A Killer Market (Cindy York Mysteries Novella # 0.5) by Catherine Bruns

After spending years as a stay-at-home mom, Cindy York is excited to begin a new career in real estate and hopes to make a killing in the red-hot housing market.

But her first day on the job doesn’t go exactly as planned when she’s threatened with a gun and then makes a chilling discovery at a client’s home.

With new friend and fellow agent Jacques Forte by her side, Cindy decides to investigate the cold case on her own. But things aren’t what they appear, and the dynamic real estate duo quickly find themselves in too deep. If they aren't careful, they might find themselves six feet under as well!  (Summary via Goodreads)

The Cindy York Mystery series by Catherine Bruns consists of five books currently and in this series you follow main character Cindy York as she returns to the work place as a real estate agent and works along side her best friend Jacques Forte as they sell houses and solve murders.  This is a very addicting series to read and fall in love with.

A Killer Market is a novella which you can read in less than an hour if you choose to.  In A Killer Market you see how the series began with Cindy going to Hospitable Homes and being interviewed by the owner Donna Cushman.  While there Donna receives a call that someone would like to see a house that is listed with Hospitable Homes.  Unfortunately Donna is too busy so after Cindy signs the paperwork as a new hire, she is sent to the house for the showing.

Unfortunately the interested party does not show up but Cindy meets Jacques and they walk through the house and find a hidden room in the study and when they go in to look around they find a skeleton head.... the two become instant friends and decide to work together to find out what is behind the hidden room and who the shull head belongs to.

No matter if you have read all of the books in this series, a few, one, or just finding out about it, A Killer Market will provide you with the building blocks of the series and make you want to read more.  It is also nice seeing how it all began with Cindy and her real estate selling journey and how her and Jacques met.  As a fan of the series, you have to know that their initial meeting would be DRAMATIC .... 

RSVP To Murder (A Blackwell and Watson Time-Travel Mystery Book # 4) by Carol Pouliot

RSVP TO MURDER - A new twist on the English country house mystery.

Embarking on their most daring time-travel experiment to date, Depression-era cop Steven Blackwell and his 21st-century partner-in-crime Olivia Watson travel to the Adirondack Mountains for a Christmas party at one of the legendary Great Camps. Their host, a wealthy New York publisher, has planned a weekend filled with holiday activities, but, as the last guest arrives, temperatures plummet, and a blizzard hits. Before long, the area is buried in snow, the roads are impassable, and the publisher is poisoned.

Unwilling to wait until the local police arrive, the victim’s widow convinces Steven to launch an unofficial investigation. Soon, a family member goes missing, and Steven and Olivia discover a second victim. Trapped with a killer, Steven and Olivia race against the clock before the murderer strikes again.  (Summary via Goodreads)

When you are a fan of a book series, you cannot wait for the latest book to be released....and when it does, you ignore life and everything around you so that you can dig into the new book.  And I cannot express how much waiting for the latest Blackwell and Watson Time-Travel Mystery book by Carol Pouliot was a nightmare !!  And then when I did have it in my possession, I had to still wait a bit because I had another book to finish.  But when I did finally open RSVP to Murder I was bouncing from 2014 to 1934 like a pro..... 

In RSVP to Murder Olivia, who lives in 2014 and Steven, who lives in 1934 are going to test their time traveling abilities drastically.  When they found out about each other and the house they both live in, but in different times, they found they could travel to the others time by holding hands and crossing the doorway of what is Olivia's bedroom.  Then they began to venture out into each other's lives and began spending the night with each other....hence the relationship grew.  Now in RSVP to Murder Steven has been invited to a Christmas party at a family friends camp.  They will be traveling farther than they have even dared and attempting to spend numerous nights in Steven's time.

Luckily for them it works and they have no trouble keeping Olivia in 1934 with Steven to enjoy the Christmas party with the Racine family.  Unfortunately on the first night there while signing Christmas carols around the piano, the head of the family, Gil, drops dead.  They soon learn that he was poisoned and his death is labeled a murder.  Sadly the weather has turned and they are stuck at the Great Camp in the Adirondacks with the Racine family, their few servants and a murderer.

Steven being out of his jurisdiction, called the death into the local police department but they are unable to get there until the roads are cleared and the weather turns.  So Margery, Gil's wife and now head of the family, asks Steven to investigate until the local police can arrive.  Steven with Olivia's help begins to interview everyone and look into Gil's death...... Steven also gets his partner, Will, back home to assist with things on his end.  However, without anyone's knowledge Will is looking into Olivia and what she had told them, thnking she is hiding something.....

So much is going on and you cannot help but LOVE it.  And to have the story centered in one place with all the characters trapped due to the weather adds to the drama.  And as you get to know the Racine family, you will be torn as to who you think the murderer is because you will begin to like everyone.  Lucky for you Steven and Olivia have to bring the murderer to justice and you just get to sit back and read about it.

I am a HUGE fan of the Blackwell and Watson Time-Travel Mystery series and the way that Pouliot thinks !!  I cannot imagine how she comes up with these stories and how she draws you in deeper and deeper and when you get to the end of RSVP to Murder there is no way that you won't be counting down the days until the fifth book in this series is released.....and I have the pleasure of being able to contact her and even see her in person a few times to make sure she stays on track.......

Overdue or Die (The Haunted Library Mysteries Book # 7) by Allison Brook

Carrie Singleton has a wedding to plan, a killer to catch, and a conspiracy to uncover in this charming seventh novel of Agatha Award-nominee Allison Brook’s Haunted Library mysteries.

Carrie Singleton has more than her fair share on her plate: her job at the Clover Ridge Library, preparing for her wedding to Dylan Avery, and hoping that the local art gallery doesn’t steal away one of her part-time employees. Her fiancé Dylan accompanies her to the beautiful home of Victor Zalinka—art collector and successful businessman—to select paintings for an art show at the library. While Carrie muses that Victor's home would be the perfect wedding venue, Dylan spots a forgery among the paintings in Victor's collection.

Then Martha Mallory is found murdered in her art gallery. With the assistance of Evelyn, the library ghost; the resident cat, Smoky Joe; and the office manager of Dylan’s private investigation company, Carrie comes up with a suspect list long enough to rival the size of an encyclopedia. During her investigation, Carrie stumbles across a terrible truth: Martha’s murder was part of something far bigger and more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. And it all leads back to the art gallery.

How far will Carrie go to find the killer and uncover the truth? If the killer finds her first—will Carrie finally be taken out of circulation?  (Summary via Goodreads)

WOW !!  Overdue or Die by Allison Brook has so much going on that you will not want to stop reading it !!  Overdue or Die is the seventh book in the Haunted Library Mystery series and there is so much to love about this series !!  First you have main character Carrie Singleton who lives in an adorable cottage on the property where her fiance, Dylan, owns the main house.  Carrie has an adorable cat, Smoky Joe, that she is able to take with her to work.  Carrie has an adorable aunt and uncle that she and Dylan are very close to.  Carrie has an amazing job working at the Clover Ridge Library where she oversees and plans all the activities there and now that the newly renovated addition has been completed, they are gearing up for many more activities.  Carrie has two part-time assistants to help her and her best friend also works at the library....and she is visited by Evelyn, the library ghost.  Evelyn is stuck there but seems to be okay with that and she is there for Carrie to help her work through things going on in her life as well as the murder investigations she gets in the middle of.

In Overdue or Die Carrie's great-uncle Bosco is recovering from a heart attack and Carrie is very scared that she is going to lose him or her great-aunt Harriet....but Dylan is there to help her center herself so that she can focus on the things she has control over.....like planning her and Dylan's wedding !

Unfortunately Martha Mallory is murdered in her art gallery one night which shifts Carrie's attention.  Martha was close friends with Evelyn and when Evelyn asks for your help, you feel you cannot say no.  So Carrie begins to look into Martha's murder not knowing that she will be going down a dangerous road.  Martha was in the witness protection program until recently.  She helped put away a dangerous man.  So it is no wonder that he and his family are the first ones on the top of the suspect list.

Unfortunately as Carrie looks into Martha's death, someone else dies and she wonders if the two are connected.  And when a new friend, Victor, is taken in for questioning Carrie and Dylan are asked to prove his innocence.

There is a lot  more going on in Overdue or Die but I cannot tell you everything !!  I hope that I have given you enough enticing tidbits that you will go and grab your copy and dig in !!  I cannot say enough good things about this series, the town, the people, and everything else.....go grab your copy ASAP !!!!

Bake, Batter, and Roll (Cookies & Chance Mystery Book # 13) by Catherine Bruns

From USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bruns comes the next deliciously delightful Cookies & Chance mystery!

Full time baker and part time sleuth Sally Muccio has witnessed many bizarre events during her lifetime. But one thing that she never expected to see was her sensible grandmother on a dating show.

Senior Moments, the popular reality TV dating show featuring the aged sixty-five and older, has come to Colwestern, New York, giving the mature community a chance to find their soulmate. In an attempt to keep peace with the cranky and cantankerous Nicoletta Gavelli, Sal's Grandma Rosa agrees to become a contestant along with Mrs. Gavelli on the TV show. But things take an even weirder turn when the show’s host, Smiley Jones, is found dead in Sal’s bakery, beaten to death with her rolling pin.

The last thing Sal wants, or needs is to get involved in another murder, but she soon discovers that Smiley Jones's life wasn’t all champagne and cookies. From an estranged wife with dollar signs blinding her vision to a dressing room full of debts, Smiley had many issues to keep him from grinning. Between the calamitous contestants, the stacks of suspects, and the danger mounting, Sal is worried this is one Hollywood production without a happy ending. Can Sal find his killer before she winds up battered as well?

Recipes Included!

What critics are saying:

"A fantastic cozy mystery!"
~ InD'Tale Magazine

"I want to visit more with all of the quirky characters just to see what crazy and outrageous things they will do next!"
~ Fresh Fiction

"The Cookies and Chance Mystery series is more than just a series....it's a family !! Once you read the first book, you are hooked and feel like a member of the crazy Muccio family."
~ Cozy Mystery Book Reviews   (Summary via Goodreads)

As Grandma Rosa might say "Goosepimples" to which Sal would say "Goosebumps Grandma?"  And Grandma Rosa would reply "I like that too."...... that is the first word I can think of after reading Bake, Batter, and Roll, the thirteenth book in the Cookies & Chance Mystery series written by the fabulous Catherine Bruns.

The Cookies & Chance Mystery series has got to be my favorite series to read.  There is so much to fall in love with instantly....the main character Sally, her crazy and loving family, her best friend and business partner, Josie, the business, Sally's Samples, that they run together, the town and last but not least the murders that Sally gets in the middle of !!

And in Bake, Batter, and Roll the story hits very close to business....Sally's Samples.  Grandma Rosa's best friend and neighbor is going to be a contestant on the elderly dating show called Senior Moments and when Mrs. Gavelli scares off the other two contestants Grandma Rosa steps in to help as well as Sally's part-time employee, Dodie.  The person picked gets to go on a trip with the bachelor and the trip is to Italy....and Grandma Rosa would love to return to her borth place.

Unfortunately Mrs. Gavelli is picked by the bachelor who faints when he sees who his date to Italy is and later than evening Sally finds the host of the show, Smiley Jones, dead in the kitchen at Sally's Samples.

Even though Sally and Josie "try" to stay out of investigating murders, they have a number of reasons for looking into Smiley's death.  Sally will do anything for Grandma Rosa and until Smiley's murder is solved, her Italy trip is off and the episode they were on is on hold as well.  Also the murder occurred in Sally's bakery and business has become nonexistent and Sally has a new house to pay for and Josie's four sons will be going off to college before you know it.  And everyone would love for Mrs. Gavelli to be gone for ten days !!!

So Sally and Josie begin to look into Smiley's life and who would want him dead....and they even have the blessing of newly appointed Detective Brian Jenkins which you know he will soon regret.  

Readers cannot help but LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this series !!!  Bruns knows how to write a story that readers cannot get enough of and the way that she ends Bake, Batter, and Roll will leave you with goosebumps or goosepimples, whichever you prefer, and you will be totally looking forward to the fourteenth book to see where things will be heading for certain people in Sally's life.......and I can only imagine that it will be EXPLOSIVE !!!!!  (in a good way !!!)

Hexes and Hooligans (Magical Mystery Book Club Book #5.5) by Elizabeth Pantley

Would you join a book club that gets sucked into their cozy mysteries? These people did, and now they are hooked on traveling into books to become the amateur sleuths!
The book selection of the month takes the club into a charming and idyllic world of gnome-like people who love the earth, celebrating, and honey. What they don’t like is the mysterious ailment that is turning students at the local college into hideous versions of themselves.

The timing is terrible, as it coincides with the upcoming Honeybee Moon Festival, the community’s biggest celebration of the year.

The event is only a week away. Can the motley group determine what’s causing the students’ transformations, stop it from spreading, and get them back to normal? They better, since it’s the only way they can exit the book and get back home to Colorado.

"You can’t get enough of this series! It will blow you away!"
… Cozy Mystery Book Reviews

“One of my go-to series. The quality and enjoyment are guaranteed.”
… All and Any Books

“I adore this series, and it just keeps getting better with each book!”
… Fiction Vixen    (Summary via Goodreads)

Hexes and Hooligans by Elizabeth Pantley is a novella in the Magical Mystery Book Club series.  It can be a stand alone story that is short enough for you to read in one day, like I did, or you can take your time reading it.  It is considered a novella because it is shorter than a regular novel and is about half the size.....however it is probably more story because of the size the author gets to the point quicker and the pace may be faster as well.  Regardless of the size and number of pages Hexes and Hooligans will grab your attention immediately !!

In the Magical Mystery Book Club series there are a group of eight people ranging from a mother and young son to Zell who was one of the originals with Gee-Gee, Paige's great-grandmother. Paige and her Aunt Glo inherited the book club and along with the other members go down to the basement where there is a magical library.  They decide on a book and start reading it out loud and then they are magically placed inside the book and have to solve the case before they can return to Colorado.  Luckily the Snapdragon Inn, their home and base, travels with them and adapts to the time frame that the story takes place.  Oh and I forgot to mention that among the members of the group are Frank, a talking cat and Mollie who is a ghost that returned with them when they solved a case in the Wild West.

In Hexes and Hooligans there is one significant difference in that there are no murders for the book club to solve.  However the book that the group chooses has a unique storyline.....  They pick Beauty is in the Eye of the Hexer and start reading the story out loud.  They then find themselves in a beautiful little town that is adorable !!  They come across three young and beautiful girls who are very upset thinking that they are ugly.  The book club members soon learn that they are in a town of gnomes and the three girls have had a curse or something placed on them to make them look "different and ugly".  

The group then learns that they are in the book as visiting professors to the college where the girls are students and they are to work with the detective to find out what is happening.  As they are trying to get to know the area and the people, more students are placed under the spell and the only thing they have in common besides being students are that they are all in the pageant in the upcoming Honeybee Moon Festival. 

Readers will love not only this story but all the previous books in this series.  Pantley knows how to hook you in immediately and you are whisked away with the book club.  This is such a unique series that you will want more and more and luckily Pantley has no problem providing readers with books regularly.  So if you haven't read any of the books in this series, I cannot stress it enough....you have got to get reading this series !!!  I guarantee you will LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it !!!!

Pups, Pumpkins, and Murder (Samantha Davies Mysteries Book # 4) by S.A. Kazlo

Autumn has arrived in the small town of Wings Falls in upstate New York, and children's book author Samantha Davies couldn't be happier. She's excited to attend the town's annual Taste of Wings Falls craft and food festival with her boyfriend Detective Hank Johnson. The fair features several booths, like the one Sam's rug hooking group, the Loopy Ladies, have set up as a fundraiser to send underprivileged children to summer camps, as well as home-grown vegetables, like the 2,000-pound pumpkin grown by Farmer Scooter that he's proudly displayed on the back of his truck. But maybe the biggest draws for the fair is the barbeque cook-off. Samantha is friends with the owners of the three restaurants participating, but she is betting on Franny Goodway, the owner of Sweetie Pie's Café, taking home this year's coveted first place prize.

But things take a stomach-churning turn when several fair goers become ill after chowing down on Franny's pulled pork delight. Franny insists it's not her fault... but when Sam sees Franny vehemently arguing with the new loan officer at the town's bank, she knows something is wrong.

Little did Sam know how wrong.

That evening as Sam takes her dachshund, Porkchop, for a stroll, she finds the body of the loan officer...crushed under a 2,000 pound pumpkin and deader than the fall leaves covering the ground! Franny instantly becomes the number one suspect, and it's up to Sam to prove her friend innocent of the man's murder. Can she find a killer, and navigate her relationship with her detective boyfriend, and save Sweetie Pie's Café?


"A doggone entertaining mystery filled with small town scandals! Funny and entertaining!"
~ Fresh Fiction   (Summary via Goodreads)

The best advice that I can give readers when picking up Pups, Pumpkins, and Murder by S.A. Kazlo is to just sit back and enjoy the story and murder because trying to solve the latest murder in this series will be impossible !!!  Unless,of course, you are Nancy Drew...then I say go for it !!

Pups, Pumpkins, and Murder is the fourth book in the Samantha Davis Mystery series and the series is full of great characters, a charming little town with quaint stores and restaurants and yes murder !!

In Pups, Pumpkins, and Murder the town of Wings Falls is celebrating the town with their annual Taste of Wings Falls Fair.  Three local restaurants will be competing for the Best Barbeque Prize, local vendors will be selling their homemade goodies and everyone will be checking out Scooter Dickerson's 2,000 pound pumpkin.....unfortunately no one knew that Scooter's pumpkin was going to roll off of the truck and kill the new local bank loan officer, Edgar Jensen. Also people become ill after eating one of the competing restaurants pulled pork sandwiches.

To say local Detective Hank Johnson was going to have his hands full with this case is stating it lightly.  The suspect list for both instances is long and unfortunately Hank's younger brother, Aaron, is on both lists as a suspect.  Hank's girlfriend, Sam, does not believe that Aaron would do anything to jeopardize his girlfriend's aunt's restaurant and put something in the pulled pork and also Sam doesn't believe he is capable of murder.

Sam along with her cousin Candie put on their investigator hats and start looking into both cases.  As they look into Edgar's death they find out that he was giving members of the community a hard time when they applied for loans as well as charging a "special fee" along with the interest if they were to receive the loan.  After talking to some people they find out that all of the contestants in the barbeque contest had applied for loans and were unhappy with Edgar's behavior, Edgar and his wife were seen arguing the day of the fair and Sam's childhood enemy, Police Officer Joe Peters and his wife had bad dealings with his also.  But were any of them capable of pushing a 2,000 pound pumpkin on the man ??

Readers will have their hands full reading this tasty tale and will love everything about it.  The Samantha Davies Mystery series will become of favorite for sure, if it hasn't already.

 

Dead Spread: A House of Cards Mystery by Bethany Browning

From the author of Sasquatch, Baby!, this cozy mystery is a twisty page-turner filled with tarot tips, raven shenanigans, strangers to lovers and MURDER.

When tarot card reader Carrie Dettwiler stumbles across the mayor’s dead body on a random Tuesday, town gossip reaches a fever pitch—and everyone’s convinced she and her rescue raven Waggery have performed a deadly dark ritual. Carrie deals with the cards she’s dealt, turning over every clue, only to be blown off course by her gale-force feelings for tattoo artist Stormy Portwood, who breezes into town at the same time people start dying. Determined to divine the criminal who’s terrorizing the citizens of Prosperity, Carrie must rely on her dangerous knowledge of the town’s secret history to reveal the killer.  (Summary via Goodreads)

Dead Spread by Bethany Browning is the first book in her House of Cards Mystery series and it is like no other book I have ever read...and I have read a lot of books !!

In Dead Spread readers are introduced to a very nice, quaint town called Prosperity where Carrie Dettwiler is taking after her Aunt Inez and running the tarot card reading business out of the cottage her aunt left her.  Sadly the tarot card reading business isn't making enough money to keep the debt collectors off her back but she is doing the best that she can.

Unfortunately after doing a reader for one of her regular clients, things turn dark with the mayor, Carrie's friend, turning up dead in his office and it looks like he is holding one of the cards from Carrie's deck.....and Carrie is the one to find him.  Everyone in town believes that Carrie is the one that killed him so she decides to look into his death to clear her name.  However, she ends up going down a dark tunnel, like the ones under the town of Prosperity that have been there since Prohibition.

While Carrie is looking into Mayor Preston Brix's death, she meets Stormy Portwood who is full of secrets which Carrie wants to know all of them and would like nothing more that to put the mayor's murder behind them so that they can get to know each other better.  But when Carrie's uncle is attacked, the team up to solve the murder and the attack.  

Readers will fall in love with Dead Spread and really enjoy the uniqueness of the story.  Readers will love the town of Prosperity and it's history as well as all of the characters ... and Carrie's pet is a talking Raven ... how more different can one get ?  I highly recommend grabbing your copy and heading to your comfy reading spot with a beverage and a snack.  And the way that Browning ends the story ensures that you will be keeping an eye out for the second book in this series.