Character interview and giveaway: Pick and Chews: A Barkery and Biscuits Mystery by Linda O. Johnston

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Carrie Kennersly tries to help her veterinarian boyfriend when he’s under suspicion of murder…Is he a keeper, or should she let him go off-leash for good?

As a technician for a local vet and the owner of the Barkery & Biscuits dog bakery, Carrie Kennersly is excited to host a rescue animal adoption event. She’s also excited to be in a relationship with veterinarian Dr. Reed Storme, despite his pleas for her to butt out of the murder cases she keeps finding herself involved with. Yet when Reed is accused of killing his former veterinary colleague, he seems a lot more agreeable to having amateur detective Carrie butt back in. Can Carrie clear Reed, or does she care too much for a killer?
Includes recipes for dog treats and people treats!

Character Interview: Carrie Kennersly

Carrie, thanks for stopping by Island Confidential. Can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

My name is Carrie Kennersly. I’m the very proud owner of two bake shops in Knobcone Heights, California: Icing on the Cake, where I bake and sell human treats, and Barkery and Biscuits, where I bake and sell healthy dog treats that I developed during my other, continuing career as a veterinary technician. I’m owned by a wonderful toy poodle-terrier mix named Biscuit. I never set out to become an amateur sleuth but started when I was accused of a murder and had to find out who’d really done it.

Who’s your favorite character in Picks and Chews?

I get along best with [my dog] Biscuit, of course. But then there’s also Dr. Reed Storme, a veterinarian and the Knobcone Veterinary Clinic where I work part time as a vet tech. He and I have gotten fairly close–and in fact, I have to try to figure out who committed the murder that Reed’s accused of in Pick and Chews, even though he’s told me in the past not to get involved solving murders, since it can be dangerous. This time, he’s more encouraging, though he worries about me a lot. He’s a nice guy–and of course he loves animals.
And of course I’m very close to my brother Neal. He even lives with me, since his career as a receptionist at the Knobcone Resort, as well as his side career of leading hikes around the area, don’t pay very well.
I could list a lot of other characters I feel fairly close to but that would take a lot of time.

You sound like a wonderfully positive person, Carrie! Is there anyone you don’t get along with?

I don’t have conflicts with a lot of characters on an ongoing basis, although once I figure out who committed a murder and start acting on it I get involved in some ugly situations with them.

Understandable. Catching people out for murder tends to get their backs up, if you’ll pardon a cat-related analogy.

I’m not close with the owners of the Knobcone Resort where my brother works, but I won’t get into that too much here. Members of that family, the Ethmans, were involved with my being accused of murder in Bite the Biscuit, including because they own a pet supply store that they considered in competition with my Barkery. I was even accused of killing one of those family members then. But I’ve got a truce going now with the rest and am even friends with one of them, Les Ethman, a City Councilman.

Just between you and me: What do you really think of your author?

Linda O. Johnston? I like her! She does a good job of looking into what’s going on in my life and how I get involved solving murders, like it or not. She seems to know what I’m thinking, and what I’ll do next, even when I don’t tell her.
And of course one of the things I particularly like about her is that she loves dogs!

So what’s next for you?

Well, I don’t know for sure, but I get the impression that I’m not yet done solving murders. Who’ll get killed? That I don’t know. Who’ll get accused? I don’t know that, either, although I suspect it’ll be someone I care about. Otherwise, I wouldn’t get involved with solving the murder.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Linda O. Johnston’s first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the year.
Since then, Linda, a former lawyer who is now a full-time writer, has published more short stories, novellas, and 38 romance and mystery novels, including the Pet Rescue Mystery Series, a spinoff from her Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime, and Harlequin Romantic Suspense as well as the Alpha Force paranormal romance miniseries for Harlequin Nocturne. She additionally writes the Superstition Mysteries and the the Barkery and Biscuits Mysteries for Midnight Ink.