Archive for category Cozy mystery
Review: CHOKE by Kaye George
Posted by Laura in Cozy mystery, Crime, Female sleuth on December 28th, 2011
Choke
Kaye George
Mainly Murder Press, LLC
ISBN-978-0-9827952
214 pages
$14.95 (soft cover)
Reviewed by Laura Hartman
Kaye George has a recipe for success with her Imogene Duckworthy mystery Choke. Imogene – Immy to her family and friends – quits her job working for at her slimy uncle’s diner in hopes of following her dream to become a private eye. How hard can it be? Immy watches PI shows on TV and even reads The Moron’s Compleat PI Guidebook for tips and tricks of the trade.
She jumps into her new career with both feet in mismatched shoes when Uncle Huey turns up murdered and her mother is the main suspect. Immy breaks her mom out of jail and they go on the lamb while Immy searches for the real killer. The sharp contrast of Hortense’s propensity for ten dollar words when discussing everyday things and Immy’s new PI lingo made me laugh out loud more than once.
This quick cozy is entertaining and often tongue-in-cheek. Subtle jokes make me chuckle like Immy’s late father’s name, Louis and her Uncle’s name Huey. All we need is Dewey and we have all three of Donald Duck’s nephews. Very fitting names for a Duckworthy family. Immy’s daughter is named Nancy Drew Duckworthy, again perfect for the daughter of a want-to-be detective.
Stephanie Plum needs to watch out for the new PI in town, Immy has all the charm and the right touch of zaniness to take over as top duck with her mixture of armchair detection and just enough knowledge to get herself in trouble without even trying. Mix in the small town cast of characters, a couple of possible love interests that popped up in Choke and we are on the way to books that readers can’t wait to get their hands on next in the series.
Copyright © 2011 Laura Hartman
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Review: MURDER IN A BASKET by Amanda Flower
Posted by Diane in Cozy mystery, Crime, Murder Mystery on December 28th, 2011
Murder In A Basket
An India Hayes Mystery
Amanda Flower
ISBN: 978-1-4328-2567-6
Five Star Publishing
281 Pages
Reviewed By Diane Grace
India Hayes, college librarian and struggling artist, is talked into running a face-painting booth at the Founders’ Day Festival by her older sister, Carmen. She’s not sure how her sister persuaded her to dress in the pink pioneer costume, including mobcap and granny boots, but that’s a small problem when she finds one of her fellow artists dead.
The woman, a basket weaver named Tess Ross leaves behind an angry blacksmith husband, an adopted son, squabbling siblings, an artists co-op she helped start and a labradoodle with a trust fund.
India with her backbone of cooked spaghetti and relatives that put the word dysfunctional in the dictionary, finds herself talked into searching for the killer by the distraught son, a college student with a crush on India. In her search for answers she is conned by the victim’s lawyer into being the foster-owner of the labradoodle until things are settled. To make matters worse, Tess is the sister of the college provost, India’s pompous superior. The further India looks into the matter the worse things get. With a little luck, India will find the answer to her quest before she becomes the murderer’s next victim.
Murder In A Basket is Amanda Flower’s sophomore effort in a series featuring India Hayes, college librarian and amateur artist. Ms. Flower’s writing style fits in nicely with other professional cozy mystery writers, Earlene Fowler, M.C. Beaton, Barbara Colley and others. The story has more twists and turns than the baskets the murder victim made. India goes blundering into one situation after another. And if she can’t get into enough trouble by herself, her neighbor and family will be happy to do it for her. All in innocence of course.
This is a delightful story, I would find myself immersed in the characters, rooting for them to succeed, cringing when they got in over their heads. Made me wish there was a Stripling, Ohio and a Founders’ Festival to visit. I can recommend Murder In A Basket without qualm one to any cozy mystery reader.
Copyright 2011 by Diane Grace
Disclosure of material connection: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep in consideration preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Review: DYING FOR A DANCE by Cindy Sample
Posted by Marlene in Cozy mystery, Humor, Murder Mystery, Romance on November 16th, 2011
Dying For A Dance
Cindy Sample
Published by L & L Dreamspell
ISBN 978-1-60318-427-4
263 pages
Cover price $16.95
Reviewed by Marlene Pyle
You’ve got to love Laurel McKay, the main character in Cindy Sample’s novel, “Dying For a Dance.” Laurel is a divorced mom in her late thirties who works in banking by day. In the evenings she’s taking ballroom dance lessons to prepare for her best friend’s wedding. But there’s more than just the foxtrot going on in the dance studio.
When two of the dance instructors are murdered, Laurel is quickly drawn into the hunt for a killer. Her boss is one of the prime suspects, so she needs to clear his name, and it doesn’t hurt that she has the hots for the hunky lead detective either.
Laurel is funny and sarcastic. With a blade being held to her throat, her first thought is that “nobody better move, especially me.” Her second concern is that her captor had just called her fat.
Backed up by Laurel’s loving but highly critical mother, her gay work assistant, Stan, and Tom, the cute cop, the cast of characters is packed with humor. “Dying” is a light-hearted romantic comedy sure to please female mystery fans.
Copyright 2011 Marlene Pyle
Disclosure of material connection : I have a material connection because I received a review copy that i can keep in consideration for preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Review: THE ENEMY WE KNOW by Donna White Glaser
Posted by Laura in Cozy mystery, Crime on October 22nd, 2011
The Enemy We Know
Donna White Glaser
DanDon Books, Chetek, WI
ISBN-978-1461098379
311 pages
$14.95 (soft cover)
Reviewed by Laura Hartman
Donna White Glaser’s debut novel is an unusual twist on cozy mystery. Psychotherapist Letty Whitaker works with troubled clients along side of an interestingly eclectic mix of office odd balls. Professionally, Letty is efficient, capable and in control – until a violent encounter with a Wayne, a client who misrepresented himself to gain access to his ex-girlfriend’s confidential information shakes her foundation.
The incident at work places Letty in physical and psychological danger. Her very private personal life as a recovering alcoholic in a 12 Step Program has been hidden from her coworkers. She wants to keep it that way, but as her worlds collide it becomes increasingly difficult – especially when Wayne goes from attacker to stalker, then turns up dead.
Thinking her problems are solved, she finds out nothing could be further from the truth. She is still being watched and threatened. To make matters worse, she is attracted to her boss, who just might be her stalker.
A healthy pool of red herrings keeps the readers guessing until the end. I enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot, mixing Letty’s personal and professional lives added a “real life” element to the story. The book included many moments that were comical by design that really worked.
Glaser does not take alcoholism lightly. She addresses the challenges and problems recovering alcoholics face head on and seriously, but doesn’t stand on a soapbox or get preachy. Her website, donnawhiteglaser.jigsy.com/ has a link to AA if anyone has a drinking problem or knows someone that has one.
Copyright © 2011 Laura Hartman
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Review: MURDER IN BURNT ORANGE by Jeanne M. Dams
Posted by Agnes in Cozy mystery, Crime on September 24th, 2011
Murder in Burnt Orange A Hilda Johansson Mystery
Jeanne M. Dams
Perseverance Press
Paperback, 9781564745033
September 2011
Reviewed by Agnes Dee
Hilda has ‘married up’ in life, and happily as well, in the seventh of the Hilda Johansson series. Ladies in 1905 South Bend stay at home when expecting, and Hilda is very pregnant. She hasn’t stopped reading the paper, however, or being concerned about the unusual accidents and suspicious strangers that appear ever closer to those she loves.
Hilda solves the peculiar crime wave while (usually) doing what is expected by the town’s gentle-society, through a keen mind and a network of working class friends.
South Bend of 1905 is vividly described by Jeanne M. Dams. Hilda is first-generation Swedish, and her husband is Irish, and the humorous asides of Catholic versus Protestant beliefs will ring true to anyone who has grown up in the Midwest. The author has woven factual stories about labor unrest, agitation, and the beginnings of a more machine-dependant age together to provide a fascinating background for the story.
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Copyright 2011 Agnes Dee
Review: THE HERRING IN THE LIBRARY by L. C. Tyler
Posted by Amanda in Cozy mystery, Humor, Murder Mystery on August 2nd, 2011
The Herring in the Library
L. C. Tyler
Felony and Mayhem Press
ISBN: 978-1-934609-76-7
$14.95
240 pages
Reviewed by Amanda Capper
All you need to do is read page one. If you do not recognize Elsie as someone you know, or know of, or have laughed at in a sitcom, you obviously have no interest in Britons at all. In that case, go no further and put the book away. I highly doubt you will.
Because, from page one, the book is funny. Elsie’s conviction that she is always right, even in the face of irrefutable evidence, explains the determination of a people who keep their island afloat by pure obstinacy. And, since every relative I have is British, I feel most qualified to comment on this observation. But sheer stubbornness, even when combined with intelligence, does not solve murders; unless that stubbornness is tempered with patience and logic and named Ethelred.
During a small dinner party at his old college chum’s estate, Ethelred breaks into the locked library and finds his host, Shagger, dead and surrounded by a bunch of herrings dressed as guests. Taking turns to tell their side of the story, Elsie and Ethelred interview and investigate wherever the herrings lead them until the ultimate conclusions—most of which neither of them agree on—are reached. There is also a third voice, Thomas, a fictional character in Ethelred’s latest mystery being written midst the investigation, but not to worry. The author maintains an easy flow to the story and each character is very recognizable when it is their turn to tell their tale.
The Herring in the Library is the third novel in a series from L. C. Tyler and rest assured I will be ordering the other two. Listed in the front of this book are other titles from the Felony and Mayhem “British” category, so no doubt I will be broke by Christmas. But, then again, since all those relatives I mentioned are probably reading this review…
Copyright © 2011 Amanda Capper
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION
I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Review: PIE A LA MURDER by Melinda Wells
Posted by Dorothy in Cozy mystery on July 24th, 2011
PIE a la MURDER
Melinda Wells
Berkley Prime Crime, New York
ISBN : 978-0-425-24221-6
308 PAGES
$7.99 (soft cover)
REVIEWED BY DOROTHY FRANCIS
PIE a la MURDER is the fourth book in the DELLA COOKS MYSTERY Series by prolific writer Melinda Wells who also has written the DAYTIME MYSTERY Series.
Melinda grew up in Georgia knowing that she wanted to write. The problem was she didn’t know what kind of writing best suited her talents. Nobody bought her plays. A Hollywood producer told her the horror story she showed him was a real horror. It took her several years to discover the kind of writing she most enjoyed and that was also a joy to her readers.
In PIE a la MURDER Melinda brings a group of interesting characters to life on the page in a way that makes them live in the reader’s memory long after the book is closed.
Protagonist Della Carmichael owns a cooking school in Santa Monica, California. Also, she’s the star of her own TV cooking show and is currently running a contest to help support a charity. Things are going smoothly between Della and her boyfriend prize-winning columnist Nicholas D’Martino until he tells her he has an estranged l8-year-old daughter, Celeste, living in with her mother in Europe. Celeste is coming to California to live with him and break into the movies. This surprises Della, but she takes it in stride.
In California, Celeste becomes involved with a professional Hollywood photographer intent on exploiting her and this infuriates Nicholas. He goes to the photographer’s home to deal with the situation only to find the door to the home open and the photographer lying dead. Della appears at that moment sure that Nicholas did not kill the photographer, but the police aren’t so sure. So, Della takes it upon herself to prove Nicholas’s innocence. Tensions increase when Celeste’s mother comes to California, intent on keeping Celeste from breaking up her own engagement to an European prince. Or is he?
The mystery increases as Melinda proves her ability to keep the reader on the edge of her chair by introducing red herrings that plague Della both at her TV show and at her home. Melinda’s writing shows careful research, and many of the plot twists provide the reader with graphic pictures of the inner workings of TV cook show studios, as well as police procedures that few laymen realize may take place at the precinct headquarters.
As I began reading the book, I became a bit impatient with the author’s in-depth descriptions of the characters’ clothing, then I found myself wondering just what Celeste or Della would wear next. The story is full of mouth watering details of the dishes Della is cooking for her TV audience, and after the whodunit is revealed, the reader will be treated to recipes that will likely taste as good as they look in print.
Enjoy this gem or a book for the mystery of it and also for the many facets of truth it reveals.
Copyright 2011 Dorothy Francis
Review: KILLER IN CONTROL by Dorothy Francis
Posted by Laura in Cozy mystery, Crime on June 22nd, 2011
Killer In Control
Dorothy Francis
Published by Five Star, an imprint of Gale/Cengage Learning.
ISBN-978-1-43282-502-7
273 pages
$25.95 Hardcover
Reviewed by Laura Hartman
Dorothy Francis, author of over 70 books has another winner! Her latest Key West mystery, Killer in Control, is filled with quirky characters and fun facts about the Florida Keys. Kitt Morgan, a suspended police officer from Iowa, travels to her sister and brother-in-law’s B & B, The Poinsettia in Key West only to find one of their guests has been murdered.
Everyone associated with The Poinsettia is suspect and Kitt’s distraught sister asks her to help the local police find the killer. The list of possible murderers includes Kitt’s sister Janell, brother-in-law Rex and their permanent resident Hella Flusher who happens to be a psychic. Phud Ashby, the gardener, musicians Teach and Ace and bossy Mama G who doles out sandwiches and headaches with equal enthusiasm all have iffy alibis and reasons to want the victim dead.
It is especially fun to read a cozy mystery set in a summer paradise, written by an author who really knows and loves the location. After reading this book, I have a list of places to see and things to do when I visit the Keys. I read a lot of mysteries, and wasn’t able to figure out who the murderer was until the final pages. Get this book and pretend you are at the beach or better yet, take it to the beach for a great summertime (or anytime) read.
Copyright © 2011 Laura Hartman
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Review: DEATH AT PULLMAN by Frances McNamara
Posted by Diane in Cozy mystery, Historical Mystery, Historical fiction on May 3rd, 2011
Death at Pullman
An Emily Cabot Mystery
Frances McNamara
Allium Press of Chicago 2011
Trade Paperback
ISBN 978-0-9840676-9-5 * $14.00
262 Pages
Reviewed by Diane Grace
In the vein of a Miss Marple a young Miss Cabot travels to a company town south of Chicago to do good deeds and finds deaths and mysteries. There is action in this book, it is no cerebral exercise from an armchair. There are star-crossed lovers, and danger from known and unknown violent people. Miss Cabot herself gets carried away, in her mind a servant of justice, until reality intrudes. There is joy and sorrow in plenty. The protagonist reads as a young woman of her time. The writer on the very last page promises more from Miss Cabot. And more will be most welcome.
Frances McNamara has studied the era carefully and readily inserts a reference here and there that would be missed by the casual writer. The book is based on the factual town created by Pullman for his workers. She writes well and captures and holds the reader’s interest throughout. Her writing skills are impressive and nowhere is there a jarring note.
If there is one thing I would wish is that the Prologue and Epilogue were dropped. They do not add to this book.
On the whole I recommend that you make room for this book in your library. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
Review:Seeker Of Truth by C.L. Shore
Posted by Agnes in Christian Fiction, Cozy mystery, Crime, Police Procedural, Uncategorized on April 4th, 2011
Seeker Of Truth
by C.L. Shore
Eternal Press, 2011
paperback 19.99
ISBN:978-1-61572-285-3
Reviewed by Agnes Dee
Seeker Of Truth, is a crime/murder mystery from C.L. Shore, a teacher, nurse, and mother, living in the Indianapolis area. Her protagonist is Sister Lucie, a nun (and recent widow) who has recently taken her vows, who teams with police detective Jed McCracken to find the murderer of Charlene, a woman who left the convent to marry the president of a local college.
Sister Lucie has a personal interest: the victim used to be friend of hers in high school, drifted apart, and never reconected at the convent. Sister Lucie feels that perhaps, she let her friend down. When she hears of Charlene’s death, she calls her late husband’s ex-partner, and he takes over the investigation.
Catholic in nature, this book doesn’t shy away from seedier aspects of criminality. Its story examines marriage: a fullfilled one, and the concequences of a marriage-of-convenience. It is well-written, and thoughtful.
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.
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