Aggie first appeared in Fit To Be Dead and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know Aggie.
What is your name?
Agatha Emory Mundeen. My mom loved Agatha Christi novels. But everyone calls me Aggie. In Texas, where I live now, “Aggie” is associated with students and grads of Texas A&M University, the huge main competitor for The University of Texas. So being known as “Aggie” always gets a reaction.
How old are you?
Over 35. Old enough to know better. . .
What is your profession?
I worked my way up to Vice President of a bank in Chicago, but I also wrote the column, “Stay Young with Aggie ” It’s great for women who want to stay young but are on the precipice of slip-sliding into middle age.
After being at Lake Placid on the Guadalupe River (The Plunge), I fell in love with the people living lakeside and in the nearby small town of Seguin. Maybe I’ll switch to writing free-lance articles on what’s happening in the area for their local newspaper.
Do you have a significant other? What is his name and profession?
Very significant. I met Sam Vanderhoven in Chicago after he finished law school. He decided he’d rather catch criminals than yak about them, so he joined the police force. He moved to San Antonio and became an SAPD Detective. When we reconnected in River City, I decided I should help with his cases. I would be the amateur sleuth nobody knew but everybody talked to. Sam was less than thrilled, but after four years of various calamitous events, we reached a tenuous understanding.
Any children?
A daughter. Once.
Do you have any sibling(s)?
No. My parents died young, and my elderly aunt and uncle raised me. Maybe that’s why it’s hard for me to confide in people. To trust them. The trust issue has other roots, too. No pets either.
What town do you live in?
Thanks to bank stock that shot sky high, I own a comfy bungalow in San Antonio that is now, unfortunately, uninhabitable. (See The Plunge.) My favorite spot there was my glassed-in back porch. Now my favorite place is wherever I can see Lake Placid, a lake enclosed by two dams on the Guadalupe River.
Who is your best friend?
Grace. She owns the San Antonio bungalow next to mine. She’s older than I am and incredibly wise. She’s like the mother or sister I never had. I’m not sure where she’ll go now, after The Plunge. Wherever it is, I’ll help her.
Favorite meal?
Prime sirloin steak cooked on an outdoor grill with a baked potato and salad. Once a month, I crave Mexican food—a cheese enchilada and a guacamole salad. For dessert? Mexican flan or anything chocolate.
Favorite hobby?
Sleuthing with Sam. Music is a close second.
Favorite vacation spot?
Maui or Kauai are my favorite vacation spots. . .anyplace, really, with water, trees, and cool breezes.
Favorite sports team?
I like the Spurs and the Cowboys. Hey, I’m a Texas transplant.
Movies or Broadway?
Movies. The plots are usually better. Books are better still.
Are you a morning or a night person?
I wake up at 6:30 or 7, but my burners aren’t firing until about 9. I hit low tide about 3 or 4 and have a burst of energy about 6 p.m. which lasts until about 11 p.m. Definitely a night person.
In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
Once all my burners are firing, I call Sam to see if he’s working on a new case. If his cell takes a message, I call the station and wriggle information from one of the newbies about Sam’s whereabouts and what he’s investigating. I might do a little computer research and head for the area. If I see him, I discretely follow. If he spots me, I stroll nonchalantly into the nearest store and pretend to shop. Often, that results in my obtaining helpful information. Sometimes it results in Sam and I having THE TALK about my inquisitiveness.
If you’re insatiably curious and eager to right wrongs, what better occupation is there than sleuthing? Sam shares my passion about catching bad guys, so he understands. But I’ve learned to give him more space. Some people are so picky.
Nancy is giving away a print copy of The Plunge and a copy of one of the previous Aggie Mundeen Mysteries, Fit to Be Dead, Dang Near Dead, Smart, But Dead, or River City Dead. Winner’s choice. Leave comment below. The giveaway ends October 17, 2018. Good luck everyone!
You can read about Aggie in The Plunge, the first Aggie Mundeen Lake Mystery.
Aggie Mundeen is a Chicago columnist who moves to Texas and falls in love with Sam, a San Antonio police detective. She decides she should help him solve cases. After four books of mystery, murder, and a tumultuous relationship, Aggie and Sam reach an understanding. They decide to spend time at a friend’s riverside cottage, where Sam will investigate the theft of his friend’s boat.
While they interview neighbors about the theft, a storm brings a deluge of wind and rain. Placid water turns into a raging river. At dark, lightning highlights two people arguing on a dock across the lake. When lightning flashes again, they are gone. Did Aggie and Sam witness an accident? A drowning? A murder? Will Aggie, Sam, and clues be swept away by the rampaging river?
The Plunge infects readers with the threat of looming disaster and the helplessness of being swept along by an untamable force. Do survivors really survive if disaster changes them forever?
Purchase Link
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About the author
Nancy G. West was a business major who discovered writing mystery/suspense was more fun than accounting and returned to college to learn how to write. After writing a suspense novel, Nine Days to Evil, a poem read on NPR, and four award-winning Aggie Mundeen Mysteries – Fit to Be Dead, Dang Near Dead, Smart, But Dead, and River City Dead – she decided to take beloved character Aggie in a new direction in a short novel of suspense: The Plunge, An Aggie Mundeen Lake Mystery.
Connect with Nancy at nancygwest.com, on Twitter, and on Facebook.
All comments are welcomed.
I enjoyed meeting Aggie and Sam in River City Dead. Curious to see where this new direction will take them.
Sorry for the late replies! We were out of town yesterday. Aggie and Sam reached a tentative understand, Sharon, so I thought it was time for them to expand their horizons.
…a tentative understanding…
Surviving is what we do best and the change it brings, moe often than not, is for the better.
Thank you for giving us the chance to win this new book.
Debbie, you’re definitely an optimist, like Aggie.
I would love to win this. Thanks for the introduction & the great giveaway.
Doward, thanks for getting to know Aggie.
Sounds like a great story. I will definitely be checking these out. This is a new to me author.
Mari, I hope you love Aggie and Sam like I do.
She’s a new author for me
Sandy, Aggie and I are pleased to meet you.
I love Aggie and her escapades, as well as Nancy West. Her books make you feel like you are right there with the characters. Thank you for the opportunity to enter your giveaway and for the review on your blog.
Thank you, Robin. Aggie says “hello.”
The series is wonderful. Thanks for this great feature and giveaway.
Thank you, Anne. Aggie can be a challenge, but I love writing about her.
I can’t believe I’ve missed this series. I’m going to go catch up as Aggie sounds like a terrific character.
Thank you, Rochelle. Aggie is definitely a character. Sometimes terrific, sometimes…
Wow. Some really good questions.
I thought so too, Libby. Dru Ann knows how to probe.
After reading Getting to Know Aggie Mundeen, I am very curious to know all about her and what happened to her bungalow. Thanks for the giveaway, Dru Ann!
Celia, the moment Aggie popped into my head, she made me curious. She still does.
I’d love to win & start at the beginning.
Amy, each story stands on its own, but Fit to Be Dead is a good place to start.
This is a new series to me. Sounds like a series I should be reading.
Hi Dianne,
Give Aggie a try. She’ll keep you guessing.
Thanks for the author introduction.
Aggie and I are glad to meet you, Mary C.
I’m always looking for a good cozy series 🙂
Amy, Aggie has an interesting way of looking at the world.
Thanks for the chance. Yes we survive even if we are changed forever. We gradually learn a new path, a new reality, where sometimes we’ve suffered both emotionally and physically. It could be our job, our life as we once knew it, a child, a parent, a sibling. So we become the survivor that we never thought we could or would be. No, it’s not the same. It’s different. It’s now always the what could have been. But it isn’t. And I’ll never forget the night our youngest was killed by drunk drivers 15 years ago at age 21. But we laugh at memories now, not cry. And we know personally that any moment can be our last moment, so say you care anytime you can, do what you can to help others, you just never know. Before this happened I’d thought the worse that could happen would be a house fire and I’d lose family pictures going back to the late 1800s. Now I know that those images are imprinted on my brain..and they are things…granted things I’d like to be able to pass down…but they are things. Only things. So for us…we are survivors…
Oh, Renee. You have touched my heart. I can’t imagine anything more difficult. You are indeed a survivor. I would be proud to know you.
I am desperately needing to read this series and meet Aggie for myself! She sounds like a determined and confident individual. I would love to join her sleuthing, but will have to settle for reading the series!!!
When we survive a disaster -be it nature or man made-we do become stronger. Especially those who take the bad and turn it into something positive for others. Not an easy task, but I have seen people who survived devastation (a tornado tore through our town, followed by a second one the next day in practically the same path)and while looking at where their home and lives had been, turned to help someone else who was struggling. One lady who lost everything learned of a missing neighbor’s pet and how upset the children were. She walked, pulling a wagon with food, water, blanket, dog toys, and walked the nearby streets for 7 hours before she found the dog cowering under a stranger’s porch. When she returned it to the owners she discovered they had gone to where her house was and looked for anything that could be salvaged. They also made arrangements for their family and the neighbor lady to be sheltered until they had time to figure out what to do. They were survivors and were changed forever, but for the better!
Barbara, an amazing story. Isn’t it astounding how helping someone else lifts our own burden? It’s as though once our hearts are opened, they can never stop pouring out love.
A new-to-me author/series…
Thank you for the giveaway…
Hello, Cyn,
I’m glad you got a taste of what makes Aggie tick.
**** WINNER ****
The Plunge is Mari Hinton
Congratulations!
Mari, Congratulations! You’ll be receiving a book soon!