Tag: Cozy Mystery

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Cozy Mystery

A Treacherous Tale: The Cambridge Bookshop Series

282 pages St. Martin’s Paperbacks August 23, 2022 publication date

ABOUT THE BOOK

Lately, Molly has been feeling that she might have fallen into a fairy tale: she’s reinvigorated the family bookshop Thomas Marlowe—Manuscripts and Folios, made friends in her new home of Cambridge, England, and is even developing a bit of a romance with the handsome Kieran—a bike shop owner with a somewhat intimidating family pedigree.

Having recently discovered The Strawberry Girls, a classic children’s tale, Molly is thrilled to learn the author, Iona York, lives nearby. But while visiting the famous author at her lovely cottage in nearby Hazelhurst, an old acquaintance of Iona’s tumbles off her roof to his death.

Then, when one of Iona’s daughters—an inspiration for the original Strawberry Girls—goes missing, Molly begins to worry this story might be more Brothers Grimm than happily-ever-after. Especially after Molly learns about the mysterious long-ago death of Iona’s husband and co-author of The Strawberry Girls…could past and present crimes be linked? Molly must put the clues together before someone turns this sweet tale sour.

MY THOUGHTS

This is the second book in the Cambridge Bookshop series.
Ever since discovering cozy mysteries a few years ago I’ve been on a roll with them and like them more than just regular mysteries.


Set in an English bookshop and you can’t go wrong there.
Molly and her mother come over to England to help her aunt run the bookstore.
Molly enjoys life abroad with a new boyfriend, Kieran owner of a local bike shop.


Excited about running the bookshop Molly invites a local author to speak. While visiting the author’s house to finalize plans a body is discovered and a girl goes missing.


Enjoyed the plan Molly put together to help solve the mystery. Whimsical and nostalgic with an engaging plot.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own

MEET THE AUTHOR

Elizabeth Penney is the author of the Apron Shop Series and the Cambridge Bookshop Series, both from St. Martin’s Press. She is also the author of women’s fiction and mysteries for Annie’s Fiction and Guideposts.

Now living in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, she pens novels and tries to grow things. Elements that often appear in her novels include vintage everything, past/present mysteries, historic houses, and the arts. Oh, and usually a very cool cat.

Visit her website at http://www.elizabethpenneyauthor.com to learn more.

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First Line Friday

Happy Friday & welcome to First Line Friday! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line. Today I’m delighted to feature Gingerbread Danger by Amanda Flower.

Another Christmas cozy mystery I’m looking forward to reading.

If you have never had to clean taffy off a pig, consider yourself lucky. I wasn’t one of the lucky ones.

ABOUT THE BOOK

For fans of Laura Childs’ Tea Shop Mysteries and Ellery Adams’  Culinary Cozy Mysteries, the Ohio-set Amish Candy Shop series combines a fascinating look at Amish life with the fun of candy making, plus the romance between chocolatier Bailey King and her county sheriff fiancé.

Amish Candy shop owner and star of TV’s Bailey’s Amish Sweets, Bailey King has a lot to be excited about.  She’s happily engaged to Aiden Brody, newly appointed county sheriff, and her candy factory is finally having its grand opening in Harvest, Ohio—just before Christmas! Bailey is ready to let the sweet celebrations
begin . . .

With the help of local community organizer Margot Rawlings, Harvest will have a Candy Land themed Christmas on the village square—featuring Bailey’s recently perfected recipe for gingerbread men. When the big day comes, everything is going well—until bitter news arrives. One of Bailey’s Amish friends has been killed in an apparent accident just outside the candy factory. Aiden is promptly on the case—with more than a little input from Bailey . . .

Together, they soon learn that the victim was working for some powerful men in the county, and in doing so was spying on his own Amish community. Still, Bailey is determined to find the perpetrator. If she can’t cut out the killer from the rest of the suspects, her gingerbread men won’t be the only ones in danger of disappearing . . .

292 pages Publisher Kensington Cozies Publication date October 22, 2024

Hosted at Reading is my Super Power.

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Cozy Mystery

Public Anchovy #1: A Deep Dish Mystery (Deep Dish Mysteries Book 3) 

316 pages St. Martin’s Paperbacks December 26, 2023 publication date

ABOUT THE BOOK

Public Anchovy #1 is the third book in Mindy Quigley’s delectable Deep Dish Mystery series, set in a Wisconsin pizzeria.

While Geneva Bay’s upper crust gets ready to party down at a Prohibition-themed fundraiser, pizza chef Delilah O’Leary is focused on seeing her struggling restaurant through the winter slow season. The temperature outside is plummeting, but Delilah’s love life might finally be heating up, as hunky police detective Calvin Capone seems poised to (finally) make a move.

But Delilah’s hopes of perfecting a new “free-from” pizza recipe for a charity bash are dashed when a dead body crashes the party. Soon, Capone, Delilah, and her entire staff are trapped in an isolated mansion and embroiled in a dangerous game of cat and mouse.

To catch an increasingly-desperate killer, Delilah will have to top all of her previous crime-solving accomplishments, and a few pizzas, too.

MY THOUGHTS

Though this is book three in the series it is my first read of the Deep-Dish mystery series. I will be going back and reading the others in the series very soon.


Geneva Bay’s pizza chef Delilah O’Leary is doing a fundraiser at a swanky mansion the upper crust is attending. All is going well until a distraction is caused by a need to change the pizza recipe to accommodate dietary restrictions.


Chef O’Leary’s cat stows away in a mixer box and so we’re treated to its presence the whole story through. With cat like accuracy, we don’t get much out of the cat as far as listening but when it’s time to eat and shenanigans are to be found you know that cat is involved.


With a heavy storm happening and the generator not kicking on the lights not working lead to the atmosphere of suspense with a body found at the mansion where all the staff are trapped because it’s unsafe to leave. A cat and mouse game as the suspense mounts and then another body is found. Kept me guessing right til the end as I wouldn’t have suspected the suspect or the reason for it either.


I’m excited to try the gluten free pizza crust recipe for my daughter who has this food restriction. There are many recipes included, and I am going to try a few others as well. The descriptions of the foods sound so yummy. Looking forward to reading more in this series soon.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

THE AUTHOR

Mindy Quigley is the author of two cozy mystery series. Her most recent, the Deep Dish Mysteries (St. Martin’s Press), has been featured in Parade, Woman’s World, and Kirkus Reviews.

Mindy’s non-writing career has been stranger than fiction, taking her from the US to the UK, where she worked as the personal assistant to the scientist who cloned Dolly the sheep, and as project manager for a neurology research clinic founded by the author J.K. Rowling.

She lives in Virginia, with her Civil War history professor husband and their children.

Enjoy your day and have a slice of pizza. 🙂

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First Line Friday

Happy Friday & welcome to First Line Friday hosted at Reading is my Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line. Today I’m delighted to feature A Corpse Among the Carolers by Debra Sennefelder a book published in November of this year. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to read it soon.

276 pages November 12, 2024 Beyond the Page Publishing

First Line

Food Blogger Hope Early always gets a hearty holiday laugh knowing that the weeks leading up to Christmas are as frantic as they are festive.

Would you want to continue on with reading this? I probably would just based on the adorable cover alone. You’ve got to love Beagles.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Hope Early is fully immersed in the spirit of the Christmas season, until the sounds of joyful carolers are silenced by the words “Ho-ho-homicide” . . .

Food blogger Hope Early always gets a hearty holiday laugh from knowing that the weeks leading up to Christmas are as frantic as they are festive. But in spite of everything she has to do, the one thing she always has time for is the annual Jingle Bell Stroll, a night when the community gathers to sing their hearts out and enjoy each other’s company. This year’s caroling feels especially heartwarming, until the final note lands with a thud when Hope finds the body of the man who’d volunteered to play Santa, a knife plunged into his back.

With virtually the whole town present at the caroling, the list of suspects seems endless. It doesn’t take long, though, for both Hope and the police to turn a sharp eye on the victim’s bitter and vindictive ex-wife, along with his new wife, who may have been after his money. Then Hope unearths a clue that suggests the dead man may have been hiding a sordid past and connections to unseemly characters. But as she closes in on the killer, they’re determined to wring her neck before she can ring in the new year . . .

Includes tasty and toasty holiday recipes!

About the Author:

Debra Sennefelder lives and writes in Connecticut, where she shares her home with her family and slightly spoiled Shih Tzu. An avid reader across a range of genres, mystery fiction is her obsession. Her interest in people and relationships is channeled into her novels against a backdrop of crime and mystery. She’s the author of the Food Blogger Mysteries, the Resale Boutique Mysteries, and the Cookie Shop Mysteries. When she’s not writing, she’s either baking or reading. To learn more, visit her on the web at debrasennefelder.com.

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Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant (A Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Book 4)

353 pages Kensington Cozies July 25, 2023 publication date

ABOUT THE BOOK

The latest installment in Darci Hannah’s delicious Beacon Bakeshop Mystery series set in small-town Beacon Harbor, Michigan, featuring a baker heroine who lives in the local lighthouse with her beloved Newfoundland dog, Wellington.

Lindsey prefers to keep her bakeshop’s Halloween decor light and autumnal, rather than gruesome and ghoulish. But everyone knows her lighthouse home is haunted. Some intrepid teens have even tried to break in to witness the resident ghost themselves. Dreading Halloween night, Lindsey reluctantly allows her influencer and podcaster best friend, Kennedy, to host a live ghost hunting investigation in the lighthouse, conducted by a professional team. Protective of her ghost, Lyndsey is understandably nervous about what they might uncover . . .

The segment is uneventful—until things take a terrifying turn. The team freaks out. As Kennedy joins the mad dash outside, she bumps into what looks like the prankster teens’ creepy clown costume hanging from a tree. But when Lindsey’s dog, Wellington, begins to whine, they make a grim discovery: the clown is no dummy. It’s a corpse.

Now Lindsey and company will need to keep their cool if they want a ghost of a chance to solve the murder—and see another Halloween . . . 

MY THOUGHTS

I’m really enjoying this series. It’s a cozy mystery culinary delights series.
This is the fourth book in the Beacon Bakeshop series.


Beacon Harbor, Michigan’s residents are looking forward to a Halloween weekend filled with fun events including a pumpkin contest and a podcaster catching ghostly happenings at the lighthouse, to hopefully prove it’s haunted.

Full of Halloween themed decorations more on the cute side rather than scary one can’t help wondering what the horrifying decoration is that seems so lifelike until it’s determined it truly is real.

Could those pesky teens who are trying to break into the lighthouse to record the ghost be the responsible party?
Will this prove to be too much excitement for Lindsey and her canine companion this Halloween evening?

I enjoyed the atmospheric lighthouse with its creepy vibes as it was being explored. The book kept me reading late as I had to see how things would end. This is a great series and I’ll be adding to my collection as I read more of it.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Cozy mystery author, Darci Hannah, is a native of the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. When Darci isn’t baking for family and friends, hiking with her furry pals, Ripley and Finn, or concocting her next cozy mystery, she can be found wandering around picturesque lakeside villages with her hubby, sampling baked goods, and breaking for coffee more often than she should.

Darci’s books include:

MURDER AT THE BEACON BAKESHOP 1st in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series (Kensington 2021), CHERRY SCONES & BROKEN BONES (Midnight Ink 2019), CHERRY PIES & DEADLY LIES (Midnight Ink 2018), THE ANGEL OF BLYTHE HALL (Ballantine Books 2011, 2nd edition by Piffle & Bombast 2016), THE EXILE OF SARA STEVENSON (Ballantine Books 2010)

You can learn more about Darci and her books at http://www.darcihannah.com

Connect with Darci on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDarciHannah

Have a wonderful day. Thank you for stopping in.

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First Line Friday

Happy Friday & welcome to First Line Friday !  It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line. Today I’m delighted feature Fatal Fudge Swirl by Meri Allen. Hosted at Reading is my Super Power.

287 pages St. Martin’s Paperbacks June 27, 2023 publication date

ABOUT THE BOOK

A movie production brings drama—and murder—to a close-knit New England village, forcing Riley Rhodes to scoop out the suspects.

Former CIA librarian and amateur sleuth Riley Rhodes is loving her fresh start as the manager of the Udderly Delicious Ice Cream Shop. The leaves are turning, tourists are leaf-peeping, and Penniman, Connecticut is putting finishing touches on the weekend long Halloween Happening. But the village is also buzzing. Former child star Cooper Collins is overseeing the production of a romantic comedy that’s filming on the town green and his domineering socialite mother, Diantha, is planning her lavish Halloween themed wedding at her Inn on the Green. Her fiancé has run the Inn’s kitchen for years, ably aided by his recent ex-wife, chef Mary Ann Dumas. An old friend of Riley’s, Mary Ann turns to her when the bride requests a spooky ice cream wedding cake.

But the weekend takes a frightful turn when Diantha is found dead and suspicion falls on Mary Ann. The cast of potential suspects is long—each wedding guest had a chilling motive to kill the vicious heiress. Can Riley unmask the murderer before another guest ends up on ice?

FIRST LINES

Saturday, the day before Halloween

“Nothing like reading other people’s mail.” Flo Fairweather’s sky-blue eyes sparkled as she smoothed a luscious hot-fudge sundae with light-as-air whipped cream. “I hope we find some juicy gossip.”

I hope to have a chance to read this before Halloween.

Let me know the first line of the book you’re reading in the comments.

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Can’t Wait Wednesday

CAN’T WAIT WEDNESDAY

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they’re books that have yet to be released. Find out more here.

I really enjoy holiday books, so much so that I read them year round when I get a chance. Unfortunately, I don’t get a chance to read them as much as I’d like to as I have other reading commitments. So, let’s get on with it. I am looking forward to:

A Corpse Among the Carolers by Debra Sennefelder publication date  Nov 12 2024

Book 7 of A Food Blogger Mystery

Description

Hope Early is fully immersed in the spirit of the Christmas season, until the sounds of joyful carolers are silenced by the words “Ho-ho-homicide” . . .

Food blogger Hope Early always gets a hearty holiday laugh from knowing that the weeks leading up to Christmas are as frantic as they are festive. But in spite of everything she has to do, the one thing she always has time for is the annual Jingle Bell Stroll, a night when the community gathers to sing their hearts out and enjoy each other’s company. This year’s caroling feels especially heartwarming, until the final note lands with a thud when Hope finds the body of the man who’d volunteered to play Santa, a knife plunged into his back.

With virtually the whole town present at the caroling, the list of suspects seems endless. It doesn’t take long, though, for both Hope and the police to turn a sharp eye on the victim’s bitter and vindictive ex-wife, along with his new wife, who may have been after his money. Then Hope unearths a clue that suggests the dead man may have been hiding a sordid past and connections to unseemly characters. But as she closes in on the killer, they’re determined to wring her neck before she can ring in the new year . . .

Includes tasty and toasty holiday recipes!

About the Author:

Debra Sennefelder lives and writes in Connecticut, where she shares her home with her family and slightly spoiled Shih Tzu. An avid reader across a range of genres, mystery fiction is her obsession. Her interest in people and relationships is channeled into her novels against a backdrop of crime and mystery. She’s the author of the Food Blogger Mysteries, the Resale Boutique Mysteries, and the Cookie Shop Mysteries. When she’s not writing, she’s either baking or reading. To learn more, visit her on the web at debrasennefelder.com.

Is this one on your radar and will it be getting a read this holiday season?

Have a wonderful day and thank you for stopping in.

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Pumpkin Spice Puppy (A Melanie Travis Canine Mystery)

192 pages Kensington Cozies August 20, 2024 publication date

ABOUT THE BOOK

Melanie Travis and her pedigree poodles are back on the case in an adorably giftable, fall time-themed hardcover by award-winning author Laurien Berenson!

It’s autumn in Connecticut and there’s a chill in the air, the fall leaves are a riot of color, and pumpkin spice is the flavor of the season. Melanie Travis is perennially busy, of course—but when the owner of a local pet supply shop is found murdered, sleuthing tops her To Do list . . .



Between taking care of her family and assorted Standard Poodles, Melanie is also working as a special needs tutor for Howard Academy, a private school in Greenwich, where her younger son attends kindergarten. This year, the headmaster has come up with an idea for a school fundraiser. All students will participate in a town-wide treasure hunt, with grades competing against each other.

Tokens shaped like pumpkin spice muffins have been hidden in downtown stores. Students will scramble to collect as many as they can in exchange for prizes. At first all goes smoothly, and the uptick in foot traffic to the stores is a win-win. . . . . Until the pet supply shop owner lodges a complaint. When Melanie stops by to smooth things over, she instead finds the man dead, a knife in his back, and his loyal, ever-vigilant Chow Chow locked in the storeroom.

Over the headmaster’s objections, Melanie is once again drawn into an investigation. It doesn’t take her long to gather a list of suspects, from neighbors balking about the number of rescue Chows the man was fostering in his home, to the landlord who’d filed an eviction notice against him, to the bitter ex-wife who is happy he’s gone. With the fundraiser soon drawing to a close and celebrations imminent, Melanie will have to follow every clue—before the biggest prize is staying alive . . .

Vector portrait of Labrador retriever dog wearing autumn leaves crown. Hello fall illustration. Oak, maple, chestnut, rowen. Hand drawn pet portait.

MY THOUGHTS

Connecticut is the perfect place for Fall. They seem to go all out for it, especially this small town, festively dressed up with falling leaves and grinning pumpkins.

One of the shops participating in the fundraiser, the pet shop has the owner filing a complaint and when Melanie goes to talk to him things couldn’t get any worse than finding him deceased and his Chow, Cider locked up.

One character you don’t want to get on the wrong side of is, Aunt Peg. This woman is involved in dog shows but she’s no fluff ball.

Howard Academy, a private school in Greenwich which is holding the fund raiser is against Melanie, a special needs teacher at the school investigating er should I say doing some snooping in this case to find the suspect. This isn’t her first rodeo and she and her standard poodles are on the case once again. A fast-paced fall themed dog filled cozy mystery that was an enjoyable read.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Laurien Berenson is the award-winning author of the long running Melanie Travis canine mystery series and the new Senior Sleuths series starring Peg Turnbull and Rose Donovan as a pair of seventyish sisters-in-law who are learning to put aside old grudges and myriad differences as they work together to solve mysteries. Fun Facts: Laurien has curtseyed to Princess Grace, eaten snake in Kowloon, and ridden a horse down a New York city street. A Connecticut native, she lives with her husband on a farm in Kentucky surrounded by dogs and horses.

Thank you for your reviews!

Connect with Laurien at her website: https://www.laurienberenson.com/

Or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaurienBerenson/

Have a great weekend. Thank you for stopping in.

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First Line Friday

FIRST LINE FRIDAY

Happy Friday & welcome to First Line Friday! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line. Today I’m delighted to feature the first line of In the Blink of a Pie. This is the third book in this delightful cozy mystery series.

FIRST LINE(S)

“Can you believe this weather that we’re having?” My best friend, Heather Murray asked as she spread a checkered red cloth over the picnic table. “I can’t remember Vermont ever going through Indian Summer this late in November before.”

Hosted at Reading Is My SuperPower

Will this be making it onto your Fall reading list? Have a great weekend. Thanks for stopping in.

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Peach Tea Smash (A Tea Shop Mystery) by Laura Childs

320 pages Berkley publisher August 6, 2024 publication date

ABOUT THE BOOK

Murder at an Alice in Wonderland–themed event threatens to send Theodosia Browning through the looking glass in the latest entry in this New York Times bestselling series.

During the Mad Hatter Masquerade, a fundraiser hosted by the Friends of the Opera on the grounds of the old Pendleton Grist Mill, Harlan Sadler, husband of Cricket Sadler, the chairwoman, is killed. He’s been hit in the head with a croquet mallet, and his body hung on the chains and paddles of the grist mill. Nobody can figure out why since Harlan was much beloved by everyone. It’s only after Cricket and Delaine beg Theodosia to investigate that she realizes the killer might have mistaken Harlan for his crazy son, Duke. After all, Duke is a slum landlord and recently injured a woman in a boating accident.

Photo by Maksim Goncharenok on Pexels.com

MY THOUGHTS

I really enjoy this series. I own most of the books in the series and they are all worth a reread.
Once again Theodosia is front and center again conveniently asking questions and nosing around to solve the crime. Some of the things she did took me by surprise as I’m not too sure they’re safe.

A fundraiser with a Mad Hatter Masquerade party goes horribly wrong when a body is found in the old Pendleton Grist Mill.
The deceased, Harlan Sadler is the husband of the chairwoman, involved in banking and all-around friendly guy liked by all who know him.

As his wife Cricket begs Theodosia for her help, past relationships are uncovered, and things may not all be as friendly as assumed. With red herrings and the list of suspects growing this one had me thinking the suspect may have been several different people.

Set in historical Charleston, the author easily brings it to life with her vivid descriptions adding a delightful flavor to her mysteries.

I always enjoy reading about the different themed teas Theodosia and Drayton have. The themed teas with the Indigo Tea Shop being decorated and the different teas and meals to go with it sounds like so much fun.

I’m all in for reading more of my favorite tea shop cozy mysteries.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

THE AUTHOR

Laura Childs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries, Scrapbook Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. In her previous life she was CEO/Creative Director of her own marketing firm and authored several screenplays. She is married to a professor of Chinese art history, loves to travel, rides horses, enjoys fund raising for various non-profits, and has two Chinese Shar-Pei dogs.

Laura specializes in cozy mysteries that have the pace of a thriller (a thrillzy!) Her three series are:

The Tea Shop Mysteries – set in the historic district of Charleston and featuring Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop. Theodosia is a savvy entrepreneur, and pet mom to service dog Earl Grey. She’s also an intelligent, focused amateur sleuth who doesn’t rely on coincidences or inept police work to solve crimes. This charming series is highly atmospheric and rife with the history and mystery that is Charleston.

The Scrapbooking Mysteries – a slightly edgier series that take place in New Orleans. The main character, Carmela, owns Memory Mine scrapbooking shop in the French Quarter and is forever getting into trouble with her friend, Ava, who owns the Juju Voodoo shop. New Orleans’ spooky above-ground cemeteries, jazz clubs, bayous, and Mardi Gras madness make their presence known here!

The Cackleberry Club Mysteries – set in Kindred, a fictional town in the Midwest. In a rehabbed Spur station, Suzanne, Toni, and Petra, three semi-desperate, forty-plus women have launched the Cackleberry Club. Eggs are the morning specialty here and this cozy cafe even offers a book nook and yarn shop. Business is good but murder could lead to the cafe’s undoing! This series offers recipes, knitting, cake decorating, and a dash of spirituality.