Murder and mayhem at the consignment shop for the ex, his Cupcake and the badass attorney 

Amazon Link: http://amzn.com/0425251608

Barnes and Noble:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/iced-chiffon-duffy-brown/1108799465?ean=9780425251607

Happy Reading.

Duffy Brown

Berkley Prime Crime

DuffyBrown@DuffyBrown.com

http://www.DuffyBrown.com

Mystery and Mayhem for Fun and Profit