Spotlight and Guest Post – Molded 4 Murder: a Sophie Kimball Mystery

Please Don’t Let My Mother Join Another Club
By: Sophie Vera Kimball

Granted, the senior retirement community of Sun City West, Arizona, has at least a hundred and twenty clubs, not to mention the “All States Clubs” which brings the number up considerably, and the chances of my mother, Harriet Plunkett, joining all of them is slim to none, but still, given her way, she’d make a stab at it.

Not that I have anything against her joining clubs or partaking in fun-filled activities, but every time she does, it seems like a dead body crops up and I’m the one who gets suckered into figuring out who did it.

It began with her book club and a few unexplained deaths that the women insisted were a result of reading a cursed book. If that wasn’t bad enough, the women just had to take part in the theater club’s production of The Mousetrap, where, (you guessed it), another body cropped up. This time on the catwalk.

From there, it was the bocce club and a dead body found a few yards away from where Myrna Mittleson’s ball landed. Did I mention Myrna is one of the book club ladies? Naturally.

Now my mother’s joined the clay club. Something about wanting to discover her true artistic talents, but if the truth be known, all she really wants to do is create a full place setting for the dog. Unfortunately, she hasn’t gotten too far because her instructor, is…well, out of commission for the rest of eternity.

At the mere mention of clubs, I get twitchy. Can you blame me? I’m not a detective but that doesn’t stop my meddlesome mother from insisting I give Miss Marple a run for her money. I’m Sophie “Phee” Kimball, the bookkeeper/accountant for Williams Investigations in Glendale, a stone’s throw from here, and my mother is Harriet Plunkett, yenta extraordinaire from Mankato, Minnesota.

She lives with her neurotic Chiweenie, Streetman, and at times forgets he’s a dog and not a human with fur. When she’s not smearing cream cheese on bagels at Bagels ‘N More across from Sun City West, she’s on the phone with her friends tracking down every rumor and tidbit of gossip that wafts their way. And what better way to accomplish that than to join more clubs and pick up more scuttlebutt. Of course, my mom is community-minded and has a good heart. She volunteers at the local food bank and keeps an eye on the houses that belong to her snowbird friends when they go back home in the summer.
The latest murder has really set Sun City West buzzing and my phone ringing constantly. If I don’t figure out who had it in for her clay club instructor, I’ll never get any rest. Each day it’s a new theory or an old theory with a new spin. It doesn’t matter. In order for me to find out what’s really behind this mystery, I’ll be forced to visit the door park with Streetman, since “the eyes and ears of Sun City West” belong to those dog owners according to my mother.

Trust me, it won’t end with the clay club. I can picture it now. My mother joining the pottery painting club only to find a corpse in the closet stuffed against a box of assorted paintbrushes, or the culinary arts club where she’ll find a body resting against a shelf laden with pots and pans.

And please, don’t let her join the agricultural club. She’s likely to unearth a skeleton in the small plot of land they give each member. If only my mother could find a hobby or a passion that doesn’t involve murder investigations.

Then again, I think she may have found one – nagging me to death.

About The Book:

Molded 4 Murder (Sophie Kimball Mystery) by J.C. Eaton

A view to a kiln …

Sophie “Phee” Kimball enjoys working as a bookkeeper for a private investigator. If only her mother Harriet could enjoy her retirement at Sun City West in Arizona—instead of constantly getting involved with retirees being prematurely put out to pasture. This time Quentin Dussler, a prominent member of the clay sculpting club, was found dead, clutching a piece of paper scrawled with Phee’s mother’s name.

Terrified she’s been targeted by assassins, Harriet begs Phee to investigate. What Phee uncovers is a complicated scheme that only the most diabolical of murderers would ever devise. And as she chisels away at confusing clues and potential suspects, Phee unearths something far more precious and valuable than she could imagine. Eager for answers, she takes a bold step—placing herself in the crosshairs of a stone-faced killer …

Book Links: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Google Play / Goodreads

About The Authors:

Ann I. Goldfarb

New York native Ann I. Goldfarb spent most of her life in education, first as a classroom teacher and later as a middle school principal and professional staff developer. Writing as J. C. Eaton, along with her husband, James Clapp, she has authored the Sophie Kimball Mysteries (Kensington) was released in June 2017. In addition, Ann has nine published YA time travel mysteries under her own name. Visit the websites at www.jceatonauthor.com and www.timetravelmysteries.com

James E. Clapp

When James E. Clapp retired as the tasting room manager for a large upstate New York winery, he never imagined he’d be co-authoring cozy mysteries with his wife, Ann I. Goldfarb. His first novel, Booked 4 Murder (Kensington) was released in June 2017. Non-fiction in the form of informational brochures and workshop materials treating the winery industry were his forte along with an extensive background and experience in construction that started with his service in the U.S. Navy and included vocational school classroom teaching.