Today I bring you Bonnie of Evidence by author Maddy Hunter.  This is the 8th book in the Passport to Peril cozy mystery series.  Maddy was on hiatus for quite some time after book 5 or 6, but I am soooo glad she is back with this series!  You can also keep up with her on Facebook.

Bonnie of Evidence

A Passport to Peril Mystery
By Maddy Hunter
Paperback
Midnight Ink
Feb. 2013

WHO KILT THE TOUR GUEST?

Having survived the Dutch trip with only a few bumps and bruises, Emily concocts a marketing scheme to drum up interest in her travel agency’s latest tour. Putting a twenty-first century spin on the old practice of scavenger hunting, and promising a free trip to the winner of the contest, Emily and Etienne set out to lead Nana, both Emily’s parents, and the rest of the intrepid band of Iowa seniors on a memorable trip through the Scottish highland and islands, treasure hunting along the way.

Cat-fighting and back-stabbing break out almost immediately as a handful of female guests compete for the attention of the tour’s most eligible bachelor. When one of the ladies turns up dead, Emily convinces herself there’s no reason to suspect foul play. But is she right, or is she deliberately choosing to ignore the animosity the dead woman stirred up when she flouted the rules of the game? Could a legendary blood feud between opposing clan members on the tour have factored into the woman’s death? Or did the woman seal her own fate when she stole an ancient relic that’s purported to be cursed?

Cursed?

From Edinburgh and Braemar, to Loch Ness and the Orkney Islands, the Iowa gang encounter one crisis after another. When another guest ends up dead, Emily is forced to flirt with the idea that curses can be real – until she learns that certain guests have a lot more to hide than she realized.

As one of the gang is hauled off to jail under a veil of suspicion, Emily rallies the troops to help her track down the real killer, but when the troops begin to mysteriously disappear, she needs to take the high road and the low road to save the next victim from certain death.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this series!  I don’t know if it is the witty banter or that it is set in Dallas, but I am always chuckling over Tara’s cases and just the trouble she gets in to.  Sort of reminds me of a Stephanie Plum but working for the IRS in Texas.  Diane Kelly has a winner of a series with Tara Holloway and the way this book ends, I can’t wait to read the next installment!

Synopsis:

It’s bad enough that Tara has to go on trial against the mortgage-frauding “Tennis Racketeers” who cheated banks and homeowners out of millions in between doubles matches. Now she has to go undercover—in a strip club—to strip the sleazeball owner of his indeed illegal livelihood. At least she’s working as a bookkeeper, not a pole dancer. And who needs tips when her undercover crush, Special Agent Nick, is the club’s bodyguard?

With so many hot bodies on display, Tara agrees to join her boss, Lu “the Lobo” Lobozinski, in her daily workouts at the Y. Lu’s on a health kick after recovering from cancer, and she’s pulled her leotards, tights, and hot-pink leg warmers out of mothballs. Which is okay with Tara. If she hopes to put Mr. Geils behind bars, grab the tennis boys by the balls, and lock lips with the unsuspecting Nick, she needs to be in the best shape of her life…

Father Knows Death is the third book in the Stay at Home Dad cozy series.  Usually you do not find a male protagonist or a male author writing many cozy series, but Jeffrey Allen has written a great series and I look forward to more books by him in the future.

Synopsis:

It isn’t that stay-at-home dad Deuce Winters wants to be his small town’s unofficial sleuth. Between caring for his peppy five year-old-daughter Carly and helping to keep his ten-months-pregnant wife Julianne sane, he’s certainly got his hands full. But, well, trouble does seem to find him…

That’s why Duece is only mildly surprised to find a body among the frozen burgers and bratwurst at the Rose Petal fair’s concession stand. And it seems the defrosting deceased was last seen arguing passionately with one of the fair’s board members. But there may be more–a lot more–to the mystery, and tracking down the dangerous truth may be too much for even the most determined dad!

About the author:

Jeffrey Allen is the alter-ego of national best selling mystery writer Jeff Shelby. He is a recovering stay at home dad who now teaches high school English and coaches basketball. A graduate of the University of California, Irvine, he currently lives with his daughter in the suburbs of Dallas, TX.

Yes, it is another “first in a series” on Mystery Monday.  What can I say, I like to read new book/series and hopefully will be finding some good ones in what I’ve been posting recently!

Synopsis:

At Gram’s Country Cooking School, Betts and Gram are helping students prepare the perfect dishes for the Southern Missouri Show-Down, the cook-off that draws the first of the summer visitors. Everything is going smoothly until they discover the body of local theater owner Everett Morningside in the school’s supply closet, and Everett’s widow points an accusatory finger at Gram. Now, Betts has to dig deep into Broken Rope’s history to find the modern-day killer-before the last piece of chicken is served

Another new series, this time about weaving!

Synopsis

Della Wright has come to peaceful and picturesque Briar Hollow, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, to realize her lifelong dream of owning a weaving studio. To promote her new business, Dream Weavers, Della is offering weaving workshops for all levels of ability. In her first class, she meets half a dozen of the town’s colorful characters, who seem as eager to gossip as to learn how to work a loom. But when a shady local businessman is found murdered, Briar Hollow suddenly appears a lot less idyllic. And when one of her weaving students is suspected of the crime, Della can’t help getting entangled in the investigation—with some help from her criminologist friend, Matthew. But can she weave together clues as well as she weaves together yarn—and stop a killer from striking again?

This is a brand new series called A Blossom Valley Mystery series.  I’ve seen mixed reviews on it but I always like trying new series because you never know when you are going to find a winner!

Synopsis:

As Dana readjusts to life back home with her recently widowed mother, her latest career move isn’t exactly a piece of cake. In fact, it’s all tofu fish sticks, stuffed squash blossoms, and enough wheat grass shots to scream bloody murder – especially when Dana discovers the body of Maxwell Mendelsohn, Hollywood producer and opening weekend guest, deader than a yoga corpse pose. While Dana pens the Spa’s blog and balances the attentions of the local police and reporter Jason Forrester, her escalating job duties now include finding clues, motives and suspects. One thing’s for certain, she better act fast before all this healthy living kills her.

Gluten for Punishment is the first in a brand new series called A Baker’s Treat Mystery.  I love cozies and I love anything having to do with cooking, so this is a great combo!

Synopsis:

With her mother’s death, Toni Ryder returns home to OilTop, Kansas bringing her gluten-free bakery business with her. But Toni has never felt at home in her hometown and cooking wheat-free in the middle of wheat country isn’t making her any less a fish out of water. When Toni becomes a suspect in OilTop’s first homicide investigation in twenty years, she must count on her crazy family and follow the clues to solve the mystery and clear her name.

Synopsis:

Andy Broussard, the “Plump and Proud” New Orleans medical examiner, obviously loves food.  Less apparent to the casual observer is his hatred of murderers. Together with his gorgeous sidekick, psychologist Kit Franklyn, Broussard forms a powerful, although improbable, mystery solving duo.

When Kit goes to meet an anonymous stranger—who’s been sending her roses—the man drops dead at her feet before she could even get his name. Game on.

Andy Broussard soon learns that the man carried a lethal pathogen similar to the deadly “Ebola”—a highly contagious virus, feared worldwide for killing its victims (grotesquely) in a matter of days. When another body turns up with the same bug, widespread panic becomes imminent. The danger is even more acute, because the carrier is mobile. The man knows he’s a walking weapon and… he’s targeting Broussard.

And when Kit Franklyn investigates her mystery suitor further, she runs afoul of a cold- blooded killer, every bit as deadly as the man searching for her partner.

Louisiana Fever is written in Donaldson’s unique style:  A hard-hitting, punchy, action-packed prose that’s dripping with a folksy, decidedly southern sense of irony.  Mix in Donaldson’s brilliant first-hand knowledge of forensics, along with the sultry flavor of New Orleans, and readers will be fully satisfied with this irresistibly delectable mystery.

Find the book:

Amazon – Kindle or Print

Barnes & Noble – Nook

Astor+Blue

About the Author

D.J. Donaldson is a retired professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology.  His entire academic career was spent at the University of Tennessee, Health Science Center, where he published dozens of papers on wound-healing and where he taught microscopic anatomy to thousands of medical and dental students.

He is also the author of seven published forensic mysteries and five medical thrillers. He lives in Memphis, Tennessee with his wife and two West Highland terriers. In the spring of most years he simply cannot stop buying new flowers and other plants for the couple’s prized backyard garden.

Website * Facebook * Goodreads * Twitter

Today’s Mystery Monday feature is the second book in the Fat City series by author Kathryn Lilley.  This book was published back in 2008….but if your TBR pile is anything like mine, there are a LOT of books you haven’t gotten to quite yet!  It looks like there may only be 3 books in the series and I’ve got the third book also in my TBR pile!

October 2008
ISBN-13: 9780451225351

Plus-sized reporter Kate Gallagher decides to report for duty at Body Blast, a boot camp-style fitness program. But then her roomie is discovered with a broken neck at the foot of the climbing wall. It’s not the first suspicious accident at the camp, another woman recently fell to her death during a Wilderness Challenge.

Kate knows that losing weight is hard, but now it looks like it’s turning into mortal combat.

Author Stefan Kanfer is back with his second book in this series called The Eskimo Hunts in Miami.  I read and reviewed the first book, The Eskimo Hunts in New York and found it to be quite suspenseful and a good read.

Synopsis:

Jordan Gulok is off for a little R&R in Miami, but he must maintain his skills. He frequents a firing range where he stumbles upon a paramilitary group called the 417s. Is an anti-gun US Congressman somehow entangled in a plot to raid several military arms storage depots? The 417s are poised to visit a fresh hell on the Caribbean if Jordan, his lovely ally and her edgy colleagues can’t stop them.

About the Author:

The Giveaway:

Authors on the Web is kindly offering a print copy of both The Eskimo Hunts in New York AND The Eskimo Hunts in Miami.

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