Tag:

Cozy

Review

Desperate Spies

by Charlotte Del Vecchio

At 75 years old, retired FBI agent Ethel Fiona Crestwater returns for another case of digging up dirt and showing up perps. Ethel may have hung up her badge, but that does not make her any less active on the cases that impact the people closest to her, especially the steady stream of FBI agents she rents rooms to in her home. When an old colleague calls in a favor, she accepts without question. But as she dives deeper into the case, Ethel discovers that it originates in the very sting-operation-gone-bad that sent her into retirement, involving the murder of a college student and the Russian mob. Now, 18 years later, Ethel is back on the case with a new team and even more to lose. De Castrique’s (Secret Lives) sharp protagonist must use her skills and resources in the form of some tech-savvy spies, including Jesse, her beloved double-first-cousin-twice-removed, to keep state secrets out of the wrong hands once and for all. Fans of elderly sleuths will enjoy this political thriller, as well as Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series and Deanna Rayborn’s Killers of a Certain Age.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

All My Bones

by Brian Kenney

Quirky and quick-witted, this second mystery in the Old Juniper series manages to be both action packed and full of the rich details that make up small-town life. Madeline Brimley is back in her hometown of Enigma, Georgia (“A little do-nothing town in the worst part of the third-worst state in the country”). A former actor, Madeline inherited her aunt’s home/bookstore and has no problem making new friends, although her bestie would be Gloria Coleman, the Episcopal priest who lives right across the street. When a corpse is found in the front yard of the bookstore, of all places, it turns out to be that of the rich and nasty Bea Glassie. And while no one in town can stand Bea, it’s Gloria who takes the heat for killing her and ends up in the slammer—while Madeline and friends are cavorting about town, interviewing suspects, cooking dinner, and in general living it up. Madeline even manages to get herself a boyfriend (a poet and horticulturalist. How cute is that?) Gradually the mystery starts to fall in place, characters step up to their roles, and the world eventually settles back into a familiar place.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

At Death’s Dough

by Danise Hoover

As Geneva Bay, WI is mostly a summer resort, making ends meet for the town’s small businesses in the winter is no easy task. Delilah and Son, gourmet pizza establishment, is no exception. The history of the place as a vacation spot for the Chicago mob is a mixed blessing, but when the Chamber of Commerce comes up with a “Gangsters of Geneva Bay” map and self-guided tour, Delilah is sort of obliged to sign on, even though it upsets cop boyfriend Calvin Capone, who does his best to play down his nominal connection to the mob. That she and her Aunt Biz discover frozen human remains while ice fishing only makes things worse. We have local and mob history combined with the overflow of ugly divorces, bad police work, family feuds, and a juicy bit of danger to liven the plot, along with trying to make sure that Valentines Day reservations will make up for the rest of the slow month to make this a fun addition to an entertaining series. And of course there are recipes at the end.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Review

Poison & Pooches

by Brian Kenney

A charming novel with community at its heart. Arial Mayes Kingston has inherited a guest house in Monterey, California. Only in her mid-twenties, Arial turns to the one thing she knows how to do well: walk and sit dogs. O.K., so she is able to drum up only one client: the very handsome Golden named Monty (fans of Laurien Berenson and David Rosenfelt will enjoy meeting Monty). But she is able to make new acquaintances in the neighborhood while walking about with Monty, and Balzo spends plenty of time on character development. In fact, we’re nearly a quarter of the way through the book before a male corpse shows up, discovered, of all places, in the floorboards beneath Arial’s guest house. Fortunately Arial is in the clear—she hadn’t even moved to California when the body had been buried. But boy, talk about an incentive for gossip. Between the local book group, the vet, the neighborhood detective, and several more, we have enough speculation to keep the questions of who killed the victim and who buried him very much alive. When the murderer is finally revealed, it is truly a shock worth waiting for. Looking forward to more from Arial and Monty

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
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.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
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.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
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.

0 comment
2 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
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.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
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.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
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.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail