Larissa began her writing career in second grade when she sold
her first publication to a neighbor for a nickel. After moving around the
midwest, Japan, and the south, she now lives in Georgia with her husband,
daughters, and Biscuit, a Cairn Terrier. She loves small town characters with
big attitudes, particularly sassy women with a penchant for trouble. PORTRAIT
OF A DEAD GUY is a 2012 Daphne du Maurier finalist, a 2012 The Emily finalist,
and a 2011 Dixie Kane Memorial winner. When she’s not writing about southern
fried chicken, she writes about Asian fried chicken at her blog about life as
an ex-expat at theexpatreturneth.blogspot.com.
The book...
In Halo, Georgia, folks know Cherry Tucker as big in mouth, small
in stature, and able to sketch a portrait faster than buckshot rips from a ten
gauge -- but commissions are scarce. So when the well-heeled Branson family
wants to memorialize their murdered son in a coffin portrait, Cherry scrambles
to win their patronage from her small town rival.
As the clock ticks toward the deadline, Cherry faces more trouble
than just a controversial subject. Her rival wants to ruin her reputation, her
ex-flame wants to rekindle the fire, and someone’s setting her up to take the
fall. Mix in her flaky family, an illegal gambling ring, and outwitting a
killer on a spree, Cherry finds herself painted into a corner she’ll be lucky
to survive.
“An entertaining mystery full of quirky characters and solid
plotting. Larissa Reinhart writes with panache and flair...Highly recommended
for anyone who likes their mysteries strong and their mint juleps stronger!” --
Jennie Bentley, NY Times bestselling author of Flipped Out
“Don’t miss Portrait of a Dead Guy by Larissa Reinhart!
Portrait is pure enjoyment, a laugh out loud mystery with some Southern
romance thrown in. Five stars out of Five.” -- Lynn Farris, National Mystery
Review Examiner at Examiner.com
“Laugh-out-loud funny and as Southern as sweet tea and cheese grits,
Larissa Reinhart’s masterfully crafted whodunit, Portrait of a Dead
Guy, provides high-octane action with quirky, down-home characters and a
trouble-magnet heroine who’ll steal readers’ hearts and have them begging for
the next Cherry Tucker Mystery.” --Debby Giusti, author of The Captain's
Mission and The Colonel's Daughter
“Larissa Reinhart's debut sparkles with wit. A fun, fast-paced read
and a rollicking start to her Cherry Tucker Mystery Series. If you like your
stories southern-fried with a side of romance, this book's for you!” -- Leslie
Tentler, author of Midnight Caller
Get your copy...
Let's chat with Larissa, shall we?
Susan: Larissa, thank you so much for joining us today here at Get Lost in a Story. My goodness, you are well-traveled. Where are you originally from?
Larissa: Thanks for having me! I’m from a small farming village in northern Illinois called Andover. Growing up there gave me a yearning to see the rest of the world and become a big city girl, but it also instilled a love for small town values. And in hindsight, a view as to how varied and interesting small town people really are.
Susan: In other words, you are Nouveau Southern—not that there’s anything wrong with it—some of my very best friends are. I’m so happy you decided to hang out down South.
Larissa: I am a carpet bagger, yes;) Much like Gretchen Wilson, the original Redneck Woman, who is also from a small Illinois farm town (Pocahontas).
Susan: Ha! I did not know that! My, my... I’ve spent right much time in the Mid-West myself. Small towns there feel very much like small towns in the South to me. Would you agree?
Larissa: Very much so, which is why I felt comfortable writing about a small Southern town. The difference: the amount of conversation and food. Sorry Illinois, but you can’t beat the South in food! (Although we do grow excellent pork chops in IL). And controversial conversation is kept to a minimum in the Midwest, which would make for a pretty dull book! There would be a lot of dialogue about weather.
Larissa: Very much so, which is why I felt comfortable writing about a small Southern town. The difference: the amount of conversation and food. Sorry Illinois, but you can’t beat the South in food! (Although we do grow excellent pork chops in IL). And controversial conversation is kept to a minimum in the Midwest, which would make for a pretty dull book! There would be a lot of dialogue about weather.
Susan: What is something that not a lot of people know about you but you WISH more people COULD know?Larissa: My children are adopted from China, and they are my life’s greatest blessing! I’m so happy we had a chance to experience living in Asia with them. And it turns out they loved living in Japan as much as my husband and I do.
Susan: Where is your very favorite vacation spot?
Larissa: I’ve been lucky enough to visit many foreign countries, which I loved, but if we have a free weekend, I really like going up to the North Georgia mountains. Although, we just got back from Tybee Island, off Savannah. And I did love Tybee. And we do love Savannah... This is a really hard question. How much money and how much time do I get for the vacation? Our next big trip, we’d like to go to Austria. I’ve been obsessed since I read Mary Stewart’s AIRS ABOVE THE GROUND. When we lived in Japan, I never got a chance to go to Singapore, which I really wanted to try. Just put me on a plane. Wherever I end up, I’ll be happy, Susan!
Larissa: I’ve been lucky enough to visit many foreign countries, which I loved, but if we have a free weekend, I really like going up to the North Georgia mountains. Although, we just got back from Tybee Island, off Savannah. And I did love Tybee. And we do love Savannah... This is a really hard question. How much money and how much time do I get for the vacation? Our next big trip, we’d like to go to Austria. I’ve been obsessed since I read Mary Stewart’s AIRS ABOVE THE GROUND. When we lived in Japan, I never got a chance to go to Singapore, which I really wanted to try. Just put me on a plane. Wherever I end up, I’ll be happy, Susan!
Susan: Do you have any unusual talents we should know about? We had someone here a month or so back who can peel and eat a banana with her toes. Can you top that?
Larissa: Not me, but my husband can fit four or five quarters in one nostril. Does that count? It’s how he wooed me in college.
Susan: Now, that is an interesting courting ritual. Moving right along... Is it true that you play cowbell in an all-girl band?
Larissa: In my head, I totally rock the cowbell! Isn’t it true you play the drums?
Susan: Why, as a matter of fact, I do. But this is your day--we'll discuss my talents as a percussionist another time. You have what I like to call a well-rounded education. I like to call it that because I changed majors so many times, but I believe you have me beaten. In order, please, what all have you studied?
Larissa: Oh my goodness, are you sure we have time? I started in journalism and even worked at a small town paper in high school, but hated calling people for interviews, so by the time I got to college, I thought I should probably try something else!
I worked my way to majoring in history, but minored in anthropology. The anthropology department was small, but we got a visiting professor to teach archaeology, which really excited me. I was in my Indiana Jones phase. We did a dig of an old woolen mill, which was really cool. I even did an independent study class where I traveled to Egypt.
But ancient languages are very daunting for some one who has trouble pronouncing English. I also loved art history, and actually did my senior history thesis paper on abstract expressionism.
I started grad school in art history, which my husband was also studying (he was also a history major & we married after graduation). I realized we’d never work in the same state if we both majored in art history. This led me on a whole new path in art and design, and finally teaching history because that’s where I had the most credits. Which is full circle because my parents were teachers. My dad taught history.
Susan: Whew! That made my head spin--but, I did ask.
Your debut novel, Portrait of a Dead Guy, is the first in a series about an artist named Cherry Tucker. You studied art history--do you paint?
Larissa: I would consider myself a failed artist. I like to draw and paint, but haven’t done much in many years. I loved design and layout. Now I’m just a doodler.
Larissa: I would consider myself a failed artist. I like to draw and paint, but haven’t done much in many years. I loved design and layout. Now I’m just a doodler.
Susan: How much do you and Cherry have in common?
Larissa: We’re both short, but that’s about it! I can be stubborn, but I think she takes stubbornness to an extreme. She says things I would never utter. She also takes risks that I would never try. If I heard there was a murderer running around my town, I’d lock my door. She’d greet them with her daddy’s Remington Wingmaster hunting rifle. Actually she does greet them with her Remington.
Susan: For the record, I love this book, and can’t wait to see what Cherry gets into next. Will Cherry be around a while? (The answer had better be the one I want to hear.)
Larissa: Thank you so much, Susan! I certainly hope so! Not many days go by when I don’t think about a funny scrape I’d like to see Cherry get out of! I’m writing her second book now, tentatively titled STILL LIFE IN BRUNSWICK STEW. It involves a literal still life and a Brunswick Stew cook off. And of course, more man trouble for Cherry. And family trouble. And goat trouble.
Susan: I do love that goat... So, this just came to you, that someone might do such a thing as paint a dead relative? Was drinking involved? If so, what were you sipping? I need to get some of that.
Larissa: My brain works in mysterious ways! In all honesty, this came to me after my father’s funeral, when I was listening to Miranda Lambert’s “Famous in a Small Town.” I suddenly saw this artist painting a dead guy and knew her name & knew the guy she painted was a thug. But that’s all I knew. Then she started talking to me and later I started hearing her conversations with Luke, Todd, and her crazy family. They made me laugh.
Larissa: My brain works in mysterious ways! In all honesty, this came to me after my father’s funeral, when I was listening to Miranda Lambert’s “Famous in a Small Town.” I suddenly saw this artist painting a dead guy and knew her name & knew the guy she painted was a thug. But that’s all I knew. Then she started talking to me and later I started hearing her conversations with Luke, Todd, and her crazy family. They made me laugh.
I just realized I sound like a total psychopath! I swear the voices I hear aren’t really “voices.” I should be drinking something...
Susan: What is your most interesting quirk?
Larissa: I often break into song. My kids call it “Momma’s rocking out again.” But they secretly love it.
Susan: Really? Gosh, I do that, too. But my kids call it something else, and I'm pretty sure they don't care for it. What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done? Been skydiving? Ridden a bull?
Larissa: Good grief, no. I have a fear of heights and vertigo! I’ve eaten some strange stuff. Raw horse. Raw whale. Cow rectum (but didn’t know it at the time). That’s life in Japan:)
Larissa: Good grief, no. I have a fear of heights and vertigo! I’ve eaten some strange stuff. Raw horse. Raw whale. Cow rectum (but didn’t know it at the time). That’s life in Japan:)
Susan: I'm sorry, cow WHAT? Just hearing about that's enough to put me off beef altogether. What do you do to unwind and relax?
Larissa: Mainly read. If I’m really stressed, I read Agatha Christie. Her murders are very soothing to me;)
Susan: What would you say are your heroine, Cherry Tucker’s, greatest strengths and weaknesses?
Larissa: Her sass is both a strength and weakness, because sometimes her big mouth gets her in trouble. At the same time, she has no problem calling a spade a spade. She’s a risk taker, which means she’s willing to put herself on the line for justice, but it also places her in danger. She’s an artist, so she’s very creative. This can be a negative when her creative thinking leads her to trouble. So, I’d say she’s pretty well balanced.
Susan: What about your hero, Luke Harper?
Larissa: He’s hotter than a tin roof in August with the ability to expose dimples and smoke up his gray eyes at will. He can take Cherry’s sass and serve it back double quick. Luke’s smart and resourceful, but because he’s the strong, silent type, you never know what he’s thinking. Which can be a problem when there’s a killer on the loose and you don’t know who to trust.
Susan’s GOTTA ASK: What is your favorite scene in Portrait of a Dead Guy?
Larissa’s GOTTA ANSWER: Wow, you ask difficult questions! That’s like asking which child I like better! My favorite scenes to write are the action scenes, but the scene that makes my cheeks heat is one between Cherry and Luke and a takeout order of hot wings. They finally give in to all those old feelings that have been bubbling beneath the surface from the time they meet after all those years apart. Sauce gets everywhere...
Connect with Larissa online...
Twitter
Goodreads
Pinterest
She and her writing friends also chat weekly about books on their
Little
Read Hens Facebook page and littlereadhens.com.
Larissa has a question for you...
Do you like
it when a book in a series ends with a romantic cliffhanger (for example, in a
love triangle, you don’t know which guy the heroine will choose)?
BTW,
Cherry Tucker loves to
eat Southern food and also loves to “embellish” her clothing. On Pinterest, I’m
always looking for great Southern recipes and DIY ideas to restyle ordinary
clothes that would fit Cherry’s budget but lets her add personal style. If you
find a recipe or DIY clothing idea you think Cherry would love, put an
@LarissaReinhart in the comment section and let me know. I’ll pin it to my Southern Fixin’s and/or Cherry’s Wardrobe boards and might use them in a
future book!
