Christmas Trifle (A Snow Lake Romantic Suspense Mystery) by Heather Haven review and guest post

Christmas Trifle
(A  Snow Lake Romantic Suspense Mystery)
by Heather Haven

About the Book 

Christmas Trifle (A  Snow Lake Romantic Suspense Mystery)
Romantic Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Wives of Bath Press (September 1, 2019)
• Number of Pages – 322
Amazon and GoodReads Links Coming Soon

When chefs Charly and Cliff Harding divorce, she gets custody of their upscale restaurant and its namesake, Felix, the cat.  He gets custody of their dog, Oscar.  What they both still have custody of is each other’s heart. But they seem to be the only two people in the small ski resort town of Snow Lake, Nevada, that don’t know it.

When Cliff opens his own restaurant in direct competition with Charly, bad things start to happen. Death threats, accidents, and murder are now on the menu. Their ‘if-you-can’t-take-the-heat-then-get-out-of-the-kitchen’ battles are backfiring, and regrets consume the two of them. But can they find their way back to each other?  Or is it too late? Because they just might spend the rest of their lives in prison unjustly accused of killing someone. Or can love triumph over even murder?

Guest Post

When I wrote Christmas Trifle, the story of two divorcing chefs who have to put their feelings aside to solve a murder, I had no idea what a different dish I was serving up to myself. Writing a romantic suspense novel as opposed to a whodunnit is a totally different animal. 

I’m always watching the Hallmark Channel, especially when they have Movies and Mysteries night. I love reading Nora Roberts, too. And Carolyn Hart. Romance and mystery. Mystery and romance. They go together like….well, you know, man, woman, and misunderstandings. 

I told myself I can tackle writing romance suspense. After all, I’ve written thirteen mystery novels, each one with varying degrees of romance in it. Several have even won awards.

So tackle it I did. And I’m glad. But as I say, romantic suspense is different than a straight-forward mystery. It took me a month or two – okay, three – to get into the style. I found romantic suspense goes at a more leisurely pace than a mystery. I found I liked it. It gave me the opportunity to bring out more facets of the two protagonists’ characters, flesh them out, show their inner thoughts and feelings. I fell in love with the often foolish Charly and Cliff, as much for their shortcomings as their virtues. 

A serious relationship, such as marriage, is not for the faint of heart. Christmas Trifle  may be fiction, but I tried to call upon my own thirty-seven years of marriage for a little of the give and take that’s needed for any success. I’m sure many people will be able to relate to that.

Aside from Charly and Cliff’s stubbornness, hurt feelings, and amusing one-upmanship, the overshadowing mystery is always there. And the looming unseen threat. I love looming, unseen threats. At least, on paper.

Lastly, I put in a rescue cat and a dog, Felix and Oscar, two pals who will not be separated by anything their warring owners try to pull. Ultimately, these four-legged charmers change the course of the story, with a little help from a few unsolved murders.

Christmas Trifle, Book One of the Snow Lake Romantic Suspense Novels.

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About Heather Haven

Heather Haven, in the midst of writing her fourteenth novel, has also written short stories, comedy acts, television treatments, ad copy, commercials, and plays. She has won numerous awards for her Silicon Valley-based Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries; Manhattan-based WWII Persephone Cole Vintage Mysteries; Ringling Brothers’ Circus mystery noir, Death of a Clown; and Corliss and Other Award-Winning Stories. She has two romantic suspense series: Love Can be Murder Mystery Novellas with Lee Alvarez and Gurn Hanson, the Nick and Nora Charles of Silicon Valley, and the new Snow Lake Romantic Suspense Novels, of which Christmas Trifle is Book One.

She and her husband of thirty-four years are allowed to live with their two cats, Ellie and Yulie, in the foothills of San Jose, California.

Author Links

Website –  http://www.heatherhavenstories.com/

Facebook –  https://www.facebook.com/HeatherHavenStories

Twitter – @HeatherHaven

Purchase Links – Coming Soon! 

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