Virtual Book Tour for Deathbed & Breakfast by Bart J. Gilbertson

Join author Bart J. Gilbertson on his Virtual Book Tour  for Deathbed & Breakfast, presented by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, from November 12 – November 30.  Please leave a comment or question for Bart to let him know you stopped by.  I have a giveaway at this stop, please check out the details below. 

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And the Moral of the Story is …by Bart J. Gilbertson

I remember my father telling me stories when I was a boy.  They were the type of stories that always had some sort of lesson or point to them.  His stories usually ended with the words, And the moral of the story is …

My father was one of those tough, country boys who grew up on a farm.  He was up before the sun every morning doing his chores.  Then he ate some breakfast which was usually a piece of toast and a couple slices of bacon, because he was just too busy to have time to eat anything more.  While he was eating his breakfast, he was doing his homework and then he was out the door and on his way.  He had to walk to school, and it was in below zero degree weather – every day.  The snow was swirling and blowing around him as if he had been placed inside of a snow globe that was shaken up.  He had to walk uphill through this knee deep snow … both ways.  After his school years, he became a lumberjack and cut down tall trees for a living and his mighty shout of “Timber!” could be heard echoing for miles around through the hills.  He could crack a walnut open with his eyelids.  Yes, yes, yes.  You know exactly what I am talking about.  So whenever he had a story to tell, you listened, because you might be quizzed at the end of it for its practical value.

There was one story in particular that caught my attention, and it stuck with me down through the years.  It was one of his best ones, in fact.  I’ve always called it the story of the Gold Windows.  It went a little like this…

Once upon a time (oh yes!  I almost forgot.  Some of his stories began with Once upon a time as well.  Anyway, back to the story).

Once upon a time, there lived a good man with a loving wife, and three beautiful daughters.  They lived in a small village where housing was scarce.  It was so scarce, that whenever anybody moved out of a house, a new family moved in immediately.  So, if anyone had to move, they made sure that it was for good.  Because once they were out, they would have an almost impossible time finding a new house to live in.

One evening, the man was sitting on his front porch looking up into the hills when he noticed something that made him catch his breath.  For what he saw up in those hills, was a house with gold windows.  He stood up and looked around him to see if anyone else had seen the house.  It seemed to him that nobody had, yet.  The man realized that if they could reach the house before anyone else knew it was there, then they would become wealthy and never again would they have to worry about having a place to live.  He turned his gaze back up to the hills and memorized where the house was.

The man hurriedly gathered his family together and told them what he saw.  He had them pack their belongings, but only what they really needed.  He wanted to be sure they got to the house of gold windows before anyone else could.  Bursting with excitement, his wife and three daughters made ready to leave.  The man and his family waited until it was completely dark, to make sure nobody else could see them leaving, then they began their journey into the hills under cover of the night.  It took the man and his family all of the night and most of the next day to finally reach their destination.  By now, others would have discovered their old home had been vacated and it would surely have a new family inside its walls.

The house with gold windows emerged before them on a small outcropping which overlooked the entire valley and the village below.  With his heart racing and his eyes wide, the man smiled and ran forward.  Nobody else was there.  They made it.  The house was theirs!  As the man approached, he stopped in his tracks and his jaw dropped.  It was in bad repair, broken down and with no roof.  Holes were in the walls, and weeds grew where the floor used to be.  But most importantly, the gold windows he saw from the village below were gone.  In their place, instead of gold, he saw ordinary glass pane windows.

“What?” the man said.  “How can this be?  I don’t understand.”

The youngest of the man’s daughters walked up and tugged on his sleeve.  The man looked down at her with saddened eyes.

“Daddy, look!” she said and pointed to the village in the valley below.

He turned and looked down to where she was pointing, and every single house in the village had gold windows.  Including the house they had just left the night before.  As the sun set for another day, reflecting off the windows, the gold was washed away.

And the moral of the story is … well, I think we can all appreciate what this story is telling us. 

My cozy mystery novel, “Deathbed & Breakfast”, is not one of those types of tales.  However, it is a fun, light read that will have you turning pages and guessing ‘whodunit’ to the final page.  I hope you enjoy reading it every bit as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Deathbed & Breakfast

By Bart J. Gilbertson

Pookotz Sisters Bed & Breakfast Mysteries, Book 1

Publisher: Cozy Cat Press

Release Date: June 30, 2013

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Length: 266 Pages

ISBN:  978-1939816115

ASIN:  B00DUGZHYK

Add to Goodreads

About the book:

Richard Forester, a retired CEO for a major software company, and his granddaughter Penny show up at the Pookotz Bed & Breakfast one evening and find themselves in some rather unpleasant company. All the guests somehow seem to be connected to Richard’s past and when he is found dead the next morning, everyone is suspect. 

However, there are a few wrinkles that the inn’s owners Edna and Mildred Pookotz need to iron out as the investigation unfolds. Not only was Richard deathly ill, but he was also accused of embezzling $750,000 which is still unaccounted for. The local Sheriff suspects that this victim’s death is not a natural one, so he–and the sisters–set forth to discover who the murderer is.

Buy Links:  Amazon │Barnes & Noble │The Book Depository

About This Author

Bart J. Gilbertson is the author of the Pookotz Sisters Mystery Series. Although he was born in Wisconsin, he spent most of his youth and later years in the rocky mountain state of Idaho. He has been all over the northwest and it is his love for the lush green state of Oregon that inspired the setting for Pleasant Lake and its inhabitants. He attended ITT Technical Institute in Boise, ID and received an Associate in Applied Science Degree for Computer Networking Systems and graduated with honors. Bart has worn many hats over his lifetime career, but the one he is most proud of is that of being a writer. He currently resides in O’Neill, NE. He has two children.

Author Links:

Website:  http://bjgilbertson2.wix.com/bartjgilbertson

Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/BartJGilbertsonAuthor

Blog Page:  http://bjgilbertson2.wix.com/bartjgilbertson#!blog/c29d

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/BartJGilbertson

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7172645.Bart_J_Gilbertson

Amazon Author Page:  http://www.amazon.com/Bart-J.-Gilbertson/e/B00DV4JMO2/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Cozy Cat Press, my publisher:  http://cozycatpress.com/

Book Trailer Vid on YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FuvPpkc1os

My Review

The first book in a new cozy mystery series, Deathbed & Breakfast by Bart J. Gilbertson features two elderly sisters running a Bed & Breakfast in a small fictional town.  Interesting characters, plenty of misleading clues and a victim who may or may not have been a big time embezzler kept me turning the pages to discover what was going to happen next in Mr. Gilbertson’s who done it. 

Edna and Mildred Pookotz, two elderly sisters, operate the Pookotz Bed & Breakfast, which has been a local business since the late 1860’s.  When a last minute guest is found dead in his bed, the two ladies spring into action to discover who or what was behind the elderly man’s death.  Especially since it appears he may have been an embezzler who got away with $750,000 from his own company.

With plenty of suspects, lots of secrets and the local town sheriff, Edna and Mildred are determined to get to the truth.  Mr. Gilbertson does a good job developing the sister’s characters; Edna is the uptight, proper behavior at all times sister while Mildred is more laid back and resembles a kindly grandmother.  Both are smart, independent and good observers of human behavior.

Will the sisters discover who killed their guest before the killer strikes again?  And will anyone discover what happened to the missing money?  You’ll have to read Bed & Breakfast to find out.  I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next book in this series.

My Rating:  3.5 out of 5 Stars

FTC Disclosure:  I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of a book tour in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Tour Schedule

November 12 - Mochas, Mysteries and More – Guest Post

November 13 - readalot - Review, Guest Post, Giveaway

November 14 - Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – Review

November 15 - Books-n-Kisses - Review, Guest Post

November 17 - Shelley's Book Case - Review

November 19 - Books Are Life - Vita Libri – Review

November 20 - Christa Reads and Writes – Review, Interview

November 21 - Queen of All She Reads - Review, Guest Post, Giveaway

November 24 - Kaisy Daisy's Corner - Review

November 25 - Brooke Blogs - Review

November 27 - Musings and Ramblings - Guest Post, Giveaway

November 28 – Thanksgiving (U.S.)

November 29 – My Devotional Thoughts – Review

November 30 - Dalene's Book Reviews - Review, Interview, Giveaway

November 30 - THE SELF-TAUGHT COOK - Review

Prize:  1 ecopy of Deathbed & Breakfast

• To enter please leave comment with name and email address. 
• You must be 18 years of age to enter. 
• The winner will be emailed and have two days to respond, if no response a new winner will be drawn.