Murder Served Neat

March 02, 2023

Murder Served Neat

Murder Served Neat (A Cocktails and Catering Mystery)
by Michelle Hillen Klump

About Murder Served Neat

Murder Served Neat (A Cocktails and Catering Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Texas
Crooked Lane Books (February 21, 2023)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1639102345
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1639102341
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09ZRLRFB4

Reporter-turned-mixologist Samantha Warren has already thwarted one murder. Now, her world is shaken—definitely not stirred—once again as another killing throws her world into chaos.

Samantha is mixing up traditional cocktails at the German Texan Lodge’s Fourth of July festival—a gig she was roped into by her mother. But amidst the bratwurst and brass bands, trouble is brewing. Lodge loyalties are divided over a proposal to build a private, country-club-style tennis center on the lodge grounds. Her mom’s best friend Patty Davis is vehemently opposed to the plan. Society matron Angela Clawson is all for it. At the festival, they’re seen in a heated argument—and hours later, Angela is found dead, killed by one of the ceremonial shovels intended for the groundbreaking.

Samantha’s mother begs her to help clear her best friend’s name, but can she handle another murder case or will the whole investigation go bottoms up?

About Michelle Hillen Klump

Michelle Hillen Klump began her writing career as a newspaper reporter, traveling the back roads of central Texas and Arkansas, reporting on everything from natural disasters to crime and corruption. She’s interviewed former presidents, covered a midnight manhunt through the Ozark Mountains, and learned the finer points of how to break a car window from a looter while covering a hurricane. Now, she uses her experiences as fodder for fiction, writing a cozy mystery series about a former reporter turned craft cocktail caterer.

Michelle lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and young daughter. When she’s not writing or working her day job, she enjoys gardening, reading, exploring Houston’s neighborhoods, hiking and biking, and creating craft cocktails for friends and family.

Q&A With the Author

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

This book was so much fun to write. I had a general idea about a feud between members of a heritage society, but I wasn’t sure exactly how to pull the mystery off. I spent a lot of time playing around with different ideas until I finally found the one that worked the best with the story I wanted to tell. My favorite part of writing mysteries is puzzling out the opportunity and the motives for suspects and figuring out where to place red herrings to throw the reader off track. I’m not big on outlining. I had a bare-bones synopsis for this story, but I really like to flesh out all of the details while I’m writing. It can be a bit of a challenge sometimes, and I’ve been known to write myself into a corner, but my favorite part has always been finding my way back out.

Do you have any other books you are working on that you can tell us about?

I am working on something a little bit different right now. It is still in the crime fiction genre, but it’s a bit of a leap outside my cozy comfort zone, so it’s been fun to play around with that. I’m still a little too early in the process to share many details, but I hope readers will find it interesting.

Can you tell us about what you have planned for the future?

I plan to keep writing and keep exploring different aspects of the mystery genre. Mysteries and thrillers have always been my favorite genre to read, and I hope to continue creating stories that help me connect with readers in the future.

How long have you been writing?

I’m a career journalist, so I have been writing professionally in one way or another for my whole life. I started writing my first novel in my twenties, when I was inspired by a particularly awful murder case I’d covered for the newspaper I was working at the time. Life got in the way, and I never finished that novel. When I turned 39 or 40, I wrote the first novel that I actually completed, but it was a hot mess and I shoved it into a drawer, where it still sits to this day. I wrote my first published novel, A DASH OF DEATH, in 2019, just before the pandemic began.

Anything more you would like to say to your readers and fans?

Thank you for reading my books! Whether you request them at the library, listen to the audiobook, or buy the hard copy, I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read one of my books. I started writing, hoping to make connections with readers, and that has been my greatest joy throughout this whole experience.

Author Links

Webpage https://michelleklump.com/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMichelleKlump/

Twitter https://twitter.com/mh_klump

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21600853.Michelle_Hillen_Klump

GoodReads Book Link https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60729835-murder-served-neat

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/michelle.h.klump/?hl=en

Purchase Links – Amazon – Barnes & Noble – IndieBound –

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