Mollie Ann Cox: The Widow Hamilton

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Eliza Hamilton #2

I had never given much thought to what became of Alexander Hamilton’s widow, but Mollie Ann Cox is here to provide readers with the details of this remarkable woman’s life.  Though she wasn’t actually a sleuth as posited here, she did live a long life with her many children, founded a large orphanage, and dedicated much of her life to preserving her husband’s legacy, organizing his papers and keeping him in the public eye. Along with Dolley Madison and Louisa Adams, she raised the funds for the Washington Monument. read more

Yosha Gunasekera: The Midnight Taxi

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Debut

This is a sparkling debut.  The main character, Siriwathi Perera, is a New York City cab driver in the age of Uber and Lyft.  It’s a tough job but she works the late shift to keep her family afloat. As she’s cruising by night court late one night, she spots two possible fares: a white, male lawyer and a woman who looks more like herself, obviously on her way home. She picks up the woman and the two of them bond as they discover they are both Sri Lankan. The woman, Amaya, is a public defender, and the quick bond the two women form is enough that Amaya presses her business card in Siri’s hand before she gets out of the cab.  Little does Siri know how much she will need it. read more

Darci Hannah: A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle

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Food & Spirits #2

In Darci Hannah’s second Food & Spirits mystery, famous chef Bridget ‘Bunny’ McBride had thought she was finally getting her big break in her televised culinary career when she joined up with the Food & Spirits team. She learned the hard way that one should always read a contract in its entirety, especially the fine print. But because she didn’t, she is now stuck on a ghost hunting team that serves meals specifically tailored to the period and tastes of the ghost they are hunting. Her gift for communicating with said spirits is definitely helpful, and now Bunny is embracing her role as part of the ghost hunting team and exploring her abilities to better help spirits find peace. read more

Jennifer J. Chow: Tell-Tale Treats

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Magical Fortune Cookie #3

In Jennifer J. Chow’s third installment in the Magical Fortune Cookie series, readers meet Felicity Jin, who works in her family bakery, the Jin Bakery, that serves up a little more than Chinese specialty treats. Their baking is quite literally magical, and the Jin family is able to infuse their goods with magic. Her mother, for example, can infuse her products so that the consumer feels happier. Felicity has a gift of prophecy, and she uses it in specialized fortune cookie messages for customers and friends. Her boyfriend, Kelvin Love, runs the flower shop in town, and the two of them have started to bloom not only in their relationship but also in their investigative teamwork. I would be remiss to not to mention Felicity’s most adorable sidekick, Whiskers, the mystical white rabbit from the stars. read more

Rob Osler: The Case of the Murdered Muckraker

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Harriet Morrow # 2

It’s rare that I like the encore more than the first book in a series, but Rob Osler has pulled it off with the second in his series about Harriet Morrow, a fledgling private detective in turn of the century Chicago.  I liked the first book very much, but in this one, Osler delves even deeper and more expansively into Harriet’s character.  She’s an LGBTQ woman at a time when such things hardly had a name and she’s not sure what to do about it, though she enjoys wearing men’s clothes does seem to have a potential girlfriend in mind.  Unbelievably, in her era cross dressing was an offense that could bring a fine or jail time or both, so she mostly confines herself to wearing men’s more comfortable shoes and practical hats.  She vastly prefers trousers for bicycling around town (and who can blame her?) but is forced to make do. read more

Pam Lecky: The Carver Affair

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Lucy Lawrence #5

The Carver Affair is the fifth book in the Lucy Lawrence mystery series, and the first in the series that I’ve read. The story follows Lucy as she travels to Ireland for her husband’s work, settling in for the summer in a charming rented house with her staff and kids. Shortly, though, things go awry – her loyal housemaid, Mary, reports that her nieces Peggy and Bridget have gone missing looking for work in the city. The reader already knows, however, that Peggy has been murdered and that Bridget is nowhere to be found. read more

February Book Club: The Botanist’s Assistant

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All are welcome to join us via zoom in February to discuss Peggy Townsend’s The Botanist’s Assistant.  We’ll meet at 2 p.m. on Sunday, February 22.  Message me for a zoom link.  This was one of my favorite reads of 2025 with it’s mix of quirky heroine and smart sleuthing, with plant facts as a side delight.  Here’s my review:

I could not have loved this utterly charming mystery more.  It’s original, it’s well written, it’s well plotted, and it has a wonderful main character in botanist Margaret Finch.  Much like her name, Margaret resembles a large bird (and she is in fact referred to as Big Bird behind her back), and she values order, cleanliness and science above all else.  In her work as a research assistant in a lab, these qualities serve her well.  It’s people she has trouble with, not plants. read more

Michelle L. Cullen: A Field Guide to Murder

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Debut

This is a perfectly charming novel with enough quirky characters to make it a standout debut.  Roughly following the “Thursday Murder Club” scenario in which retirees in a closed community solve crimes, it features widower Harry Lancaster, who has recently suffered a hip injury. He’s forced to temporarily hire a younger in-home caregiver, Emma, who, having burned out on critical care nursing, sees helping people like Harry as her next step.  The setting is a small community of mostly retirees, and, with many hours to kill, Harry spends many of them looking out his large front window at the comings and goings in the neighborhood. read more

Aviva Orr: Death at Villa De Lacey

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Series debut

The first in the De Lacey and Squires Mysteries, Death at Villa De Lacey by Aviva Orr, steps immediately into a great moment of change for both its main characters. Bridget’s safe and peaceful life at her ancestral home is shattered when she is told that her father killed himself. To add insult to injury, his last act was to lose the deed to their home in an ill-fated hand of cards. The rich victor, Edward Squires, very much intends to collect on the winnings.

He sends his brother, Nate Squires, to reside at the property. read more

Ross Montgomery: The Murder at World’s End

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Series debut

In 1910 many people thought that poison gases in the tail of the soon to be arriving Halley’s Comet would mean the end of the world, providing a memorable milieu for this clever mystery set in England.  At Tithe Hall in remote World’s End, the Lord of the manor, Viscount Stockingham-Welt, is so convinced of the coming apocalypse that he’s filling his house full of guests (as well as servants) and sealing them in their rooms to prevent entry of poisonous gasses.  Into this “Masque of the Red Death”  steps Stephen Pike, recently released from prison, thinking he’s secured a job as a second footman. read more