Hi, there. My name is Emily Lickenson, a name I’ve had to both explain and ward off laughter through the years. It was the result of an unfortunate typo, if typos were what they called them out there on Ellis Island. My great-great-grandfather, Herman Dickenson, immigrated here from England. He apparently saw the typo, but rather than correcting it he chose to keep and embrace it.
It was later I learned he was on the lam from cattle-rustling somewhere near the border of Scotland. Why he’d think he’d be concealed and overlooked by a one letter difference in his last name may also account for the fact that no one in my family has ever attended college.
At any rate, my last name finally became my bread ticket when I was hired by Whisker Treats cat food company as one of their permanent web page article writers. They, of course, adored my name, and I adored supplying them all sorts of fun feline information. And it was a job I could do at home, which suited me even better.
My home is a tiny house stuffed with my favorite hobby, collecting magazines. Might be weird, but nothing was better than a rainy afternoon with a cup of cocoa, looking through home magazines. It’s how I learned to cook, how I learned to garden, even how I started to crochet. I guess you could say my favorite hobby spurred on all my other loves.
I lived in the town of River Bend, just south of Westville, about five miles from my Aunt Mattie. She was a hoot, sarcasm wrapped in a tiny five foot frame, with the ability to solve cases that baffled the local police. She claimed she was an honorary detective something those would have undoubtedly come as a surprise to the local police force. However, there was no denying her uncanny ability to track down the bad guy.
She also rescued animals, and was a big believer that animals chose their people as well. At the moment, she had Shakespeare, a cat she was fostering for the last five years.
Together, with my friend, Alice, we were a crew. Everything was going wonderful.
Until the phone call.
In The Curious Case of Emily Lickenson, we meet our strangest mystery yet.
Tell me your favorite hobby for a chance to win this e-book!
The Curious Case of Emily Lickenson, An Emily Lickenson Mystery Book #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: February 2023
Format: Digital
Purchase Link
Catnip and cadavers in the care home.
Cat blogger extraordinaire Emily Lickenson’s whiskers twitch when the head cook at the local care home unexpectedly dies.
As curious as a cat, Emily can’t resist investigating exactly what happened. She recruits her snoopy Aunt Mattie (who herself is half-convinced she used to be a spy) to hunt for clues like felines on the scent of a plump rodent.
The clever duo soon discover evidence of murder and a gaggle of suspects, a ditzy sous chef, grumpy cleaner who wanted the less than friendly chef sliced and diced.
Of course, Shakespeare, the cat is along for the ride, both sweet and sassy, and with nine lives!
In this quirky whodunnit you’ll find twists and turns, red herrings served with a slice of puzzle pie, and surprises that’ll have you turning the pages to find the killer before they find Emily. Perfect for those who love cozy animal mysteries with a pinch of humor, lots of clues, and a fun small-town feel.
Book Two The Stillness in the Room
Book Three Could Not Stop Death
Book Four The Case of Dead Words
I’m CeeCee James, USA Today bestselling author who first started this writing world as a kid and continued on with bedtime stories for my own kids. I have a few mystery series –the Baker Street Mysteries, Flamingo Realty, Oceanside Hotel mysteries and more! I love creating new worlds and puzzling through cozy murder mysteries. My favorite sleuths are curious, kind, and a bit flawed. But they all learn that being flawed isn’t being broken, and that’s a life lesson I work on for myself.
My favorite cozy mysteries always have a dash of humor, maybe a tinge of romance, animals, and tons of friendship. There are always a few of my favorite pups, and a kitten or two. I love the small town feel with a hint of juicy gossip and friendly relationships that comes with it. I also love good food and my characters love it too! That’s why a bunch of my mysteries include free recipes.
I have a few published in Large Print paperback and as audio books.
One of my favorite places to write is curled up this fat oversized chair I found on sale someplace, with a cup of coffee. Usually there are dogs sleeping by my feet, or in the chair with me where somehow, they double in size to hog up all the space. 🙂
All comments are welcomed.
Giveaway: See above. To enter, please leave a comment below. One entry per person. Giveaway ends February 8, 2023. Good luck everyone!
What a great premise!! I can’t wait to start reading this series. Thank you for writing it!!
Great! I hope you enjoy it!
Congratulations on the new series! It sounds wonderful and I love that cute cat on the cover. I have read four of your series so far and loved them all. If reading is a hobby then that’s my favorite. If it’s not really a hobby then I pick jigsaw puzzles.
Reading is definitely a hobby, and my favorite too! Thank you so much!
Right now my fave hobby is learning to make pysanky – Ukrainian Easter Eggs
How talented! I love it!
I’ve been hearing about this series, and am looking forward to reading it. CeeCee, your stories always entertain and never disappoint me! I have a lot of hobbies (rubber stamp collecting, scherenschnitte, baking) but the best one-the one a day doesn’t go by without indulging myself-is reading. I average a book a day and sometimes more. Wait! Maybe that’s not a hobby, maybe it’s an addiction?
Best hobby ever! I have to go look up scherenschnitte! <3
My favorite hobby or avocation is training my dogs for various competition venues. When I’m on the road, I read in the car(NOT while driving of course!)
That sounds fabulous! What breed of dogs?
My favorite hobby is training my dogs for various competition venues. When I’m on the road, I read in the car—NOT while driving!
Do you ever listen to audio books?
I guess my hobby is cooking.
Great hobby. I wish I was a good cook
Hi CeeCee! I have read all the books in every series you have written and love them. I can’t wait to start this new one. My hobbies are reading and scrapbooking and I have an addiction to Otters 🙂
Thank you Marla! Otters are my favorite animal!!
Not sure you’d call it a hobby, but I foster cats. And reading is probably my favorite hobby. Reading with a cat on my lap is even better.
You are so sweet– I love that you do that
My favorite hobby is gardening.
That takes a lot talent. I keep trying!
My favorite hobby is reading.
Mine too!
Besides reading, I love to bake. Both are very relaxing for me. Sounds like a wonderful book. Cute cover too!
Thank you and I admire that you can bake!
So besides reading, my favorite hobby is abstract painting with acrylics on canvas. I also make abstract bookmarks from scratch for family and friends. It’s like therapy.
I love painting- the bookmark idea sounds so cool. I do watercolors–my last reply disappeared, so if two show up, now you know why
My favorite hobby besides reading is scrapbooking.
Those are always so cozy looking. I love looking through them
**** WINNER ****
In The Curious Case of Emily Lickenson is Marla Husovsky
Congratulations!
Thank you again Dru! This was so fun and an honor to be on your blog.