I’m proud to be part of a network of mystery writers who support and encourage each other.  While we’re all different—and that’s reflected in our writing style—we share a common love for mystery fiction and for series that include dogs and other animals.  This week, I’d like you to meet award-winning author Jinx Schwartz, who writes the best-selling Hetta Coffey mystery series. Book #6 (Just Needs Killin’ ) is scheduled for release in July 2014.  Here’s what she has to say about the series and her main character:

Hetta is a sassy Texan with a snazzy yacht, and she’s not afraid to use it! Who knew a woman living on a boat could collect so many animal friends?

My readers seem to be all over the map—literally! Men and women (from twenty-somethings to ninety-somethings) of many nationalities enjoy Hetta’s adventures.  Readers say they love the books for their humor, and let’s face it, escapist adventure. With Hetta they are transported into the world of sea adventures, exotic locations, and yes, that element of danger and romance we all love.

Reading, for me, is the best of entertainment, and I strive to entertain. And while Hetta is a woman, many of my male readers like her snarkiness, spunk, and heck, she has a boat!

Hetta’s adventures began way before I ever wrote a book. I was a perpetually single woman with a desire for change, so I bought a large yacht as a man trap and moved aboard. Did it work? Yep. The humorous side of buying a boat for all the wrong reasons, then falling in love with living on the water was the inspiration for Just Add Water, the first in the series.

The Hetta Coffey Mystery Series

Just the Pits is the fifth book in the series. Hetta is in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, and living on her boat while she tackles a new project at a Baja copper mine.

While her actual job description is somewhat vague, she’s been hired by her mentor, Fidel Wontrobski (his father was a Polish communist, thus the name) who knows Hetta as a problem solver, albeit not always in the most lawful of ways. As a civil engineer, she specializes in Materials Management, and soon discovers significant budget overruns are not the only mystery: employees are disappearing as well. Is it a conspiracy?

She and her friend, Jan, go after the perpetrators, but are also on a mission to rescue a pitiful pup stranded on a forlorn and treacherous highway. As if perps and pups aren’t enough of a challenge, an old enemy surfaces and sets them up as possible murder suspects, making the entire debacle just the pits.

 Follow Jinx!

Get to know Jinx on Facebook. To see all her books and get updates about the series, be sure to visit her website. You can find her work in trade paperback, digital, and audio editions.

UPDATE: Jinx is running a special promotion of Just Add Water (the first in the series) in early May. The book opens with a man, under investigation for fraud, preparing to make himself disappear into thin air from Tokyo.  From there, we jump ahead five years and … well, you can read an excerpt for yourself here. Then mark your calendars for May 1st, when you can get a copy of Just Add Water FREE!