Deck the Halls with Boughs of Murder (Christmas Tree Farm Mystery Book # 7) by Jacqueline Frost

Mistletoe and murder go hand in hand in the seventh installment of the Christmas Tree Farm mysteries from bestselling author Jacqueline Frost.

New parents Holly White and Sheriff Evan Gray are sleep deprived, but incandescently happy to be celebrating their baby’s first Christmas. Their family, friends, and neighbors are spoiling the newest addition. Adding to the perfect holiday season is the recent completion of their newly built home. All that’s left to do is move in and send off those change of address cards. But their cup full of cheer turns sour when Holly discovers a dead body.

It all started with a sweet trip down memory lane–Candy Cane Lane and Toyland were two of Holly’s favorites as a child, and she had been looking forward to sharing them with her baby. Then she stumbled upon the body of Greysen, the animal keeper, left among the reindeer at the petting zoo.

Earlier in the day, Holly witnessed a fight between Greysen and a stranger. Stranger still, the reindeer petting zoo had originally been empty that day–no reindeer in sight until they reappeared along with a corpse.

As Holly fights to keep the Christmas spirit alive, she is Greysen’s only chance at justice–and her baby’s only chance at a happy first Christmas.  (Summary via Goodreads)

I love the Christmas Tree Farm Mystery series by Jacqueline Frost.  There is so much within this series that they don't really need to have a murder, readers will still love them !!   Although the murders and main character Holly getting involved are the backbone of it all I guess.

So anyway, Deck the Halls with Boughs of Murder is the seventh book in the series, and we have seen a lot of changes, mostly all good.  Holly moved back to her hometown of Mistletoe and helps at the family tree farm that has much more than trees, she married the Sheriff, Evan, they have a daughter, Joy, and are getting ready to move into the house they had built on land on the tree farm.  And that is just them....there is a lot going on with their family and friends as well. How Holly finds time to solve murders that occur in town is only something Santa Claus knows....

In Deck the Halls with Boughs of Murder Holly and Libby return to Toyland after Holly and her mom took Joy there during the day.  They are hoping to find mittens that Joy lost.  They do find the mittens but also hear the animals who seem agitated.  When they go to investigate to make sure the animals are okay, they find a dead body.

Holly, being the curious type, cannot help but ask questions and look into the death.  Even when she keeps getting threats to back off, they just push her in the wrong direction.

As with the previous books in this series, there is a lot going on and so much that you don't want it to end.  I would love to live in Mistletoe and hang out at The Hearth everyday drinking hot yummy beverages and eating all the cupcakes that Caroline makes.  (Caroline is Holly's best friend, owns a cupcake shop and has a dreamy boyfriend)  You will fall in love with everything within this series, and there is always a surprise or two to keep you hooked !!!  

A Field Guide to Death and Deceit (A Harry & Emma Mystery Series Book # 2) by Michelle L. Cullen

Widower and anthropologist Harry Lancaster and his Gen Z colleague Emma are back for more murder and mayhem when they stumble upon a dead farmer.

This delightful sequel to A Field Guide to Murder is perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Benjamin Stevenson.

When Harry Lancaster agrees to meet his former sweetheart Willow at a farm on the outskirts of town, Emma’s suspicions run high, and she insists on joining him. When they show up for Harry’s rendezvous, Willow is nowhere to be found—and they discover the farm’s owner dead, with a corn rake embedded in his back. 

After being interrogated by the police, Harry and Emma arrive at this house to find a bereft Willow, who admits she lost her life savings in a real estate scam involving the farm. Worried Willow will become the main murder suspect, Harry decides to help her, despite Emma’s concerns. 

To bring the swindlers—and murderer—to justice, Harry recruits his potentially shady, financial-whiz brother and a neighborhood teenage hacker. Then Willow’s realtor is declared missing, and Harry’s brother is caught up in the fray. 

As Harry, Emma, and team unearth clues, they increasingly dodge the police, stalkers, and danger in their race to save Willow and Harry’s brother before anyone else turns up dead.  (Summary via Goodreads)

A Field Guide to Death and Deceit is the second book in the Harry & Emma Mystery series by Michelle L. Cullen and it is just as captivating as the first, if not more.

In A Field Guide to Death and Deceit Harry and Emma have just returned from a three-month consulting job in South Asia and before they can write up their reports and findings, they are pulled into a case helping an old girlfriend of Harry's.  Harry hasn't seen Willow in over fifty years when he left home for a summer vacation which led to him finding his one true love.  However, when she calls and asks him to help her, he jumps at it.  Luckily Emma won't let him go and meet her alone, so she goes with him.

Unfortunately, when they get to the place where Willow asks him to meet her, all they find is a dead male. Before they can wrap their heads around anything, Harry's brother, Edgar, shows up in town.

As the group tries to piece together what is going on and how to help Willow, they realize there is a lot going on and getting to the bottom of things is going to take all of them working together ... but there are a lot of secrets and trust issues that need addressing as well.

Cullen really knows how to write a story keeping the reader on their toes.  You cannot help but love the story and the web she weaves.  You love the characters and their relationships.  

My advice is to let Cullen and her characters take you on their journey.  I tried to figure out who were the bad guys and the wrongdoings involved, but I decided to relax and let it go.  You will thank me.  

The Ghost Moon Tide (The Manatee Bay Cozy Mystery Series Book # 2) by Taffy Beach

Three holidays. Two ghosts.

And a town that knows how to take care of its own.

It’s October 1998, and Manatee Bay is swept up in the Spooks and Spirits Festival—a bold new autumn weekend where Halloween, Samhain, and the Day of the Dead share the same stage beneath a rare Ghost Moon. Main Street sparkles with skeletons dressed in satin and lace, food stalls perfumed with cinnamon and citrus, the sounds of Caribbean drums and salsa lessons, and a float parade that feels more Mardi Gras than small-town Florida.

But when a late-season hurricane exposes a skeleton long buried in the sand, whispers of the town’s Prohibition-era past begin to stir. And when the lighthouse ghost appears again—just as she has for more than half a century—the old stories suddenly feel far less harmless.

As a playful séance turns chilling and an unwelcome outsider’s arrival sparks deadly consequences, Kate finds herself caught between buried secrets and fresh bloodshed. With Police Chief Tom breathing down her neck, Kate realizes that Manatee Bay has its own way of handling those who slip through the cracks of the justice system.

Because in Manatee Bay, the past doesn’t stay buried.

And when the law falls short, the tide has a way of evening the score.

Under the 1998 Ghost Moon, some sins rise to the surface, and some are handled quietly.

A haunting coastal mystery filled with small-town secrets, family legacy, and festival-night danger, *The Ghost Moon Tides* is the second book in the Manatee Bay Cozy Mystery series. (Summary via Goodreads)

I don't know where to begin when talking about The Ghost Moon Tide by Taffy Beach.  This is the second book in her Manatee Bay Cozy Mystery series, and she knows how to pack a punch sorta speak.

If you have read the first book in this series, Tides, Lies and Alibis, you were introduced to a town and its residents. The town is Manatee Bay, and the residents are people who are dedicated to it.  A lot of the residents have been there for many years with generations before them establishing the town.

The people of Manatee Bay, some of them, have secrets, old and new, which we learn about in this second book.

In The Ghost Moon Tide Manatee Bay is gearing up for a three Halloween themed event which makes sense seeing as at the lighthouse they have a ghost.  This dates back to 1926, and the story is that a sister jumped off the lighthouse one night after her brother went missing.  She was having trouble with a gentleman and it's rumored that her brother went to defend her honor and was never seen after.

The story is brought to the present, which in this series is 1998, when a skeletal body is uncovered.  This gets everyone talking and where better to chat than at the High Tides Bakery where main characters Kat and Cindy are along with others in their crew.   There is a lot of speculation regarding the skeletal body but once it is confirmed that it is that of Mateo, the brother who went missing, everyone wants, no NEEDS to know, what is going on.

Mateo and his sister who jumped, Rosa, still have a sister living in Manatee Bay, Maria and she has something that everyone wants....Rosa's journal.  In this journal she writes about the advancements made toward her and how uncomfortable she was.

But how important is a case like this going to be ?  Well, when there are generations still living in Manatee Bay, it turns out to be very important.  And Kat and Cindy are really interested in finding out what happened as Kat's grandmother put the seed in their ears when they were teenagers .....

Now .... I could have went down a few other avenues regarding this story.  Like I said I didn't know where to begin and that is because there is a lot going on within this story.  It all falls into place as you read, and all makes sense in that "Aha" moment.  I chose to take you down one train of thought just to give you an idea of the story.  I leave it in your capable hands to pick up the book and get heading down the other avenues.

Multitasking Murder (Merry Wrath Mysteries Book # 40) by Leslie Langtry

From USA Today bestselling author Leslie Langtry comes the 40th installment in her laugh-out-loud mystery series!

Something old…something new…

It’s going to be a weekend to remember in Who’s There Iowa for multitasking ex-spy turned Girl Scout leader Merry Wrath! She has local medical examiner, Dr. Soo Jin Body’s, wedding, the grand opening of the Obladi Zoo Aviary, the graduation party for the Cult of Nicoderm’s teen druids, and her one of her troop and the youngest elected town official, Mayor Ava’s, re-election! As if that wasn’t enough chaos, someone is sending threatening letters warning these events to stop or else!

Someone murdered…and some kind of clue!

Merry's worries about things like the mayoral candidate who thinks aliens have packed explosives under her house, squeezing Officer Kevin Dooley’s mysterious plus one into an unforgiving wedding reception seating plan, and the little problem of Hilly the assassin showing up with new her pet European wolf pale in comparison to what comes next. When someone is found murdered backstage at the mayoral debate, Merry decides she should take the threats seriously. With the packed weekend fast approaching, can Merry find out who is behind the letters and catch a killer before the bridal bouquet is thrown?

What critics are saying about Leslie Langtry's books:

"I laughed so hard I cried on multiple occasions! Girl Scouts, the CIA, and the Yakuza... what could possibly go wrong?"
~ Fresh Fiction

"The Merry Wrath Mystery series has so much to love, and it is so different from other cozy mysteries that you can't help but be drawn to it."
~ Cozy Mystery Book Reviews

"Mixing a deadly sense of humor and plenty of sexy sizzle, Leslie Langtry creates a brilliantly original, laughter-rich mix of contemporary romance and suspense."
~ Chicago Tribune

"Langtry gets the fun started from page one."
~ Publisher's Weekly  (Summary via Goodreads)

As it is stated in the Author's Notes at the end of Multitasking Murder, this is the fortieth book in the Merry Wrath Mystery series by Leslie Langtry.  And Langtry cannot believe that she has written that many and thankfully for us readers, she doesn't have plans of stopping.

Langtry started the Merry Wrath Mystery series with a Girls Scout Troop in kindergarten and Merry becomes their troop leader when her CIA spy job comes to an abrupt end. I'm not sure when, no I haven't read all of the books in this series, but one of the girls in the troop becomes the youngest Mayor of their town, Who's There.

Since I have become a devoted reader of this series, I have seen the troop with the guidance of Merry and their other troop leader, Kelly, run that town with such power and grace.  And Merry has had a crucial role in making Who's There the murder capital of Iowa ..... but luckily her husband is the Chief of Police.

Okay so in Multitasking Murder Merry and crew are gearing up for a busy weekend.  There are four events happening that involve Merry with the troop also involved in a few. The medical examiner and one of the police officers are getting married with everyone in the bridal party, the zoo is opening an addition that they were instrumental in helping with, the election for Mayor results is to be announced and a group of high school students that worship Merry are graduating.

And to add more stress to the weekend people involved in these events are receiving threatening letters.  

So Merry and Kelly with the help of Hilly (who is a CIA assassin) do some interviewing and investigating while trying not to get into trouble or cause more trouble and stress.

This is such a fun series to read, I know I say that in every review, but it is.  I am always amazed at Langtry's imagination and have to applaud her for the success of having 40 books in one series published.  That is awesome !!!!

I highly encourage you to continue reading this series or if you haven't read any yet, go ahead and get started.  I think you'll be busy for a while but you will have a ton of fun reading !!!

Fighting Edge (Timber Creek K-9 Mystery Book # 11) by Margaret Mizushima

Major crimes intersect in this nail-biting installment of the Timber Creek K-9 mysteries by award–winning author Margaret Mizushima.

A routine welfare check becomes a nightmare when Deputy Mattie Walker finds a young mother dead and a hysterical toddler, possibly the only witness to a brutal crime. Before the investigative team can start piecing together what happened, Mattie discovers another criminal act in Timber Creek.

During a traffic stop for speeding, Mattie observes a nervous driver and a teenage passenger frozen with fear. A quick sweep of the car with her K-9 partner, Robo, reveals a dangerous mix of drugs and suspected human trafficking, providing Mattie with grounds to arrest the driver. After she places the teenager in protective custody, the sheriff’s department hands the case over to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

As the team gathers evidence and information, Mattie’s husband, veterinarian Cole Walker, notices suspicious activity during ambulatory calls at dog kennels, indicating yet a third crime lurking in the shadows. What begins as isolated incidents quickly reveals a chilling Organized crime has infiltrated their rural mountain community.

Every clue leads to more questions, and each answer brings them closer to greater danger. Do Mattie and her law enforcement partners have what it takes to shut down this criminal ring before it claims more victims? And could its next victim be someone Mattie loves?  (Summary via Goodreads)

 

Fighting Edge, the eleventh book in the Timber Creek K-9 Mystery series by Margaret Mizushima, is a fast paced, on the edge of your seat story .... just like the previous ten books were.

In Fighting Edge main character Deputy Mattie Walker starts her day on a routine welfare check for a young mother and her infant daughter which ends up a homicide investigation.  Then before she can wrap her head around that a routine traffic stop leads to a drug bust and a questionable relationship between the occupants.  

Between these two instances Mattie, her K-9 dog Robo and the rest of her team will be lead down a rocky and emotional road.

Then there is Mattie's veterinarian husband Cole who takes on a new client to check a dog for breeding purposes and that turns into so much more and may tie into Mattie's cases.

The Timber Creek K-9 Mystery series is a great series, it has so much for readers to fall in love with.  As soon as you open one of the books, you will struggle to stop reading.  This is a series that you will continually be saying "one more chapter" until there are no chapters left.

And with Fighting Edge there are so many rocky situations as well as exciting moments that you will be along for the ride and unable to stop.

Flimflam Fairy (Magical Cozy Mystery Bookstore Book # 1) by Elizabeth Pantley

 A fun cozy mystery adventure with an enchanted bookstore and a clever talking cat!

Best friends Willa and Lucy buy an enchanted bookstore full of charmed books. One wisp of magic later, they're whisked inside a story, transformed into amateur sleuths, and joined by Banjo, a charming talking cat. There is no way out until the mystery is solved.

This adventure drops them in Whisperglow Village, a world of color, wonder, and fairies, where one of the most beloved residents in town has just been murdered, found clutching a cryptic note from a con man.

Villagers don't lock their doors here. They never imagined this could happen, and they certainly never could have imagined whodunit.

Can Willa, Lucy, and Banjo unmask the killer, solve the case, and make it back to their own cozy bookstore before the story closes its final page?

~ ~ ~


If you like the idea of an enchanted bookstore with charmed books, check out the companion series – The Magical Cozy Mystery Book Club. 11 book series available in eBook, paperback, audiobook, and Kindle Unlimited.  (Summary via Goodreads)

Elizabeth Pantley is the QUEEN of magical book clubs and mystical adventures and with this first book in her Magical Cozy Mystery Bookstore series, Flimflam Fairy, the titles say it all .... okay that's not true.  Obviously, some people will need more to go with so here we go ....

In this new series, Magical Cozy Mystery Bookstore, readers are introduced to Willa and Lucy who are two retired women who decide to throw darts at the map and take a vacation wherever the darts land.  Who would have known that both darts would land on the same place ....hmmm.  

Anyway, when they get to Thistlebloom in Arizona they fall in love with the town and somehow get talked into buying a bookstore.  They then find out that the bookstore and the house behind it where they move into are magical.  And that they get to travel inside a cozy book to see if they like it and will recommend it to book clubs.  Oh, and they are traveling with a talking cat, Banjo.

Their first adventure takes them to Whisperglow Village which is a place full of colorful fairies with colorful wings, everything around them is colorful and things are so different but in a good way.  That is until they happen upon a memorial in the park honoring a fairy, Meadow, who was recently strangled.

So, Willa, Lucy and Banjo figure they are there to solve Meadow's murder until they realize they are in a time jump and Meadow hasn't died yet .....

They begin their investigating and soon learn that there are a few fairies that were conned and maybe they are looking for the con artist.  Unfortunately, they are working against the clock to solve the case before it gets to the time when Meadow was strangled ....

If you are a fan of Harry Potter or Pantley's other's series,The Magical Cozy Mystery Book Club, I am sure you will love being swept into this one.  The Magical Cozy Mystery Book Club series has a whole group of members with a talking cat who can be annoying, jumping into the books but they get to pick their books and there are other differences that make both series unique.  I feel that readers will love the differences and look forward to jumping into the books.

A Pinch of Assault (Sunny Side Up Mysteries Book # 3) by Misty Simon

Welcome to the Sunny Side Up Diner, where the jukeboxes jive and the secrets thrive...With things at her Sunny Side Up Diner sailing along smoothly for once, Jax Tapman has turned her attention to her personal life. It’s time to meet the boyfriend’s mother in person. And while Jax isn't totally certain she’s up to the challenge, she agrees to show Eliot’s mom around a local retirement home. It sounds innocent enough, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to sell the woman on the idea of moving to be closer to her son. But instead of making her case, when Jax enters the model apartment, she and her potential in-law find one dead body and a whole lot of secrets!

Suddenly it’s up to Jax to discover who the retirement home killer is—a task that only gets harder when someone from Eliot's past shows up and might know far more about the crime than she’s letting on.

The Sunny Side Up Diner is jumping with gossip, Jax and her best friend Dani are running interference, and Eliot’s mom is calling all the shots. But sorting out chaos and minimizing damage is something Jax has grown accustomed to, if she can only get a clue.


"This new series is off to a great start. Misty does an excellent job showing readers all the details of the small town, the diner, and a cast of entertaining characters."
~ Kings River Life Magazine

"Readers cannot help but fall in love with this first book!!! Simon has you laughing out loud... I, for one, look forward to more books in the series!!!!"
~ Cozy Mystery Book Reviews  (Summary via Goodreads)

Readers cannot help falling in love with the Sunny Side Up Mystery series by Misty Simon.  So, when the third book in the series, A Pinch of Assault, came out I know I was excited to catch up with Jax, Dani, Eliot and crew.  

In The Sunny Side Up series readers get to know Jax and her best friend Dani as they run the diner they worked at when they are teenagers and were able to buy as adults.  This was their dream and they love it just as much as solving the murders that they come across.  And they are fortunate to have Jax's boyfriend Eliot helping them .... which is good seeing as he was a detective and now is a well-loved chef.

In the third book A Pinch of Assault Jax is excited to be meeting Eliot's mother in person.  Eliot's mother, Dot, is coming into town to tour a local retirement home to be closer to him.  Jax agrees to go with her and Eliot and when their tour guide gets called to an emergency, he decides to just give them the keys to go look at the model home alone.

Unfortunately, before they can get too far into looking around, they find a body in the kitchen and an old friend from Eliot's past in the back of the apartment.

Not only does Jax want to get to know Dot better but now she has a murder to help solve and an old friend of Eliot's, Maureen, to learn about.  Eliot and Maureen were childhood friends as well as partners on the police force until he moved away and became a chef.  With Dot working the desk in the police force and Maureen also on the force, it is only beneficial for them to join the crew as they work together to solve the murder and prove that The Jolly Oaks retirement community is safe for Dot.

Readers will love everything within this series.  I, personally, love the relationships and now that Dot is included, they are better !!  I believe that Dot and Jax are going to be very close in future books and if the way this one ended, I am pretty sure of it !!  I look forward to where Simon takes us next .....

Murder at Rosecliff (Gilded Newport Mysteries Book # 14) by Alyssa Maxwell

When a troublemaking party crasher is found dead in a fountain during an elegant soiree in Newport, Rhode Island, newspaper editor Emma Cross Andrews must clear her own society reporter from suspicion of murder…

August 1903. Emma and her husband Derrick are among the men in white tie and tails and the women wearing white gowns from the House of Worth at Tessie Oelrichs’s Bal Blanc, or White Ball, at Rosecliff, her grand cottage on Bellevue Avenue. There to cover the event of the season is young Ethan Merriman, society reporter for the Newport Messenger, the newspaper owned by Emma and Derrick.

It’s an utterly charming affair until a stranger intrudes flaunting a green-striped necktie and matching vest in defiance of their hostess’s theme. But his fashion crime is a mere misdemeanor compared to his intention to blackmail Mrs. Oelrichs by producing a compromising document supposedly signed by Tessie over a decade ago.

Insisting it’s a forgery but terrified of scandal, she agrees to his terms, but the blackmailer will not live to see payday. His body is found face down in a fountain before the party’s end. Beside him stands a very wet Ethan, who was seen being confronted by the man earlier in the evening. Coming to the aid of their luckless cub reporter, Emma and Derrick must sort through the white lies and blackened reputations to discover the identity of the true killer.  (Summary via Goodreads)

How can you not be a fan of the Gilded Newport Mystery series by Alyssa Maxwell ?  Especially now that the fourteenth book, Murder at Rosecliff, is being published.  This series takes readers back to a time when things are much simpler, or they should have been.  People were living their best lives in Newport, Rhode Island working and attending parties and enjoying life.  Unfortunately, because this is a mystery series, there is always a murder to put a damper on things.  Luckily the members of the Four Hundred as well as all others in the area can rest assure with Emma and her husband Derrick on the case.

In the fourteenth book, Murder at Rosecliff, Emma and Derrick are attending the White Ball at the House of Worth and having quite a fun time until a gentleman shows up not wearing the appropriate colors and proceeds to have a meeting with the host, Tessie Oelrich, and shows papers claiming that the two are married .... even though Tessie is married and has a son from that marriage and this stranger, Solomon Wheeler, was in prison for many years.  He has only been out for a few years.

Fortunately for Tessie Emma, Derrick and a group of Tessie's friends attend the meeting and are witness to Solomon's blackmail terms.  Even though Tessie agrees to the terms, that will not be the end of things.

Sometime later Solomon is found being dragged out of a fountain by Ethan.  Ethan is there working the event as the society reporter for Emma and Derrick's newspaper. Sadly, Solomon is pronounced dead and there are two eyewitnesses who claim that he was being held under the water by Ethan. Things don't look good for Ethan as he and Solomon had a confrontation earlier but everyone who knows him knows that he would not hurt anyone.

Unfortunately, when Ethan is being escorted out by the police he decides to run for it, isn't caught and is now in hiding.

Emma knows that there is more to the death and knows that Ethan didn't do what they are claiming he did, so she does what she always does and goes about her own investigating.  Good thing for her that she finally has Detective Jesse Whyte allowing her to do her thing as well as assist him when he needs it ... and we know he does at times.

We know that Emma is always determined to look into the murders and bring the guilty party to justice but with this one involving Ethan, someone who is an innocent person who was just doing his job, the job he works for Emma at, she feels strongly in this.  And with no one knowing where Ethan is hiding, she is just as concerned about his safety.

You can't help but enjoy this series with the setting being in the 1900's when things were so much simpler and the ways in which they solved the crimes so different.  I want to go back just for the parties, to get dressed up and dance the night away.  But I will leave the murders to Emma.

 

Can't Run with the Big Dogs (Veronica Kildare K-9 Mystery series Book # 4) by Tracy Carter

The escape of Veronica Kildare's vindictive, long-time nemesis from prison overshadows what should be a festive holiday season for her and her team. Law enforcement is convinced that Tommy Arnett perished in a fiery car accident, but Veronica can't shake the sinking feeling that she hasn't escaped that easily from his relentless pursuit of revenge against her.

Other unsettling factors are swirling through Colorado along with the encroaching harsh winter weather as Veronica and her Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Leda, search for several missing young women who've been abducted and pitilessly left to face the elements, and the daughters of her search and rescue partner, Sgt. Tim Donovan, are targeted by a mysterious man with an unknown agenda. All is not as it seems with regard to the kidnappings, however, as one case ties back to a local thoroughbred racetrack where a nefarious scheme has been enacted by a villain willing to eliminate anyone who stands in their way.

While Veronica also trains a C. diff sniffing canine for nursing homes and a dog able to identify illegal equine performance-enhancing drugs at Blue Columbine Downs, she and her father examine the undercurrents affecting the racetrack in an effort to pinpoint the source of the wrongdoing there.

As malign forces gather around them, will Veronica and Leda be able to outrun a terrible fate when their brutal past and their present day life collide?  (Summary via Amazon)

Having read all the books in the Veronica Kildare K-9 Mystery series by Tracy Carter, with Can't Run with the Big Dogs being the fourth, I can honestly say this one ... wow, did it hit hard !!

The Veronica Kildare K-9 Mystery series is definitely a power packed series with so much going on that readers cannot catch their breath, in a good way.  This series gets your heart pumping and you cannot help but turn the pages as quickly as you can.

In Can't Run with the Big Dogs Veronica and her trusty wonder dog Leda are busy.  They are constantly being called to help look for missing people and some of the cases are crucial as the weather in December in Colorado can be challenging.  But the dynamo team have very little difficulty getting the job done.

Unfortunately someone from Veronica's past, Tommy Arnett (ugh), is closing in on her.  Fortunately she has Leda, her dad, her assistant and like a brother Michael, her search and rescue partner Sgt. Tim Donovan and his family, her boyfriend Ricardo along with all the other police officers you can imagine.  And she will need all the help she can get when things get intense !!

There is so much that I could talk about in this series.  I could talk for a long time about Veronica's business Dogged Pursuit K-9 training facility, the search and rescue cases that she works, the drug searches that her and Michael work, Veronica's dad and everything that he does, Veronica's sad past, the relationships that she has with everyone, the dogs that her and Michael train, her relationship with Ricardo who is a professional baseball player (which I love baseball) but I think I have given you enough to know that you want to go grab your copy of this book and all the previous ones if you haven't read them yet,  I cannot stress it enough that you will thoroughly enjoy them .... and this coming from a cat lover.

Death at a Scottish Halloween (Scottish Isle Mystery Book # 5) by Lucy Connelly

When Dr. Emilia McRoy stumbles upon a dead body in a haunted house, she resolves to find the killer before another body can fall.

Halloween isn’t the only cause for fright in the fifth Scottish Isle mystery, perfect for fans of Paige Shelton and Connie Berry.

It’s the week of Halloween—or as they say in Scotland, All Hallows' Eve—and the town of Sea Isle is full of spooky celebrations. Dr. Emilia McRoy loves being part of her new community and is eager to help out in any way she can. But the festivities are interrupted when she and her assistant, Abigail, find a dead body in a haunted house. A real one. They’re too late to save the victim, but they’ll do whatever it takes to find his killer. 

There’s just one There are too many suspects. 

Constable Ewan would prefer the good doctor and her friends stay out of the investigations, but that isn’t how Dr. Em rolls. As she and her gang investigate, they realize the killer is searching for something—and has no problem murdering anyone who gets in the way of finding it. 

Dr. Em must stay one step ahead if she’s to survive this Halloween season alive—either that or she might just end up the next victim.  (Summary via Goodreads)

Death at a Scottish Halloween, the fifth book in the Scottish Isle Mystery series, by Lucy Connelly will get readers in the mood for Halloween for sure !!  

In Death at a Scottish Halloween the town of Sea Isle in Scotland is ready.  They have a lot of different activities spanning days that will interest and scare all that attend. Unfortunately,

while Dr. Em and her assistant Abigail are participating in the haunted house, they find another participant dead at the end of the night.

Luckily Dr. Em has a great team of friends that are willing to help out with anything, even trying to solve a murder.  And she is very close to the Constable which makes things easy and difficult at the same time.

While Dr. Em, Abigail and the Constable are trying to solve the murder, they are faced with another case that may or may not tie into this murder case.  

And this is not the time of year with all the Halloween festivities to be serious.  There are so many people in costumes that you don't know who is who and what their intentions may be.

Readers will love this story especially if you like Halloween.  It may even give you some ideas for a Halloween costume.  I don't know if you will have better luck than me because I was clueless as to who the guilty party was.  Every time that I thought I may know, Connelly throws something in there to make you second guess ..... which is fine with me.  That's why I read the books and leave the creativity to the authors.

Murder at First Slice (Baker Street Mystery Book # 5) by Valerie Burns

Social media queen-turned-small-town baker Maddy Montgomery, her feisty friends, and her faithful English mastiff know you have to break a few eggs to solve a murder. . .

As Maddy’s wedding day approaches, friends and family descend on the little town of New Bison, Michigan, to celebrate—so much so that Maddy wonders if there might be another happily-ever-after in store for her widowed father and innkeeper Mrs. Law. Unfortunately, she also has to deal with an unhappy couple: feuding cousins Hannah and Dorothy, who haven’t spoken in decades. Maddy can only hope the spectacular wedding cake crafted by her head baker doesn’t wind up as ammunition in a food fight.

But she doesn’t have to wait long for a wedding disaster to strike. When the imperious Dorothy crashes the rehearsal dinner—with several uninvited guests in tow—and starts battering everyone with constant complaints, the drama reaches reality-show levels. And the next day, Dorothy is dead . . . with Hannah standing over the body, bloody rolling pin in hand.

Nobody in town believes Miss Hannah could commit murder. But a detective newly relocated from New York doesn’t know the sweet, memory-challenged Hannah the way the locals do—and the evidence seems open-and-shut as an oven. Now, with her sous-sleuths the Baker Street Irregulars, the bride-to-be is busy digging into Dorothy’s past to catch a killer before she cuts the cake . . .  (Summary via Goodreads)

Murder at First Slice is the fifth book in the Baker Street Mystery series by Valerie Burns and the first one of the series that I have read.  However, even though I have not read any of the previous books, as soon as I started reading, it was easy to get into the story.  Burns writes it so that you get caught up instantly and fall in love immediately.

And I have to say Murder at First Slice is a pretty good book to start with if you haven't read any of the previous ones.  

In Murder at First Slice main character Maddy is a week away from getting married.  Her and Michael, the groom, have their wedding party set, the venue is booked, the wedding list is done, and close family and friends are arriving in town for some pre-wedding festivities.

Unfortunately, a few family members not welcomed show up. Dorothy, Miss Hannah's cousin shows up with her husband, her nurse and her husband's assistant.  Miss Hannah, Michael's grandmother, has not spoken to Dorothy in about forty years and refused to attend the wedding if Dorothy is there.

Well, that ends up not being a problem because Maddy finds Dorothy's body and Miss Hannah standing nearby with a bloody rolling pin.

Everyone knows that there is no way that Miss Hannah would harm someone, let alone kill them, so Maddy and her crew do what they do .... look into the murder and all involved.

So, the week before Maddy is going to walk down the aisle in a beautiful wedding dress and marry the man of her dreams, she has to solve a murder .... in between all the wedding festivities.  No worries she's got this !!

I highly recommend this series, and I plan to try to go back and read the previous books.  If this one was this FUN, I can only imagine the others !!!

Wildcat Academy (Berkshire Hilltown Mysteries Book # 4) by Leslie Wheeler

A family reunion turns deadly.

When Boston library curator Kathryn Stinson reconnects with her estranged mother during a visit to the Berkshires, she's pulled into a new family circle at a secluded private academy.

The weekend takes a dark turn when the teenage son Kathryn's new sister-in-law is found dead beneath a forbidden zipline, a place he had no reason to be. As doubts mount about whether his death was an accident or murder, the boy's mother turns to Kathryn for help.

A tense, atmospheric mystery, WILDCAT ACADEMY is the fourth book in the Berkshire Hilltown Mysteries series by Leslie Wheeler.  (Summary via Goodreads)

Wildcat Academy is the fourth book in the Berkshire Hilltown Mystery series by Leslie Wheeler.  In this series main character Kathryn Stinson spends her weeks working in Boston as a library curator while her weekends are spent in the house she rents in the Berkshire.  She also spends her weekend time with her boyfriend Earl who lives up the mountain a bit.

However, in Wildcat Academy Kathryn is spending time with her mother, her mother's husband Bob and his daughter Skylar.  The family is visiting from California to spend parent's weekend with Skylar's son, Tigran who is attending Wildcat Academy.  

Unfortunately, when they arrive to the school to shadow Tig and see how he spends his time, he is not there.  When they finally persuade the school officials to conduct a search, they find him dead at the zipline course.  This brings up a lot of questions especially seeing as Tig would never go up on the zipline as he is afraid of heights.

Since the school and the police do not seem to have any answers and the investigation isn't going anywhere, Skylar asks Kathryn to help her look into Tig's death.  This could be difficult with Skylar in California and Kathryn in Boston during the week, but Skylar is in a deep state of grief that Kathryn cannot say no.

Things get really dangerous when Skylar comes back and is adamant about finding out what happened to her son ... putting herself and Kathryn in a scary situation .....

Readers will love this series and this fourth book.  Wheeler knows how to draw you into the story so much so that you will want to spend your weekends in the Berkshires.  

Homicide on the Range (A Hometown Mystery Book # 6) by Rosalie Spielman

From author Rosalie Spielman comes a wild western homicide!

US Army retiree Tessa Treslow is ready for a much-needed and romantic getaway with her boyfriend, Nick, to volunteer on a dude ranch for recovering combat veterans in Montana. What she gets instead is a whole crew from her little town of New Oslo, Idaho, tagging along. Her BFF Freddie, aka Deputy Frederickson, her aunt Edna, and the Prunn sisters are happy for a little vacation as well, but little do they realize, it's not going to be the rustic, idyllic visit to the range that they think it will be.

The other volunteers at the ranch are a variety of characters, from a jealous wife, to a multi-limb amputee, to a blast from Tessa's past, and a combative and unpleasant ranch cook. When the cook ends up dead along with sides of beef in the walk-in freezer, Tessa realizes the one of them is also a murderer! With Freddie stranded in town, Tessa teams up with the New Osloans—the only ones she can be sure didn't commit the crime—to take a closer look at the other volunteers. They soon learn that each and every cowboy wannabe knew the cook for more than just her buttery cooking, and each of them had a motive to want her dead.

To make matters much worse, not one but two wildfires are closing in on the ranch and cutting them off from the outside. What results is a locked-room style mystery where the crew from New Oslo are unsure which will prove more dangerous—a murderer or the wildfires!

" Clever & Compelling Gem! An excellent read and high on my list for 2023 honors."
~Kings River Life Magazine

"You will also fall in love with New Oslo and its residents and businesses. You will want to pack a bag and jump in your car and head there as fast as you can!"
~ Cozy Mystery Book Reviews    (Summary via Goodreads)

Homicide on the Range is the sixth book in the Hometown Mystery Book series by Rosalie Spielman and I don't know if I have ever read a murder story where pretty much everyone admits to being the murderer.  Well, in Homicide on the Range it is clear from the get-go that no one liked the deceased person but come on !!!

In Homicide on the Range Tessa and her boyfriend Nick have decided to volunteer at a friend's dude ranch that specializes in veterans that are in some stage of recovery.  They go to the ranch and have therapy sessions, talk to others that can relate and help out on the ranch.  Well, if you know Tessa's friends and a few relatives, you know they always want in on the fun, so the whole gang goes to the dude ranch, some just to help out.

Little did any of them know that they were signing up for way more than they bargained for.  But they will do what they do best .... work together to get the job done.

Almost as soon as they arrive Tessa realizes one of the other guests is someone from her past, unfortunately Josie came out of the Army with a lot of battle scars, inside and out.  Tessa and the crew also learn that no one likes the cook, Aimee Orinoco, and they can see why. It seems like she knows how to push peoples' buttons.

Sadly, before they can really get settled and start enjoying their duties on the ranch, they find that the ranch may be in danger with wildfires happening nearby.  Tessa's best friend and Sheriff's Deputy back home, goes into town with Hannie one of the owners to get supplies but are unable to return due to the danger of the fire.

Then when Orinoco, who is the cook, doesn't show up to make breakfast and a search is performed, Ginny finds her dead in the walk-in freezer.  After discussing it with JJ, who owns the ranch with his wife Hannie, it is decided to keep Orinoco's death a secret and try to investigate without anyone figuring it out.

Tessa and crew have a lot to deal with due to the wildfires getting closer, Orinoco's death, and people are not quite themselves due to all the stress.  Then when everyone slowly realizes the danger they are in and that Orinoco was murdered, almost all of them admit to killing her.....

Readers will love the danger and excitement of Homicide on the Range.  You will be on the edge of your seat throughout the entire book.  How can there be so much drama in one story ?  Well, here it is !!  

I usually never try to figure out the guilty party in a story.  I tend to just read the book and stay in the mind of the main character and let them lead me through.  But man, was it crazy in Tessa's mind this time.  And when the actual murderer is revealed .... mind blown !!!

A Delicious Deception (Key West Food Critic Mystery Book # 16) by Lucy Burdette

Mother-to-be Hayley Snow bites off more than she can chew in the sixteenth installment of Lucy Burdette’s USA Today bestselling Key West Food Critic mysteries.

When Sheriff’s Deputy Darcy Rogers asks Hayley for a small favor, she can’t say no. Nine months pregnant and temporarily benched from her food critic duties, Hayley’s itching for a distraction and eager to help. All she has to do is tag along while a young woman picks up her daughter from her father at Monroe County’s safe custody exchange location. Easy, right?

Wrong.

In the chaos of the Sheriff’s Office open house, the mother disappears. Then the father bolts, leaving Hayley with a terrified girl and the realization that something has gone terribly wrong. Hayley and Deputy Rogers head north up the Keys to search for answers.

When a body turns up, Hayley realizes this isn’t just a missing-persons case—it’s a race against time. With the little girl’s safety at risk, Hayley must trust her instincts—and her heart—to uncover the truth.  (Summary via Goodreads)

A Delicious Deception is the sixteenth book in the Key West Food Critic Mystery series by Lucy Burdette and this series has a special place in my heart.  I'll be honest and tell you that I have not read all of the books in the series, I started reading them with the eighth book, Death on the Menu but I was instantly hooked.  While visiting my mom in Florida I was reading one of the books and my mom showed an interest, so I left it for her to read.  She has been gone for four and a half years so when I read one of these books, I feel like she is looking over my shoulder.

Anyway..... let's get to this newest book.  In A Delicious Deception there are a lot of changes occurring.  Main character Hayley and her husband, Nathan, are expecting their first baby so they have moved out of their houseboat and into a house with a guest cottage in the back.  Their neighbor and good friend, Miss Gloria and her best friend Annie, who both lived in houseboats are now living in the guest cottage. 

Hayley should be concentrating on getting ready for the baby but when Deputy Darcy from the Sheriff's Office comes calling for help, she cannot say no.  After all, this should be an easy assist.  She is going to be picking up a woman, Reba, and taking her to a safe location to do a custody exchange with the husband.  Reba and her husband, Mack, do not get along and instead of fight in front of their daughter, Tamara, they have agreed to allow a third party to be there for the exchange,

Unfortunately, before the exchange Reba goes to the bathroom and never returns.  Then after looking for her and not finding her, Hayley goes to meet Mack, and he seems very nervous and leaves abruptly ..... with Hayley standing there with Tamara.

Deputy Darcy gets in trouble with her bosses and taken off the case, so Hayley takes Tamara to a friend of hers for a brief playdate, but Tamara is taken by someone pretending to be with child services.

Meanwhile Nathan gets called away when his father is taken to the hospital and having emergency surgery.  

So, Hayley, who is extremely pregnant, is on the case mainly alone.  Yes, she has Miss Gloria and Annie helping her, but she needs Nathan's levelheadedness because we know she is stubborn and doesn't know when to quit. 

A Delicious Deception, with all its new changes, is a great read.  No matter what book in this series you pick up, you will be hooked immediately !!!