A Fashionable Fatality (A Lady & Lady's Maid Mystery #8) by Alyssa Maxwell

A house party attended by fashion royalty becomes the backdrop for a murder that only Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady's maid, Eva Huntford, can untangle . . .

Amid the aftermath of the Great War and its hardships, it's no wonder that many wish to rediscover life's pleasures--parties, fashion, dancing. Still, Lady Phoebe and Eva are disconcerted when a small gathering at the home of Phoebe's sister, Julia, becomes a far larger and more glamorous affair . . .

Julia has invited her favorite French fashion designer, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, and Coco's current beau, the Earl of Chesterhaven. Coco has brought an entourage of her own, including two models, and intends to use the gardens as a photographic setting for her latest creations.

Madame Chanel is as outspoken as she is talented, offering a scathing critique of Phoebe's fashion sense. There is tense competition between the models as well. When one of the guests is found dead of smoke inhalation, it appears to be a tragic accident. But was a footman really to blame for mistakenly closing the fireplace flue, or is there a more sinister explanation?

Phoebe is determined to find out, despite the protestations of her sweetheart, Owen Seabright. Both above and below stairs, Phoebe and Eva uncover myriad motives--career ambition, romantic rivalries, and even deeper betrayals. For despite the surface beauty, there are ugly secrets in the world of Maison Chanel, ones that a killer will risk anything to protect.  (Summaty via Goodreads)

Fans of the Lady and Lady's Maid Mystery series by Alyssa Maxwell are going to LOVE A Fashionable Fatality  !!

A Fashionable Fatality is the eighth book in this series and if you've read the previous seven, this one will become your favorite.  In A Fashionable Fatality main characters Phoebe and her maid Eva will be leaving Foxwood Hall where they live and traveling to Allerton Place. Allerton Place is the home of Phoebe's older sister, Julia, and her new husband Theo, Marquess of Allerton.

Phoebe is very excited to be visiting her sister but soon learns that there are others visiting as well.  Mademoiselle Gabrielle Chanel, "Coco" to friends is a clothing designer and she is there with her current boyfriend but she invites members of her group to come so that she can use the gardens and surrounding areas to use as photoshoots.  Included in the group are two mannequins which in today's time are called models.  And to Phoebe's surprise Julia has invited her beau, Owen Seabright.

Phoebe is caught up in the dynamics of the whole modeling aspect and cannot get enough of the group of people...some she likes, others not so much.  And Eva is roped into working with the group to help prepare the clothing for the models.

Unfortunately one night eveyone is woken up thinking there is a fire which turns out to be just smoke and it was confined in one room....Suzette's, one of the models and she dies from smoke inhalation.  Of course Phoebe and Eva do not believe it was an accident and insist that the chimney and fireplace be inspected.  After inspection it is deemed that it was highly unlikely to have been a faulty part but the situation is still declared an accident.

This "accident" puts the two on high alert and they decide to find out everything they can about the people staying uninvited at Allerton Place.  They also soon learn that Julia will have no talk of murder and wrongdoings so they have to act fast and quietly.

Readers will be drawn into this story immediately !! You cannot help but love that fact that the story takes readers to somewhere outside of Foxwood Hall allowing you to get to know Julia and her life better.  Seeing as in previous books Julia has been a handful and unhappy, to see her now more relaxed, happy and in love is such a treat !!   

And I will tell you to forget about trying to solve the murder before Phoebe and Eva do, it is pointless.  Maxwell provides a crafty group of individuals and any one of them could be capable of murder and the reasons why will be astonishing.  Best advice I can give you is to open the book, sit back and get comfortable because you will be there for a while.  You will not want to stop reading.  And if you haven't read the previous books in this series, I highly recommend doing so......this is a series and group of people you will want to escape with !!!!

The Game Is a Footnote (Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery #8) by Vicki Delany

Gemma Doyle and Jayne Wilson are back on the case when a body is discovered in a haunted museum in bestselling author Vicki Delany's eighth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery.

Scarlet House, now a historical re-enactment museum, is the oldest building in West London, Massachusetts. When things start moving around on their own, board members suggest that Gemma Doyle, owner of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, might be able to get to the bottom of it. Gemma doesn’t believe in ghosts, but she agrees to ‘eliminate the impossible’. But when Gemma and Jayne stumble across a dead body on the property, they’re forced to consider an all too physical threat.

Gemma and Jayne suspect foul play as they start to uncover more secrets about the museum. With the museum being a revolving door for potential killers, they have plenty of options for who might be the actual culprit.

Despite Gemma's determination not to get further involved, it would appear that once again, and much to the displeasure of Detective Ryan Ashburton, the game is afoot.

Will Gemma and Jayne be able to solve the mystery behind the haunted museum, or will they be the next to haunt it?  (Summary via Goodreads)

You cannot help but get lost in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series by Vicki Delany.  The storyline and the characters and the town and the jobs and the murders are all things that will have you watching for the next book in the series so you can return to West London, Massachusetts whenever you can.

Gemma Doyle and Jayne Wilson are best friends and co-business owners.  Gemma and her Uncle Arthur own the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium and they co-own Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room with Jayne.  Jayne and her fiance, Andy, are planning their wedding with the help of Gemma unfortunately Gemma is not being very helpful when Jayne's mother, Leslie, asks for help in the latest book in this series.

The Game is a Footnote is the eighth book in the series and Leslie is on the board for the Scarlet House, a historical re-enactment museum, and asks Gemma to meet with the board members when some mysterious things occur that make members uncomfortable.  After Gemma and Jayne meet with the board members, Gemma believes there is an different explanation for why things are moved around and not "ghosts" like the members believe.  So Gemma, Jayne, and Andy decide to spend the night to see what they can find out.  Unfortunately Gemma cannot explain things when a volunteer who takes care of the animals in the barn is found dead on another occasion.

Gemma knows that her boyfriend Detective Ryan Ashburton and his assistant and team can come to a conclusion regarding Dave Chase's death but Gemma knows that there is more going on under the surface and she is determined to bring it to light.

Readers cannot get enough of this series.  Even without the murders and mystery, you will love reading about the town, the people, and the relationships.  You cannot help but wonder what Gemma's assistant, Ashley, is going to dress up as when she comes to work and you will love the storyline that Delany takes with Ashley in this book.  And now that Jayne and Andy are engaged, you will be longing to see where Gemma takes the plans....if she can ever get around to focusing on them.  And Delany brings Gemma's sister, Pippa, into town for a surpise visit and you know something is behind that.  No matter what is going on readers will be on the edge of their seats loving every word !!!

Brain Storm (Angela Richman, Death Investigator #1) by Elaine Viets

The ultrawealthy families of Chouteau Forest may look down on a woman like death investigator Angela Richman, but they also rely on her. When a horrific car crash kills a Forest teenager, Angela is among the first on the scene. Her investigation is hardly underway, however, when she suffers a series of crippling strokes. Misdiagnosed by the resident neurologist, Dr. Gravois, and mended by gauche yet brilliant neurosurgeon Dr. Jeb Travis Tritt, Angela faces a harrowing recovery.

It’s a drug-addled, hallucinating Angela who learns that Dr. Gravois has been murdered…and the chief suspect is the surgeon who saved her life. Angela doesn’t believe it, but can she trust her instincts? Her brain trauma brings doubts that she’ll ever recover her investigative skills. But she’s determined to save Dr. Tritt from a death-row sentence—even if her progress is thwarted at every turn by a powerful and insular community poised to protect its own.  (Summary via Goodreads)

I am a HUGE fan of Elaine Viets as I have read all her books in her Dead-End Job Mystery series and her Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper series.  Those series were full of excitement and lovable characters and you cannot help but enjoy getting lost in the stories.  Brain Storm is the first book in her Angela Richman, Death Investigator series and it is also an exciting start to another amazing series however it is a little bit darker and one main character who you will fall in love with has a slight potty mouth to put it mildly.  I am sharing my thoughts on this blog only because of the fact that I shared the other two series here and feel you should read this series as well.

In Brain Storm readers are introduced to Angela Richman who is a death investigator in a wealthy area in Missouri called the Forest.  Angela is fortunate to live there due to her parents having worked for a wealthy family and her mother gave her the house upon her death.  Angela is on the case of a fatal accident involving teens who live in the Forest when she begins to get very bad migraines.  She goes to bed with a migraine and wakes up in the hospital nineteen days later and learns that she had six strokes and underwent brain surgery.  While Angela is in the hospital getting her strength back and learning to think, walk and everything else, the doctor that misdiagnosed her is murdered in the cafeteria and the neurosurgeon who saved her life is arrested for the murder.  Angela knows that Dr. Tritt did not kill Dr. Gravois but her brain is not working right and she can't be 100% sure she is doing and saying the right things.

Once you start reading Brain Storm, you will be pulled in and unable to stop reading.  Viets will have you so engrossd that you may forget to eat, drink, sleep and do other normal daily activities while you read.  I highly recommend that you set aside time to focus on this amazing tale and I highly encourage you to read the Acknowledgments at the end of the book so that you will really appreciate Viets story.  I was gobsmacked when I read it !!!

Of Mushrooms and Matrimony (A Tish Tarragon Mystery Book 6) by Amy Patricia Meade

"A charming cozy with plenty of suspects for the romantically inclined sleuths to winnow out'" Kirkus Reviews Starred Review

Tish Tarragon is catering for a wedding, but the weekend goes from sweet to sour when a guest at the venue is poisoned.

Literary caterer and owner of Cookin' the Books café Tish Tarragon is pushing thoughts of her impending eviction aside to prepare an appetising welcome buffet for a wedding weekend at Abbingdon Green Bed and Breakfast. While there, Tish witnesses one of the guests, controversial TV chef and restaurant critic, Gunner Randall, threatening staff after missing breakfast and making do with a mushroom omelet.

When Randall is found dead the following day, it soon becomes clear that poisoned mushrooms were behind his demise. With no shortage of potential suspects and motives, can Tish and her new beau, Sheriff Clemson Reade, uncover who was enraged enough with the unsavoury star to silence him for good?  (Summary via Goodreads)

If you are a fan of Amy Patricia Meade and/or her books especially the Tish Tarragon Mystery series then you are beyond excited that the sixth book in this series is here !!!  Of Mushrooms and Matrimony picks up pretty much where From Ladle to Grave left off.....with Tish having broken up with her boyfriend and landlord Schuyler so that she can follow her heart and start dating Sheriff Clemson Reade only to have Schuyler evict Tish.  Not only is Tish running Cookin'the Books cafe in the building but she is living there.  And her one best friend Mary Jo and her two children are living in the apartment above the cafe.

Mary Jo and her daughter move in with their friend Celestine and Mary Jo's son just started college so they are taken care in the living situation.  That leaves Tish trying to figure out where she is going to live and she is also trying to find another location for the cafe.

Luckily they are all still kind of working as Tish is still doing some catering and luckily they have a weekend long wedding event that they are supplying most of the food for at the Abbingdon Green Bed and Breakfast and it is a book related event which Tish specializes in.

Tish is also a consultant for the Sheriff's department and she is put to work when Gunner Randall dies from mushroom poisoning.  Gunner is the only non-wedding guest staying at the B & B because he is in town visiting a handful of restaurants for his television show Taste of America.  Gunner is not a very nice guy and Tish witnesses that first hand when she is at the B & B getting some things ready for the wedding and he has a loud argument with Glory the owner.

Tish and her new boyfriend Reade have their hands full interviewing people that did not like Gunner and the establishments that he visited for his show.  Unfortunately they cannot eliminate anyone from the suspect list and it seems everyone prepared something with mushrooms in it so they could have easily added the poisonous mushroom.

If you are a fan of this series you know that Tish always has a lot on her plate and no matter how much is there, she always finishes it.  So it goes to reason that this case will be like all the others that she has consulted on.....sadly she, herself, will be shocked when the killer is revealed.  

And, of course, the way that Meade ends this book will have readers wanting more and you will be on the lookout for the seventh book.....

And one final note.....Tish's other best friend Jules may be your favorite character and I cannot believe I didn't say anything about him in my review.  He is probably a fan favorite as he is the perfect best friend for Tish and Mary Jo.  The three of them have a great relationship and Jules is his amazing self and comes to Tish's rescue with something and readers will LOVE it !!!!!

A Dog Gone Murder (Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper #10) by Elaine Viets

Mystery shopper Josie Marcus catches a new case when the owner of a popular doggy day spa bites the dust and her mother’s friend is collared for the crime…

Josie’s been assigned to sniff around Uncle Bob’s Doggy Day Camp, one of St. Louis’s hottest pet spas. It doesn’t take her long to dig up dirt on the camp’s top dog, “Uncle” Bob Manning himself. Employee Frank Hyzy—Josie’s mom’s new boyfriend—reveals Bob should be in the doghouse for his cruel treatment of the canine customers. But before Josie can write Bob up, someone puts him down…and Frank is the cops’ prime suspect.

While Frank definitely had a bone to pick with the animal abuser, Josie doesn’t believe he murdered Bob. So she must doggedly pursue the investigation on her own and hope she can cage the real killer before they fetch another victim.  (Summary via Goodreads)

I am a huge fan of the Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper Mystery series by Elaine Viets and will miss reading about Josie, her family and her knack for solving murders.  Sadly A Dog Gone Murder,  the tenth book in the series, is the last book Viets wrote for the series......but she ends the series REMARKABLY !!!

The Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper Mystery series follows Josie Marcus as she is a single mom living in the flat below her mother Jane.  Josie is raising her daughter Amelia and the mystery shopping job allows her to work flexible hours so that she can be there for Amelia.  As the series progresses Jane continues to get in the middle of murder investigations as well as do the best she can to raise Amelia.  Luckily Josie meets Ted who is a veterinarian when he is called to look at  Amelia's cat Harry.  Ted and Josie fall in love and a few books back they got married.  And in the ninth book, Fixing to Die, they bought a house and move in....after Josie solves a murder that took place in their new home.  

So now in A Dog Gone Murder Josie is hired to look into a few doggy day care businesses and enlisted the help of her mom's dog, Ted's dog and her best friend Alyce's dog.  Unfortunately on one of Josie's visits she goes to ask the owner of Uncle Bob's Doggy Day Camp a few questions on her mystery shopper questionnaire list but finds him unconscious on the floor of his office.  Later that evening while watching the news she learns that Uncle Bob did not make it.  And to make matters worst Frank, the man who moved into Josie's flat below her mother is taken in and arrested for the murder.  Jane is beside herself and asks Josie to please prove his innocence.  So Josie being the good daughter that she is begins to dig into Uncle Bob's past as well as his wife's, employees and a few of their clients.  Unfortunately the suspect list gets longer rather than shorter and it isn't until Josie is face to face alone with the killer than she realizes her mistake.  Luckily she has back-up in a way and the cops show up at exactly the right moment.

Readers will fall in love with Josie, her family and friends, the jobs that she gets hired to mystery shop, and the cases that she gets herself in the middle of.  And the way that Viets ends the series will have readers feeling like they read a romance story with a fairy tale ending...... Thank you Elaine for the great stories allowing me to get lost for hours on end.

Review by Missi M.

Cowboys and Chaos (Magical Mystery Book Club #3) by Elizabeth Pantley

This is no ordinary book club! When the group chooses a book, they are whisked away from reality to find themselves totally immersed in the story. The characters, the setting, and the murder all come to life. In order to exit the book, they’ll need to solve the mystery and reach The End.

This time, the club chooses a mystery that takes place in a quaint western town – in the old Wild West. That sounds like great fun, until they arrive in the dusty old town in the Arizona desert, among cowboys and saloons. They discover that the outhouse isn’t the worse thing about this trip.

The good news is that Paige, Glo, Zell, Frank, and the other members of the club discover plenty of surprises here, and they have a great time visiting a piece of history. They’ll get to live through many exciting moments as they unravel this cozy mystery story.  (Summary via Goodreads)

MINDBLOWING !!!  That is the best word to describe Cowboys and Chaos by Elizabeth Pantley.  Cowboys and Chaos is the third book in her Magical Mystery Book Club Mystery series and you cannot help but fall in love !!!

In the Magical Mystery Book Club Mystery series Paige and her Aunt Gloria (Glo) are left the Snapdragon Inn in Colorado by Paige's great-grandmother GeeGee.  After they move in they meet one of GeeGee's close friends Zell who introduces them to the enchanced library in the basement.  They soon learn that the three of them along with a few other friends along with the library cat, Frank, will be enbarking on some anmazing adventures.  The group meets and walk around the library, each finding a book wrapped with 7 others of the same book, and they vote on which book the group will read.  Once they have voted one person will begin reading the first page of the book out loud.....then the fog will come in and when it clears the group will be in the book and have to solve the murder in order to return to Colorado.  Luckily no matter where they "travel" to the inn is always there and the same on the inside.  Which is very good for the group in Cowboys and Chaos because they are traveling to the Wild West in the late 1800's to solve The Mystery of Mollie's Disappearance.  Mollie is a saloon girl who disappears without a trace but it is not clear if she is the murdered party or not because the blurb from the book also states that a man is shot...

Once the group walks out of the Inn into the desert of Bandana, Arizona, they are greeted with another shock....one that Zell was aware of but keeping secret.  The Mystery of Mollie's Disappreance happens to be the second book in the series with the first book being the one that GeeGee decided to stay into when the murder was solved.  Luckily Paige and Glo were aware that GeeGee had stayed behind in a book but they never thought that they would see her again.  And now they get to work along side her to find out what happened to Mollie.  Another shock is when the ghost of Mollie shows up .... but she doesn't remember much and definitely doesn't know who killed her.

In Cowboys and Chaos the group has their work cut out for them as they go about Bandana trying to find out what they can about Mollie as well as the man they call Blaze who apparently was stealing horses and is rumored to be the man shot but there is no body to confirm that.

Readers will fall in love with this series instantly !!  You will love the characters, the storylines and everything else.  With each new book, Pantley adds more and more surprises and she knows how to keep readers on their toes.  You will thoroughly enjoy the time that you spend inside each of these books...even if you are only sitting on your couch in your living room and not some magical town and place.

Review by Missi M.

Christmas Scarf Murder (Irish Village Mystery #8.5) by Carlene O'Connor, Maddie Day, and Peggy Ehrhart

Stocking stuffers like handknit scarves make the coziest of Christmas gifts—unless they’re used as accessories for murder!

CHRISTMAS SCARF MURDER by CARLENE O’CONNOR
When grinchy thefts steal the good cheer at a local nursing home, Siobhan O’Sullivan manages to identify one missing item before Kilbane, Ireland’s Christmas tractor parade—a hideous shamrock scarf wrapped around a very dead body. Now, with her holiday farmhouse bash approaching, Siobhan must dash to stop a deadly Secret Santa from gifting another unwanted surprise.

SCARFED DOWN by MADDIE DAY
It’s beginning to taste a lot like Christmas at Pans ‘N Pancakes, as twelve days of menu specials dazzle hungry locals. But the festivities go cold the instant a diner dies while knitting a brilliant green scarf. With Aunt Adele tied into a murder investigation, it’s all on Robbie Jordan to find out who’s really been naughty or nice in South Lick, Indiana.

DEATH BY CHRISTMAS SCARF by PEGGY EHRHART
Suspects pile up faster than New Jersey snow when frosty-tempered Carys Walnutt is found strangled by a handmade scarf auctioned at Arborville’s tree-lighting ceremony. Between a winning bidder hiding behind the alias “S. Claws” and a victim who deserved coal in her stocking, can Pamela Paterson and the crafty Knit and Nibble ladies freeze a killer’s merry murder plot?  Summary via Goodreads)

Christmas Scarf Murder is a book with three short stories in it by three amazing authors.  Each book has knitting yarn as the main focus in the murder......

CHRISTMAS SCARF MURDER by CARLENE O’CONNOR is the first story in this book.  Newlyweds Siobhan and Macdara work for the Kilbane Garda Station (Garda meaning police) and they are called to the local nursing home when it is reported that there was a robbery.  They find out that five residents had something stolen from their rooms....one being a very long red scarf.  As they are looking into the robbery, they are called to a local farm where members of the community are decorating tractors that will participate in a tractor parade on Christmas Eve.  One of the people driving a tractor had a very long red scarf on and when he went to drive, the scarf got tangled in the tire pulling him off resulting in his death.

Unfortunately the deceased, Michael Walsh, was not from the area so they have to rely on the few friends he made and his history to try to solve the case.  

Even though there is a murder and robbery, readers can still feel the Christmas spirit within the story as O'Connor provides glimpses throughout the tale.  Readers can easily read this in one lazy afternoon with a hot chocolate and the Christmas tree lite.....or if you want to stay in Ireland longer, space it out.

SCARFED DOWN by MADDIE DAY is the second story in this book and if you're a fan of the Country Store Mystery series you will read this in one sitting for sure !!!

If you are a fan of the Country Store Mystery series, or even if you are not, you will immediately love Scarfed Down.  Robbie Jordan is the main character in this series and she runs Pans 'N Pancakes, a breakfast and lunch establishment with a little store in it.  In the little section designated for selling stuff, Robbie sells the wool yarn that her Aunt Adele makes.  Unfortunately when a member of a little knitting group is found poisoned in her home with a skein of dyed yarn, Aunt Adele is taken to the police station, questioned and on the top of the suspect list.  Also all of the yarn in Pans "N Pancakes is confiscated by the police.  

One thing readers will soon learn about Robbie is that she will do whatever she can for family, especially Aunt Adele.  So it is no surprise that she jumps right into looking into Vicky Chakrabarti's murder and clearing Aunt Adele's good name.

DEATH BY CHRISTMAS SCARF by PEGGY EHRHART is the third and last story in this book and even though I am not familiar with Peggy and her Knit and Nibble Mystery series I was still thoroughly engrossed in this story.  While main character Pamela Paterson and her neighbor Bettina Frazer are getting ready for the Christmas season, they cannot help but wonder who murdered one of the residents of their quaint town of Arborville and with a scarf won at a charity auction ..... luckily Bettina, who works for the local weekly paper, the Advocate, can get away with asking people questions.   And when the police arrest Laurel Lewis the woman who stumbled over Carys's dead body, the two friends know that they have the wrong person....but proving that may be difficult.

Reading Death By Christmas Scarf is a great story to get lost into....it is more of a Christmas story with friends getting ready for and celebrating Christmas with the murder in the background of the story.  

Whether you read each story in order or jump from one to another in a different order, these stories will be a welcome treat from your daily activities or you can end the day curled up with a hot beverage, glass of wine and a snack.  Whichever way you decide to read Christmas Scarf Murder, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Review by Missi M.