Minotaur Books

Korina Moss: Case of the Bleus

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Cheese Shop #4

I am delighted to be able to review Korina Moss’ fourth book in her Cheese Shop series, Case of the Bleus. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading my way through the adventures of Willa Baur as she has established her cheese shop Curds & Wey in the town of Sonoma Valley, and helped the local police catch more than a few murderers. While said authorities might not be thrilled with her methods, they certainly can’t argue with the results. But despite her sleuthing prowess, none can dispute that Willa’s true passion remains with cheese. Korina Moss’ description of the various cheese, and Willa’s passion for it, will have readers pausing just long enough to have a little cheese snack of their own as they read along. Perhaps even trying one of the tasty cheese recipes included at the back of the book. read more

Amy Chua: The Golden Gate

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This is a first novel from Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, and it’s an ambitious and almost overstuffed concoction set in 1944 San Francisco.  Peeling away the many, many complicated layers of her story, the essential plot line is this: in 1930, two sisters were playing at the Claremont Hotel while their mother played tennis.  One of them dies by plunging down a laundry chute.  Fast forward to 1944, and their grandmother is giving a deposition to the DA, who is sure one of her granddaughters (one of them the sister of the dead girl) is guilty of murder, and he doesn’t mind charging them all if he can’t get a straight answer from her. read more

Donna Andrews: Birder She Wrote

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Meg Lanslow #33

I am very excited to be able to review Donna Andrews thirty-third book, Birder She Wrote. Since I started reading cozies I have always been drawn in by the adventures of Meg Langslow and her quirky and endearing family. Birder She Wrote hits on a theme any and all can relate to: irritating neighbors. Meg’s own are so infamous in Caerphilly they have their own nick name: NIMBY, which stands for “not in my back yard.” As the Mayor’s part time assistant of special projects, Meg finds herself directly in the path of the NIMBYS often. What makes them particularly difficult is that they moved to the countryside without understanding at all what living in a rural area really meant. Or that the others who lived there are farmers, which means many a sight, smell, and sound that did not exactly meet with the NIMBY’s idyllic view of what living in the country should be. read more

Sarah Stewart Taylor: A Stolen Child

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Maggie D’Arcy #4

This is one of the strongest entries to date in Sarah Stewart Taylor’s Maggie D’Arcy series.  The first novel, The Mountains Wild, follows the grown Maggie, a detective on Long Island, as she goes back to Ireland to try and discover what happened to her cousin, who went missing years before.  She also reconnects with an old flame, and the next two books follow Maggie as she returns to Ireland on a case and tries to figure out what’s next in her life.  What’s next turns out to be Maggie giving up her job on Long Island, moving in with Conor, her old flame, and taking the class to restart her career as an Irish Guard. read more

Summer reading: Book Club picks & dates

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Join us this summer for some reading!  In June, we’ll read S.J. Bennett’s All the Queen’s Men, meeting in person on Sunday, June 25 at 2 p.m. and on zoom on Wednesday, June 28 at 7 p.m.  In July, Allison Montclair will be joining us on zoom on Sunday, July 23 at 2 p.m. to discuss her new book, The Lady from Burma.  While it’s not necessary to have read any of Ms. Montclair’s books before the discussion, I recommend them highly!  It’s a wonderful series set in London just post WWII.  And spoiler, Allison Montclair is a pen name – tune to discover her (?) true identity.  In August, we’ll be reading the much award nominated Shutter by Ramona Emerson, meeting in person on Sunday, August 13 at 2 p.m. and on zoom on Wednesday, August 16 at 7 p.m.  Anyone is welcome – please message us on facebook or twitter or email us at store (at) auntagathas.com for more info or for a zoom link. read more

Ashley Weaver: Playing it Safe

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Electra McDonnell #3

If Nancy Drew had lived during WWII and had the skills of a safecracker, she might have grown up to be Ashley Weaver’s appealing Electra McDonnell.  Electra, or Ellie, has been trained by her safecracking uncle and in the first book is recruited by the government to put her skills to a more patriotic use.  While Ellie’s past is criminal, her present is in the service of her country, and as the book opens, she’s given an assignment with few details other than “get to know the locals.” read more

Samantha Jayne Allen: Hard Rain

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Annie McIntyre #2

While this book centers on Annie McIntyre, a young woman who has moved back home to Garnett, Texas, to work for her grandfather’s P.I. firm, it opens with a truly spectacular flood scene (the “Hard Rain” of the title).  A woman named Bethany is spending the weekend with friends in a rental cabin when the flood sweeps her away, and she’s saved by a man who “looks like Jesus.”  He saves her, and then is swept away himself.  Fearing he’s dead, she hires her old high school buddy Annie to try and find out what happened to him. read more

Paige Shelton: Fateful Words

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Paige Shelton’s Fateful Words follows Delaney Nichols as she is confronted with a plethora of mysteries, one of which is the death of local Inn manager. Delaney works at The Cracked Spine, an Edinburgh book shop owned by the locally beloved Edwin MacAlister. Unfortunately, an emergency takes Edwin away just as his special once a year tour is set to begin. He has Delaney cover for him and show his guests all the sights that he would have shown them himself. She is not pleased with this new task, afraid that she won’t be able to do it, or Edwin, justice. But she is both resigned and determined to make the trip a good one for Edwin’s guests. It also helps that all four visitors, while a little disconcerted and upset at first, are willing to stay and experience the Delaney tour. read more

Gigi Pandian: The Raven Thief

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Tempest Raj returns for an impossible mystery in The Raven Thief, the second in Gigi Pandian’s Secret Staircase series. A stage magician, Tempest is living in her childhood home after a scandalous debacle involving her career. A natural storyteller, Tempest is now working at her father’s construction company making sure their fantastic creations have a solid narrative, too. She is in the process of planning her final show throughout the book, and has barely started to consider it when Secret Staircase Construction’s latest client invites her to a séance. read more

Anastasia Hastings: Of Manners and Murder

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Of Manners and Murder, the first in Anastasia Hastings’ new series starring an agony aunt heroine, is far from the author’s first book. Anastasia Hastings is one of many pseudonyms for Casey Daniels, a veteran author with dozens of works to her name. Of Manners and Murder reads like it was written by a practiced hand. It opens with Violet, our heroine, discovering that her aunt, Adelia, is the most famous agony aunt in London in 1885. Adelia writes as Miss Hermione and has managed, for years, to keep the truth from everyone, including the two girls living with her. Just as Violet is given this information, Adelia leaves on vacation – and puts Violet in charge of answering her mail. read more