Reviews

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

Scott Lyerly: The Last Line

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Debut

This dark theatre cozy is set in Avalon, Massachusetts, in the tiny Kaleidoscope Theater.  Theater owner and producer Ellie Marlowe, our main character, is opening a solid sounding show titled Murder in a Teacup. The attendance numbers look good and the show looks to be a success, with just one problem: the leading man is not a nice guy.  In the first few scenes, in encounter after encounter, the reader is shown (not told) of the man’s arrogant, demeaning, and downright rude behavior to basically all other humans in his orbit.  Since this is a murder mystery, he is quickly dispatched, though the question remains: did he simply have a heart attack?  Again, this is a murder mystery. read more

Ellen Byron: A Very Woodsy Murder

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Golden Motel #1

Ellen Byron always brings it.  In this series launch, exhausted TV writer Dee has found gold at the end of her particular rainbow.  In her case, it’s an abandoned mid century motel in need of lots of love at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains.  She wants to buy it and renovate it with her ex-husband and now best friend, Jeff, whose life also needs a bit of a reboot.  The two agree to the plan, sinking their savings into it.  They’re happily renovating when their first guest checks in: an old fellow sit-com writer frenemy of Dee’s.  He seems to be roundly disliked by everyone in town and in good cozy fashion he’s shortly dispatched.  (It’s the end of his particular rainbow.) read more

Kathryn Lasky: Mortal Radiance

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Georgia O’Keeffe #2

I truly enjoyed the first novel in this series, Light on Bone, despite initial reservations about Georgia O’Keeffe as a detective.  Lasky ably uses O’Keeffe’s artistic skillset to solve the crimes presented to her, and I am always in favor of a sleuth using an actual skill they already possess.  Set in and around Taos, New Mexico, Georgia in this instalment is staying at the home of Mabel Dodge Luhan, an art patroness who maintained quite a salon.  Georgia is in Taos for the funeral of D.H. Lawrence, whose body was disinterred by his wife five years after his death, cremated, and brought to Taos for interment on the grounds of a ranch Mabel had gifted to the couple (in return, Mabel received the original manuscript of Sons and Lovers). read more

Elise Bryant: It’s Elementary

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Series debut

If the mystery part of this novel hadn’t meandered a bit as it headed in for the finish it would have been the absolutely perfect summer read.  The rest of the book, though, is so utterly charming, that’s really a nitpick.  This is the first adult novel for author Bryant, who up until now has written YA romance, and she seems to be embracing adulting in her first outing.  Her heroine, Mavis Miller, is a single mom who lives with her Dad and is late getting her adorable daughter Pearl to school just about every day in the rush of getting ready for work, making Pearl’s lunch, letting the dog out, etc. read more

Dianne Freeman: An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder

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Countess of Harleigh #7

An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder is the seventh entry in Dianne Freeman’s delightful Countess of Harleigh series.  Set at the turn of the twentieth century, the series features Frances, the American-born former Countess of Harleigh, and her second husband, George Hazelton, who carries out secret investigations for the British government.  This book is somewhat of a departure for the series, since it takes place in Paris instead of the usual setting of London, but you can hardly complain about that. read more

Molly MacRae: Come Shell or High Water

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Series Debut – Haunted Shell Shop #1

Molly MacRae launches her new haunted shell shop mystery series with Come Shell or High Water. Newly widowed Maureen Nash heads to Ocracoke Island to follow up on some rather odd letters from the shell shop owner. Maureen is a Malacologist and teller of stories and legends. Malacologist is the term for someone who studies mollusks, an interesting factoid I enjoyed learning. One might think that Maureen of the mollusks could have picked a better time to visit the island than right in the middle of hurricane season. Apparently, though, that is a prime time to find some seaside treasures of the shelled variety. Maureen has quite the journey to the island, but the real adventure starts when she literally trips over a body, then stumbles through a series of unfortunate events that results in compromised memory, becoming a murder suspect, and meeting a ghost. read more

Anna Lee Huber: A Deceptive Composition

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Lady Darby #12

This enjoyable series centers on unconventional artist Lady Darby, aka Kiera Gage, who still carries her first husband’s title, though she’s since remarried one Sebastian Gage. That first husband was cruel, forcing her to use her artistic skills as an anatomical illustrator to sketch as he dissected corpses, an extremely disreputable occupation for a woman in the 1830s.  Fortunately for her, his passing left her free to marry her dishy second husband and have a baby with him.  She now uses those skills as a society portraitist, but it’s her eye that makes this series original, detecting colors and relevant details others would miss. It’s her incredible powers of observation that makes her such a valuable assistant to her husband, an operative for the crown. read more