Dial M for Maine Coon (A Furever Pets Mystery #2) by Alex Erickson

Animal rescue is always risky business, but Liz Denton, owner of the Furever Pets, finds out it’s also dangerous when someone puts down one of her prospective pet adopters . . .

Liz is thrilled to find a forever home for her latest rescue, Sheamus, a Maine Coon cat. But on adoption day, she discovers Sheamus’s would-be owner, Joe Hitchcock, murdered in his study. Joe’s shocking death reveals an even more startling secret: his real name was Joe Danvers . . . a man accused of killing his wife thirty years ago.

Liz knows she should focus on finding Sheamus a new home, but this mystery already has its claws in her. So Liz begins vetting the clues from both investigations. But with a stalker sniffing at her heels and a rival swatting at her business, Liz’s curiosity may come at a hefty price . . . especially since Joe’s case has more lives than a cat.   (Summary via Goodreads)


Dial 'M' for Maine Coon is the second book in the Furever Pets Mystery series by Alex Erickson and I LOVED it !!

Main character Liz Denton owns Furever Pets which is an adoption agency for hard to place animals.  Animals that may be older or have a health issue are Liz's main focus.  She is married to a veterinarian, which helps with Furever Pets because he examines the animals before they get adopted, and they have two children.  Ben is in his early twenties and he helps his dad out at the veternary clinic and Amelia is a little younger and is studying to be a private investigator and they both still live at home.  Liz also has a cat, Wheels, who wears a harrness and wheels as back legs but that doesn't stop her at all !!

In Dial 'M" for Maine Coon Liz is taking Sheamus, a big fluffy Maine Coon with a sneezing issue to his forever home with a gentleman named Joe Hitchcock.  Unfortunately when Liz gets to Joe's house to drop of Sheamus, she finds Joe dead.  

Liz soon learns that Joe Hitchcock is not his real name.  His real name was Joe Danvers and he has been hiding for over 30 years.  His wife, Christine, went missing years ago and he was the main suspect even though her body was never found.  Joe ran, changing his name but for some reason he came back to Grey Falls, Ohio.   Was Joe murdered for Christine's disappearance some 30 years ago or was it just a random burglary gone bad ?

When Liz finds out that the private investigator that Amelia is mentoring under was involved in the case years ago and they are looking into things presently, she cannot stop herself from getting involved.  

No road is ever a straight line for long and the road that Erickson takes the reader down is far from straight.  There are more twists and turns that the craziest rollercoaster.  There is no way for readers to solve this case, the police and private investigators are having a hard enough time.  Thankfully it is not the readers job to solve murders, it is just our job to open up the book and read the story and let the road take us where ever it leads us.......


Review by Missi M.

Illusion of Death (Belinda Lawrence Murder Mystery #7) by Brian Kavanagh

Power. Envy. Greed. Lies. All surround amateur sleuths Belinda Lawrence and Hazel Whitby in this maze of personalities.

An invitation to a private screening at a film group involves them in more than the cinematic arts.

Murder and the search for a long-lost film, involve them in more hair-raising adventures as they begin to investigate each member of the group, all of whom could be potential murderers.

Belinda's skills are tested as she faces the greatest danger in her sleuthing life.   (Summary via Goodreads)



If you look at the back cover of Ilusion of Death by Brian Kavanagh, you will see a blurb from me....

"Brian Kavanagh knows how to capture the reader's attention and holding it from the first page until the last word !!  And the twists, turns and secrets that unfold will have the reader turning pages as fast as they can.  There are so many things going on that keep the reader focused and you cannot help but fall in love with everything surrounding Belinda, her friends and the things that she stumbles across." - Review by Missi S.  Cozy Mystery Book Reviews.

Illusion of Death is the seventh book in the Belinda Lawrence Murder Mystery series and I have had the pleasure of reading all of the books.  Therefore I am an invested and dedicated fan of Kavanagh and feel like Belinda and Hazel are like family.

If you've read any of these books you know that trouble seems to follow Belinda and Hazel around.  They seem to either attract or stumble across a dead body.....or two.  However in Illusion of Death Belinda and Hazel are house sitting for Belinda's parents in Mellbourne, her hometown, while her parents are on a cruise.  How can anything go wrong there ???

While Belinda is visiting the Austrialian Centre for the Moving Image, she runs into an old classmate, Bridie who invites her and Hazel to a screen of an old film .  She is a member of a small group of people, they call themselves the "Society", who get together at an older man's property where he has a building set up to show old reels of movies.  Little do the two know the craziness they are about to walk into.

While in the middle of the showing, one of the members storms in with blood on his hands saying that Max, the owner of the property, is in the main house dead !!  After a quick look around, Belinda and Hazel know that Max was not only dead but had been murdered.  This puts the ladies on high alert and even though they just met most of the people in the group, they start to wonder if they are guilty or innocent.

While Belinda and Hazel get to know the members of the "Society", they get themselves in hot water !!  Can they get themselves out before they become victims as well ???

Kavanagh will get a firm grip on your attention in this book and you will be unable to break free until you get to the end of the book.  There will come a part of the book where you will NOT want to stop reading.  You will NEED to get to the bottom of things and find out who killed Max.  Unravelling the secrets and long buried clues may seem like too much for you, but have no fear....when you are with Belinda and Hazel you are safe......plus I hope you are sitting on your comfy couch with a soothing beverage and your favorite snack.......


Review by Missi M.

 

Read or Alive (Bookmobile Mystery #3) by Nora Page

A match-made in cozy heaven for fans of Jenn McKinlay, Kate Carlisle, and book lovers everywhere, Nora Page's third Bookmobile mystery will (book)worm its way into your heart.

Two wrongful accusations has librarian Cleo Watkins and her loved ones booked for trouble.

It's springtime and septuagenarian librarian Cleo Watkins is celebrating new blooms and old books. To her delight, the Georgia Antiquarian Book Society has brought its annual fair to Catalpa Springs in honor of Cleo's gentleman friend, respected antiquarian bookseller and restorer, Henry Lafayette. But trouble rolls in with the fair when a flirtatious book scout makes the rounds, charming ladies of a certain age out of prized books.

Among the conned is Cleo's cousin, Dot, who relinquished a signed first edition of Gone With the Wind. With no proof the scout took it, Dot is at a loss. And when he's found dead the very next morning, without Dot's first edition or other valuable books reported missing in his belongings, Dot's freedom is on the line. Cleo is flummoxed in discovering too that the scout's body is found behind Henry's shop, and the murder weapon identified to be Henry's bookbinding hammer.

Although books are at the heart of the crimes, Cleo feels dizzyingly out of her depths. Someone is setting up the people she holds dearest and with the authorities on the wrong trail, Cleo has no choice but to catalog the evidence herself. Along with the help of her trusty bookmobile cat Rhett Butler, it will be up to Cleo to book the real killer for good.  (Summary via Goodreads)



Read or Alive is the third book in the Bookmobile Mystery series by Nora Page and if you have read the previous books, you cannot help but be a fan.  As soon as you open Read or Alive you will be swept back to Catalpa Springs.....

Cleo Watkins is the main character and she drives a bookmobile for her library......and solves murders.  However in Read or Alive the case may be too much for her to handle when her cousin AND her gentlemen friend are both being accused of a murder.

Henry, Cleo's gentlemen friend is a antiquarian bookseller and restorer and owns his own shop in town, The Gilded Page Antiquarian and Rare Books.  He and the town have been awarded the honor of hosting The Georgia Antiquarian Book Society Fair which is a week long yearly book event hosted in a different town every year.  

To say that Henry is nervous and excited and Cleo is hopeful to purchase some good books is an understatement.  But how could either of them have predicted that a death would occur in the alley between Henry's shop and the town psychic ...... not even Madam Romanov could have seen that coming !!!

Unfortunately on opening day of the week long event, while Cleo and her best friend Mary Rose are looking at books at the fair, they hear Cleo's cousin Dot yelling at a gentlemen at one of the booths demanding that she wants her books back !!  Cleo quickly learns that the person Dot is yelling at, Hunter Fox, may have visited members of her town "looking" to buy their valuable books but at what cost ??  Turns out the cost was his life and Dot was overheard telling the victim that he would be sorry !!!

Cleo frantically tries to figure out who could have killed Hunter Fox and why but no matter what she does, it seems Chief Culpepper has his eyes on Henry or Dot and refuses to look at any of the out of town guests working the fair and staying at the Myrtles Bed and Breakfast.....especially Kitty Peavey who is high on Cleo's list of suspects.

Readers will get swept away in this book and no one can blame them !!  Page has a way of opening up the reader's mind so that they will feel like they are hanging around in Catalpa Springs.  They will wish they were hanging out at the Pancake Mill or riding along with Cleo in her bookmobile.  They will become as determined as Cleo to solve the case so that Henry and Dot can go back to running their businesses and Cleo can go back to deliverying books to homebound members of the town.

Page's imagination is off the charts amazing.  How she comes up with these tales is just outstanding and captivating !!  I became a fan with the first book and will continue until there are no more Bookmobile Mystery books to reads but I hope that is a loooooooong ways in the future !!!  Maybe Madam Romanov can help with that.....

Review by Missi M.

20 Questions with Authors : Ruth Hartman

Ruth Hartman is the author of numerous romantic books and her latest cozy mystery, Hairballs and Homicide.  This is the first in her Kitty Beret Cafe Mystery series releasing the end of this month.

1.  What is your favorite color ?  Pink

2.  Sunset or sunrise ?  Sunset

3.  Coffee, tea or soda ?  Caffeine free Diet Mountain Dew

4.  What is your favorite movie ?  While You Were Sleeping

5.  What are your favorite toppings on pizza ?  Pepperoni, sausage, BBQ sauce

6.  Cake or pie ? What is your favorite ?  Chocolate cake

7.  Favorite author (besides yourself) ?  Mary Higgins Clark

8.  Horror movie or chick flick ??   Chick flick! I don't even like commercials about horror movies!

9.  Cat or dog person ? Do you have any ? If so, what and names please....   Cat! I have two: A Calico named Remmie and a black cat named Roxy - both females.

10.  Ideal vacation ?  Wyoming. My sister lives there and we love to visit!

11.  Camping or 5 star hotel ?  Probably something in the middle. Maybe a lodge or cabin in the woods.

12.  Favorite season and why ?  Fall. The temperature is cooler and the leaves are gorgeous.

13.  Name ONE thing you are afraid of ....  SPIDERS! Especially the ones as big as your fist!

14.  Name ONE thing yoy cannot live without.... My husband's company. He lights up my world.

15.  What was your favorite subject in school ?  English and literature. 

16.  What was your least favorite subject in school ?  Definitely math. Still hate it.

17.  What movie have you seem more than once ?  While You Were Sleeping

18.  What is your guilty pleasure ?  (Can't be an answer already given...)   A nighttime drink of hot chocolate with a small shot of Irish cream!

19.  Who is your celebrity crush ?   Sean Connery.

20.  Tell us something we don't know that you would like people to know about you ......  I'm an introvert, but because of my pastor father taking me on lots parishioner visits when I was little, I'm able to talk to just about anyone, stranger or not, when I have to.

To learn more about Ruth Hartman and her books, you can find out here  :   https://www.ruthjhartman.com/?fbclid=IwAR0BdARE7fx89Zu6OEI6b1x3mVe9aaszZA2WcM8pzRq4fZQFq01uuZjid_k

Murder at St Margaret (Oxford Key Mysteries, Book One) by Lynn Morrison

WELCOME TO OXFORD, WHERE KNOWLEDGE AND MAGIC LIVE ETERNALLY EVERY AFTER.

When Natalie Payne accepts the Head of Ceremonies role at the University of Oxford, her first assignment is planning the spectacular autumn gala at St Margaret College. However, her plans are dashed when she finds their famed chef dead in the kitchen.

If that discovery isn’t enough, the cat following her around is actually a four-hundred-year-old wyvern. He’s got news for her: Nat’s a prefect, with the magic of Oxford running in her veins.

Nat’s got to solve the murder, find a new chef for the gala and get to the bottom of why Oxford’s magic is acting up. With the help of her wyvern, a band of Eternals and the savviest assistant who ever existed, Nat is sure to be a success.

But can she do it before St Margaret loses its connection to the magic of Oxford?   Summary via Goodreads)

If you are a fan of Harry Potter, magic, magical creatures, and murder, then the Oxford Key Mystery series by Lynn Morrison is a must read for you !

Murder at St. Margaret is the first book in this series and Morrison sets the stage beautifully.....

Natalie Payne is starting her new job as Head of Ceremonies at the University of Oxford.  She is looking forward to this position working at the University.  Growing up she listened to her grandfather tell stories about when he was a gardener there and the tales he told were so magical.  Little did Nat know that there was truth to those stories.  As soon as Nat arrives and the secretary to Oxford College Principal takes her to her flat on the college grounds, she finds that she inherits a cat only to find out later than this cat is just one of many magical creatures living throughout the university. 

Unfortunately before Nat can learn more about the magic, while on tour with the principal, Dr. Radcliffe, they come across the body of the head chef, Chef Smythe, dead in the kitchen.   Needless to say their tour of the college is cut short and Nat is left on her own to navigate her new position.  And the Autumn Gala is a few weeks away and this is Nat's first event so it has to be smashing !!

While Nat continues to come to terms with the magic around her, she learns that she is 1 of 3 prefects in Oxford.  Mathilde works in the library and Kate works in the museum and the only way they are able to do what they do is because someone in their family had to have had the "powers" as well, like Nat's grandfather.  Sadly that doesn't help when Nat decides the only way she can have a succesful Autumn Gala is to solve Chef Smythe's murder.  None of the ghosts saw or heard anything during her murder.

Reader's will love getting lost in Murder at St. Margaret.  There is so much to keep readers attention.....from Nat's job, to hanging around talking to a cat, pictures on the walls and spirits walking the halls, to trying to solve the murder, to planning the Autumn Gala, to getting to know her neighbor.....so much !!!!!

I would love to tell you more about this magical read but I don't want to say anything else that may ruin the story for you. All I can say is that I highly recommend getting swept away in this story and if you like Harry Potter or magic, it is a MUST READ !!!  I am confident that you will agree !!!!!


Review by Missi M.
  

20 Questions with Authors : Lynn Morrison

Lynn Morrison is the author of How to Be Published and How to Market Your Book, Dutched Up, P.S. I Miss You and the Oxford Key Mystery series.

The Oxford Key Mystery series has 2 book in the series (so far) :

Murder at St. Margaret
Burglary at Barnard  (coming soon)


Let's get to know her personally.....

1.  What is your favorite color ?  Black, like my soul. Ha! Most of my wardrobe is some variation of black or grey.

2.  Sunset or sunrise ?  Sunset, specifically the sun setting on the beach in Eraclea, Italy (near Venice), where we spend our summer holidays.

3.  Coffee, tea or soda ?  Coffee and tea. I could 100% live without soda.

4.  What is your favorite movie ?  The Princess Bride

5.  What are your favorite toppings on pizza ?  Most any kind of veggies with goats cheese or feta

6.  Cake or pie ? What is your favorite ?  Cake, hands down. I love carrot cake, but unfortunately no one else in my family does.

7.  Favorite author (besides yourself) ?  How long have you got? I binge read like a mad woman and when I find an author I like, I read everything they’ve written. I have so many favorites. In the cozy category, I love Adele Abbott, Annabel Chase, and A. A. Albright, among others.

8.  Horror movie or chick flick ??  Chick flick (although I rarely watch TV or movies, so this is kind of a wash for me)

9.  Cat or dog person ? Do you have any ? If so, what and names please....  CATS. ALWAYS CATS. I’ve got two cats - Leo and Stella. They are brother and sister and are the cutest things ever.

10.  Ideal vacation ?   Last year we stayed at my in-laws’ beach house for two weeks, without my in-laws being there. That was a dream vacation - we sat on the beach all day, no one there to complain we were late to lunch or dinner, no one dictating what we watched on TV. I would do that again

11.  Camping or 5 star hotel ?  NEVER EVER CAMPING EVER NOT EVEN GLAMPING. blergh.

12.  Favorite season and why ?  Summer, because my birthday is in July and we are usually on holiday.

13.  Name ONE thing you are afraid of ....   I’m terrified something will happen to my kids. I imagine most (all?) moms are.

14.  Name ONE thing you cannot live without....  dark chocolate chip cookies.

15.  What was your favorite subject in school ?  History

16.  What was your least favorite subject in school ?  Science

17.  What movie have you seen more than once ?  Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the original with Gene Wilder). It was always on when I was a kid, I must have watched it dozens of times.

18.  What is your guilty pleasure ?  (Can't be an answer already given...)  Kindle Unlimited - I am always, always reading. I use the kindle app on my phone and I will download a new book as soon as I finish the previous one. Kindle Unlimited makes me feel somewhat less guilty.

19.  Who is your celebrity crush ?   I don’t have one, probably because I rarely watch TV or movies. 

20.  Tell us something we don't know that you would like people to know about you ......   I grew up in Oxford, Mississippi and now I live in Oxford, England. My husband loves to tell people that I’m from Oxford - and boy are they surprised when I open my mouth and an American accent comes out. Although after seven years in England, I’m sounding more and more like Madonna. You really can’t help it when you hear Brit-speak all day, everyday. My kids have perfect British schoolgirl accents.

To learn more about Lynn, go to :   https://lynnmorrisonwriter.com/

R.I.P. in Reykjavik (A Traveler Cozy Mystery #2) by A.R. Kennedy

Traveling with your family can be murder.
One wedding party + one estranged mother = another vacation that goes array for Naomi.

Naomi is off on another international vacation. She thinks traveling with her mother will be the most difficult part of her trip until she meets the rest of the tour group—a wedding party. It only gets worse when she finds the groom dead. Everyone’s a suspect on her Icelandic tour of this stunning country.  (Summary via Goodreads)


The Traveler Cozy Mystery series by A. R. Kennedy is a very unique series.  In this series the main character Naomi is on vacation and someone dies and she spends the rest of her vacation trying to solve the murder.  In the first book in the series, Sleuth on Safari, Naomi and her sister go on an African safari and another guest at the hotel dies and right before the trip ends Naomi figures out who the killer is.  Now in the second book in this series, R.I.P. in Reykjavik Naomi and her mother are going to Iceland......

One thing you would have learned when reading the first book in this series is that Naomi and her sister didn't have a great relationship because when their parents got divorced when they were kids, Naomi went with their father and her brother and sister stayed with their mother.  That also means that Naomi doesn't have a great relationship with her mother either.  But we know that Naomi will still do whatever she can to enjoy the trip....after all she spent a lot of money on it.

This Iceland trip is like the safari trip as there is an itinerary to follow and a tour guide to take them around to the sites.  And they are in with a group of other vacationers.  The group that is with Naomi and her mother are the members of a wedding party consisting of the new bride and groom, their maid of honor and best man and the parents of the bride.  You would think with a group like that everyone would be happy and festive !!!  Unfortunately when the group goes on their first adventure which is a snorkeling experience, not dangerous at all, the groom does not come out of the water alive.  And there are a lot of secrets within this group !!!

Naomi instantly begins to wonder how a young, healthy looking male can die from snorkeling.  He didn't look to be having any trouble, just laid in the water and never got up.  She immediately starts to look at everyone in the group, tour guide included, as being guilty.  She even calls her sister back in the States on a regular basis asking medical questions.  And when she drags her mother into her crazy investigation, it might just be what brings them closer together.

Readers know that they will be taken on an adventure when they open up one of these books in this series by A.R. Kennedy and they don't have to worry about packing, traveling, or having to put up with a family member.  Readers also know that they will enjoy reading how Naomi figures out the case and has her moment of clarity at the absolute right moment !!  

I highly recommend reading this series and cannot wait until the third book in this series.......Naomi is going to Austrialia..... I can't wait to see who her roommate will be this time !!!  Her father ? Her brother ?  It really does't matter who it is as long as they aren't the murderer !!!!


Review by Missi M.