Author of the Week: Steve Shrott

Happy Labor Day everyone! This week, Cozy Cat Press presents Steve Shrott! His two cozy mysteries are Audition for Death: A Joshua McLintock Mystery and Dead Men Don't Get Married. 

In Audition for Death: A Joshua McLintock Mystery, Joshua McLintock is an optimistic actor obsessed with his career. He’s no A-list celeb though, as his last role was playing bad breath in a mouthwash commercial. He’s appeared in numerous films and stage productions, but mostly as a dead body. His life is turned upside down when he becomes the prime suspect in a murder case. Joshua would rush to clear his name if it weren’t for an upcoming audition, so he decides he can straighten things out by tracking the real killer down, himself. His investigation gets a little too close to the truth, and his ex wife Randy is captured by a secret organization, and Joshua realizes there are more important things than career. Attempting to rescue her, Joshua has deadly consequences awaiting him and the rest of the world’s actors. Joshua may run the risk of becoming a dead body, instead of playing one.

Check out this excerpt! Click the picture to read more! 

“I found another name that hit me right in the cajonies. I dialed. “Hello. Is Mr. Wallace Greg there?”
“This is Greg”
“How are you on this fine spring morning?”
“Okay”
“Today Mr. Greg, we’re offering a free subscription to Time magazine. How does that sound?”
“Terrific”
“Well, of course, you have to qualify first.”
“Oh?” His voice was a mixture of anticipation and puzzlement. I’d struck pay dirt.
“Just a few short questions. Do you own your own home?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you earn $10 to 20,000, 20,000 to 40,000 or over 50,000 a year?”
“Twenty to forty.”
“Great. Now to get your free subscription to Time, all you have to do is order a year’s subscription to People or Sports Illustrated. Isn’t that easy?”
I waited for his response but didn’t hear any. Suddenly, there was a fire-cracker sound and a loud thump.
"I've been shot."

Dead Men Don’t Get Married follows dentist and part-time private investigator, Arnie Katz. His ex-girlfriend, Debbie, has been stood up at the altar, but the groom is dead; a good reason to miss a wedding. Debbie believes her would-be husband, Mickey, has been murdered, and she wants Arnie to find out who did it. Reluctantly, Arnie takes the case, but soon finds out he’s dealing with two warring families and a maniac who is killing local orthodontists. To top it all off, Debbie has been arrested for murder. He must pull out all of the stops to find out why Dead Men Don’t Get Married. 

Check out this excerpt! Click the cover to read more!

“As I looked at the platform where the wedding was going to take place, I realized the adult thing would be to realize it was over between Debbie and me. Of course, no one said I was an adult.
While Tanya and I waited for the service to begin, a croaky voice to my left whispered my name. I turned and started into the moon-like face of an usher standing beside me. He seemed nice—if you like big, burly, bald men who speak out of one side of their mouths.
“Come with me.”
“Where?” I asked, staring at his meat-hook hands that looked to be the size of roast chickens.
“Someone wants to see you.”
“I don’t go if I don’t know where I’m going. You could be an alien taking me to the Planet Ripula to be probed.”

Steve Shrott has been published in many print and online magazines. Appearing in ten anthologies, he won The Joe Jonrath Short Story Contest in 2006. Shrott also writes comedy, and much of his material has been used by well known performers on stage and on screen (Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller! How cool!). He has also written a book on how to create humor and teaches comedic writing in schools.

Shrott also has his own website, where he runs a blog and talks about his books. Joyce Oroz, one of our previous authors of the week held an interview with him. You can find it on her website.