Paint Can Kill

April 12, 2024

Paint Can Kill

Paint Can Kill: Cara Mia Delgatto Mystery Series
by Joanna Campbell Slan

About Paint Can Kill

Paint Can Kill: Cara Mia Delgatto Mystery Series
Cozy Mystery
9th in Series
Setting – Hobe Sound, FL
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Spot On Publishing (December 15, 2023)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 252 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8870813547
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CLYY79CV

It’s raining outside, and it’s raining inside. Hey, that’s Florida. But as sassy entrepreneur Cara Mia Delgatto watches a van full of Highwayman paintings walk out the front door of The Treasure Chest–because the collection’s owner is taking them back–she’s crying on the inside all the way to the bank. There will be no quick fix for this. Instead Cara focuses on an outstanding bill. When she visits the wealthy woman who has stiffed her, Cara stumbles over another stiff, a dead body. With multiple crisises in her business life, Cara grieves the loss of her live-in love and her rescue Chihuahua. The man and the dog have left a huge hole in her heart. Will Cara survive all these losses?

Cara Mia Delgatto Mystery Series is a clean read
Features a female amateur sleuth and her friends
Includes Florida lore and history
Shares ideas for upcycling, recycling, and repurposing
Celebrates friends, family, and fur babies

About Joanna Campbell Slan

Joanna is a New York Times Bestselling, USA Today Bestselling, and Amazon Bestselling author as well as a woman prone to frequent bursts of crafting frenzy, leaving her with burns from her hot glue gun and paint on her clothes. And the mess? Let’s not even go there.

Otherwise, Joanna’s a productive author with more than 80 written projects to her credit. Her non-fiction work includes how to books, a college textbook for public speakers, and books of personal essays (think Chicken Soup for the Soul).

Currently, she writes six fiction series: The Kiki Lowenstein Mystery Series (Agatha Award Finalist, contemporary, St. Louis setting, crafting), the Cara Mia Delgatto Mystery Series (contemporary, Florida setting, DIY, and recycling), the Jane Eyre Chronicles (Daphne du Maurier Award Winner, 1830s England, based on Charlotte Brontë’s classic), the Sherlock Holmes Fantasy Thrillers (late 1800s, based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s books), the Tai Chi Mystery Series (featuring a mature female amateur sleuth!) and the Friday Night Mystery Series (set in Decatur, IL in 1986 with a spunky female heroine.)

A former TV talk show host, college teacher, and public relations specialist, Joanna was one of the early Chicken Soup for the Soul contributors. She won a Silver Anvil for her work on the original FarmAid concert to benefit farmers.

In her ongoing quest never to see snow again, Joanna lives with her husband and their Havanese puppy, Jax, on an island off the coast of Florida. You can email her at jcslan@joannaslan.com or visit her website at https://linktr.ee/jcslan

Q&A With the Author:

What was your inspiration for writing this book?
Two friends of mine who are professional painters. They planned to get married, but Covid got in the way. One of them died after contracting the virus. I hope I never forget him as he was a wonderful friend to me.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
Like a lot of authors, I love doing research. Talking to the surviving painter gave me insight into the numerous murals that adorn buildings on the Treasure Coast, a strip of coastal Florida. I haven’t worked up the courage to try to paint a mural, but I’d like to! (I love crafting.)

Do you have any other books you are working on that you can tell us about?
Yes, to write this post, I’m taking a break from a new series called Sweetgrass. It’s set in the Low Country, the marshy coast near Charleston, SC. I’m drawing on my personal history and the history of the area. There’s also an angel involved, so that’s new for me as an author. I hope I get this right!

Can you tell us about what you have planned for the future?
Yes, the book is called Sweetgrass, and I suspect it will be a trilogy because it’s much longer than I’d planned. I also have a new book planned for the Cara Mia Delgatto Mystery Series, the series that includes Paint Can Kill. The new book will be named Pick of the Litter. The little dog that Cara rescues in Paint Can Kill causes her all sorts of trouble, and Cara’s romantic life picks up steam. I’m looking forward to it!

Anything more you would like to say to your readers and fans?
I am grateful for all of you. You keep me going when times get tough. Thank you for giving my books a chance!
If you’d like to follow along as I write, I invite you to view Sweetgrass here: https://reamstories.com/joannaslan
If you’d like inspiration for your own writing and news about contests, freebies and the like, you can follow me here: https://joannacampbellslan.substack.com/