Cozy Mystery Fete 2025
- Debbie Beamer
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 3 hours ago
Back Row (Left to Right): J.T. Kunkel, Erin Hayden, Misty Simon, Sarah E. Burr, Misty Lynn
Middle Row (Left to Right): Tina Kashian, Daphne Silver, Lynn Cahoon, Darcie Wilde, Susan Breen
Front Row (Left to Right): Bill Peschel, Sheryl C.D. Ickes, Sarah Ickes
The day started out with our volunteers and staff coming in to set up the tables for the "bookshop" part of our off-site event. Since the layout and decorations had been done the previous night, it was a race against the clock to get the books alphabetized, straightened, and ready to go for our readers; who were lining up in the lobby of the building. As we finalized the last few touches, the authors finished their own displays at their tables, and our registration volunteers had everything in order, our readers poured into the room with an appetite for books!
Our volunteers did a great job with preparing the tables the night before.
The staff had gifts wrapped with small clues written on their outside, called "Scary Good Gifts."
Darcie Wilde and Daphne Silver chatting while waiting for the doors to open.
J.T. Kunkel setting up his Author Table with a display of his books.
Sarah E. Burr and Lynn Cahoon are in the foreground, chatting with readers at their Author Tables.
Then the program opened up with an introduction by one of our staff members, who informed all attendees on how the day would run, where the bathrooms were located (always an important thing to know 😉) and when it would be time to unwrap the "Scary Good Gifts." Once our Master of Ceremonies, Bill Peschel, took control of the microphone, the authors were sent out in the tables for the first half of our Author-Roundabout. If you have never been to one of our events before, the Author-Roundabout is essentially speed-dating with authors and the bell will sound off every five minutes for them to change to the next numbered-table.
Tina Kashian chatting with a group of readers at Table Seven.
Misty Simon talking about her books with one of our tables.
Erin Hayden is discussing her cozy mystery series, "Vista del Vino Culinary Mysteries."
Darcie Wilde had three different pen-names to share with our readers.
Sarah Ickes introducing readers to the new characters in her latest book release.
At the half-way mark, our schedule called for a break. Not just so the authors have a chance to rest their voices, but for our readers to buy books, have them signed, and for any rest stops during the time as well. We took a couple minutes to shout out the answers to our "Trivia For Fun" sheets, before diving back into the Author-Roundabout for the second part.
There was also snacks and some small bottles of water for all who were looking for something to munch on.
Misty Lynn has currently two books in her series, set in Gettysburg, PA.
J.T. Kunkel chatted with our mystery fans about both of his series.
Sarah E. Burr was handing out pamphlets about her books, which range in different interests.
"The Maggie Dove Mysteries," three books in total, were the subject of Susan Breen's talks.
Sheryl C.D. Ickes was chatting up her newest cozy mystery, Tough Fluff.
Daphne Silver had a binder with nice visuals for her talks on the books in her series.
Lynn Cahoon is a writing force all her own, and had many titles to talk about with our readers.
This year, our bookshop was organized a little differently than in past times. However, we felt that everything went better than before, as our stacks of books were quickly dwindling. Our book tables were well-organized by a pair of our volunteers, who helped our staff member to get the books prepped. We are pleased to say that there were many vacant holes on our tables by the time it came for clean up. 😀
Our bookshop was alphabetized by the authors' last name, and we had order-of-books lists on signs with prices for each title.
A number of our books were sold out by the afternoon's end, as some readers were already getting Christmas presents.
Sheryl C.D. Ickes and Sarah Ickes did double-duty as both register operators and attending authors.
After each of the authors completed a full lap around the tables, there was another break for buying books just before it was time to do the mass unwrapping of gifts that everyone picked up when they walked in. During this time, the final announcements were made and our readers left with smiles on their faces.
We would also like to add that we were happy to have Mourning Moon Candles and Peschel Press there with their own products. Mourning Moon Candles has killer scents that are perfect for mystery fans, and Peschel Press does their line of books centered around classic mysteries.
A big thanks to all authors, volunteers, staff and readers alike. Without even just one of these components, we would not be able to do what we do. Until next time...enjoy your current read!
Photos are courtesy of Barb Fellencer.
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