CURSE OF THE PTA
A PTA Mystery
BY LAURA ALDEN
ABOUT THE BOOK:
As the new PTA president, Beth Kennedy wants to make a
difference in the lives of the students and faculty at
Tarver Elementary. But with a killer on the loose, staying
alive is the first order of business...
With the book sales from their Story Project, the PTA has come into some money. Now they just have to decide how to spend it. With different factions vying for their own interests, Beth brings in financial consultant Dennis Halpern. But before they can come to a resolve, Dennis comes to his final end—shot to death right in the school.
With the doors to the building unlocked, virtually anyone could have done the deed. And they soon discover that Dennis had plenty of secrets. Now locals are whispering that the PTA is cursed, and it’s up to Beth to catch the killer before she gets cashed out.
With the book sales from their Story Project, the PTA has come into some money. Now they just have to decide how to spend it. With different factions vying for their own interests, Beth brings in financial consultant Dennis Halpern. But before they can come to a resolve, Dennis comes to his final end—shot to death right in the school.
With the doors to the building unlocked, virtually anyone could have done the deed. And they soon discover that Dennis had plenty of secrets. Now locals are whispering that the PTA is cursed, and it’s up to Beth to catch the killer before she gets cashed out.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR IN HER OWN WORDS:
I grew up in Grand Haven, Michigan, where I spent summers
picking blueberries and winters falling down on skis.
In the early 80’s I graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a Bachelor of Science degree in geology. While my pursuit of the degree was interesting, a knowledge of how biaxial crystals behave in convergent polarized light has proven completely useless in my various careers. Ah, well.
Except for a year spent in Connecticut, I’ve lived in Michigan all my life. Currently, I live on a lake with my husband and two cats. Which means I now spend winters and summers falling down on skis.
My Life as a Writer
Once upon a time, I won an elementary school poetry contest. The prize was getting up in front of the entire school to read my poem aloud. If the intention was to frighten me from publicly admitting I wrote, it worked like a charm.
The B minus in my college creative writing class didn’t help.
Despite a lifetime of rapacious reading, writing my own novel didn’t occur to me until the ripe old age of thirty seven. I’d just left a management job and taken a position in which I had very few responsibilities. Within two months, I was writing daily, devouring books on writing, soaking up Julia Cameron’s three pages a day advice and following Robert Ray’s schedule in The Weekend Novelist.
A year later, I had a novel in hand — a romance with elements of mysticism. I told the tale of Cinderella after the ball. I wrote of disparate cultures and loneliness and hard-won joy. I wrote and wrote and wrote.
And it was rotten. But, hey, I’d finished a novel! And I don’t read that many romances, anyway. I chose that genre only because I thought it would be easier (hah!) than writing what I love to read. Mysteries.
So I wrote book number 2. A mystery. That, too, sucked. Not as badly as my failed romance, but a sucky book is a sucky book. Next!
(For books number 3 and 4, see above paragraph.)
Numbers 5 and 6, a thriller and a mainstream novel, do not suck. I have high hopes for both books. With any luck an agent and a publisher will think so, too.
In the early 80’s I graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a Bachelor of Science degree in geology. While my pursuit of the degree was interesting, a knowledge of how biaxial crystals behave in convergent polarized light has proven completely useless in my various careers. Ah, well.
Except for a year spent in Connecticut, I’ve lived in Michigan all my life. Currently, I live on a lake with my husband and two cats. Which means I now spend winters and summers falling down on skis.
My Life as a Writer
Once upon a time, I won an elementary school poetry contest. The prize was getting up in front of the entire school to read my poem aloud. If the intention was to frighten me from publicly admitting I wrote, it worked like a charm.
The B minus in my college creative writing class didn’t help.
Despite a lifetime of rapacious reading, writing my own novel didn’t occur to me until the ripe old age of thirty seven. I’d just left a management job and taken a position in which I had very few responsibilities. Within two months, I was writing daily, devouring books on writing, soaking up Julia Cameron’s three pages a day advice and following Robert Ray’s schedule in The Weekend Novelist.
A year later, I had a novel in hand — a romance with elements of mysticism. I told the tale of Cinderella after the ball. I wrote of disparate cultures and loneliness and hard-won joy. I wrote and wrote and wrote.
And it was rotten. But, hey, I’d finished a novel! And I don’t read that many romances, anyway. I chose that genre only because I thought it would be easier (hah!) than writing what I love to read. Mysteries.
So I wrote book number 2. A mystery. That, too, sucked. Not as badly as my failed romance, but a sucky book is a sucky book. Next!
(For books number 3 and 4, see above paragraph.)
Numbers 5 and 6, a thriller and a mainstream novel, do not suck. I have high hopes for both books. With any luck an agent and a publisher will think so, too.
SOME OTHER BOOKS BY LAURA ALDEN:
GIVEAWAY
THANKS TO KAYLEIGH AND THE GOOD FOLKS
AT OBSIDIAN AND PENGUIN BOOKS,
I HAVE ONE COPY OF CURSE OF THE PTA,
TO GIVE AWAY TO A LUCKY READER
--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!
HOW TO ENTER:
+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT YOU READ ABOVE ABOUT CURSE OF THE PTA THAT MADE YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK, AND DON'T FORGET YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG AND/OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE AND LEAVE ME YOUR LINK
+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING AT LAURA ALDEN'S WEBSITE HERE
+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT
ON ONE WAY YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG. IF YOU FOLLOW MORE THAN
ONE WAY, YOU CAN COMMENT SEPARATELY AND EACH WILL
COUNT AS AN ENTRY
+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON A CURRENT GIVEAWAY THAT YOU HAVE ENTERED ON MY BLOG. IF YOU ENTERED MORE THAN ONE, YOU MAY COMMENT SEPARATELY FOR EACH TO RECEIVE MORE ENTRIES
GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, APRIL 10
GOOD LUCK!
160 comments:
This sounds like a good cozy. I would like to see who did it.
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I am excited about this book because I loved the first book in the series,' Murder at the PTA'. Even more than the mystery, I loved the main character, Beth Kennedy. It was so easy to identify with her.
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I read over her bio again on her website. I loved my one year of geology so I understand why that was her undergraduate major. Wonder if she has a rock and fossil collection like I do?
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I have read one of the previous books and would love to win.
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A great cozy. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
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This is a wonderful series - one of my favorites!
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I think that the PTA is something most of us can relate to---so this should be a fun book.
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I noticed on the author's website that she writes another cozy series under the name Laurie Cass that is about a bookmobile cat. I MUST find that series.
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love this series!
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thank you for this giveaway!!
already on my WishList!!
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So many tales to tell at the PTA. I'd love to find out who killed poor Dennis. I wonder what his secrets were.
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Her next series is the bookmobile cat mysteries.
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love this series
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I like these mysteries and it brings back memories of the PTA.
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Sounds like a fun read!
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Love this series! Thanks for the info and chance to win.
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Nice to see from the pics on her site, that Laura had a Raggedy Ann very similar to mine growing up..
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