More Than a Little Old Lady: The Secrets Behind a Lifetime with Author Lynne Marshall

My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Lynne Marshall, author of the book The Extraordinary Dreams of Cynthia Peabody and Cynthia Peabody's Big Fat Fake Funeral. USA Today Bestselling author Lynne Marshall has penned thirty-seven books. She has written Medical Romance for Mills & Boon, contemporary romance for Harlequin Special Edition and digitally with TULE. Publishing independently, she writes Women's Fiction where she explores the mysteries of life through endearing characters in unexplainable situations. Or, as she likes to call it, fiction for women of a certain age plus everyone who loves their nana.

In my book reviews, I stated The Extraordinary Dreams of Cynthia Peabody is a speculative women's fiction by ​Lynne Marshall​. It's cozy. It's fun. It has delightful characters. It has some romance. And it has a bit of mysticism. What's not to like?

Cynthia Peabody is a grieving, somewhat cranky older widow who suddenly discovers she may actually have super powers. Either that, or she is going insane. Both are equally possible.

After a several months of isolation due to her husband's death, she finally begins reaching out to her friends and neighbors, just as these powers begin to show themselves. I enjoyed the full cast of characters from the elderly neighbor on a motorized scooter chair to the green-haired teenager to the older ensemble dancer. Everyone is quirky, and everyone has a story!

If you love an easy-to-read story about found family and growing older coupled with a bit of speculative fiction, then this is the book for you.

AND

Cynthia Peabody's Big Fat Fake Funeral is a speculative cozy mystery by ​Lynne Marshall​. Although the second in the series, this book changes genres slightly, moving from women's fiction to cozy mystery but still having the speculative element. It can be read without reading the first one, but why? You'll love both!

This story starts with Cynthia in her new older adult independent living community. Her friend, Ronnie, has also moved in, and the two of them find themselves deep in the middle of a murder. Ronnie witnesses it first-hand but the shock of it leaves him with amnesia. Cynthia witnesses it but can't say so to the police. Why? She did it in a dream!

The book has two big mysteries to solve. Who killed the man in the woods and why. But even more importantly, how did Ronnie summons Cynthia's dream-walking when he was in trouble? Both questions lead to funny - and sometimes heart-racing