Hi, I’m Sunshine Fields, but please call me Sunny. Yes, that’s actually my name. I was raised by my grandparents, who were bona fied hippies back in the sixties. When their daughter breezed into their lives after disappearing for a few years, she dropped off a baby who they not only had to raise, they even had to name. So “Sunshine” it was. Hey, it could’ve been worse. Knowing the grands, they might have chosen “Strawberry”!
My life is pretty simple, which is the way I like it. In addition to my full-time job as a library assistant, I help my grandparents manage our farm, Vista View, which has been in our family for generations. It’s located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Virginia, just outside the historic town of Taylorsford. We grow organic vegetables and fruits to sell to restaurants, markets, and the locals
Since I have a full-time job, the grands take care of most of the farm duties, but I like to help out as much as I can. On a typical day I wake early and head out to release the chickens from their coop. My grandmother believes in allowing the birds to wander freely during the day, but we have to pen them up at night because of the foxes and other wild creatures that roam the woods near our farmhouse.
Then I head inside to get a shower and change into my work clothes before grabbing a yogurt and banana or a Danish. You may notice that I don’t have the standard farm breakfast with bacon or anything like that. The grands don’t believe in killing animals for food, so while we eat eggs and dairy products, I’ve never tasted meat in my life. After breakfast, I drive my canary yellow VW Beetle into town.
Just in case you’re wondering, I love my job at the library. I know—to look at me you might not think that I’m a bookworm, but I am. Sure, I love my boho chic clothes, painted nails, and trendy jewelry, but although I’m a natural blonde, I’m certainly not just some brainless fashionista. I’ve actually been an avid reader since I was a kid. That’s how Amy and I met. As teens, when she visited her Aunt Lydia in Taylorsford during the summers, we attended the same book club at the library. After I got my undergrad degree, I decided to stay home and help out the grands rather than get a job in the city, so I became the main (and only) assistant at the Taylorsford Public Library. When Amy took over as library director, I felt it was fate—which I believe in, by the way, no matter what Amy says.
But, back to my day—which mostly consists of helping our library patrons find information and materials and check out books. I also handle story time for the kids. That’s my favorite thing. I love to see their faces light up as I read them a story. Their parents tell me I need a child of my own, but I really don’t want to be tied down to marriage, so. . .Now—and please don’t tell anyone this—maybe someday I’ll adopt an older child. There are so many kids in the world who need a home, you know.
That’s pretty much my day. After work I head home and have dinner with the grands before helping them with a few chores and settling in to read until bedtime. If I’m not dating anyone, that is. I’m not right now, which is fine by me. I like guys, and Amy claims I’m a flirt, but I always find that guys need more from me than I want to give. Like, they want to get married and all that, which doesn’t interest me. Now if I could find someone who was cool with being in a committed relationship that didn’t have so many strings attached. . .But that’s hard to find in a small town like Taylorsford.
As you can see, my life’s pretty unexciting. Or at least it was, until Amy and I got involved in helping to solve some crimes. It seems like Taylorsford has become overrun with murders in recent years, and somehow Amy keeps being drawn into the investigations. Which means I get pulled into them too. I mean, that’s what you do for your bestie, right? And Amy isn’t just my best friend, she’s really more like my sister. Like Amy’s boyfriend, Richard, I don’t have any siblings, and Amy only has a brother she rarely sees, so the little group of us have formed our own version of family. As the grands would say, I think that’s pretty “groovy.”
Giveaway: Comment below for a chance to win a signed copy of Past Due For Murder. U.S. entries only, please. The giveaway ends February 19, 2019. Good luck everyone!
You can read more about me, Amy, Richard, Aunt Lydia, and the rest of our friends and families in Past Due For Murder, the third book in the “Blue Ridge Library” cozy mystery series, released February 12, 2019. There are now three books out about us, with at least two more to come!
Has a curse fallen on the small town of Taylorsford, Virginia? After a young woman goes missing during a spring bonfire, library director Amy Webber must wade through the web of lies only to find a truth that she may not want to untangle.
Spring has sprung in quaint Taylorsford, Virginia, and the mayor has revived the town’s long-defunct May Day celebration to boost tourism. As part of the festivities, library director Amy Webber is helping to organize a research project and presentation by a local folklore expert. All seems well at first―but spring takes on a sudden chill when a university student inexplicably vanishes during a bonfire.
The local police cast a wide net to find the missing woman, but in a shocking turn of events, Amy’s swoon-worthy neighbor Richard Muir becomes a person of interest in the case. Not only is Richard the woman’s dance instructor, he also doesn’t have an alibi for the night the student vanished―or at least not one he’ll divulge, even to Amy.
When the missing student is finally discovered lost in the mountains, with no memory of recent events―and a dead body lying nearby―an already disturbing mystery takes on a sinister new hue. Blessed with her innate curiosity and a librarian’s gift for research, Amy may be the only one who can learn the truth in Past Due for Murder, Victoria Gilbert’s third charming Blue Ridge Library mystery.
Purchase Link
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About the author
Raised in a historic small town in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Victoria turned her early obsession with books into a dual career as an author and librarian.
Victoria’s first cozy mystery series, the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series, garnered her a three-book deal with Crooked Lane Books, which has since been expanded to five books. The first two books in the series have been optioned by Sony Pictures Television, and the first three were or will be produced in audiobook by Tantor Media.
Victoria is a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and Sisters in Crime. She is represented by Frances Black at Literary Counsel.
Reach out to Victoria at victoriagilbertmysteries.com, or on her Facebook author page, or on Twitter, or on Instagram.
All comments are welcomed.
Sounds like an interesting series in a charming setting.
I really liked the first two books and I hope to read this new one soon. Thank you for the chance to win it.
Sounds like a great series!
Thanks so much for hosting Sunny on your blog today!
Victoria Gilbert is a favorite author of mine. Thank you for including her on your blog. My fingers are crossed my name may be chosen to win her book.
This sounds like a new to me fun series. Thanks.
This sounds like a fun book, thank you for the chance to win a copy.
wfnren at aol dot com
Looks like a Great Read 👍 📖
Thanks for sharing this book with us 😍❤😍Thanks for the chance to win 😃💖😍💗
Shared on Twitter 😍❤😍
https://mobile.twitter.com/LindaMoffitt02/status/1096797157032710149
sounds fun. shared on facebook (Betty Tyler there). thanks for the chance to win
This really sounds like an exciting book 📖! This is a new author for me, and that is always so thrilling to me discovering new authors! I love 💕 the awesome cover! Thanks so much dear Dru for the chance to win!!! 😊😻🌈💜
A great location for an interesting story.
You couldn’t pick a more beautiful setting for murder and mayhem!
I like the sound of this.
Sounds like a great read.
I like this series and look forward to reading this installment. Thanks for a chance to win!
Great series! Can’t wait to read “Past Due for Murder”.
Thanks for this chance! This sounds like a book I’d love to read…andhey…I’m recuperating from hip surgery…so filling my time with books!
Love the Blue Ridge Mountains! I’m new to your books. Hope to win to read! Thank you.
Sounds like a fun read.
Sounds like a great series–books, great food, and the mountains–what’s not to like?
This book cover makes me want to win and read this book! Thanks for offering this chance!!
This sounds like so much fun! Thanks for the chance to win.
This sounds like so much fun! Thanks for the chance to win.
Sounds like another winner for the series! I look forward to reading it soon. Thanks for the chance to win a copy. Groovy!
Nice cover Dru, and I’m sure the story is just as great. Please toss my name into your magic contest hat.
I’d love to be the winner
Already a ‘must-read’ for me…..
Thank you for the giveaway…..
I am not familiar with this author but the book sounds like fun reading!
I love cozies set in libraries!
Never read her books. Would love to read it. Thanks for the chance.
I love libraries and murder mysteries. It would be really cool to win this one.
Sounds interesting! Thank you for the chance to win; I do enjoy reading about bookstores and libraries.
I like the cover on this book. Would love to read it.
**** WINNER ****
Past Due For Murder is Lois Rotella
Congratulations!