Monday, August 6, 2018

Past & Present: Cover Reveal and ARC Giveaway


Judy Penz Sheluk reporting in with news of my latest book and an ARC Giveaway! 



I'm beyond excited to announce that Past & Present, the second book in my Marketville Mystery series, is now available for pre-order on Amazon for the special introductory price of $2.99. This is the sequel to Skeletons in the Attic, which actually reached #1 on Kindle and stayed on Amazon's Top 100 for the first 30 days after release in three categories (of course I took a screenshot).





In Past & Present, protagonist Callie Barnstable starts her own business in Marketville: Past & Present Investigations. Here's a bit about it:
Sometimes the past reaches out to the present...It’s been thirteen months since Calamity (Callie) Barnstable inherited a house in Marketville under the condition that she search for the person who murdered her mother thirty years earlier. She solves the mystery, but what next? Unemployment? Another nine-to-five job in Toronto? 
Callie decides to set down roots in Marketville, take the skills and knowledge she acquired over the past year, and start her own business: Past & Present Investigations.
It’s not long before Callie and her new business partner, best friend Chantelle Marchand, get their first client: a woman who wants to find out everything she can about her grandmother, Anneliese Prei, and how she came to a “bad end” in 1956. It sounds like a perfect first assignment. Except for one thing: Anneliese’s past winds its way into Callie’s present, and not in a manner anyone—least of all Callie—could have predicted. 
Early reviews from Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) have been terrific. Our very own Stiletto Gang member Debra Goldstein said, "A well-crafted story that keeps readers engages as history blends into the present."

While every story I write holds a special meaning for me, Past & Present is especially meaningful. The release date of September 21, 2018 is also the second anniversary of my mother, Anneliese Penz's, death. It's a bittersweet memory to know that the last book she read was Skeletons in the Attic, the first book in the series. But it's more than that--my mom left behind a small suitcase filled with immigration papers, passports, and photographs, among others; documents I had never seen. They formed the basis for the book, and subsequently helped to frame Callie's investigation into the past.

My mom was so pleased that I dedicated Skeletons in the Attic to my father, Anton Penz, who died many years ago of stomach cancer at the age of forty-two. Of course, there's a very important Anton in Past & Present. I like to think they're together again, watching my journey, and encouraging me every step of the way.




LEAVE A COMMENT for a chance to WIN a Kindle ARC of Past & Present. The winner will be selected on Friday, August 10th.

And...if you feel so inclined...

Pre-order here (and thank you!)

6 comments:

  1. Would love a chance to win a ARC.

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  2. Hoping to be a winner

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  3. Well,anonymous...you would have to say who you were to win! But thanks for your interest.

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  4. Kim, please email me at judy at judypenzsheluk dot com.

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  5. I'm excited to read your new book and want to read the first in the series also. Your mom and dad are very proud of you for writing their history in your novel.

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