A Sour Note Archives - Tena Stetler

Aug 1st A Sour Note by Jill Piscitello

Give a warm welcome to Jill Piscitello, author of A Sour Note (A Music Box Mystery)!

Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about A Sour Note.

“Where did the inspiration for your book come from?”

Such questions are among the most popular for authors. This is particularly true when a story setting is a very real place that many readers have visited. A Sour Note is a cozy mystery set in Hampton Beach, NH. There’s nothing like ocean waves and sand as a backdrop for a June release date. My family visits Hampton several times each summer, and I know firsthand how the sights, sounds, food, entertainment, and people create a feast for the senses. While the story can be read year-round, it also makes for an entertaining beach read given that the mystery takes place near July fourth.

As a sweet romance and cozy mystery author and reader, I enjoy all of the elements woven into lighthearted cozies such as culinary skills, pets, a thread of romance, and a touch of magic. However, I aimed for a unique spin with a heroine who can’t cook, is reluctant to believe in her cousin’s clairvoyance, and is allergic to her mother’s four cats.

A sleuth must have a job that allows enough free time to solve a mystery. When I heard about a local business offering music lessons and year-round performance opportunities, a rush of plot ideas set in various venues took shape. I hope readers enjoy a story about second chances, resilience, family, and friendship mingled with all the twists and turns of a mystery.

So tell us what is A Sour Note all about?

On the heels of a public, broken engagement, Maeve Cleary returns to her childhood home in Hampton Beach, NH. When a dead body turns up behind her mother’s music school, three old friends land on the suspect list. Licking her wounds soon takes a back seat to outrunning the paparazzi who spin into a frenzy, casting her in a cloud of suspicion. Maeve juggles her high school sweetheart, a cousin with a touch of clairvoyance, a no-nonsense detective, and an apologetic, two-timing ex-fiancé. Will the negative publicity impact business at the Music Box— the very place she’d hoped to make a fresh start?

How about a sneak peak between the pages of A Sour Note?

With his mouth set in a grim line, he waited.

If anyone else had enough nerve to presume she owed them an explanation, she would respond with a solid mind your own business. Instead, the seventeen-year-old still inside her refused to tell him to get lost. “He was hiding money in his office.” This was one of those times when learning how to wait a few beats before blurting out inflammatory information would come in handy. Each second of passing silence decreased her ability to breathe in the confined space. She turned the ignition and switched on the air conditioner.

“How do you know?” His volume just above a whisper, each dragged-out word hung in the air.

“I found it.”

“When were you in his office?” He swiped at a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face, then positioned a vent toward him.

“Last night.” When would she learn to bite her tongue? Finn’s switch from rapid-fire scolding to slow, deliberate questioning left her unable to swallow over the sandpaper lump in her throat.

“Where was Vic?”

She stared at the back of the building, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. “He’d left for the night.” If she averted her gaze, she could pretend his eyeballs weren’t bugging out of his head, and his jaw didn’t need a crane to haul it off his chest.

“You were at the town hall after hours? Did anyone see you?”

“A custodian opened his door for me.” She snuck a glance. Sure enough, features contorted in shock and horror replaced his boy-next-door good looks.

Purchase Links:

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ ITunes ~ Google Books ~ Walmart ~ BooksAMillion ~ Indie Bound ~ Kobo

About the Author:

Jill Piscitello is a teacher, author, and an avid fan of multiple literary genres. Although she divides her reading hours among several books at a time, a lighthearted story offering an escape from the real world can always be found on her nightstand.

A native of New England, Jill lives with her family and three well-loved cats. When not planning lessons or reading and writing, she can be found spending time with her family, trying out new restaurants, traveling, and going on light hikes.

Social media links:

Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ Amazon ~ GoodReads ~ BookBub