Still not getting much reading done with work on the Save Our Cozies Readathon, PD for work and life in general taking up much of my time.  I did squeeze these two in, Hiss and Tell and A Premonition of Murder.

Hiss and Tell is a Sunny and Shadow Mystery and is book 4 in that series.  I really like the scenes in these books from Shadow’s perspective.  The mystery in this one centers on scandals, blackmail and a Kennedy-esque style family trying to desperately keep it all under wraps.  Sunny gets invited in as a reporter/investigator and Shadow tags along for the ride.  I really enjoyed this story with its multiple suspects and complex storyline.  Sunny showed more growth in this book than she had in the others, perhaps because we see her out of her comfort zone of her father’s house and the town for much of the book.  Good mystery and characters!  Recommended read for cozy fans.

A Premonition of Murder is book 3 in the A Dream Club Mystery.  This series is set in Savannah, Georgia and the setting is well established through local color used in the books.  In this book, Taylor and Ali are invited to an exclusive luncheon and meet a society dame, who is later killed.   The mystery includes theft, murder, and an old unsolved crime and of course, dreams and their interpretations.  A fun and engaging mystery with a really interesting theme.

This was a total impulse buy. I saw it on the counter at Booktrader of Hamilton and just picked it up.  I am so glad that I did!  Loved the characters, Rory and Zeke have a great relationship despite their ….umm ..differences.  The investigation was very well plotted, I did suspect who the culprit was but still fully enjoyed the book.  The tension and pacing was much more reminiscent of a thriller than the average cozy and that really kept me flipping the pages.   I don’t think that A Portrait of Crime Mystery is that popular a series, I read lots of book blogs and look on Goodreads and Amazon rec and had neve seen it before and I think that is because it does not fit so neatly into the “cozy genre”.

One death occurs “on screen” in the prologue and there is a decidedly  “not lighthearted fun” tone to the book that people have come to expect from cozies.  The characters are more realistic (other than one of them being a ghost) than the typical quirkiness that we associate with cozies.   Finally, Rory is a professional, currently working as a police sketch artist, she is still a detective complete with carrying a gun. I would highly recommend this book to both cozy mystery and other mystery fans.

  I have been very frustrated by a lack of time to read lately.  The Save Our Cozies Readathon admin. duties have been taking alot of free time and on top of that the end of school year stuff, Professional Development, and the veggie patch needs constant care right now.  ….Enough whining.

I did manage to finish Fudging the Books early this morning.  I love this series (and the whole idea of owning a cook book themed business).  This is book 4 in the series and the recurring characters are present and making themselves known along with a couple new ones related to the murder mystery in this book.  Fudging the Book opens with the simultaneous arrival of Pirate Week, a cookbook author and her editor.  Someone ends up dying, of course and Jenna investigates to clear a friend and find the killer.

The mystery had twists and turns to keep you guessing throughout the whole story.  The focus here was really on the mystery and the investigation, the side plots were less of an element.   I really enjoyed this one and look forward to the next one, which I already pre-ordered.

This is one of those cases where I would say “don’t judge a book by the cover”.  From the cover, you would expect a cute, lighthearted cozy read, but The Garden Plot has much more to offer than that!  I was really impressed by this and I only picked it up on a whim.  The character of Pru is an interesting complex single expat American living in England.  She has returned to England after her mother’s death to make a new start and perhaps find the last remaining family that she has.  She is a trained gardener and is looking to find a permament position.  In the meantime, she does odd gardening jobs and of course stumbles across a body.  Sounds very typical for a cozy, but it’s not.

The plot is enriched by  British history, archaeology, gardening and garden restoration. It has less humor and more tension than a cozy usually has.  It is  a fine  mix of the mystery with all of the information and the romantic subplot that makes this mystery stand out.  Reminds me very much of another series I really loved by Anthony Eglin, The English Garden Mysteries.  I would highly recommend this series to cozy readers and/or fans of the Rosemary and Thyme TV series (if anyone else remembers that one).

Just FYI, an audio book in this series is offered as a prize for the Save Our Cozies Readathon July 16, 2016.

Between Save Our Cozies Readathon admin and work PD I have hardly had time to open a book myself :(.  I finished these two in the last  couple nights, they have been hanging out on my Kindle for a little while.

Deadly Gamble was a very good read!  I loved the character of Charlie.  I liked the writing and the fact that she was the office person in a PI office who gets into investigating.  The crime seems out of today’s headlines, so very current.  The characters actions made sense, in other words she wasn’t going off half cocked and chasing around willy nilly.  The mystery was well plotted with some hints that I suspected what had happened but was glad to see it confirmed.  I would classify this as a cozy, so recommended for cozy readers.

A Dose of Death has a really interesting and different protagonist.  Helen was a governor’s wife and her identity seems to have been wrapped up in that “definition” of herself. Now she is divorced and has MS and is trying to find a new self.  Her family has very different ideas of what she should be doing with her life and is not very happy when the only passion that seems to catch hold is investigating the murder of a visiting nurse.

I loved that fact that this book in some ways championed the cause of the disabled still being in charge of their own lives.  I found it hard to read the family members attempts at steamrolling over her wishes, even though in the storyline it was constantly asserted they were doing it out of love.

I am interested to see how Helen’s character grows in future books and how the family dynamic changes.  The mystery was interesting and had red herrings to throw the reader off.  Very nicely done cozy!

I have been super busy with the end of the school year and the Save Our Cozies Readathon.  So I have not had as much time to read as I would like.  I did finish these two and am just jotting quick reviews.  I really love the Dream Club Mystery series and enjoyed Dream a Little Scream a great deal.  A celebrity visits the candy store and meets her untimely end while there.  In fear of the damage to the store’s reputation the death has caused, Taylor and Ali investigate to find the real killer.  I already have the next book waiting to be read and I can’t wait.  Great cozy mystery read.

I picked up Pastrami Murder after reading some online reviews of later books in the series.   Very quick, cute mystery.  I liked the characters and the setting and the mystery was interesting.  I would have just liked it to be longer!

I have been seeing this book all over social media lately, on book blogs, twitter, and goodreads so I just had to pick it up.  It has such an interesting premise that I was instantly engaged.  The idea of an Emergency Dessert service delivered in a retro ambulance.  How cute is that?  The main characteer is losing her storefront bakery and inherits the ambulance at the same time. She decides to take her baked goods on the road, all the while investigating the murder of an an elderly friend and neighbor who had recently been widowed.  Plenty of red herrings pop up and then are discounted as Winnie investigates.  Cute quick mystery with an original premise!

 I had this cozy on my Kindle.  Definitely an impulse buy as I hadn’t heard anything about it.  It is the first in a new series.  The protagaonist is Molly, she owns a bakery with her best friend.  She is divorced but still friendly with her ex.  She has a disagreement with another business owner who then ends up dead.  From there on out Molly finds herself in the the thick of the investigation.  There are hints of historical crime and bad blood between families.  Molly’s investigation really steps into high gear when the local police force is left as a skeleton crew due to an out of town training.  Will Molly’s Nancy Drew tendencies put her in the killer’s sights?

This was a fun, fast paced cozy with a light hint of romantic subplot.  Even though the theme was bakery related, it was not overdone.  I suspect the author realizes that there are many bakery themed cozies and so baking needed to be just a backdrop, not a major piece of the storyline and it worked really well.  I enjoyed it and would get another in the series.

I was at the Booktrader of Hamilton tonight for a book signing and discussion with E.J. Copperman.  I picked up these two and had them signed “To Save Our Cozies”  I will be donating them as giveaways for the Save Our Cozies Readathon.

 I just finished this one last night.  I really like this series and I think this was the best one yet! It had the English Country Manor murder mystery feel to it, with still the bouts of humor typical of a cozy.  There is a not a very nice victim, a house full of guests, all or several of whom have motive, means, and opportunity.  A few nice red herrings to make for fun twists and turns.  There is also some movement on the romantic sub plot side of things and even on the overarching mystery of the family treasure 🙂  Don’t want to say more and give anything away.  This was a fast paced cozy with lots going on in.  I really enjoyed it.