Picked Off (A Brie Hooker Mystery)
by Linda Lovely
About the Book
Picked Off (A Brie Hooker Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting - South Carolina
Henery Press (June 5, 2018)
Hardcover - 270 Pages
ISBN: 9781635113457
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9781635113426
Digital ASIN: B07B9K3FJ9
It’s been seven months since Brie Hooker, a vegan, moved to Udderly Kidding Dairy to live with her feisty Aunt Eva, a confirmed carnivore.
But tonight there’ll be no family feud over dinner entrees.
Udderly’s hosting a campaign fundraiser for Eva’s best friend, who hopes to be South Carolina’s next governor. The candidate’s son, a pro quarterback, is flying home for the wingding. And Brie’s eager to get a close-up view of the cute tush she’s admired on TV, even though she’s reluctantly sworn off even more tempting local beefcake.
The campaign fundraiser promises to be a huge success until a pitchfork attack turns the goat farm into a crime scene—again.
To protect her friends, Brie puts her sleuthing skills to work. Will she live long enough to find out who’s behind a vicious assault, a kidnapping, blackmail, and murder?
About the Author
Linda Lovely finds writing pure fiction isn’t a huge stretch given the years she’s spent penning PR and ad copy. Linda writes a blend of mystery and humor, chuckling as she plots to “disappear” the types of characters who most annoy her. Quite satisfying, plus there’s no need to pester relatives for bail. Her newest series offers goodnatured salutes to both her vegan family doctor and her cheese-addicted kin. She’s an enthusiastic Sisters in Crime member and helps organize the popular Writers’ Police Academy. When not writing or reading, Linda takes long walks with her husband, swims, gardens, and plays tennis.
Author Links
Website: www.lindalovely.com
Blog: http://lindalovelyauthor.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaLovelyAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LovelyAuthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4884053.Linda_Lovely
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authorlovely/
Purchase Links
Amazon B&N
Interview with Linda Lovely:
Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?
Both. Sometimes my characters seem to whisper suggestions to me as I’m typing about what should come next or how they’d really react/respond to a given situation or comment. But I do have the power to edit! If my characters, especially the ones who think they’re comics, hijack the story for too long with their dialogue or antics, I’ll revise their funny sidetrack to keep the plot moving.
Convince us why you feel your book is a must read.
With the Brie Hooker Mysteries, I try to deliver novels that explore how ordinary people can triumph as they come into contact with criminals, who often believe their actions are justified by personal grievances or changes that they oppose. While the books are seasoned with humor and exclude gore and explicit sexual scenes, I try to ensure there’s plenty of danger and thrills to keep readers turning pages. I also think the topics explored are meaty enough to provoke ample book club discussion. Examples include unplanned development, environmental issues, media abuse, land scams, homegrown terrorist organizations and intolerance for opposing viewpoints.
Have you written any other books that are not published?
No. PICKED OFF is the second book in the Brie Hooker Mystery series, and I’m working on the third series title now. I’ve written and published a total of 7 books. In addition to my current humorous mystery series, I’ve published: LIES, Secrets Can Kill, a standalone historical romantic suspense set in 1938; DEAR KILLER and NO WAKE ZONE, entries in the traditional Marley Clark Mystery series, and DEAD LINE and DEAD HUNT, titles in the Smart Women, Dumb Luck romantic suspense series.
Pen or typewriter or computer?
I was a journalism major and started my career (eons ago) on a standard typewriter. I was thrilled to advance to an IBM Correcting Selectric and then move up to my first computer, a 64K wonder from Xerox that cost about $10,000. Boy, have things changed. Can’t imagine going back to pre-digital days without the ability to cut, paste, shuffle, edit on the fly, and do global search and replace. However, I do carry pen and paper with me almost everywhere I go in case I want to make notes.
Anything you would like to say to your readers and fans?
After spending decades writing feature articles, newsletters and ad copy for clients, I’m researching and writing what I want. What fun! It’s also quite satisfying to kill off on paper some of the more annoying idiots I’ve encountered over the years. While I’ve changed their names, appearances, ages, backgrounds, and sometimes even their genders, their personalities remain intact and I know who they are. Very therapeutic. I also enjoy knowing that justice will be served at the end of my novel. I’m an optimist and I want to give my readers—as well as myself—smiles and a sense of hope when they turn the last page.
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She never should have come here. Twice a week, Lily Moore comes to work for me, stealing my breath with her light and beauty and sweetness. She doesn't know the dangerous path she's on. All she knows is that I am a reclusive artist living on a crumbling estate. That I am scarred, broken by life. A beast . . . 
Growing up in a bilingual family in Maplewood, NJ, Sofia Tate was a shy, good girl who attended Catholic school and never misbehaved. Now, she is a proud author of contemporary erotic romance. She graduated from Marymount College in Tarrytown, NY, with a degree in International Studies and a minor in Italian. She also holds an MATESOL from New York University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Adelphi University. She has lived in London and Prague. A former resident of New York City, Sofia currently lives in New York's Hudson Valley.
