Occupation: Modern-Day Moonshiner

Hi, y’all. I’m Hattie Hayes, here to tell you about my typical day. My life is so much different now than it was when I still had my steady job with the MoonPie company here in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I recently traded in a secure paycheck to carry on my family’s tradition of making moonshine. Nearly a hundred years ago, shortly before the end of Prohibition, my great-grandaddy, Eustatius Hayes, was arrested for moonshining. Unfortunately, just because Prohibition ended, it didn’t mean his jail time did. He still had to finish out his sentence in the pokey. Luckily for me, making moonshine is now legal. I’ve resurrected the family recipe and hope to make some money at moonshining again.

I run a small storefront that looks like a hillbilly shack. It sits on Market Street, the main thoroughfare through Chattanooga’s touristy riverfront district. With its natural splendor, storied history, and southern charm, Chattanooga is not only a great place to live and run a business, it’s also a great place to visit. If you happen to come here on vacation, stop by my shop and try a sample of one of my fruity flavors. I’ve got blueberry, wild blackberry, peach, cherry, apple pie, and cinnamon. If you’re a purist, I also sell jugs of my Granddaddy’s Ole-Timey Corn Liquor. That stuff will put hair on your chest. Clean your paintbrushes, too.

Speaking of Granddaddy, he keeps me company at the Moonshine Shack. With his arthritis and poor balance, he’s not much help stocking shelves or ringing up the customers and bagging their wares. But he sits out front in his overalls, rocking in the rocker, whittling, and encouraging passersby to come into the shop for a sample. He’s like a live, folksy spokesperson. My friend Kiki helps out, too. She and I go way back to elementary school, when her family moved to Chattanooga from Japan. She’s a graphic artist, and she helped me design my brand’s logo, as well as my shop’s decor.

Every day, I’m busy making and selling ‘shine, restocking my shelves, and mulling over ways to expand my product line and customer base. I’m a “small batch” operation for now, with just the one store here in Chattanooga. But I hope to hit the big leagues someday, to sell my ‘shine from sea to shining sea. Meanwhile, my gray cat Smoky sits in the front window of my shop, keeping an eye on the street. I’d like to say he was a sweet, affectionate cat, but that would be a lie. He’s aloof most of the time, takes me for granted. But, every now and then, he’ll give me a soft purr or curl up next to me on the couch to let me know he might appreciate me just a teensy bit.

As I work, I keep an ear out for the clop-clop-clop of horse hooves that tells me mounted police officer Marlon Landers and his horse Charlotte are on their way past my shop. Truth be told, I’ve developed quite a crush on the cop. He’s tall, masculine, and muscular, with buckskin curls a woman longs to run her fingers through. When trouble’s afoot, he sometimes lets me in on little secrets in the department’s investigations. Nothing that would get him in trouble or betray the detective’s trust, of course. But enough to keep a curious mind like mine thinking. Seems there’s always trouble of some kind going on around here, someone dropping dead from one thing or another, and somehow I’m always implicated.

So stop on by the Moonshine Shack, taste some samples, and take a break in the porch swing out front. I’d love to get to know you, and maybe you can help me solve a murder or two.

The Moonshine Shack Murder, A Southern Homebrew Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: July 2021
Purchase Link

In this intoxicating new cozy mystery series, the future for modern-day moonshiner Hattie Hayes looks bright–until death darkens the doorstep of her Moonshine Shack.

The Hayes family has made moonshine in Chattanooga since the days of Prohibition, and Hattie is happy to continue the tradition, serving up fun, fruity flavors in mason jars for locals and tourists alike. All signs indicate her new ‘shine shop will be a smashing success. What’s more, mounted police officer Marlon Landers has taken a shine to Hattie. For the first time ever, the stars seemed to have aligned in both her work and romantic life. But when a body ends up on her store’s doorstep alongside a broken jar of her Firefly Moonshine, it just might be lights out for her fledgling business.

The homicide detective can’t seem to identify the person who killed the owner of a nearby bar. The only witness is Hattie’s longhaired gray cat, and Smoky isn’t talking. When the detective learns that the victim and Hattie had a heated exchange shortly before his murder, she becomes her prime suspect.

Lest Hattie end up behind bars like her bootlegging great-grandfather a century before, she must distill the evidence herself and serve the killer a swift shot of justice.

About the Author
After spending a few years in Tennessee, Diane Kelly ventured over to the eastern side of the Appalachian range and now resides in North Carolina. Diane writes funny mysteries featuring feisty females and their furry, four-footed sidekicks. Her series include the Death & Taxes, Paw Enforcement, House Flipper, Busted, and Southern Homebrew series, as well as the Mountain Lodge Mysteries which will debut in October. Find Diane online at dianekelly.com, on her Author Diane Kelly page on Facebook, and on Twitter at @DianeKellyBooks and Instagram at @DianeKellyBooks. 

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