Charm City Spouse’s Club Book Tour and Author Interview
As a tour host for Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, I get to do fun things like interview authors and host them on my blog.
Charm City Spouse’s Club book tour includes various activities, including a stop here for an author interview with Pamela Kyel. Check out the full schedule at the end of this post for other great events in the tour. Leave a comment for the author, participate in the giveaway with the Rafflecopter, and share on social media.
Book Details
Charm City Spouse’s Club (A Charm City Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Baltimore, Maryland
Publisher : Wild Rose Press (April 2, 2025)
Paperback : 254 pages
ISBN-10 : 1509260013
ISBN-13 : 978-1509260010
Digital ASIN : B0DTKQ8L8W
Special Agent Laci Duvall, AFOSI, thought it was supposed to be a lighthearted baseball game
between the Air Force and Army Special Investigative Teams. But things took a deadly turn
when the president of the local military spouse’s club was found dead in the women’s
bathroom—stabbed with a plastic pink flamingo.
Now, Laci will work with the Army Criminal Investigative Division to find who hated the
woman enough to leave her in a public restroom. Was it the spouse who ran against her for the
presidency or a fellow club officer sick of her cruelty? The list of suspects increases by the
minute, and Laci learns there is no loyalty when it comes to social climbing—military spouse’s
style.
About Pamela Kyel
Pamela Kyel was born and raised in Edgewood, Maryland—north of Charm City. It’s a running
joke when you live near a large, well-known city—you tell people that’s where you’re from. So,
unofficially, she’s from Baltimore! Since her spouse’s retirement from the military, they call
Wisconsin home, where they have two daughters and two cats, Daisy and Ernie. You can follow
along with her on her website, www.pamelakyel.com.
Author Links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PamelaKyelAuthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pamelakyel/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelakyel/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1754024-pamela
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pamelakyel
Website: HTTP://www/pamelakyel.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pamelakyel
Purchase Links – Amazon B&N Kobo Apple Books Alibris Bookshop.org
Author Interview with Pamela Kyel
So, why the military? I get asked this when people hear about my books. I have a whole other
book I wrote before this series that didn’t have anything to do with the military, and it currently
sits at the bottom of my virtual drawer, and I may never see the light of day. (TBH I’m thinking
of resurrecting it and seeing what I can do with it.)
I chose the military because I began the series while my husband was active duty and we were
stationed in Illinois. It was during COVID, and I was sitting with my youngest while they did
their first-grade virtual learning.
I remember once I finished the book, I submitted it to agents and got absolutely nowhere with it.
The number of rejections was only outnumbered by the amount of agent submissions. At the
same time, I was knee-deep in that I began the second in the series, and since the book took place
in Great Falls, MT, where we were stationed years before, it only made sense to include the local
Air Force base.
Thus began the life of Laci Duvall. Our initial introduction had us meeting her at an Air Force
Ball on Malmstrom AFB. She went from the prime suspect to a close friend of the protagonist in
the book, and when I chose not to continue the series, I couldn’t leave her.
So, she moved back to Baltimore, and the rest is history. Oh, yes, why the military? The book
gurus of the internet tell you to “write what you know.” At the time what I knew the most about
was being a mom and military life. Since I couldn’t figure out a way to write a book about being
a mom, I jumped on the military thing.
I interviewed a woman who was then in OSI, and the rest is history. Laci is a strong female lead,
based on many of the women I know who were or are currently serving in the Air Force. She’s
quirky in that she’s obsessed with all things tea. She can’t start her day without a healthy slug of
sweet tea, and it can make or break how her day goes.
Why Baltimore is the next question I usually get asked and my answer is because it’s another
thing I know. Laci originally began in Las Vegas, which I don’t care for btw—too many people
and bright lights. But I’m from Edgewood, Maryland, which is right down the road from
Baltimore. My second book, Charm City Spouse’s Club, released in April of this year, takes
place right down the hill from the house I grew up in. I visited Maryland in the summer of 2024
and went to the places in the book to make sure I got everything right.
I highly suggest you start with the first book in the series, Charm City Crab Puff. In there, we
meet all the people she surrounds herself with, and we learn how they met and all the fun stuff.
It’s a great read, in case I didn’t mention it. lol Laci gets tased twice and is mistaken for a
prostitute at one point. Fun stuff.
In Charm City Spouse’s Club, we join Laci and her friends at a local softball game between the
Air Force OSI, which stands for Office of Special Investigations. Kinda like the FBI but
particularly for the Air Force. So, the Air Force OSI and the Army Criminal Investigative
Division which is the Army’s version of OSI. The president of the local military spouse’s club is
found dead in the bathroom at the softball field, and it takes off from there.
I consider the Charm City Mystery Series a cozy because we never see the murder happen. We
do read a vague explanation, which usually makes Laci sick—yeah, she gets sick at the sight and
description of crime scenes—which means she throws up a lot.
There is also a bit of romance involved in the series. When Laci returns to Baltimore, it includes
reconnecting with her ex-boyfriend, a detective with the Baltimore Police Department. She runs
into him in the first book, and the sparks begin flying again.
I enjoy writing the series because I get to share a side of the military your average person doesn’t
see. While there is the entertainment value, the majority of the military side is an accurate
depiction. We even learn military lingo and acronyms. I based book two on my experience with
spouse’s clubs and an HOA we experienced in Colorado—surprisingly, they’re not altogether
that different in my experience.
The books are multi-genre. I cover mystery, romance, and humor in them because that’s what I
like to read and watch. I’m currently re-watching Friends because it’s fabulous. I’m also going
through Frasier again because they give Niles some of the best lines in the series. For reading,
I’m trying my hand at Edgar Allan Poe’s The Murders in the Rue Morgue. I say, trying my hand
because I keep getting lost in the terminology, but how can I not read it when it launched
Sherlock Holmes?
I am currently working on the third in the series with plans to have it to my publisher, The Wild
Rose Press by the end of the summer. Which means it could be out by next year.
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
June 2 – Infinite House of Books – SPOTLIGHT
June 3 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
June 4 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
June 4 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – CHARACTER GUEST POST
June 5 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
June 6 – Frugal Freelancer – AUTHOR GUEST POST
June 6 – Eskimo Princess Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 7 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – REVIEW
June 8 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
June 9 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 10 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
June 10 – Novels Alive – REVIEW
June 11 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – CHARACTER GUEST POST
June 11 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 12 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
June 13 – Deal Sharing Aunt – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
June 14 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
June 14 – Sarah Can’t Stop Reading Books – REVIEW
June 15 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT