Contemporary

Cocktails and Lies a cozy #mystery Lynette Sofras @ManicScribbler #RLFblog

This quick interview includes info about the author, and introduces the story.

About the Author

A former teacher, Lynette gave up her career in education a few years ago in order to focus on her writing and thus fulfil her childhood dream.  She writes contemporary women’s fiction, usually involving romance, and often with suspense or a supernatural twist.  She claims ‘Killing Jenna Crane’, a romantic thriller is her personal favorite to date.
Lynette currently lives in an early Victorian cottage (the inspiration for her latest story ‘Cocktails and Lies’) in a picturesque Surrey village. When she’s not reading or writing, she enjoys catching up with friends, visiting the theatre or cinema, and occasionally trying to tame her out-of-control garden and the family’s eccentric cat.
You can find more details of her novels on her website or Amazon author page.

Interview with Lynette Sofras

Why did you write this book?
I wanted to write a story that focused more on mystery than romance. I live in a Victorian Cottage (built 1849) and I often wonder what people it sheltered in the past, what secrets it protected, and what it might tell me if it could only speak. Since it remains forever silent, I thought I’d give it a special story of its own. Apart from the house and its setting, however, everything in the story is fictional.
What is your favorite genre to read?
I love the classics and never tire of re-reading them, but in terms of modern novels, I enjoy any story that draws me into its fictional realms and allows me to wander among realistic characters in situations with which I can strongly identify.  I also enjoy a story that makes me do some work as I read, and I find psychological dramas do that best for me.  Throw in a little romance, and I’m in reader heaven.
Who is your favorite character from fiction (not including your own)?
Elizabeth Bennet: she has wit, beauty, energy, talent, confidence, and she landed Mr Darcy and the beautiful Pemberley. She’s the perfect heroine, and we’re forever trying to re-create some part of her in our stories.
What are you working on at the moment, and will see from you in coming months?
My next story is more of a psychological mystery (I seem to be heading in that direction lately) concerning a couple who have reached a crossroads in their marriage due to their inability to conceive.  The wife (an historian with an interest in genealogy) throws herself into her latest project, researching an eighteenth century nobleman and his family, while the husband does what men all too often do in this situation – he embarks on an affair… with dire consequences.
Please tell us about your latest book.
When Hannah’s house is burgled, she gains as much as she loses: she meets Jan, her reserved Dutch neighbour and successful antiques dealer, and Callum, the detective in charge of the case, then finds some hidden letters to her dead grandmother that take her on an emotional journey of discovery.
As Hannah juggles the attentions of the two men now firmly in her life, she works to uncover the secrets of the past, only to find these encroach on the present in unexpected ways.
And then there are the two men in her life, both vying for her attention, both hiding things from her and each other.  What does Callum really know about Jan?  What is Jan hiding from everyone?  And what did her grandmother—whose house it once was—hide from the world?
As if Hannah doesn’t have enough mysteries to solve, her best friend Rachel enlists her help in solving her marital crisis, while her pleasure-seeking mother seems intent on finding her a husband.
With so many skeletons rattling the door of Hannah’s house, can she unravel all these mysterious threads and reveal the truth, changing her life forever?

About the Book

Title – Cocktails and Lies
Genre – Cozy Mystery
Author – Lynette Sofras
Book heat level (based on movie ratings): PG13

Buy This Book

Publisher – self
Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H8WPPUW/  
CreateSpace – https://tsw.createspace.com/title/6375986

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