This book event is through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.
Pleats and Poison book tour includes an author guest post and a giveaway. Enter the contest at the end of this post, share a comment for the author, spread this post on social, follow and shop Sarandipity’s.
Book Details
Pleats & Poison: A Craft and Ghost Cozy Mystery (A Dress Designer Cozy Mystery Series)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – Coastal Town of Drakes Bay
Publisher : MC Two Press
Publication date : August 6, 2025
Digital
Print length : 222 pages
ISBN-13 : 978-1966424376
ASIN : B0FBX7PJKS
Enjoy this humorous, small-town, psychic, cozy mystery by best-selling and award-winning
Lucinda Race.
A fashion-savvy psychic, one haunted Thanksgiving, and a pleated skirt that’s dressed to kill.
Hosting Thanksgiving dinner for seven guests—and one ghost—is all in a day’s work for
Claudia Grant. Between whipping up her famous mac and cheese and debuting her boutique’s
latest fall fashion, Claudia’s ready to impress her visiting mom and stylish grandmother. Her
cozy coastal town of Drakes Bay is the perfect backdrop for family, food, and fresh
starts—especially when Gram falls in love with a pleated skirt and sweater ensemble from
Claudia’s shop.
But when a spilled glass of orange juice leads to a shocking discovery—a guest at the
neighboring Whistlers Inn is found dead, and the very same pleated skirt wrapped around her
neck—Claudia’s holiday cheer unravels fast.
Now, with her best friend Beth and a ghostly sidekick in tow, Claudia must piece together a
tangled mystery before the killer skips town… and before the secrets hidden in the folds come
back to haunt them all.
She’d rather be sewing hemlines than following clues—but if Claudia can’t stitch together the
truth in time, someone else might be the next to check out… permanently.
Pleats & Poison is the third book in the A Dress Designer Cozy Mystery series from award-
winning author Lucinda Race. Cozy up, settle in, and prepare to be haunted… in the best
possible way!
About Lucinda Race
Award-winning and best-selling author Lucinda Race is a lifelong fan of fiction who fell in love
with cozy mysteries and romance novels as a young girl. While her childhood friends dreamed of
becoming doctors and engineers, Lucinda was already dreaming of crafting captivating novels
filled with heart, hope, and happily ever afters.
Though her writing journey began with nonfiction, her passion for storytelling never wavered.
She returned to her true calling—creating the beloved McKenna Family Romance series and the
Paranormal Cozy Nook Bookstore Series—writing the kinds of stories she loves to read.
Whether she’s weaving a heartwarming romance or a cozy mystery, her fingers practically fly
across the keyboard.
Lucinda lives in the rolling hills of western Massachusetts with her little dog— a shih tzu mix
rescue—who is always by her side. When she’s not immersed in writing mystery, suspense, or
romance, she’s curled up with a book, devouring everything she can get her hands on.
Social Media Links
https://twitter.com/LucindaRace
Website https://lucindarace.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LucindaRaceAuthor/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lucindaraceauthor/
Goodreads – Lucinda Race- https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10174985.Lucinda_Race
YouTube Lucinda Race https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lucinda+race+author
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/lucindaraceauthor/
BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/lucindaraceauthor.bsky.social
Universal Link https://books2read.com/ap/xyYO2g/Lucinda-Race
Bookbub Lucinda Race https://www.bookbub.com/profile/lucinda-race
Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Lucinda-Race/e/B00Q0MMNUM
Lucinda’s Heart Racers Reader Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/118597305361578
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucinda-race-947099140/
Purchase Links
Amazon Kobo Barnes & Noble Smashwords Google Play Goodreads BookBub
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
August 26 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
August 26 – Hall Ways Blog – SPOTLIGHT
August 27 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER GUEST POST
August 27 – Books1987 – SPOTLIGHT
August 28 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
August 28 – Deal Sharing Aunt– AUTHOR INTERVIEW
August 29 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
August 29 – Angel’s Book Nook – SPOTLIGHT
August 30 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT
August 31 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – SPOTLIGHT
September 1 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
September 2 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
September 2 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
September 3 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST
September 3 – Sarah Can’t Stop Reading Books – REVIEW
September 4 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
September 5 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
September 6 – Salty Inspirations – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
September 7 – Sarandipity’s – AUTHOR GUEST POST
September 7 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
September 8 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
September 8 – Novels Alive – REVIEW
Author Interview Lucinda Race
Q: How would you describe your cozy mysteries in three words?
Summing up my books in three words is hard, I guess I’d say—Witty. Heartwarming. Murderous
with a slow burn romance. Well that’s more than three. What can I say as a writer I love words…
Q: Do you bake and cook as much as your characters do?
In the cooler months, I bake and cook more than when the heat of summer strikes. I can make a
great batch of brownies when the craving hits, and I love baking bread. I’m still perfecting my
sourdough method. But I enjoy weaving in recipes and food details because nothing feels more
“cozy” than the smell of something delicious baking while a mystery unfolds. Maybe one of
these days Claudia Grant will share her secret to Macaroni and Cheese.
However, in my Craft and Ghost Cozy Mystery series, I focus less on baking and more on crafty
pursuits like sewing and knitting. I used to sew quite often and even took a tailoring class. Once
my daughters outgrew Halloween costumes, my Singer was mostly used for mending. As for
working with yarns, I stepped away from it for years, but recently I bought a few skeins and
some crochet and knitting needles to pick it up again.
Q: What’s the most unusual place you’ve hidden a clue?
Oh, I can’t give all my secrets away! But I will say this—I love dropping clues in the most
unusual places, including boxes of buttons, family heirlooms, and crests that can hold more than
history. Sometimes they hide motives while being in plain sight.
Q: Your sleuths often get pulled into cases against their better judgment. Do you relate to
that?
Absolutely. I think we’ve all had those moments when we tell ourselves, “Don’t get involved,”
and then two minutes later, we’re knee-deep in it. My sleuths face the same problem—they can’t
let go of a mystery once they sense something’s wrong.
Q: What’s your favorite part of writing a paranormal cozy mystery?
I’m a discovery writer, so I never know who the guilty party is until it happens in the book.
Dropping red herrings is a blast, especially when they pop in organically! I might go back and
add extra details during the editing process to tweak it, but it’s like the clues are already
appearing to me as I write. I love leading readers down a path and then surprising them and me
with the real culprit. It’s like playing a friendly game of “gotcha,” and the story always gets me
too.
Q: What inspired you to add ghosts to your newest cozy mystery series?
When I moved into my current home, my daughter said she heard footsteps, and it freaked her
out. But the house has great vibes, so I told her it was George and he was looking out for us. That
eased her mind and it became a running joke. If something was missing we’d ask George to put
it back. Little did I know a sweet ghost would appear in one of my cozy mystery series. And what’s a ghost if you can’t communicate with them, so making Claudia sensitive to ghosts and
talk with them was the perfect solution.
Q: How do the paranormal elements influence the mystery—are they a help, a hindrance,
or both?
I love adding the paranormal elements to a story. In my first cozy series, I had a witch, and I love
making up spells that worked, well, sometimes, for her. With this new series, I wanted it to be
different, so I added Uncle Herman’s ghost. But only Claudia and now her grandmother can talk
to him. Writing a non-paranormal series is more difficult since we have only human characters
with their quirks and flaws to keep the story moving.
Q: If your sleuth, Claudia Grant, invited you to her apartment for dinner, what would she
make you?
Claudia claims that her only decent dish she can make for dinner is macaroni and cheese.
However, in Pleats & Poison, we discover she is a fantastic cook, although her only dessert is
brownies. That’s okay, I’ll bring the ice cream.
