Being a university librarian can be a dangerous job. That’s what Rosa Wild found out when she went to a meeting, but walked in on a murder. Escaping with her life and being forced into hiding, a bruised and beaten Rosa decides to take matters into her own hands and find the killer before they find her.
Aided by her Charlie’s Angels wannabe best friend, fortune telling old Aunt, and her sexy on/off boyfriend, a whole lot of crazy is unleashed. And when gorgeous Detective Chief Inspector Dexter enters the picture sparks really start to fly. (Summary via Goodreads)
I loved Wild Pursuit by Annabeth Nash !!! There is so much to love....the only thing that I didn't like is having to wait for the next book in the Rosetta Wild Mysterty series ....but I know the wait will be worth it !!
The first thing I loved about Wild Pursuit is that each chapter is focused on one day....so Chapter One is Day One when the murder occured. So there was no time lost in getting right to it !!
And the story and the characters are GREAT !! You cannot help but fall in love with Rosa and feel badly that she got caught in the middle of the drama of the murder but when she decides to take matters into her owns hands and do some sleuthing of her own you know it's going to be a hoot !!!
So Rosa has a meeting with a Professor but when she gets to his office she gets attacked by the killer fleeing the scene. Then the house is set on fire so she moves in with her friend Shirley who has a panic room and a great alarm system. While staying with Shirley, they decide to team up and try to solve the case. This leads them down some funny roads and some scary paths.....
All of this provides the reader with a great story !! Nash has a knack with her writing that allows you to escape into Rosa's world for a while. You will love Shirley's house, you will be able to imagine how sexy Quinn and the Detective Chief Inspector are and you will truly love Shirley and her quirky way about her. Not to mention the friendship that Rosa and Shirley have !! The only thing you will dislike is that the book had to end but the way that Nash left it will have you counting down the days until the next installment in this amazing series !!!
Review by Missi S.
This is book two in the Windy Pines mystery series. It can be read as a stand-alone novella.
Windy Pines, Idaho, is known for three things: Beautiful mountain views, the world’s most incompetent police force, and, lately, murder.
Charlotte Smyth’s new job as the O’Leery Snowboarding Inc.’s Spreader of Cheer is anything but a perfect fit. She hates sports, cold weather, and anything bordering on ‘extreme’. Within days of starting her new job, she finds herself in a sea of political incorrectness, verbal abuse, and long hours, with little relief in sight. In a small town like Windy Pines, where a person’s lucky to find a job at all, her only choice is to make it work. Her boss Shane Letcher is just as disappointed with Charlotte, whom he’s decided isn’t cool enough to understand the company culture or raise the spirits of the staff.
Giving her one last chance to prove herself, Shane decides the O’Leery Christmas party is Charlotte’s make-it or break-it opportunity. She needs to deliver a fun, fabulous time, or find a new place to work. What Charlotte doesn’t know is that even if she can throw together a spectacular soiree, there are schemes happening behind the scenes that could foil her party plans.
Charlotte and her new love interest had better unravel this who-done-it before the Windy Pines police decide to arrest someone, or they may find themselves spending Christmas in jail! (Summary via Goodreads)
Got a few hours to kill ? Want to read something that will grab you instantly and won't take long to read but will hold your attention from the first word till the last sentence ? Carnage at the Christmas Party: A Mystery Novella by Holly Tierney-Bedord is what you are looking for.
Hang around with Charlotte for a few hours and feel her frustration and annoyance with her job, boss, and co-workers. You would think that her job would be a fun job....after all she is the "Spreader of Cheer" for a company that make snowboards. But her boss, Shane, is a real piece of work and no matter what she does, she can't seem to do anything right.
Planning the company Christmas party is her last chance. This party has to be out of this world and impress everyone or she will be out of a job....which wouldn't be such a bad thing if she didn't live in Windy Pines where there were no jobs....good or bad.
To ensure that the party is a success Charlotte goes all out when her boss says money is no object. She organizes a fashion show with models flown in from New York City to model her best friend Alfredo's spring collection. Unfortunately in the middle of the show while the lights are dim, someone takes an ax and kills one of her co-workers and a few models. And Charlotte doesn't realize until later than evening that the clue to crack the case is her her pocket !!!
Carnage at the Christmas Party can be read in one sitting and once you start reading it you won't want to put it down until you are finished !! It is the perfect read for a quiet afternoon....grab a cup of coffee and a comfy blanket and you'll finish your beverage around the same time as the book....unless you get caught up in the story then your coffee may need reheating.
Review by Missi S.
Journey back to 1920s England, and join young Lady Clara Callaway and her lady’s maid, Alice Hart, as they go detecting together!
When a night at the theater turns into a death onstage, Clara Callaway and her friends once again find themselves playing the role of detective. Poor Daniel Holloway has been killed during the holiday performance, in front of a live audience!
Who would want to take a life in such a public way? With the help of Giles and the ever clever Alice Hart, Clara is determined to bring the killer to justice. Because when jealousy and greed mix, the combination can be deadly. (Summary via Goodreads)
Even though the Clara Callaway Mystery series are novellas, every page is full of exciting words and sentences that describe an entertaining story !! And the best part is that with them being short, you can read one of them in one sitting and have time to read it again !!!
With A Play on Murder I am going to have to go ahead and say that it is my FAVORITE Clara Mystery so far. Maybe it is because after reading the other 6 I have grown to know Lady Clara, Giles, Alice and everyone else and I have grown to love them all. Or maybe it is because it is set around Christmas and I just read it 3 days before Christmas. Or maybe it is because of the way author Lillian Dore ended A Play on Murder which has me already looking forward to the next installment in Lady Clara's life...... Or maybe it is all of that and more !!! For whatever reason I have given that helps you decide to read it, that will be the best reason !!
In A Play on Murder all Lady Clara and Giles do is go to see a play with Giles' parents right before Christmas and an actor is shot in the play but the gun was not a prop and the actor ends up dead ..... what a way to end Act One !! This results in Lady Clara and Giles getting involved and helping Detective Inspector Thorpe find out who killed the actor. And when the case is solved you will sit back and let out the breath you didn't realized that you were holding !!
So if you haven't read any of the Clara Callaway Mystery novellas yet, I strongly urge you to start !!! They are short and full of entertainment !!!
Review by Missi S.
THE LONG AWAITED 4TH BOOK IN THE RYLI SINCLAIR SERIES BY JENNA ST. JAMES IS HERE AT LAST!!!
Gather your party hats and magnifying glasses and help these ladies “get a clue.” Cozy Mystery Author Jenna St. James will tickle your funny-bone with this latest hysterical caper. Ryli Sinclair and her ever-astonishing and outrageous Great Aunt Shirley team up again in this non-traditional Cozy that will amuse and entertain you!
It's Aunt Shirley's birthday, and the former Private Investigator wants to spend it with her favorite girls on a weekend getaway. Unfortunately, the weekend getaway includes a trip to a WhoDunIt Murder Mystery Bed and Breakfast. The weekend of harmless fun gets a bit too real when an actual body is discovered, and Ryli and the gang try to gather clues to solve the mystery, hoping that it was merely a random act. When a second body is discovered, however, the gals realize that there is a killer is on the loose, and that everyone from the owners, to the workers, to the other theater-going participants, are all suspects. The local Sheriff enlists the help of Ryli and Aunt Shirley and hilarity ensues. Tossing back tequila shots and riding high atop a mechanical bull, Aunt Shirley is determined to discover the secrets everyone is hiding, before another victim is found. (Summary via Goodreads)
The Ryli Sinclair Mystery series by Jenna St. James are so fun to read and Bed, Breakfast and Murder is no exception !!! You cannot help but fall in love with Ryli and her family and especially her Aunt Shirley !!! And in this 4th installment in the series, St. James and Aunt Shirley do not disappoint you !!!
So it's Aunt Shirley's birthday and she wants to go to a bed and breakfast for a Murder Mystery weekend package. Ryli, Aunt Shirley, Ryli's mom Janine and Ryli's best friend/sister-in-law, Paige load up the Falcon and away they go !! They are hoping to hit some wineries, take a horse ride, relax, and solve a make believe murder or two.
Everything is running smoothly on the first night when the first murder happens and its Colonel Musgaard (like Mustard in the Clue game...how clever) and they are having fun trying to figure out who poisoned his drink. Unfortunately everything changes the next day.....
After breakfast the ladies head over to the barn to go horseback riding and Ryli stumbles across a dead body !!! Trent Starnes, who takes care of the horses and helps out at the bed and breakfast is dead on the barn floor.
After the sheriff learns of Ryli and Aunt Shirley's history and knack for solving murders he enlists their help. Of course, Aunt Shirley takes it a few steps further than the intended questioning the guests and owners....but that wouldn't be Aunt Shirley if she didn't.
The inn's owners, staff and guests are in for a wild ride on top of the "planned" murders and Aunt Shirley and Ryli are in the driver's seat.
I love the way that St. James takes an innocent weekend away for the girls and turns it completely upside down, inside out and backwards. And the relationship that Ryli and Aunt Shirley have is amazing....they love each other but can't stand each other but end up sharing a room and the queen size bed and it's all in a normal day for them. I also enjoyed getting to know Ryli's mom more and seeing how she handles Aunt Shirley.
The Ryli Sinclair Mystery series is a treat to read !!! With every new book in the series you fall in love with Ryli and Aunt Shirley more as well as get to know the rest of the family and friends. And boy the way that Bed, Breakfast and Murder ended, you will be waiting and longing to see where the next book takes you.......
Review by Missi S.
A 1920s England Cozy Mystery Short Story
Giles Fairweather had hoped for a bit of excitement on his first night at the Science Club meeting, but he certainly hadn’t expected his cousin to leap out a third-floor window! However, Giles is convinced his cousin was not himself, and was forced to commit this act against his will…
With a prestigious grant to be awarded and a simmering rivalry between scientists, the stakes are high and the motive is clear. But who would go so far as to risk a life? Together, Giles and Clara Callaway take on the case, putting their investigative skills to the test!
This is the sixth book in the Clara Callaway Mystery collection. If you enjoyed this story, please visit the rest!
Dead by Dinner
Dying to Vote
Betting on Murder
An Eye for a Spy
Designing for Death
Mind over Murder
(Summary via Goodreads)
I have read all of the Clara Callaway Mystery short stories and I have LOVED all of them. Mind Over Murder is no exception, however, I almost didn't like the author Lillian Dore. Let me explain...... When you read books, short stories, or whatever form of literature that continues, you begin to develop feelings for the characters, the town, etc. And even though the Clara Callaway Mysteries are short stories, they lack nothing and feel like you are reading a complete novel.
Therefore when you are reading Mind Over Murder and when it looks like Giles cousin, Caspian, is about to die you FEEL it. But let me back up.....
Giles, Lady Clara's boyfriend goes to a meeting at a Science Club to hear his cousin, Caspian, give a talk regarding his line of science, meteorology, in order to receive a grant. Lady Clara does not attend as she feels it will be boring. Boring to say the least !!! Caspian gives his speech without any problems but when the next scientist is in the middle of his speech, Caspian gets up, walks to a window and jumps ! ! ! Luckily for him a canopy prevents him from falling straight to the ground killing himself. (This is why I was almost upset with the author.....killing Caspian would have been very upsetting....)
Giles knows his cousin quite well and doesn't feel that he would take his own life. It seems that perhaps Caspian was under some kind of spell....hypnotized ? But can he prove that ? Well with the help of Lady Clara anything is possible......
I love the Clara Callaway Mystery series so much !! They are so fun and easy to read !! With every new story you fall more and more in love with Lady Clara and her crew and the way she goes about solving the cases is a treat to read.
Review by Missi S.
Andi’s step-mother is a real piece of work! But is Ruby a murderer?
Andi Anna Jones, so-so travel agent/amateur sleuth, puts aside her resentment of her father’s widow and books a 60th birthday cruise to Cancun for Ruby and three friends. Never does Andi imagine the cruise will lead to the murder of a has-been lounge singer—or that Ruby will be the main suspect.
Flirting with more than danger after arriving in Mexico, Andi connects with the charming local sheriff, Manuel Rodriquez. After an embarrassing night involving the sheriff, too many margaritas, and a Mariachi band, a chance to check out an eyewitness to the murder leads her to Las Vegas.
In Vegas, a mysterious meeting in the Bodies Exhibition, a body preserving in the prep-room, and an evasive owner of a dance studio, give Andi clues to help Ruby. But when Andi is mercilessly drugged and locked in a storage room, she realizes dear old step-mom isn’t the only one in jeopardy. (Summary via Goodreads)
Margaritas, Mayhem, and Murder by Mary Cunningham is such a fun read !! It is a GREAT start to the Andi Anna Jones Mystery series.
Margaritas, Mayhem, and Murder jumps right into the frying pan...of trouble !! Andi gets a call in the middle of the night from her ex-step-mother , Ruby, who is on a cruise to Mexico for her birthday .... saying that she was arrested for murder !! And Andi who made a promise to her dying father to take care of Ruby ends up flying to Mexico to help. While trying to keep her head clear from margaritas, and the sexy local sheriff, Andi takes it upon herself to investigate the crime. This involves her sneaking around the cruise ship where the lounge singer her aunt is accused of killer was performing, flying to Las Vegas following up on a "lead", being drugged and left for dead......
Cunningham's writing is so ....colorful !!! She opens up your imagination and boy is there a lot of color.....from the outfits everyone wears to the casinos and hotels and even the color of the eyes of the sheriff and his friend !!! Not to mention that Andi is a travel agent and you know that Margaritas, Mayhem, and Murder is just the beginning of a long, fun road trip !!!
I cannot wait for the next installment of this series to see where Andi and her ex-step-mother end up going and the trouble that lies ahead......
Review by Missi S.
Savannah and Aunt Margaret open the old Forster home to the Hammond Cat Alliance for a fundraiser to help rehabilitate the abused horses rescued months earlier from the catnappers. Before the afternoon is over, the collected funds go missing and someone is murdered in an upstairs bedroom.
Suspicion surrounds Iris, a local waitress and Savannah’s new best friend. The only witness to the murder is Rags, Savannah’s cat. With the assistance of a cat psychic and Rags’s good friend, Charlotte (the young girl with Downs), the cat helps to “paw” the killer…but not before an attempt is made on Rags’s life. The case is solved only after Rags comes face-to-face with the killer for the second time.
Detective Craig Sledge is new to this book, as is Damon, Iris’s errant son. Sledge finds this to be one of the muddiest cases he has ever worked, with inconsistent clues and no apparent motive. He’s constantly surprised, perplexed and impressed by the cat’s uncanny ability to come up with clues he has missed. His fascination with the attractive Iris Clampton also mystifies the detective.
In this story, one of the rescued horses goes into labor and there’s a night of high drama at the ole corral as veterinarians Savannah and Michael work to save the foal. This experience renews Savannah’s deep interest in horses and riding, which ultimately serves to help her bond with a very important surprise character who finds his way into her life and Michael’s just as they prepare to say their wedding vows.
While Rags is the animal star, he isn’t the only animal featured in this story. Layla is back in all of her tangerine beauty. And Rags makes friends with Buffy, a perky almost Himalayan and the inseparable duo, Walter, an all black cat and his sidekick, Lexie, a charming afghan mix. Savannah’s new ride, Peaches, also debuts in this story. An incident with this mare adds another dimension to Savannah’s and Michael’s relationship. Can he hold her with open arms?
Some say this is a love story with a mystery in the background. And it’s a story of family and friendship as newlyweds Margaret and Max continue to be a meaningful part of Savannah’s and Michael’s world. (Summary via Goodreads)
As soon as I finished the first book, Catnapped, in Patricia Fry's Klepto Cat Mystery series, I had to immediately start reading Cat-Eye Witness. I wasn't ready to leave Savannah, Michael and all the other friends I had made in the first book. In Catnapped you are introduced to everyone in town and you are just getting to know them and getting use to "being in a new environment" but once you start reading Cay-Eye Witness you are in love with everyone and beginning to feel like you belong there.
The characters that Fry writes about are people you will like, love and admire. Most of them are friends, have things in common and will do whatever they can to help each other out. And boy do some of them need extra help in Cat-Eye Witness !!!
Savannah has moved into her auntie's house and is working with Michael at his clinic after her aunt and Max got married at the end of the first book. They are having a fundraiser at the house to raise money to help horses in need when the money raised is stolen and a man is found dead in an upstairs bedroom. And if things couldn't get any worse, Savannah's new best friend Iris is looking like a top suspect, right up at the top of the list with her eldest son. And yup...worse yet is that Rags, the kleptomaniac cat, is acting very strangely. It is possible that Rags was witness to the murder and may even be able to identify the killer !!!
OMG I love these books !!! The imagination and creative way Fry writes and keeps the reader interesting is such an amazing talent !! I would have never imagined that a cat could identify a killer or help solve a crime but after reading these books, I think why not ? Anything is possible.....
The Klepto Cat Mystery series is off the charts FUN to read !! I am beginning to see why there are so many written in this series. And the way that Fry ends each book, there is NO doubt that I will continue reading these books. I cannot wait for more......
Review by Missi S.
When Savannah Jordan agrees to help her aunt while she recovers from a broken foot, she doesn’t expect to walk into a mystery, become part of a not-quite-legal surveillance team, be kidnapped by a deranged stranger and meet a steaming hot veterinarian. Beloved neighborhood cats are missing—the community can only guess at their fate—and Aunt Margaret’s life is being threatened. Is it because she has a clue to the missing cats or is it something more sinister?
If you like light mysteries with only a little terror, if you’re infatuated by interesting cats and if you love a love story, you must read this book. (Summary via Goodreads)
Klepto Cat Mystery series where have you been ?? I cannot believe that this series has been out since 2013, has 23 books in this series and I have only just finished book one. Catnapped is the first book in this series by Patricia Fry and it is a GREAT start to this series.
In Catnapped you walk into a cat loving community that is being threatened. You meet Savannah who goes to stay with her aunt Margaret to help her out after she has an accident and breaks her foot. Savannah, Vannie to her aunt, is a veterinarian technician who has a cat, Rags, who likes to "borrow" things. Margaret, Auntie to Savannah, has a neighbor, Max, who has a facility next door where he rescues cats, takes in cats and treats them trying to adopt them out. And there is also a hunky hot veterianarian, Doctor Mike, that is all kinds of yummy !!!
Unfortunately someone is threatening Auntie by leaving notes on her property and maybe, just maybe the fall she took wasn't an accident. And if that isn't bad enough neighborhood cats are starting to disappear. Someone is stealing family pets ? Cats to be specific !!!
Auntie and Max belong to a cat alliance group and along with members of other cat related groups they devise a plan to look into the disappearance of the cats. You will see that once Auntie gets an idea in her head, nothing will stop her....not even death threats and a broken foot !!!
One word that can be used to describe this book is.....devotion. The devotion of the cat owner's to find their pets, the devotion of Vannie to her aunt, the devotion of the members of the different groups coming together to solve this case, and the devotion you begin to see between Vannie and Michael.
The only thing that you will have a hard time with when you read Catnapped is that it ends....and boy is the ending a GREAT ending. But then you just have to remember what I said in the beginning of this review ---- There are 22 more books in this series. So all you have to do is pick up Book two, Cat-Eye Witness and you are back hanging out with Auntie, Max, Vannie, Michael, Rags and the whole gang.....
Review by Missi S.
Love is in the air in Aspen Hills, and it’s making a terrible mess of Cat Latimer’s writers’ retreat—especially when blood stains the plot . . .
Ever since her business partner, Shauna, fell for a wealthy landowner in town, Cat has been working double time to keep her writers’ retreat running. And with the January session almost underway, that spells trouble. As if scheduling mishaps aren’t disastrous enough, Shauna skips out on kitchen duties one morning, forcing Cat to serve unsuspecting guests store-bought muffins . . .
But best laid plans really go awry when Shauna discovers her beau missing from their bed. When his body later turns up in the horse barn, they quickly find out the victim’s scandalous lifestyle left many dying for revenge. While balancing an eccentric group of aspiring writers and a suspect list for the record books, Cat soon finds herself on the heels of a killer—and authoring her most deadly conclusion yet . . . (Summary via Goodreads)
Okay so in the first book in the Cat Latimer Mystery series by Lynn Cahoon a guest of the writer's retreat was murdered and in the second book of the series someone from the town was murdered but a guest of the retreat was involved. And in both of those books Cat was trying to wrap her head around her ex-husband Michael's death. So in the third book, Of Murder and Men, it should be smooth sailing .....right ????
Well most everything with the guests for the retreat do run smoothly, actually pretty well. Cat has a group of writer's that get along and have fun when they are not getting their word count in for the day. And one of the guests, Shirley ( a retired Alaskan cop ) seems to be getting along very well with Uncle Pete....and providing her expert job experience looking into Michael's death.
Unfortunately death does hit the writer's retreat and it hits very close to home. Shauna's very rich on/off boyfriend, Kevin, has finally made up his mind with their relationship and pops the question !! But before she can decide what she wants to do he is found dead in the horse barn on his elaborate estate.
When the cause of death is determined that he was poisoned and Shauna was the one to cook him his last meal, Uncle Peter has a lot of questions. Even though everyone knows that Shauna wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone, Cat still feels the need to find out who did kill Kevin.
Cat always has her hands full running the writer's retreats but always makes time to help others out and when her best friend needs her, she will stop at nothing to be there for her.....
Of Murder and Men is my FAVORITE book so far in this series !! Not only are we really getting to know Cat, the business, the town and it's residents but we finally see closure in Michael's murder. Even though there is closure, I'm sure that will not be the end of the Michael aspect of the books. Especially seeing as Cat found out some things at the bank and through Dante, Michael's college friend who happens to be a member of a mob family. I look forward to where Cahoon is going to take this part of the story.
There is so much to say about Of Murder and Men and Lynn Cahoon but as with a lot of my reviews, I really only want to give you the extra push needed for you to pick up the book and find out for yourself what is going on in the story. I highly recommend that with the Cat Latimer series......there are so many things to love about Aspen Hills with only one thing to dislike.....that it's not a real place. But hey it's a great place to visit with Cahoon and you don't have to leave the comfort of your couch.....
Review by Missi S.
Cat Latimer’s Colorado bed-and-breakfast plays host to writers from all over. But murder is distinctly unwelcome . . .
To kick off a winter writing retreat, Cat and her handyman boyfriend, Seth, escort the aspiring authors to a nearby ski resort, hoping some fresh cold air will wake up their creative muses. But instead of hitting the slopes, they hit the bar—and before long, a tipsy romance novelist named Christina is keeping herself warm with a local ski bum who might have neglected to tell her about his upcoming wedding.
Next thing Cat knows, her uncle, the town sheriff, informs her that the young man’s been found dead in a hot tub—and Christina shows up crying and covered in blood. Now, between a murder mystery, the theft of a rare Hemingway edition, and the arrival of a black-clad stranger in snowy Aspen Hills, Cat’s afraid everything’s going downhill . . . (Summary via Goodreads)
Fatality by Firelight is the second book in the Cat Latimer Mystery book series by Lynn Cahoon and it is the second writer's retreat for Cat, Shauna and Seth. Catherine Latimer was willed the big house in
Colorado by her ex-husband Michael and with the help of her friend Shauna and her high school, current boyfriend, Seth she has turned it into a writer's retreat bed and breakfast. For one week a month the house is opened up to authors who spend the week writing, visiting the college library, participating in seminars and receiving insights from Cat who is a published author.
On the first day of this retreat Cat and Seth take the guests on a skiing trip to the nearby resort. While Cat and Seth are enjoying the day racing each other down the mountain, the guests have taken to the bar instead. Christina, a romance author, has caught the eye of local boy Tommy and the two have no problem showing some PDA at the resort. Unfortunately Tommy is engaged to Brit, a bartender in town. When Tommy is found stabbed to death in a hot tub at the resort and Christina was the last to see him alive and has Tommy's blood on her clothes, things at the retreat heat up !!
Luckily for Christina Cat's uncle Pete is the police chief and on top of everything and if he isn't Cat is....
Valuable Hemingway books are stolen from the library, mobster children are students at the college, Cat is trying to go through Michael's study for clues to his death and closure, they are trying to run a successful writer's retreat, and Cat wants to find out who killed Tommy and keep Christina safe.....All in a day's work for Cat and company.
You will instantly love Cat, Shauna and Seth !! You will want to spend lots of time in the kitchen with the girls and sit on the couch in Cat's office on the third floor. The relationships in the story between Cat and Shauna, Cat and Seth, the writing guests for the week are uniquely written and you will long for relationships like these.
And I must mention the special hot chocolate and the food that Shauna prepares throughout the story....yummy !! You will be so engrossed in reading this book, that you might find yourself smelling the chocolate.....
I am a HUGE fan of Lynn Cahoon and the Cat Latimer Mystery series and cannot wait to get lost in another of the writer's retreats........I know it's going to be a treat !!!!
Review by Missi S.
The Body on the T is the second book in the Windflower mystery series and it follows up on the highly acclaimed premiere, The Walker on the Cape. The story begins when a body washes up on a beach near Grand Bank, Newfoundland. There is no identification on the body and few clues to identify who the person was or where they came from. The case becomes the responsibility of Sgt. Winston Windflower of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and his trusted side-kick, Corporal Eddie Tizzard.
But this is just the beginning. There is also a devastating accident on the highway and another suspicious death to deal with. Throw in a rogue police officer and an international drug ring operating in the waters off the coast and Windflower’s peaceful world is turned upside down. This time Windflower’s adventures take him to the scenic town of Burin where Captain Cook once patrolled the waters looking for French mercenaries. And to historic St. John’s where he faces down an armed suspect on a parking garage rooftop in the midst of a busy downtown evening.
Along the way Windflower also continues to enjoy the food and home-style hospitality of this part of the world. Cod tongues, pan seared scallops and even figgy duff become part of his diet, and his long list of favourite foods. Windflower may be a long way from his Cree home in Northern Alberta but he has found a new place to love in the fog and mist of Newfoundland. (Summary via Goodreads)
The Body on the T is the second book in the Sgt. Windflower mystery series and boy is it a GOOD one !!! If you have read The Walker on the Cape, the first book in this series, you have met Windflower and have gotten to know him and his little town. If not, that is okay. Mike Martin brings you up to speed rather quickly....hee hee.
In The Body on the T you are introduced to a dead body right away....unfortunately who the person was is not known immediately as they have no identification or recoqnized as a local. Before Windflower can identify the body, it is transferred out of his jurisdiction. Windflower is also asked to leave Grand Bank for a few months to work on a case in Marystown that has to do with the Harvey Brenton case that we read about in the first book.
While Windflower is getting things ready in Grand Bank for his temporary move to Marystown, he has to suspend one of his Constables, Claude LaPierre, another body is found floating in the harbour and his girlfriend, Sheila, is in a head on collision. One "good" thing is that they know that the body found floating is Roger Buffet, a heavy drinker who owed Brenton a lot of money.
Windflower leaves everything in the capable hands of Corporal Eddie Tizzard who seems to know a little bit about everything which can be good and bad but he always seems to come out on top.
Once Windflower is settled in Marystown he finds out that the dead body found on the T that was transferred is Jean-Marc Guibert who was working for Brenton but recruited by the drug enforcement team to provide inside intelligence and he also learns that LaPierre is involved in the drug distribution network and the case that Windflower was brought in for.
Windflower has a lot on his plate with the case and Sheila's accident. Sheila is transferred to a hospital closer to Marystown which is good for Windflower, he is able to visit her daily.
There is so much more that I could tell you about the case, Windflower, Sheila, Tizzard, LaPierre and the offer that Windflower gets later in the story (tiny spoiler) but to read it in it's fullest is the best way to do it !!
I will tell you that you will LOVE the growing relationship between Windflower and Sheila, you will wish you had Tizzard's energy and you will love the person that Windflower is, as a Mountie, a boyfriend, a friend, and as just a good human being. And the devotion he has to the job and Sheila will warm your insides ......
So grab a cup of tea and a biscuit, settle in your comfy chair and take a little trip and hang out with Windflower and enjoy the ride.......
Review by Missi S.
It's always been Mimi Rousseau's dream to open her own bistro, but it seems beyond her grasp since she's been chased back home to Nouvelle Vie in Napa Valley by her late husband's tremendous debt. Until her best friend Jorianne James introduces her to entrepreneur Bryan Baker who invests in promising prospects. Now, working the bistro and inn until she's able to pay it off and call it her own, Mimi is throwing the inn's first wedding ever.
The wedding will be the talk of the town, as famous talk show host Angelica Edmonton, daughter of Bryan's half-brother, Edison, has chosen the inn as her perfect venue. Anxious, Mimi is sure things are going to turn south, especially when Edison gets drunk and rowdy at the out-of-towners' dinner, but by the evening, things begin to look up again. That is until six AM rolls around, and Bryan is found dead at the bistro with an eclair stuffed in his mouth. And the fingers point at Mimi, whose entire loan is forgiven in Bryan's will.
Now it's up to Mimi to clear her name and get to the bottom of things before the killer turns up the heat again in A Deadly Eclair, the scrumptious series debut by Agatha Award-winning author Daryl Wood Gerber. (Summady via Goodreads)
A French Bistro Mystery series by Daryl Wood Gerber is going to be one of my favorite series !! With her debut book, A Deadly Eclair, I have fallen in love with everything in the story !!
You have Mimi who owns the bistro and inn where she runs the bistro and her best friend, Jo, manages the inn. And all of this is possible because Bryan saw something promising in Mimi and invested in her dream. Not only does Bryan see something special in Mimi he also wants to help her succeed. It only seems fitting that the first wedding held at the inn is a famous talk show host to a well known jeweler. The bride also happens to be the daughter of Bryan's half brother so that should help things run smoothly.
Unfortunately things don't go as planned at the out-of-towners dinner gathering the night before the wedding and even worse when the bride goes out running early the next morning and finds Bryan dead on the patio of the bistro with an eclair stuffed in his mouth. To make matters worse, if that is possible, Mimi is the main suspect when it is discovered that Bryan was lured there by a text message from her cell phone !!!
While Mimi tries to resume business as usual and keep all the wedding guests comfortable, she also questions everyone trying to solve Bryan's murder, clear her name, and keep her business afloat.
A Deadly Eclair has a wonderful cast of characters, some you fall in love with instantly.....like Mimi's best friend Jo who runs the inn effortlessly and is always there for Mimi no matter what. You also will love the hostess, Heather, who has a thing for aliens but is more than capable of being the hostess with the mostest. And there are also Sergeant Tyson Daly and the gardener Raymond who went to school with Mimi, Mimi's mother who owns a vineyard as well as Nash who sells wine and also has a crush on Mimi.
And let's not overlook that this ALL takes place in a wonderful place Napa Valley which is full of jazz music, gourmet food, lucious wine, refreshing gardens and mouth dropping artwork.....
My only recommendation before picking this book up to get lost in it is to grab a nice glass of wine, some cheese and crackers, a comfy blanket and settle back.....once you open up the book, you won't want to leave......
Review by Missi S.
Costume designer Charlotte Fairfax has another murder on her hands as she prepares for the latest performance of the Catskills Shakespeare Theater Company, Much Ado About Nothing. The company's steady growth enables them to cast star British actress Audrey Ashley, who arrives on scene to play the lead role of Beatrice. But things immediately get more complicated when Audrey insists the company replace the current director with new, up and coming British director Edmund Albright.
Edmund plans to change the popular romantic comedy, which alienates several people associated with the production. And the list of people he upsets only grows: the laid off former director, the hotel owner's secretary, and even Audrey herself. Just as Edmund's plans are about to come to fruition, his body is discovered on his sofa, holding a gun in his hand. His death is quickly ruled a suicide but Charlotte thinks otherwise. Why would Edmund, on the brink of greatness, kill himself? And in such an American way?
With a whole cast of characters to investigate, Charlotte is determined to unmask each one before it's final curtain call on the whole production in award-winning author Elizabeth J. Duncan's third Shakespeare in the Catskills mystery, Much Ado About Murder. (Summary via Goodreads)
I might be a tad partial to Much Ado About Murder by Elizabeth J. Duncan because it is A Shakespeare in the Catskills Mystery and I live in upstate New York. But whatever reason you choose to read Much Ado About Murder, I am quite certain that you will love it !!
Even though this is the third book in the series and I haven't had the pleasure of reading the previous two, I was able to pick it up and breeze right through it. As soon as I started reading, I was lost in the Catskills.... The story is so fun !!! You have a theater company attached to a grand hotel with three bungalows and the bungalows are housed by the director of the current play, the main star of the current play and Charlotte, the costume designer and her police officer boyfriend.
Unfortunately the current Shakespeare play has trouble from the start with the director leaving abruptly and unable to return and then his replacement, Edmind, is found dead in his bungalow as a result of an apparent suicide. But as they say in show business the show must go on so with a third director they continue with rehearsals.
Charlotte and her friend Paula, who is on the board of directors for the theatre have a hard time accepting that Edmund would commit suicide. He was very passionate about the play and the direction he was taking it, it just didn't fit that he would kill himself.
Charlotte and Paula dig into their own investigation and try to find out who killed Edmund and why. But with a cast of over-eager actors and a very eager replacement director, how will they narrow down the list of suspects ???
Much Ado About Murder was such a treat to read, Duncan has a way with her writing that you feel like you are right there walking along side Charlotte as she walks the paths along the grounds and you can almost taste the gin and tonic that she makes when she gets together with Paula.....
Review by Missi S.
Just as a murderer dumps his corpse into the lake across Valley View in Lily Dale, Bella Jordan happens to be at her window, not quite realizing what she's seeing. Unbeknownst to her, the killer spots her silhouette and prowls straight to her door. That is, until he's interrupted by a black cat. A superstitious gambler, he takes off, but Bella's seen too much, and he vows to return.
Jiffy Arden, a neighborhood kid looking for the black cat and stumbling across the killer, begins to have premonitions of being kidnapped during the season's first snowstorm. Sure enough, when it strikes, he vanishes, never arriving home from the bus stop. While her son, Max, believes Jiffy has been kidnapped, Bella is convinced he's just wandered off as he typically does... until a body shows up in the lake.
Now everyone is pulling out all the stops to find the missing child, identify the victim, and collar the killer. And fast, because he's coming for Bella next in Dead of Winter (Summary via Goodreads)
I could not stop reading this book !!!! As soon as I started reading Dead of Winter by Wendy Corsi Staub I was hooked !!! Even though this is the third book in the Lily Dale Mystery series and the first one that I read, it didn't matter. I was introduced to everyone in town like it was the first book. Staub's writing allows the reader to pick up the book and before you even finish the first chapter you are at home in this little lakeside community with all its wacky residents !!
The main character focus is on Bella and her young son Max as they are new to Lily Dale (yes Lily Dale is the name of the area , it's not the name of a character). Bella and Max moved there recently after her husband passed away and she ends up running the Valley View Manor on the lake. They were brought to the Valley View Manor by Chance (a cat) and ended up staying.
One unique thing about Dead of Winter is that Lily Dale is full of spiritualists. Most of Bella's neighbors are mediums that see and talk to the dead..... even her son's 6 year old best friend, Jiffy. This doesn't give the reader a "spooky" feeling because the way that it is written is comical at times and, well, the rest just seems to make sense.
Don't get me wrong....there is a murder in the middle of the night and the killer dumps the victim over a rowboat in the lake....and Bella is caught looking out the window by the killer....and Jiffy just happens to run into the killer outside the Valley View Manor......and the victim just happens to be from a very impressive gang of theives.....and to make it all even better Lily Dale is hit with a tremendous snowstorm....
OMG I want to read it again !!! That's how good Dead of Winter is !! I sat on my couch reading it from start to finish !! Once you get to a certain point in the story (I won't tell you where...) you CANNOT put the book down.....you can't !! I challenge you to try !! Believe me when you get to that point, and you will know it when you get there, you mind as well cancel whatever you had planned for the rest of the day.
Dead of Winter is set in a very interesting lakeside community with such interesting people .... I could go on and on regarding the residents, dead and alive, but you should read it for yourself !!
After reading Dead of Winter, I can tell you that I will be going back and reading the rest of the Lily Dale series......
Review by Missi S.
