Amateur sleuth

Kate Collins: Gone but Not For Garden

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Kate Collins’ fourth addition to her Goddess of Greene Street Mysteries is Gone but Not for Garden. Readers will find themselves drawn in by main character and detective Athena Spencer. She has only recently opened up her own detective agency with her boyfriend Case Donnelly, works for her family gardening store called Spencer’s, and also posts a blog as a way to vent about her family and personal life struggles and triumphs. However, she does remain anonymous in her blog, and it is amusing to see her family discuss it with such interest. Anyone who has a large family can appreciate and relate to how Athena has both love for her family as well as frustrations. While her family means well, they often push Athena’s boundaries and exasperate her. She does her best to be considerate and kind, while also remaining firm with her family. They mean well, and their pushing clearly comes from a place of love. Athena’s awareness of this makes her all the more relatable to those with more complicated families themselves. Athena also has a son and pet raccoon that add both a humorous element to the story, as well as interesting plot twists later on. read more

Traci Hall: Murder at a Scottish Wedding

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Murder at a Scottish Wedding by Traci Hall is a wonderful look into Scottish culture, and provides two very different mysteries that will have readers glued to the pages. Paislee Shaw is the detective in this series, and she owns a yarn business in Nairn known as Cashmere Crush. However, while Ms. Shaw has solved several murders in the three prior books, this one revolves around the wedding of her best friend Lydia. Thankfully, Paislee does not have to lose her best friend in order to prompt the investigation. Instead, the happy day is halted by the murder of a member of the wedding party. The death is also witnessed by an entire church full of wedding guests. When Paislee discovers that the victim was supposed to be Lydia all along.  When Lydia discovers this, she won’t be able to rest easily unless Paislee looks into the matter herself. Being a part of the wedding party gives Paislee access to both of the families involved, and gives her plenty of reason to speak with and look into everyone. read more

Maddie Day: Four Leaf Cleaver

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When looking for a murder mystery chock full of southern charm, look no further than Maddie Day’s Four Leaf Cleaver, the eleventh installment in her Country Store series. The main character and investigator is Robbie Jordan, owner of the local B&B Pans ‘N Pancakes. In an effort to give her B&B some publicity, Robbie is hosting a Saint Patrick’s Day themed cooking competition known as Holiday Hot-Off. From the start, the whole business shapes up to be more complicated and involved than Robbie had expected. From the staff of the show not getting along, to their manager and star Tara O’Hara being demanding and rude, Robbie is more than ready for it all to be over before it even begins. However, what no one expected was for the abrasive Tara O’Hara to be found dead in her upstairs room at Pans ‘N Pancakes on the morning of the big event. read more