A Halloween Cozy Mystery Where Everyone Wears a Cape (Even the Burglars)
Josiah Sweeton was who people in Halo, Georgia, called an odd duck. However, odd duck-ishness is forgiven when you're a Sweeton… If you've died, birthed, gotten sick, or in trouble, Halo is white on rice with all manners of casseroles and advice. Whether you want it or not. (Cherry Tucker, The Vigilante Vignette)
That's how THE VIGILANTE VIGNETTE opens. Cherry Tucker hears her standoffish neighbor is laid up, so she shows up at his door, casserole in hand. (She got the casserole from her sister, Casey. Cherry "never did master the art of casserole making." She painted him flowers to make up for it.)
It should have been a simple mercy call. This is Cherry, so it was not.
Do you know that Cherry Tucker has a Halloween mystery? Plenty of readers don't. THE VIGILANTE VIGNETTE is my one Halloween cozy mystery novella, a small town, Southern humorous mystery that sits between HIJACK IN ABSTRACT and DEATH IN PERSPECTIVE in the series. It first came out in an anthology called MIDNIGHT MYSTERIES back in September 2016, which may be why it slipped past some of you. Anthologies are wonderful. They're also where a novella goes to be found by exactly the people who already bought the anthology.
So consider this a proper introduction.
A Sensitive and Personal Matter
Josiah, it turns out, has heard Cherry has "a knack for more than portraits." Something of his was stolen at a Halloween party, and he wants it back. Quietly. No police. It's a family heirloom that's been in his daddy's family for centuries, protected by a trust, and if word gets out, it'll get back to Mother.
I won't tell you what the heirloom is. I'll only say that Josiah's greatest fear is his mother finding out he's been wearing it in public.
Cherry wants no part of it. Then Josiah, a city councilman, mentions the petition to put her in front of the zoning board for running a studio out of her house. And the ordinances. And the fire inspector. And:
"Also there's a goat in your backyard. Animal control could be contacted."
About That Goat
If you're new here, Tater is Grandpa Ed's goat, Cherry's longtime nemesis, and readers' favorite. In this book he's been bullied by the other bucks, hitched a ride home in Cherry's truck bed, and settled into her in-town backyard. She thought he'd escape. She almost hoped he would. He didn't.
"Have you ever tried to force a goat to do anything? There are proverbs written about that kind of thing."
So now it's find the heirloom, or face the zoning board and watch Tater get hauled off. As Cherry puts it:
"Dagnabbit, I knew that goat would be my undoing."
Cat Burglars Not on the Guest List
This one isn't a murder. My novellas tend to be heists, and this one has cat burglars. Literally. Josiah's date at the country club Halloween party was a Catwoman, and that's about all he remembers.
Which would narrow it down, if not for this:
"There are a ton of Catwoman costumes. Party Barn must have had a sale on ears and tights."
Meanwhile a mystery man is keeping an eye on Cherry, and it's hard to know who's the hero and who's the villain when everyone is wearing capes. That's the trouble with a costume party. The good guys and the bad guys shop the same aisle.
What Readers Said
"This author knows how to make me laugh!… from the two hunky men in Cherry's life to the mysterious, probably dangerous, but altogether lovable Eastern European ex-gangster (we presume). It was so much fun to read, I was really wishing it was longer." — Riverlizzie Reviews
I will be thinking about that "(we presume)" for the rest of my life. It's exactly where Max lives.
"Cherry Tucker can get herself into the worst predicaments without even trying. Full of mystery and superheroes! What more do we need at Halloween's night?" — Varietats
A One-Sitting Halloween Cozy Mystery Read for October
Because it's a novella, THE VIGILANTE VIGNETTE is the right size for one October evening, a porch light, and a bowl of candy corn you have no intention of sharing. If you've read the first three Cherry Tucker books, it slots right in after HIJACK IN ABSTRACT. If you haven't, you've got a whole Georgia cozy mystery series waiting on you.
THE VIGILANTE VIGNETTE is in Kindle Unlimited. Check it out: books2read.com/vig
Brand new to Cherry? Start with Book 1, PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY, also in Kindle Unlimited: books2read.com/portrait
Happy Halloween, y'all. Watch out for anybody in a cape.
Happy Reading!
Larissa
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