Nina Fleet is new to the mystery scene and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know Nina.

What is your name?
Nina Fleet.

How old are you?
I’m forty-one, but I’m sure I look much younger!

What is your profession?
I’m a former corporate drone but am now an innkeeper as owner of Fleet House Bed and Breakfast in Cymbeline, Georgia.

Do you have a significant other?
My ex-husband is Cameron Fleet. No current romantic interest but I’m open to the possibility.

What is his name and profession?
Yes, Cam is THAT Cameron Fleet, the golfer. You’ve seen him on the pro tournament circuit, plus he’s been on some magazine covers and did that allergy medication commercial. I kicked his butt to the curb for a good reason.

Any children?
Only fuzzy ones. My BFF (best furry friend) is Matilda (Mattie) the Australian shepherd.

Do you have any sibling(s)?
A brother and a sister.

Do your parents live near you?
My mom and dad live in Dallas, where I’m originally from.

Who is your best friend?
I’m new in town, so I’m making new friends to go along with the old friends back in Atlanta (where I lived most of my married life and Dallas. Currently, I hang out with Gemma and Daniel Tanaka, owners of the Peaches and Java coffee shop and bakery.

Cats, dogs or other pets?
See children, above!

What town do you live in?
Cymbeline, Georgia, a small antique-y and artsy town south and west of Savannah.

House or building complex? Own or Rent?
I own a gorgeous 3-story Queen Anne home from the 1890s that has been converted into my B&B.

What is your favorite spot in your house?
The front porch is always great, though I have former billiards parlor that serves as my private bedroom suite when I have guests.

Favorite meal? Favorite dessert?
I love Mexican food. My favorite dessert is, of course, Daniel Tanaka’s famous peach cobbler topped with Amaretto whipped cream.

Favorite hobby?
I enjoy antiquing, and when things aren’t too busy at the B&B, I enjoy upcycling furniture.

Favorite color?
Red.

Favorite author?
Ali Brandon.

Favorite vacation spot?
Anywhere warm!

Favorite sports team?
Dallas Cowboys.

Movies or Broadway?
I love live plays but, opportunity-wise, I’m more likely to catch a movie.

Are you a morning or a night person?
Back in my twenties I was a night owl but now I’m definitely a morning person as far as getting things done.

Amateur sleuth or professional?
Amateur.

Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
Mattie the Aussie helps out. But I also have teamed up with an actor named Harry Westcott, who happens to be the grandnephew of the woman who used to own my house. He seems to think he should have inherited the place, so we’re not always on the best of terms, but we sometimes are forced to work together.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
When I have guests in the B&B, I’m up by six so I can meet Daniel and Gemma’s teenaged daughter, Jasmine, who brings over my catered breakfast at seven. I have that all set up in my dining room for my guests by 7:30. Once they eat, the guests are on their own except for a morning and afternoon snack, so I clean and straighten the place, and then do my B&B paperwork and promotion for a couple of hours. Afternoons and evenings are mostly my own. . .unless someone turns up dead in my proximity. And then, all bets are off!

You can read about Nina in Peach Clobbered, the first book in the NEW “Georgia B&B” cozy mystery series, released July 9, 2019.

What’s black and white and dead all over? Georgia bed and breakfast proprietor Nina Fleet finds out when she comes across a corpse in a penguin costume.

Nina Fleet’s life ought to be as sweet as a Georgia peach. Awarded a tidy sum in her divorce, Nina retired at 41 to a historic Queen Anne house in quaint Cymbeline, GA. But Nina’s barely settled into her new B&B-to-be when a penguin shows up on her porch. Or, at least, a man wearing a penguin suit.

Harry Westcott is making ends meet as an ice cream shop’s mascot and has a letter from his great-aunt, pledging to leave him the house. Too bad that’s not what her will says. Meanwhile, the Sisters of Perpetual Poverty have lost their lease. Real estate developer Gregory Bainbridge intends to turn the convent into a golfing community, so Cymbeline’s mayor persuades Nina to take in the elderly nuns. And then Nina finds the “penguin” again, this time lying in an alley with a kitchen knife in his chest.

A peek under the beak tells Nina it’s not Harry inside the costume, but Bainbridge. What was he doing in Harry’s penguin suit? Was the developer really the intended victim, or did the culprit mean to kill Harry? Whoever is out to stop Harry from contesting the sale of his great-aunt’s house may also be after Nina, so she teams up with him to cage the killer before someone clips her wings in Peach Clobbered, Anna Gerard’s charming first Georgia B&B mystery.

Purchase Link
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About the author
Diane A.S. Stuckart is the New York Times bestselling author of the Black Cat Bookshop Mysteries (written as Ali Brandon), as well as the award-winning Leonardo da Vinci historical mysteries and the Tarot Cats Mystery series. Her latest venture is the Georgia B&B Mystery series from Crooked Lane Books, written as Anna Gerard. The debut title is Peach Clobbered, on the shelves July 2019. About that book, Publishers Weekly says, “Bright and breezy. . .Gerard provides it all: well-drawn characters, pithy dialogue, and enough twists and turns and shifts of motive to keep cozy fans happily playing the whodunit game.”

To learn more about Diane, visit her website at dianestuckart.com.

All comments are welcomed.