Showing posts with label Cindy Sample. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cindy Sample. Show all posts

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Mystery Author of the Month: Cindy Sample



Author, Cindy Sample

Cindy Sample is the Mystery Author of the Month. I'm a big fan of her very humorous Laurel McKay mystery series. I've read all of her books to date and I'm looking forward to the next one.
Patricia: Cindy, when did you know that you wanted to be a writer?
Cindy: When I was in the third grade, I took my spelling assignment and turned it into Nancy Drew and the Haunted Mansion. It was sixteen pages long and the teacher gave me an A+. I knew that day that I wanted to be a mystery author when I grew up. I just didn’t expect it to take a half a century before my next literary masterpiece was released.
Patricia: Wow! That sounds a lot like my career path. The first thing I had published was a poem in my Sunday school magazine when I was ten years old and, like you, it was half a century before my first mystery novel was published. Have you ever considered this? If, for some reason, you couldn’t be a writer, what profession would you choose?
Cindy: Since I’m as klutzy as my protagonist, I would never make it as a police detective although I love being an armchair detective. With a background in the mortgage industry, I think it would be fun to become a forensic accountant. Probably not most people’s choice of a fun career, but it would be intriguing to sift through the numbers and discover fraud. My second passion would be to become a chocolate taster. Preferably in Belgium.
Patricia: I’ll admit I can’t relate to the forensic accountant job (I’m terrible at math) but the chocolate taster position appeals to me too. So, tell us, do you have a bucket list, things you still want to do and/or places you want to visit?
Cindy: I have a very long bucket list including multiple stories I want to share with the world either in book form or screenplays. I’ve traveled a fair amount, but I still want to visit South America, New Zealand and as much of Asia as possible. And I’d like to write and produce a Broadway musical. It’s my bucket list, so why not? I guess I should add “win Powerball” to my bucket list!
Patricia: Interesting. Win Powerball is on my bucket list too. :)

Cindy Sample is a former corporate CEO who decided plotting murder was more entertaining than plodding through paperwork. Her national bestselling mystery series, described as Erma Bombeck meets Agatha Christie, features single soccer mom, Laurel McKay. The series, set in the California Gold Country, includes Dying for a Date, Dying for a Dance, Dying for a Daiquiri, Dying for a Dude and Dying for a Donut. Cindy is a four-time nominee for the LEFTY Award for Best Humorous Mystery and winner of the NCPA Best Fiction Award. Cindy describes Dying for a Donut as a lip-smacking mystery. It definitely involved the most dangerous research! 



 
Overview of the series: 
Laurel McKay is a multi-tasking mocha-drinking single mom whose size nine feet manage to stumble over one dead body after another. Whether she’s at her office at Hangtown Bank, located in the Gold Country of Northern California, or on vacation in Hawaii or the Caribbean, Laurel’s life is never dull.

Although her initial encounter with Detective Tom Hunter, AKA Detective Hunk, was less than amicable due to her being his # 1 suspect in Dying for a Date, their romance has slowly progressed from simmering to sizzling.
Check out Laurel’s humorous and chocolate-filled adventures, but beware - you may die laughing.

"Once again Sample presents a very entertaining mystery featuring a relatable and likable heroine. The family interactions with the McKay women are a delight, as their love for one another always overrides their frustrations. The characters are the reason readers will return to this series, and the twisty plot surprises and fun dialogue will engage new fans."
-Cynthia Chow, Kings River Life Magazine



To learn more about Cindy and her books:  
Visit her author’s page:
Her website: 
And her newsletter subscriber page:

DYING FOR A DIAMOND will be released in January, 2017.

Cindy is giving away a $10 Starbucks giftcard to someone who leaves a comment on this post. The winner will be announced Saturday.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Mystery of the Month: Dying for a Dude


When Laurel McKay agrees to perform with the Sassy Saloon Gals during Hangtown’s annual Wagon Train parade, her greatest fear is a wardrobe malfunction. Before she can lace up her corset, a 150-year-old skeleton turns up on her grandmother’s property. Did Laurel’s great-great-grandfather murder his mining partner? Gran insists not and wants Laurel to prove it.

Then the body of a prominent citizen is discovered dangling above a Main Street hotel shortly after Laurel’s ex-husband decked him. When her detective boyfriend throws her ex in jail for murder, Laurel, with the help of her zany friends and her family must find the real killer.

Juggling two kids, a new boss, a wilting romance, and two murder investigations would be enough to turn any woman into a chocolate addict. Extra pounds are the least of Laurel’s worries as she and her Mustang-driving octogenarian grandmother try to unearth some long-buried secrets before the killer adds their names to Hangtown’s bloody history.

Buy links:


 Cindy Sample

Cindy Sample is a former mortgage banking CEO who decided plotting murder was more entertaining than plodding through paperwork. Her national bestselling humorous mystery series, described as Erma Bombeck meets Agatha Christie, features single soccer mom, Laurel McKay. The series, set in the California gold country includes Dying for a Date, Dying for a Dance and Dying for a Daiquiri, both finalists for the LEFTY Award for Best Humorous Mystery.  Dying for a Daiquiri was also a finalist for the 2014 Silver Falchion Award for Best Traditional Mystery. Her recent release, Dying for a Dude provides the wildest ride yet! 
You can contact her at: