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It’s hot and steamy here in Minneapolis today—the perfect weather to debut the cover for my new King Harald mystery. King Harald’s Snow Job takes place in early December, when Andy and Harald find themselves snowbound in a luxury resort. Before you know it, man and mutt are embroiled in another tricky mystery. Look for the Kindle and paperback on Amazon in August.

It’s been a couple of years since Andy Skyberg and his faithful mutt King Harald sallied forth for a mystery adventure. But the long wait is just about over, as Andy and Harald tackle the mystery of a jewel theft at a snowed-in resort in Beaver Tail County.

The third King Harald mystery is called King Harald’s Snow Job and just this week I sent it to my proofreader for a final check-over. When I get it back from her, I’ll create a paperback proof copy for the last read-through. Then I’ll hit the “Publish” button and it will go live as an e-book and a print-on-demand paperback. You’ll hear about it here as soon as it happens. In the meantime, I may do a cover reveal. So stay tuned.

The new Mary MacDougall mystery, A Daughter’s Doubt, is now available as a Kindle e-book. This will be the only e-book version for sale for the next few months. For Kindle Unlimited members, it can be borrowed for free. Just click on the book cover for more information.

For the paperback version, just click here.

My third Mary MacDougall mystery, A Daughter’s Doubt, will be out as an e-book in just a few weeks. Some of the story takes place on Michigan’s Mackinac Island, and when I saw this picture I thought it perfectly matched a scene in my book. However, in my story the ladies are strolling along the shore of Lake Huron, not the ocean. Steve Thomas designed the cover and the art is called “Strolling along the Seashore,” by the Spanish artist Joaquin Sorolla (1863-1923).

My ten-stop King Harald blog tour came to an end a couple of days ago, and I had a great time as my alter ego Richard Audry. I contributed several blog posts that I’ll be reblogging here and received some nice reviews. Here’s what the bloggers had to say:

I love this series, both because I’m crazy fond of the adorable protagonist, that “big mutt” HARALD, but also due to the author’s noted talent in uncovering character. In addition to the ongoing series characters, in each book the author introduces new background characters who of course come trailing their own engrossing plots and mysteries.
~Mallory Heart Reviews

It’s really quite refreshing to have this male point of view into the world of cozy mysteries. I’m not putting the cozy MC heroines down, by any stretch of the imagination, just letting them know it’s ok to make some room on the shelf for the guys.
~Back Porchervations

Anyone who loves dogs will love this series…
~3 Partners in Shopping; Nana, Mommy, &; Sissy too!

I am completely enamored of good natured King Harald. Audry’s descriptions of this wonderful dog are spot on giving us deep characterization as well as meaningful views and commentary. I certainly wouldn’t mind having some ebelskivers and a Biberschwanz Pilsner with Andy and sharing some Slim Jims with King Harald!
~Cozy Up With Kathy

I want to thank Lori Caswell of Escape with Dollycas for organizing the tour. And I would recommend that any other writers of cozy mystery series call on Lori to handle their blog tours. She does a great job. You can reach Lori and Dollycas right here.

King Harald and Andy Skyberg are going on a blog tour over the next couple of weeks. (You don’t see them in the picture because they’re already aboard that Ford Tri-Motor, ready to wing their ways to blog readers all over.) There’ll be some reviews of their books, as well as some contributions from me—a couple of Q&As, an interview with Andy, and a Top Ten Movie list.

Here are the big ginger mutt’s appearances, by date. These are live links, so be sure to check out the posts.

November 30 – Back Porchervations

December 1 – A Blue Million Books

December 2 – Mallory Heart Reviews

December 3 – Lori’s Reading Corner

December 4 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too !

December 7 – Frankie Bow

December 8 – Deal Sharing Aunt

December 9 – Brooke Blogs

December 10 – The Self-Taught Cook

December 11 – Cozy Up With Kathy

And let me offer a hearty thanks to Lori Caswell of Escape with Dollycas, who arranged this tour for me. If you love cozy mysteries and haven’t checked out Dollycas, get over there right now at this link.

Lori Caswell’s Escape with Dollycas is one of the top blogs devoted to cozy mysteries and their authors. So I was delighted when, a few months ago, she agreed to review my new King Harald mystery. And not only did she want to read King Harald’s Heist, but also the first book, The Karma of King Harald. Well, today her very positive review of Karma appeared, and I couldn’t be happier with it. Here’s one of the highlights:

King Harald has stolen my heart. I especially like the chapters told from his point of view. His supporting characters are pretty eccentric which is perfect for a cozy mystery. They are so unique and wonderfully written.

You can read Lori’s full review of Karma here.

And here’s her terrific review of my second book, King Harald’s Heist, along with my guest post.

Here’s what Lori had to say:

This is an outstanding follow up to The Karma of King Harald.  It is an easy read with fantastic dialogue and a top-notch whodunit. The characters are fun and engaging. I so love Harald. There is plenty of mystery, mayhem, and humor and Andy and Harald are in the middle of it. This was one of those books that once I picked it up I couldn’t put it down. Now I want more. I can’t wait for Harald and Andy’s next adventure.

Most of the book reviews I’ve sought out have been with bloggers and folks who review on Amazon and Goodreads. But someone recently suggested I get in touch with the St. Paul Pioneer Press’s book reviewer, Mary Ann Grossmann. She makes it a point of regularly covering local small press and indie authors. (Many newspapers won’t even look at indie-published books.)

Well, I dropped off copies of both King Harald books a few weeks ago and last week heard back from Ms. Grossmann. She wrote me that she loved King Harald and ran a really nice review yesterday. Pretty cool. In fact, the review gave me a little bump in Kindle sales—always welcome.

Here’s Ms. Grossmann’s takeaway: “This series is as much about small-town life as it is about crime. The human characters are likable, and Harald is a big, happy dude who doesn’t know he’s a crime sniffer. He just does his doggie thing — rambling around town, worrying about The Boss, chasing squirrels and following his nose wherever it takes him. Which usually means trouble for Andy.”

For paperback fans in the Twin Cities, King Harald’s Heist is now available at two leading bookstores. You can find it at Garrison Keillor’s Common Good Books in St. Paul; or at that beloved mystery bookstore in Minneapolis, Uncle Edgar’s.

This is just a heads-up that the first novella in my Mary MacDougall historical mystery series will be available for free from Amazon Kindle Select, beginning tomorrow (Friday, Feb. 27) through next Tuesday (March 3).

This story launches the career of my budding sleuth, Mary MacDougall, as she investigates the Minneapolis kidnapping of two young women in 1901. She suddenly comes face to face with a terrible dilemma. The prime suspect is a man she finds herself very much attracted to. Is he really the talented artist he appears? Or a diabolical criminal?

Get the book here.