Book Review: Closely Harboured Secrets by Bree Baker

It's almost Halloween, and the small island of Charm, North Carolina is decked out for the festivities. When Everly Swan agrees to close her iced tea shop early to help her aunts host their annual haunted historic walking tour, she expects some good-natured spooks. But the night turns grave when one of the ghostly actors is found dead. To complicate matters, the victim scratched Everly's name into the ground before she died, making her a key suspect. 

The murder mystery heats up when Everly's potential boo, Detective Grady, takes the case—and he definitely doesn't want her getting involved. Will their seaside romance be threatened by all the ghostly drama? But when a phantom sailor straight out of local legend starts leaving Everly threatening messages, she has to get involved... With a local election under way, ghosts on the loose, and a search for long-lost buried treasure, Everly can't help but stir the pot![summary via Amazon]

'Tis the season to be... spooked by long-lost sailors in search of their treasure! While it is the season for cookies, gifts and all things Christmas, I will never turn down a good Halloween-themed cozy mystery, no matter what season it is!

I was delighted to pick up the newest offering from Bree Baker. She is taking Everly and her family and friends in Charm, on a spooky ghost walk. However, not everyone is going to make it out alive! One of the actresses turns up dead, and the dead woman has drawn Everly's name right next to her, prior to her death! Naturally Everly can't help but join the investigation and find out who the killer is!

Oh how I love this series! This is the absolute perfect example of a super-fantastic cozy mystery series. There are toe-curling moments, not just between Everly and Detective Grady, but also from the warmth that surrounds Everly in the form of her family. Of course by family I mean her Great-Aunts, Fran and Clara, and also her extended friends-family in Charm. There is such a wonderful community feel, and I always feel like I'm not just checking in Everly, but with everyone else as well!

The mystery surrounds "buried treasure" and it was top notch! I love how the author has intertwined the history of Everly's house with the current mystery. Charm is like an onion - every book reveals more layers! With each layer being better than the previous one!

I simply cannot get enough of this series or say enough good things about it! Closely Harbored Secrets is the best in the series (so far!). It's a heart-warming, thrilling adventure, and it leaves readers guessing right until the end! 

Book Review: A Call for Kelp by Bree Baker

Everly Swan is busy as a bee running her beachside iced tea shop, and the small island of Charm, North Carolina is abuzz—Mitzi Calgon, an iconic Hollywood actress, is in town! Everly's great-aunts are making a documentary about beekeeping and Mitzi has agreed to help. Aunt Clara and Aunt Fran are determined to save endangered honeybees but soon find themselves in a bind when Mitzi turns up dead. Soon, reporters and fans swarm the island, muddying the water and disrupting the peaceful lives of the townspeople.

Everly's never been good at minding her own beeswax, so she starts following her own leads and combing through the evidence. Then there's the mystery of Detective Hays—ever since their kiss under the mistletoe, he's been acting distant. And he's annoyingly determined to keep Everly away from the case. With her beekeeping aunts' reputations on the line, the sleuth will stop at nothing to crack the case. But when she receives a cryptic warning to "Bee Careful", Everly realizes that she's gotten herself into a really sticky situation...[summary via Amazon]

I'm back reading cozy mysteries and the first one on my list is the latest Seaside Cafe Mystery, A Call for Kelp. I always enjoy catching up with Everly and her aunts and seeing what is happening in the picturesque town of Charm.

In this adventure Everly's great-aunts have a few visitors in town to help with the documentary they are making about beekeeping. One visitor is a friend of Everly's grandmother, Mitzi Calgon. When Mitzi turns up dead, all evidence points to someone close to Everly and she must do all she can to find the real killer.

The Seaside Cafe Mysteries never disappoint and I'm so glad I picked this one up! The mystery itself was very intriguing, as I tried to solve it alongside Everly. Beyond the mystery, Everly manages to untangle some mysteries surrounding folks in Charm as well. It's these characters with such depth that has me coming back again and again. 

While I'm not an avid beekeeper (beyond enjoying honey!) I like that there is more than just the tea shop to interest readers. I'm definitely learning a lot reading this series.. well enough to know I don't want to tangle with a bee!

If you enjoy a light-hearted, intriguing mystery, with enough charming characters to fill a cozy town, then this series is for you. The absolutely icing on the cake (or lemon slice in your tea!) is the delectable delights that Everly cooks up. I absolutely can't wait to visit Charm again!

Book Review: Tide & Punishment by Bree Baker

It's Christmastime in Charm, North Carolina, and while Everly Swan would prefer to focus on decorating her iced tea shop and café for its first holiday season, Great-Aunt Fran has decided to run for mayor against her long-time nemesis. But when the other candidate turns up dead just before the first scheduled debate, all eyes turn to Fran as the suspect with the most obvious motive.

As a rare blizzard threatens to bury all evidence, small-town holiday cheer turns to suspicion. and the tension between Everly and the handsome Detective Grady Hays builds. Everly knows her sweet, elderly Aunt Fran couldn't have murdered anyone, but as she struggles to find the real killer, it begins to seem like this may be the last happy holiday her family will ever have. Can she tie this Christmas mystery up in a bow before it's too late? This next book in Bree Baker's cozy mysteries will keep you guessing right up to the end![summary via Amazon]

I'm so hooked on the Seaside Cafe Mysteries that I accidentally bought book 4, A Call for Kelp, and I had to wait for my local bookstore to order in the third book, Tide and Punishment. Well guess what? It was completely worth the wait!!

It's Christmas in Charm and the little seaside village is covered in snow! Snow being something of a novelty has caused all the mishaps that snow will cause. However, what Everly Swan is not expecting is to be in the middle of another murder investigation. This is what happens when the Mayor is found dead outside her cafe, and the police have her Aunt Fran fingered for the crime. Everly must solve the murder and save Christmas!!

Love, love, love, love!!! I know readers must be sick of me saying this about every series I read. The truth is I'm lucky to pick up tremendously readable books, and I love shouting from the rooftop how much I love them! 

I love every visit to Charm, and its almost becoming a virtual holiday destination. I can't wait to see what Everly's aunts are up to when I visit Blessed Bee. What Amelia has going on at the cozy, cute bookstore, and of course what Everly is serving at her cafe! It really is like visiting old friends. That is, if old friends got themselves in the middle of a murder investigation.

I enjoyed the mystery element. I did manage to guess the killer's identity early on, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story. Bree Baker delivers such a great story, that if you manage to guess the murderer, you still want to read on and see how it all unravels.

Tide and Punishment was a home-run for me! It had all the elements I love... mystery, a little romance, and that cozy feeling of being in a small town where [almost] everyone cares about each other. It wrapped me up in that cozy feeling of Christmas hope, and I'm so glad I picked it up as a "Christmas in July" read.

Book Review: No Good Tea Goes Unpunished by Bree Baker

Catering her childhood friend's beachfront wedding was a dream come true for Everly Swan—and, with hundreds of guests in attendance, great exposure for her new iced tea shop and café. But when the well-to-do groom is found floating facedown in the surf, the locals of Charm, North Carolina, turn their suspicions to his new bride. Could she have been so desperate to lay her hands on his fortune that she arranged for his murder before they even set off on their honeymoon?

Everly knows her love-struck friend couldn't be behind the murder, but with clues pointing in several directions, she can't decide which wedding guest is the most likely culprit. Meanwhile, the frustratingly handsome Detective Hays has made it clear that Everly should stay out of the investigation altogether. But with a killer on the loose and a feeling that someone is watching her café very closely, Everly knows that if she can't solve this murder soon, her cake might be iced for good.[summary via Amazon]

I really enjoyed the first book in the Seaside Cafe mysteries, Live and Let Chai, and I couldn't wait to visit Charm again! My second visit to Charm was even better than my first.

Everly Swan is helping organize a wedding for her childhood friend, Judy. However things go awry when the groom is found dead on the beach. Together with best friend, Amelia, and her feline sidekick, Maggie, they set about to follow the clues and solve the murder!

I really, really, really loved No Good Tea Goes Unpunished! It was my first cozy mystery in a while, and it reminded me why I love this genre so much. It is a well-written, fun, frothy mystery, with delightful characters, and it leaves me wanting more and more... just like a good glass of iced tea!

As regular readers of my blog know, I love the relationships in cozy mysteries. Everly is a Swan, and the history goes that all Swan women are cursed in love. Everly seems intent to test this theory, especially with a romantic interest growing with Detective Grady Hays, and her ex-boyfriend back in town. I really like the romantic angle and I can't wait to see how it develops.

If you're looking for a fun summer read, I highly recommend the Seaside Cafe mysteries. They are fun and light, but very well written, with characters that. you will want to visit again and again.

Book Review: Live & Let Chai by Bree Baker

Life hasn't been so sweet for Everly Swan over the past couple of years, but now that she is back in her seaside hometown and the proud owner of a little iced tea shop and café right on the beach, things are finally starting to look up—until a curmudgeonly customer turns up dead on the boardwalk. With one of her hallmark glass tea jars lying right next to him and an autopsy that reports poison in his system, it doesn't look good for Everly or her brand new business.

As the townspeople of Charm, formerly so welcoming and homey, turn their back on Everly, she fights to dig up clues about who could have had it in for the former town councilman. With a maddeningly handsome detective discouraging her from uncovering leads and a series of anonymous attacks on Everly and her business, it will take everything she's got to keep this mystery from boiling over.[summary via Amazon]

Lately, I've taken to Twitter and Instagram, and the use of polls, to let readers choose what books I read next. Recently there was overwhelming votes that I read Bree Baker's Live and Let Chai, the first book in the Seaside Cafe Mystery. Let me just say, all the hype regarding this book is totally warranted! Live and Let Chai was the perfect seaside cozy mystery!

Everly Swan is returning to her hometown of Charm, looking to recover from recent heart break and open up a new business, her very own tea shop. However, when a customer turns up dead outside her cafe, the townsfolk seem determined to pin the crime on Everly. She must, with the help of her aunts, try to find the killer before they strike again.

As I mentioned earlier, there was a lot of hype before I read Live and Let Chai. Both cozy mystery authors and readers were telling me that I had to read this book, and I'm glad I listened to them! This was a perfectly sweet seaside mystery, and was filled with charm from beginning to end.

I really liked the main character, Everly Swan. She comes with her own baggage, but so does every Swan woman, if you listen to legend. Everly, along with her aunts, Clara and Fran, are the resident Swan woman in Charm and they are all very intriguing. Together the three of them get together to solve the mystery, and I loved watching the adventure alongside them.

For non-human sidekicks, Everly has Lou the seagull and Maggie the cat, stray turned pet (sometimes).  The feathered and furry sidekicks definitely added to the seaside atmosphere, because what other cozy mystery has a seagull named Lou!

I really liked the mystery. It was well-plotted and kept me guessing until the end. The victim, Benedict Paine, literally was a pain and there were definitely lots of suspects in the course of solving the mystery.

If you haven't picked up the Seaside Cafe Mysteries, listen to the words of many readers and pick up this series. It will have you dreaming of summer, of drinking a cool glass of iced tea, and reading a cozy mystery in the sun!