~ WEDNESDAY COZY
MYSTERY FEATURE ~
-- 'MURDER PAYS A CALL' --
AUTHOR NANCY J. COHEN
Murder Pays a Call: A Keri Armstrong Cozy Mystery
by Nancy J Cohen
About Murder Pays A Call
Murder Pays a Call: A Keri Armstrong Cozy Mystery
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting - Florida
Publisher : Orange Grove Press
Publication date : September 9, 2025
Print length : 290 pages
ISBN-10 : 1952886376
ISBN-13 : 978-1952886379
Digital ASIN : B0F8NNP8NN
Personal concierge Keri Armstrong will accept almost any job, but solving murders wasn’t on her to-do list—until now.
When personal concierge Keri Armstrong swings by her favorite client’s mansion to drop off groceries, she expects a heartfelt chat along with a cup of tea—not Fiona Sullivan dead in bed and her room ransacked. Though police chalk it up to a botched robbery, Keri isn’t so sure. Whispers around town suggest Fiona wasn’t as adored as Keri had believed, and many of the philanthropist’s so-called friends in affluent Sunny Grove, Florida seem glad she’s gone.
Keri refuses to let Fiona’s memory be reduced to malicious gossip. Armed with a keen eye, insider access, and a fully charged tablet, she sets out to uncover the truth. Soon her file of suspects grows faster than her to-do list. Between sneaky neighbors, resentful relatives, and tight-lipped charity board members, Fiona left behind a trail of frenemies who’d happily skip her memorial brunch.
As Keri digs deeper, she discovers her late mentor had a gift for extracting people’s secrets and using them like fine china—carefully storing them until they could serve a purpose. But Fiona also kept a few skeletons in her own walk-in closet. Now, with danger creeping closer, Keri must race to crack the case before her number comes up next… and Murder Pays a Call.
“A page-turner of a mystery from one of my favorite authors. Cohen’s deft mastery of the cozy genre shines through in every scene, delighting readers with another engrossing whodunit.” Muddy Rose Reviews
“Fans of award-winning author Nancy J. Cohen’s long-running Bad Hair Day Mysteries will be thrilled to learn there’s a new sleuth in town. Murder Pays a Call is the debut book in her Keri Armstrong Cozy Mystery Series featuring a personal concierge who adds solving murders to the services she offers her clients.” – Lois Winston, author of the bestselling and award-winning Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries.
EXCERPT:
She shoved aside her thoughts
as she drove to the grocery store to pick up a quick meal for dinner, since she
thought Lora had plans. As she browsed the prepared seafood selections, a man
addressed her from behind.
“Hey, Keri. How’s the arm
feeling?”
Startled, she whirled around
and took stock of the cute doctor from the E.R. Away from work, Dr. Worthington
looked hot in jeans and a polo shirt. Judging from his muscled arms, he
exercised in his off hours. His thick dark brown hair brushed his brow, making
her want to feel its texture. She couldn’t help the swell of warmth that
suffused her veins.
“Good to see you again, Dr.
Worthington. My arm is doing well, thanks.”
“Call me Matt. Are you coming
from work? I should stop by your agency sometime to check it out.” His cocoa
eyes regarded her with a glimmer of interest.
“That would be great.” She
gave him an inane smile. “I’m here to pick up a quick dinner. This salmon looks
good.” She grabbed a container with a salmon fillet and braised Brussel sprouts
for roasting in the oven. “Do you like to cook, or are you here for fast food
like me?” That was a dumb thing to ask but it just popped out of her mouth.
He grinned, showing his even
white teeth. “With my erratic hours, I need food that’s easy to prepare. Maybe
we should get dinner out together one night.”
“Yes, I’d like that.”
Blushing like a schoolgirl, she uttered a few awkward words before exchanging
phone numbers with him and moving on.
What was wrong with her?
She’d turned into a total teenager in his presence. Even saying his name in her
head made her blood surge.
Unwilling to acknowledge her
reaction, she headed home to relax and get comfortable. Since Lora was out, she
had the place to herself. Grateful for the privacy, she put her meal in the
oven and entered her bedroom to get changed. A legal-sized manila envelope lay
on top of her bedspread, along with a note from Lora.
I picked this up at the front
desk the other day and left it in your home office, but you may not have seen
it. I’d forgotten about it until I went in there for some paper clips. Sorry; I
hope it’s not too important.
Her heart lurched when she
noticed the return address came from a lawyer. Hopefully, none of her clients
were suing her. She tore open the seal with shaky fingers, and a leather-bound
book slid out along with a scribbled note from the attorney.
Fiona Sullivan requested this item be mailed to
you in the event of her death.
Her eyes widened as she
recognized Fiona’s ledger. Fiona must have given it to the lawyer for safekeeping.
But why had she made him wait until after her death to send it out?
Sinking onto the bed, Keri
smoothed her hands over the worn cover. With bated breath, she opened the book
and thumbed through its pages.
She scanned the entries,
noting the sources that said Dad. Perhaps Fiona hadn’t wanted Keri to
learn about her past. This would make it a lot easier to separate out the goods
Crogher had given his daughter. Those needed further research into their
provenance.
Another question begged an
answer. How come Fiona had sent this to her instead of Diane? Fiona couldn’t
have known Diane would hire Keri to help dispose of things.
Unless … Fiona had sent it to
Keri because she didn’t trust Diane.
AUTHOR GUEST POST:
Setting and Suspicions
Nancy J. Cohen
An interesting setting in a murder mystery can set the mood
and enhance the suspense. For my series starter, MURDER PAYS A CALL, I modeled
the affluent town of Sunny Grove, Florida after the real city of Winter Park.
Located just north of Orlando, this suburban location boasts a historic
downtown, stately mansions, museums, and a shopping district popular with
tourists. Real estate is expensive, but the southern charm and semi-tropical
ambiance attract buyers.
Established in 1858, the town’s original purpose was to become
a winter refuge for northerners. Its shady trees, series of lakes, brick-lined
streets and flowering shrubs made it a park-like environment, hence the town’s
name. Rollins College was founded there in 1885 for liberal arts education, and
it’s consistently listed as one of America’s best colleges.
The city’s Central Park is a large, grassy square in the
center of town where residents walk babies and small dogs in strollers, attend
art festivals, listen to music on the bandstand, or shop and eat in the
boutiques and restaurants lining the avenue. Central Park also has a rose
garden, where you can sit on a bench and listen to the toot of a train from the
nearby Amtrak station.
If you’re looking for other places to visit, the Morse
Museum is famous for its collection of Tiffany glass. You can also take a
tranquil boat tour of the lakes a few walkable blocks from downtown, visit the
historic Casa Feliz Historic Home, or go window shopping along Park Avenue. The
big draws for me are the restaurants and gift shops along with the historic
architecture.
For my story, I twisted proper names so that Park Avenue
becomes Broad Street. My sleuth, Keri Armstrong, owns a personal concierge
agencylocated there. Across the street is Central Park, same as the real one.
However, my restaurant names are fictional and so is the location for the
police station. That’s the advantage of using a fictional setting instead of a
real one. You can place buildings or businesses wherever you want them and
redefine the layouts to suit your purpose. However, readers can still recognize
the real places that you mention. This allows them to vicariously visit a place
where they’ve been or have wanted to go.
A setting can easily become sinister if you describe it the
right way. When Keri gets involved in solving a client’s murder, she puts
herself in danger. Here’s an excerpt as an example:
Feeling overburdened by so many things on her mind, she
locked the office and strode toward the parking lot around the corner. Away
from the restaurant scene, the street was quiet. Overhanging tree branches
blocked the light from streetlamps and cast skeletal-like shadows on the
building walls.
A car engine idled nearby, and yet none of the cars
parked along the curb had their headlights on. Goose bumps rose on her arms,
and her pulse rocketed. John Beekman had said she and Pam were being watched.
Was this one of his people keeping tabs on her?
She picked up speed, anxious to reach her Honda, but an
uneven ledge of pavement caught her shoe and made her stumble. She regained her
balance and hurried on just as a roar hit her ears.
She turned to see a pair of headlights flashing in her
eyes as a car headed directly toward her.
Any setting can be made to create a certain mood. In Sunny
Grove, society’s elite citizens hide their secrets behind the doors of their imposing
mansions. The town’s façade as a winter playground and tourist mecca dissolve
quickly when murder and mayhem erupt. And of course, we can count on Kerito
pitch in and determine whodunit.
What kind of
setting for a mystery appeals to you?
About Nancy J. Cohen
Nancy J. Cohen writes the Bad Hair Day Mysteries featuring South Florida hairstylist Marla Vail and the Keri Armstrong cozy mysteries. Her books have won numerous awards including her nonfiction titles, Writing the Cozy Mystery and A Bad Hair Day Cookbook. Active in the writing community, Nancy is a past president of Mystery Writers of America Florida Chapter. When not busy writing, she enjoys reading, fine dining, cruising, and visiting Disney World.
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