Please welcome author JR Ripley, to tell readers about his new release, CARDINAL SIN, just published May 14th~

Hi, I’m JR Ripley, author of the A Bird Lover’s Mystery series. Book #9, CARDINAL SIN, is out!

CARDINAL SIN has got a rare yellow cardinal, a voodoo doll deity who refuses to go away, and a dead body or two. None of which belong to birds, by the way. We kill people here, not birds. Although, as I always like to say: “Plenty of people get killed but nobody really gets hurt!”

You DO NOT have to know a thing about birds or even be a bird lover to enjoy these books. That’s Amy Simm’s job. Amy is the owner of Birds & Bees, a store for bird watching enthusiasts in the small, fictional town of Ruby Lake, in western North Carolina.

And now a blurb from our sponsor, er, publisher, whose publicist/marketing whiz has this to say:

Birds & Bees owner Amy Simms will need help from her fine-feathered friends when an uncommon bird sighting plunges her into a hornet’s nest of black magic and murder most foul…

Amy’s enjoying a rare moment of relaxation when a customer shows up seeking her expertise in ID-ing an unusual bird she’s seen flying around her wooded cabin at the edge of town. Ruby Lake, North Carolina, newcomer Yvonne Rice resembles an exotic bird herself——apparently the kind that doesn’t fly. When she’s found shot to death in her locked cabin, the only witness is a statue of a voodoo deity staring down from the mantel.

Does the rare yellow cardinal Yvonne spotted hold any clues to her demise? What about the Ouija board spelling out the words “I am murdered?” As Amy delves deeper into Yvonne’s life and meets her strangely secretive neighbors, she’s determined to stop a fowl-hearted murderer from migrating to a new killing ground . . .

DIE, DIE BIRDIE, book #1 of A Bird Lover’s Mystery series was issued in mass-market in August 2018. Book #2 in the series, TOWHEE GET YOUR GUN, released March 26th of this year and book #3 releases on August 27th.

Confused? Don’t feel bad. I get that way sometimes too!

That is because my publisher, Kensington (whom I love at least as much as I love chocolate cake), releases the epub editions ahead of the print editions. This does lead to some occasional confusion by readers and a great deal of confusion on the part of yours truly because I sometimes forget, in making public appearances, just what it is I am supposed to be promoting.

I blame my parents. It is their fault I went to a traditional university rather than Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College where I might have learned something useful, like juggling. Instead, I write books. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them. If not, one of us is going to be in trouble – and we know who that is…

Bio: JR Ripley is a novelist and musician, currently writing the Bird Lover’s Mystery series, the Maggie Miller mysteries, and the TV Pet Chef mysteries (writing as Marie Celine). Unfit for the real world, prior to writing full-time, JR slaved away at a multitude of jobs including: archaeologist, cook, factory worker, copy & technical writer, editor, musician, entrepreneur, window washer and more – all grist for the writer’s mill. You can connect with JR at Facebook.com/JRRipley & Twitter @JRRipleyAuthor.