A Wytch's Book Review Blog

Sugar and Vice (A Cookie House Mystery #2) by Eve Calder

In Eve Calder's Sugar and Vice, things are heating up at the Cookie House when star pastry chef and amateur sleuth Kate McGuire finds herself in the midst of a shocking murder mystery. OUT OF THE OVEN Lately, Kate has a lot on her dessert plate. She's launching a cookie-of-the-day challenge in the heart of Coral Cay, providing sweet treats for the reception of the town's handsome new veterinarian--not to mention dealing with tourists in town for a pirate festival and the surprise arrival of her former fianc�, Evan, who seems determined to win her back. AND INTO THE FIRE And if that's not enough, a skeleton has been found--in the backyard behind her best friend Maxi's floral shop. Kate knows Maxi could never hurt a fly. Maybe the remains belong to Sir George Bly, a long-dead pirate whose name has become urban legend--until now? It's time for Kate to use every trick in the recipe book to prove Maxi's innocence, and find the truth about the skeleton, before the last of the cookies crumble . . .

When Kate agrees to help her friend Maxi set up growing beds for veggies and herbs she expects a fun, if exhausting, day digging, it all changes though when they take a break and Oliver the town (but more recently Kate's) Golden Doodle dog starts digging and unearths a skeleton! The initial thought is that this is Sir George Bly, the purported founder of Coral Cay and well known Pirate! But after an archaeologist checks it out it turns out to be a lot, LOT more recent! Now Kate and Maxi need to find out who buried Skeleton A aka Alvin in the back yard and at the same time they are trying to find out more about Sir George AND survive The Pirate Festival, if the wasn't enough to deal with Kate's ex has turned up - stating that he and she are still together AND Harper (from the wine shop) is also asking her out! Finding the murderer seems the easiest thing to cope with in all of this.

Murder on Cape Cod (Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery #1) by Maddie Day

Summer is busy season for Mackenzie “Mac” Almeida’s bicycle shop, nestled in the quaint, seaside hamlet of Westham, Massachusetts. She’s expecting an influx of tourists at Mac’s Bikes; instead she discovers the body of Jake Lacey. Mac can’t imagine anyone stabbing the down-on-his-luck handyman. However, the authorities seem to think Mac is a strong suspect after she was spotted arguing with Jake just hours before his death. Mac knows she didn’t do it, but she does recognize the weapon—her brother Derrick’s fishing knife.
 
Mac’s only experience with murder investigations is limited to the cozy mysteries she reads with her local book group, the Cozy Capers. So to clear her name—and maybe her brother’s too—Mac will have to summon help from her Cozy Capers co-investigators and a library’s worth of detectives’ tips and tricks. For a small town, Westham is teeming with possible killers, and this is one mystery where Mac is hoping for anything but a surprise ending…

This looks like a good start to a new series from Maddie Day, in this one we have a book club that only reads cozy mysteries (to the disgust of the manager of the local book shop, who is also the daughter on one of the Cozy Capers!), we start with the book club meeting at our protagonist's brother's house (err actually a disused lighthouse), we know there are 10 Cozy Capers but we don't find out a lot about them - other than Mackensie aka Mac (I am guessing that each book will provide a little more information), after the discussion and homemade pizza Mac heads home only to trip over a corpse! Now the Cozy Capers are trying to figure out what happened to the down on his luck handyman Jake, whilst trying to run their businesses (Mac has problems with her brother not turning up for a few days post the corpse AND her other employee phoning in sick), whilst they are trying to not emulate the amateur sleuth's they read about on a weekly basis they are determined that Derrick (Mac's brother) will not be railroaded and also Mac hopes that she will keep running her bicycle rental and repair shop and won't be pedalling her way to the Pearly Gates.

Booking the Crook (Bookmobile Cat Mystery #7) by Laurie Cass

Minnie Hamilton and her rescue cat, Eddie, cruise around lovely Chilson, Michigan delivering happiness and good reads in their bookmobile. But the feisty librarian is worried that the bookmobile's future could be uncertain when a new library board chair arrives and doesn't seem too friendly to her pet project. 
 
Still, she has to put her personal worries aside when she and Eddie are out on their regular route and one of their favorite customers doesn't turn up to collect her books. Minnie, at Eddie's prodding, checks on the woman and finds her lying dead in her snow-covered driveway. Now it's up to Minnie and her friends--feline and otherwise--to find the perpetrator and give them their due.

Books, a cat and a feisty librarian, what's not to love! This time Minnie (and Eddie) along with Minnie's volunteer assistant Julie are out in the bookmobile and they are a little concerned when a regular visitor to the bookmobile doesn't arrive for her appointment so on the way back to the library they decide to check on her - only to find her collapsed on her driveway! The two humans attempt CPR and phone for help, only to discover later that it wasn't a heart attack that killed Rowan but something a lot more malicious.  Now Minnie and Eddie need to find out the truth of the matter to give closure to the woman's children.

However, along with this Minnie needs to sort out two weddings (not hers!) and make sure that her own relationship with Rafe stays on the straight and narrow, oh and pick out hardware for their new kitchen, and stay alive - no hassle then!