Thank you so much for inviting me to blog here today. I began seriously writing when I was a single mom - after my children went to bed.
Despite all warnings, I feel an innate need to write with humor. The Paradise Key Caper is my latest attempt at writing a cozy mystery with enough humor for all my readers.
Every day I risk my writing life going for the smile, the chuckle. Of course, I'll never see the smile or hear the chuckle of a reader, but I can dream. That's what writers do, dream. My mother used to accuse me of being a dreamer as if it were a bad thing. Little did she know one day I would earn my living from putting my dreams down on paper.
Dorothy Parker, one of the most noted female humorists of all time said it best: "There are those who, in their pride and their innocence dedicate their careers to writing humorous pieces. Poor dears, the world is stacked against them from the start, for everybody in it has the right to look at their work and say, "I don't think that's funny."
Many people remember my late husband Dave Madden as Reuben Kincaid on the sixties' television series The Partridge Family. Before he became a regular on Laugh-In and several other fun and innovative sitcoms of the sixties and seventies, he worked his way across the country as a stand-up comic. Dave once told me, "You can never project your sense of what is funny to a mass audience and expect them all to accept it. Once you can accept the simple premise that everyone will not enjoy what you write, say or do, you are well on your way to dealing with rejection."
So, I risk rejection rather than compromise my voice because I really have no choice.
And more than ever before, at this time in history, we need the escape, the smile or the laughter that humor brings to our lives. In that spirit I hope you enjoy The Paradise Key Caper, a cozy mystery designed to bring a smile…or better yet, a chuckle!
The
Paradise Key Caper
Sandra
Madden
Genre: Cozy mystery
Publisher: Sandra Madden
Date of Publication: June 1, 2020
ISBN-13: 979-8650077220
ASIN: B089G5W42M
Number of pages: 318
Cover Artist: Sarah Paige
Book Description:
Kathleen Cassidy's transition
from uptight Boston babe to barefoot island warrior begins with a bang when her
newly inherited sleek go-fast boat explodes. Soon the intrepid redhead is
questioning her father's death under the watchful eyes of a rugged Miccosukee
undercover ICE agent who is definitely not her type, an attractive marine
archeologist who definitely is her type and perhaps…a killer.
Cassidy is plainly a fish out of
water and way down on her luck when she arrives on Paradise Key to claim her
inheritance, a sleek go-fast boat and a battered old bar called the 'Gator
Hole. Items bequeathed by the father she barely remembers, a man her mother
referred to as Wild Bill—when she was being kind.
Joe Scipio, ICE agent and
full-blooded Florida Miccosukee lives on his boat docked behind the Gator Hole.
Although he'd promised her father to look after Cassidy, he considers the
headstrong beauty supremely unsuited for the Keys lifestyle. He constantly
urges her to return to Boston where she belongs. To no avail.
Mystery, love, humor and a cast
of wacky Keys characters come together in this wildly entertaining novel.
Excerpt:
“Go back to Boston, Cassidy. Do yourself a
favor and sell me the bar and the land. Just take the money and run.”
“The name isn’t
Cassidy,” I muttered for the one thousandth time. “Call me Kathleen or don’t
bother to call me.”
Joe Scipio had
planted his six-foot-three frame on the stool opposite me. I stood safely
behind the bar—separated from him by a width of approximately three feet and
seven inches. Everything about Joe Scipio intimidated me. When I saw him walk
through the door, my whole body went into a weird vibrate mode. Like my heart
started to dance. And my brain leapt into a tumbling team routine.
Not that I’d
ever let him know how he affected me. I’d never met a man like him before. Not
one Joe Scipio doppelganger lived in my Boston neighborhood.
I'd just opened
the Gator Hole for the day. It was only a few minutes after eleven in the
morning, and in my opinion way too early for people to be drinking anything
other than lemonade, my beverage of choice. But I've learned they did things
differently in the Florida Keys, especially here in Paradise Key.
My name is
Kathleen Ann Cassidy. I inherited what is fondly referred to in these parts as
"The Hole," shortly after Justin, my fiancé of three years ran off to
Barbados with my best friend Ashley Finegold.
About
the Author:
Sandra Madden is a former Miami
and Los Angeles broadcast writer and producer. After retiring from broadcasting
she became a full-time romance writer.
Fourteen of her historical and
contemporary romances have been published traditionally –and in several
languages. She also wrote Reuben Kincaid Remembered, the memoir of her late
husband, actor Dave Madden, best known as Reuben Kincaid on The Partridge
Family television series.
Sandra writes mystery, romantic
comedy and an occasional historical. Her goal is to provide entertainment for
all readers to enjoy. She is a member of
NINC, Sisters in Crime and the Florida Writers Association.
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