Friday, June 26, 2015

Tipples with the Women of WISE Enquiries



Cathy Ace is back with a new book, and new "tipples" as she calls them. It's time to meet the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency...




Today, let’s raise several glasses, because we’re meeting four new private investigators – of the soft-boiled variety. In THE CASE OF THE DOTTY DOWAGER Cathy Ace introduces us to the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency, who are called in by Henry Twyst, eighteenth duke of Chellingworth, to try to explain away his mother’s claim that she discovered a dead body in the dining room at her Dower house. The corpse has disappeared, and all she has to back up her claim is a bloodied bobble hat.  

For this case, Carol Hill - a happily married, pregnant Welsh woman in her thirties, stays at her home base to provide background information for the team, which she gleans with her excellent computing skills. Going undercover to Chellingworth Hall, set in the rolling Welsh countryside, to help out the worried duke are Christine Wilson-Smythe – the beautiful and brainy daughter of an Irish viscount, Mavis MacDonald – a widowed and retired army nurse, with grown sons and an aged, ailing mother all still living in her native Scotland, and Annie Parker – born of St Lucian parents within the sound of Bow Bells, so a true English cockney, with a knack for getting people to tell her almost anything. They are a force to be reckoned with, representing as they do the four Home Nations of Britain – Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England (hence the acronym) and being able to call upon an excellent set of complementary skills.
Here, set out on the author’s grandmother’s Welsh plaid wool blanket, are what the women would like to sip, and even nibble as they do so. Carol’s pregnant, so she’s choosing a cool glass of milk (though she’d prefer a pint of dark mild ale); for Christine, it’s champagne tastes on (thanks to her stellar career in the City of London) champagne money; Mavis enjoys a not-so- wee dram of the good stuff when she has a chance to relax, which isn’t often; for Annie it’s always a G&T, and her preference is for Beefeater Dry London Gin – of course! So, Iechyd da! Sláinte! Sláinte! and Cheers! from the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency. 

THE CASE OF THE DOTTY DOWAGER will be released on July 1st, but is pre-ordering at all bookstores and online now. And asking your local librarian to order it is always an option.  



Born and raised in Swansea, South Wales, Cathy Ace is the author of the Cait Morgan Mysteries. Her new series is The WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries – featuring four female professional investigators, one of whom is Welsh, one Irish, one Scottish and one English (hence the acronym). They tackle quirky British cases from their base at a Welsh stately home – the ancient seat of the Twyst family, the Dukes of Chellingworth, which is set in the rolling countryside of the Wye Valley in Powys, Wales, near the picturesque village of Anwen-by-Wye. Cathy lives in Beautiful British Columbia, where her ever-supportive husband, and two chocolate Labradors, make sure she’s able to work full-time as an author, and enjoy her other passion – gardening.
Facebook: Cathy Ace – Author

Twitter: @AceCathy

You can see Cathy Ace's other Drinks with Reads posts here, here and here

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for inviting me along to talk about my characters' favourite tipples! By the way - that's me sitting in a REAL Welsh stately home...fit right in, don't I ;-)

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    1. Thank you for this excellent drink idea and another great book! You do fit right in. Happy launch!

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    2. My pleasure Deborah....it's great fun setting up the photography. In this instance, I hope you noticed all the bottles are still sealed. :-)

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  2. I can't even imagine how much fun this book is going to be. These ladies sound like they're going to really be entertaining. I am a Beefeater fan myself, so we already have something in common with Annie.

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    1. Ha! I love that you love Beefeater, Kerry! I can assure you it's a fun book - with a bit of modern technology thrown in to keep it all modern....though the environs of Chellingworth Hall are pretty ageless. Cheers!

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