Dreidels and Dead Ends (Bad Hair Day Book # 19) by Nancy J. Cohen

 A daring holiday heist at the local history museum sends hairstylist Marla Vail on her most tangled case yet.

When salon owner Marla Vail agrees to speak at the local history museum’s gala opening for a new exhibit, she expects applause—not a catastrophe. But shortly after she takes the stage, a thief steals the featured diamond-studded hairbrush, leaving behind an empty display case and a badly injured security guard.

Marla’s friend, museum curator Becky Forest, begs for her help in recovering the prized heirloom before the mayor uses this scandal as an excuse to cut their funding. To make matters worse, the antique hairbrush comes with a curse, and suddenly bad luck is spreading through town faster than a botched dye job. As Hanukkah festivities begin, Marla would rather be lighting candles than chasing clues, but with Becky’s job at stake, she takes on the case.

Her trail leads to a knot of suspects including the hairbrush’s owner, his greedy cousin, shifty museum staff, and a reclusive collector of mystical antiquities. Instead of enjoying menorah lights and latkes, Marla discovers murder, lies, and larceny. She’ll need sharp wits and a holiday miracle to save the museum and to keep the truth from being brushed aside.  (Summary via Goodreads)

Dreidels and Dead Ends is the nineteenth book in Nancy J. Cohen's Bad Hair Day Mystery series and even though I haven't read all of the books in the series, the ones I have read, I love !!

In Dreidels and Dead Ends main character Marla is getting ready for the holidays, Christmas and Hanukkah, as her husband Dalton's family celebrates Christmas and her family celebrates Hanukkah.  It is very important that they celebrate both for themselves and their son, Ryder, and they will continue when they have their daughter which will be in a few months.

Even though Marla is extremely busy at home getting ready for the holidays and at her saloon, she cannot help but agree to help her friend Becky who works at the local history museum.  They are getting ready for a new exhibit featuring beauty tools but their keynote speaker ha an accident and won't be able to give a speech introducing the exhibit.  Even though the exhibit is going to be showcasing a hairbrush from the 1800's which is said to have a curse on it, she agrees to do it.

Sadly, right after Marla gives her speech, there is an accident that injures a guard on duty and the hairbrush is stolen.  Becky asks Marla and Dalton if they will do their own investigating even though the police are doing it.  She wants to be thorough and knows they have been successful in the past solving cases.

It doesn't take long before Marla feels that they are overwhelmed when it seems that everyone employed at the museum could be guilty as well as a few others.  She vows to keep going as it seems that Dalton, who just recently retired from the force, looks to be enjoying investigating.

I honestly do not know how authors can keep writing books when they have so many in the series but with nineteen in this series, it doesn't seem that Cohen is slowing down and that is perfectly fine with me !!!  As soon as I open one of these books, I am right alongside Marla, feeling her determination and enjoy every minute of it !!

Sifting Through Secrets (A Cookies & Chance Mystery Series Book # 16) by Catherine Bruns

From USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bruns comes the next decadently deadly Cookies & Chance mystery!

When full-time baker and reluctant part-time sleuth, Sally Muccio, agrees to cater a glamorous baby shower at a customer’s lavish home, she expects a day full of strawberry lemonade cookies, vanilla buttercream icing, and minimal drama.

What she doesn’t expect is for the grandma-to-be to offer her fifty thousand dollars to find out who’s trying to kill her.

Trudy Delvecchio is rich, pretentious, and without many fans, especially in her own family. While the money is tempting, Sal politely declines the offer. After all, she explains, she’s a baker, not a professional detective. But when Trudy turns up dead the very same evening, with no obvious sign of foul play, something about the entire situation leaves a bitter taste in Sal’s mouth. With a house full of suspects and lies rising faster than oven-proofed dough, Sal will need to sift through many secrets to uncover the truth, or she could be the one left in the dust.

Recipes Included!

What critics are

"A fantastic cozy mystery!"
~ InD'Tale Magazine

"I want to visit more with all of the quirky characters just to see what crazy and outrageous things they will do next!"
~ Fresh Fiction

"The Cookies and Chance Mystery series is more than just a series....it's a family !! Once you read the first book, you are hooked and feel like a member of the crazy Muccio family." ~ Cozy Mystery Book Reviews  (Summary via Goodreads) 

It's no secret, and I say this every time I write a review for this series, but the Cookies & Chance Mystery series by Catherine Bruns is my favorite of all time .... and I say it a lot seeing as the latest book, Sifting Through Secrets, is the sixteenth book in the series.

I could give you a quick summary of this series, but I hope that you are a fan and have read some, if not all, of the books, however, if you haven't, you'll catch on really quick.  And you can go back and read whichever ones you missed.

So ..... In Sifting Through Secrets main character Sally and her best friend Josie are hired to bake desserts and serve them at a baby shower by a very rich and not so nice person.  Trudy hired Sally's Samples for her daughter-in-law's shower even though it seems the two do not get along that well.  And after being at the party for a while, it seems nobody liked Trudy.  

At the end of the party Trudy calls Sally into her library, Sally thinks it's to pay her.  Unfortunately, that is not the case when Trudy wants to hire her to find out who is trying to kill her.  Even though she is offered a lot of money for this task, she turns it down not really believing Trudy's life is in danger.

She should have believed Trudy because later that night, Trudy is found dead in her bedroom.  At first glimpse the police look to rule it as accidental until Sally informs them of some issues and concerns to which they investigate deeper.

And we all know that Sally won't leave things alone, especially as Trudy did voice her concerns and ask for Sally's help. And we all know that Josie will try to help and Sally's husband Mike will protest.  But Grandma Rosa will be the one to keep everyone grounded and thinking clearly.

OMG I love this series !!!  I totally want to be a part of the Muccio family even with all their quirkiness.  I am not a very good baker, but I can follow a recipe and wait on customers so I can help out at Sally's Samples.  Hey, I'm not one to shy away from a funeral home so I can help Sally's dad at his. What I am trying to say is that you will LOVE this family and the jobs they have.  You will love the storylines and want to help solve the murders or just read along and enjoy.  

Whenever a new book releases in this series, I cannot wait to get my hands on it and once I open the book, I am powerless to stop reading it.  It is a very captivating series you cannot help falling in love with !!!

Murder in an Irish Pub (Irish Village Mystery Book # 4) by Carlene O'Connor

When competing card sharps stir up Siobhán O'Sullivan's quiet Irish village, a poker tournament turns into a game of Hangman . . .

Naomi's Bistro, managed by the many siblings of the lively O'Sullivan brood, is the place to go for a cuppa tea in Kilbane. For a pint or a game of darts, it's the pub you want. But when Dublin card sharp Eamon Foley is found swinging from the rafters of Rory Mack's pub, it's time for the garda to take matters into their own hands. Macdara Flannery would lay odds it's a simple suicide, but Siobhán suspects foul play. With conflicting theories abounding, tensions are running high between Siobhán and Macdara. Soon it's up to Siobhán to call a killer's bluff, but if she doesn't play her cards right, she may be the next one taken out of the game . . .

"The intricate puzzle and continuing Irish atmosphere make this the series' best to date."--Kirkus Reviews  (Summary via Goodreads)

 

Murder in an Irish Pub by Carlene O'Connor is the fourth book in her Irish Village Mystery series and after reading the previous three and this one, I am moving to the quiet Irish village of Kilbane and moving in with Siobhan and her siblings ... I can handle a murder every now and then, especially now that Siobhan is a member of the garda.

Okay ..... In Murder in an Irish Pub a poker tournament in being held in a local pub with some very popular players, kind of celebrities in their circle.  Unfortunately, things get out of hand with lots of participants and locals getting very drunk, betting things they shouldn't be betting as well as someone ending up dead.

When things get out of hand the tournament is moved to another pub where the next morning Siobhan goes to the new location to find the door opened.  Upon further investigating she realizes someone is in the locked storage room hanging from the rafters.  But there is a real problem, the door is deadbolted and there is a little window way up high that no one could get in or out of.  Even when they find a "suicide note" on the victim, Siobhan doesn't believe it is that simple.  Eamon Foley, the top poker player and winner doesn't seem like he was suicidal, he was winning a lot, and his wife is very close to giving birth to their child.

So, with the approval and guidance of her boss and boyfriend, Macdara, she proceeds under the assumption that it is murder and begins investigating.  Unfortunately, everyone was at the pub that night, including her twelve-year-old brother, and most were heavily intoxicated, and some could be seen as having reasons to want Eamon Foley dead.

So, Siobhan has her work cut out for her, which is always the case, but she will power through no matter what to solve the case.

I am a huge fan of this series, I love the little quaint Irish village and want to move there immediately.  I love the people, the stores, the food ..... even with the murders, I know Siobhan and Macdara will solve them and everything will be calm again. 

And can I just say the way O'Connor ends this book, you will definitely be waiting (im)patiently for the next book.

Whose Body in the Library (Lighthouse Library Mystery Book # 13) by Eva Gates

A new librarian’s first day goes terribly wrong when she finds a dead body on the front steps of the library.

While Lucy McNeil is enjoying her new job as the mother of twin boys and library director, new librarian Nichelle Gilchrest has just arrived at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, reporting for duty. But life throws a wrench on Nichelle’s first day when she finds a body on the steps–a body that bears a startling resemblance to her father who disappeared on a fishing trip to the Outer Banks thirty-eight years ago.

Fingerprints confirm the dead body is indeed Nichelle’s father, now living in Nags Head under the name Brian Saunders. Brian had been befriending older lonely women in exchange for money, but was he working alone?

Detective Rhonda Thomas is on the case, and the suspect list is only getting longer. Sorting through the wronged women and their relatives, Detective Thomas discovers Nichelle’s own brother Brad had been in Nags Head a few days before the murder happened and has been lying about his whereabouts.

Hoping to clear her brother’s name, Nichelle decides to investigate what happened. With seasoned sleuth Lucy’s gentle encouragement for the amateur, Nichelle is in for an exciting and dangerous first week at the library.  (Summary via Goodreads)

Whose Body in the Library is the thirteenth book in the Lighthouse Library Mystery series by Eva Gates and not only does Gates provide a captivating story, but she introduces some new positive changes as well as a different aspect to her writing.

In Whose Body in the Library readers are introduced to two new characters, Detective Rhonda Thomas and new librarian Nichelle Gilchrest.  Detective Thomas is taking over the Detective role as Sam Watson has retired and Nichelle is taking over main character Lucy's job as Lucy is taking over as library director since Bertie also retired.

One of the perks for Nichelle is that she will be living in the small apartment at the top of the lighthouse where the library is.  Unfortunately, when she opens the library's door for her first day on the job, she finds a man slumped over outside the door.  Fortunately, Lucy is also on her way in so she is there to help Nichelle deal with the unexpected dead body.  

Once over the shock Nichelle thinks that she recognizes the man as being her father but that can't be because he died over thirty years ago during a fishing trip in her new hometown.  Detective Thomas is on the ball and after obtaining records from Rochester, she confirms that the deceased male is indeed Nichelle's father. 

Learning that her father has been alive all of these years living in North Carolina, the place that he supposedly disappeared from, has her questioning so many things.  Her brother comes to town to help but it looks like he may make things worse for her.

If you are a fan of this series I hope that you love the changes as much as I do.  The last change that Gates makes with this book is that she devotes a chapter to Nichelle with her viewpoint and then we get to see what is going on with Lucy in the next chapter and throughout the book we see things with both characters.  I love when author do this because I feel you really get to know the characters deeper.

It's no secret that I love this series and would totally move in the lighthouse apartment and live with Charles the library cat.  I would love working in the library in the lighthouse as well as walking the beach daily and enjoy the town.  I hope you do as well.

Hot Wings and Homicide (Food Truck Mystery Book # 2) by Carmela Dutra

Twins Beth and Seth Lloyd are on the chopping block in the follow-up to A Murder Most Fowl, where a perfect recipe for murder is stirred up.

Business at Kluckin’ Good is smoking hot. To keep momentum going, Beth and her twin brother, Seth, just scored a prime spot at the Flavors of the Bay Food Festival. For three and a half days, food lovers will flock to the Bay Area’s biggest culinary event to enjoy gourmet food trucks, cook-offs, and live music, but this recipe for success is also the perfect set-up for murder.    

When the infamous food critic Brad Dawson—also Beth’s ex—turns up dead, the only clue at the scene of the crime is a Kluckin’ Good tumbler mug. The timing couldn’t be worse. Beth and Brad were seen in a heated altercation, and days prior, witnesses saw Seth punch Brad. Suspicion naturally falls on the twins. With the cops hot on their trail, Beth will have to avoid the flames to clear their names and save her food truck’s reputation. 

But the chickens are out of the coop, and as Beth digs into Brad’s final hours, she will uncover rivalries, grudges, and a different side of Brad she never knew. If she doesn’t crack the case soon, she might be the next one to get cooked. Best of cluck!  

A mouthwatering mystery for fans of Joanne Fluke that will leave you peckish for more.  (Summary via Goodreads)

Hot Wings and Homicide is the second book in the Food Truck Mystery series by Carmela Dutra with A Murder Most Fowl being the first.  If you read the first book you fell in love with twins Beth and Seth and Beth's best friend Rylie.  If you failed to read the first book, you have plenty of time to catch up or just dive right into Hot Wings and Homicide .... either way works.

In Hot Wings and Homicide Beth and Seth who co-own a food truck will be attending the Flavors of the Bay Food Festival.  They inherited the Kluckin' Good food truck from their aunt and have strived to make her proud and attending this festival is one step closer to doing that.

Unfortunately, a few days before the festival starts they run into Beth's ex-boyfriend Brad at Sugar and Spice, and they have a big blow out fight where Seth gets involved and things do not end well.  Fast forward to the first night of the festival where Beth is heading back from the bathrooms and finds a body on the ground which turns out to be Brad and he is dead from a head injury.

Even though Beth and Brad broke up and he humiliated her, she still didn't wish him dead.  So naturally her and Rylie begin their own little investigation.  But the more she looks, the longer the suspect list gets and she hesitantly has to put her twin and herself on the list even though she knows neither of them are guilty.

Even though there are only two books in this series, so far, readers cannot help but fall in love with Beth, Seth, Rylie and everything else within the story.  

There are two things that you may not about this series .... the food talk and the food talk !!  This book makes readers hungry !!!  So I highly suggest grabbing a snack before you start reading ......

Tides, Lies, and Alibis by Taffy Beach

Northern Exposure meets Carl Hiaasen with a Jimmy Buffett twang.

A faded dynasty, a mouthy parrot, and a pastry-fueled murder...

It’s February 1998, and Kate McGregor has a system: avoid the town’s eccentric gossip, stay inside her inherited Gilded Age home, and focus on the quirky local crafts in her consignment gallery. Between her meddling Scottish father and her best friend Cindy’s unconventional Hide Tides Bakery regulars, Kate’s introverted life is already louder than she’d like—and that’s before you count her rescued family zoo of cats, dogs, and a macaw.

But the peace of Manatee Bay is fragile. When a widely disliked local figure drops dead at the Spring Berry Festival, the trail leads straight to Cindy’s award-winning pastries. To save her friend and the town’s favorite gossip hub, Kate must step out of the shadows of her family’s dark history and into the spotlight of a murder investigation.

In Manatee Bay, the secrets are as deep as the Gulf.

Backed by a quirky cast of characters, including an 88-year-old attorney who made her grandmother a deathbed promise, Kate must untangle a web of old wealth intrigues, long-standing lies, and new grudges. Can she clear her friend's name, or will the dark history of her own family’s ruined fortune catch up to her first?

This is the first of six books (releasing every 14-18 weeks). While the contemporary murders are solved in each book, an overriding arc explores the clouded family history and scandalous mysteries that have haunted the town since Kate's grandfather’s time.  (Summary via Goodreads)

Tides, Lies, and Alibis by Taffy Beach is the first book in her Manatee Bay Cozy Mystery series and it sets the stage beautifully.

In Tides, Lies and Alibis best friends Kate and Cindy are getting ready for a busy weekend with the Spring Berry Festival in Manatee Bay happening.  Cindy is preparing her famous cream puffs for the festivities and Kate does her part and delivers them around town.  

Unfortunately, even though no one is supposed to eat any until during the actual festival, it seems that Alex Mudd, the primary school principal who nobody likes, may have sampled one.  Alex comes across him staggering and acting drunk and shortly dies but she cannot help but notice that there may be traces of a cream puff on his shirt.

Even though he wasn't well liked, Kate knows that she has to investigate for so many reasons .... most importantly to prove her best friend's innocence and save their businesses.  But Cindy, Kate's father and her family lawyer and friend won't let her go it alone. 

Kate and Cindy have been friends forever, live together with a few cats, a dog and a very vocal parrot, each running a business on the ground floor of their home but now with Mudd's death all of that is in jeopardy.  And the local Chief of Police seems to have something against Kate and her family, and it appears that he may already have the case closed.

Readers will love this first book as you get to know the characters and "some" of their secrets.  Kate and Cindy have a friendship that you will want, not to mention their home, pets and jobs.  You will want to live in Manatee Bay, even with a recent murder there.  There is so much you will want to be a part of that you will be wishing you could pack a bag and visit as soon as possible.  Luckily, we have more books coming so we have to wait patiently .....

Gimme Shelter (A Layla Virtue Mystery Book # 2) by Libby Klein

This whip-smart, witty series packs an emotional punch within an engaging mystery as Layla Virtue, a 30-something recovering alcoholic and former cop turned party musician, finds a sideline in solving murders from her new home in a Potomac County trailer park…

An unforgettable mystery brimming with hilarity and heart for readers of Margot Douaihy, Jane Pek, and Darynda Jones.

As the song says, you can’t always get what you want. Maybe that’s why, instead of fulfilling her youthful dream of being a rock star, Layla Fortune is living in a trailer park while playing third-rate gigs, including a stint at a ʼ70s Abba brunch. Given everything else she’s been through lately, she’s not complaining (much) about satin ruffles and go-go boots. She has a squad of supportive new BFFs, and she’s reclaimed a relationship with her famous rocker dad. His recent diagnosis has brought them even closer—sharing the trailer park’s lake house, which he’s had remodeled in typically over-the-top style.

Layla’s dad loves his new community and the feeling seems mutual. So, why is one of them blackmailing him? It’s a mystery almost as baffling as the assignment Layla receives from her former look into the brutal murder of a mild-mannered school teacher. Archie Wilkins was bludgeoned with a candelabra, shot up with drugs, and stuffed into a church confessional. Not the kind of outcome expected for a guy reputed to be the world’s nicest.

Perhaps Archie had secrets. Perhaps everyone does, including Layla’s one-time cop colleagues. She’s been blaming herself for a deadly ambush that destroyed her career and her peace of mind, but as her new friends help Layla regain her memories, a different picture emerges, and it’s one that forces her to question so much that she’s taken as truth . . .  (Summary via Goodreads)

Even though Gimme Shelter is only the second book in the Layla Virtue Mystery series by Libby Klein, I am already a HUGE fan !!  

In Gimme Shelter Layla is learning to live her new life, one where she is no longer on the police force, is the new owner of the trailer park she lives in thanks to her rich and famous rockstar dad, going to AA meetings with three women who she now calls friends and trying to take care of her dad who has early dementia.

Thanksgiving is around the corner and Layla and her dad are moving into their new home, the owner's cottage on the property of the trailer park after he had it renovated.  But before she can really grasp what she is seeing, she is approached by an old co-worker on the force to help look into a murder that they haven't had any luck with solving.

Layla is not sure who she can trust on the force and still has a lot of questions regarding an op that she was in charge of went wrong killing her entire team.  So, while she works through that with her friend and neighbor Nick as well as her AA posse, they will all work together to try to solve Archie Wilkins murder.  But trying to find someone who wanted a second-grade teacher and all-around good guy dead will be hard, especially seeing as the police have come up empty.

I fell in love with this series with the first book, Vice and Virtue, because there are so many things going on to keep your interest as well as fall in love with.  The only bad thing is having to wait, patiently, for the next one because Klein knows how to end the book keeping readers on the hook.