Paige Sleuth is a pseudonym for mystery author Marla Bradeen. She plots murder during the day and fights for mattress space with her two rescue cats at night. When not attending to her cats’ demands, she writes.

Christmas in Cherry Hills                                              by Paige Sleuth

Kat Harper’s Christmas reunion with her long-lost mother turns out to be nothing like she envisioned. Maybelle Harper has no qualms about flirting with Kat’s boyfriend, she’s more interested in seeing old friends than her daughter, and, worse yet, she hates cats. But Kat might have to put her disappointment aside when bigger problems arise—unwelcome gifts have been showing up on her doorstep, and she has no idea who has added her to his Christmas list.

What was your favorite or most memorable gift you got as a child?

A cat! She was the best gift ever, hands down, and was the start of my lifelong love of all things feline.

Your story is set in Cherry Hills, Washington. Why did you choose that as the setting for your book?

Cherry Hills is a fictional town because I wanted some leeway with the people and places. Making up a town gave me that flexibility. And I located it in Washington State because it’s an area I’m familiar with and the whole state is lovely.

Can you share an enticing (50 words or less) snippet that isn’t in the blurb?

“There’s no shipping label on it, just your name, Kat.”

Creeping closer, Kat saw he was right. ‘K. Harper’ was scrawled across the top, but both her address and a return address were conspicuously absent.

Her skin tingled. Whoever had left this had to have been inside her building.

What’s your favorite Christmas movie?

While You Were Sleeping. It’s cute and funny, and who doesn’t love Sandra Bullock?

How does this story connect with your other books or series? Christmas in Cherry Hills is book 12 in my Cozy Cat Caper Mystery series. It’s the first time my main character, Kat, meets her mother as an adult. Kat grew up in foster care and ended up losing touch with her mother for reasons revealed in book 4. Their first face-to-face encounter since they reconnected is not everything either one of them dreamed it would be, but they both grow from the experience and by the end, they understand each other a little bit better. I hope it resonates with readers who might have some complicated family relationships of their own.