Author of the Week: Diane Morlan
This week Cozy Cat Press is proud to present Diane Morlan as author of the week! Her two cozy mysteries are Too Dead To Dance (Jennifer Penny Mystery) and Shake Down Dead: A Jennifer Penny Mystery
Too Dead To Dance is about Jennifer Penny who finds a dead body in her coffee booth on the second day of Hamann, Minnesota's Polka Daze. When Sister Bernadine, Jennifer's friend since second grade and the only working nun in town, becomes the chief suspect, Jennifer is determined to prove Sister Bernadine's innocence. While Jennifer unravels clues, she dodges the demands of her soon to be ex-husband and the advances of a flirtatious butcher and sexy cop. Too Dead To Dance mixes a suspenseful mystery with the details of craft and fair exhibits.
Check out this excerpt and click the picture to read more!
"Still holding onto the donut bag, I reached under the table for the gallon jug of spring water I use to fill the coffee pot. My foot slipped. Looking down I saw a puddle at my feet. My eyes traveled to the edge of the gooey mess under my right foot. I screamed. A body lay on the floor partly under the side table of my stand. I threw up my arms and the donut bag went flying across the booth."
Jennifer Penny is back in Shake Down Dead: A Jennifer Penny Mystery. This time social worker Whitney Wentworth is missing, and no one is concerned except Jennifer. When one of the residents at the group home where Whitney works was caught smashing her windshield, Jennifer suspects he had more to do in Whitney's murder. When her boyfriend, police detective Jerry Decker, discovers Whitney's cell phone with a curiously coded list of names, they find themselves dealing with possible blackmail. The number of suspects involved in Whitney's disappearance keeps growing dramatically, and one of them is a candidate for governor.
Click the picture to read a sample!
Diane was born in Aurora, Illinois in 1943 and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota when she was fifteen. She likes to brag that she has had a library card since she was in Kindergarten. She earned a B.A. in Social Work at Minnesota State University. After working in that field for eight years, Diane decided to return to graduate school and earn an MSW. She was employed as a psychotherapist at a community mental health center. She also managed a group home housing developmentally disabled adults.
Then, veering far from social work, Diane worked for more than ten years selling lingerie at home parties. She dreamed of writing a novel though, and that dream came true when she wrote Too Dead To Dance.
Diane is currently semi-retired, working part-time at the Kishwaukee College Library. She currently lives in Sycamore, Illinois and has three children and seven grandchildren. When she isn't writing, she enjoys crocheting, visiting her friends from Minnesota, and the occasional trip to Las Vegas.
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