Book Review: Cookies & Clairvoyance by Bailey Cates

Hedgewitch Katie Lightfoot is juggling wedding preparations, a visit from her father, and home renovations on top of her long hours at the Honeybee Bakery, where she and her aunt Lucy imbue their yummy cookies and pastries with beneficial magic. But when firefighter Randy Post is accused of murdering a collector of rarities, and his prints are on the statue that was used to kill the man, Katie steps in.

Randy is not only Katie's fiancé's coworker, but also the boyfriend of fellow spellbook club member and witch Bianca Devereaux. Bianca and Declan are both sure Randy is innocent, and so is Katie. However, to prove it she'll have to work with ornery detective Peter Quinn again—and this time around he knows she's more than your everyday baker.[summary via Amazon]

Cookies and Clairvoyance is the 8th book in the Magical Bakery Mysteries. This time the spellbook club members are at hand to help find another killer! The police are determined to point the finger at Bianca's boyfriend, resident nice guy and firefighter, Randy, for the death of a local collector. However, with Katie, Declan and others on the case, they will do all they can to prove Randy's innocence.

It's been a little while since I've taken a visit to the Honeybee Bakery. I was instantly welcomed into the fold of the spell book club, and the magic that surrounds the Honeybee Bakery. From the enchanting mystery to the delectable treats, I was absolutely enthralled. Bailey Cates described the most mouth-watering treats, I wish I had been able to pluck a treat right off the page!

The mystery itself is very magical. The victim in question is a collector of paranormal items, and it was interesting to see the different branches of magic intertwine as Katie tries to unravel the mystery.

I like that Bailey Cates delivers more than just a mystery. Yes, there is the delectable treats and recipes, but there is also the well-developed magic sub-plots. It's these extra doses of witchiness that has me coming back for more!! I particularly enjoyed the direction the magic takes in Cookies and Clairvoyance and I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!

As mentioned earlier, I've not read the last couple of books in this series. With so many new series on the shelves, I'm finding it hard to keep up. However, I wanted to jump right back into this series, and Bailey Cates does a great job of enabling readers to do that! She gives a little background information, without spoiling the previous books, and I didn't feel lost at all. If you haven't read this series yet, you can certainly "jump right in" with Cookies & Clairvoyance. Of course after one book, you will be wanting to go back and devour the rest!

Book Review: Prologue to Murder by Lauren Elliott

Gossip columnists love a bold-faced name—but “Miss Newsy” at Greyborne Harbor’s local paper seems to specialize in bald-faced lies. She’s pointed a finger of suspicion at Addie after librarian June Winslow never makes it home from a book club meeting. And when June’s found at the bottom of a steep flight of stairs, Addie’s not only dealing with a busybody, but a dead body.

It’s a good thing the guy she’s dating is the police chief. But both the case and her love life get more complicated when a lanky blonde reporter from Los Angeles shows up. She’s trying her hardest to drive a wedge between the couple . . . as if Addie doesn’t have enough problems dealing with angry townspeople. Despite all the rumors, Addie doesn’t know a thing about the murder—but she plans to find out. And the key may lie in a book about pirate legends that June published. Now she just has to hunt down the clues before she becomes a buried treasure herself.[summary via Amazon]

LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! The first book in the Beyond the Page Bookstore Mysteries, Murder by the Book, really captured my attention, but this second book has my attention forever!! Yes, I really enjoyed Prologue to Murder that much!

Addie Greyborne is preparing for the Founder's Day celebrations in Greyborne Harbour. However, the celebrations take a deadly turn when the local librarian is found dead. Unfortunately for Addie a local newspaper columnist is determined to point the finger at Addie. With time against her, Addie must solve the mystery before she ends up with life behind bars!

I've come right off reading another cozy mystery featuring buried treasure (Read and Buried by Eva Gates - it's awesome, go check it out). As coincidence would have it I picked up a second story (completely unrelated) involving buried treasure. This time the buried treasure involves pirates, and not the Jack Sparrow kind!

Greyborne Harbour is celebrating Founder's Day, and there are a couple of new faces in town! Lacey Davenport, ex-fiance of police chief, Marc, and best friend to Serena, is in town to stir up trouble and try to win Marc back!! Meanwhile, there is also a new Doctor and Coroner in town, in the way of Dr Simon Emerson. With chemistry brewing between Addie and Simon, this could mean trouble for Marc!

I loved these new additions to Greyborne Harbour. Lacey is a complete love-to-hate character, and it was interesting to see how far she would go to sabotage Addie. Would Lacey go as far as murder? And Simon? Well that's the toe-curling romance I was talking about. Simon is light hearted and quick with a smile, and I'm clearly already finding myself in the Team Simon camp!

I really enjoyed the mystery. It surrounds a book that the late librarian has written, and as a fellow bibliophile, I love the detail the author puts into the research aspect. It has definitely made me curious about pirates, and wanting to do more reading about that time in history.

Prologue to Murder really has everything. It captured me with a strong history-themed cozy mystery. Add in the toe-curling romance with a dash of pirates and buried treasure, and I absolutely can't wait to come back for more.

Book Review: Beyond a Reasonable Stout by Ellie Alexander

It’s the dead season in Leavenworth, Washington. The throngs of Oktoberfest crowds have headed home, and the charming Bavarian streets are quiet and calm—momentarily. Villagers use the reprieve to drink in the crisp fall mountain air and prepare for the upcoming winter light festival. Soon the German-inspired shops and restaurants will be aglow with thousands of twinkling lights. Visitors will return to the northern Cascades to drink warm mulled cider and peruse the holiday markets. Brewer, Sloan Krause and her partner in crime Garrett Strong are using the slowdown to stock up on a new line of their signature craft beers at Nitro. They’re experimenting with a hoppy holiday pine and a chocolate hazelnut stout. The small brewery is alive with delicious scents and bubbling batches of brew.

Sloan is in her element. She loves the creativity and lowkey atmosphere at Nitro. Only that is soon threatened by the incumbent city councilmember Kristopher Cooper. Kristopher is running for re-election on a platform of making Leavenworth dry. Everyone in beertopia is fuming. Leavenworth’s economy relies on keeping the kegs flowing. Kristopher wants to banish beer, a policy that might just bankrupt the entire village. However, Kristopher turns up dead days before election night. Sloan quickly realizes that his murder isn’t the work of a stranger. Friends, family, and every other business owner had a motive to kill him, including none other than April Ablin, Leavenworth’s self-described ambassador of all things German. Sloan finds herself defending April and trying to sleuth out a killer amongst a group of familiar faces.[summary via Amazon]

In the third book in the Sloan Krause Mysteries, winter is approaching and it's all quiet in Leavenworth. Sloan and Garrett are looking forward the quieter months to get started on renovating the guest rooms, and of course come up with some new brews! However, it seems that life in Leavenworth is about to get interesting again... Local city councillor, Kristopher Cooper, is up for re-election and he promises to turn Leavenworth into a "dry" town. When Kristopher is found dead, Sloan begins to wonder who could have wanted him dead. With his unpopularity on the rise it could have been anyone...

This series has quickly skyrocketed to my favourite "new-to-me" series of 2019. I'm a non-beer drinker and yet, I can't help wanting more and more from Sloan, Garrett and everyone in Leavenworth.

Ellie Alexander hits all the right notes with Beyond a Reasonable Stout. There is a first class mystery to solve (who doesn't like when a disliked local is killed off, and there are suspects aplenty?), there is fantastic character development, mouthwatering beers and food, and the added mystery of Sloan's past. This all adds up to another great instalment in this series. 

I enjoyed trying to solve the main mystery, but it is the mystery that is surrounding Sloan's past that is really intriguing me. I was madly flipping through the pages, trying to unravel what happened to Sloan when she was younger. I'm excited to see Ellie Alexander has up her sleeve for Sloan next!

If you haven't picked up the Sloan Krause Mysteries yet, you need to add them to your reading list right away!!! They can be read in any order. However, I encourage starting at the beginning. Alike to me, you will quickly devour them, as they are absolutely unputdownable reads!

Book Review: Chocolate Cream Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke

When The Cookie Jar becomes the setting of a star-studded TV special about movies filmed in Minnesota, Hannah hopes to shine the spotlight on her bakery—not the unsavory scandal swirling around her personal life. But that’s practically impossible with a disturbing visit from the shifty character she once believed was her one and only love, a group of bodyguards following her every move, and a murder victim in her bedroom. Now, swapping the crime scene in her condo for her mother Delores’s penthouse, Hannah and an old flame team up to solve a case that’s messier than an upended chocolate cream pie. As suspects emerge and secrets hit close to home, Hannah must serve a hefty helping of justice to an unnamed killer prowling around Lake Eden . . . before someone takes a slice out of her![summary via Amazon]

Chocolate Cream Pie Murder is the 24th book in the Hannah Swensen mysteries. Hannah is reeling after the shock of her husband leaving her, and finding out the real story as to why he left. All Hannah wants to do is get on with her life. However, it seems like her ex-husband, Ross, has other ideas. When Ross turns up dead, Hannah must sift through a whole town-full of suspects to find the killer.

The Hannah Swensen mysteries were one of the first cozy mystery series I discovered. I've been reading (and re-reading) them over the years and they still delight me. After finishing Christmas Cake Murder (in which the reader is taken back to before the beginning), I leapt right into the next (and most current) book in the series.

With Ross's death in Chocolate Cream Pie Murder it feels like the story arc involving Ross is finally over. Being a Team-Norman girl myself, it could be wishful thinking on my part!  From the second Ross comes back into town, and starts threatening Hannah, it becomes apparent that he is destined to turn up dead. With Ross being the most disliked person in Lake Eden, anyone (and maybe everyone) could have been the killer! 

As with a lot of long-running series, I really enjoy the character development. Having finished Christmas Cake Murder just prior, it is interesting to see how far the characters have come, and the growth they've made. Particularly Hannah's relationship with her mother. I'm eager to watch the characters grow and develop, in hopefully many, many more books in this series.

Chocolate Cream Pie Murder is a good addition to this series. From the mystery of Ross's past, to solving of the murder, it kept me guessing until the end. Add in the delicious recipes, and it's easy to see why I'm hooked on this series!! I will be eagerly awaiting the next book, Coconut Layer Cake Murder, which releases in February, 2020. 

Book Review: A Cup of Holiday Fear by Ellie Alexander

Ashland, Oregon, looks as pretty as a postcard this holiday season. The halls are decked, stockings hung, and eyes are all aglow―mostly thanks to the buttered rum. Jules Capshaw and her staff at Torte are busier than ever. . . still, even the town’s most in-demand bakers need to take a break. So Jules invites everyone to celebrate at the local Winchester Inn’s Dickens Feast, a six-course extravaganza with Yorkshire Pudding, Christmas goose, and all the trimmings. But as the weather outside becomes frightful, things inside turn less delightful when one of the guests ends up as dead as Scrooge’s doornail. Now it’s up to Jules and her helpers to make a list of suspects―and check it twice―to try to find out who’s naughty, who’s nice, and who’s guilty of murder…[summary via Amazon]

It's the holidays in Ashland, Oregon. Juliet Capshaw and the gang at Torte are ready to celebrate the holiday and provide festive cheer and delectable treats for everyone in Ashland. However, not everyone has festive cheer on their minds... When the staff get together for a Christmas party at the Winchester Inn they don't expect their night to end with a dead body! With the holidays inching closer and a murderer on the loose, Jules must put all her detective skills to the test before the holidays are ruined.

I love every visit to Ashland. The staff at Torte are always cooking up something mouth-watering, and Jules (along with her friend Lance) are always getting up to something interesting. If Lance is involved, it's something mischievous too!!!

This time the mischief involves solving the case of a murdered guest at the Winchester Inn. Jules and Lance are certain the murderer isn't a school friend, but what do they do when all signs point to their friend? Well they hunt for clues of course - and only in the most stylish of ways if Lance has anything to say about it!

I really like the amateur detecting duo of Jules and Lance. They're best friends and not romantically involved at all, and I find this is what sets these two apart from other series. There is a strong bond between them, and I love the constant bantering between Jules and Lance. 

The setting for the murder is just delightful (in-a-I-love-a-good-setting kind of way!). It's the Dickens Feast at the Winchester Inn, and I could just picture the scene of a perfect holiday feast. It completely had the feel of an Agatha Christie novel, set at Christmas, and just waiting for Hercule Poirot to enter and say "the butler did it"!

From beginning to end, A Cup of Holiday Fear is a delightful holiday mystery. It hits all the right notes with quotable Shakespeare and simply delectable, mouth-watering treats. Add in the holiday atmosphere and an unfathomable Christmas mystery and it's easy to see why this one is topping my holiday reads this year!

If you haven't picked up the Bakeshop Mysteries, you need to add these to your reading list. While I highly recommend starting from the first book, Meet the Baker, it is possible to jump right in with A Cup of Holiday Fear. Ellie Alexander gives you enough background information that you won't feel lost. I do warn you though... afterwards you will be wanting to read the backlist in this series for the wonderful mysteries and fantastic recipes!