small town maryland – Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery

Bake Offed review

November 28, 2022November 28, 2022 Tari Hann

This is the eighth book in the Five-Ingredient Mysteries by Maya Corrigan who started this series back in 2014. I have all of them up to this one and probably no excuse for not having read any except the first book. But I’m really impressed that this book didn’t have any spoilers or anything that’d ruin my enjoyment of going back and reading in order. Granddad was my fave character in the first book and he continues that role as I’m sure he’ll pick up once I get back to the series.

Just for fun, I read my GR review of By Cook or by Crook (the first book) but obviously it didn’t tell me much more than the official synopsis since I’m not one to repeat what the blurb already says as part of my reviews. I might just need to give it a quick refresher read because I can’t honestly remember who Val’s love interest was! But hey it was 2019 and I’ve read literally hundreds of books since then. Reading this latest book reignited my initial love of the series though!

My Goodreads review:

Bake Offed by Maya Corrigan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was so much fun and Granddad was at the top of his sleuthing game. Somehow I knew from the minute he found that Nero Wolfe recipe box that something was gonna happen to it. And it was so cool to read in the acknowledgement section that there was really such a thing as this publicity item back in the day. I haven’t quite had the time to curiosity-check it on eBay, but I’m really interested in seeing what it looked like.

It made perfect sense that at a mystery convention there’d be plenty of people with secrets and things to hide. Val’s old friend Roy was on the case. I felt sorry for poor Bethany through all this craziness as she tried to keep her event going as best she could. I was never completely sure whodunit, but everything including the saga of Granddad’s recipe box whereabouts were all wrapped up nicely at the end.

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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A Curio Killing review

September 9, 2019September 9, 2019 Tari Hann

This this the third book in the Keepsake Cove series by Mary Ellen Hughes, and it’s quickly becoming another favorite series. I thought the addition of author Lyssa Hammond last time as a character was a great move and had hoped she’d return, so I was happy to see that she was around for some sleuthing. Being a mystery writer, she’s pretty well cut out for that job! I’m anxious now for the next book in this series.

My Goodreads review:

A Curio Killing by Mary Ellen Hughes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Once I got really into the first few chapters of this book, I couldn’t put it down. I had enjoyed the first two books a lot, but I loved this one even more. I kept waiting for Aunt Mel to make her presence known by chiming Grandpa Reed’s music box like in the other books. It came but was definitely not what I would have expected, but it was so sweet. I liked that one part of the last book was explained in this book. I can’t go into detail or it would give away something major. It seemed like all the loose ends were neatly finished off.

I hadn’t guessed who the killer was. I knew it couldn’t be Hank, Callie’s formerly not-much-good-for anything ex-boyfriend. He was tossed into jail for killing the band’s manager and I enjoyed that Callie had her author friend Lyssa from the last book there to help her investigate, at least for awhile. Callie and Brian seem to be in a good place with their relationship. Brian has the patience of a saint. What other man would be so gracious when the girl he likes was trying to prove her ex-boyfriend’s innocence. But Callie has proved that she only has eyes for Brian more times than once, so I guess it’s that mutual trust thing that’s so important.

I’m really anxious to read the next book and will need to snoop around to see if it’s available for pre-order yet.

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Killer in the Carriage House review

July 11, 2019 Tari Hann

This is the second book in the Victorian Village series by Sheila Connolly who also writes several other series including the Museum Mysteries (her main character Nell makes a phone appearance in this book–she actually appeared in the first book) and Orchard Mysteries. This is the first series I’ve read of hers, but I definitely want to read the others.

The murder was a little bit lower key than what I’m used to in a cozy, because no one really knew anything about the man who was killed, since he was an outsider. It took a little while to connect him to something, but the ending was satisfying, and it was wrapped up. The ongoing story will no doubt be the process they need to go through in Asheboro if they want to turn it into an authentic Victorian village that tourists will want to visit.

My Goodreads review:

Killer in the Carriage House by Sheila Connolly

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The timeline in the book was picking up fairly soon after the last one, and now it was time for Kate to propose her idea for a Victorian Village to the town council and town gathered that night. She knew she’d have her work cut out for her, but she didn’t expect to find another dead body so soon. Kate and her friend Nell’s grad student Carroll found a young guy dead in the library. Later in the book, they found out what if any, his connection was to the Barton papers that Carroll had rescued from the Barton Mansion attic.

I enjoyed this trip back to Asheboro, MD and could just picture the town, even though it’s not supposed to be much to picture at this point. I had a suspicion about who the killer was, but I had no idea why. Kate and Josh seemed to be growing a little closer, her ex-boyfriend Ryan who owned the B&B where she was staying was just a good friend now (he came in handy as an attorney for their project), and Kate’s bestie Lisbeth was involved in the project too. Kate, Josh and Lisbeth did the main sleuthing though, and they do make a great team. I hope that Josh decides not to cut ties with Asheboro when his caretaker’s position is over. It’ll be interesting to see how they pull off the Victorian Village project in the time frame that Kate was hoping for, so I’m anxious to read on in the series!

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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A Vintage Death–review

November 26, 2018November 26, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the second book in the Keepsake Cove series by Mary Ellen Hughes. I absolutely loved it! As you’ll read in my review below, I definitely wasn’t ready for it to end. There was a good surprise at the end too. A lot of people had secrets in this book, and that always makes for some great sleuthing fun.

My Goodreads review:

A Vintage Death by Mary Ellen Hughes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ohhh this was so good, and I didn’t want it to end! I was wishing I could just hang around a bit longer in Keepsake Cove after the really awesome ending this book had.

It was fall in Keepsake Cove, and all the business owners were decorating and getting ready for all the extra business they hoped that author Lyssa Hammond’s book event would bring them. When a local B&B owner was found stabbed with a pair of antique scissors, his estranged wife Dorothy was the major person of interest. Callie was determined that her friend wasn’t going to go to jail, because she knew Dorothy wouldn’t do something like that.

Callie and Lyssa had become fast friends and did a lot of sleuthing together, which I thought was awesome, since up till now, Callie hadn’t really had a girlfriend close to her age. The showdown was really exciting and the ending was super satisfying. I had read the first book, which I really enjoyed as well, but this could work as a standalone. The main characters are the type that you meet and feel like they’re good friends. This book makes me want to go back and read over the first one, just so I can spend more time in Keepsake Cove while waiting for the next book.

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