Tara Lush, the author of Eat, Pray, Hex will speak with Craig Pittman in Sarasota as part of the Off the Page Literary Celebration. Photo Courtesy of Sarasota County Library.

Spooky season may have ended, but it’s the perfect time to snuggle up with a steaming mug of cocoa and get lost in the pages of a mystery novel. Florida author Tara Lush, who also writes as Tamara Lush, has just published Eat, Pray, Hex the first installment in her new cozy mystery series. On November 6, Lush will join fellow writer Craig Pittman in Sarasota as they present a talk entitled “Doing Crime the Florida Man Way,” part of the Sarasota County Library’s Off the Page Literary Celebration.

For years, Lush worked as a reporter across Florida, and today she incorporates the outlandish happenings that she observed while covering this eccentric state. “I tend to put a lot of things that either I covered as a journalist or that I see in the papers (into my books), even if it’s small things like chicken nuggets shaped like manatees,” she says, “and almost every news story referenced in my mysteries is something that’s actually happened.” Lush, known for The Coffee Lover’s Mystery series, delves into the paranormal with Eat, Pray, Hex. Readers will meet Amelia Matthews, a woman in mid-life who’s inherited a haunted hotel in a small Florida town, and soon learns that she harbors psychic powers which she must harness to solve the hotel’s mystery and save herself.

A trip to a spooky hotel in California inspired Lush to write a cozy mystery in a similar setting with a Florida twist. “Everyone says that Agatha Christie is the first cozy mystery author. I think that cozy mystery is more of a modern term that describes mysteries that aren’t police procedurals, noir or hard-boiled crime,” Lush says, explaining that TV shows and films like Only Murders in the Building or Knives Out are also examples of the genre. “I like to describe myself as Carl Hiaasen but without the cynicism,” she adds, reflecting on her work. Floridians will enjoy the relatable setting of Eat, Pray, Hex and will fall in love with the colorful cast of characters. As the first book in the Crescent Moon Mystery series, this story will have readers excited to visit Amelia and her small-town haunts as her adventures continue.

Eat, Pray, Hex is available for purchase on amazon.com. Learn more about Tara Lush and her books at taralush.com. For information about Lush and Pittman’s talk at the Off the Page Literary Celebration, visit https://www.scgov.net/government/libraries/off-the-page.

Tara Lush, the author of Eat, Pray, Hex will speak with Craig Pittman in Sarasota as part of the Off the Page Literary Celebration. Photo Courtesy of Sarasota County Library.

Order Eat, Pray, Hex on Amazon