Audiobook Review: Agatha Rarisin and the Potted Gardener by M.C. Beaton

I'm a very fickle reader. I rarely read more than a couple of books in a series before moving onto another series. I switch my series a lot. However, I've now listened to three Agatha Raisin books almost back-to-back. This is a clear indicator that I'm loving this series so much!

In the third book in the series Agatha Raisin has returned from a holiday abroad to find that her neighbour, James Lacey, is dating newcomber, Mary Fortune. Mary seems to be perfect - a great baker, a fantastic gardener and everyone is talking about her. Not only has she stolen James from her (even though James and Agatha have not dated - yet!) and she is now the center of attention from all the villagers in Carsely. However, when Mary turns up dead it would seem that not everyone is Mary's biggest fan. James and Agatha join forces again to try and solve the mystery.

Agatha, Agatha, Agatha! She talks her mind, and has no problem swearing and saying "crap". Her emotions certainly go through through the ringer in this book. She has such strong affections for James and it breaks my heart that he doesn't return her affections. Instead he almost flaunts Mary in her face. Poor Agatha!! Because of his relationship with Mary, I almost despised James in this book. He wants Agatha as a friend, Mary as a lover and yet he seems excited by the fact that he knows that Agatha adores him. It will be interesting to see whether I like James in the next book.

This series is so perfect for me. There is village gossip, murder and the fabulous Agatha and I absolutely can't get enough of her!

I was so thrilled that Penelope Keith was back to narrate in this third book. She is by far the best narrator of this series. Her delivery is flawless and I can't ever imagine anyone else voicing the impetuous Agatha. I absolutely can't wait for the next book in this series.

Audiobook Review: Death of a Snob by M.C. Beaton

It's the holiday season, and Hamish Macbeth is heading to the Happy Wanderer, a scottish health farm. The owner, Jane Weatherby, is worried that someone is plotting to kill her and invites Hamish for the holidays to investigate. At the Happy Wanderer Hamish discovers an eclectic group of Jane's friends, none of which would seem to want Jane dead. However, when one of the guests is killed instead, Hamish wonders if it was a case of mistaken identity or whether the snobby, mean woman, Heather, was the intended victim.

I really enjoy the Hamish Macbeth mysteries. They have a beautiful English-Scottish flair to them, and Hamish, as the bumbling police officer is simply adorable. Death of a Snob had a nice holiday setting, and even though it's March I was getting into quite the holiday spirit listening to this one.

I found it interesting, that in Death of a Snob, Priscilla gets to meet Hamish's parents. In the previous books there has been a on-off flirtation between Priscilla and Hamish. While there is no relationship between them, I liked that Priscilla got to meet Hamish's family while Hamish was away. Hamish comes from a big family, and the complete opposite of Priscilla's fancy yet small family and I think she definitely looks at Hamish a different way after spending time with the Macbeths.

The mystery in this one was good and for those us that like mysteries involving authors then you will definitely enjoy the author angle here.

Shaun Grindell voices Hamish Macbeth and he does a superb job on the accents. I love all the Scottish and English and even an American accent! I plan to listen to the rest of the books in this series as audiobooks because this one was that enjoyable. The audiobook is short at just over 4 hours but I think it would be perfect for a car trip! Definitely a good series to discover on audio.

Audiobook Review: Killing Cupid by Laura Levine

It's almost Valentine's Day and the only date on Jaine's horizon appears to be her cat, Prozac. However things start looking up when she's asked to write a brochure for a dating agency, Dates of Joy. However Joy Amoroso is the latest thing from joy, instead she's a cruel woman that is intend on taking money from people and not finding them their true loves, as she promised. Jaine wants to write her brochure, earn her money and get as far away from her as she can. Unfortunately Joy also promises to set Jaine up with someone. However her intended date is the last person Jaine would want to date, a rich, old guy that seems obsessed with her cat. Jaine isn't surprised when Joy drops dead from a poisoned chocolate, as there seems to be a lot of people that wanted her dead - herself included. With Prozac's, her cat, help she will have to untangle this mystery before she ends up behind bars.

I've read all of the mysteries in this series, starting with This Pen For Hire. I like the zany antics of Jaine and her gay shoe-salesman neighbour, Lance, and her kooky parents that live in a retirement village in Florida, and have a addiction to buying unnecessary items on late night tv. Together they make for a fun mystery series and I've been hooked from the start.

I was thrilled to discover that Killing Cupid would be available as an audiobook as I've previously read all the books in this series and I wanted to experience Jaine in audio format. While the narrator, Brittany Pressley, wasn't the voice I had thought of in my mind, from reading the previous eleven novels, I quickly adapted and grew to enjoy her impressions of Jaine, Lance, Prozac and all the oddballs at the dating agency.

The mystery itself was fun. I love discovering that the murder victim wasn't well liked because there is always a great variety of murder suspects. In this case, there was a long line of disgruntled dating customers and even Joy's own Aunt, who she stole the business from. It was certainly difficult trying to figure out who the killer was.

Killing Cupid was another fun, zany instalment in the Jaine Austen mysteries. If you're looking for a mystery series with a lot of laughs, then I suggest trying out these mysteries. They are best read in order, so start with A Pen For Hire. For me, I'm now patiently waiting as I look forward to discovering what Jaine gets up to next and I'm hoping that there might be some romance in store for Jaine too!

Audiobook Review: Charms & Chocolate Chips by Bailey Cates

Katie Lightfoot is keeping herself busy. Between working at the bakery and volunteering, she barely has time to see her firefighter boyfriend, Declan. She's not avoiding Declan, but moreso avoiding her fate and destiny as a witch, and a powerful one at that. However she can't constantly run away from it, especially when her powers are needed to solve the murder of a fellow volunteer at the conservation group.

Charms and Chocolate Chips is the third book in the Magical Bakery Mysteries and I adored the first two books in this series. They combine my love of culinary cozies with paranormal elements just perfectly and often leave me [im]patiently waiting for the next book. I read the first two books in this series, and opted to listen to the latest book as an audiobook.

I like Katie Lightfoot. She's discovering lots of things about herself and her family that she didn't know before. She's only recently learnt that she's a witch and that's a lot to take on - especially when she learns that she's a "catalyst" and might be more powerful than she first thought. She's also taking baby steps with her relationship with Declan, given her previous disaster relationship. Add in another murder and well she's certainly got her hands full. However, what Katie soon discovers is that she can handle more than she thought she could!!

Charms and Chocolate Chips felt like a turning point for Katie. Her mother, who she hasn't spoken to very much since learning that her mother hid from her that Katie's a witch, is in town and it's great to learn more about Katie's family history and putting pieces of her own life's puzzle into place. For the reader we get a hint at exactly how much power Katie has and it's very interesting. I cannot wait to see how her powers progress as the series go on, as I'm sure it's going to be a great magical journey.

Charms and Chocolate Chips was a fantastic listen on audio. I listened while I dug into some holiday baking and it was a fantastic experience. Amy Rubinate was already one of my favorite narrators (based on her narration of The Selection series by Kiera Cass) and I'm so happy to see her narrating this series. She does a fantastic job of telling this story and her narration of Katie and her aunt, Lucy, are simply spot on. I plan to listen to future books in this series on audio.

I highly recommend this series to fans of culinary mysteries and paranormal mysteries. If you are looking for a series to try on audiobook, then definitely pick up the audio version, and Amy Rubinate's narration does not disappoint.

Audiobook Review: Dyeing Wishes by Molly MacRae

Kath Rutledge is settling into life in Blue Plum, operating the yarn shop her grandmother left her, and dealing with a ghost-in-residence in the way of Geneva. On a visit to Cloud Hollow Farm, Kath and her friends expect to learn more about dyeing yarn but instead they discover what looks like a murder suicide. The victim is Bonnie's daughter and a man who ran off years ago. Bonnie is devastated and looks to Kath to try to uncover the truth.

Being a lifelong knitter and crocheter I really enjoyed Molly Macrae's first novel, Last Wool and Testament. It called out to love of all different types of yarns and crafts. For the second novel in this series, I chose to listen on audiobook and see if my love of this series carried over on audio. I'm glad to report it did.

The second book is even better than the first. The reason why? Well apart from a great mystery that fills the reader into a bit of history of the town, with Will Embry having run off years ago accused of a crime, it also lets us into more of the close friendship amongst the TGIF (Thank Goodness It's Fiber) group. But the main reason is the funny, flighty ghost-in-residence, Geneva. I absolutely adore Geneva and her growing friendship with Kath.

In Dyeing Wishes we do get a few more details as to Geneva's past, but not enough that Kath is able to figure out why Geneva is hanging around. For my own selfish reasons I hope Geneva stays around for a long time because I find her absolutely delightful. I never know what she's going to say next and she's a hoot a minute!

Emily Durante is fast becoming one of my favorite cozy mystery narrators. I loved the voices she used for the characters of Blue Plum, especially the Spivey twins - she got those just perfect. She has a great pacing and it felt like I was right there alongside Kath trying to solve the mystery.

Dyeing Wishes was a great read and I can't wait for the third book in this series to be released next week.