My name is Alexis Winston. I am a screen writer for a popular television show, or I should say was a writer. Just like I was also the show’s researcher, until budget cuts and younger views pushed me out the door. (My views are considered old? Good grief. I’m only twenty-eight.) But like they say, the show must go on, right? At least in my family it should. We are a history of theater people. Actors, prop designers, costume designers, screenwriters, playwriters, makeup crew, cameramen—it’s a very long list. Theater people are typically dramatic, imaginative, and superstitious. So, when I lost my job and decided to visit my dear aunt Julia Winston at her B&B in Sierra Pines, California for some much-needed consoling, a black cat crossing the road and the news that Julia had died set my superstitious, dramatic self on edge.

Suddenly, I find myself working as a volunteer in prop design—yes, one of my other talents—for a movie production on location in Sierra Pines while considering my options. Hearing that Julia left me the B&B in her will is overwhelming, and I need time to decide if I even want to run a B&B. After all, I’m a New Yorker. Big city life and small-town Sierra Pines are dramatically different. Despite this, a decision to leave ended abruptly when a friend of Julia’s was found murdered in, of all places, Julia’s bed! Talk about dramatic, this situation belongs in a movie or play or even a soap opera.

Today, I find myself going mindlessly through the motions. Or maybe not so mindless. With siblings Gladys and Ollie Bellwether—Violet’s dear actor friends who are currently on staff at the B&B—suspected of murder, I’m motivated to help find the real killer. Julia would expect nothing less from me. If only the sheriff—he’s so good-looking, by the way, but I’m trying not to focus on that right now—would stop ordering me to stay out of his case. (That’s not going to happen.) So, juggling the tasks of helping out around the B&B, volunteering at the movie set to design props, and snooping to find clues as to who committed a murder that the poor Bellwethers couldn’t possibly have done fill my days. Of course, as fate would have it, that last point is a bit hard to defend. Evidence keeps popping up to stab the accusing finger right in the hearts of the Bellwether siblings. Incriminating text messages, a bloody plaque, and of all things, a hole dug in the backyard by the siblings are things that make this play out like a scene in Arsenic and Old Lace! (For those unfamiliar, the story is about two sweet sisters who take it upon themselves to rescue lonely old men by putting them out of their misery with a quick death by wine laced with arsenic, and then their eccentric and mostly insane cousin buries them in the basement. Creepy, right?) Movie reference aside, I’m finding it harder and harder to defend the Bellwethers’ innocence.

However, never let it be said that a Winston gives up so easily. I have my eye on plenty of suspects, even a few of the B&B guests who had the perfect time, place, and motive for murder. I’ll keep a very close watch on them. In the meantime, I have a list of things to do, like helping the Bellwethers make breakfast for the guests, preparing for Friday’s game night, mulling over the pros and cons of whether to officially become the next owner of Sierra Pines B&B, and building scenery props for the movie production. Oh, and there might be a certain sheriff who’s been stopping by the B&B and hinting that he’s interested in more than a murder case. I’ll keep a watch on that development too. No doubt, there’s plenty to keep me busy, but until the curtain closes on the last act, the answers to murder and what my future holds will remain a mystery.

Boarding with Murder, A Sierra Pines B&B Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: March 2021
Purchase Link

When unemployed screenwriter Ali Winston arrives at the Sierra Pines B&B, nestled in California’s Lake Tahoe region, for a relaxing visit with her dear aunt, the trip instantly turns into a nightmare. Aunt Julia has died. Her eccentric, geriatric actor pals, the Bellwether siblings, are crying foul play, but no one is listening. Understandably, Ali had plenty to occupy her mind—reeling from her aunt’s unexpected death and the shocking news that she has inherited the B&B.

Problems snowball as a second body drops, right under the B&B’s roof. When Sheriff Quint Sterling investigates, the evidence popping up points to the Bellwethers as the prime suspects. Now, Ali can’t help wonder if Aunt Julia’s death somehow connects to the murder. Determined to prove the Bellwethers’ innocence, Ali put her sharp wit and dogged tenacity to work in uncovering the truth, despite the handsome sheriff who insists she keep her hands off his case. One thing’s for certain, Ali’s debut as an amateur sleuth will be cancelled, unless she can put a spotlight on the real killer before he makes her the leading lady in his next performance.

Meet the Author
Kathryn Long is a retired teacher who now spends her days plotting murder and writing mysteries. She’s a member of Sisters in Crime as well as of International Thriller Writers. She lives with her husband and furry friend Max in the quiet suburbs of Green, Ohio. Besides the Sierra Pines B&B series, this author also writes the Paint by Murder cozy mysteries under the pen name, Bailee Abbott.

All comments are welcomed.