Killer Commission (Cindy York Mystery series Book #7) by Catherine Bruns

Sometimes a commission check comes with a price that’s too high to pay…

After a hectic summer, real estate agent Cindy York is ready to relax and enjoy the autumn season with her family. She’s especially looking forward to a second honeymoon vacation with her husband to celebrate their silver anniversary.

But business must come before pleasure. When Cindy sends agent Olivia Lamphere in her place to show a house and the woman turns up dead, she promises her husband to stay out of the investigation. After another agent Cindy knows is murdered, she's forced to break that promise. What is the connection between the two women and why is she receiving threatening notes as well?

Can Cindy discover who’s making the deadly deals before she winds up the next victim?  (Summary via Goodreads)

The Cindy York Mystery series by Catherine Bruns will give you anxiety ... in a good way.  This series is full of so much excitement that you will breeze through reading it and will be shocked when you get to the end ... for two reasons, one because you are at the end already and two for the ending.  Bruns always has nail biting endings !!  

In Killer Commission Cindy and her husband Greg are celebrating their twenty-fixth wedding anniversary and going to go on a cruise.  That is if they can get through the next week .... easy peasy.  Not .....

Cindy gets a call to show a house that she has listed for sale.  She is a realtor at her best friend Jacques' real estate office.  The caller is very insistent, unfortunately both Cindy and Jacques have other obligations so they ask a fairly new co-worker to do.   Later that night Cindy gets a call from a neighbor of the house for sale regarding a car in the driveway. When Cindy goes over to check, she is shocked to find Olivia dead in the car.

Officer Brooks, who is well aware of the trouble that Cindy and Jacques can get into regarding his cases, is adamant that they stay out of it.  They agree until something else happens that makes Cindy realize that she was most likely the intended target ......

Catherine Bruns is one of my favorite authors.  Her books and series are such fun to read.  You can relate to the people (hopefully not the murders), they are people you would love to know and hang out with.  The jobs and careers that they have seem like tons of fun also. And yes she does have a knack with making you want to solve the murders as well.  And with Killer Commission being the seventh book in this series there is a lot to love !!!!

Dying Cry (Timber Creek K-9 Mystery Book #10) by Margaret Mizushima

A killer lurks in Colorado’s snowy high country in Dying Cry, the tenth thrilling installment of award-winning author Margaret Mizushima’s Timber Creek K-9 mystery series.

Newlyweds Mattie and Cole Walker are teaching Cole’s daughters how to snowshoe in a remote canyon when a shattering scream pierces the air. They know that somewhere ahead, someone has been injured or worse. Cole takes the girls while Mattie and Robo go deeper into the canyon to search for the source of the scream. 

From a distance, Mattie and Robo see a shadowy figure at the base of a cliff, but a rockslide buries the person under layers of stone and shale before they can provide help. Desperate to uncover the individual in case they’re still alive under the rock, their efforts are in vain. The victim is already dead. When they investigate the canyon rim from which the person fell, they discover evidence that indicates the fall was no accident. To make matters worse, the victim was one of Cole’s friends. 

The Timber Creek County investigative team springs into action, uncovering a trail of greed that leads to a killer who threatens Mattie’s cherished new family and tests her with the most difficult task she’s faced in her duty as a K-9 handler. (Summary via Goodreads)

With ten book in Margaret Mizushima's Timber Creek K-9 Mystery series I am happy to say that I have read most of them, only missing out on a few.  And I can tell you that I am a huge fan, love the characters, the town, the relationships, and the drama and murders !!

Dying Cry, the latest book, starts with main character Mattie spending a weekend with her new husband Cole, his two daughters and their dogs doing wintery activities at a local resort.  Unfortunately their weekend ends with them hearing a scream while snowshoeing and when Mattie goes to see what it was, she notices a human form in the snow.  But before she can get to it a rock avalanche occurs burying the person.

Luckily with help Mattie is able to uncover the person.  But Cole recognizes it as the husband of his veterinary assistant.  Tess is at the resort with her husband Tom who is there for work seminars through his job as manager of the local bank. Tom was supposed to be at a building used for seminars and such a ways away from the cliff he fell from ... which brings up lots of questions for Mattie and her team.

When Tom's death is ruled a homicide, Mattie has to put personal feelings aside and focus on why someone would want to kill Tom.  Cole, being the supportive partner and husband that he is, does whatever he can to help .....

Readers cannot get enough of this series !!  You fall in love with Mattie and her partner Robo and as soon as you start reading one of the books, you cannot help but w
ant a murder to occur so you can see them in action.... knowing it isn't real.  

A Wonderful Christmas Crime (Christmas Tree Farm Mystery Book # 6) by Jacqueline Frost

Innkeeper Holly White has a lot to be joyful about this season, until an attempted robbery throws the town into suspicion in the sixth installment of the Christmas Tree Farm mysteries from bestselling author Jacqueline Frost.

As Christmas descends on Mistletoe, Maine, Holly White has an extra gift for the a new baby on the way. Her husband, Sheriff Evan Gray, has been worried about her elevated blood pressure and Holly has agreed to take this year easy. Being idle has never been one of Holly’s gifts, so when Evan surprises her with tickets to the town-wide dinner, she and her many cravings thank him. But when a thief tries and fails to steal an antique ornament from the dinner’s holiday display, it’s clear that someone is on the naughty list. 

The thief manages to escape, but after dinner, Holly spots their lifeless body. It’s clear that someone in town was keen to kill them. Evan is less than jolly to find his wife at the scene of yet another holiday homicide and asks her to promise that she’ll leave the investigating to the police. But Holly has never been one to turn down a challenge and has to get creative with the help of a few of her friends in order to find this killer.

Will she and her friends be able to stop the killer, and uncover the motive behind the attempted robbery, or will the killer strike again and paint the town a bloody red?  (Summary via Goodreads)

The Christmas Tree Farm Mystery series written by Jacqueline Frost is definitely a fall tradition for me .... seeing as the series is published in the fall, it gets you in the Christmas spirit early and adds the extra touch of solving a murder.   A Wonderful Christmas Crime is the sixth book in this series and hopefully you have read all of the previous books and a huge fan as well.  If not I can guarantee you will want to start reading them and catch up.

In A Wonderful Christmas Crime main character Holly and her friends and family are busy with everything Christmas as the family business is centered around the holiday.  Everyone, that is, except for Holly's husband Evan who is the local sheriff.  Fortunately Mistletoe, Maine is usually low with crime .... except for Christmas time it seems.

Holly and pretty much everyone in town is participating in the progressive dinner but when they are at their friends cafe, they witness a fight.  Holly, Libby, Cookie and Caroline decide to go back to the cafe and check on Alice but they end up finding a dead body and Alice with blood on her hands !!

Holly knows that Alice is innocent but Evan has insisted that she sit this investigation out and stay safe.  We all know she will try but she can't help it .....

I would read this series even if there wasn't a murder to solve.  I could hang around the tree farm drinking hot cocoa and playing all the fun games they have scheduled.  And I could shop in Santa's Village and eat at Caroline's cupcake shop and just hang out with everyone !!!    

There is so much to love within this series, there is something for even the pickiest reader to enjoy !!  So grab your copy, a hot beverage and a sugary treat and settle in ......

The Write Way to Die (Murder By the Book Mystery series Book # 1) by Beth Prentice

From USA Today bestselling author Beth Prentice comes a brand new series filled with humor, romance, and deadly deceptions...

A writing retreat. A famous author. A deadly fall.

Aspiring novelist Aubrey Jackson never expected her big break to be wrapped in crime scene tape. Invited to an exclusive writer’s retreat hosted by the legendary author Willow Fox, Aubrey was excited to sharpen her plot twists and finally finish her first book. But when Willow is found dead—pushed from a third story window—the peaceful getaway turns into a real-life investigation.

With a retreat full of suspects, and the police pointing the finger at one of her best friends, Aubrey’s instincts kick in. After all, she’s read enough murder mysteries to know this wasn’t an accident! So with her writer buddies, Ellie and Spencer, by her side, she sets out to find a killer!

Only problem? The sharp detective with gorgeous eyes and enough muscles to be on a magazine cover, who has a frustrating determination to arrest the wrong person.

Can Aubrey uncover the truth before the killer writes her off for good? Or will her first big break end in a plot twist she never saw coming?

And don't forget to pick up Aubrey Jackson's debut novella, Murder for Shore!   (Summary via Goodreads)

The Write Way to Die is the first book in the Murder By the Book Mystery series by Beth Prentice and it has a lot to love .... a story that grabs you instantly, a cast of strong characters, one stronger than the other as they are a murderer, a great setting for this first of hopefully many in the series, a story within a story, plus much more !!!

In The Write Way to Die main character Aubrey is going on a weekend writing retreat with her best friend, Elle and another good friend Spencer.  Another good friend of Aubrey and Elle's is co-hosting the event with a popular author that they cannot wait to spend time with and learn from .... unfortunately Willow, the author, is found dead outside and Aubrey is the one to find her !!!

It is soon ruled murder as she was pushed from her third floor room window.  And with the retreat consisting of authors and individuals that want to be authors, everyone is talking and they all have their own ideas.  Except one of them is most likely the murderer so .....

Aubrey is there to work on the story that she is writing, a cozy mystery, so when she can't focus on her writing she wonders about Willow's murder and cannot help but start to do her own investigating.  And Elle and Spencer are just as bad and go along with it all.  Even though Aubrey gets in too deep and the handsome detective is constantly telling her to stop !!

Prentice has a great foundation with this first book in this series.  There is so much to love as I stated already.  And the way that she ends this story, you know you are in for it all and be waiting for the next book ... I know I will be.

Murder For Shore (Saltwater Bay Secrets Mystery novella) by Beth Prentice & Aubrey Jackson

From USA Today bestselling author Beth Prentice & Aubrey Jackson, the subject of the "Murder by the Book Mysteries," comes a cozy beachside mystery full of intrigue, danger, and just the right amount of salt in the air!

Daphne Wright thought the biggest challenge at her newly inherited beach house in Saltwater
Bay would be battling the sand in her coffee. But when a human skull washes up with the morning tide, she’s suddenly pulled into a deadly mystery lurking beneath the waves. As secrets bubble to the surface, and the small town’s past proves as treacherous as the shifting sands, Daphne must navigate a tide of lies before the killer strikes again.

Want more Aubrey Jackson? Pick up The Write Way to Die, and learn how she wrote her first novella amidst her own real-life mystery!  (Summary via Goodreads)

Murder For Shore may be a novella but it reads like a full length novel.  You get a glimpse of Murder For Shore when you read The Write Way to Die which is the first book in the Murder By the Book Mystery series.  But you don't have to read it because you get all of it in the novella but it is neat to see it unfold in the main characters mind.

In Murder For Shore main character Daphne returns to Saltwater Bay when she inherits the beach shack that her grandmother leaves her.  Before she even gets to unlock the door her neighbor comes over and shows her the human skull that washed up in the recent storm.  The head is soon identified and Daphne decides to look into the case when it is determined that the person was murdered and he apparently had dated her grandmother.  

Unfortunately Daphne is going to uncover some things that people in town may not want uncovered and she may be in way over her head ....

Author Beth Prentice will have you invested as soon as you start reading and you will be glad it's a novella so you can read it in one sitting because as soon as you start reading, you will want to find out what happens.

Murder at the Moulin Rouge (A Blackwell & Watson Time-Travel Mystery Book # 5) by Carol Pouliot

Paris, 1895. When a cancan dancer at the Moulin Rouge falls to her death from the top of one of Montmartre’s highest staircases, the police dismiss it as an accident. But, Madeleine was one of Toulouse-Lautrec’s favorite models, and the artist is certain she was murdered. Enter Depression-era detective Steven Blackwell and 21st-century journalist Olivia Watson who travel back in time to Paris to hunt down the killer. Before long, they learn that a second dancer—a ballerina and favorite model of painter Edgar Degas—has died. Two dancers dead in two weeks. Two artists grieving. Is the killer targeting young dancers, or, does this case involve the enigmatic Paris art world?

From the moment Steven and Olivia arrive, Steven is out of his element. The small-town cop has no idea what techniques the French police use in 1895. Worse, he has no official status to investigate murder in one of the world’s largest cities. The sleuths soon discover disturbing secrets at the Paris Ballet. And when Olivia insists on going undercover to visit a suspect’s house alone, Steven fears he’s made the biggest mistake of his life.

Travel back in time with Steven and Olivia, as they enter the back-stabbing world of dance in one of the world’s greatest cities. Murder at the Moulin Rouge is their most daring and dangerous case to date.   (Summary via Goodreads)

I am a huge fan of time traveling books, I think they are so fun and when you add a murder to solve with a touch of romance, I'm totally 100% in !!  And author Carol Pouliot does it perfectly with her Blackwell & Watson Time-Travel Mystery series.

Steven Blackwell is a detective in the early 1930's while Olivia Watson is a journalist/researcher small business owner in 2015.  They are able to time travel between times by walking over the threshold in a bedroom in the house they both own in their timeframe.  They are able to venture out together in both timeframes and Olivia helps Steven with his murder cases.

In the fifth book in the series, Murder at the Moulin Rouge, they are going to go way out of their comfort zones when Steven's deceased mother knocks on his door .... and she is a lot younger.  A friend of her's in Paris in the year 1895 needs help.  A dear friend of his has died, the case was ruled an accident but Henri knows it wasn't.

Before they can even comes to terms with the fact that Steven's mother can time travel as well, they agree to go to 1895 Paris and try to investigate and help Henri.  Obviously this is going to be the toughest case they have ever worked on .... what do they know about the year 1895 other than what they may have learned in history class ?  That doesn't stop them from diving in head first, working with the local detective, meeting very interesting people and spending time with Steven's mother ... which isn't wierd at all !!!

I'll admit Murder at the Moulin Rouge is not my favorite book in this series.  I love spending time with Steven and Olivia no matter where and when they are but I wasn't a fan of Paris. The storyline was captivating and interesting and I was glad they solved the case and were able to return to their own timeframes.  I also now know that in future books I will not be surprised wherever they end up traveling to .... looks like nothing is off limits for this duo and I look forward to the next book to see where they go and who they meet.

Murder Pays a Call (A Keri Armstrong Cozy Mystery Book # 1) by Nancy J. Cohen

Personal concierge Keri Armstrong will accept almost any job, but solving murders wasn’t on her to-do list—until now.

When personal concierge Keri Armstrong swings by her favorite client’s mansion to drop off groceries, she expects a heartfelt chat along with a cup of tea—not Fiona Sullivan dead in bed and her room ransacked. Though police chalk it up to a botched robbery, Keri isn’t so sure. Whispers around town suggest Fiona wasn’t as adored as Keri had believed, and many of the philanthropist’s so-called friends in affluent Sunny Grove, Florida seem glad she’s gone.

Keri refuses to let Fiona’s memory be reduced to malicious gossip. Armed with a keen eye, insider access, and a fully charged tablet, she sets out to uncover the truth. Soon her file of suspects grows faster than her to-do list. Between sneaky neighbors, resentful relatives, and tight-lipped charity board members, Fiona left behind a trail of frenemies who’d happily skip her memorial brunch.

As Keri digs deeper, she discovers her late mentor had a gift for extracting people’s secrets and using them like fine china—carefully storing them until they could serve a purpose. But Fiona also kept a few skeletons in her own walk-in closet. Now, with danger creeping closer, Keri must race to crack the case before her number comes up next… and Murder Pays a Call.

A Fresh Pick at FreshFiction.com!

“Fans of award-winning author Nancy J. Cohen’s long-running Bad Hair Day Mysteries will be thrilled to learn there’s a new sleuth in town.” Lois Winston, author of the bestselling and award-winning Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries.  (Summary via Goodreads)

I fell in love with the Bad Hair Days Mystery series written by Nancy J. Cohen so when I found out she started a new series, I was very excited !!!  And boy has she started this new series off with a bang !!

Murder Pays a Call is the first book in her Keri Armstrong Cozy Mystery series.  This series follows main character Keri in her personal concierge business.  She helps others make their lives easier and simplier.  Unfortunately when Keri finds one of her favorite customers who is like a grandmother to her dead in her bedroom and it is ruled murder, she jumps right into looking for the killer.

Sadly Keri soon learns that Fiona wasn't liked by all and was downright mean to many.  Keri doesn't want to believe that but as the list of suspects continues to grows, she is going to have to face facts ....

As with the Bad Hair Day series Cohen provides readers with a strong main character that you immediately are drawn to and love.  And I know that Murder Pays a Call is the first book in this new series but Cohen knows how to end the story to ensure that readers will be back for more.

Murder at Cape Costumers (Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery Book # 7) by Maddie Day

In Agatha Award-winner Maddie Day’s delightfully spooky Cozy Capers Book Group mystery, it’s Halloween, and Cape Cod bike shop owner Mackenzie “Mac” Almeida and her book club must unmask a killer…

Just in time for Halloween, a new costume shop has opened on Main Street in Westham, Massachusetts. Cape Costumers is a cut above the usual seasonal pop-up stores with their flimsy mass-produced outfits and cheap plastic masks, mostly due to co-owner Shelly, a former Broadway costume designer. But when Shelly discovers her elderly boyfriend Enzo—a Broadway star who retired to Westham—dead of unnatural causes, Halloween suddenly gets a lot scarier.

Sleuthing, Mac has found, is a lot like riding a bicycle: once you learn how, you never forget. Far from being spooked, Mac and the members of the Cozy Capers Book Group put down their weekly book selection and put their heads together to see past a bag of tricks and find a malice-making murderer who’s hiding in plain sight . .  (Summary via Goodreads)

Murder at Cape Costumers, the seventh book in the Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery series, has multiple stories to follow which will keep you reading for sure. 

If you've read any or all of the previous books in this series by Maddie Day, you know that main character Mac cannot stay out of trouble.  When there is a murder, whether she knew the victim or the suspects, she will begin investigating ... but don't worry, she has the Cozy Capers book club watching her back .... hopefully.

On the morning after Halloween Enzo, a gentlemen that was a recent customer at Mac's Bike's is found dead on his deck still wearing his skeleton costume.  Before the death is determined to be murder or natural causes, Mac is already looking into things.

In Murder at Cape Costumers not only is Mac looking into Enzo's murder but her sister-in-law and two small children are visiting.  Unfortunately Jamie, Tim's sister, goes out one night claiming to be meeting a friend for dinner and never returns.  This leaves Mac and Tim looking after Ella and Luca.  Luckily Ella and Mac's niece Cokey become fast, best friends and Mac's family is there to help until Jamie returns.  Tim and Mac, both being business owners try to settle into their new home life but, of course, Mac needs to make sure her hometown and it's residents are safe .... so until she knows who killed Enzo and they are arrested, she will still stick her neck out ..... 

Murder at Cape Costumers, in my opinion, is different than the others as it digs deeper into the family aspect and has a storyline that draws from that.  Not only are we working on a murder but a missing loved one as well.  I personally got emotional with Jamie's disappearance and that could be because after six books, Tim is fictional family.

Regardless as to what drew you into this series or what draws you in, I know you will enjoy your time spent with Mac, Tim and the rest of the town of Westham.