#SaturdaySpotlight is on @KalbMarple Kathleen Marple Kalb!

Good Morning Friends,

Well it's turned cold again but that's not unexpected (although not welcomed by me LOL!). I've always said no matter how warm it may get, there's a cool/cold snap around Easter. Let's see how long this one will last.

Our guest today has visited as herself and her alias, Nikki Knight. On Kathleen's last visit she shared with us book 2 of her Ella Shane Mystery series. Today we'll get a look at books 1 & 3.

Welcome, Kathleen!

First up is A Fatal Finale, book 1....

On the cusp of the twentieth century, Manhattan is a lively metropolis buzzing with talent. But after a young soprano meets an untimely end on stage, can one go-getting leading lady hit the right notes in a case of murder?

 

New York City, 1899. When it comes to show business, Gilded Age opera singer Ella Shane wears the pants. The unconventional diva breaks the mold by assuming “trouser roles”—male characters played by women—and captivating audiences far and wide with her travelling theatre company. But Ella’s flair for the dramatic takes a terrifying turn when an overacting Juliet to her Romeo drinks real poison during the final act of Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi.

 

Weeks after the woman’s death is ruled a tragic accident, a mysterious English duke arrives in Greenwich Village on a mission. He’s certain someone is getting away with murder, and the refined aristocrat won’t travel back across the Atlantic until Ella helps him expose the truth.

 

As Ella finds herself caught between her craft and a growing infatuation with her dashing new acquaintance, she’s determined to decode the dark secrets surrounding her co-star’s fatale finale—before the lights go dark and the culprit appears for an encore . . .

Book 2 A Fatal First Night can be seen HERE. Now for a peek at Book 3, A Fatal Overature

During the first winter of the twentieth century, Gilded Age trouser diva Ella Shane refuses to dim the lights on her dazzling show business career for marriage—even to a dashing British duke. But the versatile mezzo-soprano may have to put it all on the line once murder takes centerstage . . .

 

New York City, 1900. Renowned opera singer and theatre company owner Ella may have both much to gain and much to lose by getting engaged to her courtly long-distance love, Gil Saint Auburn. But there’s little time for romance or resolutions with Gil’s aristocratic mother and aunts visiting Greenwich Village—especially when the ladies discover a dead man in the bathtub of their hotel suite.

 

The victim’s disturbing background and subsequent demise at the elegant Waverly Place Hotel leave the group puzzled beyond the obvious certainty of an unnatural death. Adding to the confusion and mounting fear, danger explodes through Ella’s close-knit circle after a friend makes a stunning confession and Gil becomes a fresh target for violence.

 

Now, with a London tour run fast approaching, prenuptial worries weighing heavily on her heart, and an intricate Joan of Arc aria to rehearse, can Ella decide what she’s willing to sacrifice before confronting a relentless criminal bent on watching her entire life go up in smoke?

Kathleen Marple Kalb grew up in front of a microphone, and a keyboard. She’s now a weekend morning anchor at 1010 WINS New York, capping a career begun as a teenage DJ in Brookville, Pennsylvania. She worked her way up through newsrooms in Pittsburgh, Vermont and Connecticut, developing her skills and a deep and abiding distaste for snowstorms. While she wrote her first (thankfully unpublished) historical novel at age sixteen, fiction was firmly in the past until her son started kindergarten and she tried again. She, her husband the Professor, and their son the Imp, live in a Connecticut house owned by their cat.

Find and Connect with her at the following Locations:

Website: https://kathleenmarplekalb.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kathleen-Marple-Kalb-1082949845220373/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KalbMarple

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kathleenmarplekalb/

Check out Kathleen's alter Ego, Nikki Knight HERE.

Get your copy of Kathleen's Ella Shane Mystery books at Amazon and other online & brick and mortar books are sold.

Thanks for stopping by to support Kathleen/Nikki, Friends! Hope to see you next week for Wednesday Words with Friends and another Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time take care and God bless.

PamT

#SaturdaySpotlight is on Kathleen Marple Kalb AKA Nikki Knight @NikkiKnightVT

Good Morning,

It's Bayou Writers Group meeting day so I won't take up much of your time! I'll just welcome today's guest, Kathleen Marple Kalb AKA Nikki Knight back with her latest book, Live, Local and Dead. Take it away Nikki....

LIVE, LOCAL, AND DEAD follows New York City DJ Jaye Jordan’s new start at a tiny Vermont radio station, after her husband survives cancer but their marriage doesn’t. She thinks she’s got enough trouble with protests because she replaced angry talk with love songs…and then the talk show host turns up dead in a snowman in front of the station. Plus, her second-chance romance with her old crush – the governor – turns out to be much more dangerous than either of them expected. Add in a colorful cast of locals, the cranky station cat Neptune, and Charlemagne the Moose, who has flatulence issues…and it’s more fun than anyone should be allowed to have in maple sugaring season.

Excerpt: In the wake of the talk-show host’s death, his producer – who’s trying to take over the show – makes Jaye his new favorite target. Somebody sends her a pipe bomb. Her new flame, Governor Will Ten Broeck comes to the station to comfort Jaye – and she puts on a long song so she has a little time for a hug.

Will took my hand. “You don’t have to be okay for me.”

It was the best thing he could have said. “Thanks. Let me get into MeatLoaf and I’ll take advantage of that.”

As I loaded the CD, and looked at my log to make sure I could run the long song, Neptune, who had somehow slept through all of the family drama, lifted his head and took in the scene. He hopped down from the turntable cabinet, and very deliberately walked over to Will, patting his leg. The two held eye contact for a moment, and then Neptune jumped up into Will’s lap.

“There you go, fella,” Will said, stroking Neptune’s fur as the cat nested comfortably into place. “You’re just fine.”

“What…”

Will grinned at me. “He – he? – knows he’s safe with me. My daughter has always had cats.”

“Neptune doesn’t like anybody but Ryan.”

“And me.” Neptune shot me what sure looked like a smile as he burrowed into Will. I knew, if he didn’t, that kitty was making sure to leave enough hair that the nice suit would need a good cleaning. “Neptune?”

“Ryan’s favorite planet.”

“Makes sense to me.”

I talked up the eight-minute drama with a surprisingly steady voice, and then took the other guest chair, moving it next to Will.

He laughed as he put one arm around me. “The cat’s needs always come first.”

“Yep.”

“Now, c’mere. You know you’re safe too.”

For a while, the only sound other than the low hum of overwrought 70s teen angst was Neptune’s deep, happy purr. Will didn’t say anything, and he didn’t have to. 

Nice to be the comfort-ee instead of the comforter. I felt like purring too.

Nikki Knight is the pen name of award-winning New York City radio news anchor Kathleen Marple Kalb. She’s been on the air since she was a teenage DJ in her small Western Pennsylvania hometown, working in newsrooms in Pittsburgh, Vermont, and Connecticut – and never losing her love of radio, or her hatred for snow. She also writes the Ella Shane historical mystery series for Kensington, and her short stories appear in several anthologies. Her Vermont story “Bad Apples” was an Honorable Mention in the 2021 Black Orchid Novella Contest. She, her husband, and their son live in a Connecticut house owned by their cat. 

Find out more and connect with Nikki at her Website, FaceBook, Twitter @NikkiKnightVT and Instagram! 

Check out her previous visit HERE.

Get your copy of Live, Local and Dead directly from the publisher, Penguin/Random House and everywhere books are sold!

Wow, Nikki it sure is nice to have you join us again and get a peek into your latest book. We certainly wish you the best of luck and God's blessings in your writing career.

Hope you enjoyed today's spotlight friends, and that you'll drop by each week for Wednesday Words with Friends and Saturday Spotlight. 

Until next time, take care and God bless.

PamT

#SaturdaySpotlight is on Kathleen Marple Kalb & A Fatal First Night!

Good Morning!

Before we welcome today's guest I'd like to take a moment and THANK YOU!, ALL for your continued support. I'm forever amazed and humbled that you take a few moments out of your day to support my guests and wish you the best of luck and God's blessings in everything you do!

Kathleen is new to our blog and I'm so excited to meet her and introduce you to her! Take it away Kathleen....

Kathleen Marple Kalb grew up in front of a microphone, and a keyboard. She’s now a weekend morning anchor at 1010 WINS New York, capping a career begun as a teenage DJ in Brookville, Pennsylvania. She worked her way up through newsrooms in Pittsburgh, Vermont and Connecticut, developing her skills and a deep and abiding distaste for snowstorms. While she wrote her first (thankfully unpublished) historical novel at age sixteen, fiction was firmly in the past until her son started kindergarten and she tried again. She, her husband the Professor, and their son the Imp, live in a Connecticut house owned by their cat.

Find and Connect with her at the following Locations:

Website: https://kathleenmarplekalb.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kathleen-Marple-Kalb-1082949845220373/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KalbMarple

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kathleenmarplekalb/

Wonderful to meet you Kathleen! Please tell us about your book... A Fatal First Night....

A FATAL FIRST NIGHT opens with a murder in Richard III’s dressing room after the premiere of the Ella Shane Opera Company’s new production, The Princes in the Tower, featuring the trouser diva and her favorite singing partner as the evil king’s young victims.  Though their colleague seems guilty, Ella and friends aren’t too sure about that. Meanwhile, newspaper reporter Hetty MacNaughten has finally escaped hats to cover a sensational murder trial. Before it’s over, the cast will have to sort out several interlocking mysteries, welcome an unexpected visitor…and find another Richard III. Will everyone survive to the final curtain? 

Excerpt

Ella already has enough on her hands with the new show, the backstage killing, and the murder trial her friend is covering -- when her British beau, Gilbert Saint Aubyn, Duke of Leith, appears unexpectedly at her home. They reunite with a fencing match, and over the swords, the topic very quickly turns to an unexpected embrace in their last misadventure:

“I am still, however, considering the appropriate response to that assault upon my honor, Miss Shane.”

“Really.” I almost missed the parry again at his direct reference to my pulling him into a kiss after I swung to safety. I still don’t know what came over me, other than playing the swashbuckling hero in the moment. Which, I guess, would make him the fair maiden. “Well, it was a truly terrible offense, Your Grace.” 

“Indeed. So awful an insult I haven’t been able to forget it.”

His voice was light and teasing, but his eyes burned into mine. The kiss, my first and only, had been entirely inappropriate and wrong, of course. But amazing.

“Ah.” I smiled a little and backed him off. “Well, I suppose I shall have to pay the price for my rash actions.”

“You could be facing a life sentence.”

“I’m not sure I want clemency.” Parry.

“What do you want, Shane?” Attack.

“What do you?”

I could have launched one more attack and cornered him, and he knew it. But the duel was now beside the point.

“Draw?” I offered.

“Someday, I will prevail.”

“Perhaps.”

We bowed and stood there for a long moment, eyes locked. My braid had come loose during the match, and he reached over and gently touched the falling curls, carefully pushing back a stray bit. His thumb rested on my cheekbone, the warmth of his skin soaking into mine, the electricity between us practically a wall of crackling blue fire…

Get A Fatal First Night through Kensington Books.

Sounds like an exciting tale, Kathleen! We certainly appreciate you sharing in the spotlight today and wish you good luck and God's blessings with your writing.

Hope you enjoyed the post, friends and that you'll check back weekly for another edition of Wednesday Words with Friends and Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time, take care and God bless.

PamT