cozy mystery – Page 75 – Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery

Chili con Corpses–review

June 20, 2018June 20, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the third book in the Supper Club series by well-known author Ellery Adams. Last month I had jumped out of series order a little to read the fifth in the series but I went right back to where I needed to be by reading this book. It does help explain some things in book five or at least gave me a little insight into things that happen in book five. The author does a good job of catching readers up just in case they do read these as a standalone though. I always love the very relatable characters in this series and their unique friendship that stands whether or not they’re actively working on weight loss.

My Goodreads review:

Chili con Corpses by Ellery Adams

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In this installment, our Flab Five friends have decided to take a cooking class one day a week as their break from all the constant dieting they’d been doing. Lucy was working hard to pass the last leg of the deputy’s exam which caused a big change in James and Lucy’s relationship. He found himself drawn to Murphy Alistair, the newspaper editor who in the past hadn’t been a very nice person to them but in this book, she sort of became the 6th person in their supper club. When one of the teachers at Lindy’s school was murdered during a cave field trip, the state police were called in but the friends decided to do what they did best together, figure out who the killer was. I loved how they set up a sting operation at the end. I had suspected the person who ended up as the killer but didn’t know the reason till the clues all were revealed and fell into place.

Since meeting Milla, who ran the cooking class, James thought bringing her around to meet his dad would be a good idea and it was. Jackson seemed to enjoy how she liked spoiling him with her cooking and he seemed a little less reclusive. I really like Milla and since I read ahead a few books a few months ago, I am happy about what happens eventually. I got a kick out of Bennett’s New Year’s resolution to try out for Jeopardy, he definitely knows a lot of trivia.

What made this seem so realistic was Lucy sort of pulling away from everyone for awhile to devote time to working out and passing the deputy exam. In real life, friend groups always experience that. They have their ups and downs. I like how all these people are always willing to accept the strayed friend back or welcome new friends. Murphy was just seeming too good to be true so it’ll be interesting to see what happens next. She was very useful in helping to solve this mystery though. Relationships are never perfect so I think it’s pretty true to life how she and James’ relationship tends to fade.

On to book four now!

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Pawprints & Predicaments

June 19, 2018June 19, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the third book in the Lucky Paws Pet Sitting series by Bethany Blake, which is another one of my favorite series since there are so many dogs in it. I like cats in books but I can’t say I’m a fan of Daphne’s adopted cat, Tinkleston, since he’s like an attack kitty most times. I do love little Artie the chihuahua though and in this book we got to meet another big old sweetie, Bernie, the St. Bernard. This was a fun book to read while the temperature was in the 90s where I live. I can look outside and think “wow I’m glad I’m not freezing like the people in this book!” 😉

The 4th book (which I’ve already pre-ordered) is “A Midwinter’s Tail” and shows an adorable Pug on the cover! Can’t wait to find out whose pup he is! It releases in November!

My Goodreads review:

Pawprints & Predicaments by Bethany Blake

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I always love returning to Sylvan Creek to visit with Daphne and her dog Socrates that lives up to his philosopher name.

It was January and the annual Tail Waggin’ Winterfest was underway along with Daphne trying to get her pet bakery grand opening set up. When she discovered the body of a TV executive in the water during the polar plunge, there was no shortage of suspects and Daphne was worried that she’d be tossed into that mix if she didn’t do something to help find the real killer. It wasn’t much help when her friend Jonathan the detective removed himself from the case since his ex-wife happened to be one of the suspects. There were a lot of great twists and turns to get to the killer, which in this case I definitely hadn’t guessed. I love how Socrates got to help at the end, which wrapped up with the eventual pet bakery grand opening.

As always, Artie the hyper chihuahua stole my heart with his adorable love of clothes and how he is always so happy. That little guy just seems so cute, I want to hug him, slobber and all. He had a very interesting costume this time for the Cardboard Iditarod parade at the Winterfest. I liked the new dog character, Bernie, too. He was St. Bernard that just happened to show up and pull the body from the lake which carried the legend of a ghost St. Bernard. Bernie was definitely real, all 10 gallons of slobber and probably 200 pounds of dog. I love how his story turned out as well. Tinks, the badly behaved cat that Daphne adopted in the last book was not too thrilled with her fostering Bernie for awhile.

I’ve heard there are definitely more books coming in this series but I’m happy to be caught up for now and (not so) patiently wait for the next! If you love pets…and some great recipes for them which can be found at the end of the book…you’ll love this series.

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The Diva Cooks Up a Storm–review

June 17, 2018June 17, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the eleventh book in the Domestic Diva series by well-known author, Krista Davis. She also writes another of my favorite series, Paws and Claws. I am determined to read more of this series but as of now, I’ve only read this one and the fourth book, a Halloween theme mystery. She tells a great story, adds in a little history and always has some good plot twists!

My Goodreads review:

The Diva Cooks up a Storm by Krista Davis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was only the second Diva book that I’ve read but I absolutely loved it! Krista Davis has an amazing way to weave a really interesting mystery with some history and lots of great characters who could be suspects. Even though I had only read one other book, it didn’t take me long to get to know the characters so this could totally be read as a stand alone if anyone wanted to. Although the person who dies would be a bit of a spoiler if you decide to go back and read the other books. I’m still going to read those books since I don’t know how many of them this person is in and that doesn’t really bother me since they were fairly minor. I did remember the name from the Halloween book though.

When a neighbor of Sophie’s is afraid he’s being poisoned and then he ends up dead, Sophie has to wonder if his trophy wife really did do this as everyone else in town seems to think. She ended up spending time with this wife and really felt like the woman couldn’t have killed her husband. Sophie all but told the woman she’d look into things, hopefully without getting herself killed. When another body is found by Sophie and Nina, everyone gets a little more nervous.

I loved how even though Sophie has a bestie named Nina, that she’s not the only one that tries to solve mysteries with her. Sophie actually had a nice group of friends even including her ex-husband to sit around the dinner table with and discuss the possibilities of who did what. I like that they have a friendly relationship and even share custody of the dog, Daisy. I honestly don’t remember a lot about the regulars from the Halloween book but I really do like the character of Francie who seemed to be the oldest of the friends and the voice of reason. And I of course didn’t forget about Natasha who really thinks she’s a diva and a sort of friendly rival with Sophie and the event planning. Natasha was good for some great comedy relief!

There were plenty of suspects and I’m really glad that some of them didn’t end up as the killer. I really never guessed it but I had suspicions about someone all along although I wasn’t sure why. The show down was delightfully unusual too. As it turned out, two people were actually after Sophie and they were caught. The actual book ending was a lot of fun, friends and neighbors gathered around and another couple of friends made a little love connection! You’ll just have to read it and find out. I am eventually going to get through all these books but I just couldn’t resist the chance to read this ARC provided by the publisher and NetGalley. My review is voluntary and my opinions are my own (disclaimer)

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Secrets and Pies–review

June 16, 2018June 16, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the third book in the Callie’s Kitchen series. Now I’m caught up and anxiously waiting for book 4! These characters are just so awesome!

My Goodreads review:

Secrets and Pies by Jenny Kales

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really loved this latest book in the series! Callie and Ian are in a good place with their relationship, Callie’s pretty much come to terms with her ex and his new wife living a couple blocks away and once again, you can see just what awesome family ties there are in this series, not only with actual family but employees as well.

It was summer in Crystal Bay and business was booming for Callie’s Kitchen. Callie was involved making tons of food for the annual Greek Fest as well as handling concessions that her grandma Viv got her involved in for the Chamber of Commerce’s Beats by the Bay, a summer concert series. When Callie found a friend dead at an old house, she was devastated as was Olivia who made her mom promise to find the killer. This time Callie got Max to help her do some investigating which was almost as funny as when she went with her grandma in the first book. Max was having some personal issues and had to give Callie some bad news. George came in to help with the huge amounts of customers they’d been getting. Callie’s investigating nearly got her killed (again) but thanks to long-ago bootleggers she got the situation well in hand! The showdown with the killer was tense for awhile though! I had definitely not seen that person coming.

Everything worked out great, the ending was wrapped up nicely and Callie got a very nice surprise as well. I’ll leave it at that and you’ll just have to read it to find out! 😉 I’m so anxious for the next book to come out! I’ve really grown close to all these characters, who could not love George, the old teddy bear, who loves his daughter and granddaughter like crazy. His relationship started in the previous book seemed to be going well and I was glad everyone was on board with that. Sweetie was mentioned but I’m still hoping she pops up in another book (see book two if you don’t know who Sweetie is) I had to leave Crystal Bay pretty reluctantly knowing there isn’t yet a book to follow but I am sure there will be, hopefully soon.

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Spiced and Iced–review

June 15, 2018June 15, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the second book in the Callie’s Kitchen cozy mystery series by Jenny Kales. I had read the first one back in April and decided it was time to visit Crystal Bay again even though it was Christmas there. The characters were so memorable that I had no problem remembering things about them from the first book.

My Goodreads review:

Spiced and Iced by Jenny Kales

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this Christmas themed mystery, maybe even more since where I live it’s warm and sunny today and looking outside, I don’t have to see snow lol. I enjoy Christmas themes anyway and reading about it in this awesome Greek family was just a lot of fun. The first book was set a few months before this one and since then, Callie had started seeing the police detective, Ian Sands. Her dad got a new love interest in this story which was interesting and comical at times.

Callie was supplying the cookies for a bridal shower held at the local English Country Inn. The events planner had arranged for her to do that but Callie didn’t have to worry about staying and serving. Later when Callie found that her colleague had been murdered, of course her dad and Ian were worried for her safety and she was actually worried too. It didn’t stop her from wanting to get to the bottom of things. During her investigation, she found a couple of secrets about other inn employees as well. It was pretty funny reading how her Grandma Viv and her cousin/aunt from Greece known as Sweetie had tried to snoop into the case as well. Callie worried about their safety, but as Max said, Viv could probably give Jessica Fletcher some pointers.

Callie’s ex-husband and his new wife, Hugh and Raine are a small part of this book. I like that Callie has been able to deal with their marriage but she was having some issues with them coming to Crystal Bay to live even though she realized that Olivia would love having her dad live close by. Everything worked out in the end, which by the way, was pretty epic since Callie got to chase someone down with a snowplow. I can somehow picture that happening in a mystery on TV.

I still just love the character of Grandma Viv. She’s just everything a family would want in a grandma. She’s got their best interests and safety at heart without thinking about her own. And Sweetie was a hoot too! She enjoyed coming to Wisconsin for a real white Christmas but was glad to be returning to Greece by New Year’s since she missed the warm weather. It would be fun if she turned up in another book. I can see her with Viv doing more investigating for Callie lol.

I’ll be moving on to the third book soon! I really enjoy this series and also the yummy recipes found at the end of the book!

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Clammed Up–review

June 13, 2018June 13, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the first book in the poplar Maine Clambake, written by Maine native, Barbara Ross. I was so glad to have a nudge in getting this series started. Another book club I’m in on Facebook is discussing the book this weekend. Now I know why people are so crazy about this series!

My Goodreads review:

Clammed Up by Barbara Ross

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I finally got to start this series that I’ve been collecting and I really enjoyed this first book! I’m definitely looking forward to reading the rest. I probably won’t be caught up by the time the latest one comes out, but at least I have a start at it!

Julia Snowden quit her job in Manhattan to come home and help her brother-in-law Sonny salvage the Snowden Family Clambake in Busman’s Harbor, Maine. Her dad had passed five years ago but she found out after living with her mom after she got back, that she hadn’t really gotten over it too well. The new clambake season was just getting started with a clambake for a wedding when the body of the best man was found hanging in the mansion that stood on the island. Later, after being allowed to open in a day, a fire had started on the mansion’s porch so they were closed again. Since the business was already on shaky ground and the police couldn’t tell her when they’d be back open, Julia took it on herself to start investigating and hopefully find out who killed Ray the best man. If she couldn’t do that soon, she had a feeling that the clambake would have to close for good.

I really enjoyed getting to know all these characters! I think one of my favorites was Gus, the owner of the local diner who only allowed locals in. It didn’t seem like a very profitable way to do business but I guess that was just Gus. He didn’t have a lot to say but when he did, what he said was meaningful. I wasn’t sure if I liked the character of Sonny or not (he’s married to Livvie, Julia’s sister) but by the end of the book, he did seem like a more friendly and likable person. Some people in this mystery weren’t what they seemed to be at all as I found out towards the end which was pretty exciting. Everything was well-explained since it ended with a special clambake for all the local friends and police.

I’ll definitely be reading the rest of the series!

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Death at First Sight–review

June 7, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the first book in the Bay Island Psychic series by Lena Gregory. I had read and reviewed her newest series’ All Day Breakfast Cafe first book “Scone Cold Killer” back in January and really enjoyed that one.

I’ve had this book for awhile but what helped me get kick-started into this series is that a group of twelve awesome authors known as the Cozy Mystery Crew on Facebook, have put together a Summer Reading list and a special group just for that, summer reading. Participants read (for this club anyway) only books written by the crew of twelve (a fair request, I think, it’s their club). They provided a list made on Goodreads of thirty-four books we can pick from. The best part is that if we’ve already read any of the books on the list so far this calendar year, we can count them. There will be an online party with giveaways for anyone participating. I always love an excuse to whittle away at my TBR! 😉 I might not make it through all the books on the list but I’ll give it a good try and finishing them all isn’t the authors’ goals anyway.

The picture is of a Leonbarger dog which is what Beast in the story is. I found one as close to the cover of the book as I could.

My Goodreads review:

Death at First Sight by Lena Gregory

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had a feeling I would enjoy this book and I was right–and I’m not even a psychic lol. I thought it was a fun concept that a former psychiatrist has taken on acting the part of a psychic and more times than not, she uses her intuition and training to read people than something truly mystical.

Cass Donovan was minding her own business working her own little business and helping out good friend Bee Maxwell with his upcoming fashion show rehearsals when she discovered the body of Marge, a very disagreeable woman that she’d just had a public argument with. Cass had done a reading for Marge’s daughter, Ellie and Marge was livid about it. Sheriff Langdon immediately pinned the murder on her but somehow wasn’t going to arrest her. Cass needed to get to the bottom of the case and clear her name before she ended up in jail for something she didn’t do. That’s where her two best friends, Stephanie (who happened to be married to a tough but nice officer named Tank) and Bee, the guy having the fashion show.

I really like all these main characters! Cass has two of the very best friends in the world in Steph and Bee. They’re loyal and kind, even though as a police officer’s wife, Steph feels she has to warn Cass about investigating. Bee was such a hoot, very flamboyant and dramatic as well as hilarious. I liked the newcomer to town, Luke, who seemed to have a few secrets of his own that I won’t spoil. You’ll just have to read and find out. Oh and who could forget Beast, who was very well named by Cass and her friends. He was really just a sweet puppy but he could be protecting when he needed to be.

The end twist was pretty epic. I sure never saw it coming and the whole showdown was really awesome. I never would have guessed the killer in a million years, great plot twist. Everything got explained and worked out well at the end. I have the next two books so I’m definitely going to be reading them over the course of this summer.

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Too Many Crooks Spoil the Plot–review

June 7, 2018June 7, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the first book in a brand new series launched on May 29, written by Sarah Osborne. If this book is any indication of the books to follow, I literally can’t wait for the next books, that’s how much I enjoyed this one! I read it fairly straight through only stopping for meals. Hope everyone else enjoys it as much as I did!

The picture above is what I imagined Hermione, the German Shepherd/collie mix of Ditie’s, looked like.

My Goodreads review:

Too Many Crooks Spoil the Plot by Sarah Osborne

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was such a good start for a brand new series! And it was well-titled too because there were definitely a LOT of crooks in this story, or at least suspects!

Ditie Brown was a pediatrician working at a refugee children’s clinic in Atlanta, GA when her childhood friend Ellie asked her to watch her own two kids for a few days. When Ellie ended up murdered, Ditie knew she had to protect these kids. With the help of her best friend Lurleen and her new detective friend, Mason, Ditie had to keep moving the kids around to keep them safe and that made them all wonder just what sort of possible corporate espionage was going on at Sandler Soda. After three total deaths and Mason being removed from the case, it was looking more and more complicated. Ditie was wondering where in this puzzle did her brother Charlie fit in.

Everything eventually came together and got explained very satisfactorily at the end. I always like reading about what happens to some of the minor characters. I especially was happy to see Dan, the private investigator/ex-cop and Lurleen hitting it off as well as Mason and Ditie growing closer.

This book had the excitement I remember from thrillers but none of the creepy factor. It was fun and funny in some parts. Lurleen was such a character! Who wouldn’t want a best friend like her? She was great with the kids and loyal to a fault, which at one point Ditie was hoping wouldn’t also get her killed or hurt. Lurleen is one of my new favorite best friends in a series.

Mason’s mom, Eddie was awesome too. I really hope we get to see more of her in future books, ahem I think she makes fabulous mother-in-law material 😉 I love that she was an ex-cop and a sharpshooter as well. When Mason suggested staying at her house with the kids, he knew it would be safe as Fort Knox with his mom on watch. The two kids, Lucie (8) and Jason (4) were actually pretty nice kids and weren’t written as annoying brats or anything. Lucie was used to protecting her brother since they’d had a rough life with Ellie as their mom. (She was good to them but she had questionable friends.)

I never saw the killer coming at all, what a surprise! There were some great red herrings and plot twists. I enjoyed reading the sneak preview chapter at the end for the next book. There were also some of the yummy recipes that were made throughout the book since Lucie loved to cook and so did Ditie and Eddie.

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Flowers and Foul Play–review

June 4, 2018June 4, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the first book in a brand new series released on May 18 by Ohio-based author, Amanda Flower. I just love her Magical Bookshop series and was happy to find that this book has a lot of those same types of elements, even two pets that are at times at odds. Her caretaker has a pet squirrel that has a cute little personalty, sometimes a little stinker too since he likes to tease the cat, Ivanhoe.

I’m excited to read the next one in the series and was happy when I got approved by NetGalley to do that. I’m so tempted to start it soon but I do have a few I need to read first. Stay tuned!

My Goodreads review:

Flowers and Foul Play by Amanda Flower

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely loved this book! It has the elements that I enjoyed so much in the Magical Bookshop series but it was set in beautiful Scotland near the sea.

Fiona Knox’s uncle and godfather Ian MacCallister had left her his cottage and grounds. After a disastrous folding of her flower shop in Nashville, TN and losing her fiance to their cake decorator, Fiona had nothing left to lose. She packed herself up and went to Scotland only to find her uncle’s dead lawyer in the garden and the handsome chief inspector looking at the elderly caretaker as a person of interest. Fiona had to learn about the garden as well since a letter outlining everything from Ian was somehow lost in the mail or was living at her parents’ house. Trying to get police attention away from Hamish, take care of the magic garden which thrived beautifully now that she was there and questioning possible suspects took most of her first few days in Scotland.

I had suspected the person behind it but definitely didn’t know the motive behind it. The showdown was pretty exciting and the ending was very satisfying and sweet. I loved the last couple of sentences and had leaky eyes even though I had suspected that all along. I won’t spoil it, you’ll just have to read it and see! My favorite characters were Fiona of course, Hamish and Neil Craig, the chief inspector. Hamish had a few secrets but I also knew down deep he was a good man.

I’m hoping something definitely develops between Neil and Fiona. He really seemed to care about her as he gave her the usual warnings about investigating. I think he honestly was worried about her more than worried that she’d mess up his case. The character of the police chief was kind of a comic relief, at least to me. He was a volunteer and seemed so ridiculous I had to giggle at him once when he stormed into the pub saying if he’d been in charge of this murder, it would have been solved. I kind of pictured Constable George’s character on the Murdoch Mysteries, only with a little more bravery to his voice lol.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book provided by Crooked Lane via NetGalley. I’m anxious to read the next book and am happy to have been approved by the publisher to read and review it as well.

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Elementary, She Read–review

June 3, 2018June 3, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the first book in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series by Vicki Delany. Vicki is also known for her Year Round Christmas cozy mystery series, the first two of which I had read of her work until this past March when I read the third book in the Sherlock series. I had been wanting to get back to this first book which did help me to know and appreciate the main character, Gemma Doyle, so much better. I’ll be moving on to the second book sometime this summer or fall because the fourth one comes out in November.

Vicki also writes as Eva Gates and will have a new Lighthouse Library coming out soon. I’ve been chosen by an online review club to receive a hardback to review.

My Goodreads review:

Elementary, She Read by Vicki Delany

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had only read the 3rd in this series so I definitely had to go to the beginning and see how it all started. Gemma is really very impressive with her observation skills, something that not a lot of people possess and I wish that the one police officer, Louise Estrada, would be nicer to her or at least I wish she’d treat her with a little more dignity than she does. Estrada’s partner, Ryan Ashburton, used to be involved with Gemma (would be interesting to read a prequel about that and when she very first came to the US) and I always figure Estrada is either jealous of that or that he got lead detective over her.

In this first case, Gemma found an old and valuable-looking Sherlock magazine in her store but when she and Jayne, her best friend, tried to return it to the woman, they found she was dead in her hotel room. Gemma of course is looked at as the prime and only suspect, especially in Estrada’s eyes. With her keen observation skills, Gemma is well suited for investigating and she figures if she’s going to prove herself innocent she’d better get started. Another body was found, Gemma felt like she was being followed and never mind that her house was broken into early on. Along with her sidekick Jayne and her date Robbie, Gemma managed to crack this case.

I definitely didn’t see the killer coming, what a good plot twist. Gemma is a little bit different than the usual sleuths in cozies seeing how she’s more formal and not really humorous but I still like her. She’s a fiercely loyal friend to have and she’s very intelligent. Jayne is really lucky to have a friend like that–and Gemma is lucky to have Jayne, her business partner and tea shop owner, for a friend as well. Some things weren’t always as they seemed in this book and I really enjoyed following the story and finding out how all the pieces fit together.

I’m hoping that in the future, Gemma and Ryan might be able to get back together and that Estrada will get over her not-very-niceness to Gemma. I’ll be moving along to the next book in the series in hopes of finishing before the 4th one comes out.

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