Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery

Death Overdue–review

September 6, 2018September 6, 2018 Tari Hann

I absolutely loved this book! Any element you could possibly want in a cozy mystery is right inside this book! Since I have an advance copy of the next book, I will be reading and reviewing it very soon. I can’t wait!

My Goodreads review:

Death Overdue by Allison Brook

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book so much that I didn’t want it to come to an end! It had everything I love in a cozy: an awesome small town, loving relatives, a smart and brave protagonist and lots of great supporting characters. The fact that Carrie works in a library and it has a resident (friendly) ghost and a cat, well those were just icing on the cake!

Carrie Singleton had come back to Clover Ridge CT with the intentions of visiting, but when she was offered an amazing job at the library where she worked as a temp, she decided to finally put down roots. She had it awfully good living with a sweet and devoted aunt and uncle, plus she’d met a nice guy since they happened to be investigating a murder together. A retired police detective was investigating a cold case he’d worked on 15 years ago when he was murdered during a presentation at the library. Carrie’s new friend Jared had been friends with the detective since the man was investigating Jared’s mom’s murder and had discovered who it was. Hopefully Jared and Carrie won’t anger the killer into doing away with them!

I just loved Evelyn, the library ghost! What a sweet old lady! She and Carrie made quite the team in looking into the case–and Evelyn was even able to tell her a thing or two about a report she needed to do for her new job. It was awesome how Evelyn helped Carrie take care of an issue between her grumpy niece Dorothy who had a huge grudge against Carrie for getting the job she wanted (never mind that Dorothy wasn’t even qualified for the position). You’ll love it when you read that part! And Smokey Joe, the kitten that adopted Carrie and became the library cat was a huge hit with most of the patrons. Surprisingly even boss Sally liked him and didn’t object.

A lot of cozies have relationship triangles, but I didn’t mind this one at all because it didn’t drag on. It became very clear as to which of the two handsome guys Carrie had in her life that she would decide to date and which one would be a friend. I also liked how there wasn’t an actual showdown with just Carrie and the killer, it was more of a car chase scene. I had only started to suspect who the killer was when the carefully placed clues started adding up.

I can’t wait to visit Clover Ridge again and see what my new friends’ next adventure will be!

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Curiosity Thrilled the Cat–review

September 4, 2018September 4, 2018 Tari Hann

It was such fun reading the first in the Magical Cats series by Sofie Kelly! I had read an ARC of book 10 last week and decided I just had to read about Owen and Hercules from when Kathleen first found out they could disappear and walk through walls. It was interesting to see some of the people characters at the beginning as well.

My Goodreads review:

Curiosity Thrilled the Cat by Sofie Kelly

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After having won and read book 10 of this series, I just had to go back to the beginning and see how this all got started. It was so much fun reading about Kathleen’s reactions to the first times she witnessed Owen appearing or disappearing and Hercules walking through a door or a wall. And the handsome detective Gordon wasn’t nearly as grouchy or impatient with her as I was worried he’d be, lol.

Someone killed the guest conductor for the annual music festival’s final performance, possibly in Kathleen’s library room, so of course she was a person of interest in the murder investigation. There were also a couple of incidents where Kathleen could have been badly hurt–could someone have been trying to scare her off the case?

I had kind of guessed who the killer was but not for the right reasons. I was honestly just trying to think of who wasn’t in book 10…I guess that was cheating a bit right? I still had a lot of fun reading to see what drove this person to what they ended up doing. The man killed wasn’t a saint and many would have agreed that he had it coming. Everything was neatly wrapped up and in the end, Kathleen’s mom came through with a conductor for the final concert. Maggie, Kathleen’s good friend, had a trick up her sleeve as well, which as I know from book 10, turned out to be a very good thing!

Finding out the backstory of Kathleen’s good friend Rebecca was interesting. She was such a good friend to Kathleen and almost like a mom to her since Kath’s parents were both back in Boston. I really liked the characters of Roma, the veterinarian and Maggie, Kathleen’s artist friend. Roma was such a good sport to go sleuthing with Kathleen and Maggie. I loved her sense of humor since she had treated Kathleen on several occasions when she was hurt: “That’s why I like my four-legged patients, they don’t talk back or complain.” Maggie was a good and loyal friend to Kathleen, just what she needed since her own BFF from college was back in Boston–although Kathleen did have to call on her for some help with the investigation.

I really want to keep reading in this series, I’m loving these cats so much!

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The Cats Came Back–review

August 31, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the tenth book in the long-running series Magical Cats by Sofie Kelly. I was so surprised when I got the email that I had won an advance paperback copy of the book. It’s releasing on September 4 and I knew I could never read all the previous nine, so I started it today and finished. Like most cozies I’ve jumped into a series and read, this one was very good at explaining the characters. I never felt like I didn’t know what was going on, but I do plan to go back to the beginning and start with the first book very soon! It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with the setting and the regular characters. I always enjoy seeing how relationships grow, so that will be fun to see Marcus and Kathleen at the very beginning.

My Goodreads review:

The Cats Came Back by Sofie Kelly

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had entered a drawing for an advance paperback copy of this from the publisher and ended up winning. I voluntarily read and reviewed this and my opinions are my own. Even though I had never read any of this series, I wasn’t lost at all. All the recurring characters were explained without getting redundant, so I quickly learned who everyone was and also quickly grew to love the town of Mayville Heights, MN. I managed to get this read in just one day.

Kathleen Paulson had been living in Mayville Heights for several years now with her two cats, Owen and Hercules. They weren’t just your everyday cats. Owen could appear and disappear, and his brother, Hercules could walk through walls. They were very intuitive too. Kathleen could tell them what to do and they completely understood her, and most of the time they did what she said, most being a keyword here 😉

When the summer music festival was in full force, a damper was put on things when a body showed up on the Riverwalk while Kathleen and Ruby were out having a photo session with the cats. The cats were going to appear in a calendar promoting the town. Ruby was the one to discover the body, and it appeared to be that of a singer who had come to perform in the music festival. Since Kathleen was dating Detective Gordon, he knew her penchant for solving mysteries and he also knew he wasn’t going to change that part of her, so he mainly warned her to be careful while investigating.

There were plenty of suspects, and while I had my suspicions about someone that did turn out to be the killer, I still wasn’t really sure until it was revealed. The showdown was really exciting as Kathleen worked to avoid the killer in the basement of the theater. I loved what she ended up doing to the person too. Everything was wrapped up as the final concert of the music festival was soon, as was Kathleen’s veterinarian friend Roma’s wedding. The ending was very sweet and now I want to start at the beginning and see just how much Kathleen got on Marcus’s nerves in the beginning lol. I’ve been collecting the series, but I hadn’t gotten a chance to read any of them yet. I got the first book out of storage and am planning to read it very soon!

Thanks again to Berkley Publishing for the giveaway and for picking me to be one of the recipients of this advance copy of the book.

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The Trouble with Truth–review

August 29, 2018 Tari Hann

It didn’t take me long to finish this second installment in the Gourmet Cat mystery series by Kathy Krevat, that’s how good it was! Trouble got to be on TV in this book and she took full advantage of living up to her name. 😉 The mystery was interesting and compelling. I think you’ll agree if you decide to read this series that it’s a lot of fun.

My Goodreads review:

The Trouble with Truth by Kathy Krevat

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really loved this second book in the series so much I could barely put it down. Just like the first one, it was well-written and plotted. The story moved along at a good pace, not too slow or fast. I always like that everything gets wrapped up at the end and good explanations are always given, especially since Colbie and Det. Norma are friends.

Since Colbie’s cat food was accepted into a chain of stores, she had to step up production and had hired an 18-year-old girl named Mira, who had grown out of foster care. Mira had written a play about the abuse she and others had experienced while in foster care. Then the guy who was one of her foster dads turned up murdered, and the police had no choice but to think it was her. Everyone was asking Colbie to look into it since she had helped solve a murder a couple of months ago. When another body turned up and some vandalism was done against Colbie, she figured the killer must be feeling threatened. The showdown was great, and Mira got to be hero of the day.

I was glad to see that Quincy Powell returned to the story. He’s officially an investor in Meowio cat food and rents out a nice larger commercial kitchen to Colbie for a good rate. He’s the kind of amazing friend that every small business would be very lucky to have. His PR person, Indigo, was an interesting character. She made sure the biz was posted, tweeted and televised to ensure Colbie’s success. I’m still on the fence about Richard. I hope he doesn’t try to get Colbie back in his life, just Elliott. I like Colbie and Joss together, even their kids approve of the match!

Everything was wrapped up nicely, even with Elliott and his estranged dad who was now interested in being part of his boy’s life, but not in an intrusive way since he had a baby of his own on the way. Colbie had started officially dating Joss and Hank was dating his neighbor Annie (which was so cute). The cat food biz was booming too. I can hardly wait for the next book!

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The Trouble with Murder–review

August 28, 2018August 28, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the first in a newer series that came out last December called Gourmet Cat Mysteries, by Kathy Krevat aka Kathy Aarons. She wrote The Chocolate Covered mysteries under that name. There were three in the series. I just love the cat in this series, Trouble. She’s only moody to people who seem to deserve the attitude, lol.

My Goodreads review:

The Trouble with Murder by Kathy Krevat

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What an awesome new series! I’ve had this book since it came out, but since the second book was released today, I wanted to be sure I read this one first. There’s another really awesome cat in this story. I just love when the cats like people loving on them, and they do cute or even heroic things. Trouble, the cat in this story, was definitely a hero!

Colbie Summers and her 12-year-old son Elliott had moved to Sunnyside CA to be with her dad who had never totally recovered from pneumonia. Colbie was in a moms’ business group and when their leader was killed after a trade show they had and all the signs pointed to Colbie being the killer, she knew she had to clear her good name as well as her business’ name. With her good friends Lani and Piper on the sidelines cheering her on, Colbie did manage to come up with some information, and she even gained the respect of Detective Norma. There wasn’t exactly a showdown with the killer, but it was still exciting. With the killer confessing and behind bars, Colbie, her friends and family were able to enjoy the musical that Elliott’s summer theater camp was presenting.

I really came to like the detective on the case. She wasn’t so quick to judge Colbie and decide that she did it just because the (planted) evidence pointed that way–unlike her jerk of a partner. I was glad to see him reprimanded for the stunt he pulled, and another detective put on the case. I knew there was a strained relationship with Colbie and her dad, but now that he was living with his grandson and daughter, he was just an old softie. It was really cute when he decided to give Elliott guitar lessons. Colbie’s friend Lani is the type of friend anyone would be grateful for. She just took control when she needed to, with a heart as big as all outdoors. Her wife Piper was in it quite a bit and was also a friend of Colbie’s along with being a doctor. I liked how she could look in on Hank to see how his lungs were healing up and he wouldn’t mind it.

I liked Quincy Powell the minute Colbie met him. Anyone that would wear crazy sneakers because their granddaughter liked them is one good sport. I’m looking forward to him being in the next book more since he’s advising Colbie on her business and is now an investor. And sweet little Trouble–she’s not really a trouble maker unless she doesn’t know or like someone. She sure knew which of the detectives she liked and didn’t like! She’s really a good sport to let Colbie take her to the farmers’ market and sit there with a little chef hat on her head. Just like the cover!

I hadn’t guessed the killer in this, never really saw it coming. There were so many possible suspects, good clues and little twists. Since I have the second book, I’m going to read it right away so all these characters are fresh in my brain!

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Deserts, Driving and Derelicts–review

August 27, 2018August 27, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the second book in the Campers and Criminals series by well-known author Tonya Kappes. I always love her quirky Southern characters and the down home charm they always bring to the stories she writes. Mae and her friends are quickly becoming some of my favorite Southern characters.

My Goodreads review:

This was another super fun visit to Happy Trails Campground in Normal, KY. I love reading about Mae and all her friends. The Laundry Club is always a lot of fun, I really like all those ladies she’s made friends with. I had absolutely no idea who the killer was, boy was I surprised.

When Mae and a wealthy woman named Tammy Jo found Tammy Jo’s dog nanny dead in her husband’s office, Tammy was jailed for the murder, but Mae knew she couldn’t have done it. Tammy might have been strange enough to have her dog Fifi cloned and have its offspring insured, but she was no killer. In the meantime, Mae’s foster brother, Bobby Ray was in town. Her friend Dottie had a bad feeling about him being there. Mae found Tammy Jo’s expensive watch that had gone missing while plumbing out Bobby’s toilet, so he was arrested for robbery–but was he the killer instead–and were Dottie’s instincts about him correct?

Everything got wrapped up in a fairly quick but very cool showdown. Bobby proved his worth then and the real killer was hauled away. Mae was finally ready for that elusive date with Ty…will it ever happen? I still think I might like Hank for her instead even though Ty is sweet. I guess we’ll just have to keep reading!

Goodbye Cruller World–review

August 25, 2018August 25, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the second book in the perfectly cozy mystery series Deputy Donuts. It features the sweetest little cat named Deputy Donut, or Dep for short. She seems to have a sixth sense about a lot of things, especially that she likes handsome Brent, Emily’s husband’s police partner. After her husband’s death, she had sort of abandoned Brent, not realizing he needed some closure too. In the first book, it had them reuniting over Alec as friends. But I do hope they’ll at least get to dating status eventually. He sounds so amazing! I love this book just as much, if not more than the first, and I can’t wait for the next one!

My Goodreads review:

Goodbye Cruller World by Ginger Bolton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Even though I was pretty sure I knew who the killer was (and for once I was right!) this was still another fun trip to Fallingbrook, Wisconsin and the Deputy Donut shop. I just love that little cat, Dep! She was even more talkative and cute in this book.

When the groom at a wedding that Tom and Emily were providing donuts for collapsed and died of poisoning, Emily was worried that DCI detective Yvonne Passenmath was focusing on her as being at fault. She was since Passenmath had a major grudge against Emily, Tom and their police friends, but she was also looking at Emily’s friend Jenn who was the new bride. There was no shortage of suspects, and there were some interesting and quirky characters tossed into the mix as well.

I knew who was guilty, but it was interesting to see how the showdown went, which was pretty exciting. I kept expecting a last minute twist since I’m rarely right lol. Everything ended well, except I keep wishing that Emily would let Brent get to be a little more than just friends, but I guess since they just came to grips a year ago with how they both felt about her husband’s death 8 years ago (Brent was his partner and had seen him die), maybe they don’t want to rush things.

I just love the regular characters. Tom is such a sweetheart, who wouldn’t love to have a father-in-law like him? Misty and Samantha are awesome friends for Emily. The three of them are like Nancy, George and Bess when they work on a case. Although Misty is always quick to remind them to let the police do the actual investigating. I’m always anxious for the next book in the series! I hope it’s not a long wait.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book which was provided to me via NetGalley and the publisher.

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Bark Up and Smell the Coffee–review

August 24, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the second book in the Paws Fur Play series by Stella St. Claire, the author of the Happy Tails Dog Walking series. I love the characters in this series and little Telescope is a pup I would just love to cuddle! He’s fiercely loyal to Willow, his human who adopted him, and he likes showing that just because he’s little and only has three legs, he can do anything he sets his mind to do. I think you’ll like this book as much as I did!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book provided by the author via InstaFreebie. The book releases next week, August 28. I’m now anxious for the third book!

My Goodreads review:

Bark Up and Smell the Coffee by Stella St. Claire

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was another awesome book in this series. I just love little Telescope and how intuitive he is to Willow’s needs or thoughts. He got to be a hero in this book too, proving that just because a dog is little, they can still be a good protector.

After the murder of a local B&B owner, Willow’s newest championship-bound client (actually the dog would be the champion-bound one) is suspected of the murder. Willow is sure she didn’t do it, so she sets out to find out who else may have wanted the woman dead. Her sister, Wednesday, was still working at the police department, but she seemed to be slacking a lot in her day job due to an assignment she got from a social news site. Then there was the matter of wanting to date again, and trying to figure out where she stood with Griffin, her high school friend and contractor. Tele got to save the day again in the showdown with the killer, who eventually confessed.

The book had opened with so many things going wrong for Willow, but I was pleased to find that it closed on a very happy note! Let’s just say she’s had an epiphany about dating! I’m really enjoying this series from the story itself to the adorable cover artwork.

I was able to enjoy this book a little early due to receiving an advance copy from the author as part of her ARC team. I would like to say thanks for that! I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.

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Support Your Local Pug–review

August 24, 2018August 24, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the second book in the Pet Palace series by Lane Stone. I had only recently discovered this series and after reading the first one, I was hoping to find the second one. Imagine my surprise when I was able to request this second book from NetGalley and read it earlier than its release date (August 28, 2018). I really enjoy reading about Sue and her friends, who live in a real place, Lewes DE. Wags the Pug sounded adorable too!

My Goodreads review:

Support Your Local Pug by Lane Stone

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this second installment in this series, especially the cute Pug that turned out to be central in the story line. I got to visit Lewes, DE again on pages, but the more I hear about it, the more I would love to visit it for real, since unlike a lot of cozy mystery settings, it’s a real place.

What starts out as a murder mystery for Sue and her business partner/new friend Lady Anthea, may also turn into a case of dognapping. With her good friend the police chief John Turner somewhat approving of what she investigates this time, Sue has to make herself think that their good friend Rick’s father, Martin, may be guilty–of something. Sue can’t bring herself to think Martin could commit murder. He was such a character! He would only talk to Sue, and give fake answers as well as fake cry when John interrogated him. Martin was a good comic relief. Now to find a killer who may or may not know where Sue lives without getting herself killed first!

This was another good mystery, a little bit confusing at times, but it all sorted itself out towards the end. There were lots of things to wrap up and I was glad to find that everything was taken care of and explained at the end. Will John ever get his elusive date with Sue? I guess we’ll just have to keep reading and find out! I saw that there’s a third book coming next May and while it seems like a long wait, I noticed that the first and second books also had the same amount of time in between. I had only discovered the series recently, so I didn’t have to wait long to read this book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher and would like to thank them for letting me take care of my Pet Palace fix a little early. Release date is August 28, 2018.

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City of Lies–Victoria Thompson

August 21, 2018August 21, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the first historical cozy mystery in the Counterfeit Lady series by well-known author of Gaslight Mysteries, Victoria Thompson. I probably would never have thought to read it had it not been for another online book club I’m in. I never really thought I’d enjoy historical very much, but this was interesting as well as entertaining. I have to say it’s the most unusual job for a protagonist that I’ve read about so far! I am really anxious to keep reading in this series and hope I get approved from NetGalley to read the second book before it comes out in November.

My Goodreads review:

City of Lies by Victoria Thompson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have to say this is the most different occupation I’ve come across for a sleuth, making a living by being a grifter who cheats their way through life and encounters danger at just about every turn–especially when they make their mark angry. It was a well-written and plotted mystery though, as well as compelling. I got to know Elizabeth and her two friends that she got sent to jail with and cared about what happened to them. I had no idea all these awful things happened during women’s suffrage in our country and how some of those women actually did suffer and die for their rights. It was interesting to read in the back of the book after it ended that the women’s stay in the workhouse was based on some real life events.

The author painted the perfect bad guy in Thornton. I really wanted to see him get ruined for the way he treated everyone, especially females, so I loved how the sting finally ended, it was really epic! Even little shy Anna got to play an important part in it. There was a really good twist in the scheme that had me even fooled for a little while.

I haven’t read many other historical mysteries but this is the first that didn’t have a current murder to solve. They were mainly focused on the sting operation and making sure the bad guy paid and it was interesting to get to that point. The book didn’t end with a cliffhanger, but it did end in such a way that I definitely would like to read the next one and see what characters and situations might carry on in that book.

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