Tag:

Cozy

Review

Haunting and Homicide

by Jeff Ayers

“Lou” Thatcher runs a ghost-tour company in New Orleans, and it’s popular with both the residents and tourists. The tours are so in demand that Lou is contemplating hiring help to run two per night. Lou has the perfect resume for the job, since she can see ghosts. A competitor who consistently clashes with Lou, Adam Brandt, declares her a fraud and wants nothing more than to shut her down and steal her clients. When he’s found murdered, she’s not surprised, but that’s when her life turns upside down. The cute cop considers her the prime suspect, and the ghosts she can see are not very talkative. You would think that Adam would steer her in the right direction of the person responsible for killing him, but he didn’t see who it was, and he also thinks Lou is responsible. The backdrop of New Orleans shines in this fun and chaotic tale of Lou, her gift, and her efforts to prove her innocence without looking like she needs to be hospitalized for talking to folks who are “not there.” This reviewer is dead serious that this haunting and homicide is a terrific series start.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

The Mistletoe Mystery

by Brian Kenney

Are you one of the many fans of Molly the maid? Then you’ll love Prose’s latest work, a novella—this reader finished it on the flight from Boston to New York—centered on the holidays. Since Molly’s much-quoted grandmother has died, the holidays just haven’t been the same. This year, though, boyfriend Juan Manuel is determined to bring joy to Molly every day of Advent. But when a few shadows pass over Molly’s work life in the Regency Grand Hotel, she’s suddenly doubting Juan, love, and their future. What a perfect stocking stuffer!

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

Death at a Scottish Christmas

by Henrietta Thornton

Christmas and cozies just go together. And the setting of this particular cozy series, Sea Isle in rural Scotland, is even more perfect than most for a Christmas tale. The seaside town where American doctor Emilia McRoy has made her home celebrates in a big and inclusive way, with traditional Christian festivities rubbing elbows with celebrations like Viking Yule and the Swedish St. Lucia Day. This year, an internationally famous band with roots in the town is visiting, adding at first to the excitement and then to Emilia’s tradition of investigating killings in Sea Isle. Taking the criminal side of the investigation is the doctor’s nemesis/crush Constable Ewan McGregor. Their future possibilities are already happening in the burgeoning, and cute, relationship between Emilia’s assistant, Abigail, and Abigail’s love interest, Henry. The four have their work cut out for them as they pry into secrets in the band’s relationships while dodging the media in a town that wants to help but is naive to the dangers afoot. The great cozy setting is matched here by the lovable but flawed characters and the tricky whodunit element. Readers won’t see the ending coming and will be eager to get Connelly’s two earlier books in the series (An American in Scotland and Death at a Scottish Wedding, both published earlier this year) while they wait for this one.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer

by Brian Kenney

Middle-aged, mid-divorce (although she is still in love with her husband), and mid-pregnancy, Kathy Valence is a no-nonsense, shoot-from-the-hip type of character. She keeps busy working for S.C.Y.T.H.E. (Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences), helping transport the souls of the recently departed on to their next phase, until the soul of one of her clients, hip and happening 17-year-old DJ Conner, gets misplaced. Conner insists he was murdered by someone at S.C.Y.T.H.E., and that it is up to Kathy to track down the murderer and find Conner’s soul. All within forty-five days, or else he’ll become a ghost, destined to wander the Earth (no pressure!). What’s so lovely here are the overlapping needs of the characters. Kathy, whose fears and anxieties hold her back from accepting love. Simone, Kathy’s husband, whose only desire is to be allowed to love Kathy and their baby. And Conner, who wants to identify his murderer, be saved by Kathy, and find the love he missed on Earth. Poignant and pleasing, this successful supernatural mystery will long be remembered.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

Knife Skills for Beginners

by Brian Kenney

Cooking as entertainment, from reality shows to competitions to documentaries, couldn’t be more popular, and Murrin’s decision to set Knife Skills in the heart of a London cooking school is a smart one. Located in an old mansion in the super-posh Belgravia neighborhood, the school—which is residential—offers week-long classes for small groups of a dozen or so. The students, a bit of an odd crew, are super excited at meeting their instructor Christian Wager—he’s sort of a Gordon Ramsay type. When Christian shows up, one arm in a cast, and announces that he’s passing the class on to his good buddy Paul Delamare, the class groans in disappointment. Paul isn’t a celebrity like Christian, but he’s a darn good chef, and slowly the class warms up to him. Until there’s a murder as gruesome as you can imagine (hint: cleaver) and the class rather ghoulishly wants to continue the course—corpse be damned!—and with Paul the number-one suspect. From here, the book spirals out—there are red herrings galore, and nearly everyone seems to be a suspect at one point or another. Lots of fun to be had, especially with the characters Murrin creates.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

Olive You to Death

by Jeff Ayers

South Cove, the number one tourist trap on the Pacific Coast Highway, becomes a haven again for mystery and intrigue. Jill learns that the venue where she and her police detective boyfriend, Greg, will get married, is unavailable, and she begins to sweat. Another wedding between local antique dealer Josh and his younger girlfriend, Mandy, goes awry when she vanishes without a trace. Was she kidnapped, or did she bail on the wedding and run away, like most of the locals think? An old journal that Josh discovers proves problematic when a professor he was conferring with dies under mysterious circumstances that appear to be related to the journal, which just might contain a treasure map. Jill wants to solve both the disappearance of Mandy and who killed the professor, but she’ll have to do it behind her fiancé’s back. Cahoon juggles a lot of details, but it all works with her charming town and compelling characters. The multi-layered mysteries keep the reader both guessing and turning the pages. Even 16 books in, the series still seems fresh and engaging. Whether your first visit to South Cove or your 16th, it’s a town where you will want to stay for a while.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

An Intrigue of Witches

by Henrietta Thornton

Addison, author of the Enchanted Bay series, brings her lively voice to a series debut featuring a heroine to remember. Historian Sidney Taylor, a young Black woman, is on furlough from the Smithsonian when she gets a mysterious offer to go on a quest in her hometown, Robbinsville, VA, the heart of which is the Josiah Willoughby museum. Sidney’s parents are rich—her father is the Speaker of the House of Representatives—but they believe in the young woman making her own way, so when she receives a wax-sealed envelope with an invitation inside to find something historically significant in Robbinsville, and the prize is a million dollars, she’s in. There’s danger and intrigue in store though, with Sidney receiving threatening messages and increasing pressure on the museum to give in to virtual reality as the future, a government program that seems more sinister by the minute, headed as it is by a woman who will remind readers of scary real-life tech-exec Elizabeth Holmes. The small-town scene, loving family members, and history-tinged puzzles keep the pages turning fast; there are plenty of real historical details packed in, too, surrounding a long-running conspiracy about the U.S. presidents. A winning series starter.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

Killing Time

by Brian Kenney

Silly me. I’ve long held a bias against novels written from the grave (sorry V. C. Andrews!), where the author has died and someone else has taken up the series. Can these books really be any good? Well I’m happy to report that the forthcoming Agatha Raisin novel, Killing Time, written “with R. W. Green,” is a whole load of fun. Beaton was astoundingly prolific, writing multiple series under a handful of names. She died in 2019, the same year she published the 30th Agatha Raisin book (the series, now written by R. W. Green, is up to 35). With several plots in action—Agatha’s detective agency is pursuing shop burglars, an antiques dealer/neighbor is murdered, Agatha creates a promotional day to launch a new wine, a love affair takes her to Mallorca—fans get to meet again all their favorite characters from Raisin-world in action, from Mrs. Bloxby, the vicar’s wife, to several of Agatha’s paramours. But at the heart is Agatha herself, as curmudgeonly and cantankerous, tough and tender as ever. Agatha, it’s great to have you back.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

The Gardener’s Plot

by Brian Kenney

Any cozy reader will assure you that there are few places more dangerous than the community garden. And Maggie Walker—who helped create the garden in Marlowe, her small Berkshire town—is reminded of this fact when opening day arrives and she discovers a boot jutting out of the garden. Attached to a foot. Which is attached to a body. Yikes! To make matters worse, Violet, whose idea the garden was, has seemingly disappeared. Maggie has only recently returned to Marlowe, smarting after the death of her “not-quite ex-husband,” and taking over the home of her recently deceased grandmother. But one thing keeps happening after another, from threatening telephone calls to harassment from a cousin as Maggie tries to find out what happened to Violet. An engaging look at small town life and death, this book was the recipient of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of American First Crime Novel Award.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

A Very Woodsy Murder

by Brian Kenney

Hooray for a new series that is fresh and funny, sophisticated and country. Dee Stern has had better years. Her Mom died unexpectedly. Her second marriage went kaput. And her career—she’s a sitcom writer in LA—is petering out. On a drive through the country to escape from it all, she discovers the Golden Motel, a mid-century-modern motel nestled in the foothills of the Sierras. And best of all, it’s FOR SALE. It doesn’t take much for Dee to convince Jeff—husband #1—to join her in this “lifestyle change” and become co-owner of the Golden Motel, Findgold, CA. In no time, they attract their first customer, one Michael Adam Baker who—freakishly enough—Dee knew as a frenemy from the sitcom world. What are the chances of that? Zero to none, it turns out. By the time she discovers what Michael is really up to, it’s too late, and their first guest is also their first victim. Agatha Award-winning author Byron has taken a fascinating community, great characters, the tension between city and country people, and the indomitable Dee to create a high-energy and hilarious series that readers won’t be quick to forget.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail