Who would leave a newborn baby in thebathtub of a condo in Sunset Acres, a retirement community, and why? And was a young woman slain behind the convenience store across the highway it’s mother? Janie and the Bunco Biddies want to find out, but soon they discover sleuthing can get a bit dicey.
Award-winning author Julie Cosgrove has written another riveting story in her delightful Bunco Biddies series! The second one, due out today is called “Baby Bunco.”
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Now let’s find out some more about Julie and her series!
Julie, what’s your writing schedule?
I carve out time to write since I have a “day job”, which really is more like an afternoon and evening job. Since I often speak professionally on weekends, I fence off my own private pajama party time, which means I will spend the whole day, and possible most of the night, at my computer in my p.j.s. My family and friends know not to call unless someone is in the E.R. Even my cats have learned to leave me alone on those days, until dinner time that is.
How did you come up with the title?
The Bunco Biddies are a group of spinsters in a retirement community who play on Thursday evenings and solve crimes on the sly. So all the titles related to the game. Book One was Dumpster Dicing, a play on words because it involves a murder in the community dumpster. Book two is Baby Bunco, which describes rolling three of one number that isn;t the number you are trying to roll. Don’t worry, I explain that better in the books. Book Three is Threes and Sixes. Whoever rolls three sixes wins the game, but for a faith-based book to be called Three Sixes, well… I am writing the fourth, Til Dice Do Us Part and hope to star on the fifth, A Dicey Deal.
What makes your hero and heroine likable?
Janie is the main heroine. A widow of a renown police detective, she is sharp, a bit hard headed, and a natural born leader. Her side kicks are Ethel, who is a mystery buff and has sub-categorized her cozies by crime, and Betsy Ann, who is a bit ditzy but would do anything for anybody. They have known each other for decades, so they don’t pull punches and their banter is humorous.
Last, but of course not least, is Janie’s son-in-law, Chief Detective Blake Johnson who slowly begins to see her as someone else than a slightly meddling mother-in-law and eventually values her wittiness.
What makes this book special to you?
The series is special to me for the following reason: As I approach old age, I want people to appreciate the senior set a bit more. Just because someone is in their last decades, doesn’t mean they are feeble. These ladies are vital members of their community, and even though they prefer to live in a fifty-five plus place, it doesn’t mean they are out to pasture just “waiting on God”. Our culture is so youth orientated that wrinkles have become a sin and liver spots similar to leprosy. We don’t honor the acquired wisdom of the older generation and often consider them as useless because they are not up to date on the latest technology. That is nothing less than sad.
What makes this particular book, Baby Bunco, meaningful is the subplot that deals with a growing problem in our country and around the world- organ harvesting. There is also the underlying theme that all babies, no matter how they came to be, are precious and deserve to be loved.
What does your family think of my writing?
At first they thought it was a nice hobby. But when I landed a traditional contract, and then another, and then five more, they began to take notice. After winning several awards for my writing over the past two years, suddenly they are my biggest fans and prayer supporters. Last spring when almost all of them showed up at an award dinner and gave me a standing ovation, I became quite teary.
And now to give you a taste of Julie’s captivating story written in her wonderful style, here is an excerpt from Chapter One of Baby Bunco:
Chapter 1
“Did you say she found a baby?” Janie stopped mid-roll, the pink and white dice warming in her clutched fist. “Here in Sunset Acres, a retirement community?”
Babs, seated to her left at the Bunco table, nodded. “That’s what Mildred told me as we were walking up to your front stoop tonight. Right, Mildred?”
“I went to collect a few more of my things since I’m staying with Ethel, and no more than three minutes later the leasing agent pounded on my door. ‘Come see,’ she motioned to me. Her eyes grew as wide as those mega donuts at the Crusty Baker.” She thumped her pencil against her score pad and groaned. “It took every ounce of gumption to follow her into that—ugh!—place next door.” She quivered her shoulders.
Janie shifted her gaze to the woman sitting across from her. “Ethel, you knew about this?”
“I did.”
“And you didn’t tell me?” Her voice elevated to echo-off –the-ceiling volume. She humphed and pivoted to face the storyteller. “Mildred. What happened?”
The other eight ladies halted their Bunco round. Each swiveled to listen in, their eyes fixated on the first card table.
Mildred leaned. “I paused at the steps, determined to not go inside. Only peek in from the front door. Then high-pitched, frantic cries came from the direction of the bathroom. Well, I had to rush to its aid. Every motherly fiber in my being dictated it.”
Murmurs and head bobs filtered through Janie’s living rom.
Mildred sniffled. “Poor little thing. Alone, scared and red as a beet from wailing so hard. That house is cursed, I tell you.”
Janie patted her hand. “Now, dear. Just because someone murdered Edwin soon after he moved in there doesn’t mean…”
Mildred shot from her seat and paced, her arms flaying in circles, resembling the duck windmill on top of the antiques barn down the road. “Ever since I relocated into Sunset Acres it’s been one thing after another. Edwin murdered, then my nephew Bobby arrested, and now an abandoned newborn in a bathtub? This is supposed to be a quiet retirement community.”
“Maybe because you live on Solar Boulevard.” Annie huffed. “Nothing weird ever happens on my street, Sunrise Court, except for an occasional stray golf ball. Then again, if you kept your nose out of everyone’s business…” Her voice trailed off with a smug cock of her head.
“My nose?”
The other ladies mumbled to each other.
Ethel blew a whistle through her teeth. “Okay, everyone calm down. We all lived through the ruckus of one of our neighbor’s brutal murder last month. It’s not Mildred’s fault. Nor mine or Janie’s that this happened…”
Betsy Ann raised her hand, as if her legs once again dangled from under her desk in Ms. Everett’s kindergarten classroom.
Janie rolled her eyes. “What?”
“Well, it is sort of our fault.” She pointed to Janie, Ethel and herself. “We helped solve the case and Bobby did wind up in the middle of all of the commotion. That’s why he threatened you and tried to break into your house.” She folded her hands and gazed down at them. “I’m just saying…”
“Duly noted.” Janie felt the healing, pinkish wound on her neck where his knife grazed her skin. “I must add, my dear son-in-law, Chief Detective Blake Johnson, appreciated all of our…” her hands encircled the room…”research, sleuthing and cunningness. He told me so.”A smile curled along the edges of her mouth. “Besides, it did beat back the doldrums a while, right?’
A few silvery head bounced in agreement as the condo sprinkled with giggles. Annie crossed her arms and harumphed.
Janie eased over to Mildred and led her back to her designated chair. She patted her on the shoulders and scanned the room, making certain every slightly glaucoma-pressed or cataract-corrected eye fixated on her. “Now we must figure out who placed a newborn baby in a vacant garden home bathtub and why?”
Babs cocked an eyebrow. “We do?”
“Absolutely. Let’s face facts. Someone put the little thing in a home in our community so she would be discovered. Therefore it is our responsibility…”
“Well, now. I’m not sure…” Mildred frowned.
“We are all over fifty-five, correct? The child certainly doesn’t belong to one of us. If so, we should be renamed Sarah after Abraham’s elderly wife in Genesis.”
“Or Elizabeth in the New Testament.” Betsy Ann added, this time with a forefinger, not a full hand, aloft.
“Exactly. Therefore, unless one of you wants to confess…”
Cackles ensued.
Janie allowed the cacophony to settle, her eyes glimmering with escalating excitement. “I, for one, do not think this is a coincidence that this wee one ended up in Edwin’s old garden home. There may be a connection we overlooked. Blake never discovered who left long, black hairs in that comb or ruby red lipstick on those empty beer cans when the police searched his place for clues.”
Ethel scoffed. “Pffft. We all can guess what she was, even if we don’t know who.”
The women eyed each other and chuckled.
Annie shook her head. “But the officials only released him from prison a couple of days before he died, right? Last I heard it takes nine months to make a baby.”
Mildred arched her eyebrow. “I thought it only took one night.”
Several of the elderly ladies laughed so loud Janie’s china tea service jiggled.
Janie pumped her hand toward the floor. “All right. All right. Even so, someone knew that home remained unoccupied.”
Babs flipped up her palms. “His demise dominated the local news for several weeks. Which means thousands of readers learned it.”
Roseanne Rodriguez spoke up. “More than that. Hundreds of thousands. It was all over the news, too.”
Mildred flayed her arms. “That narrows it down a bunch.”
More laughter.
Janie tapped her fist to the card table. The hum of comments faded. “True, Roseanne. However, I don’t recall them specifically giving out the address, even if everyone heard Betsy Ann and I discovered him in the community dumpster here at Sunset Acres.”
“So, whoever dropped the baby girl off cased the joint and determined no one lived there anymore.” Ethel, the one with the massive catalogues mystery paperback collection, offered the proverbial gumshoe response.
“Which means they planned to leave her at that garden home.” Janie snapped her fingers. “Yes, that has to be it. So a person or persons unknown, who wouldn’t attract attention as they wandered around our senior retirement village, knew about this pregnancy and somehow persuaded the mother to give up the poor thing.”
Babs clucked her teeth. “Well, it does happen.”
“Yes, but what gets me is they figured someone would find the infant fairly quickly.”
“A ‘For Lease or Sale’ sign is planted plain as day on the front lawn.” Annie shoved the last bite of butterscotch brownie into her mouth.
Janie gave her a nod. “Good point. Still, there must be homes all over this area for sale or rent. Why our little corner of the world? A fifty-five plus community. Why not a neighborhood with young families? That’s what we must discover. Something tells me the answer might be the key to the whole dilemma.”
Ethel leaned into Betsy Ann. “Get a load of Janie. Proud as a peacock and giddy as a school girl. She’s in her element. A new game’s afoot.”
Betsy Ann lowered her auburn, curly head into her hands. “Here we go again. Bunco Biddies to the rescue whether anyone wants us involved or not.”
Now, here are a couple reviews for Bunco Biddies:
Cosgrove wove the story with such humor, I found myself laughing out loud at the antics these sleuths got themselves into as they went to great lengths to help in the investigation! Not only dishing out information with each other, but dishing up amazingly delicious comfort food…totally in character with the elderly. Christian Book Reviews
Cosgrove does an excellent job of leaving a breadcrumb trail of clues that leads you in circles right along with the characters. I laughed at and fell in love with the charming trio of women would-be-sleuths in their stubborn and relentless resolve to figure out who killed their neighbor. Sometimes authors shove a Christian message in between crime scenes and car chases. However, Cosgrove seamlessly threads her message throughout the book…the characters exemplify what it means to live a life of Christian love. Beautifully done! Amazon reviewer
Purchase links for Julie’s books:
Thanks for visiting my blog, Julie!
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