Merry Merry Merry Murder (Cuddle Farm Mysteries)
by Paty Jager
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About 'Merry Merry Merry Murder'
Merry Merry Merry Murder (Cuddle Farm Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery -- 1st in Series Setting - Oregon
Publisher: Windtree Press
Publication Date: October 10, 2025
Print length: 194 pages -- ISBN-13: 978-1940064093
In the close-knit town of Auburn, Oregon, Andi Clark's therapy animals bring comfort to the community, especially during the holiday season. As the annual Christmas Craft Bazaar draws near, Andi agrees to set up a Petting Zoo with her beloved animals, bringing smiles to the faces of children and adults alike.
But when a young girl seeks solace from Athena, Andi's therapy dog, after witnessing an unsettling scene behind the sleigh, it marks the beginning of a much darker holiday. As the town gathers for the Tree Lighting Ceremony, a scream shatters the festive atmosphere. Cocoa, Andi's loyal Border Collie, pulls her toward a chilling sight: a woman standing over the lifeless body of the girl's mother, strangled with Christmas lights.
Determined to help the grieving girl and her town recover from the shock, Andi, her therapy animals, and her niece, a county deputy, take it upon themselves to investigate. As they uncover secrets and untangle clues, they stay one step ahead of the new sheriff and worry that the killer lurking in their midst could be someone they know.
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Author Guest Post
Thank you for participating in my blog tour.
This new mystery series, Cuddle Farm Mysteries, came about when I was at a flea market selling my books. I had my chiweenie (chihuahua/dachshund cross dog) with me, and she was greeting the people who passed by my book trailer. One woman sat down on the step with Nia, petting and talking to her for about fifteen minutes. Then she stood up and said I should use Nia as a therapy dog. I thanked her for thinking my sweet pup would make a therapy dog. When she left, I told my friend, an author who sells her books with me, that I didn’t have the time to take Nia around as a therapy dog, but that was a great idea for a book series.
And that’s what happened.
I couldn’t let the idea go. The different animals came to me. First the dogs: Lulu, a dapple black and white Chiweenie; Cocoa, a brown and white Border Collie; Athena, a Great Pyrenees/Golden Retriever cross. Then the farm animals: Sparky, a mini donkey, and Cupcake, a pygmy goat. I decided there should be a couple of small animals, so I came up with Flopsie, a dwarf Holland Lop rabbit, and Chicklet, a silky hen.
Those are the animals that make up my main character, Andi Clark’s, Cuddle Farm. She takes the animals around to schools, hospitals, and retirement homes. The animals give unconditional love to the people. As they move about the community, they come across all types of characters and stumble over a body or two.
The animals help Andi get people to talk to her and move her about to ask the questions that need to be asked to find the killers.
Andi is a 43-year-old widow. She recently lost her husband and is picking up the pieces back in the town where she grew up, working as the bookkeeper for her family’s wool business. When she attends the Christmas tree lighting at the park and a body is discovered, she is pulled into the investigation because of what she overheard a child say to Athena earlier in the day.
No one knows what Andi and her husband did while traveling around the world. The only people who know are the diplomats in the countries who hired them. Using her skills from helping her husband find hidden money and killers, she begins investigating the murder victim and digging up secrets some of the community would like to leave buried.
There happens to be a new sheriff in town and he’s a widower with a teenage son. Sparks fly when he discovers she is investigating the crime. He doesn’t want her getting in the way or becoming another homicide. After she finds information that he hasn’t been able to get from people, the sheriff decides she might be an asset. While they have agreed to be friendly, Andi’s niece, a deputy who works for the sheriff, is trying to strike a romance between them.
Having lived in small communities my whole life, I know the layers that are there to conceal pasts and keep the locals feeling smug. That’s why Andi is a good amateur sleuth. She grew up in the community and left for twenty years. Now she’s back, knows everyone, and also knows there are secrets and rivalries that go back for decades. Including her family. She relies on her mom’s remembrances of the local families and those that had moved in since Andi graduated from high school.
This new series is set in a small town in NE Oregon. I grew up in that corner of the state and know the area well. I’ve made a fictional town, but people who live in the one that it represents will figure out what town it is. I incorporate the surrounding mountains and lakes in my story. I like using fictional towns.It’s easier to put my own businesses in them and populate them with my fictional characters. It makes getting my characters around town easier by having my own map than trying to stay to a real town layout.
Andi drives a van that is outfitted to hold her three dogs in the middle seat, then Sparky and Cupcake in a pen with metal panels, and there is room for Chicklet and Flopsie’s pensallt he way to the back. I thought out how my character would transport her animals and I explained her barn and pens for the outdoor animals in this first book. Her house and farm were built with her therapy animals in mind.
This story not only solves a murder, but also brings up the volatile relationship between Andi and her sister, which is exacerbated by her sister’s friend. This wariness on Andi’s part and the animosity between her and her sister was built on something that happened years ago. Andi doesn’t remember the event, but it will come back to her in the second book, where a lot is revealed.
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About Paty Jager
Paty Jager is an award-winning author of murder mysteries, western romance, and action-adventure. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes in eastern Oregon, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.
Prize - A Copy of 'Merry Merry Merry Murder' (Cuddle Farm Mysteries) by Paty Jager, Cuddle Farm Sticker, & Swag.
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