Please welcome author Tina Debellegarde, with an unusual twist on the first in her Batavia-on-Hudson series, Winter Witness:

Why I Killed My Husband

Winter Witness is the first in my Batavia-on-Hudson Mystery Series.

In many ways this book is autobiographical: it tells the story of a woman making her way in her new home in a Catskill Mountain village and trying to fit in. A former teacher and historian, she moves to the quiet Hudson Valley community with her husband so she can finally write her first novel.

They create a hobby farm and make a quiet cozy life for themselves. She has a close relationship with her only son who lives in Japan (the future setting for Book 3 of the series.)

This is where the similarities end. Among other things, my life does not include meddling in the local sheriff’s homicides. But the most significant divergence from my life is that I chose to kill off my wonderful husband for the sake of the story. (This couldn’t be what they mean when they say kill off your darlings, could it?)

When I conjured this lovely scenario to set up Bianca St. Denis as my amateur sleuth, I realized that the tension would be ramped up, and she would be a much more interesting character if Bianca needed to manage farm life on her own in this new town.

A small farm, even a hobby farm, is hard work for two, and even harder alone. Bianca, as a young widow, has to look outward to her new community for help and companionship. She needs to find a niche for herself.

Being recently widowed makes her more vulnerable in countless ways and gives her much more room for growth and change across the length of what I envision as a long series.

It also frees her up for possible love interests, and who doesn’t like a few love interests in their reading?

Look for Winter Witness coming September 29, 2020.

Tina deBellegarde lives in Catskill, New York with her husband Denis and their cat Shelby. Winter Witness is the first book in the Batavia-on-Hudson Mystery Series. Tina also writes short stories and flash fiction. When she isn’t writing, she is helping Denis tend their beehives, harvest shiitake mushrooms, and cultivate their vegetable garden. She travels to Japan regularly to visit her son Alessandro. Tina did her graduate studies in history. She is a former exporter, paralegal, teacher, and library clerk.

Visit her website at http://www.tinadebellegarde.com