I’m pleased to be welcoming Florence Wetzel to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, Dashiki: A Cozy Mystery.

A cozy mystery with a dash of romance set in the vibrant world of jazz.

During an interview with reclusive jazz singer Betty Brown, journalist Virginia Farrell is shown priceless tapes from the iconic 1957 Thelonious Monk-John Coltrane gig at the Five Spot. When Betty is found murdered, Virginia is determined to recover the tapes and uncover the truth behind Betty’s death.

In the spirit of Nancy Drew, Virginia teams up with her six-foot blonde roommate to investigate the various suspects. Detective Robert Smith from the Hoboken Police Department joins the case, quickly becoming absorbed by an unsolved murder possibly linked to Betty Brown’s death, as well as an undeniable attraction to Virginia.

Dashiki is a cozy mystery laced with romance, immersing readers in the captivating world of jazz, where musicians, journalists, scholars, and enthusiasts intersect in an entertaining whodunit.

The author of Dashiki has joined us today to talk about  The Healing Power of Reading and Writing Cozy Mysteries. Over to you, Florence. 

While at Barnard College in the 1980s, I studied English literature and creative writing. From that time on, I devoted myself to reading literature with a capital L, including authors such as Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Doris Lessing, Albert Camus, and Virginia Woolf. The more challenging the book, the more I enjoyed it. I had also decided to become a writer myself, and those were the kind of books I aspired to create.

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