Tag:

Cozy

Review

Sugar and Spite

by Brian Kenney

Fortunately for M.C. Beaton (aka Marian Chesney) fans, this sixth Agatha Raisin novel created since Beaton’s demise, and written by R. W. Greenby, provides all the fun they are looking for. Mrs. Bloxby, the Vicar’s wife, convinces Agatha to attend a lecture by the Carsely Ladies Society to be delivered by three bird watchers (they call themselves twitchers). Agatha expects a dull evening but it turns out to be quite the opposite as a local farmer breaks up the lecture and threatens the women for trespassing on his land, and then the trio of twitchers ends up having a full-on war among one another. The next day, Agatha learns that one of the women has been discovered dead, and the rather dumb police chief insists it isn’t murder. So off we go, as Agatha takes up the search for the murderer, using the staff of her detective agency, friends, and inside knowledge from the police themselves. A pleasure, but brace yourself for a very surprising ending.

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Review

The Botanist’s Assistant

by Danise Hoover

Margaret, large, 50ish, probably neurodivergent, is a remarkably good assistant in a university lab doing botanical research into possible cancer cures. The bottom drops out of her world when she discovers the body of her beloved boss, Dr. Deaver, in his office, quite dead. In true scientific fashion, she notices the small details that no one else, especially the bumbling campus police, takes account of. Her comments are quickly dismissed and she is pressed into rewriting an important grant application to credit someone who deserves no credit at all. There are deans grasping for academic glory, scientists looking to make big bucks, and only Margaret who wants to know the truth. She finds a friend in Joe, a new custodian whose personality seems out of keeping with his job. Together they work to discover what is truly going on, and not only find a murderer, but also save the cutting-edge research study. Margaret is a delight, and the situation requires her to open herself to friends and new possibilities. The ending leaves the possibility for more from Margaret and Joe, which would be a fine addition to the genre.

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Review

Death on Dickens Island

by Danise Hoover

Tiny Dickens Island, located in the sound between Connecticut and Long Island, has a small permanent population composed of families in the midst of some sort of feud or another. Delia has come back after years of living in Manhattan to take up her role as mother to teenage Connor and part manager of the family’s general store. She’s inherited her grandmother’s house and for now is loving being back, though is unsure of her maternal success. Connor finds a secret room in grandma’s house with old books and what may be a pirate map. Delia encounters grandma’s ghost, who visits the room occasionally and offers a unique perspective on island history. The map is stolen by local miscreants and doesn’t lead to treasure but rather to a long-buried body that brings old scandals to the present. With logic, the help of an old love, and grandma’s ghost, Delia puts much of the puzzle together, leading to a solution to the murders and to some of the family feuds. An enjoyable, sandy cozy with the author’s promise of more to come from Dickens Island.

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Review

That Missing Piece is Killing Me

by Brian Kenney

Alice Pepper has one busy life. She’s director of the West Hazel, Oregon, public library. She’s the center of a group of friends—all puzzle fanatics—who regularly meet for meals and puzzling. And she’s got plenty of family members, like her nieces, whose lives she needs to keep an eye on. She may have had to put off retirement because her divorce has wiped out much of her savings, but Alice always keeps focused on what’s important. And in much of this book it’s the disappearance of her friend Michelle Chong, martial and visual artist, that has Alice’s attention. Did Michelle run away, finally escaping from that no-good husband to create a life elsewhere, or was she a victim of domestic violence? Nearly half the book is devoted to searching for Michelle, and once that’s resolved this second book in the series (after Puzzle Me a Murder) expands deeper into Alice’s world—which is loving and caring, yes, but also features major pieces of the past she has been unable to resolve. For fans of Richard Osman, Nancy Bush, and Leslie Meier.

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Review

Dead & Breakfast

by Brian Kenney

Have you ever noticed that vampires (not to mention werewolves, elves, and others) always get the short end of the stick? Take Arthur and his husband, Salvatore (Sal), for example. Two vampires in love, they have recently opened a bed & breakfast in rural Oregon. Life is sweet, but while vampires are sometimes accepted, there are plenty of not-so-paranormal-friendly attitudes to go around, and much of their time is devoted to educating their new neighbors (garlic is O.K., they don’t bite—really!—and they go out in the sun, but use plenty of sunblock not because of a reaction, but to stay young looking). So when the mayor is found dead in their garden, with two puncture rooms in his neck, Arthur and Sal end up accused of the mayor’s murder, to the point where Sal is jailed. How will the two of them—along with a few friends—manage to find the real murderer, exonerating themselves? A pleasure to read from beginning to end, with plenty of humor, Dead & Breakfast should find an audience from young adults through retirees.

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Review

Solid Gold Murder

by Brian Kenney

My fear of woodland creatures (read “bears”) is so great I could never imagine hanging out in the California forests. Especially overnight. In a tent. But I sure do love reading about life in Foundgold, CA and Dee Stern, the proprietor and part-owner of Motel-of-the-Mountains. It’s early in the season, and Dee is developing family-friendly activities to attract new visitors. But when her socials start to blow up, and it is reported that someone found a gold nugget in Foundgold, Dee realizes that she has a problem on her hands. Or an opportunity? That problem/opportunity is none other than Sylvan Burr—a retired tech industry billionaire, under 30—who suddenly shows up with his entourage; he’s managed to bribe his way into several motel rooms. He’s so rich, how could he be seeking even more money? This all makes for a wonderful cozy. Dee, a former Hollywood sitcom writer, brings sophistication to Byron’s (A Very Woodsy Murder) story, along with plenty of humor, while tiny Foundgold, with its mash-up of crazy residents, provides plenty of entertainment. Sure to appeal to all who love cozies or traditional mysteries.

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Review

Murder on a Scottish Train

by Danise Hoover

It’s hard to believe that Dr. Emilia (Em) McRoy has been in Sea Isle, Scotland for a year. She moved from Seattle to the village to take over as doctor and, to her surprise, as the local coroner as well. In this fourth outing (previous titles include Death at a Scottish Christmas) in the series, she and her family of friends become involved in the death of a local accountant and train fancier on the opening night of a restored historic train ride. Ewan, local Laird, constable, and her sometime nemesis, has decided it’s easier to include her in the investigation than to rescue her from the scrapes she gets herself into when she goes off by herself. With suspicion of financial skullduggery, there are plenty of suspects, but no one stands out; we have anaphylaxis, cheating spouses, and estranged siblings. The charming customs and landscape enhance the story as Em continues to settle into the folklife and tempo of the village and, of course, solves the crime. The engaging characters and tightly worked plot will leave readers eager for the next installment.

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Review

What He Left Behind

by Danise Hoover

Oak Hill, NC is a town where nothing much in the way of crime happens. Then, in the space of a few days, there is murder, robbery, and arson. Jacob Sawyer, someone who hasn’t been seen for 15 years, is back in town, though no one thinks he is the cause. Grace Bingham, local police detective and Jacob’s abandoned love interest from before, is under time pressure to solve the crimes without offending anyone important. Jacob’s back because his mother, beloved in the town, is dying of cancer; Calvin Dockery, an extremely wealthy local who pulls all the strings, is also dying. The current crimes harken to unexplained events of the past that caused Jacob to leave. The story moves from the present to the past and back again, gradually revealing what happened. Grace and Jacob are undeterred in their search to connect what is happening now with what happened in the past regardless of who is involved. Money is power, and power is very dangerous here, and those with it are willing to spare no one. Resolution is not easy, but very satisfying in a book with a great deal of atmosphere and local resonance.

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Review

Making Friends Can Be Murder

by Danise Hoover

We start this complicated plot with a clever ongoing fraud scheme in which a woman assumes the same name as another with a common name and a trust fund in order to steal the money. In Minneapolis, Sarah Jones has become part of a project of a Catholic highschooler doing penance for bad behavior, bringing together a bunch of women with this same name for regular coffee and conversation, making it ripe for this fraud. To avoid confusion, each member is identified by age rather than name. Thirty is our heroine; twenty-seven the thief. Added into the mix is a freshly minted FBI agent with his own secret agenda (not nefarious) and a cloistered nun with an unexpected background. A Sarah Jones, not part of the group, is found murdered, taking the fraud investigation to a new level. We have time spent in the woods, old crimes to solve, family connections, and a spot of romance. Confused? Don’t be. The story maintains its integrity and is enjoyable to the end with an interesting set of characters poised for what could be another book in the future.

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Review

Widows and Orphans

by Henrietta Thornton

Humor, up-to-the-minute political clashes, and more humor meet in this cozy-adjacent small-town mystery. Our protagonist, Canadian journalist Cat Conway, has had it with the wellness industry, especially its craven criticism of vaccines. Her series of articles on the anti-vax movement has made her a target of right-wingers, and scared advertisers could be the kiss of death for the Quill and Packet—the struggling Port Ellis newspaper Cat works for. Still, when the industry comes to town in the form of the Welcome, Goddess event, at which insufferable influencers Bree and Bliss bring their crystals, navel-gazing, and clothes in colors like oatmeal and wheat, Cat doesn’t shy from covering it. She aims to buttonhole the two about why they’re peddling harmful advice, but plans are derailed in favor of a murder investigation when one of the influencers is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. Finding out who did it brings us into the underbelly of the wellness industry, which is perfectly and hilariously lampooned here, but also invites readers into Cat’s thorny but loving relationship with her wellness-guru mother and an enjoyable will-they-won’t-they romance with her coworker Amir. While this can stand alone, readers will want to go back to series debut Bury the Lead to spend more time with this gutsy journalist.

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