small town pennsylvania – Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery

Death on a Deadline review

November 4, 2022 Tari Hann

This is the second book in the Homefront News Mysteries by Joyce St. Anthony, better known to cozy mystery fans as Joyce Tremel who wrote the three-book Brewing Trouble Mysteries. This is probably the only historical mystery I can honestly say I enjoy reading. I’m not sure why I haven’t enjoyed others but maybe it’s because 1942 is modern enough that people don’t seem that much different or uppity like they can seem when it’s the 1800s. It’s like a very grown-up Nancy Drew if you ever read the ones from the 1940s, and surprisingly I don’t miss the characters being able to use their phones to research suspects, etc. Or sometimes it’s actually fun to imagine what they’d have done with tech back then and how differently things could turn out. They seemed to do just fine though when what they had at the time was all they knew.

I’m really hoping for more books in the series so we can welcome home everyone from the war especially Bill and Pete!

#CrookedLaneBooks #JoyceStAnthony

My Goodreads review:

Death on a Deadline by Joyce St. Anthony
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I fell in love with this series with the first book and was eager to get into the second one which was set in summer during fair time when the rally was on to buy war bonds. Since they didn’t have any huge name stars coming, they did get a few what we might call B or C listers now. When one of said stars was found dead, the obvious thoughts were that one of their own did him in. The guy had lotsa secrets he was keeping and what’s this…he was blackmailing for some of those secrets.

There were plenty of suspects although one of those I never really considered as a suspect, but I did keep wavering on which of the others was the killer. The person whodunit was on my list though. I loved the showdown and what Irene was able to do to the perp. They had the whole story explained by Walt eventually or at least the parts they didn’t all already know. I get a kick out of Peggy and Irene sleuthing, but it was fun that crazy Sylvia from the first book was included too. She was always a hoot! One of her particular talents was really useful for this case.

I’m not sure how many more books are planned but the war went on plenty long enough for maybe a few more. I’d love to see Bill and Irene’s Pop get home! The story about the hometown boy shot down in the battle of Midway was pretty sad especially when his good friend (one of the stars, another hometown guy) gave a little memorial speech about him at a bond rally. Hoping for a next book to look forward to!

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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Front Page Murder review

March 7, 2022 Tari Hann

This is the very first in a new series called Hometown News Mysteries by Joyce St. Anthony who’s better known in the cozy world as Joyce Tremel, author of the three-book Brewing Trouble series. I remember I really enjoyed the first book and wanted to get back to that series. But I sure never expected to love this historical cozy like I did! I’d grabbed it from NetGalley thinking it looked interesting. I believe I might’ve researched the Joyce St. Anthony name and realized I wasn’t reading a total newbie. But I hadn’t realized until later it was historical. I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy it so much! In a way, I’m glad I didn’t read the blurb on NG that time, or I might’ve missed out on a great read by leaving it behind.

The name of book 2 is Death on a Deadline. If you follow that link it’ll take you to Joyce’s website where if you scroll a little, you’ll see the awesome cover and release date of November 8, 2022. I sure hope this series goes over well enough that she can at least make it a trilogy like Brewing Trouble was.

#CrookedLane #JoyceSt.Anthony #JoyceTremel

My Goodreads review:

Front Page Murder by Joyce St. Anthony
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I honestly hadn’t expected to like this since historical cozies aren’t really my thing. But I gotta say, this was absolutely awesome and now ranks up there with the handful of historical cozies I’ve actually enjoyed not just endured. I was really excited at the end when I started poking around online to see if there was another book in the works. I was super happy to find out it comes out November 8.

Irene was a super likable, very strong young character who’d had to mature quickly, but I liked that she was flawed enough not to be completely perfect. Meaning I kinda figured out who the kingpin was before she did, and I don’t think I’m that good. I feel it was planned to show that even strong people can have times of weakness or where they don’t always add everything up. Lily was a sweetheart of a little sister, and I really liked Katherine’s character after a certain point in the book. Peggy was a great bestie to have and made for a good sleuth partner even though she was pretty nervous about it.

There was a lot of good action, and it never felt like the story was dragging. I loved the showdown and who was on hand to help with it! The book releases tomorrow, so if you enjoy reading historical cozies set in WWII, this is for you. Heck, I didn’t even realize it was for me because I’m not a big history nut, but I guess the 1940s are just recent enough that they don’t seem too weird as compared to some 19th century history cozies I’ve tried to read. The key characters were so likable, I’m really hoping that Irene’s dad and fiancé Bill make it home safely. Oh and that crazy Sylvia! I wouldn’t mind seeing her in the next book as well as Katherine.

The language and conversation flowed nicely and wasn’t a bit uppity like I’ve sometimes found with other eras. I shocked my husband by actually asking him a few things about WWII (since he’s the history nut in the family lol!) then explained I’d just read a really good mystery stressing how it was fiction though, haha.

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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A Midwinter’s Tail–review

January 11, 2019January 11, 2019 Tari Hann

This is the fourth book in Bethany Blake’s Lucky Paws Petsitting series. It’s one series I’ve been able to keep up with, and I have to say, it’s definitely one of my favorites! From the scholarly basset hound Socrates to hyper one-eared Artie the chihuahua, we met a couple of new friends in this book, one of which was Tiny Tim, an adorable but mischievous pug who is a Houdini-pup. He always wears a “Bah, Hum-pug” Christmas sweater, but like the other dogs, he proved to be quite important in this story. I hope he stays around, he’s just so cute! (The picture I found for free use is the only cute one I could find of a pug in a sweater.)

My Goodreads review:

A Midwinter’s Tail by Bethany Blake

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I guess I just can’t let go of Christmas stories just yet, and I’m really glad I didn’t let this one wait to read at the end of this year! It was a perfect Christmas cozy mystery!

Sylvan Creek was getting ready for Christmas and the annual Bark the Halls ball. When a former resident and now CEO of a chain of pet supply and service stores arrived in town and was killed, Moxie became the prime suspect. It was no secret that she hated the woman who was killed, but so did a lot of others in town. Daphne hoped that her detective friend Jonathan would at least realize how many others wanted that woman out of the way. When a second body was found the night of the ball, Moxie’s friend Mike seemed to be a good candidate for that murder, but Daph and Jonathan had a feeling he was being framed. I hadn’t suspected the killer, at first, but the more the clues were leaked, it was hard to ignore them. The showdown was excellent! Socrates the basset hound and his new girlfriend got to help save the day.

I loved that there were so many happy endings going on in this book, it was like a Christmas bonus. As always, my visit to Sylvan Creek was much too short. It’s always so cute when Artie the one-eared chihuahua that Jonathan has adopted gets dressed up and prances around. And just when I thought that Daphne’s mom was being a little harsh on her because of the second murder, she turned around and did something so nice for Daph at the end. I really enjoyed newcomer dog Tiny Tim, a sweet but mischievous pug who was always seen wearing a “Bah, Hum-pug” sweater. His owner has a funny explanation for that! I hope that Tim and his owner stay around Sylvan Creek.

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