Meet Sophie Katz, everyone's new favorite heroine. She's sassy, hip, intelligent and unapologetically obsessed with Starbucks. As a biracial woman living in San Francisco she is inherently tolerant of the alternative lifestyle choices of those around her but she draws the line at murder.


(Click the image for more info!)

I'm happy to host Kyra this week on the GCC bloggin' book tour!

Here's the scoop on this sequel to SEX, MURDER AND A DOUBLE LATTE

Sophie Katz has just offered a man $12,000 for his services…is she desperate of just meshugeneh?

Considering the kind of disasters that usually befall the half-black, half Jewish mystery writer, probably both. Because the last time Sophie saw sexy P.I. Anatoly Darinsky, he practically danced a jig when she waved goodbye-a normal reaction for a man who’d nearly bought the farm due to her misguided attempts at vigilante justice. What are the chances he’d agree to take incriminating pictures of her sister’s philandering husband? Or that he’d let her tag along-you know…for research?

But when her brother-in-law turns up dead and her sister becomes the prime suspect Sophie’s priority is finding the real killer. With or without Anatoly’s help. Her brother-in-law’s secret life yields plenty of suspects, but the San Francisco police aren’t taking any of them seriously. So Sophie does what comes naturally to her: she stirs up trouble (to lure the killer out, of course).

But if her crazy plan works will everybody survive the outcome?

In the rollicking follow-up to Sex, Murder And A Double Latte, Sophie hones her irreverent humor and sleuthing skills to a sharp edge. Fans of Stephanie Plum or Kinsey Millhone will no doubt love Sophie and find her snappy comebacks and quirky cohorts as addictive as good coffee and a sexy dye job (okay, let’s stick with the caffeine).

My questions ...

Kyra graciously answered my standard list o' questions:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

Sadly, I’m no where near organized enough to have a regular schedule plus I’m a single parent of a young child who I am temporarily (please God, let this be temporary) homeschooling which is another way of saying that my days are packed and chaotic. So basically I write after my son goes to sleep, during the 3-4 hour spans of time my son spends with my mother and/or stepbrother three days a week and during Animal Planet’s Planet’s Funniest Animals marathons.


DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?
When I was three quarters of the way through Sex, Murder And A Double Latte it occurred to me that the book could be the beginning of a series. Since I had spent most of the first novel exploring Sophie’s relations with her crazy friends I figured that it would be fun to use the next book to explore her relations with her even crazier family. Having her sister Leah’s husband threaten divorce (and then wind up dead) seemed like a natural segue for a comical women’s murder mystery.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.
Sophie and I share a serious Starbucks addiction. We also both have a thing for dark chocolate and men with strong hands…

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?

Oh geez, that’s a hard one. I’m going to go with books to read because if I were to write something I’d eventually want to share it and if I wasn’t able to I’d start swimming through those shark-infested waters in a desperate attempt to find an island with a few human inhabitants. Even if the inhabitants were hostile there would always be a chance that they’d read my stuff during my eulogy after burning me at the stake.

BEER OR WINE?
WINE!

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?
Chocolate if it’s dark (that means at least 65% rich) and Vanilla if it’s not (particularly if it’s French vanilla)

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?
That’s kind of like asking a mother which one of her offspring she favors the most. There are so many books that could make the favorite list it’s pretty much impossible for me to honestly pick just one but since you’re holding a gun to my head I guess I’ll say Edith Wharton’s House Of Mirth. It’s been years since I last re-read it but I still continue to mentally reference it while stumbling through my day to day life. But there really are other books that I love just as much; just in different ways (is that a mom thing to say or what?)

You can read more about Kyra, her books and her thoughts at: Kyra's Web Log