Sometimes the best way to know a person is by asking questions, so let’s meet Ellison.
What is your name?
Ellison Walford Russell
How old are you?
“I’m just shy of forty. Please don’t let Mother know I told you. She keeps her age a well-kept secret.”
What is your profession?
“I’m an artist—a painter.”
Do you have a significant other?
“I might. Or not. Does that sound coy? I don’t mean it to. It’s just that we had a slight difference of opinion and—”
What is his name?
“Anarchy Jones. I know, I know. What kind of a name is Anarchy? It’s a name selected by an artist and politics professor at Berkeley.”
What is his profession?
“Anarchy is a homicide detective.”
Any children?
“I have one utterly fabulous teenage daughter, Grace.”
Do you have any sibling(s)?
“I have one utterly annoying sister, Marjorie.”
Cats, dogs or other pets?
“Our dog’s name is Max. He’s a dastardly animal—the bane of the squirrel population and a tormentor of cats. He’s also brave, handsome, and loyal.”
What town do you live in?
“I live in Kansas City, Missouri in the Country Club District.”
House or building complex?
“Grace and I live in a house that’s honestly too big for us but I converted the third-floor ballroom to my studio (which I love) so we can’t move.”
Do you rent or own?
“We own our home.”
What is your favorite spot in your house?
“I have two favorite spots—my studio, where I paint, and the kitchen, where Mr. Coffee lives.”
Who is your best friend?
“My best friend’s name is Libba. She’s something of a free-spirit.”
Amateur sleuth or professional?
“I think I’m best described as a reluctant amateur sleuth. Life would be much easier without bodies.”
Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
“It depends. Most often I sleuth with my housekeeper, Aggie, but Libba has been known to poke her nose into investigations. Sometimes (rarely) Anarchy and I work together. And sometimes, the lawyer Mother wants me to marry helps out.”
Favorite meal?
“Aggie makes a mean chicken salad.”
Favorite dessert?
“I never say no to coffee. Ever. I mean that.”
Favorite hobby?
“I play tennis and a bit of golf and lots of bridge. Lately, Libba’s been pushing yoga. I may give that a try.”
Favorite vacation spot?
“May I pick a whole continent? I pick Europe. Italy for boots and France for clothes. Switzerland for skiing and England for Burberry trench coats.”
Favorite color?
“Asking an artist to name her favorite color is like asking a mother with lots of kids to name her favorite child. I just can’t. That said, Phthalo blue has been speaking to me of late.”
Favorite author?
“Right now I’m reading Watership Down by Richard Adams. I’m really enjoying it but the going has been slow because I get distracted by the bodies. It’s hard to read about rabbits when there’s a corpse in the front drive.”
Favorite sports team?
“A team sport? I’m afraid not. I’m quite fond of tennis and golf. Billie Jean King is one of my favorites. Did you see her beat Bobby Riggs? I also like Chris Evert, although what she sees in that Jimmy Connors I’ll never understand. When it comes to golf, I’m a Tom Watson fan. He’s from Kansas City, you know.”
Movies or Broadway?
“I do love the theater. The next time I make it to New York I’m going to see Angela Lansbury in Gypsy. Everyone tells me she’s fabulous as Mama Rose.”
Are you a morning or a night person?
“I’m a morning person. Mr. Coffee and I have a standing date at seven-thirty. That’s also the time I let Max out to chase squirrels.”
In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
“May I describe a perfect day? I don’t get many typical days. A perfect day includes some quality time with Mr. Coffee, several hours painting, lunch or bridge with friends, jogging a few laps around Loose Park with Max, time spent with Grace, and no bodies. I get a perfect day about once every six months. But a woman can dream.”
Giveaway: What was the last thing you painted? Leave a comment below for your chance to win a digital copy (Kindle or Nook) of Shadow Dancing. The giveaway ends June 21, 2018. Good luck everyone!
You can read about Ellison in Shadow Dancing, the seventh book in the “Country Club Murders” humorous mystery series. The first book in the series is The Deep End.
Visiting a psychic is outside the norm for Ellison Russell. Finding bodies is not. Unfortunately, the psychic’s crystal ball says she’ll soon be surrounded by death. Again.
Drat.
Now there’s a corpse in the front drive, a witchy neighbor ready to turn Ellison and her (not so) little dog into toadstools, and a stripper named Starry Knight occupying the guest room.
How did 1975 go so wrong so quickly?
Ellison must handle Mother (who’s found a body of her own), make up with a certain handsome detective, and catch a killer, or the death surrounding her might be her own.
Purchase Link
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About the author
Julie Mulhern is the USA Today bestselling author of The Country Club Murders.
She is a Kansas City native who grew up on a steady diet of Agatha Christie. She spends her spare time whipping up gourmet meals for her family, working out at the gym and finding new ways to keep her house spotlessly clean–and she’s got an active imagination. Truth is–she’s an expert at calling for take-out, she grumbles about walking the dog and the dust bunnies under the bed have grown into dust lions.
All comments are welcomed.
The last thing I painted was a bluebird and the word “Welcome” on a metal sign.
Sounds lovely!
My last thing I painted was a floral wooden garden sign. It was done with all dots from the end of a paintbrush to form flowers.
You and Georges Seurat! I love pointilism!
Julie and Dru,
Thank you for the fun post. I have to admit that Julie’s books have recently become my guilty pleasure. They are clever, witty, and well-plotted. They strike my funny bone at the just the right point between “Ooo” and “Ouch!” Send Ellison my best. 🙂
So glad you’re enjoying them!!!
The last thing I painted was not “crafty” painting. I painted my son’s bedroom last week, and getting ready to paint my living room next week, just trying to decide whether to do some sponge painting or rag rolling on part of the walls.
In our house, my daughter is the artistic painter. I am the painter of walls…
Sounds like another wonderful entry in the series!
The last thing I painted was as silk scarf. I love silk painting, watching colors spread and blend.
Thanks for a chance to win a copy of Shadow Dancing!
That sounds absolutely beautiful!
I can’t remember the last thing I painted…perhaps a musical ceramic Santa. Thank you for the chance to win.
The last thing I painted was my nails…
I am not a painter (I have absolutely no artistic talent) but the last thing I painted was at a Painting with a Twist party with friends. It was a floral arrangement in a mason jar painting.
Was there wine?
Funny you should ask.
I’m a painter, too, but haven’t painted in over 2 years.
Time to grab those brushes!
I took my granddaughter to one of those painting parties at her request. My sister, her daughter, and her son-in-law joined us so it was like a party! The subject was a tree on a hill at sunset/twilight. Supposed to be modern and moody. Mine was demented. I have sworn off painting parties.
Laughing! Could it have been the wine?
There’s not enough wine in the world to help me paint! I think this was the fourth (and last!) attempt. I am done!
I don’t paint. I’m not artistic and I can’t even paint a wall.
Ha! I have an artist daughter. She won’t paint walls.
The last thing I painted was a smallish rock I found that looked like a heart. The Country Club Murders are one of my very favorite series, and I am so, so excited about Shadow Dancing being released today! I’ve already gotten it on my Kindle app, so don’t enter me in the drawing ~
Thank you, Celia! xoxo
Great post, I love learning even more about Ellison! I think the last thing I actually painted was our house!!
A whole house??? Wow!
The last thing I painted was a chair.
I’m impressed!
I painted a dowel rod a few weeks ago.
A landscape? xo
I haven’t painted anything in the last 50 years. It is the one thing I truly dislike doing. I would prefer to find a dead body, than paint anything! LOL
Too funny, Doward!
Congratulations, Julie. The last thing I painted was a canvas with a beach scene then I applied real sea glass that we’re in the shape of birds and I added small shells, a few pebbles, sand, and some sea weed. It’s so pretty.
Best of everything.
The last thing I painted were walls…..about 25 years ago…..😉
**** WINNER ****
Shadow Dancing is Daniele Krug
Congratulations!