Hide Not Seek (The Not So Reluctant Detectives)
Cozy Mystery/Romance/Humor
3rd in Series
Independently Published (April 18, 2019)
Print Length: 183 pages

Synopsis

I know who you really are.

Pru has a secret, which she has no plans to reveal – ever. But after a woman is murdered and all clues point to her, she has no choice but to disclose her true identity. When her revelations help thwart the killer’s plan to frame Pru for the murder, the killer begins stalking her. With each note he sends, he gets closer. The police are stumped. Pru wants to run away. She really, really wants to run, but Ajax has found the woman of his dreams and he’s not letting her go anywhere. He can be patient. In the meantime, he’ll protect her with his life. Pru isn’t feeling very patient, and her friends, Mel and Terri, are definitely not willing to wait until the police uncover who the stalker is. The three friends take matters into their own hands and jump headfirst into the investigation.

Will Pru and her friends uncover her stalker before he turns his violence on Pru?

Review

The gang is back to solve another mystery and this time it focuses on Pru and her past.

I’ve enjoyed getting to know this tight-knit group of characters – Mel, Terri, and Pru are three women that have become fast friends. Pru is new to the group and was roped into the trio in the second book that focused on Mel’s issues. There is also some hunky men in the picture – Owen, Ryder, and Ajax. We learn some fascinating tidbits about Ajax in this book and I loved how he was captivated by Pru and was willing to wait for her to warm up to him in her own time.

The answer to the mystery came out of left field and I don’t know that anyone could have guessed who the culprit is in this story. There is a tiny clue but it may not be much of a clue until you learn who it is and you think back to a situation or two.

I’m still not wild about Mel..she is a loose cannon and all over the board and doesn’t seem to stop and think before she does anything. Mel aside, this is an enjoyable book and my 2nd favorite of the three.

While I don’t think there are any more books planned for this series I’d love to see more of the six main characters again.

We give this 4 paws up!

 

About the Author

I grew up reading everything I could get my grubby hands on, from my mom’s Harlequin romances to Nancy Drew, to Little Women. When I wasn’t flipping pages in a library book, I was penning horrendous poems, writing songs no one should ever sing, or drafting stories which have thankfully been destroyed. College and a stint in the U.S. Army came along, robbing me of free time to write and read, although on the odd occasion I did manage to sneak a book into my rucksack between rolled up socks, MRIs, t-shirts, and cold weather gear. After surviving the army experience, I went back to school and got my law degree. I jumped ship and joined the hubby in the Netherlands before the graduation ceremony could even begin. A few years into my legal career, I was exhausted, fed up, and just plain done. I quit my job and sat down to write a manuscript, which I promptly hid in the attic after returning to the law. But practicing law really wasn’t my thing, so I quit (again!) and went off to Germany to start a B&B. Turns out running a B&B wasn’t my thing either. I polished off that manuscript languishing in the attic before following the husband to Istanbul where I decided to give the whole writer-thing a go. But ten years was too many to stay away from my adopted home. I packed up again and moved to The Hague where I’m currently working on my next book. I hope I’ll always be working on my next book.

 

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Deadly Southern Charm (Cozy Mystery Anthology)
Cozy Mystery
Wildside Press (March 27, 2019)
Paperback: 173 pages

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“Deadly Devonshire” by Samantha McGraw

When one of her best customers dies while having lunch in her tea shop and the police can’t get to the crime scene, Tess Adams must determine who poisoned the Devonshire cream and catch the killer on her own.

Enjoy this recipe for blueberry scones and faux Devonshire cream while reading Deadly Southern Charm.

SCRUMPTIOUS BLUEBERRY SCONES

3 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1 Cup Sugar

1 Tbsp Baking Powder

1 Lemon, zested

1 1/2 Sticks Cold, Salted Butter, cut into pea size pieces

1 1/2 Cups Fresh Blueberries

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Turbinado sugar (optional)

Devonshire Cream (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lay parchment paper on cookie sheet.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and lemon zest. Add in butter; knead and rub with your fingers until combined with dry ingredients and become coarse and crumb-like. Gently stir in blueberries. Add in heavy cream and vanilla, stir to combine.

Option 1 – scoop dough and form into dough balls, place on prepared cookie sheet 2″ apart. Makes 12-14 scones.

Option 2 – form dough into 1 large round disc, cut into 6 wedges and place on prepared cookie sheet 2″ apart. Makes 6 scones.

Sprinkle with Turbinado sugar and bake for 15-18 minutes until lightly golden. Cool and serve with Devonshire cream.

DEVONSHIRE CREAM

3 Oz. Cream Cheese, softened

1 Tbsp Sugar

Pinch of Salt

1 Cup Heavy Cream

Cream together cream cheese, sugar, and salt. Beat in heavy cream until soft peaks form.

About the Author

Samantha McGraw is a freelance writer with a love of mysteries and tea. You can find her blogging about both at Tea Cottage Mysteries. She is also a member of Sisters in Crime – Central VA Chapter.

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The Rest of the Authors

Frances Aylor, CFA combines her investing experience and love of travel in her financial thrillers. MONEY GRAB is the first in the series.  Website

Mollie Cox Bryan is the author of cookbooks, articles, essays, poetry, and fiction.  An Agatha Award nominee, she lives in Central Virginia.  Website

Lynn Cahoon is the NYT and USA Today author of the best-selling Tourist Trap, Cat Latimer and Farm-to-Fork mystery series. Website

A. Chalkley is a native Virginian. She is a writer, retired public safety communications officer, and a member of Sisters in Crime.

 

Stacie Giles lived many places before settling in Virginia where she is returning to ancestral Southern roots, including a grandfather who was a Memphis policeman.

Barb Goffman has won the Agatha, Macavity, and Silver Falchion awards for her short stories, and is a two-time finalist for US crime-writing awards.Website

Libby Hall is a communication analyst with a consulting firm in Richmond, Virginia.  She is also a blogger, freelance writer, wife, and mother of two.

Bradley Harper is a retired Army pathologist.  Library Journal named his debut novel, A KNIFE IN THE FOG, Debut of the Month for October 2018.  Website

Sherry Harris is the Agatha Award-nominated author of the Sarah Winston Garage Sale mystery series and is the president of Sisters in Crime.Website

Maggie King penned the Hazel Rose Book Group mysteries. Her short stories appear in the Virginia is for Mysteries and 50 Shades of Cabernet anthologies. Website

Kristin Kisska is a member of International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime, and programs chair of the Sisters in Crime – Central Virginia chapter. Website

Samantha McGraw has a love of mysteries and afternoon tea. She lives in Richmond with her husband and blogs at Tea Cottage Mysteries.Website

K.L. Murphy is a freelance writer and the author of the Detective Cancini Mysteries.  She lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband, four children, and two dogs. Website

Genilee Swope Parente has written the romantic mystery The Fate Series with her mother F. Sharon Swope. The two also have several collections of short stories. Website

Deb Rolfe primarily writes mystery novels. This is her first published short story. She and her husband enjoy life in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Ronald Sterling is the author of six books and draws upon his colorful and varied life experience as a U.S. Airman, saloonkeeper, private detective, realtor, and New Jersey mayor.

S.A. Warwick, in the last century earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies. Ever since she has been trying to decipher the American enigma.

Heather Weidner is the author of the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries.  She has short stories in the Virginia is for Mysteries series, 50 SHADES OF CABERNET and TO FETCH A THIEF.  She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and Jack Russell terriers.  Website

EDITORS

Mary Burton is a New York Times, USA Today and Kindle best-selling author.  She is currently working on her latest suspense. Website

Mary Miley is a historian and writer with 14 nonfiction books and 5 mystery novels to her credit. Website

Lethal Ladies Social Media

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The Body in the Wetlands (A Jazzi Zanders Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Lyrical Underground (April 23, 2019)
Paperback: 208 pages
ISBN-10: 151610840X

Synopsis

High summer in River Bluffs, Indiana, is always sweltering and sweet. But the heat is really on when a decidedly dead body turns up in the neighborhood.

When established house flippers Jazzi Zanders and her cousin Jerod donate a week’s worth of remodeling work to Jazzi’s sister Olivia, they’re expecting nothing more than back-breaking roofing work and cold beers at the end of each long, hot day. With Jazzi’s live-in boyfriend and partner Ansel on the team, it promises to be a quick break before starting their next big project—until Leo, an elderly neighbor of Olivia’s, unexpectedly goes missing . . .

When the friendly senior’s dog tugs Jazzi and the guys toward the wetlands beyond Olivia’s neighborhood, they stumble across a decomposing corpse—and a lot of questions. With Jazzi’s pal Detective Gaff along to investigate, Jazzi finds her hands full of a whole new mystery instead of the usual hammer and nails. And this time it will take some sophisticated sleuthing to track down the culprit of the deadly crime—before the killer turns on her next . . .

Guest Post

Today we welcome author Judi Lynn to StoreyBook Reviews.  She gives us a little insight into her writing and how pets play a part in her books.  I love dogs so always enjoy reading a book that includes any animals but especially dogs.

Hi!  I’m Judith Post, and I write cozy mysteries under the pen name Judi Lynn.  In The Body in the Wetlands, Jazzi and her cousin, Jerod, and her live-in boyfriend, Ansel, are fixer-uppers.  When Jazzi’s sister, Olivia, and her boyfriend buy a ranch-style house, the three of them volunteer to give Olivia and Thane a week of free labor to renovate it.  Even though Indiana summers are hot and humid, they decide to start with the roof, which needs new shingles.  And that’s how they meet Olivia’s neighbor who lives a few doors away.  Every day, he takes his dog, Cocoa, for a walk in the afternoon and again in the evening.

Leo is retired and cares for his wheelchair-bound wife.  His daily walks get him out of the house for a short while, and the man’s devoted to his chocolate lab.  He’s also lonely.  So every day, he stops at the side of the road to catch Jazzi for a short chat when she climbs down the ladder for a break.  Jazzi begins to suspect that Leo stops to chat with anyone he sees on his daily strolls, and she becomes fond of the man and his dog.  Her boyfriend, Ansel, is every bit as enamored of his spoiled pug, and she’s devoted to her two cats, Inky and Marmalade.

I included pets in this story because my husband and I have always had cats in our house, sometimes too many of them.  My daughters had a habit of finding strays and lugging them home until I finally forbade any more of them.  It wasn’t until my daughters grew up and moved away that we got down to one again.  But before Holly left, she and her boys bequeathed us with a noisy chihuahua.

Chewy belonged to neighbors who lived on the back street, but every time I cooked supper and had the windows cracked, he escaped their yard and ended up on our side porch, scratching to get in.  We live on a busy street, so we’d open the door and let him in, then call our neighbors to tell them he was at our house.

The first time we called, they came and got him immediately.  The second time, they came in fifteen minutes.  Then, in half an hour.  Until finally, the wife came and told us that they were giving up and taking Chewy to the pound the next day and she hoped someone would adopt him.  The pound, at that time, had more chihuahuas than they could find homes for.  His future didn’t look good.  My grandsons had gotten attached to the dog.  Their faces fell, and they looked at my husband.  And what can I say?  We caved, and Chewy became our dog.

 

About the Author

Judi Lynn received a Master’s Degree from Indiana University as an elementary school teacher after attending the IPFW campus. She taught 1st, 2nd, and 4th grades for six years before having her two daughters.  She loves gardening, cooking and trying new recipes.

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Connect the Dots (Mah Jongg Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Bowker (February 2, 2019)
Paperback: 278 pages

 

Synopsis

 

How could a thirty-something man fall to his death from a fourth-floor balcony he knows is defective? That’s the question freelance writer Micki Demetrius is asked to answer by the man’s grieving mother, Clarissa White, who refuses to believe his death was an unfortunate accident. But when the authorities determine it was homicide, Micki is shut out of her investigative efforts.

Giving up is easier said than done for Micki. She can’t resist a mystery, and suspicious characters won’t leave Clarissa alone, from the woman claiming a stake in the victim’s life to a cagey character who wants his business. As the threat to Clarissa grows, Micki feels compelled to help her in spite of the danger.

Micki’s three mah jongg pals—Sydney Bonner, Marianne Putnam and Katrina, Kat, Faulkner—are drawn into the mystery, but the retirees have their own challenges. Syd and husband Trip do grandparent duty while their daughter deals with marital issues. Marianne “finds herself” by writing a one-act play. And Kat must decide how public to go with her growing friendship with the sheriff. Together, they must connect the dots in a nefarious web of greed, neglect, secrecy and murder.

 

 

 

Guest Post

 

Like a Warrior

 

Near the end of Connect the Dots, Micki Demetrius, my protagonist, is called a “warrior” by her friend. At first, Micki pooh-poohs the title, but after she considers, she accepts and takes pride in the appellation after helping her friend get her condo repaired and surviving an attempt on her life by a murderer.

The decision to use this allusion was a long time coming to me. I’ve always equated “warriors” with those who lead armies a la “Braveheart” and video game characters. I’m not a big fan of action flicks, especially all the exploding buildings, gun play and fist fights. I’ve always subscribed more to the idea of resolving issues in a more peaceful manner. Freelance journalists like Micki who stand up to intransigent builders and contractors fell outside that definition. But recent history has encouraged me to reconsider.

A couple years ago the trending topic was the success of the movie, “Wonder Woman,” in part because some seemed to think it was a new way of portraying women as strong, fearless individuals who could take care of themselves. It also prefaced the beginning of the Me, Too Movement later in the year. The box office numbers associated with this new trope encouraged Marvel to continue production of “Captain Marvel,” which premiered last month.

However, the concept wasn’t all that new. The original TV version of “Wonder Woman” back in the late 1970s also drew viewer attention. At least for a few years. So did “The Bionic Woman.” And let’s not forget “Xena: Warrior Princess.” The mention of “princess” reminds me of Princess Leia in the first Star Wars trilogy. Then there’s Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons from “Game of Thrones.”

I saw “Wonder Woman” by myself. Neither my husband nor my friends wanted to see it. Maybe that was for the best, because I sat in that theater mesmerized. Chalk part of that up to the pyrotechnics and incredible choreography of the battle scenes, but the other part was a new respect for the female warrior. That’s admitting a lot for me, but while I watched this fantastic film, it occurred to me that Diana Prince and her story wasn’t just about a woman with magic lassos who could fly through the air and stop bullets with golden bracelets.

To use Diana Prince, AKA Wonder Woman, as an example, warriors are strong of mind as well as physically. They are fearless, or at least they know how to overcome their fears, in facing their nemeses. Warriors are persistent; they face setbacks and return to fight again better prepared than before. Warriors are willing to go to battle for the things in which they believe, so it goes without saying they are loyal to a cause and their people.

In Connect the Dots, Micki personifies all the above qualities. She is doubly incensed for her friend who ended up with a new condo riddled with construction flaws which neither the developer nor the builder are willing to fix. Undaunted by their positions of power, she is willing to face them head on. She prepares to do battle with these “enemies” by employing her strength, her journalistic ability. When she can’t get answers or any positive reactions from those she engages, she doesn’t give up but instead expands her research to other involved parties. Her loyalty to her friend manifests itself throughout by helping her through a period of grief, finding her temporary lodging, helping her deal with an unwanted guest and supporting her legal efforts. So in the end, when the friend calls her a warrior, she’s exactly right.

 

About the Author

 

Barbara Barrett started reading mysteries when she was pregnant with her first child to keep her mind off things like her changing body and food cravings. When she’d devoured as many Agatha Christies as she could find, she branched out to English village cozies and Ellery Queen.

Later, to avoid a midlife crisis, she began writing fiction at night when she wasn’t at her day job as a human resources analyst for Iowa State Government. After releasing eleven full-length romance novels and one novella, she has returned to the cozy mystery genre, using one of her retirement pastimes, the game of mah jongg, as her inspiration. Not only has it been a great social outlet, but it has also helped keep her mind active when not writing.

Bamboozled, the second book in her “Mah Jongg Mystery” series, features four friends who play mah jongg together and share otherwise in each other’s lives. None of the four is based on an actual person. Each is an amalgamation of several mah jongg friends with a lot of Barbara’s imagination thrown in for good measure. The four will continue to appear in future books in the series.

Anticipating the day when she would write her first mystery, she has been a member of the Mystery/Romantic Suspense chapter of Romance Writers of America for over a decade. She credits them with helping her hone her craft.

Barbara is married to a man she met her senior year of college. They have two grown children and eight grandchildren.

 

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A Dream of Death (A Kate Hamilton Mystery)
Traditional Mystery
1st in Series
Crooked Lane Books (April 9, 2019)
Hardcover: 320 pages

Synopsis

On a remote Scottish island, American antiques dealer Kate Hamilton wrestles with her own past while sleuthing a brutal killing, staged to recreate a two-hundred-year-old unsolved murder.

Autumn has come and gone on Scotland’s Isle of Glenroth, and the islanders gather for the Tartan Ball, the annual end-of-tourist-season gala. Spirits are high. A recently published novel about island history has brought hordes of tourists to the small Hebridean resort community. On the guest list is American antiques dealer Kate Hamilton. Kate returns reluctantly to the island where her husband died, determined to repair her relationship with his sister, proprietor of the island’s luxe country house hotel, famous for its connection with Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Kate has hardly unpacked when the next morning a body is found, murdered in a reenactment of an infamous unsolved murder described in the novel—and the only clue to the killer’s identity lies in a curiously embellished antique casket. The Scottish police discount the historical connection, but when a much-loved local handyman is arrested, Kate teams up with a vacationing detective inspector from Suffolk, England, to unmask a killer determined to rewrite island history—and Kate’s future.

Guest Post

THREE TRUTHS AND A LIE: The Perils of Following Advice

by Connie Berry

Author of the Kate Hamilton Mystery series

Have you played the game? It’s an icebreaker, a fun way to get acquainted, and usually calls for two truths and a lie. Today I need three truths because my topic is advice on writing, and there’s plenty of it out there to be had.

Years ago, when I first dreamed about writing a mystery series, I threw up a website and started blogging. One of my original topics was “What I Wish I Had Known.” I asked five mystery writers I admired to think about what they wished they’d known starting out. One of them, I hoped, would reveal the secret, the piece of advice which—if followed—would lead swiftly to a finished manuscript, an agent, and a publisher. Instead, I got a dose of reality: persevere, read widely in your genre, keep learning, build a community. Excellent advice.

But is all the writing advice out there worth taking to heart? Here’s my take on it. Three truths and a lie.

#1. Write what you know.

TRUE. Each writer has a built-in reserve of experiences, memories, and observations on which to draw. Among the most life-shaping experiences for me was growing up in the antiques trade. My parents were collectors first, then opened a shop, specializing in fine objects from Europe and the Orient. In our house, antiques weren’t a hobby but a way of life. Weekends frequently meant setting up a booth at an antique show. Family vacations were thinly disguised buying trips. Our house looked a bit like a museum—a crowded one. My father’s unspoken motto was “if one is good, three is better.” Every flat surface in our sprawling ranch-style house was occupied by something—an ivory figurine, a cut-glass bowl, a collection of silver snuff boxes, a life-size bronze head of Beethoven, a marble statue of The Three Graces.

I made my protagonist, Kate an antiques dealer. Write what you know.

Notice, however, the advice doesn’t say “write what you’ve lived.” Knowing something and living something are different things. Happily, a writer doesn’t have to commit murder to write about it. That’s where research comes in.

#2. Write what you love.

Also TRUE. Years ago, my thesis advisor told me to choose a topic I could live with for many months. I chose Shakespeare comedies and enjoyed every minute of the research and writing. I remembered this advice when I set out to plan my first book. Writing a 300+-page novel would take a lot more time than writing a 75-page thesis on The Role of the Audience in Shakespeare’s Comedies. So while my protagonist, Kate, is an antiques dealer—the world I knew—I put her in the UK, a place I love. I’m fond of the large city in Ohio where I live—I really am—but if truth be told, my heart yearns for that “sceptered isle…[that] precious stone set in a silver sea…that England.” (William Shakespeare, Richard II). There’s nowhere I’d rather be, physically or in my imagination—than Britain. I’ve never regretted my decision to write what I love.

#3. Write what pleases you.

A LIE—at least for first-time authors. The hard truth is, we must write what readers want to read. We must write what agents and publishers believe they can sell. That means learning the “rules.” A lifetime of reading and a master’s degree in English didn’t teach me about eliminating adverbs, avoiding exclamation points like the plague, and leaving white space on the page. I’d never heard of such things as head-hopping, info dumps, limiting dialogue tags, and avoiding passive voice. Established authors can break the “rules.” They often do. Unpublished writers don’t have that same luxury.

#4. Finish the book.

TRUE. Anne Enright, the inaugural Laureate for Irish Fiction, was quoted in The Guardian as saying, “The way to write a book is to actually write a book. A pen is useful, typing is also good. Keep putting words on the page.” She also said, “The first twelve years are the hardest,” but we won’t go into that now.

Some manuscripts will never see the light of day. A few, to be sure, deserve to be abandoned as quickly as possible. But these exceptions don’t alter the fact that a writer must, sometime, actually finish a book. One of the mistakes I made early on was polishing words that would never make it into the final draft. I wasted time, lots of it, because revising is easier and more fun for me than putting words on a blank page. What I needed was to push ahead and finish the book. Only then did revision make sense. Every part of a book—chapters, scenes, paragraphs, sentences, even words—must be evaluated in light of the whole manuscript. Some writers claim they don’t really know what the book is about until they’ve finished the first draft. Some don’t write the opening scene until they’ve written the ending.

What advice have you been given—in writing or in life? Have you followed it? What advice have you ignored?

About the Author

Like her main character, Connie Berry was raised by charmingly eccentric antique collectors who opened a shop, not because they wanted to sell antiques but because they needed a plausible excuse to keep buying them. Connie adores history, off-season foreign travel, cute animals, and all things British. She lives in Ohio with her husband and adorable Shih Tzu, Millie.

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Sifting Through Clues (A Cookbook Nook Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
8th in Series
Beyond the Page (April 23, 2019)
Print Length: 235 pages

Synopsis

The Agatha Award–winning author of Wreath Between the Lines returns to the Cookbook Nook, where culinary mysteries are giving everyone food for thought . . .

Book clubs from all over have descended on Crystal Cove to celebrate the library’s Book Club Bonanza week, and Jenna Hart has packed the Cookbook Nook with juicy reads and tasty cookbooks. But she’s most excited about spending an evening with the Mystery Mavens and their moveable feast, when they will go from house to house to share different culinary treats and discuss the whodunit they’re all reading. It’s all good food and fun for the savvy armchair detectives, until one of the members of the group is found murdered at the last stop on the tour.

As if that weren’t enough to spoil her appetite, Jenna discovers that all the evidence points to her friend Pepper as being the guilty party. And with Pepper’s chief-of-police daughter too close to the case to be impartial, Jenna knows she’ll have to step in to help clear her friend’s name before a bitter injustice sends her to jail. Sifting through the clues, Jenna unearths any number of possible culprits, but she’ll have to cook up a new way to catch the killer before Pepper’s goose is cooked . . .

Includes tasty sweet and savory recipes!

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About the Author

Agatha Award-winning Daryl Wood Gerber writes the French Bistro Mysteries as well as the nationally bestselling Cookbook Nook Mysteries.  As Avery Aames, she pens the popular Cheese Shop Mysteries. Daryl also writes stand-alone suspense which includes the titles DAY OF SECRETS and GIRL ON THE RUN. Fun tidbit: as an actress, Daryl appeared in “Murder, She Wrote.” She loves to cook, and she has a frisky Goldendoodle named Sparky who keeps her in line!

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Bat Wings, Rings & Apron Strings: A Cozy Witch Mystery (Spells & Caramels)
Cozy Mystery
10th in Series
Self-Published (April 6, 2019)
Print Length: 299 pages

Synopsis

A delicious wedding. A sour and supernatural curse. Will this baker’s next bite be her last?
With her wedding to Hank fast approaching, Imogen Banks has come a long way from the magical contest that brought her to Bijou Mer. But when conspirators seek to sabotage the witch’s big day, she fears her latest recipe for happiness will end in disaster. And after the prince falls horribly ill, Imogen and her friends must solve one more dark mystery before her love and kingdom perish.

Speeding through a menu of suspects as long as the guest list, Imogen clashes with a vengeful monarch and a calculating assassin. But as the minutes tick down to seconds, saving her home and her fiancé may require walking away from everything she loves.

Can Imogen create one final concoction to stop a war and marry her soul mate?

Bat Wings, Rings and Apron Strings is the magical conclusion to the Spells and Caramels cozy witch mystery series. If you like witty characters, mystical intrigue and a dash of romance, then you’ll love Erin Johnson’s tasty whodunit.

 

About the Author

A native of Tempe, Arizona, Erin spends her time crafting mysterious, magical, romance-filled stories that’ll hopefully make you laugh.

In between, she’s traveling, napping with her dogs, eating with her friends and family, and teaching Pilates (to allow her to eat more).

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Murder at the Marina (A Kelly Jackson Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Lyrical Underground (April 2, 2019)
Print Length: ~200 Pages

Synopsis

She’s got to solve this—or her friends are sunk . . .

Kelly Jackson, manager of the Redwood Cove Bed and Breakfast, is fond of the Doblinsky brothers, Ivan and Rudy, members of the Silver Sentinels, a crew of crime-solving senior citizens in their Northern California seaside hamlet. After she discovers a jewel-encrusted dagger—with what appears to be dried blood on the blade—on their fishing boat, they share their family history with Kelly, and she learns that the knife may be part of a set from their long-ago childhood in Russia. Its sudden reappearance is eerie, but the mystery grows much more serious when a body is found on the boat. The victim was staying at Kelly’s inn, in town for a Russian Heritage Festival, and some of the organizers were clearly harboring some bitterness. But the story behind this murder seems as layered as a nesting doll—and Kelly’s feeling completely at sea .

Guest Post

A Contribution to Our Lives

by Janet Finsilver

 

In my Kelly Jackson mystery series, all of my books have dogs with special abilities. Wait! Did you just say you’re not a dog person so you’re not going to finish reading this post? Have you ever bought a mattress? You might be wondering what dogs and mattresses have in common. Read on.

Not long ago a friend purchased a new mattress. She found herself itching after the first night and wondered if bed bugs might have arrived with her new addition to the bedroom. She knew companies often picked up and disposed of old mattresses when they were replaced by new ones. Had that happened during the delivery of hers? Concerned, she did some research and decided to hire a man and his team of terrier mixes that were trained to find bedbugs to check out the situation.

The man arrived and the two little dogs began to tear around the bedroom.  They searched but gave no signal of finding anything. Their owner took them outside and planted a scent to test them to see if they were off that day. Upon bringing them back in, they immediately went to what he had hidden. My friend could now “rest easy” knowing her house was free of bedbugs.

Dogs trained to find bedbugs? You bet. Termites as well. They are being used very successfully in England in old mansions. Without dogs, floors would need to be torn up to find these pests. The animals can locate exactly where they are which saves time and money on costly repairs.

In the second book in my series, Murder at the Mansion, I introduce Jack and Jill, two rescued beagles. They are trained to find bedbugs, termites, and by the end of the book, dry rot. Their owner drives them from one location to another in a motor home with a slogan on the side: “Bedbugs? Termites? If you’ve got ’em, they’ll find them. Get the four-legged pros on the job and have a restful sleep tonight.” Larger than life photos of the dogs are plastered on the side of the vehicle.

My first book, Murder in Redwood Cove, features Fred, a basset hound trained to detect cancer. Murder at the Fortuneteller’s Table has Princess, a feisty Chihuahua that is a retired hearing assistance dog. After she became hard of hearing, a black Chihuahua named Sargent took her place. The same book includes Jake, a Bernese Mountain dog trained to help people suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Enter a Goldendoodle named Max in Murder at the Mushroom Festival. He’s a seizure-alert dog that also knows how to find mushrooms. My fifth book, Murder at the Marina, comes out April 2, 2019. In it a police bloodhound named Gus plays a role in helping to solve the crimes.

I’ve really enjoyed researching the contributions dogs make to our lives. My books aren’t dog books per se, but they do give me an opportunity to share some interesting information with my readers.

On another note, I’ll be sure to ask some questions about the delivery of my next mattress to ensure its cleanliness such as, “Will old ones be in the same vehicle? Has the carrier been used for mattresses that might have bugs?”

Hopefully, this information will help you with your next mattress purchase…and you’ll be interested in learning more about how dogs help us in our lives.

About the Author

Janet Finsilver is the USA TODAY bestselling author of the Kelly Jackson mystery series. She worked in education for many years as a teacher, a program administrator, and a workshop presenter. Janet majored in English and earned a Master’s Degree in Education. She loves animals and has two dogs–Kylie and Ellie. Janet has ridden western style since she was a child and was a member of the National Ski Patrol. One of the highlights of her life was touching whales in the San Ignacio Lagoon. MURDER AT REDWOOD COVE, her debut mystery, was released on October 13, 2015. Her second book, MURDER AT THE MANSION, was released on June 7, 2016. Book 3, MURDER AT THE FORTUNE TELLER’S TABLE was released on March 14, 2017.

 

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Chutes and Ladder: A Silicon Valley Mystery
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
BGM Press (March 12, 2019)
Print Length: 195 pages

Synopsis

Dead friend. Free fall. Girl Scouts. Can Uncle Marty untangle the mystery before things really get out of control?

Juggling a budding relationship, demanding job, and mischievous nieces, Marty Golden struggled to keep his head above water — even before his friend’s death. Trying his best to be a good boyfriend and fun uncle, Marty had his own ideas for the weekend until his cunning sister tricked him again.

Convinced his friend’s death was no accident, Marty tries to summon superhero powers but merely manages to bumble along as an amateur sleuth. When Marty’s cousin shows up, she wreaks havoc with his plans and pulls him into yet another mystery.

As threats blossom, Marty doubles down now that his family’s involved. Besides, it’s poor manners to let your friend’s death go unsolved.

Can Marty figure out what happened before a killer, or his imagination, gets to him?

Chutes and Ladder is the second novel in a refreshingly modern mystery series set in Silicon Valley. If you like clever humor and wacky side characters, you’ll love this twisty mystery.

Review

Marty is back for more of his antics along with his two precious nieces and a co-worker that seems to be topping him when it comes to American sayings.

This is a good follow up to the first in this series, Uncles and Ants.  I still wonder about Marty and how he inserts himself into the cases and seems to think he is part of the investigative team.  I also wonder about his state of mind and as much as he jumps around and to conclusions, I still wonder if he is on the spectrum or leaning that way.  Despite that, I enjoy Marty’s quirkiness because it adds that little something that every story needs to make it stand out.

The mystery was engaging and while I had some suspicions as to the guilty party, I did not figure it out until it was revealed.  I think there were enough clues buried in the text but I enjoyed that it wasn’t obvious and it made me think about the potential motives of the suspected characters.

The book does leave you hanging on one fact – Marty’s sister’s car was totaled in the first book and in this one, she is waffling between what wacky color she is going to paint her new car….but it isn’t revealed which means I have to read the next book to find out!

Overall I have enjoyed this series and wonder what the author could come up with for the next book.  We give it 4 paws up.

 

About the Author

In my family, I was born first — a fact my sister never lets me forget, no matter what milestone age she hits.

For most of my life, I’ve been inventing stories. Some, especially when I was young, involved my sister as the villain. As my sister’s brother for her entire life, I’m highly qualified to tell the tale of the evolving, quirky sibling relationship in Uncle and Ants: A Silicon Valley Mystery.

My writing skills were honed in years of marketing leadership positions in Silicon Valley. While my high-tech marketing roles involved crafting plenty of fiction, we called these marketing collateral, emails, and ads.

My family and friends would tell you that Marty’s character isn’t much of a stretch of the imagination for me, but I proudly resemble that remark.

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Murder in Tranquility Park (A Ferrara Family Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Kensington (March 26, 2019)
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages

Synopsis

Alberta Scaglione and her twentysomething granddaughter, Jinx, love to spend time—and solve crime—together . . .

Ever since Alberta Scaglione inherited her spinster aunt’s Cape Cod cottage, she’s been enjoying the good life in Tranquility, New Jersey, with her black cat, Lola. But since things are mostly quiet in this town, she finds other things to do—like joining Jinx for morning jogs in Tranquility Park. She has to do something to stay healthy, as long as it doesn’t involve Jinx’s healthful tofu sausages and gluten-free pasta. But when they stumble across a treehouse hidden in the trees, and a dead body underneath it, they take a detour into solving a murder. Now the Ferrara ladies will have to exercise extreme caution to avoid a permanent decline in their health . . .

Includes Italian recipes from Alberta’s kitchen!

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About the Author

Italian by birth, Jersey by upbringing, J. D. Griffo is an award-winning playwright and author who has written ten novels, over twenty plays, and a handful of screenplays that have yet to see the light of day.

Griffo studied Journalism and Marketing at New York University, graduating magna cum laude many, many years ago, as well as Creative Writing at the New School and Gotham Writer’s Workshop.

And the J. D. stands for the author’s mother – Jean Dolores – who absolutely loved to read and tell stories.

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