Blog Tour Character Guest Post, Review, & Giveaway for Past Due for Murder by Victoria Gilbert

 

Character Guest Post – Lydia Litton Talbot

I’m told I need to write some sort of guest post for something called a blog tour. Really, I have no idea what that is. I’m not even entirely sure what a blog is, and why anyone would want to read such a thing.  Not to mention, I prefer to keep my personal life to myself. In all my sixty-six years, I have refused to jump on the social media bandwagon and have never even looked at Facebook or Twitter or all those other oddly named sites. But my niece, Amy, has begged me to write something, so I suppose I shall make the attempt.

First, let me introduce myself—I’m Lydia Litton Talbot, daughter of Randolph and Alice Litton, and granddaughter of Rose Baker and Fairfax Litton. That means that I’m descended from the Baker family, who were one of the first, and wealthiest, families in the historic Virginia mountain town of Taylorsford. But that was once upon a time. Sadly, that wealth dwindled over the years and these days I live on a very tight budget. I am fortunate enough to have inherited the Queen Anne Revival house built by a Baker ancestor in 1900, so I do have a home, mortgage free. The only problem with that inheritance is the upkeep required to maintain such a large home, but I do receive a monthly payment from some old family investments, as well as from my late husband’s trust fund. So I get by. It definitely helps that Amy moved in with me when she took over as library director at the Taylorsford Public Library a few years ago. She contributes to the maintenance of the house and helps me with other expenses as well. Not to mention all the work she does. I’m still healthy enough to take care of some of the gardening, but it’s nice to have Amy’s assistance with the more labor-intensive tasks.

I think I mentioned my late husband. His name was Andrew Talbot, and he was an artist. My house is filled with his work. I’ve recently had the good fortune to sell some of his paintings, with the help of one of his old friends, art dealer Kurt Kendrick. (Kurt had another name back when I first met him, when he and Andrew were young teens, but that’s another story, and probably not one that I should share). Unfortunately, Andrew died at the young age of thirty-two. It was only six years after we were married, and for most of my life I couldn’t get over that loss. Truthfully, I never even dated anyone else until quite recently. Now there was something I never expected to happen, especially considering that my new beau is a sixty-seven-year-old art historian and appraiser named Hugh Chen. (His real name is “Hui,” but he says it is easier to just use Hugh).

Heavens, look at me spilling all this personal information. I really shouldn’t say much more, but I must mention my niece, Amy Webber, again. She’s the daughter of my younger sister, Debbie, and her husband, Nick. They also have a son, Scott, who’s two years younger than Amy. Of course, I love Scott, but I’m much closer to Amy because I’ve spent much more time with her. She actually spent her summers with me when she was a teenager, and of course, she’s lived with me for the past few years. I guess you could say she’s more like a daughter to me than a niece. Since I never had any children of my own, it’s nice to have that special connection with Amy. Although, if my hair hadn’t already turned white before she came to live with me, it would’ve by now, considering the way Amy is always getting herself into trouble.

Of course, I’ve also found myself in a few dangerous situations in recent years. I won’t say that’s all Amy’s fault—I admit that I haven’t shied away from doing a little sleuthing to help her amateur detective investigations into some recent crimes. Not that either of us try to go around the authorities in these matters. Our intent is always just to help the sheriff’s office with research and similar things. It’s just that sometimes knowing a little too much creates problems, especially when the perpetrators find out how much we know.

But we’ve always managed. That’s what smart, strong women do—take problems in stride and find ways to overcome adversity. I like the fact that Amy seems to take after me in that regard, even if we look nothing alike.  Amy actually takes after her great-grandmother, Rose Baker Litton who was, of course, my grandmother. But fortunately, despite their physical resemblance, Amy doesn’t possess Grandma Rose’s personality. Let’s just say, since I don’t want to speak ill of the dead, that Amy’s a much nicer person.

Well, I think that’s about all I want to share at the moment. I suppose I could mention my friends, Zelda Shoemaker and Walt Adams, but I understand that Zelda is also writing a post for this blog tour, and I know she will fill you in on our friendship—and plenty of other things. Oh, and then there’s my neighbor, Richard Muir, who just happens to be Amy’s boyfriend. He’s also the great-nephew of my former neighbor, the author Paul Dassin, who I loved like a grandfather, so of course I predisposed to like him even before he moved into Paul’s old home. But now I love Richard for himself, and I’m very happy that Amy loves him too. It’s nice to have family close by, especially after so many years of living on my own. Honestly, despite a few sticky situations, the past few years have brought me many lovely and surprising blessings.

I think I will leave on that happy note. As I’ve learned, you never know what wonderful things life has in store, especially when you open up your heart to new people and adventures. In conclusion, I will simply say that I wish you all that same measure of happiness!

 

Past Due for Murder: A Blue Ridge Library Mystery  

Cozy Mystery 3rd in Series 

Crooked Lane Books (February 12, 2019)  

Hardcover: 304 pages  

ISBN-10: 1683318749 

ISBN-13: 978-1683318743  

Digital ASIN: B07D2GYM25

 

  

REVIEW

*I received  a free copy of this book which I voluntarily chose to write an honest review for.

I am so in love with this series!! Set in a small mountain town full of great  people you can love and an adorable library. We catch up with Any who runs the library just as they are heading up for a May Day festival. This is whar where the story gets interesting as we get several things going on all at once. There is a missing girl, eventually a dead body, and not one but two other cases that may be connected. One of them is from the past quite a ways. Seeing all these strings come together was a work of magic as the story blended perfectly. My favorite had to be the final chapters with all the juicy details leading to that ending that made me so happy. An absolute must read for fans of copies with a library theme. I totally loved it so I give it 5/5 stars.

About the Author

Raised in a historic small town in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Victoria Gilbert turned her early obsession with books into a dual career as an author and librarian.

Victoria’s first cozy mystery series, the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series, garnered her a three-book deal with Crooked Lane Books, which has since been expanded to five books. The first two books in the series have been optioned by Sony Pictures Television, and the first three were or will be produced in audiobook by Tantor Media.

Victoria also just inked a 2-book deal with Crooked Lane for a new cozy series, the Booklovers B & B series, set in historic Beaufort, NC.

A member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and Sisters in Crime, Victoria is represented by Frances Black at Literary Counsel.

Author Links:  

Website/blog: http://victoriagilbertmysteries.com/  
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/VictoriaGilbertMysteryAuthor/  
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VGilbertauthor  
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/VictoriaGilbert
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoriagilbertauthor/  

Purchase Links: 

 Amazon B&N Kobo Indie Bound GooglePlay 

 a Rafflecopter giveaway  

TOUR PARTICIPANTS  

February 11 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW  
February 11 – Jane Reads – GUEST POST  
February 11 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT   
February 12 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW  
February 12 – Mallory Heart's Cozies – REVIEW  
February 12 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too! – SPOTLIGHT  
February 13 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW  
February 13 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT  
February 13 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW  
February 14 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW  
February 14 – Rae’s Books and Recipes – SPOTLIGHT  
February 14 – The Montana Bookaholic – SPOTLIGHT  
February 15 – I'm All About Books – SPOTLIGHT  
February 15 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW  
February 15 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT  
February 16 – Laura`s Interests - REVIEW  
February 16 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT  
February 16 – That's What She's Reading – REVIEW  
February 17 – StoreyBook Reviews - SPOTLIGHT  
February 17 – Curling Up by the Fire – REVIEW  
February 18 – The Bookwyrm's Hoard – REVIEW, GUEST POST  
February 18 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT  
February 19 – A Wytch's Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW 
February 19 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW  
February 20 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST 
February 20 – Here's How It Happened – SPOTLIGHT  
February 21 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW  
February 21 – The Book Diva's Reads - CHARACTER GUEST POST  
February 22 – Melina's Book Blog – REVIEW  
February 22 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT  

    

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