A Wytch's Book Review Blog

Wedding Bell Blues by Lynn Cahoon

Jill couldn't love police chief Greg King more--so why does that engagement ring still feel funny on her finger? At least she'll have a chance to show it off this Saturday at their engagement party. Just in time for the event, a new dress shop has opened in town, Exquisite Gowns for You, specializing in designer wedding gowns and other custom-fit dresses. But Jill's excitement turns to shock when she comes by to pick up her dress for the party and discovers a dead body in the shop. New owner Harper Sanchez is behaving strangely and becoming more mysterious than anyone expected. Despite Greg's warnings to leave the case to him, Jill can't help looking into the murder. Somebody in South Cove is dressed to kill--and if Jill's not careful, she may not live to wear her wedding gown.

Jill and Greg have got engaged and Jill's Aunt Jackie arranged for Jill and herself to get custom made dressed for the engagement party, so far so good! However, when the two of them turn up for the final fitting they overhear and argument, and when Jill goes to collect the dresses she finds a dead body, Harper (the dress designer/maker), is stunned and says it is her sister.  Luckily the dresses are released in time for the party, and Greg can take a few hours off from the murder investigation to attend.  But then things turn rather odd, with Sherry (Greg's ex-wife) being arrested for the murder, someone else claiming they did it, and everyone around Harper being exceedingly strange.  Hopefully Greg can sort this out quickly so he and Jill can get on with plans for their lives.

Murder at Hatfield House by Amanda Carmack

England is in tumult under the rule of Queen Mary and her Spanish husband. Confined to house arrest at Hatfield House, young Princess Elizabeth is the country’s greatest hope. Far from court intrigues, Elizabeth finds solace in simple things: the quiet countryside and peaceful recreation, including the melodies of her chief musician and his daughter, Kate Haywood.
 
But Kate will prove herself most valuable when an envoy of the queen—sent to flush out heretics in the princess’s household—is found dead on the grounds of Hatfield. Acting as Elizabeth’s eyes and ears, Kate is sent out on the trail of a killer whose mission could destroy her family, friends—and the future of England.

A cozy that kept me guessing (or second guessing my guesses!) pretty much until the end! This borrows a number of historical figures, such as the future Elizabeth I, Queen Mary, Lady Jane Grey and others, but all are interwoven with the writer's own characters and this allows a plot (in more ways than one) to form.

Kate Haywood and her father Matthew are musicians for the Princess Elizabeth, currently under light house arrest at Hatfield House as her half sister is on the throne, the lives of all at the House are thrown into disarray when an envoy from the Queen arrives, and he arrives VERY unhappy as his servant was killed not far from the house, he promptly turns the house upside down to try and find something, anything, that will prove the household are not loyal Catholics, everyone is disconcerted but knows there is nothing to find.  But then there is another death, and this one sets Lord Braceton on edge even more.  We then add in a troupe of players, a lawyer's assistant, the arrest for heresy of Kate's father, and we discover that she will do anything to help her Princess and her ill father.

Well worth a read and I will continue the series!

Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas by Vicki Delany

It’s the beginning of December in Rudolph, New York, America's Christmas Town, and business is brisk at Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, a gift and décor shop owned by Merry Wilkinson. The local amateur dramatic society is intensely preparing a special musical production of A Christmas Carol. But it’s not a happy set, as rivalries between cast and crew threaten the production.

Tensions come to a head when a member of the group is found dead shortly after a shopping excursion to Mrs. Claus's Treasures. Was someone looking to cut out the competition? Everyone in the cast and crew is a potential suspect, including Aline, Merry’s mother, and Merry's shop assistant Jackie O'Reilly, who was desperate for a starring role.

It could be curtains for Christmas—and for Merry—unless the killer can be ferreted out of the wings.

'Tis the Season in Rudolph (well the run up to the season at any rate!), Mrs Claus's Treasures is getting slammed by locals and visitors alike getting their Christmas shopping done, and Merry's full-time assistant is not being a lot of help, mainly because she has stars in her eyes as she has been cast as the understudy of Mrs Cratchitt  in the local players musical of A Christmas Carol, when Merry and her best pal Vicki go to drop something off at the rehearsal for Merry's Mum (the ex-opera singer and musical director for the show), they discover a LOT of back biting, people threatening to walk out and basically tempers flaring at the drop of pretty much anything!  Even so things should settle down, and they would have if the original Mrs Cratchitt hadn't been killed in Merry's shop! 

Now with her assistant, Jackie, and Merry's own Mother Aline in the frame as the killer, Merry starts to dig into what is going on, leading to herself almost turning into the ghost of Christmas Present!

A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny

Welcome to winter in Three Pines, a picturesque village in Quebec, where the villagers are preparing for a traditional country Christmas, and someone is preparing for murder.
No one liked CC de Poitiers. Not her quiet husband, not her spineless lover, not her pathetic daughter—and certainly none of the residents of Three Pines. CC de Poitiers managed to alienate everyone, right up until the moment of her death.
When Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, of the Sûreté du Québec, is called to investigate, he quickly realizes he's dealing with someone quite extraordinary. CC de Poitiers was electrocuted in the middle of a frozen lake, in front of the entire village, as she watched the annual curling tournament. And yet no one saw anything. Who could have been insane enough to try such a macabre method of murder—or brilliant enough to succeed?
With his trademark compassion and courage, Gamache digs beneath the idyllic surface of village life to find the dangerous secrets long buried there. For a Quebec winter is not only staggeringly beautiful but deadly, and the people of Three Pines know better than to reveal too much of themselves. But other dangers are becoming clear to Gamache. As a bitter wind blows into the village, something even more chilling is coming for Gamache himself.

This is the second book in the Inspector Gamache/Three Pines mysteries, in this one Armand Gamache and his 2nd in command Jean Guy Beauvoir are back in Three Pines after a newish member of the community is electrocuted during the Boxing Day curling match, what they soon discover is that no-one is upset that she is dead, but also no-one seems to have seen anything! Now as Armand and his team (including a wet behind the ears police officer and Yvette Nichols, who is NOT trusted by Armand at all) dig deeper and find some strange twists and turns, including a link to the death of a street person in Montreal, but can they find the truth and can Armand trust his team?