old town alexandria – Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery

The Diva Delivers on a Promise review

May 24, 2023 Tari Hann

It’s hard to believe this is the sixteenth book in this long-running and fun Domestic Diva Mystery series by one of my fave cozy authors, Krista Davis. I love visiting with Sophie and all her friends who act as her support team whether she’s sleuthing out a mystery with her bestie Nina or just needing a plus-one for an event. I enjoyed the side mystery centered around ghost kitchens and how Sophie and Nina sleuthed that out. As always, I can’t wait for the next book!

#NetGalley #KensingtonCozies #KristaDavis

My Goodreads review:

The Diva Delivers on a Promise by Krista Davis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sophie and Nina got in a lot of sleuthing together in this mystery because there was plenty to sleuth out. I liked the side mystery of the ghost kitchen scammer, and we got to learn more about Officer Wong and her disastrous marriage. I liked Gerrie and her granddaughter a lot—it’d be fun if they showed up in a future book especially now they’ve got a furry companion. Nina always cracks me up with her love of food which is always a good way to get her to do something, like maybe a stakeout or two?

The showdown was a really good one with the perp finally being caught and hauled away. The ending was typical cozy Sophie style—friends, food and a warm fireplace. And pups, of course!

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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The Diva Serves Forbidden Fruit review

May 30, 2021 Tari Hann

It’s hard to believe this is the fourteenth book in the Domestic Diva series by Krista Davis. Sophie’s been dishing out (pun intended or not, you decide!) kitchen and decorating wisdom for a lot of years now. She let herself be talked into running the DIY Festival in Old Town, which made for a great mystery setting, especially with all the old houses on the streets where the vendors were. I always love the camaraderie with Sophie, Nina, Bernie, Francie and yep, even Mars. He’s changed a lot since that very first book! Once I settle in for a trip to Old Town, I end up not wanting to leave! The real Old Town is definitely on my future travel bucket list.

My Goodreads review:

The Diva Serves Forbidden Fruit by Krista Davis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As with all Sophie Winston mysteries, I get pulled in from the very start. I mean what book that starts with Nina coming home from the airport with no shoes could possibly not compel someone to keep reading, right? Nina always has a great story. I just love her character, and she always cracks me up without being haha funny, if that makes sense. The sweet little dog she was fostering this time seemed to be a little more special to her than others too.

Boy, the Eades family that Sophie met at the DIY Festival was a dysfunctional nightmare if you didn’t count Paisley and the little boys. Frank and his mom were a piece of work times infinity! This is another author who does an awesome job of either making you like/love a character or despise the ground they walk on. At first Paisley’s kids seemed like just another brood of brats, but I really took to Tommy, the oldest. I guess he made me think a little of young Sheldon with his intelligence and sensitivity. Sophie was so sweet and kind to him. But Paisley was a very good mom despite the being she was married to, or I’d have been pulling for Sophie to foster the kid.

I’d started getting a little suspicious of whoalldunit (like that one?) thinking it could be a group or couple of people. Everything seemed connected to Nina’s trip to Portugal, questions and secrets surrounded a woman on their trip who was killed when she got home, and there were just suspects coming out of the woodwork. The showdown was great and a good team effort as well! The wrap-up as always was stellar. And the last few paragraphs were just so fitting and sweet–it made for a perfect ending!

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

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The Diva Spices It Up review

May 3, 2020May 3, 2020 Tari Hann

This is the thirteenth book in the Domestic Diva series by Krista Davis. This is one of my favorite series by one of my many favorite authors, and I really enjoyed this installment a lot. It was great how everyone worked together on this case, sort of a multi-generational case! There were some side mysteries, but it all came together nicely.

My Goodreads review:

The Diva Spices It Up by Krista Davis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Like all the Domestic Diva series, this was a really fun read. I loved how the two senior ladies in town, Eunice and Francie teamed up as investigators too. Sophie’s friend Wolf, the police sergeant has been conferring with her on different investigations, and it’s always cool how Sophie and all her friends get involved in the mysteries.

Sophie was working as a cookbook ghostwriter for a wealthy former actress who loved cooking. There were all kinds of great red herrings, possible spies? Well, it was the DC area, and that was to be expected, but sweet little Eunice surprised Sophie with her knowledge of said spies. I just love that lady! I always enjoy how the entire mystery from start to finish all comes together at the end. Readers get the entire explanation instead of just Sophie’s conjectures, and there was the usual back-to-life scene at the end. Until next time, Sophie and pals! Although I have most of the series I still have to catch up on, since I came in on it in the middle so I could go to an online book chat. Lots of fun yet to be had!

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

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The Diva Sweetens the Pie–review

May 2, 2019 Tari Hann

This is the 12th book in the Domestic Diva series by Krista Davis, who is also known for her Paws & Claws series (another of my favorites!). I love all the Diva books I’ve read (I’m sadly not caught up in the series, but I keep requesting the ARCs as they come out) and of those few, I think this was one of my favorites so far. I love how Sophie and her friends work together any time, but this book seemed even more special. I think you’ll enjoy it!

My Goodreads review:

The Diva Sweetens the Pie by Krista Davis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely loved this book! I’ve come to really care about Sophie and all her friends and love that the books aren’t just about solving mysteries, but they also show how much she and her friends care for one another and stick together. This adventure had Sophie pulled into a murder investigation and then into a murder that happened five years ago. Who could resist an adorable little girl who asks her to help get her wrongly-accused mom out of prison? When Sophie started getting too close to the truth, someone she cared for a lot was brutally attacked and left for dead. Later, she found out some information that gave her a new perspective on some things in her life.

I hadn’t suspected the killer until all the clues started coming together. As usual in this author’s books, the list of suspects was impressive and so were the red herrings. The showdown was epic! Sophie and her friends were all there for it, and I think I like that a lot as opposed to perp and sleuth one-on-one, which is what happens most of the time. It was great how things were wrapped up nice and neat at an end-of-summer party at Sophie’s house. All the little details that may or may not have added to the murder were explained, and Sophie’s belief that she did the right thing by investigating the old case was definitely confirmed.

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The Diva Runs Out of Thyme–review

September 23, 2018 Tari Hann

I’m just back from one of my new favorite places to go, Mackinac Island. My family and I took a road trip up there, and I also managed to get quite a bit of reading done this past week. The first book I read, or reread, according to what Goodreads had said, which was that I had read this book already. I honestly don’t remember reading it–maybe I got it mixed up with another book, haha! Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t wait till our Facebook book discussion September 25.

My Goodreads review:

The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Since I don’t really remember reading this in 2017 (but I had reviewed it here and it was marked as read) I’m going to write a better review after re-reading for a book club discussion this week.

Sophie Winston, a party planner and now a columnist of household and good life tips, had always been in some sort of competition with Natasha Smith, who was now living with Sophie’s ex-husband, Mars. Natasha seemed determined to win the stuffing competition. Earlier, Sophie had discovered a dead man in a dumpster who turned out to be a private investigator. She had adopted the kitten he’d approached her with when she was going into the grocery store. It wasn’t too much longer before Sophie stumbled onto another dead body, that of the man who was in charge of the Stupendous Stuffing Shakedown. It wasn’t looking good for her because Detective Kenner was ready to pin both murders on her. Detective Fleishman aka Wolf was more sympathetic and not so ready to toss her in jail. Sophie needed to prove her innocence and with the help of her good friend Nina, she set out to do just that.

This was a fun beginning to this series. There were a lot of different characters, but it became fairly easy to sort through and figure out which ones were important. I liked that Sophie had a good relationship with her parents as well as her ex-husband, Mars. Bickering is never fun, lol. I got a big kick out of Mars’ mom June who was totally crushing on one of Sophie’s neighbors, an older man named Colonel Hampstead. There were a lot of people keeping secrets and just as I thought I had it figured out, that person would be cleared. I honestly never saw the killer coming–and this was supposedly the second time I read this! (Maybe I will just use the excuse that going by the date I had down for reading this, I was either pre-op nervous or recovering from surgery when I read the first and that’s why I don’t remember!)

I do want to continue in the series. Natasha cracks me up. She might be a sort of nemesis for Sophie, but she’s pretty harmless. I’m anxious to see how things heat up between Sophie and Wolf too!

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