Woven by Words: The Sign of the Calico Quartz By Jan Drexler + Guest Post + GIVE AWAY

The Sign of the Calico Quartz JustRead Audio Blog Tour

Welcome to the Blog Tour for The Sign of the Calico Quartz audiobook by Jan Drexler, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours! I know we're not supposed to judge a book but it's cover, but seriously, a corgi and a black cat with a white heart patch and we're not supposed to judge the book as being adorable? I beg to differ! I was able to ask Jen to share a bit about her writing and her audiobook narrator. Check her answers out below! I received the audiobook for review and you can find my thoughts below!

About the Book

Title: The Sign of the Calico Quartz
Series: The Sweetbrier Inn Mysteries
Author: Jan Drexler
Narrator: Gillian Wiggin
Publisher: Swift Wings Press
Audiobook Release Date: July 24, 2024
Genre: Cozy Mystery

Solving a murder is easy, right? All you need to do is follow the clues, and they will lead you to the culprit.

At least that’s what Emma Blackwood thought before she and her cat, Tim, came to the Black Hills to work in Aunt Rose’s Sweetbrier Inn. Before she found a dead body in her living room. Before the hunky Deputy Sheriff accused her of murdering the poor guy. And before the real killer put her name on their list of victims.

For this fan of Agatha Christie and a plethora of television crime dramas, it’s an intriguing situation that demands her skills. Investigating might not be as simple as it looks in fictional mysteries, but Emma’s organized mind and OCD tendencies start making sense of the clues…until she finds a second body with no apparent connection to the first.

Sifting through evidence is easier with the help of her new friend, Becky, who provides baked goods for the inn, and Aunt Rose is always willing to take time from writing her mysterious memoirs to give support and advice. Wil, the inn’s chef, moves things along with a barbed comment or two, and Tim the cat and Rose’s corgi, Thatcher, make themselves available for fuzz therapy and to point the way to another clue.

The list of suspects grows as Emma learns more about the inn’s guests and their reasons for visiting the Black Hills. From the honeymoon couple to Mysterious Montgomery, to the famous reality show ghost hunter, to the gold seekers, no one is the person they appear to be. Even Rose’s good friend Clara is hiding secrets in her pink chenille bathrobe.

But as Emma pursues the investigation, things start to get personal. Can she identify the murderer before disaster strikes?

More Books In This Series

Guest Post

When God Closes a Door by Jan Drexler

We all remember 2020 and the beginning of the mess that was Covid. Those months/years changed our lives forever, didn’t they? One of the big changes for authors was an upheaval in the publishing industry. In the spring of 2020, no one knew what the future was going to look like. Agents, editors, and publishing houses were no different. Many careers came to a standstill.

After thirteen published books, I found myself with no contracts pending, no agent, and no publishers asking for my historical fiction. I took advantage of that situation to experiment in cozy mysteries - a genre I have always enjoyed reading. I was excited to begin!

I spent most of 2020 researching and developing my new series. I determined several key elements early on: I wanted to set the stories in my beloved Black Hills (the view out my window!) I also wanted to try a contemporary setting. The third requirement was that I wanted to write this series for the general market but continue including Christian and clean elements.

As the stories developed, I found that moving from an historical to contemporary setting was more challenging than I had thought. How much of contemporary life should an author include? After all, one of the key parts of historical stories is the details! I took my clue from Agatha Christie’s writings. She wrote stories that were contemporary to her time but omitted things like political events or social upheavals unless they pertained to the story. I’ve also left out most references to fads, popular television shows, and personalities. The result is stories that are set firmly in the first quarter of the twenty-first century, but not limited to any particular year.

The biggest challenge was finding a publisher for my new genre. When I finished writing The Sign of the Calico Quartz, our society was still in upheaval. I decided my best course of action was independent publishing and believe me, compared to this new skill, making the shift from historical to contemporary stories was easy-peasy!

Bringing these stories to audio has been another adventure. Through Audible, I found a fabulous narrator with ties to the Black Hills, Gillian Wiggin. She has just finished her work on the second story in the series, The Case of the Artist’s Mistake, and we hope to have it uploaded soon. Making the Sweetbrier Inn Mysteries available to audiobook listeners has been the fulfillment of a dream!

What’s next? I’m busy working on the third installment of the Sweetbrier Inn Mysteries, Murder is Coordinated, and love spending time with my favorite characters each day. I haven’t left historical stories behind completely, though. I’m also in the middle of writing an historical romance that takes place in the Black Hills in the late 1800’s.

We still don’t know what our future holds, but as one of my favorite quotes says, we know Who holds the future. As long as the Lord tarries, the best we can do is serve Him wherever He opens the next door.

My Review:

This was a super fun audiobook to listen to! I wasn't sure if I'd be able to fit it in, but I did!

I enjoyed getting to know Emma and the rest of the cast! The story definitely gave me Clue vibes along with Agatha Christie! People are dying left and right, but who in the world is doing it? Each time I thought I might know for sure, another clue shows it might not be that person. I even thought maybe it was Emma at one point and the author was just messing with us. hahahaha

Emma's aunt Rose suspects Emma, new friends suspect her, and even the Sheriff thinks it could be her. Somehow, she has to prove she's being set up! I found myself liking a character one minute and giving them the stink eye the next. Might've been because Emma was feeling the same way! hahahaha

The narrator did a great job! There were accents and lots of characters to voice. I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series!

About the Author

Jan Drexler lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband where she enjoys hiking and spending time with her family. She spins stories of History, Mystery, and Sweet Romance. Her works include several historical romance novels, including the award-winning Mattie’s Pledge, and The Sweetbrier Inn Mysteries cozy mystery series.

Connect with Jan by visiting jandrexler.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates. Those who sign up for her newsletter will receive a free e-book copy of The Sign of the Calico Quartz!

Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive a $15 Amazon gift card!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight October 8, 2024 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on October 15, 2024. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!