A Wytch's Book Review Blog

Pasta Mortem (A Supper Club Mystery #7) by Ellery Adams, Rosemary Stevens

Librarian James Henry and his supper club sleuths will take a trip down memory lane searching for clues that will help catch a killer . . .

When the cast of the old Hearth and Home TV show gather for a twenty-fifth reunion at a local bed-and-breakfast where the show was filmed, the townsfolk are thrilled to meet the actors and relive their memories of a simpler time. Their nostalgic mood is broken, though, by an ambitious real estate developer who has also come to Quincy’s Gap with an eye toward turning the quiet town into the South’s hottest new tourist destination. Tensions are boiling over, and when the developer gets a little too sauced one night at the B&B and turns up dead the next morning, James and the supper club will have to put aside their distaste for the victim to help nab the culprit.

It looks like an open-and-shut case, but James and his friends are convinced the main suspect is innocent and promise to help get her out of hot water. Dividing their time between the investigation and the reunion festivities, they’re shocked to discover that members of the cast are guarding some very unsavory secrets. With time running out before the actors leave town and the trail of clues goes stale, the supper club will have to turn up the heat on a suspicious character before the killer serves up another murder.

We are back with the Flab Five, who have gone backwards with their diets! For three of them it is because of contentment, for the other two stress, then the stress hits all of them as their maybe nemesis, Murphy, has done it again, in this case plastering their images all over the country thanks to an article in a Magazine. They also find out that she is one of the people planning to basically double the size of Quincy's Gap by building a huge development! (whilst a few more houses wouldn't go amiss, that number would put too much of a strain on the doctors and the school system).

Things get shaken up, a lot, though when Murphy is accused of murdering her partner and whilst they know she tends to be in it for herself most of the Flab Five are not convinced she is a killer - so the investigative hats go back on to find out the truth before Murphy is sent to the big house for the rest of her days!

Rest, Relax, Run for Your Life (Ooey Gooey Bakery Mystery Book 1) by Katherine H. Brown

Two best friends & a bakery!
Piper and Samantha are in heaven. Well, close. More like a long weekend at the O Heavenly Day Spa.
A few mysterious notes start appearing everywhere, things get uncomfortable. As spa treatments go awry things get dangerous. A threatening message convinces Piper and Sam that they have to find out who is behind all of these disasters. When the smoke alarms go off and the spa erupts into panic, the chaos separates the friends and Piper stumbles into trouble. Will someone help her before it is too late?

This was a fun start to the Ooey Gooey Bakery series, and a Cozy Mystery without a murder makes for a nice change!

When a local Spa runs a fundraiser to highlight Human Trafficking the new Ooey Gooey Bakery joins in (it is for local businesses, the one that raises the most will win), the book opens with a camera crew arriving at the bakery as they HAVE won, this means a long weekend of being pampered, something Samantha is used to but Piper isn't, as well as the two of them a new friend in the form of Gladys, a widow, is also going.  Before they even get there though they start to get Poison Pen notes, and then things start to go wrong at the Spa, and it seems someone has it in for Piper.

Can Piper and Sam sort things out?, is Gladys really the fun loving widow she appears to be? and who has dared to ruin Piper's clothes with her precious chocolate?!

An Interview With A Character

What is your full name?

Piper Jade Rivers

What is your Profession?

Baker & Business Owner

What is your current favourite book or movie?

Spells & Scones by Bailey Cates because I love to bake and it is fun to imagine extra powers infused into the goodies as this kitchen witch is able to do.

What is your go to comfort book or movie?

My book of recipes that I want to try out would be my go-to book. For movies…hmmm…I’d probably jump into an episode of Gilmore Girls.

If someone was to play you in a movie who would it be? OR what would be the character you would want to be in a book?

Oh! I would definitely want to be the ninja assassin woman that nobody sees coming in a book. Unfortunately, my knife throwing skills are a bit rusty.

What is your ideal evening?

A picnic completely of chocolate and desserts on a giant blanket on the beach – my best friend or my boyfriend for company, they are both my favorite people!

 

TOUR PARTICIPANTS

August 5 – Christa Reads and Writes – REVIEW

August 5 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

August 6 – I’m All About Books – CHARACTER GUEST POST

August 6 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT

August 7 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT

August 7 – I Read What You Write – SPOTLIGHT

August 8 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

August 8 – Books Direct – GUEST POST, EXCERPT

August 9 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER GUEST POST

August 9 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

August 10 – A Blue Million Books – GUEST POST

August 10 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW

August 11 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT

August 11 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW

August 11 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

August 12 – The Book Decoder – REVIEW

August 12 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT

August 12 – eBook addicts – REVIEW

Hitting the Books (Library Lover's Mystery #9) by Jenn McKinlay

When a stack of library materials is found at the scene of a hit and run, library director Lindsey Norris finds herself dragged into the investigation as the police try to link the driver of the stolen car to the person who borrowed the books. Before Lindsey can delve into the library's records, the victim of the hit and run, Theresa Houston, suffers another "accident" and the investigation shifts from driver negligence to attempted homicide.

A clue surfaces in the confiscated library materials that could crack open the case and it is up to Lindsey to piece it all together. But things are not as they seem in the sleepy town of Briar Creek and when the driver of the stolen car turns up dead, Lindsey, her staff and her library friends have to hit the books before the murderer gets the last word...

Phew! Jenn McKinlay has delivered another brilliant story here (with one minor niggle!)

Lindsey and her Crafternoon friends are about to settle down and chat about their book and make some bracelets, whilst everything is being set up Lindsey is looking out of the window and sees what seems to be a deliberate hit and run of the local, well liked, tennis coach.  The same car nearly knocks Charlie Peyton (her ex-landlady's grandson) down not long after and so the police are on the case.  That would seem to be the end of it, but Teresa (the Tennis coach) is then attacked in her home where she is resting up with the injuries from the first attack.

Now with this being a case of attempted murder, and then an actual murder occurring Lindsey needs to dig deep and find out what the library link is and the link between the murder and attempted murder before she or Teresa are checked out for good.

No Rest for the Wiccan (A Bewitching Mystery #4) by Madelyn Alt

Maggie O’Neill reluctantly volunteers to care for her bedridden, oh-so-perfect sister, Mel, but strange spirits threaten to divert her attention. Then a friend of Mel’s loses her husband to a dreadful fall, and the police call it an accidental death. Maggie’s not so sure, and sets her second sights on finding a first-degree murderer.

Oooh Maggie is in the thick of it again! Her sister is pregnant with her third child and has been put on bed rest, Mel and Maggie's mother is being run ragged and so Maggie starts to help out in the evenings after work.  She discovers that although her sister's house is fairly new there are a couple of resident spirits, one really friendly to the two young daughters (and called Coco) and the other anything but! Now Maggie and some of the N.I.G.H.T.S (namely her boss Liss and her "I don't fancy him really ... no I don't" friend Marcus) need to get rid of it.  This means outing themselves to Mel though - who is in the midst of gossip central!

One of Mel's friends though has her own problems which culminate in the death of her husband, the problem is most people think this is an accident, Maggie, Liss and surprisingly Tom (the police officer and maybe Maggie's boyfriend) don't agree - so now they want to find out the truth (oh and just for fun Maggie now has a kitten familiar!)

Charity's Burden (Quaker Midwife Mystery #4) by Edith Maxwell

The winter of 1889 is harsh in Amesbury, Massachusetts, but it doesn't stop Quaker midwife Rose Carroll from making the rounds to her pregnant and postpartum mothers. When Charity Skells dies from an apparent early miscarriage, Rose wonders about the symptoms that don't match the diagnosis. She learns that Charity's husband may be up to no good with a young woman whose mother appears to offer illegal abortions. A disgraced physician in town does the same, and Charity's cousin seems to have a nefarious agenda. With several suspects emerging, each with their own possible motives, Rose and police detective Kevin Donovan race against time to solve the case before another innocent life is taken.

Edith Maxwell doesn't flinch from showing us the harshness of life, but she does it in such a way that you HAVE to keep reading!

Rose Carroll expects the winter travel to be a little easier for herself and her betrothed has gifted her with a horse and buggy, when she is called out to one of the pregnant patients she expects to go to the woman's home, instead she is directed to the local hospital where Charity Skells is dying from blood loss, Rose is at a loss, granted the young woman was a little too thin but all in all she was healthy.  Rose, therefore, goes to see her friend Detective Kevin Donovan with her fears that the death wasn't as natural as it first appeared, Kevin does listen but as she is leaving she is informed by the new Police Chief that she should stick to midwifery and not get involved in the police cases.

Kevin appears to be agreeing but on the way out slips her a note saying where he and his wife (and young son) live and if she has any information to seek him out there, or at least leave a message. As Rose digs deeper more suspects appear on the scene, with two being people who would undertake illegal abortions (which Charity had unfortunately had, which led to her death).  There is some good news for Rose, her niece Faith and Faith's betrothed have set a wedding date and Faith's father seems to have settled down, indeed he has started courting a widow (also a Quaker), the thing is Rose and Kevin need to solve this crime if Rose is going to see Faith and Zeb get married.

Dim Sum of All Fears (A Noodle Shop Mystery #2) by Vivien Chien

Lana Lee is a dutiful daughter, waiting tables at her family’s Chinese restaurant even though she’d rather be doing just about anything else. Then, just when she has a chance for a “real” job, her parents take off to Taiwan, leaving Lana in charge. Surprising everyone—including herself—she turns out to be quite capable of running the place. Unfortunately, the newlyweds who just opened the souvenir store next door to Ho-Lee have turned up dead. . .and soon Lana finds herself in the midst of an Asia Village mystery.

Between running the Ho-Lee and trying to figure out whether the rock-solid Detective Adam Trudeau is actually her boyfriend, Lana knows she shouldn’t pry into the case. But the more she learns about the dead husband, his ex-wives, and all the murky details of the couple’s past, the more Lana thinks that this so-called murder/suicide is a straight-up order of murder. . .

Asia Village has turned into the latest murder hotspot with this 2nd in a wonderful cozy series.

Lana and a lot of others are happy to see the empty shop next to the noodle shop open for business, Lana is even happier when she realises that she, and the young woman next door have a lot in common, but Lana does't expect it to include murder of the young woman, and it appears also her husband! Now with two ex wives (oh and some girlfriends) crawling out of the woodwork, Lana's parents suddenly heading to Tainwan (and leaving Lana in charge), Lana has a lot more than Dim Sum on her plate.

Luckily she has her best friend and housemate Megan supporting her snooping (and her boyfriend Detective Adam Trudeau doing anything BUT supporting it) and all she needs to do is keep the restaurant busy and happy through the Chinese New Year and find the killer, err easy?

Tree of Life and Death (Danger Cove #7) by Elizabeth Ashby, Gin Jones

The holidays can be a killer...

Quilt appraiser Keely Fairchild is thrilled that the Danger Cove Quilt Guild has teamed up with the Historical Museum to make miniature quilts to decorate the museum's Christmas tree. To join in the holiday spirit, she offers free appraisals of holiday quilts during the ornament-making workshop. But when the owner of a Tree of Life quilt is fatally stabbed in the museum's parking lot, Keely finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation! The police think it's a random act of violence, but Keely is convinced it has something to do with the quilt, which is now missing. Everyone is a suspect including the workshop instructor, the instructor's annoying assistant, a shady retired cop, and even the local quilt shop owner who found the body. And don't forget hot local reporter, Matt Viera, who isn't proving to be as reliable as Keely had hoped. Can she count on him to help her solve the case or will he abandon her again...this time to the mercies of a vicious killer?

Whoops! Danger Cove is living up to its name again in the run up to the Christmas Season!

Keely, the quilt appraiser, still doesn't trust herself to do any quilting, but she is happy to help out at the mini quilt ornament workshop, mainly providing free mini appraisals (she tries her hand at cutting and ironing of the tiny quilts and gives up!), everything seems to be going smoothly with people either told what the quilt is probably worth, some told about how to renovate their quilts and some where the suggestion is to get a full appraisal for insurance purposes.  Then the final person turns up, an ex-police officer isn't happy to see the young man, nor indeed are some others but Keely shrugs and does the appraisal anyway, and it turns out to be a damaged but good quilt, she gives her verdict and thinks nothing more of it, until the same young man is found dead in the car park with the quilt missing!

The police seem to think it is a case of ne'er do wells falling out but Keely isn't happy with that idea, with the youngest member of the force making jokes about her solving the crime, she sets out to do just that!

Killer Closet Case (Danger Cove #6) by Elizabeth Ashby, T. Sue VerSteeg

Bree Milford had big city dreams. But when her glamorous career fails to materialize, she can't pay her big city rent. Slinking home to the sleepy town of Danger Cove to reorganize and figure out her life, she agrees to run the family's Ocean View Bed & Breakfast while her parents go on vacation. After living in fast-paced L.A., Bree fears she'll be bored with small town life. However, it becomes anything but dull when she convinces her parents' hot handyman to expand the tiny closet in the living quarters...and a dead body falls out of the wall! Things get even more interesting when the medical examiner puts the time of death right around when her parents took possession of the B&B and started renovations. Worried the police have Mom and Dad in their sights, Bree asks her best friend, Cristal, to stick around for backup. With her high maintenance BFF by her side, and the handsome handyman on her suspect list, Bree has her work cut out for her. She's on the clock to prove her parents' innocence before they end up behind bars...and the killer can strike again!

Summer Breeze aka Bree (call me Bree, please!!!) had high hopes of making it big in LA, but her catwalk debut came to a disastrous end and her acting didn't take the world by storm either, her friend Cristal has also hit a bump in the road and so the two of them have agreed to look after her parent's B & B in Danger Cove whilst they head out in their RV to a rock festival! Whilst they are gone Bree is also overseeing the next stage of the renovations (and overseeing the seriously hunky handyman called Mal), no-one expects there to be a corpse wrapped in plastic and duct tape behind the wall!

Now the local police are looking for Bree's parents, the two next door neighbours are being strange, (one side is a fey, gay man, the other is a man-eater who wants to make Mal her next meal!), when her parents are arrested Bree starts to look into things more carefully, she also calls on her brother (very nearly a qualified lawyer, he does bring a fully qualified one with him) who falls hook, line and sinker for Cristal ... and then Cristal goes missing and all bets are off, this is beyond personal now.

Death by Dumpling (A Noodle Shop Mystery #1) by Vivien Chien

Welcome to the Ho-Lee Noodle House, where the Chinese food is to die for. . .

The last place Lana Lee thought she would ever end up is back at her family’s restaurant. But after a brutal break-up and a dramatic workplace walk-out, she figures that a return to the Cleveland area to help wait tables is her best option for putting her life back together. Even if that means having to put up with her mother, who is dead-set on finding her a husband.

Lana’s love life soon becomes yesterday’s news once the restaurant’s property manager, Mr. Feng, turns up dead―after a delivery of shrimp dumplings from Ho-Lee. But how could this have happened when everyone on staff knew about Mr. Feng’s severe, life-threatening shellfish allergy? Now, with the whole restaurant under suspicion for murder and the local media in a feeding frenzy―to say nothing of the gorgeous police detective who keeps turning up for take-out―it’s up to Lana to find out who is behind Feng’s killer order. . . before her own number is up.

What a wonderful start to a new series thaat has more twists and strands than your average noodle nest!

Lana Lee has fund herself working for the family noodle restaurant after her life imploded with a relationship break up and throwing the towel in on her office job! Her mother (and honorary aunties) are pleased to see her back - this means matchmaking can happen (however much she rails against it!), but she thought that would be the only thing she had to worry about, until she delivers some deadly dumplings to the local property manager, Now with their main chef in the cross hairs of the police Lana and her best friend Megan start to play PI to find out who could have killed Mr Feng, because Lana is sure of two things she didn't kill Mr Feng and neither did Peter Huang (the chef), but with the local Detectives disrupting her ideas of not dating and other potential suspects abounding Lana has her job cut out for her!

A Genuine Fix (Allie Cobb Mystery #2) by J.C. Kenney

Running the family literary business while preparing for her best friend’s wedding, chairing a park planning committee, and getting her rescue cat to bond with her boyfriend’s golden retriever doesn’t leave Allie Cobb much time for crime-solving. But when the guy who stood her up the night of her high school senior prom is killed and dumped in a pile of mulch, Allie’s suddenly the prime suspect. 
 
It’s insulting enough that gambler, drunk, and all-around lowlife Georgie Alonso was found on the site of the memorial park honoring Allie’s deceased father. Now she’s fighting to clear her name and hold off a rush to judgment. But politics, decades-old secrets, and a slew of high-profile suspects make dangerous bedfellows as the eve of the park’s grand opening draws nearer. She’ll have to nab a killer soon, before her storybook life gets a bad ending …

J.C. Kenney has crafted a masterpiece of misdirection with this second outing for Allie Cobb.

Allie has transferred back to her home town of Rushing Creek and has managed to get an apartment at a seriously cheap rent (you need to read the book to find out how!), the Cobb Literary Agency is starting to find its feet again under Allie's management and everything seems to be going great ..... until she goes to check on how the new park, that her best friend Sloane has donated, is coming along - only to find the delivery of mulch they were expecting is in the wrong area, what is worse is there is a body underneath the mulch, and then it appears that the main person who would want them dead is Allie herself!

Now with the incumbent mayor breathing down the police chief's neck to get a quick result Allie, her siblings Luke and Rachel, her Mam and Sloan (oh and of course Brent her boyfriend and we can't forget the amazing Ursi the cat!) need to figure out who wanted the deceased ... well dead! otherwise Allie will be running her business from behind bars (and orange is soooo not her colour!)

An Interview With A Character

What is your full name?

Hi! I’m Sloane Winchester. Thanks for inviting me to be here with you today. Allie Cobb and I are total besties forever. Most of the time people want to talk to Allie, not me, so this is fun.

What is your Profession?

I’m a professional trail runner. It’s long-distance running, but instead of on streets or a track, it takes place on hiking trails. I also own some real estate in my hometown of Rushing Creek, Indiana that I’m developing into a residential neighborhood. Last, but not least, I’m the trustee of the estate of my father, the bestselling writer, Thornwell Winchester. I manage the book and film rights to his stories.

What is your current favourite book or movie?

I travel a lot, so I’m always raiding my Bestie Allie’s bookshelves. Since she’s a literary agent, she always has great stuff to read. My favorites are The Cat Who… books by Lilian Jackson Braun. They’re a blast to read and don’t have too much blood and gore. 

What is your go to comfort book or movie? 

Whenever I’m down or discouraged, I like to watch Akeela and The Bee. It’s about a girl from an inner city school who beats the odds to become a spelling bee champion. Over the years, a lot of people told me I’d never become a pro trail runner. That it wasn’t a dream worth going after. The movie reminds me to believe in yourself and your dreams.  

If someone was to play you in a movie who would it be? OR what would be the character you would want to be in a book? 

Oh wow, if I had to pick one person, Gal Gadot would be totally awesome. We both have long, dark hair and I could say Wonder Woman played me in a movie. How cool would that be?

What is your ideal evening? 

The ideal evening for me is a quiet dinner with my husband Luke on the back deck of our house, where we can chill out and talk about each other’s day. Our jobs keep us both really busy, so the down time is precious.

****

J.C. Kenney is the author of the Allie Cobb Mysteries, which are set in the fictional small town of Rushing Creek, Indiana. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife, two sons, and a snuggly kitty cat. He loves motor sports, so when he’s not writing, you can probably find him checking in on the latest from IndyCar and other forms of racing.  

J.C. is a member of Sisters in Crime. You can find him at www.jckenney.com, on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JCKenney1, Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JCKenney1/, and on BookBub at https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-c-kenney.   

 

TOUR PARTICIPANTS

July 18 – Brooke Blogs – CHARACTER GUEST POST

July 18 – A Wytch's Book Review Blog - REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

July 18 – Readeropolis - SPOTLIGHT, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY

July 19 – The Avid Reader - REVIEW, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY

July 19 – Ascroft, eh? - AUTHOR INTERVIEW

July 19 – MJB Reviewers - SPOTLIGHT, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY

July 20 – Babs Book Bistro – GUEST POST

July 20 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

July 20 – The Book Diva's Reads - CHARACTER GUEST POST, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY

July 21 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT

July 21 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

July 21 – Christa Reads and Writes – REVIEW

July 22 – I'm All About Books – GUEST POST, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY

July 22 – Laura's Interests – REVIEW

July 22 – Baroness' Book Trove - SPOTLIGHT

July 23 – Rosepoint Publishing – REVIEW

July 23 – Sneaky the Library Cat's Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

July 23 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book - REVIEW, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY