Annie McEwen and I hadn't even met in person yet when we already knew we were bosom buddies. We're weirdly similar in bunches of different ways. Our first time meeting in person, we shared a hotel room for four nights at Malice Domestic and talked all night long EVERY one of those nights as if we were twelve years old. Our other writing friends thought we'd known each other for years, and honestly, that's how it feels. She's my people.
On that note, you've got to read her books! Dead, White and Blue is the second in Annie's Northwoods Mystery series and is a spectacular second act!
Here's what to expect:
It's the 4th of July in the Wisconsin Northwoods, and no one is more excited than Emmy Cooper. She's happy to be back in her hometown, settling once again into small-town living and helping her family run Cooper's Cove, their lake cottage resort. Emmy and her teen crush, police officer Dean Erickson, are enjoying getting reacquainted, while she and bestie Whitney are closer than ever.
Lake Covington and its quaint namesake town are bustling with visitors celebrating during the annual three-day Independence Day Freedom Fest. Everything is Yankee Doodle Dandy until a local man with a reputation for trouble starts fireworks of his own. And the explosions just keep on coming when Emmy stumbles over a dead body at the celebrations.
The dead man is Jordan James, and as Emmy soon finds out, there are not shortage of people who might want him dead. From a jealous jerk to a conniving cousin and even a former friend from his past, suspects are more plentiful than ants at a July picnic! Despite promises to stay out of the investigation, Emmy finds herself smack in the middle of it. Can she and Whitney figure out the truth and find liberty and justice for all?
It's a great read! I asked Annie if she would tell us a little about Emmy's crafty side:
In Dead, White and Blue, Emmy is working at her family's resort in Wisconsin and also expanding her Trash to Treasure business. Do you do trash-to-treasure projects? If so, what is one of your favorite pieces you've restored?
"Yes, I LOVE doing these projects! My parents were creating beautiful, creative treasures out of "junk" way back when, and of course, I wanted to be right there with a little hammer and paintbrush helping. It's hard to pick a favorite project, but I guess one that sticks out in my mind was for my son when he was little. He wanted a "log cabin" room. After painting faux logs and fieldstones on his walls, I had a blast coming up with inexpensive decorations. In my closet, I had one of those cheap particleboard bookcases that had seen better days...scratched, dented, and just plain ugly. So, I lightly sanded the whole thing and painted a camo pattern all over the three-shelved unit. After a couple of coats of sealer, Caleb had the perfect place to stash his many army vehicles and tin buckets of G.I. Joe guys. So, for the cost of a couple of dollars of craft paint and sealer, Caleb had a custom shelf that looked pretty cool. His friends loved it so much that their moms asked me to paint some shelves for their rooms! Those are the projects I love the most - the ones that bring joy to people!"
I imagine that shelf was adorable, Annie! Now we know where Emmy gets her talent!
You can get Dead, White and Blue, as well as the first book in the Northwoods Mysteries here!
Annie McEwen is the author of the Northwoods Mystery Series, set amongst the tall pines and sparkling lakes of Northern Wisconsin where she spent vacations as a kid. Annie and her husband are empty nesters with two grown kids and two adorable grandsons. They also have four fur babies who think they're pretty adorable, too! When Annie isn't writing or playing with her grandsons, she works as a radiological technologist, aka, she takes pictures of bones...you can't hide much from her! Writing, though, is her first love.
Learn more about Annie at her website.
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