cozy mystery – Page 82 – Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery

Crafts, Crimes and Country Clubs–review

January 18, 2018January 18, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the 8th book in the Craft Circle series by Stacey Alabaster. This is actually the first one of it I’ve read but I liked the characters so I want to start at the beginning.

My Goodreads review:

Crafts, Crimes, and Country Clubs by Stacey Alabaster

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

George aka Georgina and her police boyfriend Ryan are headed to a relaxing three day ski resort when he’s called onto duty. He storms back to the police station to argue that he was supposed to be off for three days and comes back satisfied. Later in their room at the resort, a call comes in that Ryan’s not so popular boss, Det. Nicholas, was murdered so this interrupts their weekend for good. A neighboring police force is called in since the entire force in Pottsville is considered suspects until proven otherwise.

In the meantime, a woman has set up a crafts stall right in front of George’s craft shop. Her employee, Brenda, is livid and looks into getting the woman ousted since she most likely doesn’t even have a license to be there.

Suspecting Det. Nicholas’s wife of murdering him, George decides to go undercover to get herself into an exclusive ladies’ group that the wife is in. When one of the women takes a spill outside, George gets worried that she might be found out and be next!

Admittedly this is the first of this series that I’ve read but I do want to go to the beginning and find out how George and Ryan happened to get together, find out more about the craft shop itself.

This book was really good as it had a very unexpected twist to it that I never would have guessed! I did read an advance copy of the book but wasn’t able to post reviews till today. But I pre-ordered a copy as well.

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The Snowman Killer–review

January 16, 2018January 16, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the first book in the Alaska Cozy series written by Wendy Meadows. I had been curious about it for awhile and conveniently, it gives me a state I need for the Literary Escapes challenge.

Wendy Meadows writes several series and her books are just the right length if you want to finish them in one sitting or less than two hours. This one was fun and creepy!

My Goodreads review:

The Snowman Killer by Wendy Meadows

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had been wanting to start this series so I thought what better to read on a cold, snowy day than a book like this, right? It’s the perfect two hours or less type read and this one definitely kept me reading and not wanting to put it down.

I enjoyed the backstory of the protagonist, Sarah, who is an ex-detective from Los Angeles and has relocated after a divorce to Snow Fall, Alaska. She happens to have a good friend, Amanda, who has relocated from London to Snow Falls so since Amanda’s husband is away, she’s staying with Sarah. Little did Amanda know they’d be walking right into a mystery involving the plot of one of the books that Sarah writes under the name of Milly Stevens.

A new detective has been assigned to Snow Falls, Det. Conrad Spencer. He is also trying to track down his ex-wife’s killer and said he might be calling on Sarah to help since she’s a former detective who was known for cracking a lot of cases, one of which they had unknowingly worked on together.

This was a fast and fun mystery, lots of twists. Just when you think you know something, think again! There are quite a lot of characters for such a short book but I got to knowing and liking the main ones.

I like how it draws the reader into the next story with a little bit of a teaser. The main plot is definitely solved but now I’m curious to start the second one. I think it might just be the next one I borrow from Kindle Unlimited!

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When the Grits Hit the Fan–review

January 16, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the third book in the Country Store series by Maddie Day. It was kind of fun reading about a secret tunnel in Robbie’s building. You’ll have to read it and find out where it leads!

My Goodreads review:

When the Grits Hit the Fan by Maddie Day

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It’s February and Robbie Jordan has gone three whole months without finding a body or experiencing a murder in South Lick. She’s just fine with that. Since winter started, she gave herself another day off each week and started on the demolition of the upstairs of the building she bought, hoping to someday turn it into rooms for a bed and breakfast.

But this is short-lived when she and her cyclist friend Lou find the body of a not so well liked professor and local guy named Charles. He was in the frozen lake under an ice fishing hole. Detective Octavia is back in this book as well so she’s taken over the case. Buck tried to keep Robbie up to date but there’s not a whole lot he can tell her. Robbie still investigates despite a warning note found in her barn that got broken into.

I can’t really dislike Octavia for doing her job so I wasn’t too upset to see her return. I like the turn that Robbie and Abe’s relationship has taken. I think one of my favorite parts was when Robbie got Buck to explore a secret tunnel with her. It was almost like something out of an old Nancy Drew book which Robbie and Danna talked about later.

This time I really wasn’t sure about the killer due to some clever red herrings the author put in but it was fun to see it play out. The take down was really exciting and there was some good closure to a couple of other side mysteries. Now I’m all caught up and ready for the next book in this series!

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Grilled for Murder–review

January 15, 2018January 15, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the second book in the Country Store series by Maddie Day. The series is set in fictional South Lick, IN which is in Brown County. It had been awhile since I read the first one so I wanted to get up to speed by the time the next one comes out in a couple of weeks.

My Goodreads review:

In anticipation of book 4 in this series, I decided to read this one and will follow up with the next one. I had read an excerpt the author provided and wanted to make sure I was completely up to date on the characters before reading the new one coming out this month.

I loved returning to South, Lick IN. It’s after Thanksgiving and people are starting to think about Christmas. One of the local girls, Erica, had returned home a few months ago so her parents threw a homecoming party at Robbie’s cafe and store. The guest of honor was not a well-liked person by anyone except her parents but quite a few people showed up for the food and festivities. Next morning, Robbie finds Erica dead by her pickle barrel.

Since there is no lack of suspects in this case, Robbie knows it will be a hard one to crack but she’s not too anxious to come face to face with another murderer. The state police are called in this time so Buck, the sheriff and sort of father figure to Robbie can’t really share all that he’d like to about the investigation so he just good-naturedly tells her to be careful and let the state people do their job.

Robbie and Jim’s relationship changes at this point but I won’t go into details. They still seem happy. Abe pitches in some more and something else is revealed about him as well.

This time I actually did guess the killer! But I credit the author for planting the right clues. It was still fun to read about the take down which was excellent. Let’s just say Robbie’s self-defense class came in handy!

Everyone gathered in the store to hear Robbie tell about it and the phone call she received was truly in the spirit of a Christmas wish coming true.

Purr M for Murder–review

January 14, 2018January 14, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the first in the Cat Rescue series by T.C. (Toni) LoTempio. The second one is coming out soon so since I had this book on hand, I wanted to be caught up for the second one. Isn’t the cat on the cover adorable? He’s Toby, the cat who is searching for his perfect human to settle down with.

My Goodreads review:

Purr M for Murder by T.C. LoTempio

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh my goodness, this was a good one! I loved the whole idea of pet rescue, mainly cat rescue for the sake of the series and how long time resident of the cat shelter, Toby, was searching for just his perfect human.

Sydney (Syd) McCall has returned home to Deer Park, NC after finding her secretary and fiance (who was also the boss’s son) having an affair. She quit that job and came to work as promotions manager for her sister, Kat, at the Friendly Paws animal shelter. The event they are working on is a cat cafe hosted at Dayna’s Sweet Shop (formerly the McCall family cafe). For a fee, customers can go to an area away from the cafe itself and hang out with cats for a couple of hours and hopefully end up adopting one or two of them.

Trowbridge Littleton is the rich guy in town who make Scrooge look like Santa Claus. He’s upsetting all the merchants in the area by threatening to raise their rent, he’s opposing the cat cafe and rumor has it he is trying to shut down the animal shelter. That is, until someone shuts him down for good. Unfortunately the ones to find him are none other than Kat and Syd so without any other suspects at the moment, the police have them as their top persons of interest.

In the meantime, Detective Will Worthington is getting reacquainted with Syd since they went to school together. She’s able to get little tidbits out of him now and then concerning the murder but when he’s with his senior partner, Detective Hank Bennington, he clams up and is nothing but business.

Syd’s good friend that she’s rooming with, Leila, is a local reporter so together they try to see what they can find out so that the police can start to suspect someone else besides Kat since Kat unfortunately and accidentally spouted out what was taken as a warning to Littleton when he was at the cafe earlier.

Toby, the adorable orange cat who originally was a wanderer, has a big role at the end of the book and anyone reading it will just love it. With his help, Syd solves the murder, manages to escape with her life intact and scores a date with Will. The take down was pretty exciting. I hadn’t guessed who the killer was until the reveal came since there were some great twists and characters who could have been the perp.

I heard the next book in the series is coming soon and I can’t wait to read it!

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Killer Apple Pie–review

January 13, 2018January 13, 2018 Tari Hann

This is a newer series called Pies and Pages by well-known Carolyn Q. Hunter so since it features two of my favorite things, pies and a bookstore, I just had to check it out.

My Goodreads review:

Killer Apple Pie by Carolyn Q. Hunter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this first book of a new series, Pies and Pages. It was a fun change too. The protagonist, Bert Hannah is in her 60s, widowed and decides to start a brand new business. The detective in charge is also about that age so maybe there will be a little interest going on, who knows? 😉

Bert Hannah loves baking pies and always uses her favorite out of print cookbook. When she accidentally dunks it in water, she pays a visit to a used bookstore which is the one she ends up buying. Her old friend Brinkley owns it and is up to his eyeballs in debt so he’s happy to sell to her. Later they sign the deal but the next day she finds him dead in his office.

The detective in charge almost acts like he suspects either Bert or Kyle, the youngish landlord of some of the shops. Bert just knows it’s neither one of them so she is determined to find someone else who might be a suspects. Possibly a local investor named Marc? Or could it be grumpy customer Pearl who always wanted to buy Brinkley’s not for sale family Macbeth?

This was a fun and fairly quick read. I honestly read it in one sitting because I just couldn’t stop. It was a pretty simple mystery and I had an idea of who might have done it but I wasn’t completely sure until the author chose to reveal. I’m looking forward to reading more in the series. The characters were likable and I think even the detective is coming around and not going to be such a grump. Pies and a bookstore, you can’t go wrong with this one!

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Deadly Deals and Donuts–review

January 13, 2018January 13, 2018 Tari Hann

This book is the first book in the Donut Truck series by Cindy Bell. I liked this one a lot better than one other one I read by her. I knew she was a good author so it’s possible that it was just the mystery of the other book I didn’t get into. This one was very good and I plan to keep getting these from Kindle Unlimited.

My Goodreads review:

Deadly Deals and Donuts by Cindy Bell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve had this book from Kindle Unlimited for awhile so I finally got around to reading it and I’m really glad I did! I loved the idea of a donut truck and also thought it was really fun that one of the owners is Brenda, a mom with a little girl and a husband and the other owner is Joyce, a 60-something widow of a police officer. Which is basically what makes Joyce so interested in investigating.

Joyce and Brenda are going about their business of getting their donut food truck going and hoping to be noticed eventually so they’ll be able to take part in some of the town activities as a concessions truck. Joyce literally trips over a dead body by the neighboring hot dog truck which turns out to be Adam, the truck’s owner.

Lots of shady characters abound, including Vince, a local guy rumored to have been into drugs. But it’s not drugs this time that seems to have gotten yet another one of the food truck owners murdered. Charlie, Brenda’s reporter husband, is worried about her and Joyce if there’s some maniac out there offing the food truck vendors. Joyce and Brenda do most of the investigating together but Joyce goes out on her own a time or two. She has the extra confidence of having had a police officer, Davey, as her late husband.

This was really a good, smooth moving mystery that kept my attention the whole time. There weren’t a lot of unnecessary details but there were lots of likable characters and several suspects and motives. It had just enough twists to keep me from figuring out who the killer was until the author revealed it.

Oh and just a side note, I thought the idea of a pet bunny (Joyce’s pet, Molly) was so adorable. Usually in cozies, it’s a cat or dog so it was just a fun little outside the box idea I guess to have a pet rabbit. Joyce and Brenda worked so well together, almost like mother and daughter and Charlie was an amazing and supportive, yet protective husband. I liked Detective Crackle more than I sometimes like the officer in charge. He was still advising them not to investigate but he at least wasn’t out and out rude with them. I’m anxious to keep reading on in this series!

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Crime and Cupcakes–review

January 13, 2018January 13, 2018 Tari Hann

This is a first in the series Des and Dee Culinary Cozy by Susan D. Baker. It’s the perfect things to read if you only have an hour or so to spend. I really enjoyed it and will be interested in seeing when the next book comes out.

My Goodreads review:

Crime and Cupcakes by Susan D. Baker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fun and quick mystery. The mystery itself was well constructed. Some of the writing was a little different from what I’m used to but sometimes it’s nice to be able to read a book quickly and simpler-constructed language definitely helps there.

Twin sisters Des and Dee have purchased a restaurant in their home town. This has been their dream for a long time so it’s finally come true. Sadly, the woman they bought from has passed away but the girls are convinced it’s murder. Especially since there’s a man who is planning to build a multi million dollar and has been buying up properties, having one of his employees nearly strong arm people into complying.

All clues point to one person until another person ends up dead. Is someone killing the business owners who refuse to sell out?

Sure some things were predictable but it was still fun. I honestly didn’t guess who the killer was and felt there were enough plot twists to keep me interested.

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The Root of All Evil–review

January 13, 2018January 13, 2018 Tari Hann

This was hilarious book 2 in the Glock Grannies series by Shannon VanBergen. I had read the first one last year and was anxious to get around to reading this one.

Here’s my Goodreads review:

The Root of All Evil: A Glock Grannies Cozy Mystery by Shannon VanBergen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

These grannies are so hilarious! It’s like the Golden Girls turned vigilante. I had read the first book and thought it was good but this one was even better. I was glad when the author released the second one later last year. I only wish I had gotten around to reading it sooner.

The Grannies think that someone is targeting older men in their town so they’re determined to get to the bottom of it. Of course Detective Owen doesn’t want them interfering since one man has already been killed and a little later another one is nearly killed. This doesn’t stop them, of course.

Can the Grannies get this one solved in time for Nikki and Grandma Dean to open their Hello, Beautiful shop? Give it a read and see! It’s a quick and fun read, some good twists and even though it was a very easy to follow mystery, I didn’t guess who the killer was.

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Vangie Vale and the Murdered Macaron-review

January 12, 2018 Tari Hann

This was an interesting mystery by R.L. Syne, #1 in the Matchbaker series. Matchbaker is someone who matches people to food by observing them or reading them. Since the main character, Vangie, is a minister, she has a pretty good handle on what makes people tick so she’s usually right. It wasn’t actually her idea to do the matchbaker thing. Her sister thought of it for marketing purposes in selling to tourists.

I really enjoyed reading the Afterword in this book and I think you will too. Right after the end of the book is the yummy macaron recipe but if you keep reading, you’ll see some notes and insight from the author herself, who is actually a minister. Not many books have Afterwords. This one’s is worth reading. Now onto my Goodreads review:

Vangie Vale and the Murdered Macaron by R.L. Syme

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Vangie is a part time minister who has a bakery cafe…and a secret so she needs to keep her nose clean and stay out of the news. She also lives next door to the sheriff who can’t seem to stand her because she uses one tiny little part of his property for making cell phone calls since she can’t get any coverage inside her house.

When a local murder is somehow linked to her bakery, Vangie sets out to investigate what turns out to be a fairly complicated case with lots of suspects and twists. I know I never saw it coming when I found out who the killer was.

It never came out and said what infraction Vangie had against her from her old assignment but whatever it was, she is in Saint Agnes parish in Montana on a sort of probationary period. It was imperative that this murder and any link to her bakery be kept out of the media and press.

This was a well written mystery although in some parts I was getting a little lost in details. There were a lot of interesting characters and the one that hits me as most interesting was biker Derek because it just seemed such a comical mismatch in a way to have a minister and a biker sidekick who was totally comfortable with the whole breaking and entering part of investigating. But just because he’s got a record, doesn’t mean Derek is a totally bad person. I ended up liking him quite a bit and I hope he appears in the next book.

The main murder and mysteries were solved but there was one thing left hanging so I hope it gets wrapped up in the next book. I won’t spoil it by saying what it is.

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