Tag: cozy mystery

REVIEW: Staged to Death by Karen Rose Smith

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

A home staging mystery! Caprice De Luca is an interior designer who stages homes to help people sell them. What starts as an interesting challenge – helping an old friend and her husband sell their castle-like mansion – becomes a much darker task when the husband is murdered.

Caprice is determined to protect her friend and find the real killer. But while she does that, she’ll juggle new pets, family secrets and two potential love interests. Lots to enjoy in this mystery!

Home Staging Mystery

Review

Fun first in a mystery series with a unique premise. Home improvement stories aren’t something I usually read. But the home-staging piece set this story apart in a good way.

Caprice has a big family which means lots of interesting side stories to round out the book. The author did a good job of keeping these side stories connected to the larger story so they didn’t feel like filler or a distraction from what I wanted to know.

At first, the writing felt wordy to me. There were lots of description details. But as I adjusted to the author’s style, I fell into the story and stopped noticing the style.

The solution came a little out of left field for me. I never saw that angle coming. I would read more books about Caprice and her family and friends.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Better Late Than Never by Jenn McKinlay

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

An overdue book mystery. It’s amnesty day at the library! That means anyone and everyone can return their overdue and damaged materials without repercussions. But no one expects to find a 20-year overdue book in the stack! And when Lindsey discovers the book was checked out by a patron who was murdered later that night, she has to find out where the book came from. And who the murderer is.

Overdue book mystery

Review

I loved the “cold case” twist to this book! It freshened up a series I already adore (this is book 7), taking it to a new level of awesome!

What do I love about this series? First, the main character is a librarian and the series centers around the library. As a former school librarian, there are a lot of familiar factors for me. And there are lots of book references which I enjoy.

Second, the core characters are fun! This book focused on Lindsey, Sully (love interest #1), Robbie (love interest #2), and a couple of the other librarians. The crafternooners (a crafting book club) make an appearance but aren’t a huge piece of this story. I love these characters. The author has done a great job of giving all of the main group some focus so they have clear personalities, distinct from one another.

Third, I love the mysteries. This one kept me guessing almost to the very end. And I loved the details of the case as Lindsey puzzled it out.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

This one can probably be read in any order, although it is easier to get to know the characters if you read them in order. I love the whole series. Book one is Books Can Be Deceiving.

 

REVIEW: A Dark and Stormy Murder by Julia Buckley

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Lena became a writer because she has loved the books by Camilla Graham her whole life. So when she has a chance to work for her writing idol, Lena jumps at the chance. But her dream job in Indiana unfortunately comes with a dead body. And some suspicious characters around town. Pretty soon, Lena is writing, defending a new friend from the local gossip, and dodging assailants!

cozy mystery about authors

Review

Wow! This was an excellent mystery! The author does a great job introducing her characters so you know who is who without difficulty. I felt like I had read other things with Lena and Camilla because I was so comfortable with them immediately. The mystery for this book was great – I kept getting surprised by what happened. All my theories were wrong. I loved getting to be surprised by a well-plotted mystery!

I felt like I got a bonus with this book because there’s an over-arching mystery that comes up early in the book, carries throughout, and is the primary focus of the last chapter after the main mystery for this book was done. And the over-arching mystery will carry readers right into book 2. Death in Dark Blue  is currently scheduled to release on May 2, 2017 (release dates subject to change).

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Behind Chocolate Bars by Kathy Aarons

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

A yummy chocolate truffle mystery! Michelle and Erica start sleuthing again when one of Erica’s comic book club teens is accused of murder. Faith or Faelynn or whatever name she went by was all bad news, but there’s no way this kid killed her. Michelle and Erica are determined to track down the truth – but they have their hands full. There’s a Halloween Festival, things going on in their personal lives, and a whole lot of suspects!

Behind Chocolate Bars by Kathy Aarons

Review

I read a mystery not long ago that was fine but flat. There was no spark. No zing. This  book definitely has zing! The setting – a chocolate and books shop – is different and fun. The characters are a believable team. Even the non-mystery portions of the story with family members and boyfriends are completely engaging. I love reading a book that doesn’t take any work to enjoy.

There are a lot of series regulars to keep track of in this book. Add to it the murder suspects. Readers will need to stay focused to keep track of everyone. The mystery was intricate and therefore satisfying. I figured things out a few pages before the main character. I love when I can puzzle it out.

Finally, this series makes me start to fantasize about trips to our local chocolate shop. They don’t get as creative and fancy as the book does, but it doesn’t matter if the treats are exactly the same. You will definitely be craving chocolate by the time you are done reading!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

 

REVIEW: The Calamity Cafe by Gayle Leeson

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

A new culinary mystery series. Amy wants so much more for her life than waitressing at Lou’s Joint. She has culinary training. She has ideas about decorations, ambiance, and food far above what she serves at Lou’s. Amy offers to buy out the restaurant so she can build her dream. But Lou Lou, the owner, won’t have it. Unfortunately when Amy later finds Lou Lou dead, she is suspect number one!

Calamity Cafe

Review

This is the first book in the series, and I really enjoyed it. Amy’s community is well-defined and likable. I’d be happy to enjoy more stories with this crew.  Amy’s sleuthing evolves naturally from her fear of being arrested, even though law enforcement says they are following other leads. The solution is logical and I predicted the killer, although there were a couple other possibilities that seemed legit.

For me, if the solution to the mystery is sound, I’m satisfied with the book. But if the characters are enjoyable, too, I become a fan and will keep following the series. I am a fan of the Down South Cafe series! I can’t wait for book 2!!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

Book two, Silence of the Jams, is expected to release on April 4, 2017. (Release days subject to change)

Gayle Leeson is a pseudonym for Gayle Trent who also writes the Embroidery Mysteries under the name Amanda Lee. I’m looking forward to reading her other books after seeing how great this book was.

 

REVIEW: Dire Threads by Janet Bolin

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

An embroidery mystery! Willow is living the dream! She’s opened up a machine embroidery store in “Threadville,” a community with shops dedicated to fabric-related crafts. But satisfaction with her new life takes a dip when a self-serving zoning commissioner gives her trouble. When he’s found dead on her property, Willow is the prime suspect.

dire-threads

Review

This has a fairly standard cozy mystery set up. The theme (crafts, needlework), the best friend, the quirky townspeople, the law enforcement accusations, and the love interest are all present. The setting is fun; I would love to visit somewhere like Threadville!! While I don’t sew, I was able to follow 85% of the craft-related parts of the story. The local law enforcement was infuriating. I hope that character is retired by book 2!

I couldn’t pinpoint the culprit before the end, but I picked up on some of the motive. The conclusion was satisfying and I would read another book in this series.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

 

REVIEW: A Story to Kill by Lynn Cahoon

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Cat Latimer, published author, inherits a house from her ex-husband and decides to turn it into a writer’s retreat. With her best friend managing the kitchen and the face-to-face details with her guests, they are read for their first group. Cat is NOT, however, ready for her hunky high school sweetheart to be the town handyman. Or for the dead author in her house.

A Story to Kill By Lynn Cahoon

Review

I feel like I am still getting a sense for the main characters in this one, but the mystery was top notch. But I didn’t feel like I had a good sense of the relationship between Cat and her best friend. I wanted to like them and their relationship, but I am not quite there yet. Hopefully that will come in book two.

There were lots of great options in the story for a culprit. None of them felt plunked in just to be a red-herring. They were all well-developed. I guessed the murderer but the motive took longer to puzzle out. The author did a great job of laying the ground work for future books in the series. I can’t wait to read the next one! I’ve included a picture of book two at the bottom of this post. It is scheduled to publish in February of 2017.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

Fatality by Firelight by Lynn Cahoon Book 2, Fatality by Firelight, is scheduled to release on February 28, 2017. (Release dates subject to change)

REVIEW: A Deadly Row by Casey Mayes

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Savannah Stone and her husband are living out “retirement” in relative peace and quiet. Zach Stone is retired from the Charlotte Police Department after a significant injury. Savannah is a puzzle maker, building math and logic puzzles for newspaper syndication. But Zach’s consulting work draws them back to Charlotte to investigate two murders. Savannah tags along to spend time with Zach and visit their old home. She goes expecting to work on puzzles and maybe visit family and old friends. But she finds herself directly involved in helping find a murderer!

A Deadly Row by Casey Mayes

Review

Lots of mysteries to enjoy with this one! I liked the change to the usual cozy formula of single amateur sleuth and date-able law enforcement character. The married couple working the case was a nice change of pace. Savannah’s fear that something else will happen to Zach makes her abrasive at times, but I was enjoying everything else so much, I was able to ignore that. I loved that there were more things going on in the story than just the murder. Those other pieces were logical and added to the story and the character development rather than being a distraction. The “puzzles” in the story are vaguely described and not provided in the story. That surprised me; I expected a puzzle maker mystery to include puzzles for the reader to solve.

I was able to solve the mysteries before the end of the book, which always makes be feel triumphant. I’ll happily read more in this series.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

You can see the covers for the other books in the series below:

Other Books by Casey Mayes