Book Review – Death & Decluttering by Nancy McGovern

Blog Tour

Review, Guest Post & Giveaway

This is my stop during the blog tour for Death and Decluttering by Nancy McGovern. This is the first book in the new cozy mystery series Sparks and Joy by author Nancy McGovern.

This blog tour is organized by Lola’s Blog Tours. The tour runs from 4 till 24 January. See the tour schedule here.

Death and Decluttering (Sparks and Joy #1)
By Nancy McGovern
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age category: Adult
Release Date: 23 June, 2020

Blurb:
Joy Russo loves chaos. From her life as a busy reporter to her brawling, coffee-obsessed Italian family, there’s nothing she loves more than her messy, little life. Then the weird, slightly out-of-this-world Aurora Sparks arrives, whose life seems to revolve around creating order out of chaos.

The two of them have somehow ended up as roommates in the small Upstate New York town of Bent River, and the old adage that says “opposite attract” couldn’t be further from the truth! Sparks fly & tempers flare as each young lady tries to deal with the other’s eccentricities while not compromising their own values. Much easier said than done.

But when a man is found dead and Joy’s father is the prime suspect, the two must put aside their differences if they want to help him. They soon find that Joy’s tough, no-nonsense demeanor and Aurora’s ordered, structured nature perfectly complement each other when it comes to ferreting out clues. And, thankfully so, as the danger threatens to escalate unless they can sort through the facts and solve this mystery in a hurry!

Death & Decluttering is the first cozy mystery adventure in Nancy McGovern’s new series, “Sparks & Joy”!

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon

My Thoughts

Though I enjoy cozy mysteries, they usually aren’t my favorites. However, I’ve discovered an author who won’t have any trouble gaining my interest from now on. Death & Decluttering was so much fun that I can’t wait to pick up the next book in the series.

Aurora and Joy are introduced when both find they’ve inherited 50% of Joy’s grandfather’s house. Though Joy is filled with gratitude, it doesn’t come as a complete surprise. But who is Aurora? How did she fall into line for such an inheritance?

So we’re off to a very interesting start.

Due to some unfortunate circumstances, this gifting of half a house couldn’t have come at a better time for Aurora. She’s looking forward to making new friends and moving away from the city . . . and discovering who added her to his Will, since she has no idea who the man is.

Joy, on the other hand is less than pleased to be sharing the house with a stranger. Especially since she likes things her way.

But when Joy’s dad is suspected of murder, the two girls begin to drop some of their animosity, and work together on proving Joy’s dad’s innocence.  In the process, each of the girls discover some fun traits in the other.

As I mentioned earlier, my experiences with cozy mysteries haven’t always been positive. They just didn’t meet my needs or expectations. But,  McGovern made me see a cozy mystery differently. The characters were believable and the story kept my interest!

So for those who typically do put cozy mysteries at the top of your to-be-read-books, this should make you really smile. And for those, like me, who are a bit reluctant, try this book! I think you’ll like it. 

Rating:  ☆☆☆☆

My thanks to Lola’s Blog Tours and the author for a copy of the book and the ability to post my opinion.

Later books in the series:

Alibis and Arranging (Sparks and Joy #2) by Nancy McGovern
You can buy Alibis and Arranging on Amazon

Suspects and Sorting (Sparks and Joy #3) by Nancy McGovern
You can buy Suspects and Sorting on Amazon

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About the Author 

and

Guest Post

About the Author:
I’m a mother, wife, homemaker, pet lover, teacher, student, reader, writer, drinker of tea & wine (depending on the time of day) and sleep-deprived dreamer. I live in Northern New Jersey with my husband (a veterinarian and writer), our three children and too many furred & feathered friends to list!

Please visit my website at www.NancyMcG.com for more information about my books and to sign up for my newsletter!

You can find and contact Nancy McGovern here:
– Website
– Facebook
– Twitter
– Goodreads
– Amazon
– Bookbub
– Pinterest
– Instagram

– Guest Post –

Have you ever tried the traditional publishing route?  Or did you know early on that it wasn’t for you?  

Do you have any advice for other authors considering self-publishing?

If you told me in late 2015 that I was destined to become a cozy mystery author, I would have questioned your sanity.  After all, while I had always loved to read, and mysteries were my absolute favorite, I’d never even thought about sitting down to write a story of my own.  And between caring for my two boys, being pregnant with my daughter and my daily tasks helping to manage my husband’s veterinary practice, I barely had enough time to read, let alone write!

But then I just happened to stumble upon an ad for a self-publishing course and decided to check it out because it sounded like fun.  It ended up changing my life.  

The instructor broke the publishing process down into simple steps that even I, being both limited on time and technically-challenged, thought I could manage.  But, even more importantly, he offered a tremendous amount of guidance on the actual writing, of which I was certainly in need considering I had never plotted, planned or written anything longer than a short story (and even that was while in high school…many years earlier)!  

So, I followed the steps whenever I could finagle the time and, within a few months, I had written and self-published my very first cozy mystery, Death At a Diner.  Since then, I have published dozens more and am extremely proud of (and, quite frankly, still amazed by) the fact that there is a wonderful group of readers out there who actually consider themselves fans of my work!  Now, I am living a dream that, only a short time ago, would have been categorized as more of a fantasy!

I do not know if I would have had any success had I attempted to take the traditional publishing route.  In fact, I doubt whether I ever would have even tried if that were the only option.  Back then, I (justifiably) was not very confident in my ability to write and, while I thought my stories were good enough to interest at least some readers, at that time I found there was a bit of a stigma related to self-publishing, and I actually believed that traditionally-published authors must simply be superior to those of us who did everything ourselves.  Of course, I know better now as some of my favorite writers are exclusively self-published.  But, all in all, I am actually glad I was misinformed as self-publishing not only provided me with the opportunity to dip my toe in the water and the confidence to do so, but has also allowed me to control everything from my release schedule to the exact words I write.

Now I simply view traditional-publishing and self-publishing as two distinct paths that offer different things to different people.  I don’t believe there is any right or wrong way and, if you wish to be a writer, you should explore both options to see which fits you best.  Perhaps, like some, you may wish to pursue both options.  But if I have one piece of advice to offer, it is to get started today!  I couldn’t be happier with my choice as I doubt I would be here writing this today had self-publishing not been there for me!

Note:  While the course I learned from is no longer available, there are plenty of great teachers out there with amazing information to pass along.  Search online, join some writing groups on Facebook and ask around or feel free to email me at Nancy@McGovernBooks.com if you would like some recommendations!