March 9, 2023 – mjbreviewers

A PURR Before DYING: A Nick and Nora Mystery
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Setting – California
Beyond The Page (February 21, 2023)
• Number of Pages 256
More details to come

Purchase Link –

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I’m so excited to be a stop on the blog tour for author T.C. LoTempio and her new book A PURR Before DYING. It is the sixth book in her A Nick and Nora Mystery.

No one’s who they seem in the thrilling new Nick and Nora Mystery, and someone’s playing the part of a clever killer . . .

When a nighttime soap opera comes to town to film an episode, no one’s more excited than Nora Charles, who’s landed the contract for catering the shoot. But if she thought the show’s plotlines were full of drama and intrigue, that’s nothing compared to what she witnesses among the cast and crew, who are sneaking off for secret liaisons one minute and at each other’s throats the next. It’s all a titillating behind-the-scenes look for Nora—until she stumbles across the body of the show’s slain director.

It’s not long before the local authorities finger the brother of Nora’s good friend for the evil deed, and it’s up to Nora and her sidekick Nick to get him off the hook. As she begins to sort out the cast’s romantic entanglements and professional rivalries looking for a motive, she also discovers that the victim was involved in the mysterious death of the show’s previous director.

And then another member of the crew is found murdered, and Nora knows she’ll have to act fast to figure out who’s playing the part of the killer, before she’s cast in the role of the next victim . . .

EXCERPT THREE A PURR BEFORE DYING

The gazebo was located about a mile away from where the All the Days of Tomorrow crew had set up shop. I knew a back road that led to it along the river and I decided to take that. The water shimmered in the late afternoon sun, which glinted off three sailboats that bobbed in the water. The gazebo was on a little hill that overlooked the river, surrounded on both sides by dense shrubbery. It was definitely a secluded area, but it was also very beautiful, particularly in the Fall with all the leaves changing colors. I parked my SUV near the flight of steps that led upward into the gazebo and looked around. Oddly, the parking lot was empty. There wasn’t a sign of a film crew, or any actors, or Forbes himself for that matter.

“Hello?” I called out. “Anyone here? Mr. Forbes?”

Silence.

I looked down at Nick. “Well, strike one. It doesn’t look as if this is where they plan to film your big scene.”

Nick started to turn away, then stopped and cocked his head. His ears flicked forward, then flattened against his skull. Not a good sign. Cats have extremely sensitive hearing. They can hear sounds that humans can’t. My heart did a little flip-flop.

“What is it?” I cried. “What do you hear, Nick?”

With a low growl, he wiggled his bottom and then launched himself forward and up the steps.

“Nick, wait.”

I took the stairs after him two at a time, thankful that I’d decided to wear my good sneakers. Nick was a black and white streak, a blur before me. As I reached the top step, my foot stumbled as it came in contact with something slick. My hand instinctively reached out to grasp the railing; I looked down and saw a splotch of red.

Blood. Oh, heck.

My hand slid off the railing and my foot slipped again, sending me forward. Instinctively I put out my hands to break my fall and a gasp left my throat as, instead of the wood I expected to touch, I felt something else instead. Something soft and springy. Something barely warm.

I pushed myself upward and struggled to my feet. Nick was there, perched on the railing, and his eyes were bright as we both stared down at what I’d fallen over.

Anton Forbes.

It was quite evident – he was dead.

While Toni Lotempio does not commit – or solve – murders in real life, she has no trouble doing it on paper. Her lifelong love of mysteries began early on when she was introduced to her first Nancy Drew mystery at age 10 – The Secret in the Old Attic. She and her cat pen the Nick and Nora mystery series originally from Berkley Prime Crime and now with Beyond the Page Publishing. They also write the Cat Rescue series from Crooked Lane and the Pet Shop series, originally published by Midnight Ink and rebranded last year as “Urban Tails Pet Shop Mysteries.” Book six in the Nick and Nora mysteries, A PURR BEFORE DYING, is released this February from Beyond the Page. There is also a new series, Tiffany Austin Food Blogger, coming out in April.

You can cat-ch up with them at ROCCO’s blog, www.catsbooksmorecats.blogspot.com or her website, www.tclotempio.net

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