Tag: Halloween

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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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Catch Me If You Candy: (A Bakeshop Mystery, 17)

352 pages Pub Date 22 Aug 2023 St. Martin’s Press publisher

Easy Halloween cupcakes

ABOUT THE BOOK

Things are getting spooky in Catch Me If You Candy, the next delicious installment in the Bakeshop Series from author Ellie Alexander, set in Ashland, Oregon!

Halloween has arrived in picturesque Ashland, Oregon, and all of the ghouls and goblins have descended on Main Street for the annual parade. It’s a giant street party and Torte is right in the mix.

Jules Capshaw and her team have been baking up autumn delights and trick-or-Torte bags filled with sugar cookie cutouts, spiced cider, and mummy munch. It’s the end of the season at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which means that the costumes for the parade are going to be out of this world. The elaborate guises even extend to pets. The grand marshal of this year’s parade is no other than a regal pug aptly named King George. Jules is delighted to get to share the experience with Carlos and Ramiro, but things take a dark turn when she discovers a dragon slumped in front of the bakeshop.

Jules is distraught when she realizes the dragon is dead. She’s also shaken because a few days before the parade, her mother’s Mahjong partner Helen discovered a warning note about a dragon in an antique game set. Jules hopes it’s just a random coincidence, but as the clues begin to unfold it becomes evident that there’s been a murder on All Hallow’s Eve. Can Juliet sift out the truth before the killer comes after her?

MY THOUGHTS

Catch me if You Candy is the seventeenth book in the Bakeshop mystery series. I haven’t read all of them but have read quite a few.

Ashland, Oregon is the home of Torte, the bakeshop owned by Jules Capshaw. She and her bakers are busy firing up the ovens almost around the clock with all the Halloween treats everyone wants. Taking a break to run some goodies to her mother’s weekly mahjong party an ominous note is found in the ancient board game set bought at a thrift store.


As the end of the Shakespearean season settles upon Ashland, the town gathers around a Halloween parade costumed adults and children alike enjoy attending.
When a slumped over dragon, the same one talked about in the mahjong game note is found dead in front of her bakeshop, Jules is devastated.


With clues piling up faster than the Halloween candy the trick or treaters are clutching in their grubby hands, who can you trust? Is anyone telling the truth or will this one be all tricks and no treats?


Cleverly written with a great plot and lots of descriptive Autumn cheer this is the perfect book to settle in with on a cold Fall night with your hot cup of coffee or tea.

Pub Date 22 Aug 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

THE AUTHOR

ELLIE ALEXANDER is a voracious storyteller, a lover of words and all things bookish. She believes that stories have the ability to transport and transform us. With over thirty published novels and counting, her goal is to tell stories that provide points of connection, escape, and understanding.

She loves inhabiting someone else’s skin through the pages of a book and is passionate about helping writers find their unique storytelling lens. As a writing teacher and coach, she guides writers in crafting the story they’ve always wanted to tell while navigating the path to publication that’s right for them.

Find out more about Ellie, her books, and writing courses by visiting her online:

Website: https://www.elliealexander.co/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_alexander

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/elliealexanderauthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliealexanderauthor

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@elliealexanderauthor

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ellielovesbooks

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/elliealexanderauthor

Do you still have holiday books on your to read pile waiting for you? Have a marvelous day. Thanks for stopping in.

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Mischief Nights Are Murder (A Poppy McAllister Mystery Book 8) Poppy McAllister discovers that gluten-free Halloweens can scare up another case of murder…….

Thank you for reading this post on my holidays and seasonal blog .

Mischief Nights Are Murder (A Poppy McAllister Mystery Book 8) Poppy McAllister discovers that gluten-free Halloweens can scare up another case of murder…….

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A Corpse at the Witching Hour: A Food Blogger Mystery …. ghosts, a fatal curse, and a decades-old family secret 

Thank you for reading this post on my other blog. Thank you.

A Corpse at the Witching Hour: A Food Blogger Mystery …. ghosts, a fatal curse, and a decades-old family secret 

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First Line Friday

FIRST LINE FRIDAY

First Line Friday is hosted at Reading Is My Super Power.  It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line. Today I’m featuring the first line of A Corpse at the Witching Hour by Debra Sennefelder.

And the first line is………

Hope Early blew out a breath as she started at the plans spread across her kitchen table. She’d been studying them for days. At this point, she wasn’t sure what she was looking for.

credit

Yesterday I featured a Christmas cozy, today a Halloween one. Maybe I should get to the Halloween one before the end of the month, hopefully I can fit it in.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Hope Early has to contend with ghosts, a fatal curse, and a decades-old family secret to catch a killer in the new Food Blogger Mystery . . .

When her best friend’s Aunt Issy falls ill, food blogger Hope Early agrees to help him hand out Halloween candy at his aunt’s house, which is rumored to be cursed. A murder-suicide took place there a century ago, and legend has it that a woman has died there every twenty years since—on Halloween. Hope doesn’t really believe in curses or ghosts, but when all the trick-or-treaters are gone and she discovers a woman’s dead body on the front lawn, she wonders if the curse might be real after all.

Then Hope and her friend discover a cache of love letters linking the dead woman to Aunt Issy’s husband years ago, and Hope is certain they’ve uncovered the motive for murder—and the police are certain Aunt Issy is their main suspect. Determined to prove Issy’s innocence and nab the real culprit, Hope starts shaking other branches of the family tree. But she forgets that Halloween isn’t the only day people hide behind masks, and if she’s not careful, Hope will come face-to-face with a ghoulish fiend who’s not afraid to kill again . . .

Includes two tasty recipes!

Grab it here

276 pages October 5,2023 publication date Beyond the Page publisher

Do you like Halloween books? I know some don’t. I have a few Halloween/Fall books I still need to read for this year but seem to keep getting sidetracked by other books I need to read on a deadline. Here’s to reading Halloween books in February 🙂

Have a great day. Thanks for stopping in.

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Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking by Raquel V. Reyes-Review (A Caribbean Kitchen Mystery Book 2)

About The Book

It’s time for a savory soirée—but something sinister is stewing—in Raquel V. Reyes’s second delightful Caribbean Kitchen mystery, perfectly delicious for fans of Mia P. Manansala.

Fall festivities are underway in Coral Shores, Miami. Cuban-American cooking show star Miriam Quiñones-Smith wakes up to find a corpse in her front yard. The body by the fake tombstone is the woman that was kicked out of the school’s Fall Festival the day before.
 
Miriam’s luck does not improve. Her passive-aggressive mother-in-law puts her in charge of the Women’s Club annual gala. But this year, it’s not canapes and waltzes. Miriam and her girlfriends-squad opt for fun and flavor. They want to spice it up with Caribbean food trucks and a calypso band. While making plans at the country club, they hear a volatile argument between the new head chef and the club’s manager. Not long after, the chef swan dives to his death at the bottom of the grand staircase.
 
Was it an accident? Or was it Beverly, the sous chef, who is furious after being passed over for the job? Or maybe it was his ex-girlfriend, Anastasia? 
 
Add two possible poisonings to the mix and Miriam is worried the food truck fun is going to be a major crash. As the clock ticks down and the body count goes up, Miriam’s life is put in jeopardy. Will she connect the dots or die in the deep freeze? Foodies and mystery lovers alike will savor the denouement as the truth is laid bare in this simmering stew of rage, retribution, and murder.

My Thoughts

I haven't read the first book in this series, though I would love to, but I don't feel like I am missing part of the story. This is such a fun, high energy book.
With Fall vibes emanating from each page, we have our main character Miriam Quiñones-Smith a star of the Miami. Cuban American cooking show.
I loved the authentic feel for the area with many passages of the book being in Spanish and descriptions of the food's native to the area.
Being that there is a food anthropologist we get a well-researched history of native foods (especially fruits) and information about different cultures.
Thanks to her mother-in-law, Miriam is busy planning the Country Club’s annual gala, of course her mother-in-law hadn't asked her just volunteered her for it. If this isn't enough to keep this anthropologist busy, she also wakes up to find a body in her yard and is sleuthing to solve another murder.
I loved this Foodie cozy mystery with its vibrant take on Cuban culture and food.

Pub Date: 11 Oct 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Grab A Copy Here

About The Author

RAQUEL V. REYES writes Latina protagonists. Her Cuban-American heritage, Miami, and Spanglish feature prominently in her work. Mango, Mambo, and Murder, the first in the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series, won a LEFTY for Best Humorous Mystery and was nominated for an Agatha. The New York Times Book Review wrote, “it executes its mission—with panache.” Raquel’s short stories appear in various anthologies, including The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2022. Find her across social media platforms as @LatinaSleuths and on her website LatinaSleuths.com

Have a wonderful day. Thanks for stopping by.

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#Halloween Vibes #Autumn Tricked In October (Pine Ridge #2) By Starla DeKruyf-Review

About The Book

In this best-friends-to-lovers romance, mistaken identity leads to a Halloween hook-up that might not be so mistaken after all.

After losing her husband last winter, the thought of hosting a Halloween couples costume party is the furthest thing from Kelsey O’Henry’s mind. Besides raising three young children, managing O’Henry’s Bar and Grill, and caring for her alcoholic mother, she has more important things to worry about. Like the stack of unpaid business loans that threaten the bar’s existence. As well as her newfound feelings she’s developed for her best guy friend.

Davis Vance is tired of being followed around by cameras. He misses the days before he and his twin brother became “Renovation Dudes”—hosts of an HGTV show. When Davis learns Kelsey could lose the bar at the end of the fall season, he sees it as an opportunity to not only help his friend, but as a way out of renewing his HGTV contract.

There’s just one problem—lately Davis’s feelings for Kelsey have been less friendly and more romantic. And on the night of the bar’s Halloween party, both Kelsey and Davis can no longer ignore their desires. Will their passionate evening be a one-night stand—only a flicker of heat during the crisp autumn, or will she risk her pride and accept his help?

Pumpkin patch in autumn.

My Thoughts

I am a cover lover. I’ll admit to judging a book by it’s cover. There are so many book options out there so an appealing cover makes me much more likely to want to grab a book to read and this one did it for me.
This book is perfect for this time of year. It has such a Fallish/Halloweenish vibe all the way through it and it was great.
Tricked in October has a woman who lost her husband last winter. She has so much going on she’s tripping over her own feet trying to get it all done. She has three young children,an alcoholic mother who also runs a bakeshop that she wants her to help manage, a bar she’s about to lose because of back bills and more. O’Henry’s Bar and Grill was her late husband’s bar and though Kelsey O’Henry runs it because it’s been in her husband’s family a long time she feels she should pass it down to her children but it’s giving her more stress than she can handle.
Throw in her best guy friend Davis Vance, she seems to be falling for him. With her responsibilities she really doesn’t need this complication.
Davis and his twin brother are filming a HGTV show and are recognizable now. One twin enjoys the extra attention from women,one does not.
Davis has been friends with Kelsey for a long time and would love to move this relationship to a more personal level but will the timing be right or will the Halloween chill be in the air between them?
Loved the Fall vibes in this and will be looking forward to read more by this author.

Pub Date 25 Oct 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Grab A Copy Here

Books In This Series

About The Author

Starla DeKruyf started writing when she still had words left to say and everyone stopped listening. Her love of romance novels began when she borrowed her friend’s copy of Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume and kept it hidden from her mom. When she’s not slinging coffee, volunteering with youth, or taxiing her kids around, you can find her jamming out to her playlists and writing her next swoony romance, usually by hand. She lives in Spring, Texas, with her husband, three children, an English Mastiff, and a rescue pup.

Have a great day. Thanks for stopping by.