Saturday 26 November 2016

Murder at Mistletoe Manor by Holly Tierney-Bedord


Murder at Mistletoe Manor: A Mystery Novella by [Tierney-Bedord, Holly]

Klarinda Snow is the innkeeper of a beautiful, historic bed and breakfast in Windy Pines, Idaho. Guests come to Mistletoe Manor to escape from their troubles while enjoying the scenic mountain town.

When all seven rooms of the inn get booked on a Tuesday night in December, Klarinda is excited about having so much business, but a little confused as well. After all, her inn normally isn't exactly a destination hotspot.

The guests have barely settled in before strange things begin happening. Is this the most accident prone group of travelers ever, or is someone out for revenge?  (Summary via Goodreads)



With a name like Klarinda Snow and a bed and breakfast called Mistletoe Manor how can the story not be about Christmas and love ??  Well just add the word "murder" and the whole scene changes.

At first everything is going smoothly for Klarinda with a full house with all of the rooms reserved for one night.  But as she is checking the guests in for the night, she learns that they are all there by invitation.....invited by Mistletoe Manor.  Something Klarinda knows nothing about.

Once the guests have arrived they realize that most of them know each other from years ago at a boarding school.  Thinking it is nothing other than a reunion of sorts, everyone settles in and begin to enjoy the visit.  Unfortunately the fun doesn't last long when the guests are being found dead.  And to make matters even better, there is a blizzard outside causing everyone to stay in and the authorities slow in responding.

Murder at Mistletoe Manor will have you hooked from page one to the end.  And with it being a novella, you can rip through it quite quickly.  Holly Tierney-Bedord has a fan for life in me !!!  Hopefully she will hook you also !!!

Review by Missi S.

Wednesday 23 November 2016

Prospect for Murder by Jeanne Burrows-Johnson


Prospect for Murder

Writer Natalie Seachrist has had visions since childhood. But the vision of a girl's body draped over a vintage Mustang shatters her personal world when she learns the body belongs to her grandniece. With the help of retired police detective Keoni Hewitt and her feline companion Miss Una, Natalie begins her own investigation at an apartment in the foothills of Honolulu. Will Natalie be able to learn the truth about Ariel's death before the police close the investigation without an arrest? Or has Natalie put herself in the way of a killer who's willing to kill again to hide their secret?  (Summary via Goodreads)


Twins have "special" powers amongst each other.  They can feel each others pain, sense when one is in trouble, and even communicate without speaking out loud.  The twins in Prospect For Murder by Jeanne Burrows-Johnson are no different but are so different !!!  

In Prospect For Murder you have twins Nathan and Natalie as well as Nathan's granddaughters, Ariel and Brianna, who are also twins. Natalie also has a "gift" of seeing things happen....like before she received word that Ariel had died, she had seen it ALL in a vision. 

They know that there is no way that Ariel would have committed suicide and Natalie being the journalist that she is feels that it is up to her to find out what happened to her grand-niece.  So in order for her to investigate thoroughly Natalie rents out the apartment that Ariel was looking at when she died.

How far would you go to solve a family members death ?  Natalie goes farther than anyone would expect.....but will she solve the case or end up another casualty ? ? 

Review by Missi S.

Monday 21 November 2016

Mac N Cheese Murder: Book 5 in The Bandit Hills Series by Blair Merrin


Mac N Cheese Murder: Book 5 in The Bandit Hills Series

When a young woman is found brutally murdered by the side of the road, the sleepy little town of Bandit Hills is shaken to the core. With blood seemingly on everyone’s hands, this peaceful community of loving families and trusted relationships quickly becomes a hot bed of suspicion. Dirty secrets come to light, and greed and jealousy tear the community apart when darkness is exposed at the heart of even the most innocent of relationships. 

Cassie and Dash refuse to stand by and watch Bandit Hills fall apart. Working with local police, and more often on their own, the couple becomes caught up in a sticky, smoky, BBQ-sweet trail of intrigue that is more complex and sinister than either of them expected. Truly a fall-off-the-bone whodunit, Mac N Cheese Murder is the kind of finger licking good mystery that will have your stomach growling and your mind whirling until the very last bite.   (Summary via Goodreads)


Another great installment in The Bandit Hills series by Blair Merrin. Fun, fast paced is an understatement in the paranormal town of Bandit Hills where you never know what will happen next. 

Cass and her nerdy boyfriend Dash end up trying to exercise and end up finding a car and a dead body. That's Bandit Hills for ya! Things spiral from there when Cass finds out she knows the victim and something just isn't sitting well with her. Of course, curious Cass just can't let it go and begins to investigate much to the dismay of Dash. 

Excitement galore await readers in Mac N Cheese Murder book 5. 

Just a side note I love where Bonnie's character is headed but that is all I'll say. No spoilers here.

Review by Penny M.

Monday 14 November 2016

Count Catula (Whales and Tails #9) by Kathi Daley


Count Catula (Whales and Tails Cozy Mystery Book 9)

Cait and the gang set out to find a killer when novelist Amanda Lowman is found dead just an hour after speaking to the Mystery Lovers Book Club about her true crime novel: The Vampire Murders. As Cait delves into Amanda's death she finds a spider web of lies and half truths that could very well be tied to a series of murders that took place fifteen years prior. The deeper Cait digs the more tangled the web and the closer she becomes to being the vampire killers next victim.  (Summary via Goodreads)


Count Catula is book nine in The Whales and Tails cozy mystery series. I love all of Kathi Daley's Cozies but I have to say this is my favorite. I love the flow of her writing. They are clean, easy, fun, suspenseful reads for anyone who enjoys a great cozy. I wish Halloween could be all year long I think that is why I just couldn't put it down. I mean who doesn't love a great mystery on Halloween.
 
Cait is a very busy woman between Coffee Cat Books, Cody her boyfriend, and of course her awesome family. She really doesn't have time for another murder/mystery but ends up smack dab in the middle of this little Vampire themed thriller. 


She has invited Amanda Lowman to The Coffee Cat Book Club to speak about her new thriller that just may be tied to a true murder mystery on the island that occurred 15 years ago to two teenagers drained of their blood with two puncture holes like a Vampire killing. 


Amanda leaves her notebook behind and Cait returns it only to find Amanda a victim of a cold case that has haunted the island for years. Now the murder board is up and running with the help of the gang but will Cait survive this Vampire cold case???


Kathi Daley has done it again with a must read anytime of the year for a great suspense mystery.

Review by Penny M.

Wednesday 9 November 2016

Arsenic with Austen (Crime with the Classics #1) by Katherine Bolger Hyde


Arsenic with Austen (Crime with the Classics #1)

When Emily Cavanaugh inherits a fortune from her great aunt, she expects her life to change. She doesn't expect to embark on a murder investigation, confront the man who broke her heart 35 years before, and nearly lose her own life.

Emily travels to the sleepy coastal village of Stony Beach, Oregon, to claim her inheritance, centered in a beautiful Victorian estate called Windy Corner but also including a substantial portion of the real estate of the whole town. As she gets to know the town's eccentric inhabitants--including her own once-and-possibly-future love, Sheriff Luke Richards--she learns of a covert plan to develop Stony Beach into a major resort. She also hears hints that her aunt may have been murdered. Soon another suspicious death confirms this, and before long Emily herself experiences a near-fatal accident.

Meanwhile, Emily reads Persuasion, hoping to find belated happiness with her first love as Anne Elliot did with Captain Wentworth. She notices a similarity between her not-quite-cousin Brock Runcible, heir to a smaller portion of her aunt's property, and Mr. Elliot in Persuasion, and her suspicions of Brock crystallize. But as she and Luke continue to investigate and events speed toward a climax, Emily realizes that underneath the innocent-looking rocks of Stony Beach lurk festering jealousies that would have shocked even the worst of Jane Austen's charming reprobates.  (Summary via Goodreads)


This is an amazing new series. This isn't your ordinary cozy. The author gives you little tidbits to follow by adding literary quotes to each chapter even before you continue on with the adventure. I am a sucker for literature and love how she was able to include subtle references throughout the book.

Emily is thrown into wealth and a huge Victorian house called Windy Corner left to her by her Aunt. She is an English professor now thrown into a totally different world where not everyone is happy about her inheritance. On the other hand she does get a second chance at the love of her life. No spoilers we will just see where this goes.

Some people in Stoney Beach were glad to see her Aunt pass because they thought they would be able to take over. That didn't happen because Emily doesn't want to change Stoney Beach either. Problem though, there are people in town willing to kill to change her mind! Will she survive or be the next victim to succumb to greed and secrets? 

Review by Penny M.