The Tuesday Night Survivors' Club by Lynn Cahoon

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing “The Tuesday Night Survivors' Club” by Lynn Cahoon book one in the Survivors  Book Club Mystery series.  I was sad when I heard her Cat Latimer Mystery series was ending so was happy when I heard about the new cozy mystery series. I found it to be just as enjoyable and entertaining full of loveable characters and a furbaby.  Releases June 14th, 2022

Survivors become sleuths to find a missing member of their book club in new-age 

Sedona, New Mexico …

Two things got Rarity Cole through her breast cancer treatments: friends and books. Now cancer-free, Rarity is devoting her life to helping others find their way through the maze to healing. She's opened a bookstore focusing on the power of healing—Eastern medicine, Western medicine, the healing power of food, the power of meditation, and the importance of developing a support community. To that end, she's also started the Tuesday Night Survivors book club. With its openness to new-age communities, Sedona, Arizona, is the perfect fit for Rarity's bookstore and the tightly knit group.

But their therapeutic unity is disrupted when one of their members suddenly goes missing. Martha has always kept to herself, never opening up much of her personal life to the group. Now she's nowhere to be found. With her car abandoned on a trail and her dog left with a friend, Rarity is sure something terrible had happened—but will she be able to uncover Martha's secrets before it's too late?

What a great start to a new cozy mystery series it was engaging, really well-written, set in the desert town of Sedona Arizona and we can’t forget a furbaby named killer. As most of my friends know I’m a fan girl of Lynn’s books and I can see this series becoming another favourite.

The protagonist Rarity was intelligent, likeable, and the friends she made were people I would like to hang out with especially  Sam and Drew.  I found myself thoroughly enjoying the story and the instant romance whilst trying to figure out the killer.  It doesn’t matter what illness or troubles one has, a strong support system of friendship and trust is always a must, so why not have that with your book club.  Personally through online book club I have found some of my strongest support so I could totally see Lynn’s vision in the storyline.  The book club does soon become the sleuthing club , which made me chuckle as they did love a mystery…

The mystery was well written and had plenty of suspects who wanted the victim dead.  I did suspect the killer early on but there were a few red herrings so I wasnt 100% sure until close to the end when the final piece fell into place.  

I can't wait for the next instalment!

I highly recommend this cozy mystery series to all my friends who love a cozy with a strong support system of friends in it.

I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from Kensington 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,

 

Death By Beach Read by Eva Gates

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing "Death by Beach Read” the 9th instalment in the "Lighthouse Library" Mystery series by Eva Gates. I love this series and couldn’t wait to visit Nag’s Head and the Bodie Island Lighthouse library in the Outer Banks of N.C. Again.

Librarian Lucy’s new historic house comes with a lot of baggage and family secrets. Can she put them to rest or will a killer bring Lucy’s family to their downfall, in the 9th Lighthouse Library mystery.
 

It’s spring in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and Lucy and Connor have moved into their new home at last, a historic cottage on the Nags Head Beach. The house needs a lot of renovations, but they worked hard over the winter to get it ready. Lucy is now happily immersed in her work at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, planning her wedding, and decorating the house. That is, until a dead body disrupts their peaceful new abode.   

 

The first night Lucy’s alone in the house, with the company of Charles the library cat, she hears sounds. Investigating they see footsteps in the dust of the unfinished living room, and the door to the outside is open. Lucy's reminded that the house is said to be haunted: forty years ago the teenage daughter of the owners fled in the night, and never again stepped foot inside her family home.

 

But the sounds have an all-too-human origin and one evening Lucy and Connor find the dead body of a man they don’t even recognize in their kitchen. They soon realize he has a long-time connection to their house. Lucy's forced to find out what happened all those years ago and why it’s threatening her happiness today.

 

Meanwhile, the Classic Novel Reading Club is reading The House of the Seven Gables by Nathanial Hawthorne, a book about another old house full of secrets. Can Lucy find parallels to her own situation in Hawthorne’s fiction before the killer strikes again?

This time the story is more centred around Lucy and Connors new home one of the historic unpainted aristocracy on millionaire row. The house has secrets and is supposedly haunted and Lucy needs to dive into the past to solve this mystery. We can’t forget Charlie the library cat who seems to sense when something is not right at the house…

The mystery is interesting and well plotted, and I loved the characters which are well developed. Lucy, Connor, her adorable cat Charles, and Connors dad along with Ralph and Jo Harper are the main characters in this mystery.  I have enjoyed seeing Lucy outside the library as well as meeting some new characters. I kept guessing and second-guessing myself on whodunnit right to the very end.  

I can't wait for the next instalment!  I highly recommend this book to all my cozy mystery loving friends.

I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from Crooked Lane 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,

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Blowin’ Up a Murder by Tonya Kappes

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing “Blowin’ Up a Murder” by Tonya Kappes the 8th book in her Kenni Lowry Mystery series starring Sheriff Kenni Lowry.  I am so glad the author got her rights back to these books and that there will be more in the future.   I must admit I am only just started this series, in reverse I must add and it definitely can be read as a stand-alone.  I do recommend you start at the beginning though.

Love and marriage go together like grits and gravy...or do they?

Welcome to the little town of Cottonwood, Kentucky, a charming town with fun business names like Tiny Tina’s Hair Salon and Cowboy’s Catfish.

Sheriff Lowry becomes public enemy number one when she shuts down a wedding reception when one of the catering waiters ends up dead impaled with a wedding umbrella. The bride is not happy and proceeds to beat Sheriff Lowry with her bridal bouquet!

Kenni and Poppa are on the case! How lucky that Kenni is already there to start her investigation! She’s got a bratty bride, a crass groomsman and dead waiter! If the murder at the wedding was not enough, she’s got to get to solve this so that her friends business isn’t ruined!

Order your copy today 

There’s a big wedding happening in Cottonwood seems like the whole town was invited but then Murder strikes while a storm rages overhead. While the investigation into the murder is happening everyone seems upset with Kenni for stopping the reception but she had to do her JOB! 

I love Sheriff Kenni and her ghost Poppa that helps assist in the investigations and hope we see more of him.  

There were lots of suspects as well as twists to keep us entertained and guessing. I had no idea who the killer was until Violet did! Also there were a couple of surprises and I can’t wait for the next instalment!

I highly recommend this book to all my cozy loving friends 

I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from the publisher. 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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The Diva Says Cheesecake! by Krista Davis

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing “The Diva Says Cheesecake ” the 15th instalment in the Domestic Diva Mystery series by Krista Davis.

She’s a young Martha Stewart…in Old Town Virginia! 

In a delicious new Domestic Diva Mystery from New York Times bestselling author Krista Davis, entertaining guru Sophie Winston is faced with a midsummer nightmare when a celebration in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, is the appetizer for murder…

Old Town’s midsummer festivities are getting a tasty addition this year. To coincide with a public performance of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Bobbie Sue Bodoin, the Queen of Cheesecake, has hired Sophie to organize a dinner with a dessert buffet on the waterfront. Bobbie Sue’s homegrown company is thriving, and since her baking dish overfloweth, she wants to reward her employees.

Bobbie Sue has only one menu demand: no cheesecake! But her specialty isn’t the only thing missing from the evening—Tate, Bobbie Sue’s husband, is too much to her annoyance. Next morning, however, Tate’s dead body is discovered. Bobbie Sue insists she didn’t kick her spouse to the curb, and begs for Sophie’s help finding the real killer. Digging in, Sophie discovers an assortment of Old Town locals who all had reason to want a piece of Tate. Can she gather together the crumbs the killer left behind in time to prevent a second helping of murder?

I really enjoy this series and must read the few books I have missed. Even though I haven't read all the earlier books I was able to follow along, so this can be read as a stand alone book.

I really like Sophie, she is relatable, interesting and I love her relationship with her BFF Nina and her ex Mars as well as several other residents of Old Town. I liked how the characters were there for each other, no matter what was happening. 

The mystery itself was interesting, full of twists and turns, red herrings all of which completely drew me into the story.   I didn’t want to put the book down and read it till the wee hours.

I highly recommend this book to all my cozy mystery loving friends.

My rating 

I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from Kensington 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,

A Fatal Booking A Booklover's B&B Mystery by Victoria Gilbert

Hello my cozy friends, 

Today I am reviewing "A Fatal Booking” the 3rd instalment in the "A Booklover's B&B Mystery" series by Victoria Gilbert.

Victoria Gilbert’s third Booklover’s B&B Mystery, a treat for fans of Mary Daheim and Kate Carlisle, finds owner Charlotte Reed and her former spy neighbor, Ellen Montgomery, pitted against a tea-party poisoner.

Booklover Charlotte is delighted to welcome an eclectic group of guests to Chapters Bed and Breakfast for a book club retreat focused on fairy tales and classic children’s literature. But when one of the guests is poisoned at a Mad Hatter tea party, Charlotte realizes she’s fallen down a rather unpleasant rabbit hole

 

The victim – an opinionated busybody whose jewelry store sold original designs, along with some possibly “hot” merchandise – had plenty of enemies, spurring Charlotte and Ellen to offer their well-honed investigative skills to assist the local police. But as they delve deeper into each of the guest’s stories, they realize all of them had a motive, and the means, to close the book on the unfortunate victim.

 

Enlisting the aid of a few local residents, as well as their new ally, agent Gavin Howard, Charlotte and Ellen vow to reveal the truth, even if the path to any sort of happy ending is strewn with deadly danger.

I found myself engrossed in the story and reading it over a couple of days.  I loved the characters of Ellen and Charlotte and the bond that’s formed between them.  I also enjoyed where life is taking Charlotte as well as the rest of the Chapter’s family. 

Overall the mystery was entertaining, full of twists and turns as well as a few surprises.  I did guess the killer before Charlotte this time, but I loved putting the pieces together.

I can’t wait to read the next book and see how things are at Chapters B&B in Beaufort, North Carolina.

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

I requested and received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Crooked Lane 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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The Proof Is in the Poison by Diane Kelly

Hello my cozy friends, 

Today I am reviewing “The Proof Is in the Poison” the 2nd instalment in A Southern Homebrew Mystery series by Diane Kelly. This is first book I have read in the series, and it can be read as a standalone. I have since purchased the previous one so I can be all caught up in time for book 3.

Moonshine shop owner Hattie Hayes is ready to lend a hand when a mystery starts brewing at a train convention in Chattanooga, TN, in this charming cozy mystery series.

Now that her moonshine shop is up and running, Hattie Hayes can focus her efforts on expanding her fledgling business to events in the area, like the Chattanooga Choo Choo Model Train Convention, which is running full steam ahead at the convention center down the block. Hattie is all aboard, seizing this perfect opportunity to promote her Southern homebrew to the folks who have come to the city for the annual event.
 
But when an attendee dies after drinking some of Hattie’s moonshine, she’ll need to prove her innocence. Between tight-lipped train hobbyists and competitors for a coveted convention prize, Hattie has a wide array of suspects to choose from, and she’ll need to use all the tricks up her sleeve to make sure her moonshine business can survive a murderer and stay on track.
 

I liked Hattie and her cat Smoky and we can’t forget her granddaddy ( I loved him). I also enjoyed the setting of Chattanooga, Tennessee. There is a great cast of side characters Marlon, Charlotte the horse, Kiki, Nora and Ace.  

The mystery is interesting and had lots of twists which kept me guessing. I had no idea who the killer was till Hattie did.  I’m looking forward to the next book , and see what’s happening at Hattie Hayes Moonshine Shack.

I highly recommend this cozy series to all my friends.

I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from Berkley Publishing 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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A Midsummer Night's Fudge by Nancy Coco

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing “A Midsummer Night's Fudge“ the 10th instalment in the  Candy-Coated Mystery series by Nancy Coco.  I really love this series and visiting Mackinac Island! I’m hoping to go there in next few years so then I can really see it in my minds eye.

After a summer celebration on Michigan’s Mackinac Island ends in murder, hotel and fudge shop owner Allie McMurphy puts on her sleuthing hat . . .

 

THERE’S NO SUGARCOATING A KILLER’S SCHEME

 

During the Midsummer Night’s Festival, Allie decides to take her bichonpoo, Mal, home to spare her furry little ears from the sounds of fireworks. But on her way back, Allie spots a body in the lake. Just minutes ago, Winona Higer was crowning the event’s Queen—could the competition have really been that deadly?

 

While she ponders the mystery the next morning, Allie prepares her favorite dark chocolate cherry fudge recipe. But she’s soon recruited to sub for the late Winona and serve as parade float judge, among other duties. As she hears rumors and gossip, and learns of mean pranks and threatening notes, her instincts kick in—despite her boyfriend the cop’s disapproval. Now, between managing a new hire and keeping the tourists filled with fudge, she’s dealing with a case that’s boiling over . . .

I found myself engrossed in the story and reading in a couple days.   The mystery is interesting and well plotted, and I loved the characters which are well developed. I especially love little Mal which reminds me of my little Lindi.  I think this might be my favourite book in the series but I say that every time.

I kept guessing and second-guessing myself on whodunnit right to the very end. I did figure out who the villain was shortly before Allie did. 

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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Flared Stiff by Julie Anne Lindsey

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing “Flared Stiff” book 5 in the Bonnie & Clyde Mysteries by Julie Anne Lindsey. I love this series! 

Cake, cocktails and… murder?

Bonnie’s embracing the big 4-0 and all it has to offer, including a celebratory night out with friends. The evening is a perfect blend of fun and fabulous, until the local love guru, Gretchen, is confronted by a client’s spouse, who’s displeased by a prediction of new romance in his wife’s future. Gretchen excuses herself to sort the situation, but in the morning, the man is dead. Stabbed with a cake knife from her True Love collection.

When Bonnie’s friends turn to her for help unwrapping the truth, she quickly moves saving Gretchen’s reputation to the top of her birthday list.

Can she make her wish for answers come true? Or will the killer give Bonnie the next slice?

I loved this latest instalment in the Bonnie & Clyde series!  I liked how Bonnie and the HANS relationship is progressing and that she will finally see his calendar photo!  

The mystery is well-written and there were several red herrings and twists to keep the reader engaged.  

I’m anxiously awaiting book 6 in the series as fun things are sure to happen but even better i cant wait for book 2 in the Thelma & Luisa series!   I’m wondering if Gretchen or her aunt will get a spin off series…

I look forward to reading all the books in the series and highly recommend to all my cozy mystery loving friends.

I voluntarily agreed to read a digital copy of this book supplied by the Author. All thoughts and opinions are my own and in no way have been influenced.

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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Peril at Pennington Manor by Tracy Gardner

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing "Peril at Pennington Manor" the 2nd instalment in the Avery Ayers Antique Mystery series by Tracy Gardner which releases on June 7th. I believe this is the first book I have read by her, and it can easily be read as a standalone but I recommend reading in order.  I have since purchased book one in the series.

. Perfect for fans of Jane K. Cleland and Ellery Adams, the second volume in Tracy Gardner’s antiques-themed mystery series finds appraiser Avery Ayers sleuthing a murder in a castle.

Thanks to Aunt Midge’s unlikely friendship with Nicholas Pennington, the Duke of Valle Charme, Avery Ayers and her associates at Antiques and Artifacts Appraised head off to their most glamorous assignment yet—cataloguing and appraising the contents of a castle-like mansion on the Hudson River. But regal splendor becomes a backdrop to mayhem when the precious Viktor Petrova timepiece disappears—and housekeeper Suzanne Vick plummets from a parapet to her death.

Avery, her dad William, and colleagues Micah Abbott and Sir Robert Lane soon learn that Suzanne’s predecessor also met with an untimely end. Further, the housekeeper’s suspicious demise coincides with Avery’s discovery that many of the Duke’s most priceless heirlooms have been replaced by fakes.

Detective Art Smith lends his expertise, but the suspect list encompasses the Duke’s entire retinue—including his family. Could the killer be someone intimately familiar with the Pennington estate, such as caretaker couple Ira and Lynn Hoffman, the Penningtons’ chauffeur Roderick, or even one of the heirs to the Pennington fortune?

Then the duke himself is injured in an inexplicable riding accident, and the clock swiftly ticks toward a reckoning with a cold-blooded killer. A criminal mastermind is making a desperate bid for ill-gotten riches…can Avery bring the culprit to justice before her time is up?

I really liked the setting of Lilac Grove in rural New York, and the manor house on the Hudson River. The main characters are likable, interesting and realistic for the most part. Avery is an independent, strong woman who has been dealt some hardships with the loss of her mother.  I’m looking forward to learning more about all the family dynamics (will be reading book one) and seeing what happens in Avery’s love life.  I also liked the addition of some cute kittens .

The mystery was interesting and well plotted, with enough twists to keep me interested.  I kept guessing and second-guessing myself on whodunnit right to the very end.   I recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends.

I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from Crooked Lane 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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Bayou Book Thief by Ellen Byron

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing "Bayou Book Thief” the first instalment in A Vintage Cookbook Mystery series by Ellen Byron set in New Orleans.  What a great start to a new series! 

A fantastic new cozy mystery series with a vintage flair from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award–winning author Ellen Byron.

 
Twenty-eight-year-old widow Ricki James leaves Los Angeles to start a new life in New Orleans after her showboating actor husband perishes doing a stupid internet stunt. The Big Easy is where she was born and adopted by the NICU nurse who cared for her after Ricki’s teen mother disappeared from the hospital.

Ricki’s dream comes true when she joins the quirky staff of Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, the spectacular former Garden District home of late bon vivant Genevieve “Vee” Charbonnet, the city’s legendary restauranteur. Ricki is excited about turning her avocation – collecting vintage cookbooks – into a vocation by launching the museum’s gift shop, Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware. Then she discovers that a box of donated vintage cookbooks contains the body of a cantankerous Bon Vee employee who was fired after being exposed as a book thief.

The skills Ricki has developed ferreting out hidden vintage treasures come in handy for investigations. But both her business and Bon Vee could wind up as deadstock when Ricki’s past as curator of a billionaire’s first edition collection comes back to haunt her.

Will Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware be a success … or a recipe for disaster?
 

I absolutely loved this story, and it has made me want to visit the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum and New Orleans. 

I really like Ricki, Zellah, Lyla, Madame Noisette, and Virgil almost makes you wish you were part of their little community.  The interaction between Ricki and Detective Rodriguez I found entertaining as well.

The mystery is interesting and well plotted, and had plenty of twists to keep engaged right to the very end.  I kept guessing and second-guessing myself but I was right on who the killer was.  The story moves at a steady pace, and I had a hard time putting it down. I also liked how the author left the ending making us wait in anticipation for book 2 . 

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

I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from Berkley Publishing 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,