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Death by Association by Paula Darnell
A DIY Diva Mystery #1
Cozy Cat Press • January 7, 2019
DIY Diva Laurel McMillan learns that the high walls and guarded gates of Hawkeye Haven can’t protect her community. When Laurel takes her pampered, chocolate Labrador retriever, Bear, for an early morning walk, she finds her friend, security guard Bessie, bleeding and unconscious at her guardhouse post. If the attack on Bessie isn’t enough to set the residents’ nerves on edge, the murder of Victor Eberhart, the unpopular president of the powerful homeowners’ association, certainly does the trick. Despite teaching DIY classes and writing project instructions for her latest book, DIY for Dog Lovers, Laurel manages to squeeze in time for some DIY detective work. But as she gets closer to the truth, Victor’s killer would like nothing better than for the DIY Diva to take a dive.
About the Author
An instructor at five colleges over the years, Paula Darnell most often taught the dreaded first-year English composition classes, but she’s also been happy to teach some fun classes, such as fashion design, sewing, and jewelry making. Paula has a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, and a Master’s degree in English from the University of Nevada, Reno.Like Laurel, the main character in Death by Association, Paula enjoys all kinds of arts and crafts. Some of her memorable projects include making a hat and a cape to wear to Royal Ascot, sewing wedding gowns for both her daughters, exhibiting her textile and mixed-media artwork in juried art shows, and having one of her jewelry projects accepted for inclusion in Leather Jewelry, published by Lark Books. She sells some of her jewelry and hair accessories in her Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/PaulaDJewelry.
Paula’s interest in DIY craft projects and fashion led to her writing hundreds of articles for print and online national publications.
Living in a guard-gated community governed by a homeowners’ association gave Paula the idea for the setting of Death by Association. She finds that residing in an HOA community can be both a blessing and a curse. A Happy-New-Year greeting from her community association called on residents to “start the new year by reviewing your Rules and Regulations booklet,” something unlikely to top anyone’s list of New Year’s resolutions.
Paula lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, with her husband Gary and their 110-pound dog Rocky, whose favorite pastime is lurking in the kitchen, hoping for a handout
Author Links
Author’s website – https://www.pauladarnellauthor.com/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/PaulaJDarnell
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18782445.Paula_Darnell
Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/paulad0057/
Etsy shop – https://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulaDJewelry
6,357 total views, 2 views today
Kay Garrett
Thank you for being part of the book tour for “Death by Association” by Paula Darnell.
Wonderful sounding book which is on my TBR list. I would love the opportunity to read this book by a new to me author.
Paula Darnell
Thank you for spotlighting Death by Association! I hope everybody enjoys the book!
Brooke
You’re welcome!
Antoinette M
I like reading cozy mysteries. This sounds like a good one!