We are delighted to welcome author Julie Seedorf to Omnimystery News today, courtesy of Great Escapes Book Tours, which is coordinating her current book tour. We encourage you to visit all of the participating host sites; you can find her schedule here.
Julie begins a new mystery series with The Penderghast Puzzle Protectors (Cozy Cat Press; February 2016 trade paperback and ebook formats) and she has provided us with an introduction to her series lead … from the character herself!
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Photo provided courtesy of
Julie Seedorf
Jingle Bell to you! I have heard those words directed at me throughout my life. You see, my name is Jezabelle Jingle and I live in Brilliant, Minnesota. It is a strange name but what can I say — it is my name and how I got it is a story for another time. Now that we've got past the jingle jokes (yes I could hear you telling them) and you know my name, I will tell you my game. And I would also like to say thank you for having me.
I live in the quiet Penderghast neighborhood of Brilliant, Minnesota. Brilliant is twenty miles from the community of Fuchsia, Minnesota. You might have heard about Fuchsia and Hermiony Vidalia Criony Fiddlestadt better known as Granny. The only connection Granny and I have is my niece Delight Delure, who owns the Pink Percolator over in Fuchsia. We both like to keep an eye on our neighbors and have a nose for news and crime.
I have lived in my neighborhood for many years. The Penderghast neighborhood was built by the Brilliant Brothers. This was the first neighborhood in Brilliant where the brothers lived, consisting of beautiful architecture in the Victorian Homes they built for themselves. By the way, everything in Brilliant is named Brilliant but we are trying to change that. Over the years others have moved in. Mr. Warbler, Phoebe Harkins, Rock Stone and Miranda Covington are the newcomers. I didn't get to know them until recently when crime hit our neighborhood. Not only did we have some unusual thefts but we also had a murder in Annabelle's old house.
Annabelle lived in the neighborhood as long as I've been here but her health failed and her kids moved her elsewhere and then she kicked the bucket. Her house has been empty until recently.
All my neighbors have strange habits. Some don't come out during the day — my thoughts turned to vampire until I knew them. Others keep secrets and they have revealed some of them to me but I suspect they are the tip of the iceberg.
Now I am not like that crabby old woman in Fuchsia. She has tried to worm her way in here but I let her know we take care of our own. I am not crabby just direct and straight to the point. I keep secrets and I have a sharp mind. I notice details and I keep them to myself until I know when to spring them on unsuspecting people. For instance I have an admirer. I have nighttime trysts. And I have animals. In fact I had animals and I kept it so much of a secret I didn't know.
I'm the oldest one on my block. The rest are all ages, young to not quite as old as I am. We pool our wisdom. It's a good thing we did because we uncovered a puzzle and mystery hidden away through the years and we were the first to discover it. All these years the residents of Brilliant didn't know they had a puzzle waiting to be revealed.
One more thing. I also like to flirt with the young guys. I have to stay in practice. There aren't that many old guys left and I want to be ready in case my secret admirer doesn't work out. They all know I'm harmless and only practicing on them. I especially like to flirt with my garbage collector, Hick. Just don't tell his mother. I sometimes get outflirted by Phoebe. She likes to get her claws into the men of Brilliant.
Stop in and visit us. If you can't find the Penderghast Puzzle Protectors at home you can find them at the Brilliant Library, The Brilliant BeDazzle Brewery, the Brilliant Bistro or possibly the Brilliant Police Station. Chief Hardy seems to haul us in there quite often because we are either in trouble or he is trying to keep us out of trouble.
We hope to see you in Brilliant soon. Brilliant minds create Brilliant finds.
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Author Julie Seedorf is a columnist, author and dreamer. She lived her life as a wife and mom, experiencing various careers, including that of computer technician, retiring from her computer repair business in January of 2014 to follow her dream and transition to that of full-time writer.
For more information about the author, please visit her website at JulieSeedorf.com and her author page on Goodreads, or find her on Facebook and Twitter.
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The Penderghast Puzzle Protectors by Julie Seedorf
A Brilliant Minnesota Mystery
Publisher: Cozy Cat Press
Jezabelle Jingle and her neighbors in the Penderghast section of Brilliant, Minnesota, have a mystery on their hands.
Someone is stealing sections of hardwood floors in their homes and the thefts may be connected to a long-hidden treasure left by the founders of Brilliant. Not only that, there's a dead body in a basement to add to the mix. Can Jezzy and her quirky friends figure out the puzzle and find the treasure before some other, unknown person — maybe the murderer — beats them to the punch? Or will the town's Chief of Police, Hank Hardy, prevent the group from their sleuthing?
Anything can happen in the strange little town of Brilliant, Minnesota. After all, brilliant minds create brilliant finds!
— The Penderghast Puzzle Protectors by Julie Seedorf. Click here to take a Look Inside the book.
