small town colorado – Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery

In the Event of Murder review

August 23, 2024 Tari Hann

This is the second book in the Starlit Bookshop Mysteries by Cynthia Kuhn which seemed like a long time making an appearance since the first book was published in December of 2021, but luckily it did happen. Once the book got moving along, everything came back as far as the characters and why I liked (or in some cases, didn’t like) those people.

In this book the local who stood out to me was Vivi the caterer. She’s such an amazing friend to Emma when she needed different things like a replacement venue. What an awesome lady! Her polar opposite was Tabitha, a a former high school mean girl turned into a mean woman who Emma unfortunately had to work with professionally for the gala. Tune into the book and see how this all comes together!

If you tap/click on the series link above, you’ll see a third book listed called Save the Date for Murder, but there’s no publication date or cover yet. I’m actually glad to hear a third book’s coming since this book ended on such a happy note, and I just know there’s more to come.

#NetGalley #CrookedLane #CynthiaKuhn

My Goodreads review:

In the Event of Murder by Cynthia Kuhn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’d actually forgotten a lot about this series since it’s been nearly three years since the first book came out, but it didn’t take long at all to remember what I liked about the different characters…or didn’t like as in mean girl Tabitha’s case lol.

I hadn’t guessed whodunit and enjoyed the low key showdown, although there’d been plenty of drama to make up for that throughout the book. I love the relationship Emma and Lucy have with their aunt Nora who lives with them in their childhood home where she raised them. Lucy had an amazing ending and the other two as well.

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

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Kill or Bee Killed review

June 5, 2024June 5, 2024 Tari Hann

This is the second book in the Bee Keeping Mysteries by Jennie Marts, and I absolutely loved it! I sure can’t wait for the next book! There’re just so many great characters, and funny ones too like the great-aunts, lol. Daisy’s one of the best kid characters I’ve ever met in a cozy, and I was proud of her wisdom at times. I can’t say enough good things about the ending either!

#NetGalley #CrookedLane #JennieMarts

My Goodreads review:

Kill or Bee Killed by Jennie Marts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh my gosh, if you love a good book hangover, this is the book that can provide it! It’s got funny moments, tense moments, sweet romantic moments, well it’s got all those moments I love in the mysteries I read. I couldn’t’ve hoped for a better ending! And the very ending was something I never saw coming. Now I really can’t wait for the next book!

I really enjoy all these key characters! Those great-aunts and Granny crack me up and how hilarious and fun when the two aunties decided to enter the festival pageant. Evie’s probably one of the best besties a girl could ever have, and Daisy’s just about the best kid anyone could want. Bailey’s lucky to have both these ladies in her life, and her handsome Sawyer! I love how Evie and Griff kinda got together. She’s been so good for him because he’s really different (in a good way) from before. Wishing the next book could come sooner than a year from now!

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

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Take the Honey and Run review

July 16, 2023 Tari Hann

This is the first book in the new Bee Keeping Mysteries by Jennie Marts and I had such a good time laughing at the various antics. And sheriff cutie Sawyer who I think Bailey’s still crushing on ever since high school was incredibly patient with Bailey and Evie when they sleuthed and got in his way.

Unrealistic? Sure it is, this is fiction, lol. And it makes for so much better reading than having the sleuth and sheriff always at each other’s throats at least. I’d much rather have these guys getting along than Sawyer threatening to toss the girls in jail every other page. I think he secretly liked them helping but officially couldn’t say so, haha! Evie got the clearance from her grandma to sleuth and be away from their shop because I know Rosa was just as curious as the girls were (if not more) to find out what was going on with the various suspects. I honestly didn’t see the whodunit coming (until it was obvious) and was surprised at who it was. This releases this coming Tuesday, July 18, 2023.

#NetGalley #CrookedLane #JennieMarts

My Goodreads review:

Take the Honey and Run by Jennie Marts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh my gosh, this was just so good and so funny in places. I was giggling while picturing Evie and Bailey out on their sleuthing missions, especially the one Sawyer referred to as a Lucy and Ethel scheme. And yep, they were basically a modern-day Lucy and Ethel but either one would probably take a bullet for the other. You couldn’t ask for better friends!

Granny and the Hive book club ladies cracked me up! She and her sisters were something else and it was pretty funny to see them gross out Evie and Bailey when they told about their romance lives.

I never knew whodunit until the reveal. The showdown was the quiet and non-dangerous type which after what Bailey had been through, she needed non-dangerous. Lots of secrets were held by tons of people so I wonder if we’ll ever hear anything more in a future book…like maybe who Daisy’s father was? Lots and lots of recipes at the end that didn’t look terribly complicated. Granny’s cakes sounded amazing.

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

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How to Book a Murder review

December 19, 2021 Tari Hann

This is the first book in a new series by well-established cozy author Cynthia Kuhn. It’s called Starlit Bookshop Mysteries and I gotta say I love the play on the family name Starrs + Lit = Starlit, pretty clever name. And it was a bookshop that was well-known and loved around the town, so it was natural for the daughters Laura and Emma to run it. I really liked their aunt Nora. She was gutsy and wouldn’t let herself get walked on, but she had the biggest heart when it came to her family. No wonder she’d stayed in the family home, and the three of them were now a family.

My Goodreads review:

How to Book a Murder by Cynthia Kuhn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow I really enjoyed this author’s writing! I know she’s pretty well-known in the cozy world, but I just hadn’t had the pleasure of reading any of her works until I found this on NetGalley. I’m so glad I did, because I got right into the story from the start. I really liked Emma and Laura, the two sisters who ran their family’s bookstore. I enjoyed the interaction of Emma with a guy she went to school with who was now a detective along with the leader of a writers’ critique group she’d joined. The author did an amazing job of creating a character I absolutely loathed! I think you’ll know who I mean once you read the book and probably agree.

Aunt Nora was having some internal issues at the college where she taught, so that was an interesting side story that was wrapped up well but still showed that college professors weren’t exempt from workplace drama.

I was completely surprised by the whodunit, and the showdown was pretty epic. I was proud of Emma for thinking to do something she did. I think she and Jake might just have a future friendship and maybe beyond now that they were getting along. I can’t wait to see what the girls come up with next for their bookstore that thanks to a successful author event seemed to be doing well now.

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

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Fatal Solutions review

November 11, 2021 Tari Hann

This is the third book in the Crossword Puzzle Mysteries by Becky Clark. Her writing is so funny and good and sometimes just the way she describes either what a person says or does can literally make you laugh out loud. This book did appear a bit more serious in nature as far as Quinn’s battle with her OCD went and the nature of the old death she was curious about. But the fun moments were all still there including my favorites, the Retireds, those wild and crazy senior men who hung out at the diner most of the day.

My Goodreads review:

Fatal Solutions by Becky Clark
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a little different from the other two books in the series since it dealt with finding bones from a death in the 70s. Poor Quinn seemed to be able to get herself into a mess even if she wasn’t trying. I just love the banter she always enjoyed with the group of older men who hung out in the diner and call themselves the Retireds. They loved teasing her mercilessly but all in good fun.

Oh and that crazy Loma! Although at one point, she did something just typically a Loma thing that really upset Quinn and actually for a good reason, but good friends never stayed mad too long. Quinn always did the right thing when she felt like she’d wronged someone too. She did find out the answer to the long-ago death which was a little surprising but not under the circumstances.

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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Punning with Scissors review

May 12, 2021 Tari Hann

This is the second book in the Crossword Puzzles Mysteries series by one of my favorite go-to-for laughs author, Becky Clark. Her characters like Quinn are always very real, and they get into the craziest predicaments. I’m anxious to see what the next book’s going to bring!

My Goodreads review:

Punning with Scissors by Becky Clark
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m loving this series so much! Quinn’s a normal, likable main character who happens to be battling OCD along the way, but sometimes it actually comes in a little handy when investigating a case with her pal Rico. I enjoyed the side mystery too that involved a girl named Eliza.

When a friend’s husband was murdered in their house, Quinn took their dog to keep for awhile, because her friend Hugh was very despondent over the murder. Quinn’s mom and dad loved having little Gin at the house, and I’m sure she was well-spoiled. Once again, Quinn’s secret crossword weapon of getting the police chief to investigate in a different direction worked.

The showdown was pretty crazy, and I can say I’ve never read about one quite like it. Especially the part where someone came in drunk, lol, such a comedy of errors! It’s the most fun you’ll ever have reading and wondering if someone was going to get killed or not. Everything of course, ended well, and Hugh eventually got out of his slump. I’d sure love to see Rico get to be police chief eventually and have Chestnut retire somewhere that he can just fish all day, but maybe that’ll happen next time.

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Sconed to Death–review

May 29, 2019 Tari Hann

Sconed to Death is the fifth book in the Cat Latimer series by well-known cozy author Lynn Cahoon, and it has definitely become one of my favorite series. I’m actually up to date in reading it. I liked that this book was as Ms. Cahoon had described, more Shauna-centered, since Shauna has finally gotten interested in publishing a cookbook, and she’s planning a trip to meet up with her estranged brother. Shauna is an awesome character and with Cat and Seth, they really make the best working team.

My Goodreads review:

Sconed to Death by Lynn Cahoon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I always love visiting the Warm Springs Writers’ Retreat in this series! Cat always gets involved somehow in a murder, but this time she was lucky enough not to have found the body. However, her natural curiosity and wanting to help people took over and she did end up stopping a killer in their tracks.

I liked that this group of writers were cozy mystery authors. It was fun to hear them toss around their ideas and enjoy being at the retreat. The side story about Shauna planning to go visit her estranged brother in NYC was good. I wasn’t sure if she’d be able to pull it off, since she does enjoy cooking for Cat even when there’s not a retreat. It was cute to see her being a mother hen and wanting to make sure that both Cat and Seth had enough food in their houses and food made ahead for the week after the retreat. I wasn’t totally sure about who the killer was, and I didn’t have the reason down, but the showdown was pretty good. Cat seems to be getting a little cleverer and more careful with each case. It was pretty awesome when she took down the killer. I saw that the next book is scheduled for February and I’m happy that at least this is one series that I’m caught up in.

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