Hi, everyone! Today I'm happy to be a part of the blog tour for MURDER IS NO PICNIC! Read on the learn more about the book, and read a character guest post (that is so much fun)! Plus, there's a giveaway!
Murder Is No Picnic (A Cape Cod Foodie Mystery)
by Amy Pershing
Diogi the dog from the Cape Cod Foodie mysteries has a fun guest post for us today! :)
Guest Post:
Welcome, Diogi! Could you start by telling us a little about the Cape Cod Foodie mysteries?
Of course! You see, what happened was my human (also known as Samantha Barnes, the Cape Cod Foodie) had a bit of trouble in New York City, where she had been an up and coming young chef. Turns out her chef husband was the kind of guy who makes me want to bite someone. Him preferably. Anyway, they had a kind of sword fight with their chef’s knives and somebody put it up on something called YouTube, and suddenly Sam’s not a chef anymore.
So when she inherits her Aunt Ida’s house in Fair Harbor on Cape Cod, she comes home with her tail between her legs (I know exactly how that feels). In her new life she finds herself juggling a new job as the local paper’s “Cape Cod Foodie,” a complicated love life (although what’s complicated about a harbormaster who takes us out for rides in his boat I do not understand), a posse of just-slightly-odd friends (including our neighbor, the librarian Helene Greenberg, who I wuv), Aunt Ida’s falling-down house, and me, a super-wonderful (in my humble opinion) dog -- ME!
And, oh yeah, what Helene calls “a propensity for falling over dead bodies.”
Tell us about MURDER IS NO PICNIC, the new Cape Cod Foodie mystery you star in. What’s that been like?
To tell you the truth, it’s a little confusing. People keep doing things that make no sense. Like ordering onion rings at the clam shack and then NOT SHARING. Also, killing a really nice (to me anyway) lady who makes really good food. I mean, what’s that about?
And, to top it all off, the humans decide to celebrate the Fourth of July with incredibly loud bangs up in the sky at night that are clearly something to worry about (and hide from in the bath tub). And they actually seem to like them. Go figure.
How did you come to live with Sam? And how did you get your … unusual … name?
Oh, it was complete “meet cute”! And my name is self-explanatory (read on!) This is how Sam explains it in our first adventure, A Side of Murder.
“I have a surprise for you,” Helene said. She put two fingers to her mouth and let out an ear-splitting whistle. A blur of fur came flying up the steep path that led down to the salt pond. I had a confused impression of a wet nose and large pink tongue in my face and enormous muddy paws on my chest.
I’d had dogs as a kid. I knew how this was supposed to work. “Down!” I shouted. Nothing. The creature continued to lick me to death.
“Down, Diogi,” Helene said calmly, holding up a dog treat that had miraculously appeared in her hand. In a nanosecond, the beast turned his attention to Helene and stood gazing fixedly at the dog treat. In this brief moment of calm, which I suspected was only the eye of the storm, I could see he was your typical Cape Cod mutt, part yellow lab, part whatever. Great water dogs, good with kids, gentle. This one was remarkable in no way except for his size. He was ginormous.
“You’ll have to forgive his manners,” Helene said. “He’s still just a puppy.”
“You mean he’s going to get bigger?” I yelped.
“Oh yes,” Helene said. “He’s still just a baby. But he’s a fast learner.”
She handed me a dog treat. “Tell him to sit. Diogi will do anything for a treat.” She pronounced the name dee-OH-gee.
“Thank you,” I said, taking the treat gingerly just in case the dog got over-excited and jumped me again. “That’s an … unusual … name.”
“It’s a joke,” Helene said, blue eyes dancing. “Dee, oh, gee. D, O, G. Get it? Dog! D, O, G!” She laughed delightedly as if hearing the joke for the first time. “It’s spelled D, I, O, G, I.”
I had to smile. “Is there a cat called C, A, T?” I asked.
Helene rewarded my wit with another peal of laughter. “Seeaytee,” she crowed. “That’s rich!”
I held the treat up and said “Sit, Diogi” in my firmest voice.
Diogi ignored the command, instead leaning against my leg with all his considerable weight. I gave him the treat anyway.
“I think your dog needs some more training,” I said to Helene.
“Well, we’re working on that,” Helene acknowledged. “But he’s not my dog.”
“Whose dog is he?” I asked.
“Why, he’s yours, Sam,” Helene said, as if the answer was obvious. “Diogi comes with the house.”
Thanks so much for visiting with us today, Diogi.
You’re welcome. Now can I have a treat?
Welcome, Diogi! Could you start by telling us a little about the Cape Cod Foodie mysteries?
Of course! You see, what happened was my human (also known as Samantha Barnes, the Cape Cod Foodie) had a bit of trouble in New York City, where she had been an up and coming young chef. Turns out her chef husband was the kind of guy who makes me want to bite someone. Him preferably. Anyway, they had a kind of sword fight with their chef’s knives and somebody put it up on something called YouTube, and suddenly Sam’s not a chef anymore.
So when she inherits her Aunt Ida’s house in Fair Harbor on Cape Cod, she comes home with her tail between her legs (I know exactly how that feels). In her new life she finds herself juggling a new job as the local paper’s “Cape Cod Foodie,” a complicated love life (although what’s complicated about a harbormaster who takes us out for rides in his boat I do not understand), a posse of just-slightly-odd friends (including our neighbor, the librarian Helene Greenberg, who I wuv), Aunt Ida’s falling-down house, and me, a super-wonderful (in my humble opinion) dog -- ME!
And, oh yeah, what Helene calls “a propensity for falling over dead bodies.”
Tell us about MURDER IS NO PICNIC, the new Cape Cod Foodie mystery you star in. What’s that been like?
To tell you the truth, it’s a little confusing. People keep doing things that make no sense. Like ordering onion rings at the clam shack and then NOT SHARING. Also, killing a really nice (to me anyway) lady who makes really good food. I mean, what’s that about?
And, to top it all off, the humans decide to celebrate the Fourth of July with incredibly loud bangs up in the sky at night that are clearly something to worry about (and hide from in the bath tub). And they actually seem to like them. Go figure.
How did you come to live with Sam? And how did you get your … unusual … name?
Oh, it was complete “meet cute”! And my name is self-explanatory (read on!) This is how Sam explains it in our first adventure, A Side of Murder.
“I have a surprise for you,” Helene said. She put two fingers to her mouth and let out an ear-splitting whistle. A blur of fur came flying up the steep path that led down to the salt pond. I had a confused impression of a wet nose and large pink tongue in my face and enormous muddy paws on my chest.
I’d had dogs as a kid. I knew how this was supposed to work. “Down!” I shouted. Nothing. The creature continued to lick me to death.
“Down, Diogi,” Helene said calmly, holding up a dog treat that had miraculously appeared in her hand. In a nanosecond, the beast turned his attention to Helene and stood gazing fixedly at the dog treat. In this brief moment of calm, which I suspected was only the eye of the storm, I could see he was your typical Cape Cod mutt, part yellow lab, part whatever. Great water dogs, good with kids, gentle. This one was remarkable in no way except for his size. He was ginormous.
“You’ll have to forgive his manners,” Helene said. “He’s still just a puppy.”
“You mean he’s going to get bigger?” I yelped.
“Oh yes,” Helene said. “He’s still just a baby. But he’s a fast learner.”
She handed me a dog treat. “Tell him to sit. Diogi will do anything for a treat.” She pronounced the name dee-OH-gee.
“Thank you,” I said, taking the treat gingerly just in case the dog got over-excited and jumped me again. “That’s an … unusual … name.”
“It’s a joke,” Helene said, blue eyes dancing. “Dee, oh, gee. D, O, G. Get it? Dog! D, O, G!” She laughed delightedly as if hearing the joke for the first time. “It’s spelled D, I, O, G, I.”
I had to smile. “Is there a cat called C, A, T?” I asked.
Helene rewarded my wit with another peal of laughter. “Seeaytee,” she crowed. “That’s rich!”
I held the treat up and said “Sit, Diogi” in my firmest voice.
Diogi ignored the command, instead leaning against my leg with all his considerable weight. I gave him the treat anyway.
“I think your dog needs some more training,” I said to Helene.
“Well, we’re working on that,” Helene acknowledged. “But he’s not my dog.”
“Whose dog is he?” I asked.
“Why, he’s yours, Sam,” Helene said, as if the answer was obvious. “Diogi comes with the house.”
Thanks so much for visiting with us today, Diogi.
You’re welcome. Now can I have a treat?
About Murder is No Picnic
Murder Is No Picnic (A Cape Cod Foodie Mystery)
The Fourth of July is coming, and for professional food lover Samantha Barnes, it’s all about the picnic. Okay, and the fireworks. And the parade. But mostly the picnic. What could be better than a DIY clambake followed by the best blueberry buckle in the world? Sam has finally found the perfect recipe in the kitchen of Clara Foster, famed cookbook author and retired restaurateur, and she’s thrilled when Clara agrees to a buckle baking lesson.
But when Clara dies in a house fire blamed on carelessness in the kitchen, Sam doesn’t believe it. Unfortunately, her doubts set in motion an investigation pointing to the new owner of Clara’s legendary restaurant—and a cousin of Sam’s harbormaster boyfriend. So, in between researching the Cape’s best lobster rolls and planning her clambake, Sam needs to find Clara's killer before the fireworks really start....
About Amy Pershing
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Amy Pershing, who spent every summer of her childhood on Cape Cod, was an editor, a restaurant reviewer and a journalist before leading employee communications at a global bank. A few years ago she waved goodbye to Wall Street to write full time. Murder Is No Picnic is the third of the Cape Cod Foodie mysteries featuring Samantha Barnes, a disgraced but resilient ex-chef who retreats home to Cape Cod where she finds herself juggling a new job as the local paper’s “Cape Cod Foodie,” a complicated love life, a posse of just-slightly-odd friends, a falling-down house, a ginormous dog and a propensity for falling over dead bodies. Elizabeth Gilbert called the first book in the series, A Side of Murder, “the freshest, funniest mystery I have ever read,” and Kirkus Reviews gave the second book, An Eggnog to Die For, a starred review, saying, “A delightful sleuth, a complex mystery, and lovingly described cuisine: a winner for both foodies and mystery mavens.”
Thanks so much for hosting Diogi! He had a great time. If he had a treat to give, he would give it to you ;)
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