Cat House (Crazy Cat Lady Mystery)
Cozy Cat Mystery
10th in Series
Setting – Portland, Oregon
Independently Published (October 29, 2023)
Number of Pages: 255

 

Synopsis

 

This Halloween, the cats are hiding, and the monsters don’t wear costumes.

Young men from the Portland-Seattle area are going missing. It’s just another sad headline to Lynley Cannon—until she starts her new cat sitting job for an enigmatic neighbor Darla, that is.

An off-limits room, a suspicious phone message involving drugs, and the sudden appearance of a missing man’s cat peaks Lynley’s interest, but how far can she go before her cat-like curiosity turns deadly?

 

 

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Guest Post

 

Featuring Lynley Cannon, hero of the Crazy Cat Lady Cozy Mysteries

 

by Mollie Hunt

 

 

My name is Lynley Cannon and I have nine cats. No, I’m not a hoarder. I just can’t pass up a cat in need, and as long as I can care for all of them and give them an environment of plenty, it can’t be considered hoarding.

I know a lot about cats, though I am always learning more. Did you know that petting a cat can lower your blood pressure, or that many cat (and animal) advocates, including myself, have chosen to live a vegan lifestyle? How about the fact that cats don’t taste sweets or see the color red? It’s said their little vocal cords can produce up to one hundred different sounds. “Meow” to that! In ancient Egypt, cats were worshiped as gods, and as you may have heard on the internet, they have never forgotten it.

I’m what people call a cat person, and sometimes, a crazy cat lady, but I’m not quite crazy yet, I swear. I do find myself in a lot of mischief, however. It’s not my fault. I’m curious as any one of my cats, and that curiosity has consequences.

For example, I recently decided to take a job cat sitting for a woman in my neighborhood. In all my sixty-some years, I’d never thought about working as a cat sitter before, but there was something about the flyer on the cat shelter bulletin board that caught my eye. Whether it was the photo of her extensive clowder posed on a white sofa or the picture of her house which I recognized from my walks around the block, I’m not certain. All I can say is her plea made me curious, and before I knew it, I was embroiled in something that went far beyond sitting with cats.

Last summer I took on another job I’d never done before as a live-in foster mom to a diva cat who happened to be the only occupant of one of Portland’s most prestigious mansions. Winter Orange, Winnie for short, was a ward of Friends of Felines cat shelter where I volunteer. Her person had died, though it quickly came to light the man had been murdered. And there I was, stuck in the middle of deception and intrigue trying to take care of a cat!

There have been other incidences as well where my curiosity brought me trouble and even danger.

I got sealed in a subterranean tunnel with a handsome feline archaeologist who couldn’t find a way out.

I helped solve a locked room mystery and clear a cat of the murder rap, but only after I was almost killed myself.

I infiltrated a group of vigilante cosplayers to discover who did away with their leader Captain Cat. The situation turned out to be more deadly than I could ever have expected.

And the list goes on.

My teenage granddaughter Seleia presses me to be more careful. Sometimes I think she wants me to stay at home watching television and sipping chamomile tea like other women my age. Sorry, but that’s not going to happen.

I don’t intend to get myself into any more tomfoolery, however, and I have a plan to keep busy with a new and harmless hobby. My best friend and shelter buddy Frannie DeSoto has become a member of a quilting club, and she wants me to join too. I’m not much of a seamstress, but she promises I’ll figure it out as I go. The group specializes in cat-themed designs, so it sounds like it’s right up my alley. And what possible trouble, beyond poking myself with a needle, could I get into making quilts?

 

To read more of Lynley’s adventures, check out the Crazy Cat Lady Cozy Mystery Series. Books need not be read in order—just pick a topic that appeals to you and go!

 

 

About the Author

 

Cat Writer Mollie Hunt is the award-winning author of two cozy series: the Crazy Cat Lady Mysteries featuring a sixty-something cat shelter volunteer who finds more trouble than a cat in catnip, and the Tenth Life Paranormal Mysteries involving a ghost cat. Her Cat Seasons Sci-Fantasy Tetralogy presents extraordinary cats saving the world. She recently released a COVID memoir, which she calls “a tale of a plague and politics, of depression and inspiration, and an ode to the very real and healing presence of cats.” In her spare time, she pens a bit of cat poetry as well.

Mollie is a member of the Oregon Writers’ Colony, Sisters in Crime, the Cat Writers’ Association, Willamette Writers, and the Northwest Independent Writers Association (NIWA). She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and a varying number of cats. Like her cat lady character, she is a grateful shelter volunteer.

 

 

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FINDING COMFORT

 

Comfort and Joy Trilogy, Book Two

 

by

 

Kimberly Fish

 

 

Women’s Fiction / Contemporary / Cozy Mystery

Publisher: Fish Tales Publishing

Date of Publication: September 1, 2023

Number of Pages: 312 pages

 

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Even with all her experience, Gloria Bachman, retired banker, and candy entrepreneur, didn’t see this coming.

Sweeties, the beloved Comfort chocolate shop, was ready for its cameo in advertising extraordinaire Jazzy Mezcal’s famous travel and food show! Comfort town folks had worked hard all summer to get their shops Hallmark-movie ready. On the eve of the TV crews overtaking the town, Gloria’s Chamber of Commerce welcome party gets drenched in a wicked rainstorm. Locals call it a “blue norther,” and a dreaded agent of change. Flooding seems like the worst of their problems until the celebrity TV host turns up dead.

In shock, Gloria’s friends turn to her to figure out who could be responsible for such a disaster. With the TV crew and guests in town for the 8^th Street Market’s annual shopping event, suspects are endless. Reluctant to get involved, Gloria would much rather focus on the delicious romance with Mason Lassiter. And she would if a frenemy from Kerrville didn’t haunt her every step. Now, as Gardner Rogers treads on her turf, everything feels suspicious.

With all eyes on Gloria to find the truth behind Jazzy Mezcal’s untimely death, she indulges her curiosity for problem-solving while trying to disguise how unsure she is about the future with her boyfriend. Disruption in Mason’s world, mayhem in Comfort, and one epic chocolate disaster rouse Gloria to action and make her decide what’s worth fighting for. All she can say for sure is that no one is finding any comfort in Comfort.

 

 

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I have fallen in love with Comfort, Texas, and I really need to visit there sometime soon. I love small towns and the unique character they bring to those around them.

This story has me laughing, yet on pins and needles, as Gloria seeks the truth in a local homicide. There were so many surprises regarding the death of the network star that it kept me guessing throughout. Just when you think you know the full story, you are smacked with a new twist that you didn’t see coming. To even hint at those twists would ruin the book for you, so this means you will have to pick up the book and read it.

Gloria is growing on me. She is an older protagonist, which I appreciate. It is nice to know that not all main characters are younger and that the wisdom and maturity that she brings to the pages reflect well on her. There are so many great quotes from the book that relate to Gloria that I need to share a few with you.

“You feel responsible for everyone. It’s one of your worst traits.”

“You have an over-developed helper gene…”

“What you think is some dumb luck attributed to women who like to dress up and find the softer side of life is really a carefully honed skill. I earned it by sharp knocks, obstacles, heartbreak, and a lot of hard work. Some people call it character. I like to call it grit.”

These are all true of Gloria. She is kind to a fault and will go the extra mile for her friends. Yet she is tough when the situation calls for it. She had some tough times, but she is back on her feet with a chocolate shop (one of my dreams!) and a new love interest, Mason. I like that because they are older, they appreciate taking their time in getting to know one another and not rushing into anything too quickly. Their path together is not smooth, but I think this helps their relationship blossom and become stronger. There are some things tied to Mason’s past that will need to be resolved, but at least they are working on it together, and he isn’t shutting her out.

Gloria has also moved past putting up with shenanigans from people in her past, namely one Gardner Rogers. This woman has something up her sleeve, but it is hard to know exactly what. We learn a little bit more about her and her past with Gloria, but there is more than meets the eye with this one. So watch out for her!

There are a few other lines I wanted to share with you. If you are a woman, you will understand and perhaps even laugh at these statements.

“Menopause changed me. Honey, it changed us all. It’s like puberty’s ugly step-sister.”

“I’ll text Margo that you’re next door. She’ll want to come make tea or whatever it is you ladies do in crisis moments.”

This book stepped up the mystery aspect over the first in this series so much that I feel it fits into the cozy category. But there are plenty of other attributes to enjoy outside of seeking the truth in Jazzy’s untimely death.

This author knows how to bring friends together in support, good times and bad, and even when tracking down a killer.

We give this book 5 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kimberly Fish has been a professional writer in marketing and media for over thirty years, with regular contributions to area newspapers and magazines. As an accidental historian, she wrote two novels, The Big Inch and Harmon General, both based on factual events in Longview, Texas, that changed world history. Kimberly also offers a set of contemporary women’s fiction novels and novellas based in the Texas Hill Country that reveal her fascination with characters discovering their grit and sweet, second chances; all four of the novels have won distinguished awards. Finding Comfort is her latest novel, the second book in the Comfort and Joy Trilogy.

 

 

 

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10/24/23	Reading by Moonlight	Review
10/24/23	Hall Ways Blog	BONUS Stop
10/25/23	The Book’s Delight	Review
10/25/23	LSBBT Blog	BONUS Stop
10/26/23	Bibliotica	Review
10/27/23	Jennie Reads	Review
10/27/23	The Page Unbound	BONUS Stop
10/28/23	The Plain-Spoken Pen	Review
10/29/23	Rox Burkey Blog	Review
10/30/23	StoreyBook Reviews	Review
10/31/23	Carpe Diem Chronicles	Review
11/01/23	Boys’ Mom Reads	BONUS Stop
11/01/23	It’s Not All Gravy	Review
11/02/23	Forgotten Winds	Review

 

 

 

 

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A Nutcracker Nightmare (A Killer Chocolate Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Montana
Crooked Lane Books (October 17, 2023)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages

 

Synopsis

 

Perfect for fans of Joanne Fluke and Laura Childs, when twin sisters Hanna and Alex help out at the local high school reunion, volunteering takes a turn when they find a former classmate’s dead body.

Hanna and Alex, owners of the Murder and Mayhem book and chocolate shop, are busy preparing for the Harriston High School’s reunion weekend. Neighbors will connect with old friends and perhaps try to avoid old foes. One person no one can avoid is Kyle, the former star quarterback, who is busy using his entire playbook to try and score with Hanna, even threatening her if she doesn’t play nice. At the reunion, Alex glimpses more drama than nostalgia as insults are flung around like a football at a Friday night game. The party is put on hold when Alex finds the dead body of none other than Kyle himself, bludgeoned to death by a nutcracker that the sisters admired earlier in the night.

Hanna quickly becomes the prime suspect—someone saw her slap Kyle in the face at the reunion dance. She’ll need her sister, their sleuthing canine, Watson, and their old friends and colleagues to help break this case wide open. While looking through old yearbooks and taking a stroll down memory lane, Alex uncovers a few secrets about Kyle, now, it seems like everyone had a motive to kill him.

But when the suspects start becoming the victims, Alex and Hanna know that they can’t melt under the pressure—they must find the killer before they become just another yearbook memory.

 

 

 

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Review

 

If you are ready for the holidays and want a cozy to read, check out this new book. It is set during the holidays, has plenty of decorations to keep you in the spirit, and delicious chocolates that will leave you salivating.

This is a fun series, and I like that the main character is a little older (40’s), runs a bookstore, and is navigating the world of dating with neighbor Tom. She also has to deal with sniping from another neighbor, Penelope. I think Penelope is just jealous that Tom chose Alex over her. But, in this book, there is another potential love interest for Alex, Eddie. Will he make the cut?

I loved the mystery because I did not guess the killer. I was sure it was a certain character and almost thought I was right until things turned. I was very surprised in the end, and I think you will be too. I think I might have suspected this character, but it was fleeting, and there was nothing concrete to say it was them.

I love the chocolates that Hanna creates. I would like a box mailed to me, please!

This is a delicious series, and we give it 4 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Christina Romeril is the author of the Killer Chocolate Mystery series. The series is set in Montana at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, one of her favourite places to visit. She and her husband live a few hours away in a small village in Southern Alberta. When Christina isn’t writing she loves to hike in Waterton Lakes National Park, or just hang out there eating gourmet hot dogs and ice cream. When the former banker isn’t enjoying nature, she loves to create and consume chocolate confections. Not necessarily in that order.

 

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In the Wick of Time (Magic Candle Shop Mystery)
Paranormal Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Savannah, Georgia
Crooked Lane Books (October 17, 2023)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages

 

Synopsis

 

Tabby Winslow will help her twin sister Sage with anything and everything—and that includes putting out the flames of suspicion when Sage’s boss is found murdered in this magical mystery, perfect for fans of Amanda Flower and Sofie Kelly.

December in Savannah, Georgia, is a sight to behold. With all the festivities—including the traditional riverfront luminary display during the boat parade—twin sisters Tabby and Sage Winslow are busier than ever setting up for the big celebration. But that isn’t the only thing on the sisters’ minds. Both Sage and her fellow employee Mary Nicole are vying for the sought-after assistant manager job at the plant nursery. But when Loren Lee, their boss, is found dead, and Sage becomes the police’s favorite suspect, both Winslow girls know that they’ll need more than a flicker of magic and their sisterhood to solve the murder and clear Sage’s name.

Soon, Tabby realizes that this is just one of the many problems they have. If being a suspect for murder wasn’t enough, there are more magical problems that they have to fix: Sage’s boyfriend is having a paranormal experience of his own he can’t control, there’s an energy vampire searching for his supposedly lost cousin, her cat suddenly dislikes her, and oh—every time Tabby hiccups, she turns completely invisible. The suspect list grows with each day and it seems everyone has a reason or a connection to Loren Lee.

Tabby and Sage are burning the candle at both ends—but will it be enough to keep their friends safe and find this killer? Or will they be burned by their efforts?

 

 

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Guest Post

 

 

Stillrooms and Apothecary Shops

 

By Valona Jones

 

 

In every book of A Magic Candle Shop Mystery Series, I share a bit about the room behind the candle shop . It’s where the magic happens, literally. Tabby Winslow is the family’s resident candle and soap maker, and she instills her good energy in the products she creates.

The label for candles and soaps with heavy-duty energy infusions is “aromatherapy.” Technically, all of the shop’s candles fit the description of aromatherapy since they are created using essential oils and natural ingredients, but most of the shop’s candles are diffused with the ambient current Tabby radiates. The aromatherapy ones get a walloping dose of goodness.

Through time, candles have earned the reputation of creating a calm and relaxing atmosphere. Some essential oils used in candlemaking, such as eucalyptus, lemon grass, patchouli, and lavender, to name a few, have therapeutic qualities and are known to relieve stress and anxiety. The candles and soaps Tabby makes continue her family traditions.

Tabby is very protective of her workspace. She won’t let just anybody in there, and especially not cops. When the wrong person enters her stillroom, she must smudge it with sage sticks to get rid of bad vibes.

Historically, a stillroom was one part science lab, one part infirmary, one part kitchen, and another part work room. It has typically been a female’s domain, but in contemporary times gender lines are blurred. Items created in a stillroom include medicines, cosmetics, household products, and homebrewed ale. Even further back in time, a stillroom wasn’t attached to the main house. It was an out-building.

The Book and Candle Shop caters to customers who prefer products made with natural bases and herbal products. If you added crystals to the inventory, the shop would be considered a metaphysical shop, but there are no crystals. Thus, the Winslows hold fast to the claim that this proves they aren’t witches.

Tabby’s stillroom is painted in a robin egg blue color. The dark counters contrast with the radiant windows across the alley side of the building. Above the industrial sink drying herbs hang n clumps. Electric green ferns line the windowsill, and the room itself radiates good energy.

As an author, I made these choices to give my amateur sleuth, Tabby, a respite from the world, a safe haven where she can let her hair down and create at will. She’s already conditioned not to be forthcoming in public because she’s got a boatload of family secrets to hide. The stillroom isn’t just the hub of the shop, it’s the lifeblood of her family. It’s the key to their success, especially those old recipe crafting books that go back generations.

Here’s something few people know. With its painted concrete floor, the stillroom is essentially a slab atop one of the three mass graves from Savannah’s three epidemics of Yellow Fever. So many people died each day that they couldn’t dig graves fast enough. (Note that the mass graves and Yellow Fever epidemics really happened, but the location of a mass grave under the candle shop is artistic license.)

The upshot of the shop being perched atop a mass grave is the constant emission of energy that revitalizes all but one of the Winslows every night. The character with the recharging issue is Sage. No wonder she’s often grumpy and a bit spiteful. Poor thing! As the family’s resident herbalist and plant grinder, she quickly becomes the target of a homicide investigation in this book.

 

 

About the Author

 

Valona Jones, also known as Maggie Toussaint, writes paranormal cozy mysteries set in coastal Georgia. A former scientist, she’s drawn to the study of personal energy. She sharpened her people-watching skills as a lifelong introvert and had a bank vault of personal observations when she began to write fiction. Her newest release is In The Wick of Time, book 2 in the A Magic Candle Shop Mystery, preceded by Snuffed Out, which released Jan. 2023. She’s a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime with more than twenty-five published works of fiction. She lives in coastal Georgia, where she’s seen time and tide wait for no one.

 

 

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A Parfait Crime (A Five-Ingredient Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
9th in Series
Setting – Chesapeake Bay
Kensington Cozies (October 24, 2023)
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages

 

Synopsis

 

A granddaughter-grandfather sleuthing duo take on a perplexing new case in the latest culinary cozy mystery, sure to appeal to fans of Diane Mott, Joanne Fluke, and Katherine Hall Page.

At the site of a fatal blaze, Val’s boyfriend, a firefighter trainee, is shocked to learn the victim is known to him, a woman named Jane who belonged to the local Agatha Christie book club—and was rehearsing alongside Val’s grandfather for an upcoming Christie play being staged for charity. Just as shocking are the skeletal remains of a man found in the freezer. Who is he and who put him on ice?

After Val is chosen to replace Jane in the play, the cast gathers at their house to get to work—and enjoy Grandad’s five-ingredient parfaits—but all anyone can focus on is the bizarre real-life mystery. When it’s revealed that Jane’s death was due to something other than smoke inhalation, Val and Grandad try to retrace her final days. As they dig into her past life, their inquiry leads them to a fancy new spa in town—where they discover that Jane wasn’t the only one who had a skeleton in the cooler . . .

Includes delicious five-ingredient recipes!

 

 

 

 

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Guest Post

 

Staging an Agatha Christie Play Can Be Murder

My Five-Ingredient Mysteries feature café manager Val solving murders in a Chesapeake Bay town with her livewire grandfather, the Codger Cook. Each book has five suspects, five clues, and Granddad’s five-ingredient recipes. The 9th book in my series, A PARFAIT CRIME, has just come out.

My latest book is focused on a community theater production of Agatha Christie’s THE MOUSETRAP. ​​Val joins her grandfather in play rehearsals, replacing cast member Jane, who died in an arson fire. Sweet Jane was known for her parfaits. After skeletal remains are found in her storeroom freezer, Val and Granddad must solve a crime with as many layers as a parfait and with echoes of the crimes in THE MOUSETRAP. When their search for a killer takes them to an upscale spa, they learn that Jane wasn’t the only one hiding her past.

To follow the mystery in my book, you don’t need to be familiar with THE MOUSETRAP.  You’ll learn a little about it, but my book doesn’t contain any spoilers about the play. You’ll have to see or read it to find out who the murderer is at a snowbound guesthouse.

I saw THE MOUSETRAP performed twice many years ago. To prepare for writing about it in my book, I delved into its script. My research also included reading Agatha Christie’s autobiography and Julius Green’s CURTAIN UP – AGATHA CHRISTIE: A LIFE IN THE THEATRE.

 

 

Here are five fun facts that I discovered about Christie as a playwright.

1. Agatha Christie is the bestselling fiction writer of all time, but that’s not the only record she holds. Her play, THE MOUSETRAP, is the longest running stage production in the world. It opened in London in 1952 and is still drawing crowds.
2. Early in her career Christie allowed other writers to adapt her books for the stage. She disliked their plays, believing they stuck too closely to the novel’s plot. So she decided to write her own dramatic adaptations. When she adapted the books in which Hercule Poirot solves the mystery, she removed him from the play because he used up too much stage oxygen.
3. Her most successful plays were based on stories that Poirot wasn’t in: AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, THE MOUSETRAP, and WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (her personal favorite).
4. Christie once wrote, “I find that writing plays is much more fun than writing books.” With plays she didn’t need to write long descriptions of places and people. Nevertheless, she wrote 74 novels, 66 of which are mysteries.
5. On the day she died, London’s West End theaters dimmed their lights for one hour.

When Christie licensed THE MOUSETRAP for production, she specified that no film version could be made of it until the play’s London run was over. Don’t bet on a movie of it anytime soon. There are no restrictions on performing the play in school, community, and repertory theaters. If you’re lucky, you can see a local theater production of it. And if you’re really lucky, you’ll see it in London.

 

 

About the Author

 

Maya (Mary Ann) Corrigan writes the Five-Ingredient Mysteries featuring café manager  Val and her live-wire grandfather solving murders in a Chesapeake Bay town. Each book has five suspects, five clues, and Granddad’s five-ingredient recipes. In the 9th book of the series, A Parfait Crime, Val and Granddad rehearse an Agatha Christie play with a cast that includes murder suspects. A Virginia resident, Maya has taught college courses in writing, detective fiction, and literature.  When not reading and writing, she enjoys theater, travel, trivia, cooking, and crosswords. Visit her website for book news, easy recipes, and mystery history and trivia.

 

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Synopsis

 

As the manager of Vino y Vida Wine Bar in Colinas, Cecelia “Cece” Barton’s first Alexander Valley harvest is a whirlwind of activity. Her twin sister, Allie Halstead, who owns a nearby Victorian bed & breakfast, is accustomed to the hustle and bustle of peak tourist season. But Cece barely has a moment to enjoy her new home in between worrying about her estranged college-age daughter, juggling her responsibilities at the bar, and navigating the sticky politics of the local wine association. Just when it seems things can’t grow any more intense, Colinas is rocked by a murder within the wine community . . . and Cece is identified as a possible suspect!

With her reputation and her livelihood on the line—and the Sonoma County deputy sheriff breathing down her neck—Cece has no choice but to open up her own murder investigation. Tensions are already high in the valley, as a massive wildfire creeps toward Colinas, threatening homes, vineyards, and the vital tourist trade. And now, with a murderer on the loose, and Cece’s sleuthing exposing the valley’s bitterest old rivalries and secret new alliances, Colinas feels ready to pop! But with Allie’s help, Cece is determined to catch the killer and clear her name before everything she’s worked so hard for goes up in flames . . .

 

 

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Review

 

What a great start to a new series! Wine, small town, and murder…some of my favorite things.

Cece Barton is starting her life over in this small California town after the death of her husband. Her twin sister lives here, which made it a logical choice. Apparently, she is good at sleuthing since there are references to her solving a murder before. This is the first in the series, so I don’t know if it is a spin-off from another series or if there are just references to her solving a previous murder.

I wasn’t sure what to make of Cece at first. She seemed unsure of herself and perhaps a bit wishy-washy. However, as the book progressed, I watched her develop and become a little more self-assured. She has a great relationship with her sister but a rocky one with her daughter. However, they are both still grieving a loss, and sometimes, it is easier to take out your grief and anger on someone still living versus the deceased. However, I was glad to see that the relationship started back to somewhat normal by the end of the book.

I love it when despicable characters are axed in books. It is easier than dealing with a nasty attitude for a whole book. Not that there aren’t other characters that provide tension throughout, but sometimes truly bad characters need to go. I started having a strong inclination as to who the killer might be a little over halfway through the book. I didn’t know the why, but I just stumbled across a clue and thought it seemed likely. Glad to see I was right!

There is even a potential love interest for Cece, and I look forward to seeing where this relationship might go.

I think this will be a fun series, and I look forward to the next book. We give it 4 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Maddie Day is the Agatha Award-winning author of the Cozy Capers Book Club Mysteries, the Country Store Mysteries, the CeCe Barton Mysteries, and the Local Foods Mysteries, as well as other series and short crime fiction written under the name Edith Maxwell. A member of Mystery Writers of America and a proud lifetime member of Sisters in Crime, she is a regular contributor at Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen and belongs to the Wicked Authors, a group of bestselling authors who blog at WickedAuthors.com. Day lives with her beau and their cat Martin north of Boston, although she knows Indiana, California, and Cape Cod intimately. She is a wine enthusiast, talented amateur chef, and former farmer.

 

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Eat, Pray, Hex (Crescent Moon Mysteries)
Paranormal Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Florida
Independently Published (October 13, 2023)
Number of Pages: 246

 

Synopsis

 

Step into the mysterious world of weird Florida, where surprises and spirits are as common as sun and sand…

Amelia Matthews never anticipated inheriting a hotel in a small southern town, but life’s twists and turns have led her to the Sunshine State. Under the hotel’s quirky, rundown façade lie haunting secrets—an unsolved murder and a restless spirit who keeps turning off the air conditioner. In the summer. In Florida.

From the moment Amelia reluctantly walks through the door of the Crescent Moon Inn, she embarks on an unwelcome spectral adventure. Her companions on this eerie journey include the sassy feline Freddie Purrcury, the overly enthusiastic and hilarious Liz with her New Age bookstore, and the charmingly handsome local historian, Oliver.

Then Amelia discovers her hidden psychic abilities. As spooky happenings escalate, she can’t help but wish for a few minutes of peace. And maybe a margarita.

She faces a decision: sell the inn and run, or embrace her new destiny as a paranormal sleuth. In this spine-tingling cozy mystery, Amelia Matthews unravels the secrets of the inn’s haunted past while navigating psychic powers, an ornery cat, and a quirky crew of new friends. If she doesn’t solve the mystery, she just might become the inn’s next ghostly inhabitant…

Join Amelia in a captivating, laugh-out-loud adventure as she embarks on a quest to uncover the truth, and you’ll find yourself immersed in a world where the line between the ordinary and the supernatural blurs.

 

 

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Some of the readers of my Coffee Lover’s Mystery series may know that those books are contemporary mysteries set in present-day Florida, a landscape of sun, sand, and suspicious murders (while enjoying tasty coffee).

I’d never thought about writing a paranormal mystery, until recently.

In November of 2022, I took a flight to visit my parents in California. They live near Sacramento, the state’s capital. We decided to take a day trip to a little gold rush town named Folsom — yes, that Folsom, of Johnny Cash fame! In 1968, Cash performed his famous song “Folsom Prison Blues” in the actual Folsom Prison. The air seemed to thrum with the rhythms of his guitar.

 

 

Fun fact: When someone asked Cash why the song’s main character was serving time in California’s Folsom Prison after shooting a man in Reno, Nevada, he responded, “That’s called poetic license.” Imagine that, bending the borders of two states for the sake of a catchy tune!

The town itself is a slice of the Old West, adorable, with a historic and walkable downtown. The buildings looked like they came straight out of a John Steinbeck novel. We stopped into several fun stores that ranged from kitschy to antique, and then found a Mexican restaurant that filled the air with the aroma of sizzling fajitas and fresh cilantro. I regret not buying a cute blanket that was as colorful as a cozy mystery book cover.

Then, being the Lush family—pun fully intended—we had to check out the town’s best-known attraction: a tavern located in an old hotel.

 

 

 

The Folsom Hotel was built in 1885, and the inside is a wonderfully preserved time capsule. Its decor was like a mix of frontier ruggedness and Victorian elegance. While it’s no longer a hotel, there is a wonderful lounge area. My parents and I slid onto the barstools, as hard and unyielding as the alibis in my mysteries, and took it all in.

The place was delightfully spooky, dimly lit and with nooks and crannies that seemed to hold a hundred years of dust and secrets. We learned a little bit from our bartender.

 

 

Turns out, the place is haunted! Employees report seeing — and feeling — spirits as they move through the place, ghostly faces have appeared in photos, staring from the backgrounds like unsolved clues, and the electricity often flickers, as if trying to signal SOS.

WILD.

I was captivated. As a kid growing up in California, I’d learned a lot about the Old West and ghost towns. This experience was like stepping into one of those dusty, sunlit memories, complete with the chills of the unknown.

We wandered around with our drinks, the intoxicating combination of booze and history making us giddy. The original tin roof was still overhead, looking like a crinkled page from an old book, and the wood paneling was so weathered and burnished that I felt like it could walk up to the saloon and tell stories just by exhaling its antique scent.

 

 

As I wandered, my mind bubbling, an idea for a story came to me. It was so vivid, it practically wrote itself in my imagination. I quickly pushed it aside because of other projects, but when I got home, my curiosity got the better of me. I couldn’t let go. I started to do a little research, diving into digital archives like a detective in a dusty library.

I found this gem from the blog Walkies Through History: “Formerly the New Western Hotel, it was owned by German immigrant Charles Zimmerman…” The tragedy of Samuel Levitz and that eerily everlasting mirror sent my imagination into overdrive. EEK! That sounded like a cozy mystery waiting to happen!

In the months after our trip to the Folsom Hotel, that mysterious aura lngered. I kept revisiting the photos I took, each one feeling like a scene from the movie in my mind. Setting a book in California would be a departure for me, but then again, so was writing about ghosts.

This summer, I attended a cozy mystery author conference in Minnesota, which turned out to be a writer’s haven. The experience was as rejuvenating as an iced coffee on a hot Floridian day. And there, amidst fellow writers, the inspiration crystalized. When I arrived back in Florida, my fingers flew across the keyboard.

EAT, PRAY, HEX was born.

Instead of setting the book in California, I used Cassadaga, Florida as my muse—known as the Psychic Capital of the World. It’s a place where mediums, psychics, and paranormal enthusiasts converge about an hour from Disney. The words flowed

For the first time in my career, it felt like this was the story I was destined to write. And it all started with a serendipitous family trip, a haunted hotel, and a twist of that mysterious thing we writers call “inspiration.”

 

 

About the Author

 

Tara Lush is a Florida-based author and journalist. She’s an RWA Rita finalist, an Amtrak writing fellow, and the winner of the George C. Polk Award for environmental journalism.

She was a reporter with The Associated Press in Florida, covering crime, alligators, natural disasters, and politics. She also writes contemporary romance set in tropical locations under the name Tamara Lush.

Tara is a fan of vintage pulp fiction book covers, Sinatra-era jazz, 1980s fashion, tropical chill, kombucha, gin, tonic, seashells, iPhones, Art Deco, telenovelas, street art, coconut anything, strong coffee and newspapers. She lives on the Gulf Coast with her husband and two dogs.

Her debut mystery series is published by Crooked Lane Books.

 

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Spectral Revelations: A Karina Cardinal Mystery
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Setting – Williamsburg, Virginia
Power to the Pen (October 5, 2023)
Print length ‏ : ‎ 285 pages

 

Synopsis

 

Is Karina’s missing aunt on vacation…or on the lam?

Karina is trying to keep her mind on getting a cosponsor for a bill, but it’s tough with her Mom blowing up her phone. By the time Karina finally stops hitting “ignore”, Mom is frantic. It appears Karina’s Aunt Vera has disappeared, fibbed to her employer about the reason for her absence, even abandoned her beloved cat, Nightshade—which is completely out of character. Karina would bet her favorite pair of designer shoes that Vera is in some kind of trouble.

However, when Karina hauls her cookies from D.C. to historic Williamsburg to search Vera’s house, she finds nothing suspicious. Except for a mischievous Civil War ghost who scares the bejesus out of her and keeps trashing Vera’s office. Until Karina realizes his seemingly random ectoplasmic tantrums have a purpose—revealing key evidence.

Something is definitely fishy, but the clues aren’t adding up. And as the spirit’s visitations become more urgent, Karina calls on reinforcements for help—her latest squeeze Rick Donovan and her sister Jillian. Because the cops are following faulty leads, which could put Vera on the wrong end of an arrest warrant … if she’s found alive.

International bestselling and award-winning author Ellen Butler presents book six in the Karina Cardinal mystery series! Fans of Elizabeth Peters and Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum will adore this gripping mystery adventure.

 

 

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About the Author

 

Ellen Butler is the internationally bestselling author of the Karina Cardinal mystery series. Her experiences working on Capitol Hill and at a medical association in Washington, D.C., inspired the mystery-action series. Book critics call the Karina Cardinal mysteries “intelligent escapism” and “unputdownable adventures that will take readers on an electrifying yet light-hearted and humorous journey.” Butler also writes historical spy fiction. Her WWII spy novel, The Brass Compass, recently won a 2022 Speak Up Talk Radio Firebird Book Award for historical fiction. The second book in the duology, Operation Blackbird: A Cold War Spy Novel, is Butler’s latest historical fiction. The novel is inspired by true events and won a Next Generation Indie Book Award gold medal for historical fiction. Reviewers are calling it “riveting” and “a thrilling adventure.”

 

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Murder by the Seashore (A California Bookshop Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – California
Crooked Lane Books (October 17, 2023)

 

 

Synopsis

 

Perfect for fans of Jenn McKinlay and Ellery Adams, Scarlett Gardner’s dream was to open a bookshop in Southern California, but it soon becomes a nightmare when she finds the dead body of a customer—and becomes the prime suspect.

Southern California is where dreams come true—or so Scarlett Gardner thought. When she moved there and opened the Palm Trees and Page Turners bookshop, she thought her boyfriend and business partner would be part of the story. When he leaves her for a better job, Scarlett finds herself struggling to keep her new business afloat. That’s not the only thing she has to worry about—she discovers something underneath the pier by her bookshop that she didn’t outline for her life’s story: the dead body of a book-buying customer.

After Scarlett gives a statement to the police, she thinks her life can go back to business as usual. But when a lawyer representing someone named Lorelai Knight tells Scarlett that she now stands to inherit a small fortune, she’s left with more questions than answers. Before she can make sense of any of it, the police bring her in for questioning; the body she found was Lorelai Knight. And the evidence they have against Scarlett doesn’t look good. Business is booming as Scarlett returns to Palm Trees and Page Turners but for all the wrong reasons – curious tourists don’t want books, they want a glimpse of the Bookshop Killer.

Who could really be behind all of this? And why frame Scarlett? To clear her name, she’s going to have to get creative—and hope she can remain one page ahead of the killer.

 

 

 

 

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Review

 

This was a fun read for a new series. As with most first books, some rough edges will need to be worked out. Scarlett is likable, owns a bookstore (and who doesn’t dream of that?!), and has a good base of friends and family. However, when she stumbles across a body, her world turns upside down.

Like most cozies, Scarlett is suspected of doing the deed and has to solve the crime to clear her name. There isn’t a love interest that appears, but it is only the first book!

There are many red herrings thrown into the mix of this story. I suspected several characters because those were some of the clues or suspicious behavior exhibited by some of the characters. Some characters are cleared quickly, and when the real murderer is revealed, it is quite a surprise. It was not someone I suspected. However, it makes perfect sense once the reasons behind it are revealed.

The book felt like it moved at a slightly slower pace initially but picked up speed as it progressed. There are several characters to dislike, primarily the recent ex-boyfriend, Connor. He is not redeemed in the book. I wonder if we will see more of him in future books since I think he provides some tension in the story.

I really like Scarlett’s roommate, Lucia. She is whip-smart and manages to keep Scarlett out of too much trouble. I love how she relates everything to movies.

We give this new series 4 paws up.

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

Samara Yew is a cozy mystery author who writes about adorable bookshops and dead bodies. A full-time mom, full-time dog servant, and part-time writer, Samara lives in British Columbia, Canada, where she can often be found watching Psych reruns. Samara loves to travel, especially visiting her husband’s home country of Singapore or donning Mickey ears in Disneyland. She’s a member of Sisters in Crime and International Thriller Writers.

 

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Brush Up On Murder: An Aurora Anderson Mystery
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Setting – California
Vista Beach Press (October 10, 2023)
Print length ‏ : ‎ 284 pages

 

Synopsis

 

Love is in the air in the quiet Los Angeles County city of Vista Beach, home of computer programmer and decorative-painting enthusiast, Aurora (Rory) Anderson.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, residents are training for the annual Love Run and expressing their undying affection for each other by attaching love locks to the pier railings. But a string of bank robberies is ruining the romantic vibe.

While Rory helps friends prepare for a Valentine’s Day wedding, a body is found and the groom is implicated in the murder. Convinced of his innocence, Rory puts her heart into the investigation. Can she identify the killer before someone else encounters their own brush with death?

 

 

 

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About the Author

 

Sybil Johnson’s love affair with reading began in kindergarten with “The Three Little Pigs.” Visits to the library introduced her to Encyclopedia Brown, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and a host of other characters. Fast forward to college where she continued reading while studying Computer Science. After a rewarding career in the computer industry, Sybil decided to try her hand at writing mysteries. Her short fiction has appeared in Mysterical-E and Spinetingler Magazine, among others. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in Southern California where she enjoys tole painting, studying ancient languages and spending time with friends and family.

 

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