Some days it’s easier to get out of bed than others. That’s a fact, and that’s where my days begin: that first tentative peek from under my duvet cave, assessing the morning’s climate. My name is Lily Parks and I’m the general go-fer around here. It’s not a bad gig. In fact, it’s a dream come true for someone like me. . .until there’s a storm brewing.

I’m not speaking of the weather. That’s obvious from the moment I open my eyes and turn my head to look out the bedroom window. I’m talking about a certain Miss Penelope Walters, a mystery writer also known as “America’s answer to Agatha Christie” and various other accolades. This is her house, and she’s my employer.

Penny, as I and her intimates call her, has a writer’s temperament, as varied and unpredictable as the summers here. When all is going well, when the words are flowing and the deadlines are met, she’s truly as angelic as her appearance. With her china-blue eyes and golden curls, Penny can appear as sweet as apple pie. When things get a bit out of kilter, well, let’s just say she’s not the bee’s knees.

Although liquor of all sorts -and whiskey in particular- are still banned under that obnoxious 19th amendment, I do manage to keep a supply of medicinal spirits on hand. It helps out when a certain writer has a bad day, such as a journalist knocking on our door, anxious to get a scoop from the local celebrity and interrupting her muse.

Unfortunately for one such journalist, his visit to our house ended in tragedy, and that’s where our story picks up steam. With Penny under arrest and her editor clamoring for the latest manuscript, life definitely gets a tad rocky.

If you’d like to find out what happens, I invite you to grab a copy of Penny’s latest book, curl up with a glass of iced lemonade (or maybe a drop or two of whiskey, if you know where to get it), and take a trip to our neck of the woods, where life is comfy. . . and murder is most cozy.

Murder Most Newsworthy, A Murder Most Cozy Mystery #1
Genre: Historical, Cozy
Release: August 2022
Purchase Link

It is 1924, the Golden Age of Mystery, and writer Penelope Walters is seen as the American answer for Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers. Unfortunately, Penelope’s bad temper and even worse writing makes working for her a challenge.

Lily Parks, a young woman in her mid-twenties, is an orphan who was reared by a crotchety great-aunt and even grumpier grandmother. Leaving her childhood home for the small town of Havenwood and the employment of Miss Walters is by far the most exciting thing to ever happen in her life.

Things get slightly heated, though, when a local reporter stops by their house and claims to have the scoop on how Penelope gets the ideas for her books. He’s quickly tossed by a furious Penelope, along with a barrage of insults about his own writing abilities. He’s clearly not happy and is overheard threatening to expose Miss Walters to the world.

When his body is found shortly after this, the Havenwood Police Department has its hands full and is feeling the heat to arrest someone. With nothing more than overheard threats to go on, they train their sights directly on Penelope. Lily springs into action, determined to clear her employer’s reputation and save the new way of life she’s come to love.

With her friend Mick O’Leary playing Watson to her Sherlock, she follows a trail of conjecture that leads straight to the real killer, someone who’d do anything to keep his own reputation intact, even if it means permanently silencing Lily and Mick. . .

About the author
Alice Adler is an avid reader whose love of mysteries developed when she discovered Agatha Christie and Josephine Tey. Now retired from a career as a high school and community college English teacher, Alice devotes her newly found freedom to writing mystery novels and reading for pleasure.

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