If you were expecting a guest post from one of the two-legged characters who populate Lois Winston’s Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, you’ll need to search this site for some of her previous A Day in the Life guest posts. Today, you get yours truly, the taloned member of the Pollack household. Anastasia inherited me from her great-aunt Penelope Periwinkle when the Shakespearean scholar “shuffled off this mortal coil” (Hamlet, Act Three, Scene One) to join the Bard of Avon inside the Pearly Gates.

At first Anastasia wasn’t thrilled with her inheritance. She would have preferred Great-aunt Penelope’s cameo collection, but that was left to Anastasia’s mother. However, I believe I’ve since proven my worth. And FYI, unlike a certain canine member of the household, I’m potty-trained. No one has to walk me several times a day during New Jersey nor’easters or blizzards.

Having spent most of my long life with Professor Penelope, both in and out of her lecture halls, I’m quite the Shakespearean scholar myself. And although African Greys are known to have exceptional intelligence and huge vocabularies, I’m not exaggerating when I state that I completely out-parrot the other members of my species. My talents are varied and many, but I’m especially proud of my ability to quote situation-appropriate Shakespearean passages from Will’s many plays.

Given that Lois Winston has seen fit to dump all sorts of murder and mayhem on poor Anastasia, one of my tasks within the series is to insert a bit of much-needed comic relief, especially when unsuspecting characters first hear me recite a few lines. Not only is my timing spot on, but I can also quote the play’s title, act, and scene. It’s a shame there are no stage parts written for Shakespeare-quoting parrots. If there are any playwrights reading this, have your people call my people. You won’t be sorry.

I’m also far better at dealing with intruders than either of the four-legged residents of Casa Pollack. You should see my magnificent wingspan, not to mention my swooping prowess. I employed both recently when a rather sketchy character showed up at Anastasia’s door in Guilty as Framed, the newest book in the ongoing series. If you’d like to see me in action, you can read the first chapter here.

Finally, I like to think that my matchmaking skills are unparalleled. The moment Zachary Barnes entered our lives, I knew the man was the best thing to happen to Anastasia since Lois started messing with her life, even if Anastasia isn’t quite sure Zack is who he claims he is. Yes, he’s a photojournalist, but is he more? Does he, as Anastasia suspects, work for one of the alphabet agencies? Enquiring minds want to know, but this parrot really doesn’t care. I’m taking full credit for Zack sticking around. We’ve developed quite the bromance. At times, I think Anastasia is even a bit jealous.

Guilty as Framed, An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery #11
Genre: Cozy
Release: September 2022
Purchase Link

When an elderly man shows up at the home of reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack, she’s drawn into the unsolved mystery of the greatest art heist in history.

Boston mob boss Cormac Murphy has recently been released from prison. He doesn’t believe Anastasia’s assertion that the man he’s looking for doesn’t live at her address and attempts to muscle his way into her home. His efforts are thwarted by Anastasia’s fiancé Zack Barnes.

A week later, a stolen SUV containing a dead body appears in Anastasia’s driveway. Anastasia believes Murphy is sending her a message. It’s only the first in a series of alarming incidents, including a mugging, a break-in, another murder, and the discovery of a cache of jewelry and an etching from the largest museum burglary in history.

But will Anastasia solve the mystery behind these shocking events before she falls victim to a couple of desperate thugs who will stop at nothing to get what they want?

Crafts projects included.

About the author
USA Today and Amazon bestselling author Lois Winston began her award-winning writing career in 2006 with Talk Gertie to Me, a humorous novel about a small-town girl in Manhattan and the mother bent on bringing her home. That was followed by the romantic suspense Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception. Lois wrote her first mystery thanks to a conversation between her agent and an editor looking for a crafting-themed cozy series. Thus, was born the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, which Kirkus Reviews dubbed, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” The series now includes eleven novels and three novellas. To date Lois has published twenty novels, five novellas, several short stories, one children’s chapter book, and one nonfiction book on writing, inspired by the twelve years she worked as an associate at a literary agency. Learn more about Lois and her books at loiswinston.com.

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