kensington cozies – Page 8 – Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery

Christmas Mittens Murder review

September 27, 2023 Tari Hann

‘Tis the season for Kensington Cozies’ annual murder-filled Christmas mysteries threesome, and this time two new series joined the usual mix. It’s led off by Hayley Powell and Death of a Christmas Knitter (#16.5) by Lee Hollis. Following is a first timer to the threesome, Lynn Cahoon with her story of Two Christmas Mittens from the Kitchen Witch series, #4.5. And finishing out the trio is a regular contributor to this set or the spring anthology, Maddie Day with Murderous Mittens, which is what I’m calling book #0.5 in her new Cece Barton series coming October 24. It introduced Cece and her twin sister, so now I’m really curious to jump on into the ARC I have for the first book but knowing me and trying to get everything done on time, I’ll make it wait its turn lol.

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My Goodreads review:

Christmas Mittens Murder by Lee Hollis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a good little collection of murderous mitten Christmas mysteries by some fave cozy mystery authors. The last was brand new and I’ll be reading the ARC of its first in series very soon. I liked Cam’s character a lot and thought she’d make a good sleuthing bestie for Cece if they didn’t live coasts apart.

The first mystery was my longtime fave Hayley Powell and I was pretty excited there were actually three Sergioisms even though it was a short story. Good old Sergio, I just love his character! And Mona’s especially a hoot at Christmas being her Scrooge-y self lol.

I love the Kitchen Witch series too and thought it was cool how Mia worked together with her Grans and Trent’s mom to rid her bestie and employee of a curse caused by what else…a mitten.

Festive small towns, family, friends and awesome food were also part of these stories and happen to be my favorite part of Christmas celebrations too.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Cozies via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

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Hanging by a Thread review

September 25, 2023September 25, 2023 Tari Hann

This is the second book in the Sewing Studio Mysteries by Dorothy Howell, and I’ve enjoyed both books so far and I’m hoping for a third. I guess it’s pretty relatable since I sew although I don’t sew for humans, just 18″ dolls that don’t move, change or complain, lol. By the end of the book, things were looking up for main character, Abbey, so I’m eager for her next adventure.

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My Goodreads review:

Hanging by a Thread by Dorothy Howell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’d forgotten a few things about the first book but it all came back as the characters interacted and the story unfolded. I had quite a few pieces of the puzzle figured out but not quite everything, although I like to believe I was right about the basic why of the murder. Once again, the sewing studio was a crucial place when the showdown started. I was going “Go Abbey!” You just never know what might come in handy in your sewing room if you encounter a killer.

The side mystery that Abbey was investigating for Imogen at the toy store had an unexpected and sweet outcome, and Abbey herself got something unexpected. Now I can’t wait to read more and see how all this works out.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Cozies via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

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Having a Fudgy Christmas Time review

September 21, 2023September 21, 2023 Tari Hann

Since this is technically a novella, I’m calling it #11.5 of the Candy-Coated Mysteries by Nancy CoCo, another fave cozy mystery author, and this book comes out next Tuesday, September 26, 2023. I loved how it’s from Carol Tunisian’s viewpoint which kinda seemed to be the fun switch the author’s always taken in her Christmas-themed books.

Anyone who’s read from the beginning, knows Carol as Mrs. Tunisian who always saw Allie with Mal and usually about the time when Mal sniffed out a body. Carol’s definitely come a long way from those times and much to Rex’s dismay, Allie’s taught Carol and the seniors on the island (aka Carol’s “book club” and yep, you say it with quotes ’cause that’s basically what it is lol) all she knows about amateur sleuthing, so let the sleuthing begin by picking up this novella when it comes out.

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My Goodreads review:

Having a Fudgy Christmas Time by Nancy CoCo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve really enjoyed how Carol’s character evolved over the last couple books and how really involved she was with the previous mystery, so I loved reading this novella from her viewpoint. The seniors made a great sleuthing team after one of their own was murdered at the senior center not that long before the Christmas Ball was supposed to happen.

Allie made a great mentor for Carol as Carol consulted with her a couple times. Carol really used her head when her own house was broken into, and I was glad to read the satisfying explanation that eventually came. It was a relief to know certain parties weren’t involved. And who knew Carol and her hubby were such an adorable couple? Can’t wait for the next book!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Cozies via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

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Death by a Thousand Sips review

August 31, 2023 Tari Hann

This is the second book in the Witches’ Brew Mysteries by Gretchen Rue. I really enjoyed the first one and was definitely not disappointed in this second book. Things were looking up for Phoebe, even the town meanie was being nice to her (later in the book), but first you gotta have the murder case. She had her old friend Rich to work on it with since this time she wasn’t suspecting him of murder, lol. I’m happy to see those two were getting closer together, ’cause hey, Bob the cat approves of Rich. And that’s saying a lot! This book releases September 5, 2023.

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My Goodreads review:

Death by a Thousand Sips by Gretchen Rue
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh my goodness, this was an awesome second book and I loved that Phoebe and Rich were getting close again. Phoebe’s employees are so awesome and I just love Amy and Honey, her neighboring shop friends. Honey’s really special since she can give Phoebe witchy advice no one else can.

There was one thing in the story that made me suspect something but it went away from my brain and resurfaced later. I had absolutely no idea of whodunit and that was some exciting showdown too! Thanks to Phoebe’s quick thinking, she didn’t have to end up as fish food or worse. The side story of opening a cate adoption center was starting to be a reality and Phoebe was really hoping she could talk their favorite older customer into adopting a nice cat from the shelter. Bob the cat as usual played a great part from when he sniffed out the dead body to when he inspired cat adoption. Ginger cats are pawsome! Don’t miss this book when it releases on September 5, 2023.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Cozies via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

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Murder at a Cape Bookstore review

August 25, 2023 Tari Hann

This is the fifth book in the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries by Maddie Day, author of the Country Store Mysteries as well under this writing name and also known as Edith Maxwell. I’ve read this series from the beginning and liked how it has a different job for a main character and a really different pet in Belle the African gray parrot. I’m not a fan of birds in real life, but fiction ones especially ones with Belle’s crazy and fun personality I can handle just fine. I love the Cape Cod setting and hope to go there someday.

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Murder at a Cape Bookstore by Maddie Day
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mac’s sure come a very long way from how she was in the first book. It looks like she’s learned not to obsess too much when she can’t have complete order or at least to accept help from people. Good old Belle the parrot’s still spouting off phrases she learns from conversations and continued to entertain the book club when they met at Mac’s house. I just love Grandma Reba, she’s such an awesome character and we got to meet a friend of hers who learned that anyone truly can get a bike from Mac’s Bikes and be comfortable riding it. That was a cool little side story.

Norland was the secondary character who was in the spotlight this time since he did some research on an old case he thought might have something to do with the current murder of their Chamber of Commerce director—an he’d been minding the shop when the director was killed in the bookstore. The guy had tons of secrets as did lots of other people but there’s usually only one killer, and Mac wasn’t stopping until she found her perp…or as it turned out, they found her. But Mac’s pretty darn kick butt when she needs to be and got the situation under control. I think she had some extra motivation knowing this perp was also after her pal Norland.

Food, friends and fellowship followed once everyone was okay again giving the kind of ending that’s just so fun with everyone hanging out and wrapping up the case. In light of Mac’s future plans and what she noticed about frenemy police officer Victoria, the next book should be pretty interesting!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Cozies via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

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Halloween Cupcake Murder review

August 23, 2023 Tari Hann

In this year’s annual Halloween mystery anthology, Kensington’s put together some more of their authors, and they just happened to be ones I’ve not read lately, so it was extra fun for me to catch up in these series. Being a series order nerd, I just had to number each story, so here goes:

Halloween Cupcake Murder-Carlene O’Connor, #2.5 Home to Ireland Mysteries-even though Goodreads is showing this as Irish Village #9.5, I beg to differ because it’s from her newer series, Home to Ireland. Tara Meehan’s the main character here and her boyfriend’s Danny. Tara moved there from New York City, so I’d be calling this one #2.5 in Home to Ireland Mysteries. But oddly enough, in the listing for the upcoming March anthology, this author’s book’s being called #2.5 there. Looks like I’ll need to grab a librarian friend at Goodreads to fix this.

Mrs. Claus and the Candy Corn Caper-Liz Ireland, #3.5 Mrs. Claus Mysteries-this was a super fun Halloween visit to Christmastown. See how the Christmas folks celebrate Halloween, something they didn’t know about until April came there. Cute and funny at times!

A Triple Layer Halloween Murder-Carol J. Perry, #12.5 Witch City Mysteries-this one kept me reading as a missing guy turned into a murdered guy. When the clues started coming together, I couldn’t read fast enough as Lee and Pete were getting their answers.

Have fun reading and don’t get too hungry with the awesome food and Halloween goodies the characters all enjoy!

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My Goodreads review:

Halloween Cupcake Murder by Carlene O’Connor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed each of these author’s takes on a Halloween cupcake murder, and it was fun to read stories from some series I hadn’t visited lately. It made me want to go read their latest book or the one I left off with. I quickly did remember who was who, so no worries if anyone’s not read any of these series. The authors did a great job of identifying characters but not giving away surprises from the regular series.

The whodunit in each one was a surprise for me and I loved how even though these were short stories, they had plenty of mystery and details to flesh it out. Always a pleasure reading the Halloween collection from this publisher!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Cozies via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

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Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant

July 31, 2023 Tari Hann

This is the fourth book in the Beacon Bakeshop Mysteries by Darci Hannah, and I’ve enjoyed this series from its beginning. The location’s amazing and I really like the main characters and how they sleuth together. The next book’s coming out in January, so here’s a peek at the cover and description from Amazon (I’m not an affiliate so go ahead and use the link to pre-order if you want.)

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My Goodreads review:

Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant by Darci Hannah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m liking this series more and more as I read it and the characters/relationships all grow and develop. That Teddy that Lindsey hired as her baking assistant’s such a hoot, and I just love his character! He’s what the shop needed, and I’m sure he and Lindsey’s dad had fun baking together and sharing dad jokes, lol.

It appeared the good Captain Riggs wasn’t too crazy about having his lightroom overrun with ghost hunters, but he still helped out in the end. I’ve always enjoyed this little touch of ghostiness, just enough for a cozy creep factor but nothing ever scary! Capt. Willy does seem like a protector ghost. While I hadn’t guessed the perp, it didn’t come as a huge surprise since that person was one of the perps on my list.

The showdown was tense and a little long but that made it super exciting–I couldn’t read fast enough to see how Lindsey and Kennedy were gonna get themselves out from this situation alive! Thanks to them, some others were also gonna live who might not have made it. There was some bittersweet news at the end, but I’m sure by the next book, it’ll be back to normal. Can’t really say anything without spoiling it.

My fave type ending always happens in this series with food, family and fellowship. Ellie and Lindsey definitely know how to throw parties! All that food sounded amazing especially anything pumpkin. Can’t wait to read the next book that comes out early 2024!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Cozies via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

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Murder in the Book Lover’s Loft review

July 27, 2023 Tari Hann

This is the ninth book in the Book Retreat Mysteries by Ellery Adams who cozy mystery fans know has a whole arsenal of series under her belt. This book was particularly fun because she brought in Olivia, her main character (who’s already visited Storyton but mostly in cameo appearances) from the Books by the Bay series, and Olivia wasn’t just a walk-on or cameo this time. Jane was actually on Olivia’s home ground. Wait’ll you read the scenes during Pink-o-Ween during Edwin and Jane’s vacation to Oyster Bay!

I hope there’ll be many more books even though at times this reads like it could be the last. I could get used to Olivia living in Storyton actually…think of the mysteries she and Jane could solve together! And the book signings Eloise could have for her!

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My Goodreads review:

Murder in the Book Lover’s Loft by Ellery Adams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh my goodness, so many emotions all wrapped up in this book, which was to me the absolute best of them all. I’m not sure if the series is ending, but it easily could with this book, although I’ve not heard anything official. Everything awesome that readers have wanted came to happen. It was kinda cool how it started off in North Carolina with Olivia Limoges and giving a nod to that ended series, so if this series is really ending, it was pretty fitting that Olivia had a nice part in it. Although I think it’d be really awesome if Olivia and Captain Haviland stayed in Storyton and started a whole new chapter of mystery solving along with Jane and the Fins. And I’d love to know if Merry and Pippin ever benefit from having a well-trained standard poodle as their leader for a while!

There were some super funny moments in North Carolina when Butterworth showed up feeling like he was needed after everything that’d gone down. That Pink-o-Ween sounded so cool and his part in it was priceless! Uncle Aloysius was getting help with his dementia we learned about previously, and that little stinker had a pretty awesome scene in the book himself! A tissue alert for happy tears is recommended toward the end, and while I really hope there’ll be more books in the series, I’m happy with how this book ended.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Cozies via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

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Death of a Clam Digger review

July 26, 2023 Tari Hann

This is the sixteenth book still going strong in the long-running Hayley Powell Food & Cocktails Mystery series by Lee Hollis, aka brother/sister team of Rick Copp and Holly Simason. You can always expects tons of laughs and crazy antics in a Hayley Powell book, and this one definitely didn’t disappoint! I’m always eager to see what the next book brings!

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My Goodreads review:

Death of a Clam Digger by Lee Hollis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There’s never, ever a dull moment in a Hayley Powell mystery! Mona, my fave of Hayley’s two besties, got a great spotlight in this installment since her ongoing feud with a rival seafood business was ramped up when her son and the rival’s daughter decided to pull a Romeo and Juliet (the good parts, not their death). But the rival himself was killed and secrets were eventually revealed as Hayley sleuthed this one out. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much at Mona’s antics as in this book! She was absolutely in rare form and being the Mama Bear she’s always been, that made it even funnier. We finally found out how many kids her brood ended up with too! Oh and I was happy to see a few new Sergio-isms as well! Gotta love that guy!

I was sure of who I’d picked for killer but boy was I wrong! The showdown/reveal was a really good one and Mona got in one last good scene for the book too. As I always love in a book about food, this one ended in food, family and fellowship with a barbecue at Mona’s house. A good solution was given to the side story that’d been going on.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Cozies via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

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Steeped in Malice review

July 26, 2023 Tari Hann

This is the fourth book in the Tea by the Sea Mysteries written by Vicki Delany, one of my personal fave cozy mystery authors. I’ve followed this from the beginning and while book 1 had me wondering if I could ever warm up to Rose, Lily’s grandma even though I did like her a lot right away, by this book, I’m cheering her on and feel like we’re old friends, well as friendly as a person can get with Rose. Bernie always cracks me up, so she, Lily and Rose always make for some good sleuthing adventures.

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My Goodreads review:

Steeped in Malice by Vicki Delany
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rose rocks! After someone was killed at her B&B, she did something kinda courageous and very cool to help the police catch the killer. I’ve always loved her character and knew she’d just take a little getting used to since she’d not a huggy-type grandma we usually see in cozy mysteries. But her cool level’s pretty much through the roof, lol. Bernie’s an awesome best friend and I think sometimes she figures she (Bernie) gets along better with Rose than Lily does as Rose’s granddaughter. I really enjoy it when those three go sleuthing! Rose just instinctively knows when the girls are up to something, so it’s never a good idea to actually plan to ditch Rose and works out much better if she goes along, as she proved.

I love how the ending was centered around food and friends while the detectives debriefed everyone and answered questions. I couldn’t stand that ex-boyfriend of Lily’s who had the nerve to think she’d still be interested in him, so it was awesome to see him deflated. And the very ending was pretty cute for Simon and Lily.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Cozies via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

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