aunt_agatha

Alyssa Maxwell: Murder at Vinland

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Gilded Newport #12

Murder at Vinland is the twelfth book in Alyssa Maxwell’s Gilded Newport series set among the social elite in Newport in the late 1890s-early 1900s.  The first book, Murder at the Breakers, was recently made into a TV movie by Hallmark.  I enjoyed the movie, which was better than some of the reviews would indicate, but the books are even better.  Maxwell’s heroine is Emma Cross Andrews, a journalist and poor relation of the Vanderbilts.  Emma grew up in reduced circumstances, which gave her a great sympathy with the poor, but, because of her illustrious relatives, she also is familiar with the world of the Four Hundred, the elite who lived in New York and spent their summers in Newport.  Supposedly, they were called the Four Hundred because that was the number of people who could fit inside Mrs. Astor’s ballroom. read more

Rhys Bowen: The Rose Arbor

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Standalone

Rhys Bowen’s latest standalone mystery spans time and space with story elements set in 1943 Tyneham (a village in Dorset) and 1968 London. Reporter Liz Houghton struggles to solve the mystery of a missing child in 1968 that might be connected to missing children who disappeared in 1943. Led by information from her policewoman roommate, Liz begins exploring Dorset for clues about Little Lucy that lead her to suspect the missing child might be held in the ruins of Tyneham, a village requisitioned and destroyed by the Army in 1943. What unfolds are parallel tales of villagers displaced from homes their families had lived in for generations, children displaced by the war, and displaced children lost in the wartime shuffle from city to country. During her investigation, Liz meets the son of the displaced Lord of the village manor and together they explore surprising yet believable clues that tie Liz to Tyneham. read more

Sarah Stewart Taylor: Agony Hill

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Series debut

Sarah Stewart Taylor starts a new series with Agony Hill, following Detective Franklin Warren as he tries to start his life over again. Set in the tiny Vermont town of Bethany in the 1960s, the novel immediately plunges the reader into small town, rustic life, and realities of the struggling farmers there. The characters are rich, and each of the three point of view characters especially get filled out into living, breathing people.

When Warren arrives in town, he gets little time to settle in, or even unpack. Immediately, there is a barn fire up on Agony Hill. At first, it seems like a clear-cut suicide. The victim, Hugh Weber, was always one for making statements, and he was deeply against the highway set to go through town. The barn was latched from the inside, too. With no alternate exits, it seems clear that Weber got drunk and took his ideals a little too far. read more

Jess Lourey: August Moon

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Murder by the Month # 4 (re-release)

August Moon is the fourth installment in Jess Lourey’s twelve installment Murder by the Month series, recently re-issued. Librarian Mira James feels that she has outgrown the small town of Battle Lake, Minnesota. The catalyst for this: her latest attempt at romance has gone bust. Feeling like there isn’t any future for her in the small town, Mira plans to return to the Twin Cities to go to school. She has become a rather beloved figure in town and plenty, especially her employees, do not want to see her go, including her eccentric and highly entertaining, if not cantankerous, employee Mrs. Berns. While receiving books is her primary job, Mrs. Berns also sees it as her job to help Mira navigate social situations and stay on track at the library. Staying on track does not include Mira leaving, so finding a replacement becomes an adventure on its own. However, all of Mira’s plans get put on hold when her library assistant is murdered. Lucy Lebowski was a well-loved member of the community and Mira can’t stand to think that whoever killed her might get away. read more

Carol Goodman: Return to Wyldcliffe Heights

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Carol Goodman’s latest standalone novel, Return to Wyldcliffe Heights, takes the reader into a modern day gothic. Our heroine Agnes Corey works at a small failing publishing company, and is naturally all alone in the world. Knowing she will be let go first, as she was the last hired on as an assistant, Agnes makes a desperate bid to keep her job by writing to the publisher’s most famous author. To the surprise of everyone, perhaps most of all Agnes herself, the author writes back.

Years ago, enigmatic and reclusive Veronica St. Clair wrote a generation defining gothic novel of her own. It launched the publisher and ensnared the hearts of countless teenage girls, but Veronica never wrote anything again. Agnes’ plea for a sequel to The Secret of Wyldcliffe Heights is one of hundreds, if not thousands. But Veronica, who was blinded in a mysterious fire on her massive estate, needs someone to transcribe it for her. read more

Emmeline Duncan: Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookstore

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Series debut

Emmeline Duncan introduces us to her first book in a new series with Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop. Readers are taken to Elya Hollow, Oregon to Bailey Briggs’ Lazy Bones Bookshop. This small town in Oregon is Halloween famous and definitely capitalizes on the theme. Even at Christmas they make sure to blend the two holidays, and make good of use of the movie Nightmare Before Christmas. All the shops have fun spooky themed names such as the Lazy Bones Bookshop, which Bailey has taken over from her grandparents. Her mother had her at a very young age, so Bailey was actually raised by her grandparents and she still lives with her Grandpa. Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop has the town kicking off its spooky season with the Lit Festival. Aiming to take full advantage of the festival, Bailey has several fun events planned for her store including some visiting authors, one of which can cite Elya Hollow as his childhood home. As if enough isn’t going on, a TV show known as Gone Ghouls is also coming around to film a few episodes, the star of which also has roots in Elya Hollow. It starts off as a book of celebrations and homecoming, everyone excited for the events to come. read more

Valerie Burns: A Cup of Flour, a Pinch of Death

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Baker Street #3

Valerie Burns’ Baker Street Mystery series stars Maddy Montgomery, socialite, famous influencer, and now baker and English Mastiff Mom. Calling her a baker is a bit generous, however, as her skills in that department still need a bit of polishing. She is undaunted in her quest of making New Bison, Michigan her home, and she uses her social media skills to promote her business. However, her old life comes to find her in the third book A Cup of Flour, A Pinch of Death, in the form of the woman who stole her fiancé and tore her previous life apart, Brandy Denton. Although in a way she did Maddy a favor. It was because of that devastation that Maddy decided to stay in New Bison. At this point, it seems that Brandy is only there to stir things up and cause Maddy as much grief as possible. Given her own social media fame, Maddy’s responses to Brandy’s provocations have to be very carefully considered to avoid backlash. Although getting murdered in Maddy’s bakery Baby Cakes, making Maddy the chief suspect, probably was not the kind of trouble Brandy had in mind. While Trooper Bob is more than happy to lay the crime at her feet, Maddy has plenty of friends who are ready to rally and help her figure out who else could have done it, and English Mastiff Baby to keep her safe. read more

Allison Montclair: Murder at the White Palace

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Sparks & Bainbridge #6

Simply put, the Sparks & Bainbridge historical mysteries are among the best of their kind being written at the moment. In the uncertainty of post-war London, series protagonists odd couple Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge run The Right Sort, a marriage bureau. Iris is a working-class woman who operated as an espionage agent during the war, and Gwen is a titled member of the upper class, a war widow raising a son with the intermittent help of her former in-laws. The yin and yang of Iris and Gwen works perfectly, and they have drawn ever closer through the now six books in this wonderful series. read more

David Lewis: A Jewel in the Crown

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The Secret Churchill Files #1

Because I’d thought I’d seen it all before, I had low expectations when I picked this book up. WWII, the Blitz, Churchill, feisty undercover heroine, check, check and check, we’ve all been there and read that, right?  But as it turns out in the right hands WWII can still be fascinating, and with a vibrant truly larger than life character like Winston Churchill, Lewis creates a fresh, vivid read that will have you flipping pages quickly.  A policewoman when the book opens, heroine Catrine Colline, a working-class Welsh girl with a socialist bent, is soon recruited by “512,” an undercover outfit composed only of women dedicated to furthering Britain’s war efforts. read more

Cathy Akers-Jordan: A look at Lilian Jackson Braun

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Essay

Editors note:  Cathy wrote this essay in 2008, Braun died at age 97 in 2011.  In 2022, the Mystery Writers of America established the Lilian Jackson Braun award to honor cozy fiction, awarding it for the first time at the Edgar ceremony in 2023.  This was a long overdue move, in my opinion.

Lilian Jackson Braun

This summer I am listening to the audio books of one my favorite mystery series: The Cat Who…by Lilian Jackson Braun. For those who aren’t familiar with the series, each title begins with the words “The Cat Who” as you can see by following this link to a list of the books. read more