Truffles Interviews...Charles from Eva Gates' By Book or By Crook (W/Review & Giveaway)

Hey everybody, Truffles at the keyboard! Today I'm interviewing Charles (Dickens), the feline star of Eva Gates' brand new Lighthouse Library mystery series. Mommy *loved* this book, as you will see from her rave review. And I loved the extra cuddle time I got with her while she was curled up in bed reading! Win-win :)

Welcome, Charles! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer a few questions today. Could you start by telling us a little about yourself and how you came to live with Lucy?

I didn’t come to live with Lucy. Lucy came to live with me. I am a library cat, and proud of it. I love the library at night, but it can be a bit lonely after everyone has gone home at the end of the day. So, when Lucy got the job of assistant librarian at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, which came with an apartment on the fourth floor, I naturally decided that Lucy needed me to move into the apartment with her. So now I am a library cat by day and a house cat by night. 

I understand you were named after Charles Dickens. How did that come about? And does Lucy have a favorite Dickens novel? (My Mommy's all-time favorite story is A Christmas Carol!)

Yes, I was named for Mr. Charles Dickens, a great man of letters, as I am a great cat of books. I don’t actually read books mind, but I find they are very comfortable to settle down on when left open on a table top. Like your mom, Lucy loves A Christmas Carol. She is also very fond of Great Expectations, and that is going to be the selection of the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library Classic Novel Reading Club soon.

What is a typical day like for you?

Busy, busy. I have to greet patrons when they arrive, join the children for children’s activities, allow lonely old women to fuss over me, keep mice out of the cupboards, and advise Lucy NOT to wear that hideous dress for her date with Connor. Or is it Butch this time? I get confused.

What kinds of trouble do you and Lucy get into in By Book or By Crook?

When the chair of the library board is murdered and then priceless Jane Austen first editions begin disappearing, things look bleak for the future of the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library. When the ruthless killer traps Lucy in the library at night, I… well, you’ll have to read the book to find out, won’t you?

Do you help Lucy solve the mystery in any way?

I would if she’d let me. I told her and told her that…. Well, not to mention any names, but that person wasn’t to be trusted. But does she pay any mind to me? No. Humans, they think they know it all. 

Cat to cat: do you have a favorite treat, toy, and nap spot?

Nothing I like better than a party at the library, unless they shut me in the broom closet that is. The staff tell guests not to feed the cat, but no one pays any attention to that. Smoked salmon canapés are my favourite and I do like the one-bite crab cakes. The best nap spot is the lap of a little one when the children are upstairs listening to story time. 

Anything you can tell us about your upcoming adventures?

It’s going to be interesting times at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library with Lucy on the premises. Perhaps one day she’ll stop acting so darn human, and listen to what I tell her. I am, after all, an excellent judge of character.

Eva Gates is the author of the Lighthouse Library cozy series from Penguin Obsidian, set in a historic lighthouse on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, featuring Boston-transplant librarian, and highly reluctant sleuth, Lucy Richardson. The first in the series, By Book or By Crook, will be released in February 2015. Eva is the pen name of bestselling author Vicki Delany, one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers. Eva can be found at www.lighthouselibrarymysteries.com and Vicki at www.vickidelany.com. Facebook at evagatesauthor and twitter: @evagatesauthor

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Blurb: For ten years Lucy has enjoyed her job poring over rare tomes of literature for the Harvard Library, but she has not enjoyed the demands of her family’s social whorl or her sort-of-engagement to the staid son of her father’s law partner. But when her ten-year relationship implodes, Lucy realizes that the plot of her life is in need of a serious rewrite.

Calling on her aunt Ellen, Lucy hopes that a little fun in the Outer Banks sun—and some confections from her cousin Josie’s bakery—will help clear her head. But her retreat quickly turns into an unexpected opportunity when Aunt Ellen gets her involved in the lighthouse library tucked away on Bodie Island.

Lucy is thrilled to land a librarian job in her favorite place in the world. But when a priceless first edition Jane Austen novel is stolen and the chair of the library board is murdered, Lucy suddenly finds herself ensnared in a real-life mystery—and she’s not so sure there’s going to be a happy ending....

Tortie Shorties

Book reviews that are short and sweet...just like Truffles!

A lighthouse library and a gorgeous Himalayan cat...if you think that sounds like the making of a purr-fect cozy mystery, you would be 100% right.

Lucy has just moved to North Carolina's beautiful Outer Banks for her new job as assistant librarian at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library. Not everyone is happy about her new job, though, including the chair of the library board who ends up murdered during a reception to celebrate the arrival of a complete set of first edition Jane Austens. Then the rare and valuable books start disappearing, one by one, in the order they were written, and the Lighthouse Library's future is in serious jeopardy.

Every single character in this book is a delight, from Lucy and her co-workers at the library to a wannabe librarian to suspicious rare book collector Theodore. I am completely jealous of Lucy's cozy 4th floor lighthouse apartment (which comes with all kinds of cool ghost stories!) and my mouth watered at the delicacies served at her cousin Josie’s Cozy Bakery. The mystery is a total page-turner with loads of twists and turns, plus there's a hint of a possible love triangle in the air as well! And the ending reminded me of a delicious gothic novel with Lucy trapped in the lighthouse with the killer as a storm rages outside.

This is a debut not to be missed, and thankfully the wait for book 2, Booked for Trouble, won't be that long. It's already on my calendar for September!

Giveaway: Leave a comment by noon eastern on Wednesday, February 11th for your chance to win a copy of By Book or By Crook. (US entries only, please.)