It’s a pleasure to welcome Karen Cino back to the blog. Karen is visiting today to share her cozy mystery Bridal Shop Chaos (Cookie Cutter Cozy Mystery Series, Book 7). Usually I stick to romance on #MaddysRomanceMadness, but Karen likes to add romantic elements to her stories, so I thought you might enjoy Bridal Shop Chaos.
Bridal Shop Chaos (Cookie Cutter Cozy Mystery Series Book 7 by Karen Cino
A routine trip to a local bridal shop is disrupted when the bridal shop owner gets murdered while Connie and Sara are in the dressing room. As the investigation unwinds, secrets out the owner are discovered, as the list of suspects continue to grow.
Sara Mazza and her boyfriend continue to have problems in their relationship, stemming back to the cruise they had taken the month before.
As Connie’s wedding day approaches, will they solve the case and not get themselves in harms way again?
Buy Bridal Shop Chaos here
Read an Excerpt from Bridal Shop Chaos by Karen Cino
“Okay guys, it’s time to focus. We have a lot to do before the day is over,” Warren announced. “Now, to catch you up. Last night we went through the video. The man you talked to yesterday was right in describing the man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with the hood covering his hair. The more we looked at the tape, the more I’m thinking the suspect is male, medium built, approximately five foot seven. We’re hoping to find some clues at the shop.”
“We’re keeping all options open,” Brett added. “Time to get to the backroom.”
“Before we go there, we have something to tell you,” Connie said. “I think we have some information that will help you with the case.”
“What is it?” Warren asked in a stern voice.
Oh yes, he knows we were up to no good after they left last night. “Now before you go lecturing us about how we can’t do what we did and how if we got caught it would come back to you, which leads into us getting ourselves into danger. And then—”
“What did you ladies do last night after we left?” Warren said, biting down on his bottom lip.
“We had a hunch that there was something to find in her house,” Sara said, bringing her words down to a whisper.
Warren took a step back. “Are you two telling me you broke into her house?”
“Not really,” Sara replied.
“What does that mean? And how did you know where she lived? And how did you get into her house? Please don’t tell me you climbed through a window or broke one to get in.” Warren’s voice started getting an edge to it.
“I’ll answer that,” Connie said, leaning against the counter. “We went in with her key. So, the good news is that we didn’t break and enter.”
“Oh my God.” Warren rested the palm of his hands against his forehead. “I can’t retire soon enough.” He turned to Brett. “Didn’t I tell you they were up to something when I called the house phone last night and no one answered.”
Brett dropped his gaze to the floor and nodded his head. “I don’t think this is worth the time and energy to talk about. But the one question I have is how did you two find out where she lives?”
Sara slowly raised her hand. “Guilty. When everyone was examining the body, I went into her handbag where she had a utility bill. I took a picture of it and removed the key ring from the counter.”
Warren shook his head. “Do you two realize how dangerous that was? If someone was watching her house and wanted to break in, you would’ve run into them and might not be here telling us about it.”
“We understand that,” Connie began, “but we uncovered valuable information.”
Brett sipped his coffee before he asked. “What do you have?”
“Go ahead, Sara, you tell them what we uncovered.”
“We found two books. I found an accounting ledger for each day and total deposits at the end of the month,” Sara said, taking the ledger out of her bag.
“And I found a phone book with names and some sort of five-star system. Give me a minute.” Connie rummaged through her handbag and pulled out the phone book and handed it to Brett.
The men went over to the counter and laid the books out. They both looked through them and then turned back to Connie and Sara.
“I’ll put these in evidence.” Warren took out his keys. Take a ride with me, Sara. I have to get these into police custody. As far as anyone knows, we found these in the shop.” Warren took out the utility bill from her handbag. “I’m going to have someone go over and check out the house and see if they find anything else.”
“While you two are gone, Connie and I will go through the boxes of papers in the office. Hopefully, we find something and this case starts to come together.”
“Can’t we go with you to the house?” Sara asked.
Warren tilted his head and bit his top lip. “Let me see. Maybe we can go later on. I’ll ask the captain for a search warrant, so that everything is done the right way. So, we’ll be back soon.”
“Let’s go to the office. There are close to a dozen boxes in the backroom. I can use your help to go through the papers. We need to see if there is anything else that apply to why someone would have killed her in cold blood.”
“I think she had some illegal dealings going on in here,” Connie explained. “There is no way she was bringing in close to fifty thousand dollars a month selling bridal gowns.”
“I totally agree with you. That much?”
“Yeah. Didn’t you see the numbers in the book?”
“I glanced through it. I’ll look at it closer down at the station. But Warren was right in saying that it had to be put in the evidence room. I’m not trying to scare you, but if the murderer knows you have these books, he would go after you and Sara. Information like that could indict the killer. This is the reason why I don’t like you running around doing this. I’ve been doing this work for a long time and it can be quite dangerous.”
Buy Bridal Shop Chaos here
Meet Karen Cino
Karen Cino is a multi-published author who has been writing since she was fourteen years old. She started her career by writing poetry, short stories, and articles for her high school newspaper. Her daily walks down at the boardwalk are what get her muse going. It clears her mind and helps her find realistic plot ideas and characters, boosting up her muse. Karen loves writing about local places that people can relate to.
Karen loves the summer, loves the beach. Her previous books were written and take place in various places across Staten Island. Karen relocated to the Jersey Shore in 2015 and traded in the Staten Island Boardwalk for the Jersey Shore. Her Cookie Cutter Cozy Mystery Series takes place at the Jersey Shore.
Karen is a member of Romance Writers of America, Women’s Fiction Writing Association, Liberty States Fiction Writers and Sisters in Crime.
Find and follow Karen at:
- Website: http://karencino.com
- Blog: http://karencinobooks.com
- Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008LCG31Y
- Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4444484.Karen_Cino
- Newsletter: http://us8.campaign-archive1.com/home/?u=372e9cad72e3faf1c0a8b9a4e&id=9ac84ba873
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karencino
- Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/Karen-Cino-296585170371401/