Secrets in the Stacks by Lynn Cahoon

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing “'Secrets in the Stacks” by Lynn Cahoon book two  in the Survivors  Book Club Mystery series. I love this new series of Lynn’s it’s entertaining full of loveable characters and a furbaby named Killer. 

After an ominous Tarot reading, Sedona bookstore owner Rarity Cole must find a killer to keep her friend safe from harm—even if the cards are stacked against her . . .

Following her recovery from breast cancer, Rarity has embraced a life of healing and service in her Sedona, Arizona, community. She welcomes the opportunity to participate in the annual summer healing fair with her fittingly named new-age bookstore, The Next Chapter. The members of the Tuesday Night Survivors' Book Club are also volunteering, maintaining a cooling station for overheated festivalgoers, and hosting a Tarot card reader for entertainment.

But one member, Darby, is anything but entertained when the Tarot reader pulls a Death card. With a mammogram coming up, she's freaked out and goes home—only to walk into a crime scene where someone near and dear to her has been murdered. Despite the objections of Detective Drew Anderson, Rarity is determined to help her friend and protect her from being the killer's next victim . . .

Once again the story was engaging, really well-written, and I love the setting  in the desert town of Sedona Arizona.

The protagonist Rarity was intelligent, likeable, and the friends she made were people I would like to hang out with especially Sam, Archer and Drew.  I found myself thoroughly enjoying the story and I like where the romance between Rarity and Archer is going.  

It shows us that 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. 

I did suspect the killer early on but there were a few red herrings so I wasn't 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,

 

A Trip with Trouble by Diane Kelly

Hello my cozy friends, 

Today I am reviewing “A Trip with Trouble” the 2nd instalment in the The Mountain Lodge Mysteries series by Diane Kelly. What a great follow up to book one.

The second in a charming and engrossing cozy series from Diane Kelly, A Trip with Trouble proves that in the Blue Ridge Mountains, life in the fast lane could end in a crash.

When the ladies of the Dangerous Curves Motorcycle Club take over the Mountaintop Lodge for their annual autumn ride along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Misty Murphy couldn’t be more thrilled. Every room is full and the adventurous women even invite Misty and her assistant Brynn to join them on a ride to admire the colorful fall foliage. Hotel handyman Rocky Crowder is happy to keep an eye on the lodge for the day, and the ladies set out for a fun ride on the scenic road.

The skies are clear, the air is crisp, and the leaves are gorgeous. But what starts as a perfect ride turns worrisome when the tail gunner – the last rider in their group – fails to show up at the Craggy Gardens overlook. Cell phone service is spotty in the remote, mountainous area, and the group is unable to connect with their friend. Might the missing woman have simply run out of gas? Or is something far more sinister afoot?

The ladies are determined to locate their ride or die, and Misty is equally determined to help them. But will they be able to solve the mystery when the scenic route seems intent on hiding its secrets?

I enjoyed the protagonist Misty Murphy, and her staff Brynn and handyman Rocky.  I liked How the author gave both Misty and her cat Yeti, a voice throughout the story. I also enjoyed the fall cozy vibes as the biker chicks are leaf peeping in the Blue Ridge Mountains, North Carolina.   I look forward to seeing how Misty's relationships grow in book 3. 

The mystery is interesting and had lots of twists which kept me guessing. I had no idea who the killer was till Misty did. 

I highly recommend this book to all my cozy friends.  Can’t wait to read the next instalment.

I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from St.Martin Press 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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No Strangers Here by Carlene O'Connor

Hello my friends,

Today I am reviewing “No Strangers Here” by Carlene O’Connor it's the first instalment in the County Kerry Series, grapples with life, death, family dynamics, and the secrets at the heart of her small community…

Set in Ireland’s striking, rugged countryside, USA Today bestselling author Carlene O’Connor’s dark, atmospheric new crime fiction series combines the eerie atmosphere of Tana French and Louise Penny with the compulsively taut plotting of Dervla McTiernan and Lucy Foley, as an Irish veterinarian grapples with life, death, family dynamics, and the secrets at the heart of her small community…

On a rocky beach in the southwest of Ireland, the body of Jimmy O’Reilly, sixty-nine years old and dressed in a suit and his dancing shoes, is propped on a boulder, staring sightlessly out to sea. A cryptic message is spelled out next to the body with sixty-nine polished black stones and a discarded vial of deadly veterinarian medication lies nearby. Jimmy was a wealthy racehorse owner, known far and wide as The Dancing Man. In a town like Dingle, everyone knows a little something about everyone else. But dig a bit deeper, and there’s always much more to find. And when Detective Inspector Cormac O'Brien is dispatched out of Killarney to lead the murder inquiry, he's determined to unearth every last buried secret.
 
Dimpna Wilde hasn’t been home in years. As picturesque as Dingle may be for tourists in search of their roots and the perfect jumper, to her it means family drama and personal complications. In fairness, Dublin hasn’t worked out quite as she hoped either. Faced with a triple bombshell—her mother rumored to be in a relationship with Jimmy, her father’s dementia is escalating, and her brother is avoiding her calls—Dimpna moves back to clear her family of suspicion.
 
Despite plenty of other suspects, the guards are crawling over the Wildes. But the horse business can be a brutal one, and as Dimpna becomes more involved with her old acquaintances and haunts, the depth of lingering grudges becomes clear. Theft, extortion, jealousy and greed. As Dimpna takes over the family practice, she's in a race with the detective inspector to uncover the dark, twisting truth, no matter how close to home it strikes…

The story is character-driven and also very descriptive you feel like you are right there in Dingle, Ireland.  I’m a huge fan of the authors other mystery series set in Ireland so had to get this one and boy was I not disappointed.

The mystery is interesting and had lots of twists which kept me guessing. With so many suspects to follow I was surprised I guessed just before it was revealed.  

I highly recommend this book to all my Irish Mystery loving friends.

I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from the publisher 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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Crime for the Books by Kate Young

Hello my cozy friends, 

Today I am reviewing “Crime for the Books” by Kate Young this is the 3rd instalment in the "A Jane Doe Book Club Mystery" series. OMG! I really enjoyed this story and think I liked even better than the first two.  This has become one of my favourite series!

Lyla Moody and her book club, the Jane Does, are hosting a Halloween party at Magnolia Manor, tailored after Agatha Christie’s A Murder is Announced, but when the lights come on after the staged murder, a real victim lies dead with a gunshot wound in her chest. The victim was an estranged relative of Elaine Morgan, operator of the B&B, who’d earlier been seen arguing with her about the fate of the property. Suspicion immediately falls on Elaine, and she’s arrested.

The Jane Does believe Elaine is innocent, and when they get the chance to team up with police officer Rosa Landry—a member of the club—they jump on it. But then, the club discovers that two more murders have been brazenly predicted online and in the Sweet Mountain Gazette—and that one of the intended victims is Rosa.

Lyla thinks she knows who the killer is, but the only way to find out is by laying a trap using Rosa as bait. But, like an Agatha Christie mystery, the truth is never what it seems. Lyla and her trusty book club will have to sleuth out the killer before Rosa meets her final chapter.

I found myself engrossed in the story and reading till the wee hours as I had to finish. It was suspenseful, and had me on the edge of my seat. I found it had just the right mixture of everything.

This go around we are more focused on Sergeant Rosa Landry and why she is acting strange and proving Elaine didn’t murder of her cousin.  The mystery was interesting, well plotted, and full of twists and turns as well as a few surprises that kept me on the edge of my seat.

I am so looking forward to seeing more in this series 

I highly recommend this series to all my 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.

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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Secrets of the Nile by Tasha Alexander

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing “Secrets of the Nile” the 16th instalment in the A Lady Emily Mysteries by Tasha Alexander.  This is the second book I have read by Tasha Alexander and won’t be my last.  

In a brilliant homage to Agatha Christie, critically acclaimed author Tasha Alexander sends Lady Emily to Egypt during British colonial rule to investigate a crime that leads back to the era of the Pharaohs.

In Secrets of the Nile, Lady Emily and her husband, Colin Hargreaves, have joined his formidable mother on a holiday to visit the exotic treasures of Egypt. Their host, Lord Bertram Deeley, is a renowned amateur British collector of antiquities, who has invited his closest friends on a lavish cruise up the Nile to his home at Luxor. But on the first night of their journey, he suddenly collapses after offering a welcome toast, a victim of the lethal poison cyanide. Who amongst this group of his nearest and dearest would want to kill their generous host?

Emily and Colin’s investigation soon reveals that even his closest friends had reasons to want him dead: was it the archeologist whose dig Deeley was poised to fund until he suddenly withdrew support? The powerful politician whose career Deeley had secretly destroyed? The dyspeptic aristocratic English spinster whose hired travelling companion seems determined to protect her employer? Or could it be Mrs. Hargreaves herself, who may have spurned the advances of Lord Deeley when they were both younger?

A key clue may lie with several ancient ushabtis, exquisite three-thousand-year-old sculptures that played a role in a hidden story from the time of Ancient Egypt, one of a sister’s unshakeable loyalty to her brother, a tale of betrayal and revenge. In an unforgettable finale, Emily and Colin gather their fellow travelers together to unmask a killer whose motive is as shocking as it is brilliant.

I found it to be a quick easy read and finished in two days, I really enjoyed the dual narratives telling us the story of Meryt in ancient Egypt to lady Emily in the early 20th century in the exotic setting of Luxor, Egypt. 

The mystery is interesting and well plotted, and I loved the characters of Lady Emily and Colin.
I kept guessing and second-guessing myself on whodunnit right to the very end.   I recommend this book to all my mystery 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.

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 Halloween Homicide by Tonya Kappes

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing “A Halloween Homicide” by Tonya Kappes the 3rd book in her new series starring Violet Rhinehammer and her mom.  This is now my favourite out of Tonya’s series.

CELEBRATE GOOD CRIMES!

It's spooky season in Holiday Junction and Halloweenie Festival is a hauntingly great time. Treats aren’t just sweet and delicious, sometimes they’re also deadly.

Holiday Junction really knows how to throw holiday festivals, and it goes all out for Halloween.

The holiday celebration includes a ghost walk of haunting tales, a hay ride, carnival games, pumpkin carvings and costume party.

Violet Rhinehammer has the perfect assignment—represent the Junction Journal by attending all the fun festive activities and reporting on them.

When Violet reluctantly goes on the ghost walk, she realizes the body that fell out of the fake casket is a real one and not a prop. She knows trouble is brewing. She puts on a sleuthing costume after someone she loves becomes Chief Strickland's number one suspect in order to catch the real monster.

It’s the week before Halloween in Holiday Junction where Violet finds herself investigating another murder!  While gather information on the Ghost Walk, she finds a body …

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 and new series to all my cozy loving friends especially if you like stories set around the holidays. 

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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Bones of Holly by Carolyn Haines

Hello my cozy friends, 

Today I am reviewing  "Bones of Holly" by Carolyn Haines the 25th instalment in the "A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery" series which releases on October 11th.  I am a huge fan of Carolyn’s and this series!

Bones of Holly is the next novel from Carolyn Haines in the series that Kirkus Reviews characterizes as “Stephanie Plum meets the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” featuring sassy Southern private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney.

Sarah Booth and Tinkie, along with baby Maylin, are in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi for Christmas this year, as judges for the annual library tree decorating contest.

The other two judges are writers Sandra O’Day and Janet Malone. They’re bestselling Mississippi authors, but bitter competitors. In fact, the feud between them is the stuff of legends. For years, they’ve brawled, their sales skyrocketing with each cat fight. Sandra’s most recent true crime book documents the 1920s rum-running era of Al Capone, who built a mansion in BSL and a distribution network for his liquor. Janet’s book, scheduled to be published in January, is a fictional account of the same material—which only heightens their bitter rivalry.

Sarah Booth and Tinkie are shopping with little Maylin when they see Sandra and Janet outside a bookstore, fur flying, and when Sandra vanishes from her own gala later that night, suspicion turns to Janet. Janet accuses Sandra of attempting to manipulate the media by a fake disappearance, but is it a stunt, or is something more sinister at play?

Sarah Booth and Tinkie will have to dive deep into the history of Bay St. Louis, and even Al Capone himself, to get to the bottom of this case. But the trail in fact leads them back to several prominent families still residing in the area. Families who may not want their secrets known…

I always enjoy visiting with Sarah and Tinkie it’s like coming home to old friends.  Sarah Booth is a strong and intelligent protagonist and all the characters are fully developed. I liked visiting the Bay of St. Louis, Mississippi at Christmas with Sarah and Tinkie and learning a little bit of the history in that area and even a little about Al Capone.

The inclusion of her haint (Dahlia House's ghost Jetty) always brings a chuckle as i can imagine what Sarah looks like talking to herself.  There were a few spots in the book that were really funny if you picture it in your head, oink oink…

There were plenty of twists and turns and lots of suspects to choose from to keep you intrigued.  I found this book to be a real page-turner, suspenseful, read that had me second guessing up till the end. 

I’m looking forward to the next instalment 

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

I won an Advance Reader Copy of this book from St. Martins Press and Goodreads. 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,