Mar 13, 2024

The Witless Protection Program by Maria DiRico

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing "The Witless Protection Program” the 5th instalment in the A Catering Hall Mystery series by Maria DiRico.
In the fifth Catering Hall Mystery by Agatha Award-winning author Maria DiRico, series sleuth Mia Carina has finally steered her Italian-American family’s catering hall, Belle View Banquet Manor, into becoming the premiere party site of Astoria, Queens. Now if only her presumed dead ex-husband would get out of the way...

A strong, independent woman and respected entrepreneur, Mia never imagined she’d pine for a marriage proposal. Yet lately, with her beloved Shane, she’s on tenterhooks. It’s especially surprising, considering Mia’s first husband, Adam, was a philandering grifter, assumed lost-at-sea after a boating disaster. But everyone knows what happens when you assume . . .


While working a huge wedding expo in Manhattan, Mia is shocked to spot the man who nearly destroyed her life. The one who’s supposed to be sleeping with the fishes. But she loses him in the crowd. And when it happens again the next day, it’s time for an emergency meeting with the family—and the Family. Because if Adam is alive, Mia is still married . . .


Everyone wants Adam dead. Everyone except Mia. She’s dealt with enough police for a lifetime. Mia needs to be a divorcée, not a widow. But someone out there disagrees, and if Mia doesn’t discover who, she may never be free to marry Shane—or anyone else . . .

I love Mia, her Nonna, Cammie, Shane and the rest of the side characters.  I like where things are heading with Mia and Shane’s future too!   

The author is one of my favorite as she knows how to keep the reader entertained as well as cate about the main characters and what happens to them.

The mystery is interesting and well plotted, I found myself guessing and second-guessing myself on whodunnit right to the very end. I couldn’t put the book down, read it in a day .

I  highly recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends and I can’t wait for book six!

I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from Kensington Books and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.


Thank you for stopping by and visiting my little blog!
I always love reading comments and getting to know my fellow cozy lovers.

Hugs,


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Mar 12, 2024

Battered and Buried by Lena Gregory

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing "Battered and Buried" the 7th instalment in the "All Day Breakfast Cafe" Mystery series by Lena Gregory.   I love this series!
The best-laid plans may go awry, but the best-laid clues could frame a man for murder . . .

Never one to let a day off work go to waste, café owner Gia Morelli and a friend head out for a blissful kayaking trip through the local national forest. But the peacefulness of the day is soon shattered when they come across Cole, her head cook, standing over a dead body. Worse still, the victim was a lifelong enemy of Cole’s, and clues found on the body point to the cook as the culprit. When the police take Cole in and subject him to an intense grilling, Gia vows to do everything she can to prove his innocence.

As even more incriminating evidence surfaces—including when the murder weapon itself is found hidden at the café—Gia knows she’s up against someone brutal enough to kill and devious enough to frame Cole for the deed. With the police ready to make an official arrest and wrap up what they consider an open-and-shut case, Gia turns for help to an old friend who’s not above breaking the law himself. Because if she can’t find the killer, Cole may go from serving up hot dishes to serving a life sentence . . .

Includes recipes from the All-Day Breakfast Café!

Each book seems better than the last, I enjoy the relationship between Gia, Savannah and the cafe staff they are almost like a family.  It’s great to see how everyone cares for each other and pulls together to to make sure everyone is okay.   

The story pulled me in straight away and held my attention till the very end. There were plenty of twists and turns, and enough intrigue to keep you reading throughout and per usual with this series I read in one sitting.  I can’t wait for the next instalment to arrive, hopefully it won’t be a year away… did I mention how much I love this series.

I recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends.


I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from Kensington Books and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.


Thank you for stopping by and visiting my little blog!
I always love reading comments and getting to know my fellow cozy lovers.

Hugs,










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Mar 9, 2024

The Poison Pen by Paige Shelton

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing "The Poison Pen” the 9th instalment in the "Scottish Bookshop Mystery” series by Paige Shelton.  I really enjoy this series and am collecting in hardcover. 

The Poison Pen, the ninth installment in the Scottish Bookshop series by Paige Shelton, set in a specialty bookstore in Edinburgh called The Cracked Spine.

Edinburgh is mourning recent the death of Queen Elizabeth II when Bookseller Delaney Nichols's boss comes to her with a most unusual assignment. An old friend of his, living in an estate in the village of Roslin, has found what could be a priceless relic on her property, and Delaney is tasked with investigating. Could Jolie possibly have an item of breathtaking Scottish historical significance in her possession? But when Delaney arrives at Jolie's estate, she is greeted by a legal team with a vested interest in the property. Jolie manages to remove the interlopers, but as they're examining the priceless item, they hear a scream, and meet a much less welcome discovery: a body.

As Delaney digs deeper, she discovers Jolie's own fascinating history. Jolie's mother had long claimed that her daughter was the rightful heir to the throne, not Elizabeth II, because of an affair she claimed to have with King Edward VIII. The only evidence, however, is in the form of a purported journal that one of Edward’s secretaries kept. The puzzles become more confusing when a connection is uncovered between this far-fetched story and the murdered man. Delaney will have to read between the lines to put together the pieces...or become history herself.

I loved visiting Edinburgh, Scotland and the Cracked Spine book shop again. I liked how this time we were exploring an estate in Roslin where it’s believed a Crusader sword was found. I liked that Elias played a big part in this instalment along with Delaney.

There were several possible suspects, and kept me guessing for quite a while. I was drawn into this story right away and did not want to put it down. 

Overall, I found it to be a very entertaining read that made me long to visit Scotland and the Cracked Spine Bookstore.

I highly  recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends.


I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from Minotaur Books and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Please join the conversation and comment below.  Have you read… If so what did you think/like

Thank you for stopping by and visiting my little blog!
I always love reading comments and getting to know my fellow cozy lovers.

Hugs,

The Witless Protection Program by Maria DiRico

Hello my cozy friends, Today I am reviewing "The Witless Protection Program” the 5th instalment in the A Catering Hall Mystery series b...