Author of the Week: Vicki Vass
This week we feature Vicki Vass! On September 13th, Vicki Vass held a book signing at Affordable Antiques in Naperville, IL. Her new book was announced on September 8th. Her first cozy mystery is Murder by the Spoonful: An Antique Hunters Mystery. Her newest book is Pickin' Murder: An Antique Hunters Mystery.
In Murder by the Spoonful, chemist Anne Hillstrom finds her Great Aunt Sybil dead on her living room floor. After calling the police, the scene looks like a robbery gone wrong. The police, however, are unable to tell if Aunt Sybil’s death was a crime or an accident. Her aunt’s death isn’t the only one Anne must deal with. When attending an estate sale for the deceased, lottery winner Tom Whitmore, she happens upon an antique spoon under Whitmore’s bed. Enlisting the help of her fellow antique hunter CC Muller, the women begin an investigation to find out what happened to Tim Whitmore. Along the way, they stop at yard sales, estate sales, and anywhere else they can search for antiques and possible clues about the spoon in the Great Lakes region. The women unknowingly come closer to the truth, eventually snooping too much for the killers liking.
Check out this excerpt and click the picture to read more!
“Sybil!” Anne called out, feeling the crunch of breaking glass under her feet. Family photos lay silent on the entryway tile floor looking back up at her.
“Sybil!” she called again, with increasing urgency.
There was no reply. Faded imprints of where the images had hung lined the narrow hallway walls. With every step Anne took, the ghostly remnants dabbed at the painting that was forming in her mind.
When she reached the living room, the painting was complete. Screaming, she took a step back, stumbled and fell to the floor, landing face to face with Great-Aunt Sybil.
In Vass’s newest book, Pickin’ Murder: An Antique Hunters Mystery, Anne Hillstrom and CC Muller are back, and they’ve witnessed the death of a rising country star, Dave Southwell. The police have determined his death as an accident, but CC has her doubts. They are commissioned to hunt down musical antiques in Nashville, and along the way they look for clues and find romance. That romance, however, is put on the back burner when the women’s snooping makes them a target for an unknown killer.
Check out this excerpt! Click the picture to read more.
"An turned a frustrated glance at CC. “That’s fascinating but I’m trying to watch Dave.” She turned her attention back to the stage, which was dark except for the halo spotlight over Dave’s head. The motorized light spun around to illuminate Dave as he started his solo. With his back to the audience, he held his Strat up against his Marshall stack and hammered and A power cord. The Marshall’s tubes glowed red hot, pushing their limits as the Celestion speakers filled the air. The crowd cheered. The halo spotlight swiveled, creaked, broke off, crashing down onto the young star’s head. He crumpled to the ground. The audience was silent for a moment, and then screams broke out."
Vicki Vass has written over 1,400 articles for the Chicago Tribune and other commercial publications like Women's World. Her science fiction novel, The Lexicon, draws on her experience in Sudan while writing about the ongoing civil war for World Relief. In her mysteries, she draws from her experience as an antique hunter to tell the story of her real life friends Anne and CC.
She lives in the Chicago area with her husband, writer and musician Brian Tedeschi, son Tony, Australian shepherd Bandit, kittens Terra and Pixel, seven koi and Gary the turtle.
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