Amateur sleuth

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

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

Elizabeth Penney: Vows and Villainy

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Cambridge Bookshop #5

In Elizabeth Penny’s fifth addition to her Cambridge Bookshop series, Vows and Villainy, the reader finds Molly Kimball, a librarian who helps her aunt in her bookshop and the local police with their murders in Cambridge, England. Molly uses deductive reasoning and her social prowess to entice others to give her clues and bits of information. She also does not try to solve everything on her own and then turn over the information to the authorities – instead, she keeps the local detectives in the know as she goes, trying her best to be helpful as well as safe. While they might not praise her for her efforts they appreciate and utilize her intel as much as possible, more so now that she has established herself as a credible amateur sleuth. read more

Peggy Townsend: The Botanist’s Assistant

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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.

The only person she has true respect for is her boss, Dr. Deaver.  When she discovers his body in his office, details seem off to her, details the busy police officer (who is busy ignoring Margaret’s suggestions of poison) seems not to notice.  When Dr. Deaver’s death is declared a heart attack, Margaret knows, in the interest of truth and science, that she must discover what really happened.  In this way, Margaret is similar to all amateur sleuths of every description.  She fits into a narrower category – the neuro divergent detective, someone familiar to fans of detective fiction and TV for many years, from Columbo to Monk to E.J. Copperman’s classic Asperger detective to Nita Prose’s “maid.” All share a quirkiness and while there are many differences, their similarity is the observation of all details. read more

Leslie Meier: A Matter of Pedigree

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Series debut

The prolific Leslie Meier has long enamored readers with her Lucy Stone Mystery series (31 books and counting) and she’s now branching off with a new series.  The new series follows Carole Capobianco in Rhode Island, where she and her husband Frank are starting to move up in the world. Frank invented a revolutionary new device, the Bye-Bye Toilet, which has made the Capobianco family millionaires practically overnight. As their two children have moved out for careers and school, the pair of empty nesters are looking to move into more upscale and plush living accommodations. This is saying something, as their current apartment is quite upscale. read more

Cate Conte: Claws Out

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Cat Café #9

Maddie James, cat café owner and animal enthusiast,  works closely with family and friends to run her café, find felines new families, and solve mysteries. The solving mysteries part is Maddie’s secondary passion, as her first love will always be helping the poor kitties find their forever homes and making sure they are well cared for in her keeping. Her café, J.J.’s House, is located on Daybreak Island off the New England Coast. J.J. is Maddie’s cat and mascot, as well as a demanding socialite. Maddie has been contemplating expanding her operation beyond the one café on Daybreak Island, and is presented with a timely and interesting opportunity in the form of a donated food truck. read more

Katarina Bivald: Just Another Dead Author

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Just Another Dead Author is Katarina Bivald’s follow up to her charming Edgar winner, The Murders in Great Diddling. Set in Lyon in the French countryside, Chateau des Livres is the setting for a literary retreat featuring main character and author Berit Gardner. Berit is a very pragmatic, inquisitive, and creative individual. Her dear friend Emma Scott, literary enthusiast and former bookstore owner, has managed to convince her to agree to be a speaker at the literary retreat. While speaking to large crowds and mentoring other authors isn’t Berit’s idea of a party, she is determined to help her friend. read more

Vicki Delany: Tea with Jam and Dread

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Tea by the Sea #6

In Vicky Delany’s latest, Tea with Jam and Dread, teashop owner Lily Roberts, her grandmother Rose, and her friend Bernadette are all headed to Yorkshire, England for a party at the Thornecroft Castle House and Hotel. Rose had worked in the kitchen at the castle and was personally invited by Elizabeth Crawford, Dowager Countess of Frockmorton, to celebrate her one hundredth birthday alongside other friends and relatives. Lily also has a little side motivation to join Rose on the trip (other than it sounds amazing and she wishes to be there for her): her long distance boyfriend, Simon McCracken, is nearby, and can meet up with them. Everyone is beyond excited for their English adventure. read more

Sandra Jackson-Opoku: Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes

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Debut

Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes is the winner of Minotaur’s Malice Domestic© Award, a prize previously won by writers like Donna Andrews and Julia Spencer-Fleming. Savvy Summers owns the soul food restaurant Sapphire Summers Soulfood Café and Catering Company, or Essie’s, for the abbreviation SSS-CCC. Her restaurant is a staple of the community and one of the few remaining businesses on a sought-after bit of land. Her one employee and friend, Penny Porter Lopes, keeps things running smoothly. Savvy is a very down-to-earth woman who is determined to make a success of her business and to keep ahold of it, something that is becoming increasingly difficult with numerous phone calls and emails from a very annoying investor harassing her almost daily. read more

Leslie Budewitz: Lavender Lies Bleeding

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Spice Shop #9

I enjoy all my meetups with Pepper Reece at her charming Seattle Spice Shop.  The books are set in the iconic Pike Place Market, and Pepper is very much an active part of the market community.  Many of the books have taken place in and around the Market, but in this one, Pepper ventures out to a nearby lavender farm.  She’s planning a lavender festival at the market and thinking of ways to get as many vendors as possible involved in her venture.

To this end, she’s gone out to the farm of a friend, Liz, who has a lavender farm in Salmon Falls. While the real Salmon Falls is now an historical (and abandoned) landmark, the Salmon Falls in the book is a lively place.  When Pepper arrives, though, Liz’s greenhouse has been trashed and the police are on the hunt for the boyfriend of Abby, Liz’s assistant, as the possible culprit for the vandalism.  Abby is sure he’s innocent. read more