Guilty Indulgence: The Viola Roberts Cozy Mystery Series audiobook tour, Book 1, #The Corpse in the Cabana @Shea

Author: Shéa MacLeod

Narrator: Yvette Keller

Length: 4 hours 47 minutes

Series: The Viola Roberts Cozy Mysteries, Book 1

Publisher: Shéa MacLeod

Release date: Aug. 29, 2016

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Sassy, snarky Viola Roberts quit her boring accountant job to pursue her dream of writing novels, even if it meant eating ramen noodles every day. Now that her career has taken off, she's headed to a writers' conference at an exotic Florida resort complete with white-sand beaches and swaying palm trees, where she plans to lounge in the shade drinking frosty beverages with little umbrellas. And, of course, no sojourn to tropical climes would be complete without her boozy, wise-cracking best friend, Cheryl.

When Viola discovers the diva of the author world dead (as a doornail) of unnatural causes, the police immediately consider Viola their prime suspect. But when the head detective turns a gimlet eye on Viola's best friend, the author has had enough! Along with help from hunky fellow writer Lucas Salvatore, Viola is determined to ascertain who killed the corpse in the cabana before she or Cheryl winds up in jail. Or worse.

Viola Roberts cozy mysteries:

The Corpse in the Cabana

The Stiff in the Study

The Poison in the Pudding

The Body in the Bathtub

The Venom in the Valentine

The Remains in the Rectory

The Death in the Drink

Shéa MacLeod writes urban fantasy post-apocalyptic sci-fi paranormal romances with a twist of steampunk. Mostly because she can’t make up her mind which genre she likes best so she decided to write them all.

After six years living in an Edwardian town house in London just a stone’s throw from the local cemetery, Shéa headed back to her hometown of Portland, Oregon. She plans to live out her days eating mushroom pizza, drinking too many caramel lattes, exploring exotic locales, and avoiding spiders.

Shéa is the author of the Viola Roberts Cozy Mysteries and the bestselling Lady Rample Mysteries.

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Yvette Keller’s first job as a narrator was reading aloud to keep her little brother out of trouble. Her favorite party trick is reading words upside down. Little kids need to see the pictures. Yvette lives in her beloved home town of Santa Barbara, using a lifetime of vocal stamina in her home studio. She produces technical VO industrials for Mesa Steps Consulting clients in addition to audiobooks. A lifetime of reading and speaking has proven one thing: Yvette loves stories. She is thrilled to be making books accessible and engaging through her narration work.

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So allow me to take a minute for this revelation: I had never read a "Cozy Mystery" series before but they always intrigued. Based on this particular novel series, I'll be coming back for more for sure!

Viola Roberts is the quintessential nosy-body. She cannot be content to attend the simple writers conference with her bff, she has to stumble across a dead body and worse, is compelled to turn amateur sleuth (she writes historical western romance). She is brassy and takes no crap, and while she struggles with being "a certain age" is imminently relatable. Better yet, her side kicks include her writer BFF Cheryl and world renowned writer Lucas who seems quite smitten with the attitude and antics of Viola as she attempts to "get to the bottom" of the dead romance novelist.

Noteworthy bits: The narration is extremely well done. Initially, I was not a fan - it seemed stilted and a bit offputting. However, as the story picked up steam, Ms Keller hit her stride. She maintained a consistent voice, great mix of character vocalizations, and good pacing. By the mid point of the story, she had captured the personality of the characters and the humor within the story and made it her own.

The writing is well done. There are clever bits of dialogue between Viola and the detective as well as several other characters. As well, some good red herrings, plot twists and a great lead up to an action packed ending. For sure worth a weekend/pool/beach read, this is high on entertainment value but relatively short in length (4.75hrs total). The story flows well, with some great humor, a budding romance, and a thrilling end. There is no graphic sex, violence, or foul language.

I give this audiobook 4 Chocolate Dipped Strawberries and recommend the 2nd in the series! I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my review decisions.

Q&A with Shéa MacLeod, author of The Viola Roberts Cozy Mysteries

How did you select your narrator?
- In the case of the Viola Roberts books, Yvette is a long-time friend and historical costuming buddy. Working with her was natural and fun.
How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process?
- We definitely went over pronunciations and character tips, but for the most part, I just let her do her thing. And she knocked it out of the park.
Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing?
- Always, yes. The Corpse in the Cabana was inspired by my own trip to a writer conference in Florida. Only in real life there weren’t any dead bodies.
How do you manage to avoid burn-out? What do you do to maintain your enthusiasm for writing?
- Take time out to enjoy life. Travel. Experience the world. It not only recharges me, but provides so much inspiration.
What do you say to those who view listening to audiobooks as “cheating” or as inferior to “real reading”?
- You probably don’t want to know what I think about people who say snide things about what other people love. “Listening” exercises a different part of your brain than “reading” with your eyes, but a story is a story is a story. Either way you still have to activate your imagination. And whatever format you choose to read (or listen) to, that’s fantastic! Not everyone has the time or ability to sit down and read a physical or ebook.
What gets you out of a writing slump? What about a reading slump?
- I just keep writing. Maybe write something different and new. Reading slump? What’s that?
If this title were being made into a TV series or movie, who would you cast to play the primary roles?
- Melissa McCarthy would play Viola Roberts. She’s who I had in my head when I was writing. Any time I was stuck, I would say to myself, “What would Melissa McCarthy do?”
Have any of your characters ever appeared in your dreams?
- Yes. Lady Rample came to me in a dream. Which is why that series now exists.
How did you celebrate after finishing this novel?
- The same way Viola would: With a glass (or two) of red wine.
What’s next for you?
- This year, I’ll be turning the Lady Rample Mysteries into audiobooks and starting a brand new cozy mystery series set in the 1940s.