Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: Blood Mug (Red Farlow Mysteries #4) by W.F. Ranew

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Blood Mug by W.F. Ranew. This book tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt from the book as well as a guest post from the author. There's also the tour wide giveaway to win a $15 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for more content. Enjoy!

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Title: Blood Mug

Series: Red Farlow Mysteries #4

Author: W.F. Ranew

Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing

Publication Date: February 24th 2021

Print Length: 253 pages

Genre: Mystery

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PI Red Farlow has a meeting with Wickham Art Center board chair in Atlanta, but when he arrives, he finds the chairman slumped over his potter's wheel with a medieval battle dagger protruding from his back.

During the investigation, other victims are discovered in the pottery studio, each meeting the same gruesome end as the chairman. Is the dagger a dramatic flourish of a twisted mind, or a more profound message?

Clues soon reveal a real estate scheme—wealthy Venezuelan investors plan to plow Wickham under and build condos on the site.

Red gets his hands muddy as he throws himself into finding the answers.

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Barnes & Noble * Kobo * Smashwords

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EXCERPT:

I left the coffee shop and walked up the street to my truck. My phone was dying and needed a recharge on the portable battery. I heard a male voice from behind. It was someone who knew me.

“Hey, Red. You sorry old fox. What the hell are you doing in Athens?” the man said.

I turned and saw the familiar face of Ruddy Mercer, whom I’d known in South Georgia. Looked as if he was about to enter Jazzy Java but instead stepped my way…

Ruddy was my neighbor, fishing pal, hunting buddy, fellow Georgia Bulldog fan, and a single man, as I was at the time. Unfortunately for Ruddy, his wife of twenty- six years passed away from cancer three years after I moved into a bungalow two doors down. Rebecca was a sweet lady and kept Ruddy in regular attendance at the First Baptist Church.

He quit attending Sunday services after Rebecca died…

We chatted on the sidewalk for ten minutes. Nothing much new with Ruddy, at least from what he told me.

He never looked in a hurry, but I wanted to get back to wait for Karen.

I asked if he was getting coffee while handing him a card. “I’m in Atlanta on a case right now.”

“I’ll be there on some business in a few weeks. I’ll give you a jingle,” Ruddy said.

We walked into the shop where he ordered a coffee from Karen, paid, and left once she served him in a paper cup. I waved goodbye as Ruddy walked out the door.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

W.F. Ranew is the author of the Red Farlow Mysteries series of eBooks from Tirgearr Publishing. He’s launching Blood Mug (#4) on Feb. 24, 2021. Other Red Farlow stories are Rich and Gone (#1), Blue Magnolia (#2), and Eat Beach (#3).

Ranew is a former newspaper reporter, editor and communication executive. He started his journalism career covering sports, police, and city council meetings at his hometown newspaper, The Quitman Free Press. He also worked as a reporter and editor for The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, The Florida Times-Union and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In corporate communications, he has written speeches for President Jimmy Carter and leaders of public companies, including Bank of America, CitiGroup, Equifax, NCR, The Coca-Cola Company, and ING.

Early in his career, he worked as part-time radio dispatcher for a small-town police department.

Ranew has self-published two previous novels: Schoolhouse Man and Candyman’s Sorrow.

He lives in Atlanta and St. Simons Island, Ga.

Website * Amazon * Blog *

Facebook * Goodreads *

Publisher's Author Site * Twitter

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GUEST POST:

- What made you decide to write this book?

Blood Mug is book four in the Red Farlow Mysteries series from Tirgearr Publishing.

The plot revolves around potters murdered at the fictional Wickham Art Center in Atlanta. Red Farlow goes to the center to meet with board chair Kevin Densmore. The PI finds the man slumped over his pottery wheel. He’s dead.

In Densmore’s and the other deaths at the center, each victim succumbs by means of a pottery tool or equipment. Densmore was garroted with a wire clay cutter. The first victim, a young woman, died by strangulation when her long hair got caught in a churning pug mill. The victims shared another element of their deaths—the killer plunged a medieval dagger into their bodies.

I’ve been a potter since my first college course. After throwing pots in the studios of a local art center, I got to thinking about the opportunities for murder in the big, dark mansion at night. Blood Mug grew out of this idea.

The novel combines two motives. First is woman’s revenge after being denied her inheritance, and second is Densmore's scheme to build a mixed-use development on Wickham’s property. Farlow tackles the challenge of which motive led to the killings. Finding the answer takes him to Mexico and the plantation of a mysterious clan living near the Georgia coast.

I included Venezuelan investors who put money into the would-be development. The idea came out of research for another book on offshore money havens and the wealthy's hidden riches. Some people hide money from criminal enterprises, while others want to avoid paying taxes on their wealth. The Venezuelans in Blood Mug decide to spread their money around legitimate US investments.

When Densmore fails to move dirt and begin the development, the Venezuelan brothers want their money back. Doesn’t happen. Could they be behind his murder?

Or, might the Wickham heir denied her inheritance be involved in the killings?

Red uncovers clues with his usual methods—experience, wits, research into family legal documents, and tracking down the foreign money source.

After writing Blood Mug, I get spooked throwing pots at night. Even on my wheel at home. Something about the novel makes me look over my shoulder. Often.

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GIVEAWAY:

W.F. Ranew will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. To increase your chance of winning, leave a comment at a different stop on the tour each day. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway