Two more new-to-me cozy mystery series, No Farm, No Foul from A Farmer’s Daughter Series by Peg Cochran and Cheddar Off Dead from An Undercover Dish Mystery by Julia Buckley.

Peg Cochran’s series concerns a widow, who runs an organic farm and writes a cooking/lifestyle blog whilst raising her children and being heavily involved in her local church in the small town of Lovett.  In this, the first in the series, a church  event is held on her property and is going well until one of the congregation ends up dead with an unexpected amount of cash on her person. Shelby investigates the murder, in between farming, cooking, blogging and dealing with the drama of raising children, especially one that is a teen.  There are hints of possible future romantic interests and plenty of interesting characters for recurring roles.  A fine start to a new series, particularly for fans of cozies with more of a church based focus.

Cheddar Off Dead runs in the opposite direction with more of city/contemporary feel.  Lilah is a chef with an interesting side gig as an undercover chef.  She will deliver the goods secretly and her clients can pretend to have made them themselves.  In this book, Lilah is present at the murder of Santa Claus, well not really Santa, but an actor set to perform in a Santa costume.  The killer sees her and Lilah is pulled into the investigation, pretty much against her will.  There is a Christmas theme, a loving family, a big dog side kick, a possible love interest, a victim with some enemies, and mobsters.  All these together make for a fun, quick, holiday cozy read.

This, Meow If It’s Murder, is first in a series, A Nick & Nora Mystery and a new-to-me author, T.C. LoTempio. Nick is a not so ordinary tuxedo cat and Nora is a former crime reporter who has returned home to run the family sandwich shop/catering business.  She is still keeping her foot in the door with  crime reporting locally and finds herself investigating a case that has been ruled an accidental death, but was it?  Nora is not so sure.

Each stone that Nora turns over seems to raise more questions than answers: from sisters who are dead or maybe not? to mobsters. to missing PIs.  to the local PD, who didn’t really seem to follow procedure. Nora uses all the skills she honed in her years of crime reporting to uncover what has really happened to Lola Grainger and who was responsible.

This was a really well written cozy and the cat, Nick,  reminded me of KoKo and Yum Yum in the famous Cat Who … series.  Nora is a methodical, intelligent investigator.  I look forward to reading more in this series.

  A Story to Kill is the first in a new series, A Cat Latimer Mystery Series.  Cat Latimer has recently inherited a house and the estate of her ex-husband, an economics professor at a small college.  She is a writer and is turning the house into a writer’s retreat B and B type business.  The book opens with the first group of guests due to arrive including a famous novelist who is writing a revealing memoir about his youth at the college.

Once the murder occurs, Cat has her hands full trying to clear her guests’ names and keeping them calm, hosting the victim’s spouse, worrying about keeping her fledgling business afloat and meeting her own editor’s deadlines.  Along with the main plot line, there is a subplot that concerns Cat’s ex-husband, his death and what really happened during their marriage, this is part is not resolved in this first book and appears as though it will be an over-arching mystery for the series.  There is also a romantic subplot, in the form of a hunky handyman, Seth.

Very enjoyable cozy read, classic college town atmosphere, engaging writer’s retreat theme, and an intelligent educated sleuth.

  Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues, is book 3 in the A Dixie Hemingway Mystery Series.  This is one of the series that I have been reading out-of-order as I have come across the books.  I started with one of the later books in the series and was immediately drawn to the character of Dixie and her world in the Florida Keys.

This book doesn’t involve the usual cats or dogs, but instead an iguana.  The reader is led on a twisting chase of government agencies, bioterrorism, biochemical weapons, secret labs, murder, and industrial espionage.  Dixie reluctantly investigates the murder while visiting her regular clients, including the recurring character Billy Elliott.  This is still early on in the series but you can see growth from where Dixie started out in the first book, recovering from the death of her husband and child.   There are some references to previous events, but not so much that it interferes with reading the book out-of-order.

This is a great series, well written  with detailed plots and rich characterizations  that are a cut above the average cozy mystery!

  A bout of insomnia last night helped me to finish this, Caught Read-Handed, the second book in the A Read ‘Em and Eat Mystery Series.  The mystery involves a local trophy wife who volunteers in the library amidst other extra-curricular activities.  Sassy and Bridgy become involved in the case when the brother of Sassy’s ex-boss, a veteran with PTSD is accused of the crime.  They track down clues, question suspects, and follow up on motives.  While all this is going on they still have to run their bookshop cafe, run the book groups that meet there, host Sassy’s ex-boss who comes to town to help his brother, and deal with a wild life issue in the form of an anaconda on the loose.

A cozy slice of Florida life with murder and mystery!

  This, Days of Wine and Roquefort, is book five in the A Cheese Shop Mystery Series by Avery Aames, who also writes as Daryl Wood Gerber.  Charlotte once again finds herself embroiled in a murder, this time she is on her own as Jordan is away under police protection waiting to testify for the government’s case.  The victim is somewhat of a mystery all on her own.  Charlotte’s cousin thought he knew her but really didn’t know all that much.  Why was she killed?  Was it something from her past?  Did her troubles follow her from somewhere else to Providence?  Or did she fall into trouble once she landed on Charlotte’s doorstep?

Jealousy, greed, possible affairs, and scandals from the past are all possible motives that Charlotte sifts through trying to get at the truth. In her personal storyline, Charlotte is dealing with the separation from Jordan and the from her cousin and his children who have moved out into their own home.  There is a lot going on with investigating the murder, in the town and in Charlotte’s personal life to make this a fast paced cozy mystery read.  A Cheese Shop Mystery Series is a great series overall and this is another good book in the series.

  This is book number 5 in the Cookbook Nook Mystery Series, Grilling the Subject.  The sleuth, Jenna Hart, finds herself investigating the death of an obnoxious neighbor to clear her father.  Along with the murder investigation, a Wild West Extravaganza is in town adding to the drama, Bailey is in the midst of wedding planning, Jenna and Rhett’s own relationship is heating up, and finally, is  someone following Jenna?  If so, why?

The murder plot is well done and has plenty of suspects and clues to keep you guessing, but Jenna’s personal life is equally important in this outing in this series.  Jenna Hart has shown a great deal of character growth since this series began, as have some of the other recurring characters.   It has been a lovely series to read  and get to know the characters over the course of time.  Highly recommended cozy mystery read!

  The second book of my snow  day is book 5 in the A Comfort Food Mystery Series by Christine Wenger, It’s a Wonderful Knife.  In this outing, our sleuth Trixie is almost out of commission right from the beginning from an accident, but she doesn’t let that keep her from investigating the death of one of the locals who was in the middle of organizing the town’s Christmas pageant.  Lots of snow, Christmas cheer, family feelings, clues, suspects, and glimpses of small town life unfold on the pages of this mystery.  We get to meet a few more of Trixie’s family members and even some of Ty’s.  ACB features prominently in this book as she did in the fourth book.

A fun, fast paced cozy read, with a bonus Holiday theme!  Unfortunately, it is my understanding that this series has been cancelled by the publisher, however the author may be considering self-publishing.  Crossed-fingers!

Snow day this morning, so I had the opportunity to lay in bed and finish this lovely cozy mystery, Macaroni and Freeze, book 4 in the A Comfort Food Mystery Series.  I have had this book on my shelf for a while but I have been in somewhat of a reading slump that I seem to be coming out of so I will head right into book 5.

In this book in the series, Trixie finds herself hosting a Cook Off fundraiser to benefit the town’s library. A celebrity chef checks into town to host the event, but doesn’t check out…alive at least.  Trixie is once again embroiled in a murder case after literally stumbling on dead body.  There are suspects with personal motives, professional motives and just old fashioned greed.  Trixie and ACB traipse through the never ending snow interviewing suspects, tracking down clues and comparing stories trying to trap a killer without getting arrested by Ty in the process. There is a side plot dealing with Alzheimer’s and plagiarism that is well done as well.  Anyone who has contributed to church, community or school cookbook’s would find that an interesting part of the plot.

Another well written outing in the A Comfort Food series!

  Finished this gothic horror ghost story of a sort from the author of Fingersmith just last night.  Very well written, with the center character being a dark, gloomy house, The Hundred, now neglected and falling down around its family who can ill afford to maintain it or even heat it.  The house fills the thoughts of all the characters.  For Roddy, it is a burden, a duty.  A symbol of his failure and later and something to be feared.  For Betty, it is a creepy symbol of an age that is past  and should be put to bed.  Dr. Faraday holds it in almost child-like reverence leading to obsession.  No one is neutral about The Hundred.  Strange things happen, creepy things.  They can certainly be explained away in the light of day.  Or can they?

The story progresses at a good pace and the tension builds up with each new event.  Parts of the book are left to the readers interpretation, who is “the little stranger”?  Very well written atmospheric horror with great attention to the details of life after WWII in Britain.  The great change to the fortunes of many of the estate owning classes and to the economy in general is shown through The Hundred itself and through Betty’s character.  I am not a big reader of historical fiction, but I did enjoy this one.