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MISSION: Sisters in Crime was founded in 1986 to promote the ongoing advancement, recognition, and professional development of women crime writers. Please view our Code of Conduct.
Sisters in Crime Orange County – The Blood Orange welcomes everyone interested in or passionate about the mystery genre, including writers—published, aspiring, or pursuing careers—readers, booksellers, publishers, librarians, editors, agents, promoters, reviewers, and fans.
If you love mystery fiction as much as we do, join us. Mystery lovers of every kind make up our Orange County, California, chapter. We meet on the fourth Sunday of the month (unless otherwise noted) to learn, discuss, and have fun with all things related to crime fiction.
To join The Blood Orange, SISTERS IN CRIME ORANGE COUNTY, visit our Join / Renew Page.
Next Meeting
Sisters in Crime Orange County
The Blood Orange
Presents…
Let’s Craft a Cozy + New Year Party
with Jennifer J. Chow, Kim Davis, and Marjorie McCown
Sisters in Crime Orange County — The Blood Orange and Book Carnival
Sunday, January 26, 2025 @ 3:00 p.m.
Let’s Craft a Cozy — Jennifer J. Chow, Kim Davis, Marjorie McCown
Join in the fun as the authors craft a cozy mystery on the fly. The audience will play a major role in this interactive game as we choose characters, settings, motives, means, etc. to challenge our authors and learn behind-the-scenes tidbits on how to make a mystery.
Come yourself, bring a friend, or make it an outing for your entire book club. We’d love to see you one and all. Let’s ring in the New Year by solving The Curious Case of the Holiday Caper.
Feel free to bring a treat to snack on and share!
The Details
What: Let’s Craft a Cozy + New Year Party
Special Guests: Jennifer J. Chow, Kim Davis, and Marjorie McCown (Read more about the authors below.)
When: Sunday, January 26, 2025
Time: 3 p.m.
Where: Book Carnival – 348 S. Tustin St., Orange, CA 92866
JENNIFER J. CHOW writes cozies filled with hope and heritage. She has been a finalist for the Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Lilian Jackson Braun Memorial Award. The first book in her Magical Fortune Cookie series, Ill-Fated Fortune, was highlighted in Book Riot, Criminal Element, and Woman’s World. Jennifer is a past president of Sisters in Crime and an active member of Crime Writers of Color and Mystery Writers of America. She regularly blogs at chicksonthecase.com. Connect with her online and sign up for her newsletter at JenniferJChow.com.
Book Blurb: Felicity Jin returns in the second book in the heart-warming and deliciously mysterious Magical Fortune Cookie series from Lilian Jackson Braun Award-nominee Jennifer J. Chow.
STAR-CROSSED EGG TARTS
Jin Bakery has been asked to cater the Lum-Wu outdoor wedding at Pixie Park. The day of the ceremony, Felicity is finishing the “cake” of tiered egg tarts as the wedding party arrives for the ceremony. When one of the groomsmen, Miles Wu, doesn’t arrive, Felicity’s best friend and local florist Kelvin generously steps in for him and the wedding goes smoothly―until cake cutting time.
That’s when Felicity finds Miles’ dead body beneath the table with her egg tarts display, stabbed by Kelvin’s gardening shears. With the detective’s sights on Kelvin, Felicity starts sleuthing away to prove his innocence, revealing dark secrets about all the wedding’s attendants. They each had something to hide―and a reason to quiet Miles forever. To make matters worse, Felicity’s powers of prediction are on the fritz thanks to the emotional turmoil of a surprise visit from her estranged father.
When the groom gets poisoned at the send-off party and winds up in a coma, the stakes are even higher, not to mention Felicity’s feelings for Kelvin are beginning to feel more than friendly. Will Felicity’s magic return in time to catch the true culprit and rescue her budding relationship with Kelvin?
KIM DAVIS writes the Aromatherapy Apothecary cozy mystery series, the award-winning Cupcake Catering cozy mystery series, and the middle grade fantasy adventure The Board Game Chronicles series. She has also written several children’s nature articles published in a variety of
magazines. Kim is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She lives in Southern California with her husband and rambunctious mini Goldendoodle, Missy, who has become an inspiration for several plotlines. When she’s not spending time with her granddaughters or chasing Missy around, she can be found either writing on her next book, working on her blog, Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder, or in the kitchen baking up yummy treats to share.
To learn more, please visit https://kimdavisauthor.com/
Book Blurbs:
CHOCOLATE CAN BE DEADLY
Catering a post-Valentine’s Day Death by Chocolate dessert party should have been a delicious way to wrap up a week of romantic festivities. But when the new fiancé of the hostess is found dead during the event, clutching one of Emory’s chocolate cupcakes and a heart-shaped box of chocolates close by, the guests and the police put her at the top of their suspect list. With her cupcake catering business melting away as word spreads about the poisoning, Emory, and her octogenarian pal, Tillie, will need to pry into the sticky, dark secrets of the attendees. Will they uncover who’s been hiding a rotten center, or will the killer stir up danger and frost Emory for good?
Includes chocolate recipes!
ESSENTIALS OF MURDER
After a scandalous arrest in San Francisco, Carissa Carmichael has moved back to her small Southern California hometown to start over as she opens her Aromatherapy Apothecary shop and reflexology services. A tourist destination, Oak Creek Valley, seems the perfect place to put the past behind her, but it seems no one will let her forget. When she finds the man who threatened to drive her out of business murdered in her shop, Carissa becomes the primary suspect, especially when her fingerprints are found on the murder weapon. Despite her father’s position as Oak Creek Valley’s chief of police, most townspeople assume she’s guilty.
Refusing to run again, Carissa knows she must prove her innocence to save her shop and save her father’s career when the investigating detective turns his focus on her. With suspects acting as slippery as the essential oils she distills, it’s up to Carissa to apply pressure and sniff out the truth before it’s too late.
Includes essential oil and reflexology tips, plus a recipe.
MARJORIE MCCOWN spent 27 years in Hollywood working on the costumes for movies such as Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and X-Men Days of Future Past. Her film career inspired her Hollywood Mystery series of books that are set behind the scenes in the world of moviemaking. and feature key costumer Joey Jessop as the main character. Her cozy murder mystery, FINAL CUT (Crooked Lane Books, June 2023) was chosen as an Amazon Editors’ Pick in the best Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense category. Deadly Pleasures Magazine named FINAL CUT as one of the best cozy mysteries of 2023. STAR STRUCK, Book #2 in her Hollywood Mystery series published May 7, 2024. Visit Marjorie and sign up for her newsletter to read the first chapter of STAR STRUCK for free: https://marjoriemccown.com/
Book Blurb: Movie costumer Joey Jessop discovers that Hollywood buries its secrets deep when a superstar’s assistant turns up dead.
STAR STRUCK
Hollywood Mystery Book 2
Costumer Joey Jessop is working on a movie set in 1930s Hollywood two of the world’s biggest stars. The male lead is also a dedicated social activist, and the female lead, Gillian Best, is known more for her lifestyle brand than her acting. After a hit-and-run near the set, Joey realizes that the car involved belongs to Gillian, and she begins to wonder if the actress has more to hide than her Botox appointments.
Her suspicions deepen when Gillian’s personal assistant, Rita, vows to get revenge for Gillian replacing her and is found dead shortly after. Gillian quickly labels Rita’s death a suicide, and the police seem to agree—but Joey isn’t so sure.
With the police standing aside, it’s up to Joey to dig up the truth—but Hollywood stars know how to keep their secrets close, and a woman like Gillian Best won’t take kindly to someone sniffing around her affairs. Joey is certain that Gillian has something to hide—and she’s determined to find out what.
- Sisters in Crime Meetings are open to the public. Your first two meetings are free; subsequent meetings are $5 each. Members are free.
- Donations are graciously accepted! Any amount helps to keep amazing programing, events, and more coming your way.
Please visit the Join/Renew Page for information about Sisters in Crime OC and how to join our chapter.
