Coffee with a canine: Jane Tesh & Winkie

The current featured duo at Coffee with a Canine: Jane Tesh and Winkie.

The author, on how she and Winkie were united:

A friend of mine raised Chihuahuas and thought I’d be the right person for Winkie. Winkie’s mother was not a good mother. We think she bit her puppies, so Winkie’s eye became infected and had to be removed when she was very young. But this hasn’t slowed her down! The first time I saw her, I knew she was the dog for me. My sister and brother and I had many dogs growing up on the farm, beagles, collies, mutts – but Winkie is the first dog that is all mine. And she is just like me! We both have trouble with...[read on]

About Tesh's new novel, Mixed Signals, from the publisher:

It’s Christmas in Parkland, North Carolina, and PI David Randall is looking forward to his mother’s visit to 302 Grace Street, even though he knows she’ll want to talk about his daughter, Lindsey, who died in a car accident. Then he and his friend Camden find Camden’s friend Jared Hunter brutally stabbed. Cam has violent flashbacks to the crime, making him fear he’s linked with the killer. The suspects include Boyd Taylor, who hires Randall. Randall’s investigations reveal Jared served time for breaking into the Parkland Museum of History, and Bert Galvin, son of Ralph Galvin, editor of the Parkland Herald, was also involved.

Randall believes inept superhero, the Parkland Avenger, is a set up by award-hungry Herald reporter, Brooke Verner. The Super Hero Society of Parkland insists the Avenger isn’t one of them. To his dismay, Kary, wanting a more active role in his cases, joins the SHS.

Brooke tells Randall she saw a letter from Bert promising not to tell about the museum funds. By comparing museum records and newsletters, Randall discovers a collector of valuable letters was never paid the full amount and died in a car crash suspiciously soon after the sale. He realizes Galvin used the museum break in to cover up this embezzlement scheme.

A map found in Jared’s comic collection leads Randall and Cam to a series of tunnels underneath several stores that have been recently robbed. Kary, in her guise as Wonder Star, helps them trap Galvin in the tunnels and end Cam’s troubling visions.

Learn more about the book and author at Jane Tesh's website.

The Page 69 Test: Mixed Signals.

Writers Read: Jane Tesh.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Jane Tesh and Winkie.

--Marshal Zeringue