A Sew Deadly Cruise
Series: An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery #9
Author: Lois Winston
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 226
Release Date: October 1, 2020
Summary:
Life is looking up for magazine crafts editor Anastasia Pollack. Newly engaged, she and photojournalist fiancé Zack Barnes are on a winter cruise with her family, compliments of a Christmas gift from her half-brother-in-law. Son Alex’s girlfriend and her father have also joined them. Shortly after boarding the ship, Anastasia is approached by a man with an unusual interest in her engagement ring. When she tells Zack of her encounter, he suggests the man might be a jewel thief scouting for his next mark. But before Anastasia can point the man out to Zack, the would-be thief approaches him, revealing his true motivation. Long-buried secrets now threaten the well-being of everyone Anastasia holds dear. And that’s before the first dead body turns up.
Craft projects included.
From Magazine Crafts Editor to Reluctant Amateur Sleuth
By Anastasia Pollack
My name is Anastasia Pollack. Back in 2003 author, Lois Winston needed a protagonist for the cozy mystery series she had been asked to write. For some unknown reason I’ve never figured out, she decided to pick on me, a happily married magazine crafts editor.
Prior to entering my life, Lois wrote romance. I wouldn’t have minded her making me the heroine of one of those books. But no, she decided to yank me out of my comfortable middle-class existence and drop me into the middle of murder and mayhem—after she killed off my husband. Not bad enough? She decided prior to his death, without my knowledge he’d raided our savings and gotten us into hock several stories above my eyeballs.
Did I mention the loan shark? Turns out Karl owed him fifty-grand. Funny thing about loan sharks. They don’t care if the guy who borrowed the money is now dead. Somebody needs to pay up—or else. As the widow, I was designated that “somebody”. Fifty-grand? Ha! I was now so destitute that I’d have trouble scraping together fifty dollars!
Still not bad enough? Lois decided I needed to find a dead body glued to my office chair. Of course, the killer used my glue gun, making me the prime suspect in the murder. Did I mention I’m the crafts editor for a women’s magazine? Dealing with murder and a loan shark aren’t line items in my job description.
Now that Lois has hijacked my American dream, I struggle to keep a roof over our heads. Not only do I have two teenage sons who can eat in a day what I eat in a week, I’ve got my Russian princess mother as a near-constant fixture in my home and my curmudgeonly Communist mother-in-law as a permanent resident. I’m sure you don’t have to task your brain cells any to figure out how well those two get along!
Then there are the non-human residents of Casa Pollack. First, there’s Ralph, the Shakespeare quoting parrot with an uncanny knack for spouting situation-appropriate commentary. In addition, there are two four-legged beasts, Catherine the Great, Mama’s corpulent white Persian cat with an attitude to match her name, and Manifesto, the commie’s French bulldog. Really, who names a dog after a communist treatise? Needless to say, those two get along as well as their human counterparts.
Besides my sons, who are great kids, the one bright spot in my life is photojournalist Zachary Barnes. He rented the apartment above my garage. We’ve become an item, although sometimes I think the real romance—or bromance—is actually between Ralph and Zack. Man and bird have become inseparable.
Anyway, Lois probably thought she was doing me a favor when I complained about all the stress in my life and how I needed a vacation. She decided to send me on a cruise. Sounds great, right? Well, you obviously don’t know Lois because she just couldn’t help herself. Murder and mayhem quickly followed, and this time I’m once again thrust into the role of reluctant amateur sleuth in A Sew Deadly Cruise.
About the Author
USA Today 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.
Other Books in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series
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