WWAR February
Show Notes
Part 1
In honor of Black History Month, we are featuring four books by Black authors.
Tracey reported on Blacktop Wasteland by SA Crosby (Flatiron Books) A husband, a father, a
son, a business owner...And the best getaway driver east of the Mississippi.
Beauregard “Bug” Montage is an honest mechanic, a loving husband, and a hard-working dad.
Bug knows there’s no future in the man he used to be: known from the hills of North Carolina to
the beaches of Florida as the best wheelman on the East Coast.
He thought he'd left all that behind him, but as his carefully built new life begins to crumble, he
finds himself drawn inexorably back into a world of blood and bullets. When a smooth-talking
former associate comes calling with a can't-miss jewelry store heist, Bug feels he has no choice
but to get back in the driver's seat. And Bug is at his best where the scent of gasoline mixes with
the smell of fear.
Haunted by the ghost of who he used to be and the father who disappeared when he needed
him most, Bug must find a way to navigate this blacktop wasteland...or die trying.
S. A. Cosby (Shawn Cosby) is a "Southern noir" crime fiction writer. He resides in Gloucester,
Virginia, on the Chesapeake Bay. Cosby has published three crime novels: A fourth novel, All
the Sinners Bleed, is expected to release in June 2023, in hardback form, and published, like its
two successors, by Flatiron Books, an imprint of Macmillan
He is on Twitter as @blacklionking73
Kathy reported on A Killer Sundae by Abby Collette (Berkeley Books 1/22) This is #3 in the Ice
Cream Parlor Mysteries. Ice cream shop owner Bronwyn Crewse is in for two scoops of murder
in this charming mystery from Abby Collette.
Chagrin Falls, Ohio, is gorgeous in the fall, and Bronwyn Crewse, owner of Crewse Creamery,
knows just how to welcome the new season. At the annual Harvest Time Festival, residents will
get a chance to enjoy hot-air balloons and hayrides, crown a new Harvest Time Festival Queen,
and eat delicious frozen treats sold at Win’s freshly purchased ice cream truck. But she gets into
a sprinkle of trouble when a festivalgoer is poisoned and Win is implicated.
Although the victim was a former Harvest Time Festival Queen, her once-sunny disposition had
dimmed into bitterness, leaving no shortage of suspects at the festival. To clear her name before
the chill of winter sets in, Win will have to investigate and hope that her detective skills won’t
“dessert” her.
bestselling author Abby Collette loves a good mystery. She was born and raised in Cleveland,
and it’s a mystery even to her why she hasn’t yet moved to a warmer place. As Abby Collette,
she is the author of the Ice Cream Parlor mystery series, about a millennial MBA-holding
granddaughter running a family-owned ice cream shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and the
upcoming Books & Biscuits mystery series, starring a set of fraternal twins who reunite and
open a bookstore and soul food café. Writing as Abby L. Vandiver, she is the author of the
Logan Dickerson Mysteries, featuring a second-generation archaeologist and a nonagenarian,
as well as the Romaine Wilder Mysteries, pairing an East Texas medical examiner and her
feisty, funeral-home-owning auntie as sleuths. Abby spends her time writing, facilitating writing
workshops at local libraries and hanging out with her grandchildren, each of whom are her
favorite. Her website is https://abbycollette.com
Tune in tomorrow for part 2 where we discuss “One Part Sugar, One Part Mueder” by Valerie
Burns and “A Killing Rain” by Faye Snowden.
Part 2
Misty reported on Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder by Valerie Burns (Kensington 6/22) In a
brand-new culinary cozy series with a fresh edge and a delightful small-town setting, the
acclaimed author introduces Maddy Montgomery, a social media expert who’s #StartingOver in
small town Michigan after inheriting her great-aunt’s bakery...and a 200-pound English Mastiff
named Baby.
When Maddy Montgomery’s groom is a no-show to their livestream wedding, it’s a disaster that
no amount of filtering can fix. But a surprise inheritance offers a chance to regroup and rebrand
—as long as Maddy is willing to live in her late, great-aunt Octavia’s house in New Bison,
Michigan, for a year, running her bakery and caring for a 250-pound English mastiff named
Baby.
Maddy doesn’t bake, and her Louboutins aren’t made for walking giant dogs around Lake
Michigan, but the locals are friendly and the scenery is beautiful. With help from her aunt’s loyal
friends, aka the Baker Street Irregulars, Maddy feels ready to tackle any challenge, including
Octavia’s award-winning cake recipes. That is, until New Bison’s mayor is fatally stabbed, and
Maddy’s fingerprints are found on the knife . . .
Something strange is going on in New Bison. It seems Aunt Octavia had her suspicions, too.
But Maddy’s going to need a whole lot more than a trending hashtag to save her reputation—
and her life.
Valerie (V. M.) Burns was born and raised in the Midwestern United States. She currently
resides in the warmer region of the country with her two poodles, Kenzie and Chloe. Valerie is a
member of Mystery Writers of America, Dog Writers of America, Crime Writers of Color,
International Thriller Writers, and Sisters in Crime. Valerie is also a mentor in the Writing
Popular Fiction MFA program at Seton Hill University. As V.M. Burns, she writes the Next
Generation Indie Finalist, RJ Franklin Mysteries, Dog Club Mysteries, and Agatha award-
nominated, Mystery Bookshop Mysteries. She is also an Edgar award-nominated short story
author.
Finally, Ann reported on A Killing Rain by Faye Snowdon (Flame Tree Press 2/22) Dark,
Southern gothic tale of homicide detective Raven Burns, with a complicated past and a
desperate case to solve. Black Girls Lit recommends the first book, A Killing Fire "to crime fiction
and mystery lovers and fans of Ruth Ware and Gillian Flynn.”
After former homicide Raven Burns returns to Byrd’s Landing, Louisiana to begin a new life, she
soon finds herself trapped by the old one when her nephew is kidnapped by a ruthless serial
killer, and her foster brother becomes the main suspect. To make matters worse, she is being
pursued by two men— one who wants to redeem her soul for the murder Raven felt she had no
choice but to commit, and another who wants to lock her away forever.
Faye Snowden is the author of three published mysteries with Kensington— Spiral of Guilt
(1999), The Savior (2003, 2004) and Fatal Justice (2005, 2006). She has published short stories
and poems in various literary journals and small presses including The African American
Review, Calliope, Red Ochre Lit, Bay Area Poets Coalition and Occam’s Razor.
Although born in San Fernando, California, she was uprooted while young to a place where
supposedly people had swamps in their backyards and alligators for pets. She didn’t have any
pet alligators in Shreveport, Louisiana, but an amazing, resourceful single mother raised the
family of six in a shotgun house. And she had a cat named Blue. Her website is
https://fayesnowden.com