Book Review: Words with Fiends by Ali Brandon

In the latest instalment of the Black Cat Bookshop Mysteries, Ali Brandon tantalizes readers with an action-packed mystery featuring karate, cat whispers and even the Mob!

Hamlet is feeling a little blue following his last entanglement with a murderer. In an attempt to feel more confident against further attacks, Darla, owner of Pettistone’s Fine Books, and Robert, a goth teen working at the store, have taken up karate at the local dojo. All is going well until they discover the dead body of their beloved Sensei. What first looks like suicide turns out to be murder, and finding a killer might be just what Hamlet needs to bring him out of his funk!

I’ve been singing the praises of this series since Double Booked for Death first hit the shelves. Since I love cats and mysteries, this has always been the perfect combination in a cozy mystery series for me. I’ve enjoyed each book in this series more and more, and always anxiously await the release of the next book. With her latest book I think Ali Brandon has hit it out of the park. There is more of Hamlet to adore in this one, more mystery to try and solve, and lots of interesting happenings in the bookstore and the dojo!

I enjoy watching characters progress as a series develops, and I like how Ali Brandon does this so well. It’s not just solve a mystery and done with it. She really brings the fictional characters to life with their own problems and events, just like any real-life person. Professor James might have a romance on the horizon, and Darla is battling her feelings for Reese. Not to mention the fact that Hamlet gets a visit from a “cat whisper” and makes a new friend in a fellow animal, and not of the feline persuasion!!! When you add in the mystery you’ve got one of the best cozy mystery series that is currently on the shelves!

If you haven’t visited Pettistone’s Fine Books yet, I highly recommend you take a visit. Pick up Double Booked For Death and get to set to enjoy three fabulous mysteries, with hopefully more to come!

Book Review: Read It and Weep by Jenn McKinlay

In her fourth Library Lover’s Mystery, Jenn McKinlay tantalizes readers with books, mysteries and Shakespeare! The town is putting on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Violet La Rue has enlisted popular actor and close friend, Robbie Vine, to play the cheeky Puck! With a wife and girlfriend in tow, Robbie certainly seems to have his hands full, but this doesn’t stop him from flirting with Lindsay, our favourite town librarian. With her relationship with Sully on hold (at Sully’s request) Lindsey takes a shine to Robbie and is devastated by Robbie’s death and puts her sleuthing skills to work to find a killer!

When I first started this series I was not expecting to like it as much as Jenn McKinlay’s other series. How can she top cupcake mysteries and bargain shopping mysteries (two of my favourite activities), but she’s taken my love of books and cozy towns and has made me a huge fan of this series too! Four books in and I’m thoroughly addicted and like a good cozy mystery addict, I was ready to scoop up her latest offering!

Read It and Weep is immersed within books, from Lindsey’s job as town librarian, to her involvement behind stage on the set of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and her crafternoon group, who is reading Pride and Prejudice. For a book lover like me, I can’t get enough of books within books and Jenn McKinlay’s certainly satisfied my inner booknerd with Read It and Weep.

Over all of her series, Jenn McKinlay doesn’t just create a murder mystery, she creates a reading experience. Every time I visit Briar Creek I feel like I’m shadowing Lindsey, eating with her at the Blue Anchor, taking her adorable pup, Heathcliff, for a walk and getting to know all the patrons of the library. There is so much life between the pages of each story and I can’t wait to take another visit when On Borrowed Time is released.

Book Review: Staged to Death by Karen Rose Smith

In the first Caprice De Luca Mystery, readers are introduced to the very unique Caprice De Luca. Caprice is a home stager. Before I picked up Staged to Death I had no idea what a home stager was, but thanks to Karen Rose Smith and Caprice De Luca I’m definitely more in the know now! Caprice rearranges houses to make them more appealing for selling, or even just for a person that wants a fresh new look! She has a unique fashion style (mainly vintage!) and she’s definitely talented in her home staging. One of her more challenging jobs, was to be home staging her close friend, Roz’s mansion home, which has a castle feel. Unfortunate for Roz it also ends up being the site where Roz’s husband is killed! Before Caprice knows it she’s asking all sorts of questions to try and clear Roz’s name and uncover the truth.

Karen Rose Smith gave me three things I really crave in a cozy mystery: a interesting job that I knew little about but wanted to learn more, cute animals and a mystery that had me perplexed. Try as I might I couldn’t solve this one before Caprice! I was definitely on the wrong track, but I loved trying to guess and figure out the clues.

I adored Caprice. She comes with her own set of baggage from past relationships, but there is a few hints of romance on the horizon for her. I’m looking forward to following her next adventure to see what happens not just with her romantic life, but that of her family too! In this first mystery we meet brother, Vince, a confirmed bachelor, caterer, Nikki, and Bella, who seems to have a troubled marriage. Between all of them I can’t wait to see what Karen Rose Smith has in store for them in Deadly Decor.

Staged to Death was definitely an unputdownable read for me. Right from the first page I was telling myself “just one more page” until I reached the stunning conclusion. I highly recommend readers add Staged to Death to their summer reading list. You won’t be disappointed.

Book Review: Spinning in her Grave by Molly MacRae

In the third book in the Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries, the town folk in Blue Plum are looking to celebrate the Blue Plum Preserves, with a festival and a skit that has been nicknamed the "Piglet War". However, not all is fun and frivolity when a person is accidentally shot during the skit. However, afterwards it seems that it wasn't an accident at all.

This is how much I love the Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries: before purchasing this book I didn't even read the synopsis at the back. I know that every new mystery by Molly MacRae I will love, and they are always auto-buys for me. I was ready to dive in with the Thank Gosh It's Fiber group! Having done this I had no clue who the victim was, which was actually a fun experience. Straight off I saw a few disliked people that could be the victim, and actually guessed right! However, finding the killer.... well I never saw that one coming!!

I'm a bit of a yarn geek and I loved reading about everyone's projects, and the spinning... oh yes I loved the spinning demonstrations during the festival. I also loved learning more about Kath's friend, the friendly ghost Geneva. Her story is slowly unfolding, and I love how we get to hear a little bit more of it with each books. I'm happy for this story to drag out, because if Kath solves Geneva's own death, will that mean no more Geneva? That would be very sad, because Geneva definitely brings a element of fun and spontaneity to the stories.

This is a fun series and the latest book is a fantastic whodunit. Even though the killer seemed obvious when it was revealed, I never solved it in time. Maybe I will next time!!

Book Review: Sugar and Iced by Jenn McKinlay

In the latest Cupcake Bakery Mystery our favourite bakers, Angie and Mel, find themselves knee deep in tiaras, cupcakes and murder when they agree to bake cupcakes for the Miss Sweet Tiara Pageant. When a mean judge turns up dead, fingers point to one of Mel and Angie's friends and they must do all they can to find a killer.

I'm not really a pageant person, but I love my cupcakes and I love Cupcake Bakery Mysteries. I've been following the lives of Mel and Angie, and Tate, their best friend and business partner, and the endless men in Mel's life.

The mystery is top-notch, but what I liked the best about Sugar and Iced was watching the developing storylines amongst the characters, that have grown from the first book. I've become so invested in the lives of Mel and Angie and I was glad that one of them has a happy ending (for now!) and I'm looking forward to seeing what the future involves for the other. I won't spoil it for readers!!

I absolutely can't get enough of the Cupcake Bakery Mysteries! I plan to try some of the cupcake recipes in the back while I patiently (okay impatiently) wait for the next book to be released in this series.

Book Review: Agatha Raisin & the Fairies of Fryham by M.C. Beaton

Agatha Raisin is heading north for a vacation, following some psychic advice that she will find love in the north. However in the sleepy town of Fryham she finds not love, but murder. Agatha doesn't feel at home in Fryham and she's almost relieved when her friend, Sir Charles Fraith, turns up. However they soon have their hands full trying to solve a murder, which could be difficult to do since the locals don't seem to trust them.

I really love the Agatha Raisin mysteries. I prefer the funnier mysteries like Stephanie Plum, Jaine Austen and Agatha Raisin falls into this category too. She's always a hoot and I always put down a Agatha Raisin mystery feeling like I went on a adventure with a great friend.

I did miss Carsely in this one, but it was fun to see Agatha and Charles stir trouble in Fryham. The reader gets a little bit of resolution of the Sir Charles Fraith -v- James Lacey in Agatha's love life and I won't say more than that. I do believe she's better off with Sir Charles than the stuffy James, but we will have to wait to see what M.C. Beaton has in store for Agatha for the future.

A thoroughly fun mystery and naturally I plan to continue until I'm caught up to date.

Book Review: A Tale of Two Biddies by Kylie Logan

Mayhem on the Orient Express was one of my favourite books of February, and I was super excited to see that the second book in this series is already out. A Tale of Two Biddies is set a few months later and sees the girls embarking on a new book to read together, A Tale of Two Cities, and a new murder to solve. This time it's the death of a clumsy local, that a lot of people have a reason to see him dead. It's a job for the League of Literary Ladies to solve this crime!

I love visiting this cozy town in South Bass, and I definitely enjoyed watching the Literary Ladies solve this mystery. In the first book they are at odds with each other, but now they are starting to form a friendship and I love watching this friendship grow. All four are very different from each other and compliment each other when it comes to solving a mystery.

With Charles Dickens impersonators, a trivia contest and even a aging boy band in town, it is certainly a fun time for everyone. Well with the exception of the murder!!

These books are really well-written and I love how Kylie Logan easily combines the mystery with the book that the book club is reading. As a fan of the classics it was enjoyable seeing A Tale of Two Cities being re-enacted through the lives of the locals, with respect to the murder.

A fun reading and I can't wait for the next book to be released in October.