Simply Dead (Will Rees Mysteries Book # 7) by Eleanor Kuhns

A midwife disappears after attending the birth of a child in another community, leading to an investigation that uncovers innumerable lies and secrets.

1790s, Maine. In the depths of winter Hortense, a midwife, disappears after attending a birth in the woodlands. During the search Will Rees finds her struggling through the snow and woods without shoes or a coat.

After two young men begin stalking the community in search of her – including targeting Rees’s own family – she is questioned further and claims she was kidnapped . . . but Rees and his wife Lydia are suspicious. It is agreed Hortense’s presence is endangering everyone’s safety and she needs to leave. As the arrangements are made she is hidden in Zion, the local Shaker community, only while there a Shaker Sister is murdered. Witnesses describe a man fitting Josiah Wooten’s description, a ferocious man living in the woods with two young sons.

What is the truth behind Hortense’s disappearance, and who is responsible for the death of the Shaker Sister?  (Summary via Amazon)

Simply Dead is the seventh book in the Will Rees Mystery series written by Eleanor Kuhns.  It doesn't matter if you have read every book in the series, a few, one or none, as soon as you start reading Simply Dead you will feel like you are in the middle of winter in the 1790's.

In Simply Dead Will Rees and his family are trying to get through the cold weather but it isn't going to be easy for them.  Early one morning the Constable and his sister Bernadette, show up at Rees house looking for his help. Bernadette's daughter, Hortense, is missing.  Bernadette and Hortense are midwives and Hortense was assisting a family deliver their baby but that was a few weeks ago and Hortense hasn't returned home.  They are worried with it being winter and it is not like her to not return home.  

When they find her buggy abandoned a search party is organized.  Rees finds her stumbling in the woods without shoes or her cloak.  When she is questioned as to what happened, Rees can tell that she is not being completely honest but Lydia, his wife, silences him so that Hortense can rest.

They soon figure Hortense is not safe as two strange men show up and try to abduct Rees one daughter and then they learn that a woman in the Shaker community nearby has been murdered and she was wearing Hortense's cloak.

Rees wants to find out what happened so that his family will be safe but there are a lot of obstacles that he will have to get over ... unfortunately getting the truth out of people and their help will be trying.

Readers cannot help but love this series and reading about the simplicity of the times back then will be enjoyable and frustrating at the same time.  I highly recommend digging into this series and allowing Kuhns to navigate for you.

Death at an Irish Wedding (Irish Castle Mystery Book # 2) by Ellie Brannigan

Bridal wear designer-turned-entrepreneur Rayne McGrath remains in the Irish countryside ready for some wedding mayhem in this charming and colorful cozy, perfect for fans of Carlene O’Connor and Sheila Connolly.

Rayne McGrath’s efforts to save the rundown family castle she inherited were an epic failure after she accidentally set fire to the tower and tanked the budget. Is the castle haunted, or is she just unlucky? Meanwhile, her cousin, Ciara Smith, is anxiously booking their joint calendar with special events in the hopes of bringing the property around before they lose everything.

When a bridalwear client from LA asks Rayne for help as her guest list spirals out of control, Rayne nabs the answer to her prayers. McGrath Castle is the perfect destination for the exclusive and intimate wedding party of heiress Tori Montgomery and her fiancé, heartthrob actor Jake Anderson. But this white veil occasion turns into a nightmare when Tori’s best friend’s assistant, Tiffany Quick, is found dead.

It’s feared Tiffany jumped from the tower, but that theory is quickly put in doubt as secrets within the wedding party come to light. And as the villagers protest this new wedding venue venture, Rayne begins to wonder if she will succeed in her endeavor or lose it all.  (Summary via Goodreads)

As we learned in the first book in the Irish Castle Mystery series written by Ellie Brannigan, Murder at an Irish Castle, Rayne and her cousin Ciara have their hands full trying to save the castle they inherited as well as the village it resides in.  According to Rayne's late uncle (Ciara's real father) they have a year to bring the castle and the village back to a positive financial standing.  Unfortunately things aren't going the way they intended.

Now in the second book in the series, Murder at a Irish Wedding, they have scheduled their first wedding at the castle with a small group staying at the castle for a weekend full of activities with the nuptials happening at the small church in the village.  The group includes the groom, a very famous and handsome actor, Jake, his brother Josh, Jake's assistant Ethan, the bride Tori, her best friend Amy, Amy's assistant Tiffany and Tori's parents, Dylan and Joan.  

They are getting married ahead of schedule to ensure that the press doesn't crash the party and they can keep it quiet.  

Unfortunately one night Rayne's dog Blarney howled and alerted them that something was wrong.  When Rayne and Ciara check it out they find Tiffany laying on the ground dead.  It is first thought that she jumped from the top of the tower due to suffering depression but Rayne isn't so sure and when the local gardai shows up, they rule it a suspicious death....

Nobody knows what to do but the bride is determined to marry Jake as planned.  So they go about wedding business as best they can but Rayne and Ciara still need to find out the truth to save the castle.  This is the first wedding of many and the money is greatly needed.

Even though the gardai is on the case, Rayne still takes it upon herself to look into the people staying at the castle.  She needs to make sure she is doing everything she can for the castle and the village.

Readers cannot help but fall in love with this story as well as the first book in the series. There is a lot going on that will keep readers turning the pages.  And Brannigan opens up your imagination so that you will feel like you are right there.  I highly encourage you to dig in !!!

Mistletoe, Mutts, and Murder (A Samantha Davies Mystery Book # 6) by S.A. Kazlo

Christmas is coming and children’s book author, Samantha Davies, and her lovable dachshund, Porkchop, are caught up in the holiday festivities in beautiful upstate New York. Sam’s parents, Chuck and Barbara, who have been enjoying their retired life in sunny Florida, have flown into Wings Falls to spend the holidays with Sam and meet her new boyfriend, Detective Hank Johnson. Sam is also busy hosting this year’s Christmas party for the Loopy Ladies, Sam’s rug hooking group.

The Loopy Ladies know how to party and are enjoying an evening eating, drinking, and making merry... until Santa crashes the party. Unfortunately, this Santa is Sam’s next-door neighbor who her parents have had a long-running feud with. When not playing the local mall’s not-so-jolly old St. Nick, Leo Sayers is a newspaper reporter, and he announces to the group that he's written a damning article accusing Sam’s dad and his close friend, Herb Feinstein, of some very shady dealings in their past. To preserve peace on earth—and among the Loopy Ladies—Chuck and Herb escort Leo from the party.

Only, not long after being sent on his way, Santa is found dead—lying in the snow, run over by a plastic reindeer, with a string of Christmas lights around his neck! Are Sam’s father and Herb now on the naughty list? If Sam can’t prove them innocent of murdering Santa, she's afraid their stockings will contain handcuffs and a one-way ticket to prison this year!

"A doggone entertaining mystery filled with small town scandals! Funny and entertaining!"
~ Fresh Fiction

"This series a HOOT!!! You will love Wings Falls, the businesses, the people, and the relationships and friendships. There are plenty of times that I have read a book and wanted to jump into the story and live in the town, and the Samantha Davies Mystery series is one on the top of that list!!
~ Cozy Mystery Book Reviews ...... (Summary via Goodreads)

Let's start off by saying yes I am quoted in the summary of books in the Samantha Davies Mystery Book series by S.A. Kazlo and yes I mean every word of it !!!  With six books in this series, with Mistletoe, Mutts, and Murder being the sixth I stand firm by my words and maybe even more seeing as I finished this new release in one day.  I could not put it down and only did so when I had to go to the bathroom or get a drink or something to eat and I did it only when absolutely necessary.

When you pick a book that is a part of a series, you want it to be something that will have you returning seeing as you will be spending time with the book, the characters, the town and businesses, and the storylines and you will feel like you are a part of it even though it becomes a part of you.  You become invested in it and this series is that !!!

In Mistletoe, Mutts and Murder main character Samantha is getting into the holiday season and hosting a party for her Loopy Ladies group and their  and the best part is that her parents will be there as well !!!  They have come back to Wings Fall to spend the holiday with Sam.

Unfortunately during the party an unvited guest crashes the party .... the not nice and quite drunk next door neighbor, Theo Sayers.  Luckily Sam's dad and his friend escort Theo home.  But then a bit later a scream pierces the air and when they rush outside to find out what all the noise is about, they find Theo's wife is who screamed and Theo is tangled up in his Christmas decoratings dead !!!

And more unfortunately, and let's add sadly, when Sam's boyfriend, Hank, who is a detective on the force, begins to investigate Theo's murder Sam's dad and friend are on the top of the list and taken in for questioning.

Sam soon learns that Theo and her parents have a long history that dates back to high school and she can't believe that Theo would move right next door.  And she cannot believe that no one told her about this history until now.  She knows that there is no way her father would kill Theo over something that happened so long ago but will she be able to figure it out.  

Sam and her cousin Candie again take it upon themselves to talk to some people that they feel know something or didn't like Theo to try to get Sam's dad off the suspect list.  But they soon find out that Theo really wasn't a nice person and people have no problem speaking about it !!

This is one series that readers will love !!!  There is also a lot more that I could tell you, oh so much more, but I don't want to give everything away and I don't want to prolong your time away from reading.  I highly encourage you to head on into Wings Falls and hang with Sam and her crew, have breakfast at Sweetie's Pie Cafe, and everything else you read about !!!

And lastly I will leave you with this ..... the end will blow you away !!!!  In a very good way but don't sneak a peek and ruin it !!!

Silent Nights Are Murder (A Poppy McAllister Mystery Book # 9) by Libby Klein

Despite her best efforts, gluten-free baker Poppy McAllister finds herself confounded by a case of murder this Christmas in the latest installment of this delightful culinary B&B mystery series!

Ever since Thanksgiving, when an engagement ring in a velvet box—and no gift tag—was left behind, Poppy and her pals have been left with an unsolved mystery. But at least this mystery isn’t the kind that involves murder. That all changes when the body of a fish supplier is discovered in the kitchen of her ex’s restaurant—and he’s frozen, not fresh.

For once, it’s not Poppy who tripped over the corpse, yet she can’t escape being drawn in since the victim has a note taped to him reading Get Poppy. Figures—an engagement ring isn't labeled, but the dead guy is addressed to her. Now, while Aunt Ginny plans a tree-trimming party and pressures Poppy to decode a mysterious old diary, the amateur sleuth is asked to “unofficially” go undercover at the restaurant to help the police. Until then, the only crime Poppy had been dealing with was the cat Figaro’s repeated thefts of bird ornaments from the tree; now it looks like it’s going to be a murder-y Christmas after all . . .  (Summary via Goodreads)

I hope that you are a fan of the Poppy McAllister Mystery series written by Libby Klein.  This series is so much fun to read !!  Not only is it fun but as you read each new book in this series you feel closer to the characters which makes the stories mean so much more !!

Silent Nights Are Murder is the ninth book in the series and boy, oh boy, does a lot happen !!  Even if this is the first book of this series that you pick up and choose to read, you will still take away as much as someone who has read the previous eight .... but I do encourage you to go back and catch up, just because the books are so good !!!

In Silent Nights Are Murder Poppy and her crew have just celebrated Thanksgiving and when they were cleaning up, Poppy's best friend Sawyer finds a ring box with the help of Poppy's cat Figaro.  Now there is no clear answer as to who the ring box belongs to or who the intended person is that the question will be asked to.  It could be Poppy with Gia proposing but Sawyer and her boyfriend Ben are in a good place, Poppy's ex-mother-in-law and Smitty are madly in love and even Aunt Ginny and Royce who aren't getting any younger could be the ones saying  "I do".

So the ladies decide to hold another dinner party to try to find out who will crack and admit they lost the ring.  But before Poppy can give it any thought, she is called to her ex-boyfriend's restaurant when a dead body is found in one of the walk-in freezers and a note with "Get Poppy" is taped to him.

Poppy does not know the deceased or who taped the note on him so she wants to just walk away but when Tim, her ex, pleads for her help, she is torn.  Then she finds out that his girlfriend and business partner Gigi is bursting with a pregnancy proving that Tim didn't cry too long over their last break-up.  Even though Gigi cannot stand her, she agrees to go undercover and work in the restaurant to try to find out who is guilty.

Meanwhile back at the Butterfly Wings Bed and Breakfast the crew is preparing for the dinner to uncover who is getting engaged and then all heck breaks lose when Poppy's mother shows upo under a false name !!  Poppy's mother left her with Aunt Ginny and her grandmother over thirty years ago and hasn't been heard from since .... so Poppy wants to know what is going on but she cannot believe anything that the woman says !!!

Readers will fall in love once again with this latest installment of the Poppy McAllister Mystery series.  Klein knows how to reel you in and keep you on the hook throughout the entire book.  And in Silent Nights Are Murder there is so much to love and she keeps the surprises going throughout the entire book all the way to the last chapter.

Autumn Embers (A Batavia-on-Hudson Mystery Book # 3) by Tina deBellegarde

Bianca St. Denis travels to Kyoto to return a priceless artifact recovered in Batavia-on-Hudson during last summer’s flood. It’s late October, and the city of 2,000 shrines is in full autumn splendor. While she’s in Japan’s ancient capital, Bianca visits with her son, a student at Kyoto University. Ian shows her the sights and introduces her to his circle of friends—his chosen family.

On the night of her welcome party, Bianca thinks she witnesses a struggle in the garden, perhaps even a murder. When the police investigate and find no body, she is stumped, yet alarm bells won’t stop ringing. She knows she’s witnessed something.

When a dead body surfaces and suspicion falls on her son, Bianca’s maternal instincts spring to action to protect Ian and clear his name. Meanwhile, things in Batavia-on-Hudson are tense. Sheriff Mike Riley is losing his re-election while tackling devastating news about his dead partner and wavering about his troubled marriage.

Autumn Embers explores the malleable nature of our identities and reminds us that chosen families can be stronger than we think, and that true friendship can bridge any distance.  (Summary via Goodreads)

In Autumn Embers, the third book in the Batavia-on-Hudson Mystery series written by Tina deBellegarde readers will feel like they are reading two different books.  Tina takes main character Bianca out of Batavia-on-Hudson and sents her thousands of miles away to Japan to spend time with her son as well as return a priceless artifact to it's rightful owners.  Bianca found it previously and after research located it's real place of origin.

Unfortunately at the beginning of her visit with her son during the welcome party that he organized, there are some univited and unwanted people who crashed the party and Bianca witnesses a commotion in the garden.  To make matters worse no one believes her until a body turns up....

Meanwhile back home in Batavia-on-Hudson Bianca's close friend and the Sheriff, Mike, is facing the elections and he has two components running against him and one is his deputy.  Mike hasn't had his head in the game as he has been dealing with a lot of personal things and doesn't think that he will win.  That will put him in an unpleasant place as whether to stay in Batavia or move.

Luckily Bianca and Mike have each other and even though they are miles apart, they still call and talk each other through what they are dealing with.  Bianca really needs Mike's help when her son Ian turns out to be on the top of the suspect list.

Bianca knows very little Japanese but that won't deter her from looking into the death of Ian's ex-friend.  And she has Ian's friends to help her.

Readers will love how deBellegarde splits the story up with Bianca in Japan and Mike back in Batavia-on-Hudson with each having their own storyline but then how she gracefully overlaps the story is magical !!!  You cannot help by allow your imagination to open up, especially when you are with Bianca in Japan.