Masked Intentions by Kara Lacey 💕 Behind the Scenes, Newsletter Freebie, Book Tour and Signed Book Giveaway 💕 (Cozy Mystery)

This blog post contains affiliate links. Click Here for details.

Can she unmask the killer before the killer zooms in on her?

It’s autumn in Vermont, and the mountains are ablaze with color, just in time for Stonebridge’s annual harvest festival. The village is swarming with leaf-peeping tourists, and the celebration is off to a jubilant start as residents gather for their favorite kick-off event: a masquerade party on the village green. But the crisp fall air turns chilling when a party guest is found lifeless and another is whisked away in an ambulance, on the verge of death.

Photographer Bobbie Brooks vows to leave the investigation to the professionals until a tearful plea from a friend causes her to shift her focus from merriment to murder. The Stonebridge Keep it Snappy Shutter Club is on another case as Bobbie plunges into the world of herbal poisons and masked motives. The truth is concealed in the details captured through her lens. But as everything comes into focus, Bobbie finds herself in danger once again. Can she unmask the killer before the killer zooms in on her?

My Camera Made Me Do It

My camera made me do it. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Well, my camera and my tiny Vermont village—and the farms, and the friendly residents, and the covered bridges, and the sun rising through the forest.

You might wonder how any of these things could make me write a cozy mystery. Let’s call it inspiration.

I love reading cozy mysteries. I love the characters, the cute towns, the puzzles, and the way that a series’ background story carries over from one book to the next. Reading a cozy mystery is like jumping into another world, sitting down at the local coffee shop (or bakery or bistro), and chatting with the locals. Reading a cozy mystery series is like making friends.

Fifteen or so years ago, my husband and I, both with stressful careers in the Boston area, started escaping to Vermont on weekends. Captivated by the laid-back lifestyle and natural beauty, I upgraded my point-and-shoot camera to a DSLR, and I got hooked on photography. I’d snap a photo of a charming coffee shop and think, this place would be perfect in a cozy. A quaint inn… perfect also. A dilapidated sugar shack… now wouldn’t that be a great place to find a body?

You get the idea.

Since then, we’ve moved to Vermont full-time. And still, I’m obsessed with capturing its beauty with my camera. I walk with my Labrador retriever every morning and take photos as we go. It’s a long, slow walk, but far be it from me to miss taking a picture of a daisy in the early-morning sunlight.

The thing is, I’d always wanted to write a book. I had ideas that niggled at the back of my mind, but none of them came into focus until I started wandering the villages of Vermont. My collection of photos grew. Rustic barns, quaint country stores, village greens with charming gazebos, rambling farmhouses, farmers’ markets, free-range chickens… They, along with a few images I didn’t photograph (old men in faded plaid napping on their front porches), all got filed away in the back of my mind.

It wasn’t until a rainy afternoon, when I was sitting with my mom (a huge fan of cozy mysteries) and enjoying a cup of tea, that I blurted from out of nowhere, “I’m going to write a mystery.”

Say what?!?!?

To her credit, my mom seemed less shocked by this revelation than I was. Without batting an eye, she asked, “What will it be about?”

It all came gushing out: the Vermont setting, the middle-aged photographer protagonist, her Labrador retriever—ideas I didn’t even know I had.

My mom listened, and when I finished, she said, “I’d read that.”

I went home that night, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The next day, I started making notes and sketching things out. My main character came to me fairly quickly. She didn’t have a name, but I could picture her. She’s tall (like me), has long dark hair (so not like me), is outgoing (also not like me), and is a photographer (a much better one than me because, you know…fiction). I’ll be the first to admit I had no clue what I was doing. But honestly, that’s what made it fun—a new adventure.

I learned, I plotted, I wrote, I scrapped what I wrote, I wrote some more, scrapped some more, and little by little, the camera club came to life.

Sometimes when I look back, I’m amazed by it all. I had no way of predicting, all those years ago, that buying myself a DSLR would lead me to where I am today. It’s been quite a journey. I blame it on my camera.

Thank you for hosting me today! I’ve enjoyed talking with you all!

(Photo Inspiration — The Crowley family’s sprawling farmhouse inspired by a farmhouse found in North Hero, VT. Stonebridge’s Mill House Inn inspired by the Grafton Inn in Grafton, Vermont)

Blue skies and wildflowers signal the start of summer in southern Vermont, and the Stonebridge Keep it Snappy Camera Club lenses are zoomed in on…murder.

It's been more than a year since the sudden death of her husband, and photographer Bobbie Brooks wants nothing more than to escape her grief. Fleeing her life in the city, she seeks a fresh start in the serenity of the Green Mountains. But Bobbie’s new beginning comes to a halt when she finds a member of her camera club dead beneath the village’s idyllic covered bridge. Tragic accident or something sinister? With a keen photographer’s eye, Bobbie suspects murder.

As if transitioning to small-town life wasn’t challenging enough, Bobbie’s missing scarf is found at the murder scene, making her the primary focus. Scorned by local gossips, she enlists the help of her camera club and shifts her lens from photographer to amateur sleuth. Using photos found on the victim’s camera, they waste no time setting out to catch the killer—and discover no shortage of suspects. Secrets, lies, and blackmail…Danger abounds as they close in on the killer.

Her camera holds the answers… But can she develop the clues in time to stop the killer?

💕 Until August 21 💕

(Always double-check the price before you buy)

Kara Lacey is the author of the Camera Club Mysteries. Along with her husband, she lives in a tiny village nestled in the beautiful Green Mountains of Vermont—the inspiration for her novels. Kara is a photography enthusiast who also enjoys hiking, skiing, and getting cozy with a good book. When she’s not at her laptop creating havoc for her characters, you can find her rambling through the forest with her husband and spirited Labrador retriever, camera in hand.

Kara is a member of Sisters in Crime, Sisters in Crime-New England.