An Interview With Nancy J. Parra

Hi Nancy and Welcome.

Thanks for having me.

You’re welcome. You have a few books coming out this Spring. Can you tell us about them?

Yes, I have three actually. The end of April, Oh Say Can You Fudge – the third in the Candy-Coated Mystery series with Kensington comes out. This story takes place on Mackinac Island on the 4^th of July. The book begins with a bang as Allie, fudge maker and amateur sleuth, gets a call from the pyro tech in charge of the island’s three firework shows asking her to meet him at the warehouse where the fireworks are stored. She discovers him dead just before the entire warehouse goes up in smoke.  Allie must scramble to find a new pyro tech or the Mackinac Island’s Star Spangled Fourth will be ruined.

The first week of May, Flourless to Stop Him arrives.  The third in the Gluten-free Baker’s Treat series, It’s Christmas time and we find protagonist Toni Holme’s brother Tim implicated in his best friend’s murder.  Toni must choose between helping her brother prove his innocence and saving her bakery.

The first week of June, Bodice of Evidence arrives. This is the second in the Perfect Proposal series. Pepper Pomeroy, owner of Perfect Proposals, discovers the owner of a wedding dress shop stabbed to death in the alley behind her shop. Pepper steps in to help figure out who the killer is while helping her sister plan her wedding and getting her fledgling proposal planning business off the ground.

Wow! That’s a lot of murder and mayhem.

*laughs* Yes it is, but it’s also fun who-dunnit puzzles.

Everyone wants to know how do you come up with your ideas?

I put myself in the protagonist shoes and look at her community, friends and family. Then I throw a dead body into the mix and give her a compelling reason to investigate. After that, it’s a matter of following clues and find the killer before it’s too late.

Have you ever killed off anyone you knew in your books?

Ha! No. You’d be surprised, though, how many people ask if I would kill them off in a novel. I certainly am surprised.

With three books out this Spring, is there anything else on your plate for 2015?

I have an e-novella coming out the end of October. It’s part of the Candy-Coated series [by Nancy Coco], but this one is told from the point of view of Allie’s best friend Jenn.  I think it’s a lot of fun.

Our last and most important question. Will there be recipes?

Of course! There is nothing better than fudge for the holidays, except maybe gluten-free cookies.

Thanks for stopping by, I know I’ve got these titles on my preorder list.

Thank you! I hope you enjoy them.

Nancy J Parra AKA Nancy Coco is the author of 19 published novels which include three mystery series: The Gluten-free Baker’s Treat Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime), The Candy Coated Mysteries (Kensington), and The Perfect Proposal Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime).  Her writing has been called witty and her protagonists plucky by reviewers around the world.  Nancy is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America and writes for the Killer Character Blog on the 8th of every month.  Nancy loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.nancyjparra.com

Cozy Monday

Bodice of Evidence (Perfect Proposals #2) by Nancy J. Parra (Berkley Prime Crime mass market paperback, 2 June 2015).

Pepper Pomeroy's fledgling wedding proposal planning business is growing nicely, and she's now helping to plan the wedding resulting from her very first successful proposal:  her sister's.

But they're discovering that some aspects just aren't that easy, like finding the perfect wedding dress.  After spending a whole day trying on dresses that just aren't "it", Pepper, Felicity and their mother force themselves to hit one last shop.

When they enter, they find the shop deserted, but upon investigation, Pepper discovers the owner in the alley behind the shop, dead.

Pepper is disturbed at finding yet another body, but her need for order and closure pushes her to learn the identity of the woman's killer.

Pepper is an easy character to connect with, and accompanying her on her journey of growth (both personal and career) is a pleasure.  

And if you should feel the need to plan a fancy engagement party, there is a menu included at the end of the book.




The publisher has generously offered a copy of Body of Evidence to one of my readers.  Please comment below, including an email address where you can be contacted.


FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy of the book.

Welcome Guest Blogger Nancy J. Parra!

It used to be that a fellow in love would ask the girl’s father for her hand. Then he would buy a ring and over a candlelit dinner, he would get down on one knee and ask her to marry him. With advent of video these simple proposals became grander and grander. 

Suddenly there were proposals at half=time at basketball and football games. Proposals from Santa’s knee. Flash mobs singing and dancing their way into the heart of the woman. In fact I have a Pinterest board of cool proposals where you can see some of the fun and crazy ways that men plot and plan to ask a woman to marry them. I often thought how fun would it be to help men plan these proposals.

When I had the opportunity to write about an amateur sleuth who planned extravagant proposals I jumped all over it and Pepper Pomeroy was born. Pepper is a tall, thin red head who would like to consider herself perfect, but knows better. She was recently “down-sized” from her job as an event coordinator for a downtown Chicago hotel/conference center and is facing a dwindling savings account and the idea that she may have to live with her parents again at age thirty.

Her younger sister Felicity, on the other hand is practically perfect. She is shorter and blond and curvy in all the right places. And Felicity’s long time boyfriend, Warren Evans has come to Pepper with a request. Could she plan an extravagant proposal for Felicity? Who but Pepper would know Felicity better and understand what she might think would be her dream proposal?

With not much else to do Pepper agrees and happily helps Warren plan a jet-setting proposal for Felicity. The proposal goes off with just one hitch. Right before Felicity arrives Pepper discovers a man passed out in the woman’s bathroom at the tiny airport where Warren is popping the question. In a decision that would prove to haunt her, Pepper decides to let the authorities know about the drunk guy after Warren and Felicity jet off to an exotic weekend. The proposal goes so well that Warren tells Pepper she should start her own business event planning proposals and Perfect Proposals is born.

As she waves good bye, Pepper remembers the guy and calls the police only to discover that there has been a murder and Warren is suspect number one. Now Pepper feels she must prove Warren’s innocence to save her sister from a lifetime of grief. What Pepper learns is that it’s not easy catching a killer and she must trust her instincts if she wants to save the day.

To see some of the proposals I’ve pinned as well as possible bridal gowns and bridesmaids dresses follow me on Pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/nancyjparra/

You can follow Nancy on Facebook here, and on Twitter here.  Her website can be found here.

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Berkley Prime Crime has generously offered a copy of Engaged in Murder to one of my readers. Please comment below before midnight on June 11, 2014. Entries from the US only, please.

Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win.

Cozy Monday

Engaged in Murder (Perfect Proposals #1) by Nancy J. Parra (Berkley Prime Crime mass market, 3 June 2014).

"Between jobs", Pepper Pomeroy agrees to help her sister's boyfriend Warren Evans arrange the perfect surprise proposal.  His idea is to lure Felicity to a private jet where he will propose before whisking her off for a romantic vacation.

Pepper's job is to make his idea a reality.

Warren has rented a plane from a friend, and Pepper plans to fill it with mementos from some of the couple's most memorable times together.  Warren will bring Felicity to the plane on a pretext and propose while Pepper's friend Cesar videotape it from the plane's tiny bathroom. Pepper even has champagne for a toast.

In search of the flight attendant, Pepper wanders into the hangar's ladies' room, where she finds what appears to be a drunken, passed out man.  Rushing out to tell security, she becomes distracted by the arrival of her sister, and the man in the restroom slips her mind.

The actual proposal goes extremely well; well enough that Warren suggests that Pepper start a proposal-planning business.

It's only after everything is over that she remembers, and tracks down the little airport's head of security to report it.  But when they return to the ladies' room, they discover that the  man is actually dead, setting off some weeks of uncertainty and craziness during which she's also trying to turn her business ideas into reality.

Anyone who's ever been temporarily unemployed and faced with the prospect of moving back home will identify with Pepper, who also has to deal with being taken for granted by her boyfriend Bobby, whom she's been with since high school.

But, as is becoming apparent, Pepper is nothing if not resourceful, and it's a delight to see the way she deals with all the obstacles on her way to making her dream a reality.

As a not-so-secret romantic, I found the idea of a proposal-planning business charming. The ones that Pepper orchestrates during the course of this book are amazing, and I look forward to reading more books in this series.

Drop by Stuff and Nonsense this Wednesday for a guest post by author Nancy J. Parra!




FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for the review copy of this book.

June Preview

Cozy Monday (reviews):

Monday, June 2    --        Engaged in Murder by Nancy J. Parra
Monday, June 9    --        Razing the Dead by Sheila Connolly
Monday, June 16  --        Tempest in a Teapot by Amanda Cooper


Teen Tuesday (reviews):

Tuesday, June 10     --      The Sound by Sarah Alderson
Tuesday, June 17   --      The Body in the Woods by April Henry


Guest Posts (+ giveaways!):

Wednesday, June 4 --    Nancy J. Parra (Engaged in Murder)
Wednesday, June 11 --  Sheila Connolly (Razing the Dead)
Wednesday, June 18 --  Amanda Cooper (Tempest in a Teapot)



Don't worry!  There will be more on Stuff and Nonsense next month that hasn't yet been scheduled, including reviews of Jenny Milchman's sophomore novel Ruin Falls and A Jane Austen Encounter by Donna Fletcher Crow.
If you'd like to do a guest post, please comment below, including a valid email address.