Spotlight & Giveaway: Home Is Where the Body Is by Jody Holford

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Jody Holford to HJ!

Hi Jody and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Home Is Where the Body Is!

To start off, can you please tell us a little bit about this book?:

In Home is Where the Body Is, Annie Abbott is headed to a quirky, quiet town called Rainbow Falls to do an extended favor for her parents. She’s housesitting for them for one year while they sail around the world. She figures it’ll be a good chance to save money, live with an ocean view, and get a change of pace. Right from the start, the town, and the people, have more in store for her. From the feral cat she stumbles upon, the hot veterinarian who comes to her rescue, the lovably bossy octogenarian, and the nasty neighbor who ends up dead, Annie doesn’t get a lot of downtime to take in that gorgeous view.
 

Please share your favorite lines or quote(s) from this book:

1) Great. She was on muffin duty which meant learning to bake, knew more about a bunch of strangers’ ailments than anyone should, and to top all that off, she was next door neighbors with a jerk. Somehow, the chocolate muffin didn’t seem worth the trade off.

2) They stood in front of each other, their gazes locked. She was acutely aware of her heavy breaths and the way he was looking at her. The corner of his mouth tipped up in a sexy almost-smile. Annie bit her lip to stop herself from blurting out something she’d regret.

3) Annie laughed. “You’re a smartass.”
He nodded with a mocking expression of disappointment. “It’s best you learn this now.”

4) The sun had set long ago and the night was dark with secrets and the scent of the ocean. She inhaled deeply but didn’t find the calm that usually came with the smell of the sea. It was hard to find a sense of peace when she was almost positive one of her neighbors was a murderer.

What inspired this book?

I’d been wanting to do a new cozy series. I love the ocean and we’d gone to Portland not that long ago. There were these little towns along the water and they were so cute and quaint and it was just fun to think that there’s got to be so much more to them than what you see when you’re just passing through.

How did you ‘get to know’ your main characters? Did they ever surprise you?

When you write a lot of books, it’s important to make sure your characters aren’t carbon copies. It’s really hard to make them different and unique and not accidentally fall into using similar traits. For Annie, I wanted someone who was bold and funny. She’s kind but doesn’t always think before she jumps. She’s very much a right now person and as she grows through the books, she starts to want more than just the moment. She wants a life and a home with these people, in this town. Margie was a really fun character to write. She’s one of those people who are in your face, say exactly what they think, but you love them. You know they have your back. Or at least, you hope they do. I tend to let the scenes the characters are in shape and develop who they become. So, for Annie and Ben, their scenes together created a dynamic that enhanced and shaped who they came out to be.

What was your favorite scene to write?

I don’t want to give too much away but I really love the opening scenes with Ben and Annie. They’re clearly attracted and she just can’t help but make a fool of herself.

“I brought some iced tea,” Annie said. Ben was sitting, knees bent, beside the cat bed. The cat was stretching out like she couldn’t get comfortable.
Ben turned to look over his shoulder with a smile. “Thanks.”
He took the glasses from her as she lowered herself to the garage floor, lifting her knees to mirror his position, then he passed one back.
“You don’t know how long?”
Ben took a long swallow of his drink. Annie did her best not to stare at the long column of his throat, the way his Adam’s apple moved. When she realized she was staring, she looked toward the cat.
He set his glass down beside them. “Soon, I’d say.”
A thought struck her so she set her own glass down. “Should I grab some supplies?”
His hand stroked along the meowing cat’s back. A few little white hairs floated up into the space. “What sort of supplies?”
She shrugged. “A clean turkey baster? Boiling water? Some towels?” She looked at the cat, certain it gave her a snarky look. I didn’t get you in this position, missy, so quit giving me the evil eye. The cat made an awful noise, prompting Ben to lean in close, soothing it.
Annie narrowed her gaze on the cat. Nice play.
“I’m going to go out on a limb and say you’ve never been around an animal giving birth? Or any birth?” When he looked at her, his smile was playful, his eyes dancing.
She crossed her arms over her chest, doing her best not to scowl. “Not exactly. But I’ve, you know, seen it on television.” Sort of.
Ben nodded, snapped his fingers. “Right. Things go just like that.”
She pointed at him. “Hey. Maybe that isn’t accurate, but a lot of television shows check authenticity with experts in the fields.” She couldn’t believe when she’d read online that some of her favorite shows—Criminal Minds, Chicago PD, and The Rookie—were based on actual events. It was a creepy world out there. Fascinating. But scary. Even though she loved the adrenaline rush of the shows, she often had to look away from the screen if it was graphic. CSI had become too much for her by the end of the series.
His chin tipped down. “Sure, maybe they’re loosely derived from real events, but most things are a lot different in real life. I wasn’t trying to be mean. I was mostly teasing, but if you ever find yourself in a situation like this again, avoid the turkey baster, okay?”
She laughed. That was fair. “Fine.”

What was the most difficult scene to write?

It’s really hard to write the ‘scene of the crime’ in a way that paints a picture, isn’t too graphic, and seems realistic, if that makes sense. I can see it in my head but then sometimes, when I put it down on paper, it sounds so choppy and step by step. Creating a smooth visual can be difficult.

The floor creaked under her feet. What if he’s sleeping? She stopped. If he’s not in the kitchen, you’ll leave and shut the door behind you. She’d tell the cat she tried her best. Annie thought about doing that right that second, but the nagging feeling grew stronger, making her chest tighten. Stop it. Just because you fancy yourself an armchair sleuth doesn’t mean darkness is lurking around the corner. Or next door. Straightening her spine, she pulled in a cleansing breath. Sometimes her imagination was a pain in the butt.
“Gill. Your door was open,” she called as she crossed the threshold of the kitchen.
Her gaze went immediately to the left, noting the remnants of breakfast. Pan on the stove, dishes in the sink, the smell of eggs and bacon permeating the air. Eyes scanning the room, landing on the window over the sink showed he wasn’t outside. Her head continued its slow-motion turn toward the breakfast nook.
Annie sucked in a hard breath that got caught in her windpipe. Her cough was painful but not as much as the sight before her: Gill slumped over the table, head down, back rounded. He could have been sleeping in his eggs if not for the large knife sticking out of his back. Her gaze moved faster than her brain, taking in the crimson circle spreading outward from the knife like one of those splotch paintings. His arms hung at his sides as if they were pointing to the puddle of blood below.
Bile rose in her throat even as her vision doubled. Reaching out a hand to steady herself on the wall, she missed, falling forward a step. Annie tried to call out, but the bile was blocking her airway. She couldn’t breathe. Her head grew impossibly heavy, and the room swished side to side.
She reached for her phone even as she felt herself get pulled fully under. The crash of her phone against the tile echoed as she followed the device down, smacking her face against the cool, hard linoleum. Fortunately, she blacked out before the pain radiated through her entire body.

Would you say this book showcases your writing style or is it a departure for you?

I’ve been writing cozies for a while now. What I love about making the jump from romance to cozy is I can have the romance in there without pushing the conflict surrounding the relationship. The focus is on the crime and the mystery so I can really enjoy the budding romance between the main character and her love interest. So no, it’s not a departure, just a happy detour 🙂

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

A sense of fun and friendship. Maybe the idea that nothing is exactly what it seems on the surface. There’s always more underneath.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

I’m working on re-releasing a Christmas collection, a unique and different story (this one is a departure) that I hope to share more about soon, under my own name. Under my pen name, Sophie Sullivan, I’m moving into writing my second book in my new series. Under that name, as well, I have my book A GUIDE TO BEING JUST FRIENDS, releasing on January 17, 2023. There are also two more books coming with Annie Abbott and her pals.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: An ebook copy of Home Is Where the Body Is & 3 Tule ebooks

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Excerpt from Home Is Where the Body Is:

Sleepy seemed like the wrong adjective for a town so dearly dedicated to caffeine, but it was the only word that fit. When Annie Abbott read the brochure her parents sent—via mail, as if she couldn’t just Google the place—it boasted ten different coffee establishments. It might not seem like much, especially to someone moving up from the Portland area, but in a town with less than two thousand people, it showed serious dedication to the beverage.
She drove under the massive, arched sign that stretched from one post to another, the words RAINBOW FALLS etched into the weathered wood. It felt as if she’d rolled onto a movie set from the fifties. It was so different from the area she’d lived in where apartment complexes were stacked side by side like blocks.
These streets were lined with colorful picturesque houses, manicured lawns, lush trees, and black lampposts standing like wrought iron sentinels every twenty feet. She’d recently taken on a new client who wanted signage for their real estate business. This was the perfect backdrop. She might need to come back with her camera and get a few shots.
The town was a weird combination of eerie and welcoming. Maybe that was because, for the most part, she was used to a bustling city. On a typical Sunday morning, she would sleep late in the two-bedroom condo she’d shared with her college bestie, stumble into the kitchen for coffee, then laze about on the couch.
Maybe Portland was secretly just like this quiet cove every Sunday morning and Annie had no idea. She’d have to ask her friend, Vivian, who’d moved her boyfriend into the condo three weeks ago, to solve that mystery for her some time.
A man in knee socks and a striped robe sat on one of the porches she passed, a newspaper in his hand. He didn’t lift his head as she drove by.
A couple doors down from him, there was an adorable two-story house with gingerbread trim and a mug-shaped sign on the lawn that said, THE PERFECT CUP. It had regular residential homes on either side of it. Annie smiled at the charm of that. There’s one. Finding the other nine could be like a scavenger hunt. Annie loved anything to do with puzzles, mysteries, and following clues. A coffee-shop crawl might be as close as she got in this town.
The sign on the porch said CLOSED but made her crave coffee anyway.
She stifled a yawn as she drove past. Mm, coffee and a donut. Or maybe a Danish. According to Google Maps, her parents’ place was close by. She could always make some coffee there. Her mom had promised to leave her all stocked up on non-perishables. They’d only moved in a few months ago. While some people avoided change, her parents embraced it from every angle.
They’d decided to start their retirement by sailing around the world. A few weeks ago, they’d visited her at her condo to say their goodbyes and go through all of the necessary details of taking over their new home.
Annie was surprised when they’d informed her last Christmas of their plans. She knew her parents enjoyed adventure, but this was bigger than anything they’d ever done. Annie wanted to see the world, too, but not via the ocean. It was beautiful and inspiring to look at, but she was content with keeping her feet on land. Maybe dipping her toes in the water.
Turning onto Center Street, the architecture and landscape became more commercial with cobblestone streets and businesses on either side. In the center of the street, there was a large greenspace with trees and benches. She could picture people heading to those benches for their lunch breaks. More charm.
The shops were the old-school kind—squat boxes, many with wide picture windows giving passersby a view of the activity inside. Though she saw a smattering of people through a couple of the windows, the street was quiet. The town is quiet.
“Seems a little late for church,” she mused, but maybe that was where people were. Or, like her former self, tucked up in the cozy warmth of their beds.
When her stomach growled loudly, she made a split-second decision and turned into an angled parking spot. Directly in front of her was JUST COFFEE. That’s two. On one side, there was a bookstore and a pet food store. On the other, there was a bakery and a sandwich shop. All boasted CLOSED signs, and she wondered if it was a Sunday thing. A graphic designer by trade, she couldn’t help but notice their signage was outdated.
Her current roster of clients was keeping her busy enough that she couldn’t take on a lot of new work. That didn’t stop ideas from popping into her head though. There were other shops farther down in both directions, but Annie couldn’t read names. Of the ones in front of her, only the coffee shop was open.
Getting out of her truck, she stretched, pulling her thick, brown hair out of its ponytail confinement as her arms moved up. It was one of those stretches that felt good all the way through her body. She stifled another yawn. Between packing up her stuff, transferring her life in Portland to here, and the drive, she was ready to curl up on a couch or a beach chair with a good book. She tried to roll the stiffness out of her shoulders with no luck.
Anticipation hummed in her belly. She’d do two scavenger hunts: one to find each coffee place and the other to try every one. Maybe there was a big difference between them. There certainly was if she compared this one to the adorable cottage-like one she’d passed. This one lacked aesthetics, but hopefully the coffee would make up for it.
Pulling the door open, the smell of roasted beans tickled her senses. Quiet music that was typically reserved for elevators and driving people on hold batty played through the speakers. A few people sat in the booths that ran along the edges of the shop. It was small, with seating for maybe ten to twelve. A tall—even giant-sized—man with his blond hair wound into a bun on the very top of his head sent a lazy smile her way. His shoulders were linebacker massive, but he moved with grace as he poured coffee, pushed it toward an older woman.
The sound of shuffling along the linoleum came from the narrow hallway at the back of the store. Annie moved to the counter, aware of the people watching. The newcomer always drew attention.
“Welcome to Just Coffee. Small, medium, or large?” Man Bun asked.
She laughed, thinking he was joking. A glance at the menu made her smile slip. Really? They only serve coffee? That’s ridiculous. The sign over the counter listed three sizes and two options: decaf or regular. Her stomach complained. Scrunching her brows, she looked from left to right. Not a baked good in sight.
“Hi. Uh, I’ll get a large—two creams, one sugar, please. Is there anything to eat here?”
She knew a bistro in Portland that served the best chicken fingers ever but didn’t show it on their menu. Maybe this place was the same. Only the locals knew what could really be ordered. Well, she was about to be local. She wanted in on the secrets.
“No, ma’am,” the barista said. Was that title too fancy for what he did? Didn’t he have to steam milk or add syrups, maybe little foam letters to the drink?
She smiled, leaned in. “Oh, come on. You must have a stray muffin or something.” She’d been too wound up this morning, worried about forgetting something or having to go back. She’d missed breakfast and hadn’t even packed a snack. Definitely regretting that.
“Either you can’t read or you don’t understand the very simple words this man said. Get your coffee, and move on. Some of us have things to do.”
Shock widened Annie’s gaze as she turned to face the gruff-sounding voice that spoke behind her. A hunch-shouldered man with salt-and-pepper hair glared at her through unhappy eyes. His lips were tipped downward. Even his wrinkles were frowning. He wore a flannel shirt and a pair of baggy jeans. A couple of his buttons were askew.
He shook a travel mug in front of her. “I’m empty. I don’t have all day.”
Annie narrowed her gaze. “I was asking a simple question.”
“An unnecessary one. Waste of time. ‘Just coffee’ says it all. You want all those fancy add-ins or a buffet, head to one of the other places.” He shuffled around her, moving like he had a bad back. Holding his cup out, he shook it at the man behind the counter. “Come on. Top me up.”
Annie frowned. What a jerk. At least the barista gave her a nod and mouthed “Sorry.”
“That’s not a very nice way to welcome new people,” Annie muttered under her breath as she waited. Plus, he’d barged in front.
The man turned. If she had to guess, she’d say he meant to intimidate her with his glare. All it did was raise her hackles further.
“It’s not very nice to ask stupid questions when the answer is right in front of you.”
“That’s enough,” Man Bun said.
The few other patrons stared. Annie suddenly felt foolish for causing a commotion. She’d be known as the newcomer who caused a ruckus. Over coffee. Rooting in her purse, she pulled out a five-dollar bill, handing it to the guy.
He waved her money away. “It’s on the house.”
Before she could say thank you, the grumpy man turned back to the barista—she’d just go with that title. “Why does she get free coffee? I paid full price for mine. Want me to show a little leg?”
Annie’s mouth dropped open. What an annoying, ignorant—
“One more word, Gill, and you’re out.”
Annie picked up her coffee, gave Gill a satisfied smirk. Looking back at the barista, she smiled politely. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“Least we can do for the greeting you got.”
Gill set the lid on his travel cup, looked back at the other man. “I heard that, Simon.”
Man Bun had a name. Simon rolled his eyes, sharing a smile with Annie. “I said it loud enough so unless you’re going deaf, you should have.”
Annie bit back her smile. She mouthed “Thanks” and hurried for the door. Now she was really craving baked goods. In her truck, she took her first sip and sighed. It would have sucked if a place known for only one thing wasn’t any good. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case, but Annie still wondered how the place stayed in business. Especially if there were nine other options. Maybe Gill hung out at this one frequently. That would be reason enough for her to head to any of the others.
Let it go. She set her drink in the cup holder and backed out of the parking spot. As she pulled out onto the road, she caught a glimpse of the miserable old man watching her go. This was a small town, but hopefully not so much that she’d be running into him again any time soon.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

The coastal Oregon town of Rainbow Falls might be sleepy, but it’s definitely not innocent…

When graphic designer and true crime fan Annie Abbott agrees to house sit her parents’ home for a year, she’s convinced that even though the small town has ten coffee shops, nothing exciting will happen. But that’s before a seemingly feral cat gives birth in her garage, prompting a call to the very handsome, very single town vet. It’s a dream meet-cute, but just as their romance blooms, Annie discovers the bloody body of her grumpy neighbor. And despite the fact that she passes out at the sight of blood, the police suspect her.

To clear her name, Annie will need to put her years of watching police procedurals and reading mysteries to good use. She’ll also need to rely on her new friends who have welcomed her to Rainbow Falls, but is one of them the killer?

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Meet the Author:

Jody Holford writes sweet romance and cozy mysteries with sweet romance in them. She’s published several books including the cozies in The Britton Bay Series. She’s unintentionally funny and rarely on time for anything. If she’s not writing, she’s reading, hanging out with her family, or doodling. She also writes romcoms under the pen name, Sophie Sullivan.
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