Getting ready for the new baby...

October is the birth date of my latest novel, Kill Fee, a madcap, cozy mystery romance that features an Indian Hill Mynah bird, Bilgewater. For those of you who follow me on this Writers Vineyard you’ve heard about Bilgie, the foul-mouthed fowl, the bad beaked bird, a malevolent Mynah. He’s well intentioned—except when he’s not.

Bilgie is always a boyfriend behind, an embarrassment for our heroine, Penny Olsen, an environmental agent in the field. She runs a duplicate bridge game for her uncle’s senior citizens friends on her day off.

Seniors are outspoken, but Bilgie is worse. He has no respect for Penny’s attorney who has a cat. One of the seniors suggests a face-off between Bilgie and Cufflynx, but the bird has the good sense to cry “Uncle” in more ways than one, claiming he doesn’t want to hurt the cat.

Since there is murder abroad, serious issues are addressed in this 68,000-word book. As Jim Woods said in his review:

“If you’ve ever heard the expression, “simple murder,” don’t believe it; especially if the murder occurs at the keyboard of Julie Eberhart Painter. She deliciously complicates murder, make that murders in duplicate, with the interaction of numerous characters to sort through. There’s the seniors social group; the scientific organization; various writers and publishers; personal families including the heroine’s own shirttail relatives and her lover and his mother; neighbors; the lawyers and of course, the cops of questionable integrity. Julie cleverly works all these diverse characters against and in concert with one another, and tosses in just enough carnal spice to cook up a recipe of intrigue that will have you asking for a second helping of Julie’s concoction that’s tasty enough to kill for.”

Reviewed by Jim Woods, author of
Gunshot Echoes
Assassination Safari
Cabbages and Kings,
She Serpent and
The Diamond Exchange

Thanks Jim

Watch for Kill Fee. See if you can figure out Who dunnit, and why.

Julie Eberhart Painter is the Champagne Books author of Mortal Coil, Tangled Web, and Kill Fee to be released in October. See Julie’s Web site at www.books-jepainter.com