Dying to Live here blog tour through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours includes an author guest post and a giveaway. Enter below, subscribe, follow, share.
Book Details
Dying to Live Here (Estate Sales Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Florida
Publisher : Fawkes Press
Publication date : February 10, 2026
ISBN-13 : 978-1957529516
ASIN : B0GFNR9XDT
When tech burnout Emma Stewart follows her best friend’s advice to view a quaint beachside
home in Harbor Shores, Florida, she expects palm trees, sea breezes, and maybe a fresh start.
What she doesn’t expect is to stumble into a murder scene—and become a prime suspect.
With the HOA president lying in a pool of blood and her bestie splattered with the evidence,
Emma suddenly finds herself knee-deep in neighborhood secrets, rivalries, and a suspiciously
missing knife. Armed with nothing but her dry wit, a talent for digital sleuthing, and an adorable
bulldog named Hopper, Emma must navigate a world of nosy neighbors, passive-aggressive
happy hours, and one dangerously charming lawyer.
In Harbor Shores, the homes are charming—but the secrets are deadly.
About Shelley Marsh
Shelley Marsh writes laugh-out-loud mysteries set along Florida’s sun-splashed coast. Her
forthcoming debut, Dying to Live Here (Feb 10 2026), launches the Estate Sale Mysteries series,
pairing clever puzzles with a hint of romance. When she isn’t prowling estate sales for story
fodder, Shelley combs beaches and bookstores, searching for treasure.
Book Details
Website: www.ShelleyMarsh.com
Press Kit: https://writershelleymarsh.com/press-kit/
Facebook: Author Shelley Marsh
Instagram: A1ABeachWriter https://www.instagram.com/a1abeachwriter/
X: https://x.com/shellmarsh
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@BookTokBelle
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@A1ABeachWriter
BlueSky: @shelleymarsh.bsky.social
Purchase Link
Guest Post
More Than Things: The Stories Inside Estate Sales
By Shelley Marsh, author of Dying to Live Here
Dying to Live Here launches a new series called The Estate Sale Mysteries, so it won’t
surprise readers to know that the story grew out of my fondness for shopping (or
snooping). I find estate sales to be less about the things themselves and more about the
stories of the people who lived there. Some estate sales, in fact, can be surprisingly
emotional. One of my earliest experiences of estate-sale shopping had me fleeing a
home in tears.
It started as a treasure hunt. I was a newlywed in Atlanta, and my husband had read
about people finding valuable but overlooked art at estate sales, including work by M. J.
Heade, a nineteenth-century painter of Florida scenery. After hearing about a Heade
someone had discovered at a yard sale, we bought an art value guide and set off to find
one ourselves.
We might have been hunting for value, but what I stumbled upon was unexpected
sentiment. As I walked through my first estate sale, I entered a bedroom. The frilly
bedspread and pastel color scheme suggested it had belonged to a woman, possibly an
elderly one. Looking out of place in the feminine space was a collection of unopened
SpongeBob toys arranged on top of the dresser. My storytelling brain instantly spun a
tale of how the toys had been purchased by a grandmother who’d died before she could
give them to her beloved grandchild. The emotion hit me all at once, and I couldn’t hold
back my tears. I had to leave the house and wait in the car. My husband didn’t find a
Heade, and we abandoned the hunt.
Looking back, I know the story I imagined had less to do with the toys themselves and
more to do with my own relationship with my grandmother. As a writer, I carry those
memories with me, and they surface in unexpected ways. My characters are never
exact copies of real people, but they are shaped by pieces of real lives. The same is
true of estate sales, where the objects left behind reveal what mattered most.
It was ten years before I visited another estate sale. That experience eventually sparked
a subplot in the second book of The Estate Sale Mysteries, in which something valuable
is nearly overlooked by a couple forced to decide what to keep and what to part with as
they downsize.
Since moving to Florida, I’ve given estate sales another chance. Almost every weekend,
signs on the corner announce a sale in progress. Florida is filled with people who came
here from somewhere else to begin new stages of their lives, and their homes often
reflect that transition. My brain still spins stories about the people who lived there, but
now I look for the positive as well as the emotional. Writers are trained to notice details,
and mystery writers know that clues often hide in what others overlook.
Not all of the items people leave behind are grief-tinged. Some are reminders of joyful
moments. In one home I visited recently, a door frame bore a hand-drawn chart in
Sharpie, documenting the growth of the children who’d grown up there. My favorite
homes belonged to people who traveled widely and collected souvenirs from around the
world. That’s my idea of a fulfilling life—visiting faraway places and collecting memories
with loved ones along the way. In the end, what draws me to estate sales isn’t simply
what’s for sale, but the stories of lives well-lived.
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
February 10 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
February 10 – Books1987 – SPOTLIGHT
February 11 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – CHARACTER GUEST POST
February 12 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
February 13 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
February 13 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
February 14 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
February 15 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
February 16 – Sarandipity’s – AUTHOR GUEST POST
February 17 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
February 18 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – REVIEW
February 19 – Sarah Can’t Stop Reading Books – REVIEW
February 20 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
February 20 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
February 21 – StoreyBook Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST
February 21 – Storybook Lady – REVIEW
February 22 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
February 23 – Salty Inspirations – AUTHOR GUEST POST
February 23 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – SPOTLIGHT
Giveaway
Copy of Dying to Live Here (Estate Sales Mysteries) by Shelley Marsh, and a Florida gift box or an “I brake for estate sales” tote
