Guilty as Framed (An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery)
by Lois Winston
About Guilty as Framed
Guilty as Framed (An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
11th in Series
Setting – New Jersey
Independently Published (September 6, 2022)
Print length : 263 pages
Digital ASIN : B0B1XHPLBC
When an elderly man shows up at the home of reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack, she’s drawn into the unsolved mystery of the greatest art heist in history.
Boston mob boss Cormac Murphy has recently been released from prison. He refuses to believe Anastasia’s assertion that the man he’s looking for doesn’t live at her address and attempts to muscle his way into her home. His efforts are thwarted by Anastasia’s fiancé Zack Barnes.
A week later, a stolen SUV containing a dead body appears in Anastasia’s driveway. Anastasia believes Murphy is sending her a message. It’s only the first in a series of alarming incidents, including a mugging, a break-in, another murder, and the discovery of a cache of jewelry and an etching from the largest museum burglary in history.
But will Anastasia solve the mystery behind these shocking events before she falls victim to a couple of desperate thugs who will stop at nothing to get what they want?
Crafts projects included.
About Lois Winston
USA Today and Amazon bestselling author Lois Winston began her award-winning writing career with Talk Gertie to Me, a humorous fish-out-of-water novel about a small-town girl going off to the big city and the mother who had other ideas. That was followed by the romantic suspense Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception.
Then Lois’s writing segued unexpectantly into the world of humorous amateur sleuth mysteries, thanks to a conversation her agent had with an editor looking for craft-themed mysteries. In her day job Lois was an award-winning craft and needlework designer, and although she’d never written a mystery—or had even thought about writing a mystery—her agent decided she was the perfect person to pen a series for this editor. Thus, was born the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, which Kirkus Reviews dubbed “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” The series now includes eleven novels and three novellas. Lois also writes the Empty Nest Mysteries, currently at two novels, and one book so far in her Mom Squad Capers series.
To date, Lois has published twenty novels, five novellas, several short stories, one children’s chapter book, and one nonfiction book on writing, inspired by her twelve years working as an associate at a literary agency.
What’s so Funny About Murder?
By Lois Winston
I write the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, a humorous cozy mystery series. Some people have very strong opinions against this particular sub-genre. They find nothing humorous about murder. Neither do I. However, I do find that it often helps to have a sense of humor to get through much of what life throws at you, especially with everything going on in the world today. There’s an old saying that goes, “Laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and you cry alone.”
I try to convey this in the way my characters approach life. I don’t write slapstick or pratfall humor. In my books, you won’t find a buffoonish detective literally tripping over a rock and falling headfirst into an open grave. (My apologies to any author who has written such a scene. It’s not one I’ve ever read. I just made it up as an example.)
I write witty dialogue and narrative featuring characters with self-deprecating and observational humor. My books are meant to give readers a respite from real life. They won’t keep you up at night, constantly checking the locks on your windows and doors.
My series is also populated with a cast of zany characters. I love taking polar opposites and throwing them together to create conflict. In the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, Anastasia’s mother believes she descends from Russian royalty, while her mother-in-law is a staunch communist. Not only are they both living under Anastasia’s roof, but they’re also forced to share a bedroom. Zany characters + conflict = humor. Even though it’s in the confines of a murder mystery.
The problem with writing humor, though, is that you never know if your readers will “get it.” For me, writing humor is the second hardest part of writing a mystery. The first part is creating a story where you keep your reader guessing whodunit. As the author, I know who the killer is. That makes it difficult for me to be objective. Did I leave too many clues? Not enough? The worst thing in the world for a mystery author is having your readers figure out whodunit by the third or fourth chapter of the book. I want to keep them guessing right up to the end.
Humor is very subjective, though. I’ve written dialogue where I’ve laughed out loud as I’ve typed, then each time I’ve reread the scene. However, I never know if others will find those scenes funny. I always hold my breath, fingers crossed. Some readers will laugh; others won’t. No author pleases every reader. All I can hope for is that more readers get the humor and enjoy the books than those who don’t.
An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 11
When an elderly man shows up at the home of reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack, she’s drawn into the unsolved mystery of the greatest art heist in history.
Boston mob boss Cormac Murphy has recently been released from prison. He doesn’t believe Anastasia’s assertion that the man he’s looking for doesn’t live at her address and attempts to muscle his way into her home. His efforts are thwarted by Anastasia’s fiancé Zack Barnes.
A week later, a stolen SUV containing a dead body appears in Anastasia’s driveway. Anastasia believes Murphy is sending her a message. It’s only the first in a series of alarming incidents, including a mugging, a break-in, another murder, and the discovery of a cache of jewelry and an etching from the largest museum burglary in history.
But will Anastasia solve the mystery behind these shocking events before she falls victim to a couple of desperate thugs who will stop at nothing to get what they want?
Buy Links
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3tLnT3d
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/guilty-as-framed
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/guilty-as-framed/id6442846272
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/guilty-as-framed-lois-winston/1141500980?ean=2940185728703
Bio:
USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website www.loiswinston.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter and follow her on various social media sites.
Author Links
Website: www.loiswinston.com
Newsletter sign-up: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/r2e9v1
Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog: www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/anasleuth
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Anasleuth
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/722763.Lois_Winston
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lois-winston
Purchase Links – Amazon – Nook – Kobo – iBookstore
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