A Deadly Cliche by Ellery Adams

"Why are you calling him a victim?"

Olivia frowned.  Was this cop some recent hire looking to impress the chief?  He was as fresh of face and as awkward of body as a preadolescent boy, but his speech was clipped and laced with arrogance. "I chose that term because unless that man buried himself up to the neck and then somehow found a way to cover his head with a bucket, someone else performed those actions for him."

In A Deadly Cliché by Ellery Adams, Olivia Limoges brings us back to the coastal town of Oyster Bay, North Carolina, where the townsfolk are still curious, the beaches are still beautiful and the Bayside Book Writers are still meeting regularly to critique the work being done on their individual novels.

The book starts out with Olivia and her ever so faithful poodle, Captain Haviland, discovering a dead man buried in the beach just a short walk from her home.  More than a little bizarre, this body has not only been buried neck deep, but the man is found naked and holding a shovel in his hand. 

The murder on the beach seems to take on new meaning for Olivia when she finds out shortly after discovering the body that there has been a series of burglaries throughout Oyster Bay.  Even more interesting, strange items are being strategically left behind at each crime scene leading the authorities to call on the Bayside Book Writers for assistance.  Butter with a knife sticking out of it is left at one crime scene and a deck of cards with a missing Queen is left at another. The most creepy case was the discovery of antique dolls that had been damaged; one being left with a silver spoon shoved in its mouth. 

But it isn't until the murder of one of the home owners that the Bayside Book Writers make a connection between the burglaries and the body found on the beach.  Using the investigative reporting skills of a member of the Bayside Book Writers, the group is able to find the hidden meaning behind all of the clichés, but not before the killers make their final move.

In A Deadly Cliché by Ellery Adams, we also get a closer look inside Olivia's past when a mysterious package arrives at her restaurant demanding money to learn the whereabouts of her father, a man that has been missing for 30 years.  The story adds another dimension to the history surrounding Oyster Bay and leaves you mourning at her loss and rejoicing at the future she has ahead. 

Another favorite part of this series is that these characters are writers and while reading  A Deadly Cliché you get a good look at the novels these characters are creating.  The novels being written within the book include fantasy and science fiction.  In all honesty, it is just as fun reading the novels that are found within this novel.  Ellery is a gifted writer and I'm curious to know if she really plans to pen a book in the science fiction / fantasy genre.  I'm really looking forward to the next book in this series.

Ellery Adams grew up on a beach near the Long Island Sound. Having spent her adult life in a series of landlocked towns, she cherishes her memories of open water, violent storms, and the smell of the sea. Ms. Adams has held many jobs including caterer, retail clerk, car salesperson, teacher, tutor, and tech writer, all the while penning poems, children’s books, and novels. She now writes full-time from her home in Virginia.

You can learn more about Ellery Adams on her website http://www.elleryadamsmysteries.com/ .

Why I Shy Away From S-E-X Scenes by Ellery Adams

Today I am pleased to welcome cozy mystery author, Ellery Adams, to My Friends Call Me Kate where she'll enchant us with her knowledge about sex... or something like that.

Why don’t I write steamy lovemaking scenes?

Because I’m no good at s-e-x.

Wait, that came out wrong.


When I began writing mysteries, I focused on the puzzle first. I’ve always been a bit of a jigsaw puzzle geek and now I even do cryptograms when I’m waiting a long time (at the doctor’s office, for example. Why do we make appointments just to sit for thirty-forty minutes anyway? They should just hand out numbers like they do at the deli counter).

Next up, I turned my attention to the characters. From that point, the setting came into play. I steered away from romantic entanglements because I could never write them as well as the other stuff.

Now, with my Books By the Bay mysteries, I start with the characters and they drag me by the hair, this way and that, in true caveman style until the book unfolds like a rose. Thus far, none of them have shown an interest in getting naked. Great. I get down to the other elements and don’t have any R-rated sex scenes to worry about.

My heroine, Olivia Limoges, is a haunted, cynical, independent heiress who refuses to be swept off her feet by anyone. What a relief! Still, I can’t leave her on the shelf forever. I mean, the woman’s got needs. I can do a closed-door fling with the charismatic bookstore owner for now, but eventually, the man the readers sense Olivia belongs with is going to do something so heroic that she’ll have to defrost long enough to well, disrobe.

But not yet. I can hold off for another book. Because when that scene happens, it has to be right. It’s Olivia’s first time, after all. At least, it’s her first time being put on display by me.

This moment has to be as deftly executed as the clues woven into the plot. She has to be ready. I have to be ready. How much do you want to see in your mystery? Tell the truth now. Do you want your couples to go inside and shut the door? Or do you want to peek through the keyhole?

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Ellery Adams grew up on a beach near the Long Island Sound. Having spent her adult life in a series of landlocked towns, she cherishes her memories of open water, violent storms, and the smell of the sea. Ms. Adams has held many jobs including caterer, retail clerk, car salesperson, teacher, tutor, and tech writer, all the while penning poems, children’s books, and novels. She now writes full-time from her home in Virginia. 

You can learn more about Ellery Adams on her website http://www.elleryadamsmysteries.com/.

A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams

"Heading toward the lighthouse keeper's cottage, Olivia felt a tightness in her chest.  Something was wrong.

At the same moment she felt that sharp stab of fear. The beam of the flashlight sought out a darker patch of black in the shadow cast by the cottage.

Olivia's heart nearly stopped. She broke into a run, her legs moving with agonizing slowness over the sand..."

A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams takes us to the small coastal town of Oyster Bay, North Carolina, where the townsfolk are curious, the beaches are beautiful and everyone seems to have an interest in poetry.

Still haunted by her past, Olivia Limoges returns to her hometown of Oyster Bay with her lovingly adorable poodle, Captain Haviland.  Although Olivia is considered a mystery to the locals, her family history is well known and Olivia can't seem to get past the gossip that surrounds her family. She's beautiful, wealthy and owns the local five-star restaurant in town, as well as other local properties that have left her the landlord to many of the townsfolk.

While having breakfast at a local diner, she eavesdrops on a conversation being had by a local group of community writers. After discussing her own work in progress with her friend, Dixie, a fun loving waitress on roller skates, Olivia takes a chance and speaks to the leader of the Bayside Book Writers club, the openly flamboyant Camden Ford, and makes plans for the meetings to be held weekly at the lighthouse keeper's cottage on her property.

The group seems to make an instant connection and things seem to be working out well for Olivia until Camden doesn't show for their weekly meeting on the evening they are supposed to be critiquing a chapter in his novel.  With his whereabouts known to one of the members, the Bayside Book Writers go out in search of Camden in the hopes of finding out why he has decided to ditch the critique, and more importantly, why he is frequenting the trashiest bar in town.

Not only do they find Camden murdered in the alley behind the bar, they find a haiku poem left with his body.  Being familiar with such things, the Bayside Book Writers team up with local law enforcement (sort of), and set out to find the reasons and person(s) responsible for Camden's death.  The possibilities seem endless when the Bayside Book Writers discover, individually and collectively, that Camden's novel surrounds the private life of the high-powered Talbot family and that the Talbot family is working very hard to secure a massive piece of property in Oyster Bay.  Soon the town of Oyster Bay is besieged with fear when another body is found with a haiku poem and both Olivia and Captain Haviland are being warned to stop their investigation.

That's right; I said Olivia and her poodle, Captain Haviland, are warned to stop their investigation. 

A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams is another cozy mystery with a steady pace and lovable characters living in a setting that will leave you breathless.  What I loved most about the book was the inside look at the struggles and frustrations writers apparently have while writing novels. Watching this group of writers work together to help everyone succeed in their goals reminded me of my twitter family; a group of authors that I love dearly.  It also made me thankful that they have each other to rely on for support and instruction.

Oh, and I also fell in love with Captain Haviland. Captain Haviland is one smart pooch!

A Killer Plot is the first book in the Books By The Bay Mystery series. I will be reviewing the second book in the series, A Deadly Cliché, later this week.

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Ellery Adams grew up on a beach near the Long Island Sound. Having spent her adult life in a series of landlocked towns, she cherishes her memories of open water, violent storms, and the smell of the sea. Ms. Adams has held many jobs including caterer, retail clerk, car salesperson, teacher, tutor, and tech writer, all the while penning poems, children’s books, and novels. She now writes full-time from her home in Virginia.

You can learn more about Ellery Adams on her website http://www.elleryadamsmysteries.com/.