Kensington Books

Laura Levine: Death by Smoothie

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Death by Smoothie, Laura Levine’s latest work, has Jaine Austen tossed into investigating two murders: that of a classic sitcom turned musical, and that of the lead actress starring in said musical. Jaine is approached by her friend and neighbor Lance Venable and asked if she would be interested in doing the screen writing for the musical remake of an old sitcom called ‘I Married a Zombie’. While she isn’t a fan of the sitcom or of the idea of a musical based upon it, she is definitely interested in the paycheck the job would bring. David and Becca are the couple who are funding and directing the project using the winnings from David’s recent lotto ticket. While she is hesitant about working on such a tacky project, Jaine is won over by the large pay out promised. read more

Winnie Archer: Bread over Troubled Water

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Winnie Archer’s Bread Over Troubled Water has aspiring photographer Ivy Culpepper racing not just to solve a murder, but to also to save her friends and her job at bakery Yeast of Eden from disaster. As the book opens, Ivy’s morning is focused on her normal routine of baking and on reflecting on her own to-do list for her impending wedding party. She does not have much free time, however, as the bread shop is a town staple and thus plenty of regulars and tourists pass through, keeping everyone busy. One such regular is Josh Prentiss. He is a well-known fixture in Yeast of Eden, working away most mornings on his laptop and offering charmingly flirtatious remarks to both customers and employees. After some light commotion in the shop resulting in dropped bread and a broken plate, he leaves the shop and Ivy does not think about him further, until her determined and charming pug, Agatha, sniffs out his body amongst flowers in the park and drags Ivy once more into a mystery. read more

Sarah Fox: Through the Liquor Glass

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Through the Liquor Glass by Sarah Fox is the fifth installment in A Literary Pub Mystery series and has local pub owner Sadie Coleman not only investigating a new murder but fighting to keep her boyfriend from taking the fall. Shady Creek, Vermont, is celebrating the fall weather with a festival called “A Taste of Shady Creek” which focuses on showcasing all the local eateries. Between preparing for the event at her Pub, The Inkwell, and for a booth at the event hall, Sadie is also having to prepare for the first-time visit of her mother to show her her new home and her new life. Between the pressures of wanting her mother to understand that this is where she belongs and The Inkwell is how she wants to make her living, she also must brace herself to also introduce her boyfriend Grayson Blake. Just when it seems there couldn’t possibly be anything more to add to her plate, Sadie learns that several food critics are present at the event as well. read more

Colleen Cambridge: A Trace of Poison

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The second book in Cambridge’s delightful series about Agatha Christie’s housekeeper, Phyllida Bright, does not disappoint.  The first one was a take on The Body in the Library; this book takes place at a “Murder Fête,” an early version of a mystery book conference.  In this iteration, there are just a few authors, but they are Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, G.K. Chesterton, and Anthony Berkley.  Pretty swoon-worthy.  There’s also a short story contest judged by the celeb authors, and the outcome is hotly anticipated by the local mystery writing group. The prize is publication. read more

Alex Erickson: Death by Spiced Chai

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Alex Erickson’s barista turned part-time sleuth, Krissey Hancock, finds herself the target of a sinister stalker in her newest book Death by Spiced Chai. Everything begins with little incidents such as the sudden appearance of cockroaches, and ominous texts about her local cop boyfriend Paul Daulton. At first, most are easily explained as either accidents or perhaps even as revenge by someone in town who has taken exception to Krissey’s history of being a tad too intrusive in her past investigations. But soon things escalate to accusations from friends and neighbors. Krissey finds her head spinning and anxiety rising as she desperately tries to clear her name left and right. Despite her efforts, things continue to escalate and eventually the police come to accuse her of vandalism of other local establishments, and then even of murder! read more

Andrea Penrose: Murder at the Serpentine Bridge

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Murder at the Serpentine Bridge is the sixth installment in Andrea Penrose’s Wrexford and Sloane Regency mystery series.  As the book opens, in 1814, the two protagonists, the Earl of Wrexford and Lady Charlotte Sloane, are a newly married couple, and Charlotte is trying to get used to life as a countess, while inwardly rebelling against the restrictions of Regency high society.

Wrexford is a man of science, a brilliant chemist, who relies on logic and deductive reasoning to solve crimes.  Charlotte is a satirical cartoonist who uses the pseudonym A.J. Quill.  She had eloped with her drawing teacher when she was very young, and scandalized her family.  Now that her first husband is dead and she is married to Wrexford, she is finally accepted back into polite society.  In contrast to Wrexford, she uses her intuition and artist’s eye to solve murders.  The two complement each other very well.  At first I wondered if the series would not be as compelling now that the two of them are married, but I am happy to say I was wrong.  Wrexford and Charlotte make a great couple, and the witty dialogue which was a strength of the earlier novels is still there. read more

Vanessa Riley: Murder in Westminster

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Sometimes all it takes is a small change in point of view to make a huge difference.  Vanessa Riley’s lively historical mystery set in 1806 London sets itself apart from the several other Regency historicals out there at the moment, simply by creating a black main character.  At the time the black population in London numbered up to 20,000, out of a population of about one million.  They were referred to as Blackamoors and included Africans and East and West Indians.  (Riley’s notes at the back of the book are invaluable.) read more

Dianne Freeman: A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder

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I knew from Dianne Freeman’s first book that this was a special series, and the subsequent books have done absolutely nothing to change my initial opinion.  In this installment, she manages to carry off the wedding of the main character without destroying the interest and tension in the novel.  I can think of other series where a wedding can prove to be a disaster for the characters and only one other historical series, Tasha Alexander’s Lady Emily books, where that was not the case.  So, bravo to Ms. Freeman right off the bat, before I even got to the heart of the book (the wedding happens at the very beginning). read more

Catherine Lloyd: Miss Morton and The English House Party Murder

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This charming first in a series has some kissing cousins – it bears a resemblance to Dianne Freeman’s Lady Harleigh series and to Darcie Wilde’s Rosalind Thorne books.  Set in the same time period, 1830’s Britain, this book has a vivid, fast paced story telling style that makes it difficult to put down.  Young Lady Caroline Morton has been disgraced by her father’s bankruptcy and suicide, so she’s left her aunt’s household and is – gasp – earning a wage as the companion of Mrs. Frogerton, a forthright, wealthy widow who is sending her daughter, Dorothy, out into the wilds of the London “season.” read more

Kathleen Marple Kalb: A Fatal Overture

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A Fatal Overture is the third in Kathleen Marple Kalb’s wonderful mystery series set in New York City at the turn of the 20th century, featuring opera singer Ella Shane, a mezzo soprano “trouser diva,” known for singing male roles.  Ella, the daughter of an Irish father and a Jewish mother, grew up in a tenement on the Lower East Side and was orphaned at an early age.  The trauma of finding her mother’s body, frozen to death in their tiny room, has never truly left Ella.  After being raised by her aunt on her father’s side of the family, Ella found a mentor, a famous opera singer, who discovered she had a great voice, and so, by the time the series begins, Ella has also become famous.  She owns her own company and lives in a brownstone on Washington Square with her cousin Tommy, the son of the aunt who brought her up.  Tommy, a former champion boxer, is a closeted gay man who manages her career and helps her fend off unwelcome admirers. read more