Susanna Calkins, Author
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and the winning cocktail name is...

3/23/2019

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(Wow, that was unintentional cliffhanger! I thought I had published the actual content, but nope, I did not). So drumroll please....

...And the winning cocktail name is...

.....the HOTSY TOTSY!
Congrats to Kristopher Zygorski...the ARC of MURDER KNOCKS TWICE is on its way!

Thanks very much to all who submitted cocktail names for my contest. I had an unofficial panel of judges, but asked my next door neighbor and former bartender Lisa McCaw to make the final selection.  We all agreed it seemed fun, and captures the spirit of my book really well!

Next up...figuring out the ingredients!!!
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Help me come up with the name for a signature cocktail, and you could win an Advance Reader Copy of MURDER KNOCKS TWICE!

2/24/2019

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Picture
I'd love to have a signature cocktail--or at least a unique name slapped on an existing concoction--for upcoming book events.

But I need your help!

If you leave me an interesting and original name for my cocktail in the comments below,  you could win my last ARC of MURDER KNOCKS TWICE. (And if you make it sound 1920s enough, the name could make it into my next book!)



Here's the official blurb, if you need inspiration:


The first mystery in Susanna Calkins’ captivating new series takes readers into the dark, dangerous, and glittering underworld of a 1920s Chicago speakeasy.
Gina Ricci takes on a job as a cigarette girl to earn money for her ailing father―and to prove to herself that she can hold her own at Chicago’s most notorious speakeasy, the Third Door. She’s enchanted by the harsh, glamorous world she discovers: the sleek socialites sipping bootlegged cocktails, the rowdy ex-servicemen playing poker in a curtained back room, the flirtatious jazz pianist and the brooding photographer―all overseen by the club’s imposing owner, Signora Castallazzo. But the staff buzzes with whispers about Gina’s predecessor, who died under mysterious circumstances, and the photographer, Marty, warns her to be careful.

When Marty is brutally murdered, with Gina as the only witness, she’s determined to track down his killer. What secrets did Marty capture on his camera―and who would do anything to destroy it? As Gina searches for answers, she’s pulled deeper into the shadowy truths hiding behind the Third Door.

Thanks for your help! You're the Bee's Knees!!!! (but don't name your drink that--that name is taken! As is Corpse Reviver, Southside, Sidecar, Ward 8 (whatever that is)...
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From 1667 London to 1929 Chicago...

9/20/2018

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PictureIt's the Bees' Knees!
Well the cocktail break is finally over and I have returned to my blog!!!

I’m no longer entrenched in the gritty plague-ridden world of 17th century London—I’ve now ventured into 1920s Chicago—a world that is both sparkling and shadowy.

The first in my new series is called MURDER KNOCKS TWICE (Minotaur/St.Martin's), and it is set in a 1929 speakeasy on Chicago’s West Side.

MURDER KNOCKS TWICE IS EXPECTED TO LAUNCH
April 30, 2019.

Picture
Researching this new series has been a lot of fun, and so-o-o different than how I've done research in the past.
  • I read every issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune for a year to better feel the period. The Drys! The Rumrunners! The Gin Joints!  
  • I shook my head at advice columns and the ‘around town’ interviews...
  • I poured over the Sears & Robucks catalogue and studied advertisements..
  • I  listened to twenties era music...
  • I watched tons of 1920s movies...
  • I walked around the area where my story is set, imagining the sights, smells, sounds...
  • And perhaps the most fun...so far I've tried about 25 different cocktails from the period. (My goal was to try 100 Prohibition-Era cocktails before my book launches!)
So stick around...and let's get swizzled!


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    Susanna Calkins

    Historian. Mystery writer. Researcher. Teacher.  Occasional blogger.

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  • Home
  • Lucy Campion Mysteries
    • A Murder at Rosamund's Gate
    • From the Charred Remains
    • The Masque of a Murderer
    • A Death Along the River Fleet
    • The Sign of the Gallows
    • The Cry of the Hangman
    • Death Among the Ruins
  • The Speakeasy Murders
    • Murder Knocks Twice
    • The Fate of a Flapper
  • Short Stories
  • Blog
  • News & Events
    • Event Photos
    • Archived Guest Posts & Interviews
  • The Roaring Twenties
  • 17th c. England
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