Catnapped! (A Dead-End Job Mystery #13) by Elaine Viets

From Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Elaine Viets—the thrilling mystery series about one woman trying to make a living... while other people are making a killing.

If there’s one thing the very wealthy might value even more than their money, it’s their precious pets. So when local socialite Trish Barrymore hires Helen Hawthorne and Phil Sagemont to recover her beloved show cat—named January’s Jubilee Justine—from her ex-husband Mortimer, the case seems simple enough.

But when the husband-and-wife PI team show up to take possession of Justine, they’re greeted not by a cute kitten but a murdered Mort—knocked on the noggin by a mahogany cat tower. And the feline is nowhere to be found.

To get the scoop on who could have committed the dire deed, Helen takes a job as a cat groomer. But as she navigates the cutthroat world of cat shows—and their equally catty owners—she discovers there is much more to the crime than just a purloined pussycat… 

Praise for the Dead-End Job Mysteries by Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Elaine Viets

“A stubborn and intelligent heroine, a wonderful South Florida setting, and a cast of more-or-less lethal bimbos...I loved this book.”—Charlaine Harris
“Brave Viets preps by actually working the jobs she describes in loving and hilarious detail, giving her offbeat series a healthy balance between the banal and the bizarre.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Laugh-out-loud comedy with enough twists and turns to make it to the top of the mystery bestseller charts.” —Florida Today
“Fans of Janet Evanovich and Parnell Hall will appreciate Viets’s humor.”—South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“Wit, murder, and sunshine . . . it must be Florida. I love this new series.”—Nancy Pickard
“A heroine with a sense of humor and a gift for snappy dialogue.”—Jane Heller   (Summary via Goodreads)

I am a huge fan of the Dead-End Job Mystery series by Elaine Viets and I am amazed how Viets keeps coming up with dead-end jobs for main character Helen Hawthorne to apply for and get.  Catnapped is the thirteenth book in this series and boy oh boy will it capture your attention !!!

When the Dead-End job Mystery series starts Helen had left her cushy life in St. Louis after catching her husband cheating on her and when she filed for divorce, the judge awarded her ex-husband half of her future earnings.  She vowed that he would never get another dime out of her so she left and drove until her car broke down in Ft. Lauderdale.  She got an apartment and started getting "dead-end jobs" staying under the radar so she wouldn't get found out.  Luckily for her she moved into the Coronado Tropics Apartments where her landlady is like her second mother and she fell in love with her neighbor Phil.  Things gradually worked out for Helen so that now (in recent books) she and Phil have their own business as private investigators which is good because Helen seems to always find herself in the middle of a murder investigation.

In Catnapped Helen and Phil are looking for a kitten, Justine, whose "parents" are going through a messy divorce but have an agreement regarding visitation for Justine.  Justine was suppose to be returned to her "mother" Trish but when her "father" Mort fails to return her, Trish has her lawyer contact Helen and Phil to retrieve Justine.  Unfortunately when they arrive at Mort's house, they find him dead with no sign of Justine.  Shortly after Trish receives a call looking for ransom money for the return of Justine so Helen goes undercover at a cat cattery to try to find out where Justine is and who may have killed Mort.  Phil does his part by looking into things via the internet.

Before they can solve that case Margery, their landlord, has a confrontation with her ex-husband, Zach, who she hasn't seen in 30 years.  Shortly after the confrontation he is found dead and Margery is arrested for his murder !!!

Helen and Phil have their hands full in Catnapped dealing with all these cases .... and the Coronado is not the same without Margery there so they have to do whatever they can to find out who killed Zach so that she can come home !!! 

There is so much in this series to capture readers attention and you will want to move into the Coronado so that you can enjoy your evenings hanging around the pool with the gang and a glass of boxed wine.  You will fall in love with Helen and all her dead-end jobs and her relationship with Phil will capture your heart.  I long for every time I can open a book in this series and escape to Ft. Lauderdale without leaving my couch or packing a suitcase.......

If you haven't read any of the books in this series that is okay.  You don't have to read the books in any kind of order and can pick up any of them and not be lost at all.  However, if I were you, I would want to read ALL of the books in the series.  Readers cannot help but fall in love with Helen and as she grows throughout the series, you will also.  

Review by Missi M.

Marriage, Merlot & Murder (Wine & Dine Mysteries #4) by Gemma Halliday

 From #1 Amazon & New York Times bestselling author Gemma Halliday comes the next deliciously deadly mystery in wine country in the USA Today bestselling Wine & Dine mysteries!

Emmy Oak is hosting her first wedding at her family's Oak Valley Vineyards, and she's worked hard to make sure it goes smoothly. And why wouldn't it? The blushing bride is beautiful, the groom is charming, and the parents-of-the-bride are paying Emmy a tidy fee that may just put her struggling winery in the black next month. Only all her best laid plans fizzle faster than flat champagne when the groom goes missing just moments before the ceremony...and Emmy finds him bludgeoned to death on her terrace! Suddenly Emmy's dream wedding turns into a crime scene, and when the entirely-too-enticing Detective Christopher Grant sets his sights on the wrong suspect, Emmy knows it's up to her to find out who committed the matrimonial murder. Was it the overprotective father-of-the-bride who seems to be harboring secrets of his own? The jealous ex-boyfriend with a violent streak? The victim's calloused and cunning cousin? Or was the groom charming women other than his fiancée...and his philandering ways finally caught up to him? Emmy isn't sure, but the deeper she digs, the more she realizes the victim wasn't exactly innocent...and his killer may threaten to strike again!

**Simple and delicious recipes & affordable wine pairings included!**

"Ms. Halliday is the undisputed queen of the genre: she knows how to blend fashion, suspense, laughter, and romance in all the right doses."
~ Fresh Fiction

"I rank A Sip Before Dying as one of my favorite fun reads. I say to Gemma Halliday, well done!"
~ The Book Breeze

"The Wine & Dine Mystery series is a definite to read and keep an eye out for more to follow."
~ Cozy Mystery Book Review

Wine & Dine Mysteries:
A Sip Before Dying - book #1
Chocolate Covered Death - book #2
Victim in the Vineyard - book #3
Marriage, Merlot & Murder - book #4
Death in Wine Country - book #5
Fashion, Rosé & Foul Play - book #6

Rating: This story does not contain any graphic violence, language, or sexual encounters. Its rating would be similar to PG-13 or what you would find on a Hallmark Channel movie or TV series.   (Summary via Goodreads)

Gemma Halliday knows how to tell a story !!!  I love her Wine & Dine Mystery series and every time I read one of these books, I fall deeper and deeper in love !!

Marriage, Merlot & Murder has main character Emmy Oak gearing up to host the very first wedding at her family winery, Oak Valley Vineyards and, of course, her best friend Ava Barnett is there to help.  Emmy has done everything she can possibly do to ensure that the bride has the fairy tale wedding of her dreams and the bride, Juliet, is absolutely a princess.  However before the bride can say I do and take the steps to her happily even after, the groom Freddie ends up late for the ceremony......and when Emmy goes looking for him, she finds him dead......and there are a lot of likely candidates for his murder !!

Emmy knows that she should leave the murder to her "kind of" boyfriend, Detective Chris Grant, but she feels really bad for Juliet so she figures she can ask a few people a few questions.  Emmy also feels that the best candidate for Freddie's murder is Juliet's dad and seeing as he still owes her for the wedding that didn't happen, she feels this is her opening.  Unfortunately there seems to be a lot of people that could have been the one to kill Freddie when Emmy finds out more about the bride, groom, their wedding party and their lives.  

As Emmy and Ava dig into the groom and his past, they find a lot more bad things than good things and they start to really feel protective of Juliet.  Even though they are beginning to be thankful that the wedding didn't happen, they want to find out what happened to Freddie so that they can help Juliet process things and move forward with her life......even if it might be the end of Emmy's !!!

I just LOVE the Wine & Dine Mystery series and I have to say I think that Marriage, Merlot & Murder has to be my favorite.....at least until I read the next book in the series.  As this book is the fourth book and I have read the previous three, I have to say that I am a devoted fan and an invested reader and feel like a part of Emmy's life.  Yes I know that it is fake and just a story....but when you are reading it you feel like it is real and you are right there along side Emmy in everything she is doing....even if it is just hanging out with Ava.  Halliday has created a great cast of characters in this series along with a fantastic setting, the winery.  I could read a story about Emmy and her life without a murder happening and Emmy and Ava getting in the middle of it....although it might make things less interesting when it comes to her dealings with Grant.

I highly recommend grabbing Mariage, Merlot & Murder, of any of the books in this series and grabbing a glass of wine or cup of coffee and settling back in your comfy chair and letting Halliday and Emmy take over your mind for a few hours...... you will totally thank me !!!

Review by Missi M.

Booked for Death (Booklovers B&B Mysteries #1) by Victoria Gilbert

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 From the critically acclaimed author of SIBA Okra Pick A Murder for the Books, Victoria Gilbert embarks with a new series for perfect for fans of Kate Carlisle and Juliet Blackwell.

A book lover's B&B in an idyllic waterfront village becomes the scene of a grisly murder--and a ruthless battle between treachery and the truth.

Nestled in the historic waterfront town of Beaufort, North Carolina, Chapters Bed-and-Breakfast is a reader's paradise. Built in 1770, the newly renovated inn hosts a roster of special events celebrating books, genres, and authors. It's the perfect literary retreat--until a rare book dealer turns up dead in the carriage house during a celebration of Golden Age mystery author Josephine Tey.

The victim's daughter points the finger at forty-two-year-old widow and former schoolteacher Charlotte Reed, who inherited the B&B from her great-aunt Isabella. Charlotte is shocked to discover that the book dealer suspected Isabella of being a thief who founded Chapters on her ill-gotten gains. Charlotte has successfully learned the B&B business in a year, but nothing has prepared her to handle a death on the premises. 

Armed with intelligence and courage and assisted by her vibrant older neighbor, a visiting author, and members of a local book club, Charlotte is determined to prove her innocence and to clear her great-aunt's name. But the murderer is still at large, and equally determined to silence anyone who might discover the truth behind the book dealer's death. Now, Charlotte must outwit an unknown killer--or end up writing her own final chapter.    (Summary via Goodreads)

In Booked for Death, the first book in the Booklover's B & B Mystery series by Victoria Gilbert, Charlotte Reed inherits a Bed and Breakfast from her great-aunt in Beaufort, North Carolina and she moves in to run it.  Chapters, the Bed and Breakfast, hosts events surrounding books, authors and book lovers.  The property also included a beautiful garden and a carriage house.  The carriage house is occasionally rented by an author so that he can write and do research in peace.

Charlotte and her live-in housekeeper and cook, Alicia are getting ready to host a week long celebration of author Josephine Tey however before they can really get to know the guests and begin the celebration, one of the guests is found stabbed in the carriage house.  At this event there are not only the week long guests but Charlotte, Alicia, another cook, Damian, Charlotte's friend and bookstore owner, Julie, and a few other locals that belong to the bookclub that meets at the B & B.

Lincoln Delamont who was at the B & B with her wife and daughter is found stabbed in the carriage house during a costume party at the start of the week long celebration.  Charlotte finds herself eyeing all of the people who attended the party trying to uncover the person responsible.  While she is looking into the murder, she also comes across some cryptic letters and a journal that belonged to her great-aunt in the library.  Not knowing much about her great-aunt or the reason why Chapters was left to her, she decides to look into her great-aunts history.

Charlotte has a lot on her plate running Chapters and looking into her great-aunts history and now with one of the guests being murdered, she can't help but wonder if there is a murderer under her roof or if one of her friends could have done it.  She decides to enlist the help of her next door neighbor since she was around when her great-aunt was alive hoping she might be able to help.  Little does she know the can of worms she is opening by doing that.

While Booked for Death is in your hands, you will feel like Gilbert has cast a spell on you.  You will be whisked away to Beaufort, North Carolina withoug leaving your house.  You will also want to look into all of the guests staying at Chapters as well as the locals.  And when neighbor, Ellen, gives some insight into Great-Aunt Isabella's life, you will be all in !!  Gilbert provides the readers will a book load of likely candidates for wanting Lincoln Delamont dead but when the actual murderer is uncovered you will be quite shocked !!!!

Review by Missi M.

   

Shuntoll Road (A Berkshire Hilltown Mystery #2) by Leslie Wheeler

It's June in the Berkshires, a beautiful month when everything is lush and green. Bostonian Kathryn Stinson returns to see if she and New Nottingham local, Earl Barker, can rebuild their romantic relationship. She's barely arrived when New York real estate developer, Niall Corrigan, takes over the property she's been renting with plans to turn it into an upscale development.

Kathryn's opposition to the development pits her against Earl, offered the job of clearing the land. Amid escalating violence, a fire breaks out in the woods and the burned body of another opponent is discovered. Did he die trying to escape a fire he set, or did someone else start the fire to cover up his murder?

Other questions swirl around Corrigan's connection to Kathryn's new friend, Gwen Waite. The happily married wife of a local, Gwen is a role model for Kathryn. But is Gwen's marriage truly happy? And what was the mysterious "accident" that caused Gwen to flee New York years ago? Kathryn's search for answers puts her in grave danger.  (Summary via Goodreads)

Shuntoll Road by Leslie Wheeler is the second book in the Berkshire Hilltown Mystery series.  Rattlesnake Hill was the first book in this series and it was quite intense and Shuntoll Road follows suit.

In Shuntoll Road main character Kathryn Stinson returns from Boston to the house she is renting in the Berkshires for a two week long vacation.  Kathryn first came to the Berkshires ( in Rattlesnake Hill ) to solve a family murder, which she did plus a recent one, and she fell in love with the area and a local, Earl Barker.  

On her way into town she receives a call from the realtor of the house she is renting saying that a New York City developer who is interested in the property will be in town surveying the property during her vacation.  Little does she know that this New York City developer and some of the locals have a past history that could cause some problems if it was told.

Kathryn wants nothing more than to enjoy her vacation.  She wants to see where her and Earl's relationship is headed and if they have a future together.  Unfortunately when the developer makes the downstairs of her house an office and hires a security guard and dog and positions them in a trailer on the property, Kathryn is no where near relaxed.  And when it is rumored that there may have been a codicil to the original will left about the property that could save the property from the developer, Kathryn searches high and low to find it.

Kathryn also learns that Niall Corrigan, the New York City developer, knew a few of the locals years ago when  they were young and living in the city.  However Gwen, the local librarian who is married with 2 kids, would like to forget that earlier time in her life.  But when there is a fire in the woods behind Kathryn's house and a dead body is found, there are more questions than answers and Gwen may not be able to keep her secret a secret any more.

Even though Kathryn is not a local and has only been part of the Berkshires for a short time, the town and the people have a pull to her and she will do whatever she can to protect it and them.  And when she learns about Gwen's secret, she will do whatever she can to protect Gwen and her family.

Readers will be on the edge of their chair reading Shuntoll Road and if you have read Rattlesnake Hill, you know that spot already.  These books will become a part of you while you are reading and you will be there next to Kathryn doing whatever is necessary to protect the town and its people.  You will fall in love with everything about these books.

Review by Missi M.

Twice Sold Murder (Second Treasures Mysteries #1) by Margaret Evans

She’s back with an exciting new mystery series, Second Treasures. In the first volume, “Twice Sold Murder,” Margaret Evans takes us to the Mesabi Range in Minnesota, where Laura Keene returns to her hometown to dig into the past and solve the mystery of her parents’ deaths. What she finds, instead, are secrets buried in the goods of her thrift shop that entangle her in intrigue and danger, and only with the aid of an old friend and a mysterious cat does she have a chance to uncover what happened all those years ago.    (Summary via Goodreads)

I could not put Twice Sold Murder by Margaret Evans down.  Once I started reading about Laura Keene moving back to her hometown Raging Ford in Minnesota after leaving there 11 years ago when her parents died, I was HOOKED !!!

Laura Keene had left Raging Ford when she was young.  She moved to Maryland to live with her Aunt Rose after her parents were killed.  Now her aunt has also passed and she felt the pull to move back home.  She has a few reasons for moving back.  The main reason is to try and solve her parents murders.  

Laura moves back and opens up Second Treasures, a thrift shop, and she has a small apartment above the store.  The town of Raging Ford is a small, well organized and quirky town that is run by the Town Council which consists of the Kovac triplet brothers, and there are certain "rules" that must be followed.  One of the rules is that residents and friends can not rush to Laura, they have to run into her by chance.  Luckily there are a few of Laura's old friends that don't follow the rules. 

While Laura organizes and opens Second Treasures,  gets reacquainted with her friends and the town , she is drawn to an old cold case from a nearby town when 2 pieces of furniture that she acquired may have belonged to the family.  She also found a piece of paper in a drawer of one of the pieces that points her to an old Dear Abby letter in a magazine.  And when the furniture is stolen from the store with a message to Laura, her old childhood friend, Sergeant Connor Fitzpatrick, takes charge !!

Twice Sold Murder is the first book in the Second Treasures Mystery series and I cannot wait to dive into the next book Priced To Kill.  I love starting to read a series that has been around for a while....you don't have to wait for the next book to be released.  You can finish one and grab the next one.  And I highly recommend reading this series.  There is so much to fall in love with and Evans keeps readers on their toes and totally engrossed in the story.

Review by Missi M.

The Adventures of Dagobert Trostler : Vienna's Sherlock Holmes by Balduin Groller

The first important Teutonic sleuth. 
Ellery Queen 

Dagobert Trostler is the Sherlock Holmes of Vienna . . . with a twist. Like Holmes, he's the most famous private investigator in Vienna. Unlike Holmes, he's a bit of a party animal. While he loves a good mystery, he also loves good food, good company and a good time. He's a bon-vivant and right at home in the brilliant social scene of Vienna in the heyday of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 
These stories, written by Balduin Groller and published in Vienna between 1889 and 1910, are a glimpse into the sparkling, forgotten world of turn-of-the-century Vienna. Hugely popular in the German-speaking world, they are now available in English for the first time exclusively from Kazabo Publishing. If you love Sherlock Holmes, you need to read these stories! 

Contents:
"The Fine Cigars"
"The Great Embezzlement"
"Anonymous Letters"
"An Arrest"
"The Cheat"
"The Mysterious Box"

"The Adventures of Dagobert Trostler" is the first in a series. Watch for The Memoirs of Dagobert Trostler and The Casebook of Dagobert Trostler.   (Summary via Goodreads)

If you have a free afternoon or you are just finishing a book and unsure what book you will open next, I recommend The Adventures of Dagobert Trostler : Vienna's Sherlock Holmes by Balduin Groller.  The Adventures of Dagobert Trostler is a book with six short stories in it.  You can take your time reading each story within a short time.  You can read them in order, which I did, or can pick them according to title of whatever looks most interesting given your current mood.

In the stories readers are introduced to Dagobert Trostler who investigates crime, small or large, personal or impersonal, and brings justice to those involved.  He likes to do it quietly, without scandal.  However he loves to tell the story of how he went about capturing the person who did wrong.

In most of the stories in this book, Dagobert is in the company of a dear friend and his wife, Andreas and Violet Grumbach, who have used his services on a number of occasions but who also love to hear him tell stories of other crimes he solved.

These stories are written during the turn of the century when times were a lot different than they are now.  In order to solve a crime, a person had to rely a lot on observation, conversations and wits.  And Dagobert does all of that quite nicely.  Reading the stories within this book will take readers back in time and allow you to just read the stories and get lost in what is going on.

Reading books allow readers to escape their life for a period of time and get lost in someone else's world and Groller does that splendidly.  While reading this book, you will escape to another time period and place and you may not want to close the book and return to your life....so I encourage you to read slowly or at least try to....once you get lost in the story, you will be powerless to let go.

Review by Missi M.

Burglary at Barnard (Oxford Key Mysteries #2) by Lynn Morrison

A dead body buried under a pile of ageing manuscripts. A secret chamber filled with a treasure-trove of books and paintings.

Nat returns to Oxford in January, this time based out of the historic halls of Barnard College. When she agrees to meet Mathilde in the college archives after hours, they hope to find information on the magic. They don’t expect to find a hidden chamber or stumble across another dead body.

Nat is scrambling to figure out if this is a crime of passion, a case of wrong place and wrong time, or whether something larger is a foot. Meanwhile, Mathilde and Kate are searching the hidden chamber for information on the magic’s origin. The last thing they need is Edward snooping around, wondering how the prefects are connected.

Can Nat satisfy Edward’s curiosity without revealing the existence of Oxford’s magic?

Can the prefects figure out how to restore Oxford’s magical border before someone else dies?   (Summary via Goodreads)


Burglary at Barnard is the second book in the Oxford Key Mystery series by Lynn Morrison and I really, really, really want to spill the beans and tell you about a HUGE part of the story but if I do that , it will totally ruin reading the book and I am not like that.  But believe me when I say that I am biting my tongue as I type up my thoughts.

In Burglary at Barnard main character Natalie Payne doesn't even unpack her suitcase after returning from the holidays before meeting up with friend Mathilde where they stumble across a dead body.  They had planned to meet up in the archives in the  library to start looking into why they are having trouble with the magic that is within Oxford.  Nat, Mathilde and Kate work at the college and all have important "jobs" as prefects who can see all the magic within the walls and grounds of Oxford.  In the first book in this series, Murder at St. Margaret, they learn that there is a problem with the magic and they need to find out why that is.  That is why Nat and Mathilde are meeting at the library at night before the colleges re-open for the new semester.  Unfortunately finding the body of Barnard's Master's assistant and a secret chamber changes all their plans.

Luckily they are able to get assigned to catalog the contents in the hidden chamber which allows them to also look into the problem with the magic.  Unfortunately, Master Finch-Byron takes control over the murder investigation and assigns it to Edward Thomas who happens to be Nat's upstairs neighbor who she has a crush on and who she worked with on the previous case however him looking into the murder could cause complications for the women.

I am a huge fan of this series and if you are a Harry Potter fan, this is a must read for you,  I know I said it when I reviewed the first book but it bears saying again.   Harry Potter fans and any fans of magical books will love this series.  And each book draws the reader further into the story and the magic and with the explosive events that I really, really, really want to tell you about but can't you won't want the story to end.  I am already looking forward to the next book, Arson at the Ashmolean....especially with the last line in Burglary at Barnard.


Review by Missi M.