Annie Elizabeth Hall first appeared in Full Bodied Murder and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know Halsey.
What is your name?
Annie Elizabeth Hall, better known as “Halsey”
How old are you?
Well if I lie and say I’m younger I run the risk of you thinking that I’m aging badly. I’m thirty-seven.
What is your profession?
Real one for money? Web site developer and programmer. Other one: solving murders.
Do you have a significant other?
My yellow Lab, Bardot! Oh, and my boo, Jack Thornton.
What is his/her name and profession?
Jack is a dog trainer extraordinaire, and a volunteer for search and rescue with dog teams working for CARA, Canine Rescue Association.
Any children?
Jack and Bardot. And Marisol, my nosy next door neighbor.
Do you have any sibling(s)?
I’m an only child, one and done!
Who is your best friend?
Sally Washington, my statuesque African American neighbor, confidante and all around bestie.
Cats, dogs or other pets?
How much space do I have? My dog, Bardot, is an American Field Lab; she’s smaller and much leaner than the English variety and built with a Ferrari engine. She enjoys exercise in all forms but when she’s not saving my life, which she’s done several times, her passion is diving. Deep underwater. Like twelve feet down.
What town do you live in?
Mar Vista, California, a sleepy beach community just minutes from the Pacific.
House or building complex? Own or Rent?
I live in a California craftsman house on a Chinese elm lined street with a converted garage for an office. And I have a pool, or rather Bardot has a pool that she shares with me occasionally.
What is your favorite spot in your house?
Gee, I have several. I love my garage/office, on one side it overlooks the pool and on the other there is a separate entrance from the tree-lined side street. Of course being in the pool with my girl Bardot doing lap races and diving underwater are pure bliss. And then hanging around my big coffee table in the living room with the girls of the Rose Avenue Wine Club is always a treat. There we’ve drunk many bottles of wine and solved murders.
Favorite meal? Favorite dessert?
Wine & Cheese.
Dark Chocolate Cake with Red Wine glaze.
Favorite hobby? Favorite color?
Solving mysteries.
Red, burgundy red.
Favorite vacation spot?
A beautiful beach. And the Wine Country.
Favorite author?
Peter Mayle, “A Good Year”
Favorite sports team?
Dodgers, baby!
Movies or Broadway?
Both
Are you a morning or a night person?
Bardot is not a morning person so by default I’m not either.
Amateur sleuth or professional?
Neither, I just help out when I see someone trying to get away with something.
Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
In addition to Bardot there’s my posse; the Rose Avenue Wine Club–Sally Washington, a retired nurse and voice of reason, Peggy Blake, a widowed octogenarian who can drink with the best of them and is rumored to have once worked for the CIA. There’s young Aimee Taylor, owner of a successful frozen yogurt shop who wears her emotions on her sleeve, and our British friend Penelope Hancock. And lest I forget, my neighbor Mrs. Marisol Ysabel Rosario Priscila Cordoba. Marisol, is a busy body and self-appointed Mayor of Rose Avenue.
In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
I wake up with a stiff neck and sore back and when I open my eyes I discover that I’ve been pushed over to the very edge of the bed by a dog named Bardot and I feel like I’ve slept in a mailing tube. After a warm shower or swim to unkink the kinks I retrieve my paper from the front stoop hoping not to encounter Marisol’s prying face in the process. It’s about a 70/30 chance that I will. If no murders have occurred on Rose Avenue overnight then I’ll go into the office in back of my house and work on websites for my clients. If undisturbed I can get a steady stream of work done until about 4 o’clock when it’s time for Wine Club, gossip and perhaps news of another neighborhood crime.
Giveaway: Leave a comment below for your chance to win a print copy of The Name of the Rosé. U.S. entries only, please. The giveaway ends November 26, 2018. Good luck everyone!
You can read about Halsey in The Name of the Rosé, the third book in the “Rose Avenue Wine Club” mystery series, coming November 27, 2018 from Kensington.
The ladies of the Wine Club take a break from sipping their rosé to put a cork in murder. . .
Annie “Halsey” Hall could get used to this—sitting around the pool in her backyard in Southern California, savoring the latest wine flights with the ladies of the Rose Avenue Wine Club: her best friend Sally, frozen yogurt shop owner Aimee, widow Peggy, and their newest member, journalist Mary Anne. Even Bardot, Halsey’s yellow lab, is in attendance, eyeing the pool as if contemplating a dive.
But the peaceful pleasure of the afternoon is soon shattered by the boom of a small plane crash at nearby Santa Monica Airport. Sometime later, a sour-faced detective shows up, holding a package of illegal drugs found on the plane—with Sally’s address on it! Being suspected of drug smuggling is bad enough, but when a young mechanic who works at the airport is found murdered, the club springs into action. To get their investigation off the ground, they’re going to have to wing it, but they’re determined to unmask a killer . . .
Purchase Link
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About the author
Christine E. Blum was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio. At the age of seven, her parents moved to Europe and luckily took her with them. Christine grew up in Paris, Brussels, and finally London, and along the way developed her unique brand of humor. She lives in Southern California where she’s allowed to share a house and pool with her famous yellow Lab, Bardot, who just happens to be able to dive 10’ underwater, has appeared on Animal Planet, and was featured in the New York Times bestseller, Underwater Dogs. When not signing paw-tographs, she can be found lounging by the pool and solving murders. Readers can visit Christine’s website at christineeblum.com.
All comments are welcomed.
I used to live in Mar Vista so it would be fun to read a story set there.
Hello, former neighbor! Mar Vista remains a fabulous place to live and solve murders.
Hello former neighbor! Mar Vista is still a fabulous place to live and solve murders.
This sounds interesting
Oh to live close to the ocean!
I cannot imagine seeing a plane crash, and then to have a drug package with your name on it discovered at the site. Goodness!
Sounds fun! Thanks for the chance 🙂
The Name Of The Rose by Christine Blum sounds to me like a interesting book by an author I would like to get familiar with. Love mystery books with several women in the group trying to solve the mystery. Christine was born in Ohio, where I live. Mystery books are my favorite genre to read. Discovering new authors is fun.
This should help melt away the cold and snow for a bit. I talked to relatives over Thanksgiving and they were envious of our warm weather. Happy reading!
Another fun series for us. Thanks!
The Name of the Rose sounds captivating and unique. What a great setting.
Sounds like a series I want to read. Thanks for the giveaway!
Aha, Christine is a neighbor to me. Thanks for reviewing her new
book. I’d love to be able to add it to my library. My fingers
are crossed. robeader53(at)yahoo(dot)com
Hello neighbor, are you close to Rose Avenue?
Nice interview! Thanks..New to me author and series..nani_geplcs@yahoo.com
I enjoyed A Day in the Life with Halsey — she sounds like a fun person to know and I’d love to read more about her. Thanks so much for the giveaway!
Oh dear! Drugs with her address?
Not good!
You had me at dark chocolate cake with red wine glaze. Sounds like a great book.
Hehehe. Enjoy!
Sounds like a fun read.
Would really like to read more about Halsey and Bardot. Sounds like a great series.
Yes, please!
I love the idea of solving mysteries and drinking wine! Thanks for the chance to win!
This is a new series for me! Thanks for the chance to win this book!
Sounds like a fun read
Love the simplicity of the cover….
Thank you for the giveaway…..
Sounds like a fun book!
I love your books! Keep them coming please.
Thanks Pam! Bardot says “hi” to your pups.
Well, I lived on Rose Ave for forty years and I’m a retired nurse and am tall and statuesque, at least I think so, and I’m wondering if I was cloned! I’m truly missing the Rose Avenue wine club and all of my old pals!
Do you sometimes go by the name “Sally”? The Wine Club misses you frightfully and we toast to you each time we meet. Which is a lot…
**** WINNER ****
The Name of the Rosé is Robin Coxon
Congratulations!