Wendy Sam Miller is on  the JOB

  The Picker
 Who Perished
  A Too Good to be Threw Consignment Shop Mystery
by Kate Holmes

When Wendy Sam Miller, the owner of Too Good to be Threw, a consignment shop in sunny Sarasota Florida, finds her best friend and picker dead at the foot of her steps, the police say it was an accident. But Ilene was an ex-dancer, a graceful woman. Did she fall... or was she pushed because she was pushing some powers-that-be in this seaside town?

Are you in Sarasota? The Picker is available at Circle Books, The Woman's Exchange, and Historic Spanish Point's Museum Store. In Venice, please visit Sanddollar Bookstore on Miami Ave., and in Bradenton, Restyled Rags (in the Jennings Arcade) sells them like hotcakes!

An Interview with the Author

NOW AVAILABLE: Wendy Sam TALKS! If you have a sight-impaired friend, The Picker Who Perished is available from the Florida Braille and Talking Book, Daytona Beach. Subscribers to the service in Florida can order the book through their local talking book service or directly from Daytona Beach. The book number is CBF 3324. Talking book subscribers outside Florida can request the book through their regional service.

From Roundtable Reviews: Kate Holmes, author of nonfiction books related to the consignment shop industry, has expanded her writing horizon to include mystery fiction, beginning with THE PICKER WHO PERISHED. Wendy Sam Miller (read that "Wendy Sam" as her unusual first name), lives in Sarasota, Florida, where she had moved from Up North for early retirement. Despite this, Wendy Sam had un-retired herself and was owner of Too Good To Be Threw, a consignment shop in Sarasota. She had developed close friendships with a group of other women who met each Monday for a Girls Night Out. It was just one such evening that revealed the beginnings of unease between two of Wendy Sam's friends, and before long, one of them, Ilene the Picker, ends up dead in what seem to be mysterious circumstances. In the course of the brief police investigation into what was officially labeled an accidental death, Wendy Sam meets Detective Tom Litwin and the two form a friendship of good-natured adversity. Wendy Sam is out to prove her friend was murdered and Detective Litwin ostensibly remains in the picture to help the amateur sleuth. As it turns out, there is a chemistry brewing between these two middle-aged, single adults, and as the story progresses, the sparks fly! There is lots going on in THE PICKER WHO PERISHED. The reader is introduced not only to Wendy Sam and her friends in their leisure life, but also in their roles in the resale shop community, herbal medicine, and other unique and interesting vocations. There is also a fair amount of senior citizens with whom Wendy Sam and friends interact, and of course, the various suspects along the way. The author gives a realistic glimpse into life in Sarasota in both description and plot action. The foray into consignment shop background proved interesting as well. It looks as if Kate Holmes has a winner in her book, THE PICKER WHO PERISHED, and she doesn't even have to wait to find it on consignment. Roundtable Reviews

Kate Holmes is, of course, the author of Too Good to be Threw, The Complete Operations Manual for Resale & Consignment Shops, now in its sixth edition in 14 years. She's also written all of the Products for the Professional Resaler. Kate also hosts HowToConsign.com , and educational resource for resale shoppers. In fiction, The Picker Who Perished is Kate's first complete mystery novel. But she was selected to participate in the collaborative mystery novelette, Naked Came the Flamingo, the brainchild of New York Times best-selling author Barbara Parker.  Wholesale orders welcome. Please email for wholesale pricing. Book clubs and reading circles are also welcome to buy copies wholesale. If you are a retailer, your venue will be listed on our "Where to Buy The Picker" page, for all the world to see.

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