Treble at the Jam Fest by Leslie Budewitz Interview & Giveaway

Treble at the Jam Fest
by Leslie Budewitz

Settle in for a cozy read but be prepared to want to read the next book to find out what happens next.
~Laura’s Interests

I truly enjoy the creativity the author shows in developing festivals for the town. I especially liked the Jazz Festival theme used for this book since it’s one of my favorite types of music to listen to while reading and enjoying a glass of wine.
~Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder

They are a family of strong women with their own thoughts and opinions. It was interesting to watch their family dynamics weave into the rest of the story.
~A Cozy Experience

I stayed up more than a little past my bedtime because I just had to finish the book and find out whodunit!
~I Wish I Lived In a Library

Sweet and tart, just like a good strawberry-rhubarb jam, Treble at the Jam Fest is perfect for longtime fans of the series as well as newcomers who aren’t yet sure what to expect.
~Reading is My SuperPower

Treble at the Jam Fest (A Food Lovers’ Village Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Midnight Ink (June 8, 2017)
Paperback: 288 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0738752402
E-Book ASIN: B01M1FC4OK

Erin Murphy, manager of Murphy’s Mercantile (aka the Merc), is tuning up for Jewel Bay’s annual Jazz Festival. Between keeping the Merc’s shelves stocked with Montana’s tastiest local fare and hosting the festival’s kick-off concert, Erin has her hands full.

Discord erupts when jazz guitarist Gerry Martin is found dead on the rocks above the Jewel River. The one-time international sensation had fallen out of sync with festival organizers, students, and performers. Was his death an accident—or did someone even the score?

Despite the warning signs to not get involved, Erin investigates. And when the killer attacks, she orchestrates her efforts into one last crescendo, hoping to avoid a deadly finale.

About The Author
Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries and the Spice Shop Mysteries—and the first author to win Agatha Awards for both fiction and nonfiction. She lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat Ruff, a cover model and avid bird-watcher.

Connect with her on her website, http://www.LeslieBudewitz.com, on Facebook, or on Twitter.

Interview

Where are you from? I am a westerner, through and through, born and raised in Montana, and now live in the northwestern corner of the state, near Glacier National Park. That’s the perfectsetting for my Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries. Jewel Bay, Montana, a lakeside resort community, calls itself the Food Lovers’ Village, a haven of great food, art, and music in a setting of incomparable beauty on the edge of the wilderness. It’s a place full of contrasts and surprises that sparks a world of mystery.

I also write the Spice Shop Mysteries, set in Seattle’s famed Pike Place Market. I fell in love with the Market as a college student, and ate my way through it then and later as a young lawyer working downtown. It’s a city within a city, and I love exploring and sharing it with readers.

Tell us your latest news?TREBLE AT THE JAM FEST is the 4th Food Lovers’ Village mystery, and it’s a delight to return to the village of Jewel Bay---all resemblance to the town where I live fully intended! Erin Murphy manages a specialty local foods market in her family’s hundred-year-old grocery in the heart of the village. It’s late May, and she’s got her hands full getting the Merc ready for summer, hiring a new sales clerk, and meeting her boyfriend Adam’s visiting BFF. It’s also time for the annual Jewel Bay Jazz Festival. When Adam and his buddy find the body of an internationally-renowned guitarist on the river bank near town, Erin investigates to protect the community and keep the music playing.

In real life, my town hosts an annual guitar workshop and festival in late August. My husband often attends as a student, and we go to every concert. I wanted to take a bit of that energy, and the occasional conflict, and expand and explore it on the page. My books always include a lot of food and the recipes to recreate the food from the festival at home, so creating and testing the recipes is always a lot of fun.  

When and why did you begin writing?When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I started writing at four, on my father’s desk. Literally---I did not yet grasp the concept of paper! Fortunately, my parents were understanding, and kept me well supplied in paper and pens.Along the way, I forgot that I was meant to be a writer and became a lawyer instead! As with many people, the creative impulsive broke its way into my conscious life, insisting on being recognized, during a difficult period more than twenty years ago, and I’ve been writing ever since.

What inspired you to write your first book?

My very first manuscript, still unpublished, featured a young woman lawyer on an Indian reservation in Western Montana---my life was my research! I’d been listening to a lot of books on tape---and they really were on tape then. I’d always enjoyed mystery, and the nearest library had a lot of mystery on audio---Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky, Elizabeth Peters, Ellis Peters, Tony Hillerman—so it’s no surprise that when fiction came out of me, that’s the form it took. It’s a natural for a lawyer, because we understand the investigative process and the judicial system. It’s also a lot of fun.

My first published book, BOOKS, CROOKS & COUNSELORS: HOW TO WRITE ACCURATELY ABOUT CRIMINAL LAW AND COURTROOM PROCEDURE (Linden/Quill Driver), winner of the 2011 Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction, grew out of my experience as a lawyer and writer, helping other writers get the law right in their fiction.

DEATH AL DENTE, the first Food Lovers’ Village Mystery, and winner of the 2013 Agatha Award for Best First Novel, grew out of my love of the little gem of a village where my husband and I live. I thought it would be the perfect setting for a cozy, and readers seem to think so, too!

Do you have a specific writing style?

Oh, what an interesting question! A friend says I write like I talk, which means humor, enthusiasm, self-interruptions, digressions, and the occasional made-up word. As a lawyer who majored in literature and minored in philosophy, I’m deeply interested in social justice, and in the themes and emotional conflicts that drive people, and I think that comes through on the page. I also want to take readers to the places I write about, whether they can be found on the map or in the heart, and I work hard to make them come to life. And I want to make readers hungry!

How did you come up with the title?Each book in the Food Lovers’ Village series features a festival, with recipes so the reader can recreate the yummy food and fun at home. The titles need to hint at both---in TREBLE, a jazz festival. I struggled to find the right title, and am delighted with the title that my publisher, Midnight Ink, came up with.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Ultimately, I think my books are about the importance of community, and show that we all play a part in creating and preserving it. There is little more satisfying—and humbling--- than hearing from a reader who found comfort in my books during chemo, or who says my stories helped her through a difficult time. I hope they are entertaining, of course, but I also hope they help the reader better understand the amazing variety of human experience, because that’s part of why we read, isn’t it?

What would you like my readers to know?

It is such a gift to be trusted with someone’s most valuable assets---their time and attention. I am so grateful for this opportunity, to pursue my love of exploring the world through storytelling and sharing it with readers.

Thank you –

Leslie

From the cover of Treble at the Jam Fest:

Erin Murphy, manager of Murphy’s Mercantile (aka the Merc), is tuning up for Jewel Bay’s annual Jazz Festival. Between keeping the Merc’s shelves stocked with Montana’s tastiest local fare and hosting the festival’s kick-off concert, Erin has her hands full.

Discord erupts when jazz guitarist Gerry Martin is found dead on the rocks above the Jewel River. The one-time international sensation had fallen out of sync with festival organizers, students, and performers. Was his death an accident?or did someone even the score?

Despite the warning signs to not get involved, Erin investigates. And when the killer attacks, she orchestrates her efforts into one last crescendo, hoping to avoid a deadly finale.

Series: A Food Lovers' Village Mystery (Book 4)

Paperback: 312 pages

Publisher: Midnight Ink (June 8, 2017)

ISBN-10: 0738752401

ISBN-13: 978-0738752402

Author website: www.LeslieBudewitz.com

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/LeslieBudewitzAuthor

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