Billie Thomas ~ Murder on the First Day of Christmas Guest Post

It’s beginning to look a lot like murder.

Finding a severed hand at a client’s house might throw lesser decorators off their games. But Chloe Carstairs and her mother, Amanda, won’t let a little thing like murder keep them from decking the halls. With a body under the partridge’s pear tree and a dead Santa in a sleigh, they have to crack the case before the killer strikes again - this time much too close to home.

Filled with laugh-out-loud humor, romance and a delightfully difficult mother-daughter relationship, this new series from Billie Thomas offers a fast-paced caper as these two southern ladies try to keep their very merry Christmas from turning into the Noel from hell.

Purchase Links:  Kindle | Paperback

Author Bio:

Billie Thomas is the pseudonym of a Birmingham-based author. After the real Billie passed away unexpectedly at the end of 2011, getting Murder on the First Day of Christmas, the first of a series, revised and published was her daughter’s top priority as a way to honor the mom who had given her a lifelong love of books. In her real life, Ms. Thomas writes within the advertising industry and is a founding member of the writing collective, IndieVisible. Other publications include Bar Code: Your Personal Pocket Decoder to the Modern Dating Scene. The author enjoys combining her interests in decorating and gourmet cooking with her writing. She is still trying to solve the mystery of her own love life.

Connect with Billie Thomas:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest

Okay, so Murder on the First Day of Christmas by Billie Thomas is a book I REALLY wanted to read. So much so that even though I couldn’t fit reading the book into my schedule in time for this tour, I bought the book to read later. I even went as far as stalking Billie, or should I say Chloe online. Here’s a profile list of the people you will meet in Murder on the First Day of Christmas. I know there’s something going on between Chloe Carstairs and Detective Max McGowan, I’m just not sure what exactly. So I asked Chloe to tell me about her interesting love life. Here’s what she had to say:

Help! My Love Life is an Unsolved Mystery.

By Chloe Carstairs

Whodunits I can handle. But solving the mystery of my love life? That’s a different story. In Murder on the First Day of Christmas, I’m torn between two love interests – my on-again-off-again boyfriend Jacob, and a dishy detective named Max McGowan. In an attempt to crack this case once and for all, I’m going to do what any good amateur detective would do: assemble my suspects and examine all the evidence a little more closely. I’d love your help.

Pros and cons of dating Jacob

PROS:

▪ Architect. Can design me a Sex in the City-caliber closet. Ooh, and an underground lair.
▪ Has already seen that thing I do with my loofa and likes me anyway.
▪ Looks good in a suit. And out of one.
▪ My mother approves.
▪ Hair will be around for a while.
▪ Has soccer player calves.


CONS:

▪ Commitment-phobe.
▪ Agreed a little too readily that we see other people.
▪ Arranges the cans in his pantry Sleeping with the Enemy-style
▪ My mother approves.
▪ Has ankles like soup bones. Don’t know why this bugs me but it does.
▪ Doesn’t seem to want to marry me.

Conclusion: Promising. But may be a lost cause. (My favorite kind.)


Pros and cons of dating Max

PROS:

▪ Cop. Comes with his own handcuffs.
▪ We have flirty, rom-com chemistry together.
▪ Didn’t hold a grudge about me throwing up on his shoes.
▪ Has already seen me at my post-stomach-pump worst.
▪ Hair will be around for a while.
▪ Likes dogs.


CONS:

▪ Cop. Probably has access to my permanent record.
▪ Accused my mother of murder.
▪ Kind of a know-it-all, which is my mom’s role. No need for an understudy.
▪ Yankee. Says things like “I love the way you Southerners call all soda ‘Coke’.”
▪ Will always know when I’m lying. Not that I lie much, but I like the option.
▪ Already thinks I’m nosey and hasn’t even seen my Google history.
▪ May like dogs more than girls.

Conclusion: Intrigued. But will require more investigation. This time, with my clothes on.

Hmmm. What do you think? Did I make a case for either one of them, or does this remain an unsolved mystery? I’d love for you to weigh in. Meanwhile, I’m prepared to go undercover if I have to. Because a good detective, even the amateur kind, always gets her man.

Want a closer look at the case files? Check out Murder on the First Day of Christmas. It’s available on Kindle and Nook, and now in Paperback.

Billie Thomas is apart of the Cozy Mystery Book Tours Fantastic 4 Cozy Mystery Giveaway. As part of the giveaway you could win a Kindle Touch, Gift Cards, copies of Topped Chef by Lucy Burdette, Bowled Over by Victoria Hamilton, Murder on the First Day of Christmas by Billie Thomas, and Game Drive by Marie Moore.  Click HERE to enter.