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I heard my friend Heather Weidner on a podcast, and she mentioned she is a cop’s kid. I was intrigued and asked her to share her story with us, and she graciously accepted.
Heather Weidner
I’m a C. K. (Cop’s Kid). Growing up, I thought everyone talked about murder and crime at the dinner table. It wasn’t until I got to college, that I learned this wasn’t always the best conversation.
One of my first jobs was to pick up the shell casings at the range after my dad practiced. My sister and I would “borrow” his nightscope and high-powered binoculars to see what we could see in the backyard in the dark (usually the neighbor’s poodle). I loved the green glow. Way before paintball was popular, he and I melted down my old crayons to made dummy bullets for the SWAT team to practice with.
I can’t count the number of times we went out that he got paged to report to work. One time, we were returning a rented video to the store (that tells you how long ago this was), and a guy ran out of the A&P. He was being chased by the manager and some staff for shop-lifting. My sister and I spent the afternoon waiting for my dad to do the booking paperwork. I learned most of the police ten-codes for the radio by elementary school. That radio’s squawk was just part of our daily lives before cell phones. And I got in trouble once when I was helping wash the police car, and I turned on the siren. I’m pretty sure I startled our neighbors.
He was a superhero to my first grade class on career day. He blasted the siren in his police cruiser, and then the police helicopter landed in the field next door to the school. (It was way cooler than the insurance guy’s presentation.)
My dad always gave interesting gifts. Through the years, I’ve received a DNA kit in case I ever disappeared, and I needed to be identified. One year, he gave us a folding ladder in case of a fire on the second floor. I have lots of containers of heavy duty pepper spray and those little gadgets that will break your car window and cut your seatbelt if you drive off a bridge.
I have loved mysteries since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew, so it was a natural fit to write what I loved to read and watch. My dad is still my best resource. He’s now retired from forty-six years of service on the Virginia Beach police force. He has lots of amazing stories. Plus, there are just some things you don’t want to Google like, “Hey, Dad how long will a body stay submerged, what does a meth lab smell like, or what’s a handy poison that folks have around the house?”
Heather’s dad.
I was so fortunate to have such a great childhood in the 70s and 80s. He put in long hours, and it was scary when he was called out in the middle of the night for emergencies. But I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. I mean, I learned some life skills. How many six-year-olds do you know who can make dummy bullets?
Heather is with her uncle here, but she’s wearing her dad’s hat.
Thanks for sharing these fun memories with us, Heather.
Friends, here’s some information to get to know Heather better.
Her short stories appear in the Virginia is for Mysteries series, 50 Shades of Cabernet, Deadly Southern Charm, and Murder by the Glass, and her novellas appear in The Mutt Mysteries series.
Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers.
There is nothing like finding a dead body, clad only in a red satin thong, on your property to jolt you from a quiet routine. Jules Keene, owner of the posh Fern Valley Camping Resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains, is thrust into the world of the Dark Web when one of her guests, Ira Perkins, is found murdered in the woods near her vintage trailers. Jules quickly discovers that the man who claimed to be on a writing retreat was not what he seemed, and someone will go to any length to find what he left at her resort. Jules, along with her Jack Russell Terrier sidekick Bijou, has to put the rest of the missing pieces of a blackmailing scheme together before her glamping business is ruined.
Jules’s resort, set in the heart of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains near Charlottesville in the quaint town of Fern Valley, offers guests a unique vacation in refurbished and upcycled vintage trailers. Hoping to expand her offerings, she partners with her maintenance/security guy to create a village of tiny houses, the latest home DIY craze, but a second murder of a reporter interrupts Jules’s expansion plans. Curiosity gets the best of her, and she steps up her sleuthing to find out what Ira Perkins was really up to and what he was really hiding at her resort.
Today is Caught and Collared’s release day. Some call it a book birthday. Whichever you prefer, I’m celebrating.
To begin the celebration, I have a prize for one commenter chosen at random. To make it easy, tell me if you listen to podcasts. Do you have a favorite?
Here’s the blurb for the fourth book in A Low Country Dog Walker Mystery series.
Setting out for a day of fun on her town’s first-ever scavenger hunt, Low Country dog walker Andi Grace Scott is dismayed to find an unattended dog wandering the streets—but that’s nothing compared to the shock she gets when she finds a dead man floating in the swimming pool of the dog’s owner. What’s more, she’d seen the very same man having a very public altercation with his wife just the night before. Despite being warned off the case by the local sheriff, Andi Grace can’t help nosing around to find out who’s behind the foul deed.
It turns out the victim was a well-known radio personality who focused on cold-case investigations and was rumored to be breaking a huge story on his next show. As Andi Grace digs deeper to learn who may have wanted him dead, she’s faced with a suspect list that includes a cold-hearted widow who stands to inherit a bundle, a local country star with family demons to hide, and any number of unknown criminals who may have been the focus of the victim’s big reveal. Whether the motive was love gone bad, a career under duress, or a killer’s deadly secret, Andi Grace knows she’ll have to act fast before she becomes the next cold case herself . . .
You may see this little guy in Caught and Collared. Isn’t he a cutie?
Don’t forget to answer the question, and I’ll announce the winner later this week.
Sergeant Hamish Macbeth—Scotland’s most quick-witted but unambitious policeman—is back and may have finally met the woman of his dreams in this new mystery in M.C. Beaton’s beloved, New York Times bestselling series.
Hamish’s new constable, Dorothy McIver, may be the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. Completely bewitched by her sparkling blue eyes, Hamish spends the summer traveling with her up and down Sutherland until finally, he can take it no longer. He gets down on one knee beside the Land Rover and begs her to marry him—and to his amazement and delight, she says yes.
But just as the town of Lochdubh gets ready to celebrate, Hamish finds himself with a new murder on his hands. If he doesn’t find the killer fast, Hamish’s dream wedding could become a nightmare. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook
Alan Danzabar has been accused of participating in a blatant…
We’re days away from the Super Bowl, and it’s time to celebrate. I like both the Rams and the Bengals, and I think it’ll be a fun game. My husband and I will cheer for different teams this year, but we attended different colleges so we’re used to pulling for different teams.
Let’s look at some fun facts regarding the Super Bowl and begin with the Roman Numeral LVI. It’s 56, but I don’t know why the NFL counts the Superbowls by Roman Numerals.
If you want to know the odds, who likes zone-coverage versuses man-coverage, and all the other interesting/boring statistics, there are plenty of sites to explore.
I graduated from the University of Georgia, and I’ve been a Matt Stafford fan for years. I’ve also cheered for Joe Burrow when he played for LSU.
One interesting tidbit is Stafford was the Number One pick in 2009 by the Detroit Lions. Joe Burrow was the first pick in 2020 by the Bengals.
We’ve invited a few friends to watch the Superbowl with us. We’ll have snacks and play ping pong before the game begins. I’m also going to prepare a Fiesta Meal. It’s labor intensive, and I usually save it for parties.
Mickey Guyton will sing the National Anthem, and the half-time show is supposed to be spectacular with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar, and if that’s not enough Mary J. Blige will join them.
I’d love to hear your Super Bowl plans. Will you watch the game? Half-time show only? Read a book? Will you attend a party but avoid the TV so you can chat with friends? Do you have a favorite food? Pizza or chicken wings?
Whatever you have planned, I hope you have a great day!
Before joining Goodreads, I didn’t have a great way to track books I’ve read. It’s fun to see what I’ve read and chat with other readers.
My goal for 2021 was to read 40 books, and I read 42 books. Yay! Here are a few fun facts gathered by Goodreads.
The most popular book I read was aslo shelved by 117,163people.
Vintage Trailers and Blackmailers was the highest rated book I read on Goodreads. This was the least popular book I read in 2021, but it had a lot of fun information.
I mostly read mysteries, and that didn’t surprise me. It was fun to be reminded what I read last year. I encourage you to join Goodreads if you haven’t already. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
![Death of a Green-Eyed Monster (A Hamish Macbeth Mystery Book 34) by [M. C. Beaton]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/4159zq4KzzL.jpg)
![Pumpkin Spice & Deadly Heist: A Cozy Mystery (The Nosy Paralegal Mystery Series Book 1) by [Tanya R. Taylor]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51po7caxrFL.jpg)
Jackie Layton 