Mystery Monday is back!  it’s been a crazy July but I’m getting one in under the wire for the month.

This week’s book is Cut, Crop and Die by Joanna Campbell Slan and it is the 2nd in the Kiki Lowenstein series.

Synopsis:

All it took was one scone. — Tainted icing triggers a rare allergy, and a hobbyist croaks at a scrapbooking crop sponsored by Time in a Bottle, the store where Kiki Lowenstein works. When it comes out that someone swiped the victim’s emergency medication, the scrappers realize they have a murder on their hands, and the entire community jumps to point the finger at Kiki and her coworkers. Suddenly, the one anchor in Kiki’s stormy life is on the verge of sinking beneath a ruined reputation.

But who wouldn’t want to kill Yvonne Gaynor? The nasty woman had enough enemies to fill a memory album. Once again, Kiki gets sucked into a mystery that should be left to that dreamy detective, Chad Detweiller—who hasn’t tried to kiss her yet. With anti-Semitic threats coming in at the store, a quarrelsome teen daughter at home, and constant financial pressure, Kiki needs to keep her cool if she’s going to set things right.

I am reading this book right now on my Kindle and am enjoying it so far.  I’m not very far into it but I know that the book intrigued me because it is about scrapbooking and that is one thing I like to do.  I may not be as talented as some, but I do all right!  I didn’t realize that this was the 2nd in the series until they mentioned some things that could only mean there was a book before this one!  I try not to read out of order but sometimes it just can’t be helped.

Mystery Monday is back!  It has been crazy around here the last few weeks and I’ve gotten behind in several things. But hopefully things have sorted themselves out!

This week’s selection is A Deadly Grind by Victoria Hamilton (aka Donna Lea Simpson)

Synopsis:

When vintage cookware and cookbook collector Jaymie Leighton spies an original 1920s Hoosier brand kitchen cabinet at an estate auction, it’s love at first sight. Despite the protests of her sister, Rebecca, that the 19th-century yellow-brick house they share in Michigan is already too cluttered with Jaymie’s “junk”, she successfully outbids the other buyers and triumphantly takes home her Hoosier.

But that night on the summer porch where they’ve left the Hoosier to be cleaned up, a man is murdered, struck on the head with the steel meat grinder that is part of the cabinet. Who is this stranger—and what was he doing on their porch? Does his death have anything to do with the Hoosier?

As the police struggle to determine the man’s identity, Jaymie can’t help doing a little digging on her own, accompanied by her three-legged Yorkie Poo, Hoppy. But in her bid to uncover the truth about the hidden secrets of the Hoosier, Jaymie may be the one who ends up going, going…gone!

Thoughts:

This is the first in a new series about vintage kitchen items….so this cozy combines several of my favorite things: mysteries and anything having to do with a kitchen!   I have noticed one thing with most cozies, they are usually set in small towns.  This isn’t a rule, just what I usually run across. I like that though because you don’t try and imagine the large city and places they are writing about if you have been to that city.  Although that is nice sometimes. 

Anyway, A Deadly Grind, captures the small town charm without being hokey.  Jaymie gets herself into sticky situations while investigating the murder that happened at her home (I think this is a prerequesite for all heroines!) and also captures the interest of not one, but two men in this small town.  (I think this is also a prerequisite for all books!)

I truly enjoyed the book and give it 4 stars and two thumbs up and look forward to the second book in this new series.

Today’s Mystery is Little Shop of Homicide by Denise Swanson.  Denise also writes the Scumble River series, which is also a great series to pick up if you haven’t tried them yet.

Synopsis:

Devereaux Sinclair is the happy new owner of the adorable old-fashioned shop in her small Missouri town. But when a revenge-crazed cop accuses Dev of murdering her ex’s fiancée — and the murder weapon is found with her fingerprints all over it — Dev’s store, and her life, quickly turn from charmed to troubled. If she doesn’t find the real killer soon, this five-and-dime owner will be serving twenty-five to life…

Review:

I was surprised when the murder happened right off the bat in this story.  Usually there is a set up of the main character and then the murder happens in the 2nd or maybe 3rd chapter.  But that doesn’t make this a bad book, in fact it was quite good and I really enjoyed the interplay between Devereaux and the cop that couldn’t see past his own revenge to actually look for the killer.  I also liked the love triangle…well sort of triangle.  There is her ex-fiance and then the hunky neighbor’s grandson. 

I think this is going to be another winner of a series for Denise Swanson and look forward to the second book and see if she creates another winning series like the Scumble River series!

This week’s feature is an older book…circa 1997.  Ok, so older but not that old!  And doing research on the author realized she died in 2006.  Guess that means no more books in this series, but there are 6 to enjoy.

Anywho…the book is Delilah Doolittle and the Purloined Pooch and the author is Patricia Guiver.

Today’s Mystery Monday book is another cozy…what can I say, I love cozy books!

Clobbered in Camembert is the 3rd in the Cheese Shop Mysteries by Avery Aames.

Synopsis:

When Kaitlyn is found dead in the cottage of Charlotte’s assistant Rebecca, suspicion falls on Rebecca’s boyfriend, a honeybee farmer himself. Charlotte knows this beekeeper wouldn’t hurt a fly, so she decides to find the real killer. While the town buzzes with gossip, can Charlotte catch the culprit without getting stung herself?

My thoughts:

The book was just as good as the first two….other than Rebecca really getting on my last nerve, and she is just a character in the book!  I don’t know if some slack should be given to her because she is formerly Amish but she was a little overboard in trying to clear her “honey”.  Once again I didn’t guess who the guilty party was until he/she was revealed.  That’s the sign of a good book to me!

This week it is a new series with a male lead (fairly unusual) and set in the Dallas area (love books set in Texas!).  This series is the Stay at Home Dad series by Jeffrey Allen who is also known as Jeff Shelby, mystery writer.  The first book is called Stay at Home Dead.

Synopsis:

When stay at home dad Deuce Winters finds the dead body of his old high school rival in the back of his mini-van, it quickly throws his quiet life into disarray.  As the number one suspect in the court of public opinion in his small hometown in Texas, Deuce is determined to clear his name, with a little help from his wife, Julianne, a high-powered attorney. His search for the killer leads him to a business plan gone awry, a gaggle of jilted lovers, a group of merciless PTA moms and a diminutive detective with quite the attitude.

My Review:

I can’t remember if I have ever read a cozy series that featured a male lead that did the sleuthing.  Sure there have been supporting men, but not one that is involved this much.  I have to say I really liked the set up of this story…stay at home dad who is ridiculed by the people in his small home town for staying at home (I personally think it is a cool thing for him to do), a kick butt wife and a precocious daughter.   Of course Deuce’s life is also not without the women hitting on him despite no encouragement from him.  So if you are looking for a slight change from your usual cozy, check out this series.  I don’t think you will be disappointed.

I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait for book 2 which is called Popped Off and due out on September 1, 2012.

This week’s edition of Mystery Monday brings the second book in the Library Lover’s Mystery series, Due or Die by Jenn McKinlay.  And according to her website this hit #24 on the NYT bestseller’s list for March 25th.  WOW!

Synopsis:

What is the original meaning of the word clue?* — Answering tricky reference questions like this one is more than enough excitement for library director Lindsey Norris. Until another murder is committed in her cozy hometown of Briar Creek, Connecticut, and the question of who did it must be answered before someone else is checked out — for good.

Carrie Rushton, the president of the Friends of the Library, has been accused of murdering her husband. The evidence is stacking up against Carrie, but neither Lindsey nor the Briar Creek crafternoon club is buying it.

When a nor’easter buries the small coastal town, the police are too busy digging out the locals to investigate the murder.  With the help of her crafternoon friends and an abandoned puppy they name Heathcliff, Lindsey has to solve the question of who murdered Mr. Rushton before the killer closed the book on Carrie….

My thoughts:

Some of my fondest memories are in libraries so any time a book is set in a library or has a librarian I’m all for reading the book.  This book is a great continuation of the series and the book has me guessing who the killer might be amongst all the characters.  I will say that I never guessed who it was and love that the author has added a dog into the mix…yes books and dogs are two of my favorite things!  All of the characters feel like friends (well most of them anyway) and that this cozy little town in Conneticut might be a nice place to visit…if it were real!

If you like cozies then you definitely want to check out this series by Jenn McKinlay.  So far her series have not steered me wrong!  And if you like cupcakes, then check out here Cupcake Mysteries too.

I don’t know if any other blog started this but I’m going to have a weekly mystery featured on Monday…hence the title Mystery Monday!

The first book to be features is the first in a new cozy series by Lucy Arlington.  It is called Buried in a Book and is a Novel Idea Mystery.  The second in the series will be called Every Trick in the Book and is due out in February 2013.

Lucy Arlington is the nom de plume for the writing team of Ellery Adams and Sylvia May, two friends who collaborated on an idea that became A Novel Idea Mystery Series. Both are authors in their own right; Ellery writes cozy mysteries and Sylvia women’s fiction.

From the back of the book: