The Chamomile Conspiracy by Louise Marvin - Blog Tour with Author Guest Post and Giveaway

 

Green witch Pax Thatcher leads a busy life. Between working two jobs, applying to grad school, and helping out at the old herb shop that belongs to her friend and mentor, Miss Millie, Pax doesn’t have much time for practicing spells. She’s lucky she can keep her enormous plant collection alive.

Fortunately, she can talk to her plants, and they talk back.

But when Pax arrives for a visit to her seaside hometown of Honesty Harbor, Maine, and discovers Miss Millie is missing, she drops everything to find her. When she does, it’s just in time to hear Miss Millie’s dying words:

Poison. Find them.

Unable to believe anyone would want to murder the kind old woman, Pax vows to fulfill Miss Millie’s last request. But how can a boring little witch who doesn’t even own a cauldron solve a murder? Ask the only witness—a potted plant—what happened.

But the more she listens to her leafy allies, the more questions she has. And when others begin to view her as the prime suspect, Pax must hurry to weed out the killer before someone else gets whacked.

Author Guest Post - About Marvin the Cat

I have to confess: Louise Marvin is not my real name. Louise is part of my real, but Marvin belongs to my late cat of fifteen years. Let’s talk about him, and why I’ve decided to adopt his name for my cozy mystery work.

I wasn’t supposed to get Marvin. I had two cats already, and about a year after acquiring them I decided to get another adult cat, because I thought a kitten would be too much. I sent an inquiry to the place where I got my first two, and they had the audacity to respond with unsolicited kitten photos. I opened my email to see a little circle of multicolored fuzzy beans, and in the middle was a tiny puff of pure white. He was the only boy, and the runt. His little pink face was the size of my thumbnail.

I sent the adoption fee via Paypal before I even replied. I told them his name was Marvin (after the android from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and said I’d see them in thirteen weeks. Fortunately they knew me and didn’t argue!

On May 5, 2007, my father and I made the journey from South Shore, Mass, to an impossibly tiny town on the New York-Pennsylvania border. It was an eight-hour drive one-way, and I couldn’t drive at the time, so kudos to Dad for doing all the legwork, so to speak. (Honestly surprised we didn’t kill each other, though.)

Marvin turned out to be a curious, bold, outgoing, loving little jerk. He hated the carrier, so for eight hours I kept him on my lap as we drove back to Massachusetts. He fell asleep in my arms, despite an epic thunderstorm, and I never once let go. When we made it home, I carried him into the house and put him down, and it was like he’d always lived there, in that space and in my heart.

Marvin passed away on July 22, 2022, after a short battle with diabetes-related pancreatitis. I’d already decided to use his name professionally, but now I use it to honor his memory and the impact he had on my life. The white cat on the cover of THE CHAMOMILE CONSPIRACY is meant to honor him as well. He was a part of my life for fifteen years, it’s only fitting to make him part of my future as well.

Here's to a weird little cat who loved French fries and licking my laptop screen, who crossed the country with me several times and never complained, who bit me and sent me to the ER for emergency surgery, who lay on my belly during the worst of my cramps. Who cost thousands in vet bills in the end, who I miss terribly, and for whom I’d do it all again.

Here’s to you, little buddy.

About the Author:

Louise Marvin’s mother wrote Star Trek fanfiction in the 1980s, so it was only natural that Louise follows in her footsteps. FanFiction played a big part in Louise’s development and coincidence as a writer, inspiring her to try her hand at original fiction. THE CHAMOMILE CONSPIRACY is her first book. Louise lives in New England with an elderly cat and an extensive LEGO Star Wars collection and works at a medical cannabis facility.

Author Links:

http://www.louisemarvin.com (Coming Soon)

https://twitter.com/LouiseMarvin42

https://louisemarvin.tumblr.com

https://www.tiktok.com/@louisemarvinbooks

a Rafflecopter giveaway