A Catered Quilting Bee. Isis Crawford

Published: Kensington
Date: 20th February 2024
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Quilts, quiet, and delicious food. That’s exactly what Bernie and Libby expect as they build the menu for the Longely Sip and Sew Quilting Circle’s first-ever exhibition hosted at the local library. The eclectic ladies of the group couldn’t appear more harmlessly wholesome if they tried, especially mild-mannered kindergarten teacher Cecilia Larson, who hired A Little of Taste of Heaven to cater the event. So it’s a complete shock when disturbing news drops about member Ellen Fisher, found hanging from a plant hook in her otherwise pristine sewing room . . .

All are very quick to deem the tragic death a suicide. All except for Cecilia. She believes something else happened to her best friend—who was busy adding the finishing stitches on her greatest work yet in hopes of displaying it at the exhibition—and looks to Bernie and Libby to expose the truth . . . and the killer. As Ellen’s patchy past comes into focus along with a mysterious connection to a missing seven-hundred-year-old quilt fragment, can the sisters unravel the victim’s final thread before another turns up dead?

A Catered Quilting Bee is part of a long standing series with two sisters Bernie and Libby who have a catering shop/company, and as well seem to do quite a bit of sleuthing on the side. This time they are involved in hunting down the killer of Ellen Fisher. To me it seemed Bernie and Libby spend a considerable amount of their time on the sleuthing and this time round any way they are  well paid for it.

Their Dad is a retired policeman and has the ability to gather in for them information from some friends that seem to provide good leads. There is quite a bit of cat and mouse chasing about, a past heist that comes into play, and some questions about who really is Ellen Fisher.

I enjoyed the story, I was suspicious of the killer from the beginning, I felt there were a few tip offs and the tone of the book towards a certain group sort of helped. However the way it would all roll out was still unknown and I enjoyed the ride.

Overdue or Die

Published: Crooked Lane Books
Date: 10th October 2023
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Carrie Singleton has more than her fair share on her plate: her job at the Clover Ridge Library, preparing for her wedding to Dylan Avery, and hoping that the local art gallery doesn’t steal away one of her part-time employees. Her fiancé Dylan accompanies her to the beautiful home of Victor Zalinka—art collector and successful businessman—to select paintings for an art show at the library. While Carrie muses that Victor’s home would be the perfect wedding venue, Dylan spots a forgery among the paintings in Victor’s collection.

Then Martha Mallory is found murdered in her art gallery. With the assistance of Evelyn, the library ghost; the resident cat, Smoky Joe; and the office manager of Dylan’s private investigation company, Carrie comes up with a suspect list long enough to rival the size of an encyclopedia. During her investigation, Carrie stumbles across a terrible truth: Martha’s murder was part of something far bigger and more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. And it all leads back to the art gallery.

How far will Carrie go to find the killer and uncover the truth? If the killer finds her first—will Carrie finally be taken out of circulation?

Overdue or Die is #7 in the Haunted Library series. It is another enjoyable read with plenty of mystery and murders to be solved.

Carrie and Dylan are now engaged and while there are murders to be solved, wakes to attend and a lot of head scratching done wondering exactly what is going on, Carrie and Dylan are making important decisions about when and where they will be married.  Of course Smoky Joe the cat, Evelyn the ghost all play their small parts int he story.  Along with them Carrie makes some new friends, looks at another acquaintance in a totally different light, and possibly will earn praise for her sleuthing skills from someone from the underworld.

Of course Carrie can’t resist poking her nose in things, chatting people up, even following suspects when she thinks something is going down. However she is reasonably sensible and Dylan always has his eye on her.

The murders had a number of possible suspects and I didn’t really guess who it was although when it is revealed it was not surprising.

This is a series I enjoy and I look forward to the next one.

Death in the Romance Aisle. Lynn Cahoon

Published: Kensington
Date: 5th September 2023
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Rarity is excited about expanding the romance section of her store—but not nearly as excited as her best friend Sam is about reuniting with her brother after many years. Marcus makes the trek from California to Arizona, is welcomed with a party, and hints that he may stick around now that remote work is an option.

But is it just a coincidence that not long after his arrival, a body is found near a local swimming hole? Especially considering that the dead woman had recently gone on a date with him—and even worse, that Marcus has a startling secret in his past? The police suspect him, but Rarity hopes to find another explanation before Sam is once again separated from her sibling—by prison walls . . .

Death in the Romance Aisle by Lynn Cahoon is #3 in the Survivors’ Book Club series. Rarity is a bookshop owner who is establishing her business in a  new town. So far it’s been going fairly well although she also has a nose for smelling out a local murder and getting involved. She has a team of book club participants who work with her to solve these crimes.

The mystery was good, there were about three possible characters I had my eye on and in the end it was no surprise when this person showed up.

I like the characters and Killer the dog, that Rarity has adopted after the first murder she worked on. Set around a bookshop is of course good and I enjoyed seeing the book clubs develop. One little twitch for me was that I would have liked to see the naming of actual books. This is done in a couple of places. However I think the series would be enhanced by adding in actual names of books.

This was an okay read for me, I liked it enough to be interested in reading the next one to see how things develop before I finally make up my mind about this series.

Paper Cuts. Ellery Adams

Published: Kensington
Date:  25th April
Source: Publisher via Netgalley

Nora escaped her past a decade ago. So it feels like a visit from another world when Kelly Walsh—the woman her ex-husband left her for—walks through the door of Miracle Books along with her son, a sweet, serious boy with a talent for origami. Kelly hasn’t come to gloat, though. As it turns out, she’s been dumped too. She’s also terribly ill, and all she wants from Nora is forgiveness.

Shockingly, however, this woman who’s been the victim of so much misfortune is about to become a murder victim. Who would do such a thing? Certainly not Nora, but that doesn’t stop the gossip and suspicion—especially after Kelly’s brother claims that he saw the two women arguing.

In seeking justice for Kelly, The Secret, Book, and Scone Society joins forces with the sheriff’s department, but they’ve barely begun their probe when life throws another wrench. After serving a twenty-year sentence, Estella’s father returns to Miracle Springs. And when his past comes back to haunt him, it might be more than the four friends can handle.

Paper Cuts  by Ellery Adams – #6 in the Secret, Book and Scone Society. This is probably my favorite cozy mystery series, and it was just so good catching up with Nora, Hester, Estella and June. They are such a good bunch, there for each other and the community.

This time Nora is in the firing line and Nora is initially blamed for a murder of a woman she had an argument with. This means that McCabb ( the sherrif and romantic partner of Nora) has to stay a little back. But at least those friends of hers are watching over her.

We meet Tucker who is neurodivergent and when his mother is murdered it really upsets him. However his aunt and uncle are out to watch over his interests, and as it turns out those interests are at the root of the murders and all the other suspicious goings on.  I liked these newcomers to Miracle Springs and hope we meet them some more in the future.

The story moves along some of the side stories for people like Estella and Hester, so again that makes me wait impatiently for the next book in this series.

I would like to mention too that this book has lots of talk about books and there are plenty of recommendations, my TBR grew a little. I think Ellery Adams must have a lot of fun writing these books with the witty sayings and all this book talk.

I highly recommend this book and the whole series.

Bookclubbed to Death. V. M. Burns

Published: Kensington
Date:  27th December 2022
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

After the local library in North Harbor, Michigan, is flooded in a storm, Sam offers her bookstore as a new venue for the Mystery Mavens Book Club. Unfortunately, she immediately runs afoul of the club leader, Delia Marshall, a book reviewer who can make or break careers—something Sam can ill afford with her debut historical mystery soon to be published. But the next morning, Sam opens her shop to find the unpleasant woman dead on the floor, bashed with a heavy—apparently lethal—tome: the Complete Works of Agatha Christie. While Sam is busy writing her latest British historical mystery in which the queen mother is suspected in the murder of a London Times correspondent, a pair of ambitious cops suspect Sam of the real-life crime. When she gathers Nano Jo and their friends from the Shady Acres Retirement Village to review the case, they discover every one of the Mavens had a motive. With her novel about to hit the stores, Sam must find out who clubbed Delia before a judge throws the book at her . . .

Bookclubbed to Death is #8 in the Mystery Bookshop series by V. M. Burns. I hadn’t read any of the previous books and found it easy to slip into the story because the author deftly brings the reader up to date with the various characters.

There is an eclectic mix of characters as there often is in a cozy mystery. Samantha as bookshop owner and more is the main character, along with her Nana Jo, and together they are a rather formidable team. And on to that they can add Jenna – Sam’s sister  who happens to be a lawyer.

When there is a murder in Sam’s bookshop the inept detectives make noises about putting it on Sam as the murderer. However they don’t take into account the wiles of Sam, Jenna, Nana Jo and the girls who have powerful links.

The person murdered was a horrible woman who was big into blackmailing so a number of people wanted her dead. Sam works away at the mystery, she is also a budding author and in writing her mystery set in the late 1930’s in England she unwinds and begins to notice clues. I have to say I didn’t really bond with that device of including it in the story but others may like it.

It was easy to read, engaging and often humorous.  I didn’t know who the murderer was to the end so that was good although really unsurprising in light of all the blackmail!

Bread Over Troubled Water. Winnie Archer.

Published: Kensington
Date: 29th November 2022
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

A regular who used Yeast of Eden as a workspace, Josh Prentiss always turned heads with his startlingly good looks and thousand-watt smile. But Ivy can’t help noticing one morning that he seems distracted and off his game. Later, during a visit to the park where she and Miguel plan to hold their engagement party—with plenty of baked goods on the menu—her rescue pug, Agatha, sniffs out Josh lying in a bed of poppies…scone cold dead.

There’s no reason for Ivy to get involved. She’s busy enough holding down the fort as the shop’s owner, Olaya, cares for her recently orphaned niece, not to mention the stress when a new employee is fired and storms out in a rage.  Then a band of rabble-rousers starts picketing the bakery, claiming that Olaya’s sourdough roll is what killed Josh—and Ivy hears some salacious gossip about her beloved boss. She doesn’t think there’s a grain of truth to the seedy rumors—but to prove it, she’ll have to start sleuthing . . .

Bread Over Troubled Water is #8 in the Bread Shop Mysteries.  It is the first time I have read a book in this series so it took me quite awhile to settle into the shop and its characters. Ivy works there in part time on a kind of voluntary basis. She is very loyal to the owner Olaya who also happens to be in a relationship with Ivy’s father.

When Josh Prentiss is found murdered, by Ivy, and because he has just eaten at the bakery, the immediate public blame falls on the bakery. So Ivy is very motivated to prove they had nothing to do with it. Or did they? And with the elderly pink loving Penelope Branford, Ivy is on a mission. She has friends in high places in the local police – her best friend and well… sister in law. However in the past Captain York has been a bit of a thorn in Ivy’s side. In her favour Ivy is someone who shares most of what she finds out with the police.

They mystery was full of red herrings so I never really worked out who the murderer was until Ivy works it out at the very end.

Starting into this book at #8 was workable, however it would have been a lot easier to follow if I had come to know the characters via the previous books.

High Spirits. Carol J. Perry

Published: Kensington
Date: 25th October 2022
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Christmas lights on palm trees and Santa hats on plastic pink flamingos are far from the snowy landscape Maureen and her beloved golden retriever, Finn, are used to. But Maureen is determined to make this a holiday to remember—which means finding a way to promote Haven House on a shoestring. Fortunately, Haven’s vintage movie theater, the Paramount, has come up with a great “Twelve Days of Christmas” idea. They’ll feature an impressive list of the best classic Christmas movies ever made—shown by one-time movie actor-turned-projectionist Decklin Monroe . . .
 
But nobody bothered to tell Maureen that the Paramount is haunted by the ghost of a man who was murdered a few years back. Haven’s top cop Frank Hubbard doesn’t believe in ghosts but, believing that Decklin Monroe was somehow involved, he wants a reluctant Maureen’s help. 
 
That plan is derailed when, on the first day of the festival, a fresh murder victim is found at the theater. Now Maureen has to defend her staff and guests, while trying to keep her high-spirited resident ghosts out of the picture—before they have company for the holidays . . .

High Spirits  is #2 in the Haunted Haven series, and follows Be My Ghost. We find Maureen settling into the Inn that she has inherited rather mysteriously. She has plans for it’s development and they seem to be going well. Ted the chef, and herself also seem to be getting along well and are a great team, along with the rest of the staff.

A fund raiser that involves old movies at the Paramount, leads to a murder. Who killed the victim? Frank Hubbard the local police officer is out to find out, and he does believe that Maureen knows more than she is telling. It’s a weird set up really and his consulting her all the time I found a bit strange. One thing Maureen is though is observant and knowledgeable about fashion and this is an asset in this murder. As well the present day murder seems linked to a long ago one.

I enjoyed the story but found it rather slow paced. There is the murder, and the mystery of who funds the Haven Inn and how did Maureen become chosen to take up as the owner. This isn’t solved yet and no doubt will be a thread going through the series. I will certainly want to read the next one but I am certainly hoping it will have a faster pace to it.

Ellery Adams. Murder on the Poet’s Walk.

Published: Kensington
Date:  27th September 2022
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

When corpses clutching poems begin turning up around Storyton Hall, resort manager Jane Steward is on the trail of someone exercising poetic license to kill…

As Jane eagerly anticipates the wedding of her best friend Eloise Alcott, Storyton Hall is overrun with poets in town to compete for a coveted greeting card contract. They’re everywhere, scrawling verses on cocktail napkins in the reading rooms or seeking inspiration strolling the Poet’s Walk, a series of trails named after famous authors. But the Tennyson Trail leads to a grim surprise: a woman’s corpse drifting in a rowboat on a lake, posed as if she were “The Lady of Shallot.”

Murder on the Poet’s Walk by Ellery Adams is #8 in the Book Retreat cozy mystery series. However this was my first read in this series and I do believe a reader could easily pick it up here. However like most series – earlier books enrich with background, that cannot be denied. I have plans to move through some previous books in the series.

Jane owns this amazing place that is a hotel that was once her home. It is large and rambling and has some secret passages. She has a large staff, with many who have been with her a long time. They all have roles at the hotel, but when it comes to mystery and murder they are there with their expertise. Jane has two twin boys, about twelve, Hem and Fitz and they feature in small and significant ways in the book. Add in Edwin who obviously loves Jane and the boys, the Cover Girls who are part of a book club and Uncle Aloysius and Aunt Octavia. A large cast with a big family feel.

With a poetry competition going on at the hall, the place is full of hopeful poets who are joining in in a competition that could be very worthwhile. Until one of them is murdered! What is going on? Mystery and sleuthing galore. Half way through on the back of the paper I wrote down who I thought was the murderer, from one small clue. But then I thought as time went by hmm no, of yes, no and YES!

Plenty of poetry and book references. A set of characters to enjoy and like, a little romance and one person out to make mayhem at the conference.

I thought it was a good mystery and read and as I said above I would like to delve into some of the earlier books.

Murder Spills the Tea. Vicki Delany

Published: Kensington
Date 26th July 2022
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

The country’s hottest TV cooking show is coming to Cape Cod. And against her better judgment, Lily Roberts is entering America Bakes! with her charming tearoom, Tea by the Sea. Filming is already proving disruptive, closing the tearoom during Lily’s busiest season. But tensions really bubble over when infamous bad-boy chef and celebrity judge, Tommy Greene, loses his temper with Lily’s staff, resulting in an on-camera blowup with Cheryl Wainwright. Just as Lily thinks the competition can’t get more bitter, Tommy is found dead in Tea by the Sea’s kitchen . . . murdered with Lily’s rolling pin.

Suspicion immediately falls on Cheryl, but the temperamental star has racked up plenty of culinary clashes in the past, both on- and off-screen. And nearly anyone associated with Tommy or the show could be the killer: be it one of Lily’s fierce competitors, a member of the beleaguered film crew, or even one of Tommy’s fellow judges—struggling cookbook maven, Claudia D’Angelo or beauty contest winner, Scarlet McIntosh. Now, while she’s baking up a storm for the show, Lily must also whip up an impromptu investigation . . . before the murderer rolls someone else away.

Murder Spills the Tea by Vicki Delany is a fun mystery murder story set in a very pleasant B&B and Tea by the Sea tearoom. Lily is the owner of the latter, and her grandmother owns and runs the B&B.

Vicki is right up to her ears in the chaos of a TV filming of a baking tearooms contest. She is not all that pleased to be taking part and even less so when a murder happens one night in her tearooms. And what is worse one of her staff is accused of the murder.

The TV crew and judges are an interesting lot and most, if not all of them, not that likeable, and some even less likeable than the others. Added to that the other competitor in the town is not that sweet either. Just as well that Lily’s friends and staff are far more likeable.

I didn’t really spot any clues along the way that would lead to the murderer, however when the murderer was finally revealed that person had been at the top of my list, only one other had made me question it, but I couldn’t see any motive for that person.

So an enjoyable story and I would happily try another one in the series.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.

Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels or anything in those genres – join them.

And another week has rolled by. On the whole it was good to me. I had a couple of times with others, which was enjoyable. The funny thing Friday when a group of us gathered it was roaring hot weather and very muggy. And then Sunday with a friend – very cold. Or relatively so! Cardigans and jerseys out for a day! Oh well, that’s summer!

I finished finally Go Tell the Bees I Am Gone and liked it, sure there is a bit of a cliff hanger but was quite comfortable with that!

What I read last week:

What I am reading now:

Another book off my shelf. A YA, I enjoy Julie Buxbaum and this book deals with that topic of scandal of the privileged paying for their offspring getting into college. So far, good reading.

Starting to listen to a book I think I bought in an Audible sale awhile back.  Never read the author or listened to the narrator but sometimes its good to branch out.

Up next:

 

Last Week’s Posts

January 22 Reading Round Up

Five Quotes that took my Fancy.

 

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