Cruisin' thru the Cozies Reading Challenge discussion

Let's see how many sets of 20 I can read in 2014 :)


COZY SUPER SLEUTH CHALLENGE, 1/1 - 12/31/14

Thanks for joining us in 2014!

SLEUTH EXTRAORDINAIRE, SET 1:

1 – Mama Sees Stars (Mace Bauer #4), by Deborah Sharp, finished 1/1 ★★★.5
2 – Let There Be Suspects (Ministry is Murder #2), by Emilie Richards, finished 1/12 ★★★★
3 – The Final Crumpet (Royal Tunbridge Wells #2), by Ron & Janet Benrey, finished 1/15 ★★★.5
4 – I Didn't Kill Your Cat (Frankie Jackson #1), by R. Stim, finished 1/20 ★★★★
5 – Picture Perfect Corpse (Kiki Lowenstein #7), by Joanna Campbell Slan , finished 1/25 ★★★.5
6 – At Bertram's Hotel (Miss Marple #11), by Agatha Christie, finished 1/31 ★★★.5
7 – Opal Fire (Stacy Justice #1), by Barbra Annino, finished 2/3 ★★★.5
8 – I Shall Not Want (Psalm 23 Mysteries #2), by Debbie Viguie, finished 2/5 ★★★★
9 – Lending a Paw (Bookmobile Cat #1), by Laurie Cass, finished 2/13 ★★★★
10 – Clammed Up (Maine Clambake #1), by Barbara Ross, finished 2/14 ★★★★

11 – Lemon Tart (Culinary Mystery #1), by Josi S. Kilpack, finished 2/20 ★★★★
12 – French Pressed (Coffeehouse #6), by Cleo Coyle, finished 2/23 ★★★.5
13 – The Teaberry Strangler (Tea Shop #11), by Laura Childs, finished 2/28 ★★★.5
14 – Bon Bon Voyage (Carolyn Blue #8), by Nancy Fairbanks, finished 3/1 ★★★
15 – Playing With Poison (Cue Ball #1), by Cindy Blackburn, finished 3/4 ★★★★
16 – Blackberry Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #17), by Joanne Fluke, finished 3/5 ★★★
17 – Eggs in a Casket (Cackleberry Club #5), by Laura Childs, finished 3/8 ★★★.5
18 – Murder With Puffins (Meg Langslow #2), by Donna Andrews, finished 3/12 ★★★★
19 – Take the Monkeys and Run (Barbara Barr #1), by Karen Cantwell, finished 3/14 ★★★
20 – Peppermint Twisted (Candy Shop #3), by Sammi Carter, finished 3/16 ★★★


         

         

BOOK SUMMARIES, SET 1, part 1:

Mama Sees Stars (Mace Bauer #4), by Deborah Sharp
finished 1/1 ★★★.5
When a film crew comes a'callin on little Himmarshee, Mace snags a job as animal wrangler. Mama is sure this cowboy flick will be her own ticket to Hollywood. The Left Coasters are out of their element: No vanilla lattes or yoga studios. Hotter outside than a Santa Ana. Mosquitoes as big as Gulfstream jets.

The locals think the film folk are nuttier than squirrels at a peanut festival. But make-believe turns to murder when Mace finds the movie's producer shot and strung up at the horse corral. Who in blue blazes DIDN'T want to kill the much-hated executive? Mama's role might be miniscule, but her head swells to superstar proportions. When evil starts stalking the cast, Mama might just become one dead diva.

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Let There Be Suspects (Ministry is Murder #2), by Emilie Richards
finished 1/12 ★★★★
With the chalk outline gone from their front porch, Aggie Sloan-Wilcox and her minister husband think they can resume their lives. But when Ginger, Aggie's despised former foster sister, comes for Christmas, and turns up dead as a drumstick, Aggie's sister is suspected. Now it's up to Aggie to find the real murderer – who's decided there's a loophole in “thou shalt not kill.”

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The Final Crumpet (Royal Tunbridge Wells #2), by Ron & Janet Benrey
finished 1/15 ★★★.5
Etienne Makepeace, England's celebrated "Tea Sage," vanished without a trace in 1966, leaving the whole of Great Britain wondering what became of the famed radio personality. Forty years later his hastily buried remains are discovered beneath two sickly Assam tea bushes in the Royal Tunbridge Wells Tea Museum's tea garden--"along with the pistol that killed him. Nigel Owens, curator, and Flick Adams, tea chemist, are thus embroiled in the second mystery to threaten the integrity of the museum. Are they in over their heads this time?

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I Didn't Kill Your Cat (Frankie Jackson #1), by R. Stim
finished 1/20 ★★★★
Last year was one heck of a ride for 12-year old Mary Frances ("Frankie") Jackson. She was an inning away from becoming the first female all-state middle-school pitcher ... until a teammate double-crossed her. Then, she was arrested after she sought revenge against the double-crosser. And to top it off, her dad was banished from the family home after falling off the wagon. Now, she's been sent to California for the summer to live on a houseboat with her Aunt Roxy. There's one catch – she can't get in trouble or it's back to New Jersey and juvenile detention camp.

Too bad that days after arriving at the houseboat community, Frankie lands in hot water. Accused of animal cruelty (killing a cat), and with the evidence stacked against her, she has two weeks to prove her innocence. Frankie turns to a houseboat resident, Margie Britt, a washed out 70s TV star who used to solve mysteries on TV. But as the days pass, Frankie loses faith in Margie and initiates her own investigation.

In the process she gets to know all of the eccentrics on the dock. There's Forgetting Michael, a young disabled man, who forgets things whenever a loud noise goes off; Alice, an 82-year old activist who loves birds and hates cats; and there's Butch, a German shepherd whose owner has a shady past. Frankie even learns the sad truth about Kay, her accuser. Ultimately, with help of Margie, Roxy, and her new houseboat friends, Frankie proves her innocence. But more importantly, Frankie learns how to deal with her own anger and frustration from the past year's events.

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Picture Perfect Corpse (Kiki Lowenstein #7), by Joanna Campbell Slan
finished 1/25 ★★★.5
Police detective Chad Detweiler is overjoyed to learn he's having a baby with Kiki Lowenstein. But when his estranged wife, Brenda, is found shot to death with bullets from his revolver, the proud papa-to-be finds himself up the creek without a lawyer. Meanwhile, Kiki and Dodie Goldfader are in for a surprise when an unidentified young woman bursts into their craft store claiming to have killed Dodie's son. Embarking on a memorial scrapbook project as a ruse to unravel the facts, Kiki can't stop herself from wondering if the man she loves is tangled up in murder.

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At Bertram's Hotel (Miss Marple #11), by Agatha Christie
finished 1/31 ★★★.5
Miss Jane Marple has checked into Bertram's Hotel in London for a much-needed vacation. The last thing she expects is that this elegant establishment, known for its service and old-world charm, could be embroiled in scandal. But after a series of strange events--including the disappearance of a fellow guest, the arrival of a notorious celebrity bad boy, and finally, a shocking murder--she finds herself drawn into a multifaceted mystery.

The hotel is full of suspects who have potential motives--and convenient alibis. While the local inspector is preoccupied with a series of recent robberies, only Miss Marple, with her shrewd observations and keen understanding of human nature, can sort out the puzzling sequence of events and zero in on the killer.

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Opal Fire (Stacy Justice #1), by Barbra Annino
finished 2/3 ★★★.5
Stacy Justice did not expect to be set on fire that night, but being raised by witches prepares one for life's little surprises. In fact, she isn't the least bit shocked when her cousin is accused of arson, or when her divorced grandparents sign up for a marriage retreat, or even when her own boyfriend hauls her off to jail. But when a decades-old secret is discovered within the walls of her cousin's bar, even Stacy is rattled. Now, someone wants her dead and she finds herself dodging angry motorists, exploding chickens and a very creepy man who lurks around every corner. As she begins to dig up the past, Stacy learns that even those closest to her have something to hide--and she's about to discover a destiny she never imagined.

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I Shall Not Want (Psalm 23 Mysteries #2), by Debbie Viguie
finished 2/5 ★★★★
Charity work can be murder! It’s Thanksgiving and Joseph Tyler, one of the members of Cindy’s church, has organized a new charity that provides homeless people with rescue dogs to love and care for. But one by one, the homeless recipients are being murdered and their dogs stolen. Could an overly competitive millionaire with his prize-winning pooches and a grudge be behind the crimes? Or could it be someone much closer to Joseph who has something sinister to hide? Cindy and Jeremiah must rush to find a killer before he strikes again.

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Lending a Paw (Bookmobile Cat #1), by Laurie Cass
finished 2/13 ★★★★
Eddie followed Minnie home one day, and now she can’t seem to shake the furry little shadow. But in spite of her efforts to contain her new pal, the tabby sneaks out and trails her all the way to the bookmobile on its maiden voyage. Before she knows it, her slinky stowaway becomes her cat co-pilot! Minnie and Eddie’s first day visiting readers around the county seems to pass without trouble—until Eddie darts outside at the last stop and leads her to the body of a local man who’s reached his final chapter. Initially, Minnie is ready to let the police handle this case, but Eddie seems to smell a rat. Together, they’ll work to find the killer—because a good librarian always knows when justice is overdue.

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Clammed Up (Maine Clambake #1), by Barbara Ross
finished 2/14 ★★★★
Julia Snowden returned to her hometown of Busman’s Harbor, Maine to rescue her family’s struggling clambake business—not to solve crimes. But that was before a catered wedding on picturesque Morrow Island turned into a reception for murder. When the best man’s corpse is found hanging from the grand staircase in the Snowden family mansion, Julia must put the chowder pot on the back burner and join the search for the killer. And with suspicion falling on her old crush, Chris Durand, the recipe for saving her business and salvaging her love life might be one and the same.

BOOK SUMMARIES, SET 1, part 2:

Lemon Tart (Culinary Mystery #1), by Josi S. Kilpack
finished 2/20 ★★★★
A recipe for murder!
* 5 families living on Peregrine Circle
* 1 flowered curtain tieback
* 1 missing child
* 1 body in the field
Mix with a long list of suspects and top with two very different detectives. Increase heat until only the truth remains.

Award-winning author Josi S. Kilpack introduces a new series of culinary "cozies" that is sure to tantalize mystery lovers. In this debut volume, cooking aficionado-turned-amateur detective, Sadie Hoffmiller, tries to solve the murder of Anne Lemmon, her beautiful young neighbor - a single mother who was mysteriously killed while a lemon tart was baking in her oven. At the heart of Sadie's search is Anne's missing two-year-old son, Trevor. Whoever took the child must be the murderer, but Sadie is certain that the police are looking at all the wrong suspects - including her!

Armed with a handful of her very best culinary masterpieces, Sadie is determined to bake her way to proving her innocence, rescuing Trevor, and finding out exactly who had a motive for murder.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

French Pressed (Coffeehouse #6), by Cleo Coyle
finished 2/23 ★★★.5
Clare's daughter, Joy, is immersing herself in the foodie culture with an internship at Solange, one of New York's hottest French restaurants — and she's getting pretty intimate with the older, married Chef Tommy Keitel as well. Clare's not buzzed about the relationship, but what twenty-something takes romantic advice from her mother? Resolved to keep a closer eye on Joy, Clare makes a deal to micro-roast and French press exclusive coffee blends for Tommy, a man she wouldn't mind seeing roasted and pressed. Then the competitive kitchen turns cutthroat, and Joy's a suspect. To clear her daughter of the crime, Clare knows she must catch the real killer...even if it lands her in the hottest water of her life.

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The Teaberry Strangler (Tea Shop #11), by Laura Childs
finished 2/28 ★★★.5
It was the Dickensian evening Theodosia Browning had been hoping for. Charleston shop-owners dressed in cloaks of yore threw open their back doors to visitors, who took advantage of bargains and Theodosia's delicious teas.

But later, the alleys clear except for one body – which a horrified Theodosia discovers. It's Daria, the map store's owner. Locals have shown interest in buying her shop-but enough to kill? Plus there's been a customer hell-bent on acquiring a not-for¬sale map. Most alarming of all theories, however, is Detective Tidwell's: the killer mistook Daria for Theodosia. And if that theory holds, the killer's work isn't done.

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Bon Bon Voyage (Carolyn Blue #8), by Nancy Fairbanks
finished 3/1 ★★★
Even if she must share a cabin with her mother-in-law, food columnist Carolyn Blue admits it's a terrific Mother's Day present: passage on the Bountiful Feast, a gourmet cruise ship sailing to the Canary Islands. But when a female passenger disappears at a port stop and a corpse turns up on board, it's clear to Carolyn that the Bountiful Feast is sailing headlong into very dangerous waters. And if that's not enough, there's a terrifying shortage of double chocolate raspberry mousse.

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Playing With Poison (Cue Ball #1), by Cindy Blackburn
finished 3/4 ★★★★
Pool shark Jessie Hewitt usually knows where the balls will fall and how the game will end. But, when a body lands on her couch, and the cute cop in her kitchen accuses her of murder, even Jessie isn't sure what will happen next. Playing With Poison is a cozy mystery with a lot of humor, a little romance, and far too much champagne.

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Blackberry Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #17), by Joanne Fluke
finished 3/5 ★★★
It's been a sleepy summer for the folks of Lake Eden, Minnesota. In fact, it's been a whole four months since anyone in the Swensen family has come across a dead body. And that means Hannah Swensen can finally focus on her bakery. . .or can she? Life is never really quiet for Hannah. After all, her mother's wedding is a little over a month away and guess who Delores put in charge of the planning? Yet just when Hannah believes her biggest challenge will be whether to use buttercream or fondant for the wedding cake, she accidentally hits a stranger with her truck while driving down a country road in a raging thunderstorm. Hannah is wracked with guilt, and things get even worse when she's arrested. . .for murder! But an autopsy soon reveals the mystery man, his shirt covered in stains from blackberry pie, would have died even if Hannah hadn't hit him. Now, to clear her name, Hannah will have to follow a trail of pie crumbs to track down the identity of the deceased, find a baker who knows more about murder than how to roll out a perfect pie crust--and get herself to the church on time.

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Eggs in a Casket (Cackleberry Club #5), by Laura Childs
finished 3/8 ★★★.5
While Petra handles the breakfast rush at the Cackleberry Club, the café’s other two owners, Suzanne and Toni, head to Memorial Cemetery to help prepare for its 150th anniversary celebration. But as they search the winding paths for the historical society tent, they discover something else out of place: the body of ex-prison warden Lester Drummond lying facedown in someone else’s freshly dug grave.

In the small town of Kindred, everyone knows everyone, and Lester was no exception. Suzanne knew him as the creepy guy who made unwanted advances on her friend Missy Langston. But now it appears the man was hiding a few secrets ... and at least one of them was worth killing for.

As the case cracks open, there are plenty of suspects to consider—from recent parolees to Missy herself, who Suzanne and Toni saw speeding away just before they found the body. Now, with a cemetery celebration in the offing, and the local authorities in over their heads, it’s up to the Cackleberry Club to unscramble the clues and clear their friend’s name.

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Murder With Puffins (Meg Langslow #2), by Donna Andrews
finished 3/12 ★★★★
In an attempt to get away from her family, Meg Langslow and her boyfriend go to a tiny island off the coast of Maine. What could have been a romantic getaway slowly turns into disaster. Once there, they are marooned by a hurricane and that is only the beginning of their problems. Meg and her boyfriend arrive at the house only to discover that Meg's parents and siblings, along with their spouses are all there. When a murder takes place, Meg realizes that she and her boyfriend can no longer sit by a cozy fireplace, but must instead tramp around the muddy island to keep try and clear her father who is the chief suspect.

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Take the Monkeys and Run (Barbara Barr #1), by Karen Cantwell
finished 3/14 ★★★
Film lover Barbara Marr is a typical suburban mom living the typical suburban life in her sleepy little town of Rustic Woods, Virginia. Typical, that is until she sets out to find the missing link between a bizarre monkey sighting in her yard and the bone chilling middle-of-the-night fright fest at the strangely vacant house next door. When Barb talks her two friends into some seemingly innocent Charlie's Angels-like sleuthing, they stumble upon way more than they bargained for and uncover a piece of neighborhood history that certain people would kill to keep on the cutting room floor. Enter sexy PI Colt Baron, Barb's ex-boyfriend who would love to be cast as new leading man, filling the role just vacated by her recently estranged husband, Howard. When Colt flies in from out of town to help Barb, events careen out of control and suddenly this mini-van driving mother of three becomes a major player in a treacherous and potentially deadly FBI undercover operation. It's up to her now. With little time to spare, she and she alone, must summon the inner strength necessary to become a true action heroine and save the lives of those she loves. The question is can she get them out alive before the credits roll?

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Peppermint Twisted (Candy Shop #3), by Sammi Carter
finished 3/16 ★★★
No visit to Paradise, Colorado, is complete without a stop at Divinity candy shop for a little taste of heaven. For owner Abby Shaw, it's a sweet deal, too. When her aunt Grace passed away, Abby inherited Divinity--and with it the opportunity to leave her career as a corporate lawyer and dump her cheating husband. Now she spends her time serving up delectable treats--and performing the occasional deductive feat.

Paradise's local artists are up in arms when wealthy Felicity Asbury names herself director of the annual arts festival. But she soon gets her just desserts. Abby finds Felicity dead in Divinity's parking lot--an awl lodged in her chest. And when evidence points to Abby as the suspect, she must put aside her sweet making for sleuthing to discover who was twisted enough to do the deed.

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SLEUTH EXTRAORDINAIRE, SET 2:

1 – Reel Murder (Dolan & Sinclair #1), by Marian Babson, finished 3/18 ★★★★
2 – Killer Physique (Savannah Reid #19), by G.A. McKevett, finished 3/31 ★★★★
3 – Shunned and Dangerous (Amish Mystery #3), by Laura Bradford, finished 4/2 ★★★★
4 – Caught Dead in Philadelphia (Amanda Pepper #1), by Gillian Roberts, finished 4/4 ★★★
5 – A Red Herring Without Mustard (Flavia de Luce #3), by Alan Bradley, finished 4/8 ★★★ .5
6 – Dying for a Change (Ellen McKenzie #1), by Kathleen Delaney, finished 4/17 ★★★
7 – Chile Death (China Bayles #7), by Susan Wittig Albert, finished 4/22 ★★★★
8 – Aunt Dimity and the Wishing Well (Aunt Dimity #19), by Nancy Atherton, finished 5/2 ★★★.5
9 – Group, Photo, Grave (Kiki Lowenstein #8), by Joanna Campbell-Slan, finished 5/5 ★★★.5
10 – Hail to the Chef (White House Chef #2), by Julie Hyzy, finished 5/6 ★★★★

11 – Board Stiff (Elliott Lisbon #1), by Kendel Lynn, finished 5/6 ★★★.5
12 – Dying to Read (Cate Kinkaid #1), by Lorena McCourtney, finished 5/7 ★★★
13 – The Puzzle Lady vs. The Sudoku Lady (Puzzle Lady #11), by Parnell Hall, finished 5/9 ★★★
14 – The Blue Rose (English Garden #1), by Anthony Eglin, finished 5/11 ★★★.5
15 – Murder Uncorked (Wine Lover’s Mystery #1), by Michele Scott, finished 5/14 ★★★.5
16 – Death of Riley (Molly Murphy #2), by Rhys Bowen, finished 5/16 ★★★★
17 – Inn Keeping with Murder (Old Maids of Mercer Island #1), by Lynn Bohart, finished 5/27 ★★★★
18 – Every Trick in the Book (Novel Idea #2), by Lucy Arlington, finished 5/30 ★★★★
19 – Stay At Home Dead (Stay at Home Dad #1), by Jeffrey Allen, finished 5/31 ★★★.5
20 – Loose Screw (Dusty Deals #1), by Rae Davies, finished 6/1 ★★★


         

         

BOOK SUMMARIES, SET 2, part 1:

Reel Murder (Dolan & Sinclair #1), by Marian Babson
finished 3/18 ★★★★
When two grand dames of Hollywood, silent film star Eve Sinclair and ex-hoofer Trixie Dolan set out for London to attend a film retrospective held in Eve's honor, they fully expect to be the centre of attention. What they don't expect is that all the lovely attention will be generated not by an appreciation of their talents but by a series of grisly murders associated with the retrospective. Even less do they expect to find themselves co-starring as the prime suspects in the entire murder investigation! The well-known fact that life imitates the movies is borne out shortly following the opening of the festival when several murders are committed, and each one is straight out of a scene from Eve's old films. Suspects include a group of would-be thespians occupying the flat above Eve's and a few jealous old cronies. Eve and Trixie once again pool their talents in order to find the cinematic culprit ...and barley avoid ending up on the cutting floor themselves, so to speak.

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Killer Physique (Savannah Reid #19), by G.A. McKevett
finished 3/31 ★★★★
Plus-sized P.I. Savannah Reid gets a taste of the high life when she attends a Hollywood premiere on the arm of husband Dirk Coulter. Savannah may be a newlywed, but even she gets weak in the knees when she meets celebrity athlete-turned-movie-star Jason Tyrone. So imagine how she feels when the star’s rock-hard body is found rock-hard dead.

Some guys have everything. With his stunning looks and dazzling charm, Jason Tyrone is America’s favorite new action hero. Make that was. Once so spectacular in action, the blockbuster idol was found dead in his hotel room after his latest premiere. Despite his chiseled physique, Jason is never getting up again.

Though the autopsy reveals Jason may have gotten his killer body through doping, no one wants to believe the beloved athlete is a fraud, least of all Savannah. Soon she’s deeply immersed in the dark world of body enhancing drugs, and wondering if the world-class gym where Jason worked out is really just a front for a lucrative drug ring. Was Jason’s death the price he paid for threatening to expose other celebrities caught in the clutch of keeping a flawless image? Or was everyone’s favorite hero a victim of his own desire to always be at the top of his game? No stranger to society’s obsession with image, Savannah is determined to get to the truth. And for the voluptuous investigator, this time it’s personal.


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Shunned and Dangerous (Amish Mystery #3), by Laura Bradford
finished 4/2 ★★★★
Claire has always been game for a good puzzle, so when she hears that Mose Fisher has made one of his famous corn mazes, she can’t wait to walk the paths and test her skill. But she’ll have a much more serious puzzle to solve when, deep inside the maze, she discovers the body of Amish dairy farmer Harley Zook. It won’t be easy for Detective Jakob Fisher to investigate a murder on his own father’s farm—not after being shunned by the man for leaving the Amish community and becoming a cop. With Mose himself as a suspect, and old family secrets cropping up, it’s up to Claire to help catch the killer before she finds herself at a dead end.

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Caught Dead in Philadelphia (Amanda Pepper #1), by Gillian Roberts
finished 4/4 ★★★
Amanda Pepper, English teacher at Philly Prep, does not hate her life. But when a fellow teacher who's engaged to a senate candidate, begs for rest on Amanda's couch, then dies, things could be better. Then the police suspect her of murder, she begins her own investigation, and ends by teaching a certain blue-eyed cop a thing or two.

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A Red Herring Without Mustard (Flavia de Luce #3), by Alan Bradley
finished 4/8 ★★★.5
In the hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey, the insidiously clever and unflappable eleven-year-old sleuth Flavia de Luce had asked a Gypsy woman to tell her fortune—never expecting to later stumble across the poor soul, bludgeoned almost to death in the wee hours in her own caravan. Was this an act of retribution by those convinced that the soothsayer abducted a local child years ago? Certainly Flavia understands the bliss of settling scores; revenge is a delightful pastime when one has two odious older sisters. But how could this crime be connected to the missing baby? As the red herrings pile up, Flavia must sort through clues fishy and foul to untangle dark deeds and dangerous secrets.

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Dying for a Change (Ellen McKenzie #1), by Kathleen Delaney
finished 4/17 ★★★
Nothing ever happened in Santa Louisa, which was why Ellen McKenzie, divorce decree in one hand, new real estate license in the other, went home. Peace was what she needed, and time to figure out if forty is too late to start a new life. The town she remembered isn’t the same. A huge big box store wants to build and the town is sharply divided about its coming. Each side has drawn up battle plans. If that isn’t enough, Ellen makes an appointment to show her first house in her new real estate career and instead of a client finds the body of a man, beaten to death, in the walk-in closet. Could Hank Sawyer’s death have something to do with the new store’s coming? Hank was its most ardent supporter. Or could it be more personal? It seems half the staff at Harper’s Land Sales, where Ellen has just started work, had reason to hate Hank. Why? Ellen finds out all too quickly the real reason Hank was murdered and almost loses her own life.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Chile Death (China Bayles #7), by Susan Wittig Albert
finished 4/22 ★★★★
China Bayles had finally agreed to marry Mike McQuaid - and then he'd been paralyzed in the line of duty. Fully committed, she knows she'll tough it out, no matter how long his recovery might take. The annual chili cook-off sounds like a nice respite from the stress, so China gladly accompanies her wheelchair-bound sweetheart to the event. But tragedy strikes when cook-off judge Jerry Jeff Cody dies of a severe allergic reaction - to a peanut. Everyone knows peanuts don't belong in a bowl of Texas chili...and China knows something suspicious is afoot. Now, with rumors flying about foul play at McQuaid's hospital - and whispered stories about Jerry Jeff's womanizing ways - things are heating up all over.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Aunt Dimity and the Wishing Well (Aunt Dimity #19), by Nancy Atherton
finished 5/2 ★★★.5
When a strapping young Australian named Jack MacBride arrives in Finch to wrap up his late uncle’s affairs, heads turn in the sleepy English village. But when Lori volunteers to help Jack clear out his uncle’s overgrown garden, they discover something even more shocking than a stranger turning up in Finch.

After Lori laughingly tosses a coin into the garden’s old well and makes a wish, she is baffled to find that the wish seems to have come true. Word spreads, and the villagers turn out in droves to make wishes of their own. But as they soon learn, one person’s wish is another person’s worst nightmare and the village is thrown into chaos. As more and more wishes come true, Lori resolves to find out what’s really going on. Is handsome Jack somehow tricking his neighbors? Or are they fooling themselves? With Aunt Dimity’s otherworldly help, Lori discovers that the truth is even more marvelous than a magical wishing well.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Group, Photo, Grave (Kiki Lowenstein #8), by Joanna Campbell-Slan
finished 5/5 ★★★.5
The wedding should have been perfect. Ace scrapbooker Kiki Loewenstein certainly did her part to make everything just right for her mother-in-law Sheila's special day. But the discovery of a corpse can put a damper on any festivity. Especially when everyone-in-the-know knows the Bride wanted to shove her bouquet up the Dead Guy's snout. Suddenly Sheila's wedding portrait looks like a mug shot. Kiki must poke her pug nose into old secrets. Why did somebody want to cut a retired plastic surgeon out of the big picture?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hail to the Chef (White House Chef #2), by Julie Hyzy
finished 5/6 ★★★★
White House executive chef Ollie Paras has to put her own interests on the back burner when a kindly electrician is electrocuted to death, and the First Lady’s nephew dies in an apparent suicide less than 24 hours after cleaning shrimp with Ollie. Ollie suspects something fishy is going on. She’ll have to watch her back — and find a killer unlikely to be pardoned.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

BOOK SUMMARIES, SET 2, part 2:

Board Stiff (Elliott Lisbon #1), by Kendel Lynn
finished 5/6 ★★★.5
As director of the Ballantyne Foundation on Sea Pine Island, SC, Elliott Lisbon scratches her detective itch by performing discreet inquiries for Foundation donors. Usually nothing more serious than retrieving a pilfered Pomeranian. Until Jane Hatting, Ballantyne board chair, is accused of murder. The Ballantyne’s reputation tanks, Jane’s headed to a jail cell, and Elliott’s sexy ex is the new lieutenant in town.

Armed with moxie and her Mini Coop, Elliott uncovers a trail of blackmail schemes, gambling debts, illicit affairs, and investment scams. But the deeper she digs to clear Jane’s name, the guiltier Jane looks. The closer she gets to the truth, the more treacherous her investigation becomes: a brutal attack on her own suspect and the murder of a witness. With victims piling up faster than shells at a clambake, Elliott realizes she’s next on the killer’s list.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dying to Read (Cate Kinkaid #1), by Lorena McCourtney
finished 5/7 ★★★
Cate Kinkaid is just dipping her toe into the world of private investigating until one of the many resumes she has floating around lands her a real job. All she has to do is determine that a particular woman lives at a particular address. Simple, right? When the big and brooding house happens to contain a dead body, this routine PI job turns out to be anything but simple. Is Cate in over her head?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Puzzle Lady vs. The Sudoku Lady (Puzzle Lady #11), by Parnell Hall
finished 5/9 ★★★
It’s the battle of the century when Minami, the Sudoku Lady, shows up in Bakerhaven, Connecticut, to meet Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady, whose sudoku books have just edged Minami’s off of the Japanese bestseller list. Before the rivals have a chance to square off, a killer strikes, and a sudoku puzzle is found at the scene of the murder. Now it’s a fight to the finish to see who can unmask the killer. Cora is eager to undo her Japanese counterpart – at least until the poor woman is arrested for murder and Cora realizes that she accidentally framed her for the crime. As if that weren’t frustrating enough, the publicity of her arrest drives Minami’s sales through the roof! Now it’s up to Cora to clear her rival’s name, get her off the bestseller list, and trap the real killer, but she’d better do it fast, before the cops find out what Cora did, and she winds up facing more jail time than Minami.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Blue Rose (English Garden #1), by Anthony Eglin
finished 5/11 ★★★.5
Alex and Kate Sheppard have found the perfect house; the home they had always dreamed of owning. Nestled deep in the Wiltshire countryside and surrounded by a two acre walled garden, The Parsonage was to be their little paradise … but nothing stays perfect forever. Soon after moving in they make an impossibly exciting discovery – one that defies every known law of nature and science. They find a blue rose bush flourishing in their walled garden. But as word of their discovery leaks out, the Sheppards’ peaceful existence is shattered and they find themselves plunged into a world of coded journals, genetic experiments, cold-blooded greed, and ultimately, murder. Threatened from every direction, Alex and Kate can trust no one but themselves, and the only way they can save their lives is to unravel the dark, seductive secret of the blue rose.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Murder Uncorked (Wine Lover’s Mystery #1), by Michele Scott
finished 5/14 ★★★.5
Nikki Sands was like every other aspiring actress – waiting tables between jobs. But Nikki had taken serving wines to heart. She knew enough to impress Napa Valley's golden boy, Derek Malveaux, who offered her a job at his vineyard. And though Nikki may have left her dreams of stardom behind, the world of wine is ripe with intrigue – and the seeds of sleuthing are planted...

Nikki has just set foot on Napa Valleys' rich soil when she realizes her new job may not be as safe as she thought. First off, Derek Malveaux is disconcertingly sexy. Second, his top winemaker is dead in the bushes outside Nikki's cottage. It doesn't take a connoisseur of foul play to know something's taken a terrible turn

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Death of Riley (Molly Murphy #2), by Rhys Bowen
finished 5/16 ★★★★
Molly Murphy has finally begun to forget the unpleasant murder of a would-be rapist back in Ireland, not to mention her investigation into the murder of a fellow recent Irish immigrant, and is finally free to begin her life in New York City. Given her experiences so far in the New World, Molly has decided that her first order of business is to become a private investigator, a people finder of sorts, working for families in Europe who've lost touch with relatives in America. Not only might this put some food on her table, but her second order of business is to hook the handsome NYPD police captain Daniel Sullivan, and she envisions lots of opportunities to "seek his counsel" in her new profession.

Paddy Riley is a tough old Cockney P.I. who specializes in divorce work, and with a little persuasion he's ready to take on Molly as an apprentice. It's not exactly what she imagined, but she plans to make the most of it. That is, until she comes in to work one day to find her new world turned upside down and all expectations for her professional life suddenly up in the air.

Before long, Molly has set off on a journey that will take her through the back alleys of Manhattan and into the bars and lounges of the literary scene, where she spends time with writers, actors, poets, and musicians. It's quite an eye-opening turn for innocent young Molly, but she's resolute in her decision to find out exactly what happened that day in the office of Paddy Riley. Armed with nothing more than her fiery will and matching wild red hair, Molly has no idea of the danger her pursuit may bring.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Inn Keeping with Murder (Old Maids of Mercer Island #1), by Lynn Bohart
finished 5/27 ★★★★
When seventy-three year old Martha Denton drops dead into her peach cobbler at the St. Claire Inn, no one is surprised. After all, Martha had a heart condition. But when her death is ruled a murder, the inn’s owner, Julia Applegate, becomes the prime suspect. Julia recruits her “sixty-something” group of friends to launch their own investigation. Together with the inn’s resident ghosts, including Julia’s recently deceased mother who has learned to use a cell phone, they go after the truth. Add to that a talking parrot who likes to quote old movies, a Harlequin Great Dane, two miniature Dachshunds, a very handsome detective (or two), and get ready for a romp down mystery lane!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Every Trick in the Book (Novel Idea #2), by Lucy Arlington
finished 5/30 ★★★★
Lila Wilkins has it all: the home of her dreams in the charming town of Inspiration Valley, North Carolina; a perfect police officer boyfriend; and a new job she absolutely loves. At the Book and Author Festival, which is sponsored by the Novel Idea Literary Agency, Lila expects to discover some talented new authors, but what she finds instead is the body of an editor to whom she bears an eerie resemblance. Trouble is, the editor’s death isn’t the only literary murder taking place. Soon a blossoming author is also killed, and Lila has a gut feeling that the two murders are linked. Now she must hunt down the dark figure who killed these women—and to her surprise, she just might find the clues hidden in a manuscript.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Stay At Home Dead (Stay at Home Dad #1), by Jeffrey Allen
finished 5/31 ★★★.5
When Deuce Winters, a stay-at-home dad in sleepy Rose Petal, Texas, discovers a dead body in his mini-van, it quickly throws his quiet life into disarray. It doesn't help that the victim ruined Deuce's high school football career and married his ex-girlfriend. As the number one suspect in the court of public opinion, Deuce is determined to clear his name, with a little help from his wife, Julianne, a high-powered attorney. His search for the killer leads him to a business plan gone awry and a gaggle of jilted lovers.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Loose Screw (Dusty Deals #1), by Rae Davies
finished 6/1 ★★★
Lucy Mathews, crime reporter turned antiques dealer, avoids confrontation like a home perm. She even lets a cat shove her around.

When Lucy trips over the body of a buckskin-clad relics trader, her ex-boss asks her to cover the story. She tries to tell him no, but old habits die hard and soon she finds herself directly in the path of a killer and the exasperating, if attractive, detective in charge. Can Lucy catch a killer or is this the last confrontation for her—period?

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SLEUTH EXTRAORDINAIRE, SET 3:

1 – Eggsecutive Orders (White House Chef #3), by Julie Hyzy, finished 6/3 ★★★★
2 – You Cannoli Die Once (Italian Restaurant #1), by Shelley Costa, finished 6/4 ★★★
3 – Death in a Hot Flash (Bel Barrett #2), by Jane Isenberg, finished 6/6 ★★★.5
4 – Farm Fresh Murder (Farmer’s Market #1), by Paige Shelton, finished 6/11 ★★★★
5 – File M for Murder (Cat in the Stacks #3), by Miranda James, finished 6/13 ★★★★
6 – Murder on the Ghost Walk (Magnolia Mysteries #1), by Ellen Elizabeth Hunter, finished 6/18 ★★.5
7 – Unprintable (Book Lover’s #3), by Julie Kaewert, finished 6/25 ★★★★
8 – Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos (Meg Langslow #3), by Donna Andrews, finished 6/29 ★★★★
9 – Espresso Shot (Coffeehouse #7), by Cleo Coyle, finished 7/6★★★★
10 – Roast Mortem (Coffeehouse #9), by Cleo Coyle, finished 7/11 ★★★★

11 – Thursday Morning Breakfast (and Murder) Club, by Liz Stauffer, finished 7/12 ★★
12 – Little White Lies (Pippa Hunnechurch #1), by Ron & Janet Benrey, finished 7/13 ★★★
13 – Murder by Mocha (Coffeehouse #10), by Cleo Coyle, finished 7/21 ★★★.5
14 – Mama Gets Trashed (Mace Bauer #5), by Deborah Sharp, finished 7/23 ★★★.5
15 – In Dog We Trust (Golden Retriever #1), by Neil S. Plakcy, finished 7/23 ★★★.5
16 – A Brew to a Kill (Coffeehouse #11), by Cleo Coyle, finished 7/25 ★★★★
17 – A Taste Fur Murder (Whiskey, Tango and Foxtrot #1), by Dixie Lyle, finished 7/27 ★★★
18 – Tailing a Tabby (Bookmobile Cat #2), by Laurie Cass, finished 7/30 ★★★★
19 – Book Clubbed (Booktown #8), by Lorna Barrett, finished 8/2 ★★★★
20 – Flowerbed of State (White House Gardener #1), by Dorothy St. James, finished 8/6 ★★★


         

         

BOOK SUMMARIES, SET 3, part 1:

Eggsecutive Orders (White House Chef #3), by Julie Hyzy
finished 6/3 ★★★★
When NSA big shot Carl Minkus dies right after eating the dinner Olivia Paras's staff had prepared, all forks point to them. Now the Secret Service is picking apart the kitchen-and scrutinizing the staff's every move. The timing couldn't be worse with the White House Lawn Easter Egg Roll to prep for without access to a kitchen. Olivia must find the real culprit-before she cracks under pressure.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

You Cannoli Die Once (Italian Restaurant #1), by Shelley Costa
finished 6/4 ★★★
At Miracolo Northern Italian restaurant, one can savor brilliantly seasoned veal saltimbocca, or luscious risotto alla milanese, but no cannoli. Never cannoli. Maria Pia Angelotta, the spirited seventy-six-year-old owner of the Philadelphia-area eatery that’s been in her family for four generations, has butted heads with her head chef over the cannoli ban more than once. And when the head chef is your own granddaughter, things can get a little heated. Fortunately, Eve Angelotta knows how to handle what her nonna dishes out. But when Maria Pia’s boyfriend is found dead in Miracolo’s kitchen, bludgeoned by a marble mortar, the question arises: Can a woman this fiery and stubborn over cream-filled pastry be capable of murder?

The police seem to think so, and they put the elder Angelotta behind bars, while Eve, sexy neighborhood attorney Joe Beck, and the entire Miracolo family – parenti di sangue and otherwise – try every trick in the cookbook to unravel a tangle of lies and expose a killer.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Death in a Hot Flash (Bel Barrett #2), by Jane Isenberg
finished 6/6 ★★★.5
Professor Bel Barrett has enough on her plate teaching English at a Jersey City community college. Between hot flashes, she's worrying about her two grown kids and whether her significant other is becoming less significant. Yet somehow Bel lets a colleague, Vinny Vallone – part-time Funeral Services Education teacher, big-time undertaker – flatter her into believing that the future of feminism in the funeral business depends on her acting as a role model by teaching his class how to research and write. But before Bel actually gets into co-teaching the inner-city undertaker wannabes, Vinny the undertaker turns into Vinny the deceased.

There's no doubt it's murder, and suspicion is focused on one of Bel's students, a young reformed ex-gangster. Bel doesn't believe the born-again ex-con murdered Vinny and, as always, she makes it her business to right a wrong. With no shortage of suspects, Bel sets out to catch a killer, despite the strong possibility that her nose for news may land her in a hot spot even she can't fan her way out of.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Farm Fresh Murder (Farmer’s Market #1), by Paige Shelton
finished 6/11 ★★★★
Becca Robins leads a simple life, making jams and preserves on her very own farm. But when there's a murder in her quaint little town, she puts herself in the line of fire to defend her friend's innocence – and goes from making jam to being in one.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

File M for Murder (Cat in the Stacks #3), by Miranda James
finished 6/13 ★★★★
Athena College's new writer in residence is native son and playwright Connor Lawton, known for his sharp writing- and sharper tongue. After an unpleasant encounter, librarian Charlie Harris heads home to a nice surprise: his daughter Laura is subbing for another Athena professor this fall semester. It's great news until he hears who got her the job: her old flame, Connor Lawton.

Fearing competition for Connor's affections, one of his admirers tries to drive Laura out of town. And then, before Connor finishes the play he is writing, he is murdered- and Laura is the prime suspect. Knowing she's innocent, Charlie and his faithful sidekick, Diesel, follow Connor's cluttered trail of angry lovers, bitter enemies, and intriguing research to find the true killer before his daughter is forever cataloged under "M"- for murderer.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Murder on the Ghost Walk (Magnolia Mysteries #1), by Ellen Elizabeth Hunter
finished 6/18 ★★.5
In Wilmington, almost every old house has a ghost. The mansion that Ashley Wilkes, historic preservationist, is restoring, with its crescendo-thumping spectral organist, is no exception. When Ashley makes a grisly discovery, the residents of quiet, quaint Orange Street are horrified. Halloween weekend finds Ashley and Melanie dressed to kill at the Cape Fear Crime Festival's costume party where an evil trickster treats them to murder.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Unprintable (Book Lover’s #3), by Julie Kaewert
finished 6/25 ★★★★
It is possibly the most repugnant piece of fiction in all of England. So why is Plumtree Press, one of the country's most respectable publishing houses, about to add the hotly controversial new novel to its list? Publisher Alex Plumtree isn't talking. Hardly anyone knows he has taken on the project as a favor to the Prime Minister.

Forget the bad press and hateful reviews. Alex swiftly finds himself on the wrong side of a lawsuit, bugged, betrayed, roughed up, and implicated in murder. Suddenly Alex doesn't know who to trust. For someone is clearly determined to stop the presses at any cost. The only thing Alex does know for certain is that going to press with this book may cost him more than just his reputation...it may cost him his life.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos (Meg Langslow #3), by Donna Andrews
finished 6/29 ★★★★
Every year, Yorktown, Virginia, relives its role in the Revolutionary War by celebrating the anniversary of the British surrender in 1781. This year, plans include a re-enactment of the original battle and a colonial craft fair. Meg Langslow has returned to her home town for the festivities – and to sell her wrought-iron works of art. Except, of course, for the pink-painted flamingos she reluctantly made for her mother's best friend. She's hoping to deliver them secretly, so she won't get a reputation as "the blacksmith who makes those cute wrought-iron flamingos."

Besides, she has taken on another responsibility – making sure none of her fellow crafters ruin the historical authenticity of the fair with forbidden modern devices--like wrist watches, calculators, or cell phones. She's only doing it to keep peace with the mother of the man she loves. And Michael himself will don the white-and-gold uniform of a French officer for the re-enactment. What actor could resist a role like that?

Meg's also trying to keep her father from scaring too many tourists with his impersonation of an 18th century physician. And to prevent a snooping reporter from publishing any stories about local scandals. Not to mention saving her naive brother, Rob, from the clutches of a con man who might steal the computer game he has invented. It's a tough job – at least, until the swindler is found dead, slain in Meg's booth with one of her own wrought-iron creations. Now Meg must add another item to her already lengthy to do list: "Don't forget to solve the murder!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Espresso Shot (Coffeehouse #7), by Cleo Coyle
finished 7/6 ★★★★
Clare's been hired to create a gourmet coffee and dessert bar for a New York wedding to be held at the world-renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art. Famous chefs will be there, celebrities, members of the press, well-known politicians. So why isn't she thrilled to have this chance to shine? Because the person tying the knot is Matteo Allegro, her ex-husband and current business partner. And while Clare has no plan to ever marry Matt again, she's afraid he's making a terrible mistake.

The bride-to-be is Trend magazine editor Breanne Summour. Beautiful, wealthy, and sophisticated, the snarky tastemaker has never been a low maintenance kind of gal, and now she's in full-blown bridezilla mode. The only way Clare can possibly deal with her is to put her misgivings aside and focus on business. But as a successful amateur sleuth, murder is Clare's business, too, and when fatal accidents begin befalling people close to Breanne, Clare becomes suspicious. Is someone trying to sabotage the wedding? To kill Breanne?

Between persuading a sexy Italian sculptor into lending her a one-of-a-kind fountain and roasting some of the rarest coffee beans on earth, Clare starts to investigate. But what she unveils, amid melted chocolate and steaming mochaccinos, may just get her burned.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Roast Mortem (Coffeehouse #9), by Cleo Coyle
finished 7/11 ★★★★
After local firefighters pull Clare out of a blazing café, she happily comes to their rescue by teaching them the finer points of operating their newly donated espresso machine. But matters really heat up when somebody is torching cafes around the city and firefighters begin to die in suspicious ways.

Believing the two events are related, Clare investigates, staking out a five-borough bake sale and sniffing out clues in the pizza ovens of Brooklyn. When her detective boyfriend, Mike Quinn, is pulled into the fire of a false accusation, Clare is desperate to put out the flames. But will she be able to come to Mike's rescue before someone tries to extinguish her?

BOOK SUMMARIES, SET 3, part 2:


Thursday Morning Breakfast (and Murder) Club, by Liz Stauffer
finished 7/12 ★★
When Clare Ballard sports a new bruise on her right cheek the day after a contentious town meeting, the ladies of the Thursday Morning Breakfast Club suspect her husband Roger of abusing her. That same day Hester Franklin, another breakfast club lady, is called to rescue her grandson Patrick after he is arrested for transporting drugs.

Proclaiming his innocence, Patrick threatens that those who set him up will pay. Roger Ballard is high on his list. But it's when Lillie Mae Harris, the club's leader, discovers the body of the local drug dealer on the nearby hiking trail, that the community is upended. Roger Ballard, the primary suspect, goes missing, and when his body turns up in his own back yard, Clare Ballard confesses to his murder. No one believes she did it, but Clare insists she's guilty and mysteriously refuses to talk to her lawyer, the police, or her family and friends.

The Thursday Morning Breakfast Club ladies believe she's protecting someone, and they vow to find out who it is. Charlie Warren, the town's homegrown policeman, using unconventional means, collaborates with the breakfast club ladies to draw out the real criminal. But danger lurks. Alice Portman, the matriarch of the breakfast club, is struck down in her own yard and is sent to the hospital. Then others in the small community start to disappear, one after the other. As the ladies get closer to the truth, they get closer to the danger. With no time to cry over spilled coffee, they form a plan to capture the true culprits before someone else is murdered.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Little White Lies (Pippa Hunnechurch #1), by Ron & Janet Benrey
later published as A Trifle to Die For
finished 7/13 ★★★
Pippa Hunnechurch – a Brit by birth, a Marylander, by choice, and a headhunter by occupation – gets caught in a deadly web of deceit when a little white lie becomes a trifle to die for.

Pippa’s one-woman recruiting business – financed with her life savings – is threatened by the nation’s economic slowdown. Her luck seems to improve when she nails down a plum recruiting assignment and teams up with Marsha Morgan, a wildly successful local headhunter who finds the perfect candidate for the job. But Pippa’s joy ends when her new colleague drowns in what looks like a freak accident. Pippa soon discovers that Marsha died because of “harmless exaggerations” in resumes of her most successful candidates.

The abrupt death of another headhunter creates an impossible dilemma for Pippa: If Pippa cooperates with the police, she’ll ruin her own reputation and destroy the careers of four celebrated women. If she remains silent, she’ll become the target of a ruthless murderer – who tried to kill the man Pippa’s just begun to love.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Murder by Mocha (Coffeehouse #10), by Cleo Coyle
finished 7/21 ★★★.5
Clare’s Village Blend beans are being used to create a new java love potion: a “Mocha Magic Coffee” billed as an aphrodisiac. Clare may even try some on her boyfriend, NYPD detective Mike Quinn – when he’s off duty, of course. The product, expected to rake in millions, will be sold exclusively on Aphrodite’s Village, one of the Web’s most popular online communities for women. But the launch party ends on a sour note when one of the Website’s editors is found dead.

When more of the Website’s Sisters of Aphrodite start to die, Clare is convinced someone wants the coffee’s secret formula—and is willing to kill to get it. Clare isn’t about to spill the beans, but will she be next on the hit list?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mama Gets Trashed (Mace Bauer #5), by Deborah Sharp
finished 7/23 ★★★.5
Digging around the dump for Mama's prized wedding ring, Mace Bauer suddenly stumbles upon the dead body of librarian Camilla Law. The strait-laced town of Himmarshee is scandalized, not because a killer is on the loose, but because prudish Camilla's leather getup screams sex fetish. Good gravy!

Meanwhile, Mace is desperate to help her down-in-the-dumps sister, who suspects her husband is cheating on her. Tracking the two-timing cad, Mace uncovers a circle of bondage fanatics. Whips and woo-hoo? Mama's blushing pinker than her favorite sweet wine! Mace must figure out what's going on in little ol' Himmarshee before another body gets trashed.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In Dog We Trust (Golden Retriever #1), by Neil S. Plakcy
finished 7/23 ★★★.5
After a bad divorce and a brief prison term for computer hacking, 42-year-old Steve Levitan has returned to his home town of Stewart’s Crossing and taken a part-time job as an adjunct professor of English at his alma mater, Eastern College. While walking around his gated community, he becomes friendly with his next-door neighbor, Caroline Kelly, and her golden retriever, Rochester.

When Caroline is shot and killed while walking Rochester, Steve becomes the dog’s temporary guardian. Together, these two unlikely sleuths work to uncover the mystery behind Caroline’s death.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A Brew to a Kill (Coffeehouse #11), by Cleo Coyle
finished 7/25 ★★★★
A shocking hit-and-run in front of her Village Blend coffeehouse spurs Clare Cosi into action. A divorced, single mom in her forties, Clare is also a dedicated sleuth, and she's determined to track down this ruthless driver who ran down an innocent friend and customer.

In the meantime, her ex-husband Matt, the shop's globetrotting coffee buyer, sources some amazing new beans from Brazil. But he soon discovers that he's importing more than coffee, and Clare may have been the real target of that deadly driver. Can ex-husband and wife work together to solve this mystery? Or will their newest brew lead to murder?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A Taste Fur Murder (Whiskey, Tango and Foxtrot #1), by Dixie Lyle
finished 7/27 ★★★
Meet Deirdre “Foxtrot” Lancaster. Trusted employee of eccentric zillionairess Zelda Zoransky, Foxtrot manages a mansion, a private zoo, and anything else that strikes her boss’s fancy. Her job title is Administrative Assistant, but chaos handler would be more accurate. Especially after she glimpses a giant ghost-beast in Zelda’s pet cemetery. For some strange reason, Foxtrot is seeing animal spirits. And, ready or not, the fur’s about to hit the fan.

Still reeling, Foxtrot comes home to find her cat, Tango—her dead cat Tango—alive and well and communicating telepathically. But that’s not all: There’s an ectoplasmic dog named Tiny who changes breeds with a shake of his tail…and can sniff out a clue like nobody’s business. So when a coworker drops dead while organizing closets, Tiny is on the case. Can Foxtrot and her new companions ferret out the killer among a menagerie of suspects—human and otherwise—before death takes another bite?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Tailing a Tabby (Bookmobile Cat #2), by Laurie Cass
finished 7/30 ★★★★
The bookmobile is making its usual rounds when Minnie and Eddie are flagged down by a woman in distress. The woman’s husband, a famous artist, needs emergency medical care. After getting him into the bookmobile, Minnie races the man to the hospital in time…but his bad luck has only just begun.

After disappearing from the hospital, the artist is discovered slumped over the body of a murdered woman. Minnie knows that her new friend didn’t commit the crime, but the evidence paints an unflattering picture. Now this librarian and her furry friend have to put the investigation in high gear and catch the real killer before someone else checks out.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Book Clubbed (Booktown #8), by Lorna Barrett
finished 8/2 ★★★★
Cranky Chamber of Commerce receptionist Betsy Dittmeyer is done reading people the riot act. After she’s crushed by a fallen bookcase, the next item to be read is her last will and testament—which is packed with surprises. It soon comes to light that Betsy was hiding volumes of dark secrets behind that perpetual frown of hers—and one of them just might have been a motive for murder.

While Tricia tries to help Angelica — the newly elected Chamber of Commerce president and Betsy’s boss — solve the mystery, she discovers a hidden chapter in her own family history that rocks her to her very core. And with her ex-husband and the chief of police vying for her affections, it’s doubly hard to focus on who might have buried Betsy in a tomb of tomes.

But as Tricia and Angelica try to read between the lines, they need to watch their step … and make sure the killer doesn’t catch them between the stacks.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Flowerbed of State (White House Gardener #1), by Dorothy St. James
finished 8/6 ★★★
Casey's passion for organic gardening and eye for detail have carried her into the most important patch of land in America – the President's Park, on which sits the most important home in America: the White House.

But while she's readying the final touches on an innovative cultivation program for the First Lady to inspect, she's attacked from behind by an unknown assailant who then disappears. When she comes to, she notices some damaged foliage that leads her and the Secret Service to a dead woman in a trash can.

With the biggest opportunity of her life ready to bloom, and all the President's men plowing up her perfect plans, Casey has to dig in and root out a killer before she ends up planted herself.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

SLEUTH EXTRAORDINAIRE, SET 4:

1 – A Crossworder's Delight (Crossword #11), by Nero Blanc, finished 8/8 ★★★
2 – Killer, Paper, Cut (Kiki Lowenstein #9), by Joanna Campbell-Slan, finished 8/9 ★★★
3 – A Roux of Revenge (Soup Lover’s #3), by Connie Archer, finished 8/10 ★★★★
4 – Wrapped Up In Crosswords (Crossword #9), by Nero Blanc, finished 8/12 ★★★
5 – Ink, Red, Dead (Kiki Lowenstein #3), by Joanna Campbell-Slan, finished 8/12 ★★★.5
6 – Sudden Death Sudoku (Katie McDonald #2), by Shelley Freydont, finished 8/14 ★★★.5
7 – A View to Die For (To Die For #1), by Richard Houston, finished 8/18 ★★★
8 – Uncommon Grounds (Maggy Thorsen #1), by Sandra Balzo, finished 8/19 ★★★★
9 – Mischief in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law #2), by Jana DeLeon, finished 8/28 ★★★★
10 – Murder by the Glass (Wine Lovers #2), by Michele Scott, finished 8/30 ★★★★

11 – Magic Mirror (George Lee Maxwell #1), by Michaela Thompson, finished 8/31 ★★★
12 – Funeral Food (Tory Bauer #1), by Kathleen Taylor, finished 8/31 ★★★
13 – Sounds of Murder (Pamela Barnes Acoustic Mystery #1), by Patricia Rockwell, finished 9/2 ★★★.5
14 – Clam Wake (Bed and Breakfast #29), by Mary Daheim, finished 9/4 ★★★
15 – Whiskey Rebellion (Addison Holmes #1), by Liliana Hart, finished 9/7 ★★★
16 – Three Odd Balls (Cue Ball #3), by Cindy Blackburn, finished 9/10 ★★★
17 – Grace Under Pressure (Manor House #1), by Julie Hyzy, finished 9/11 ★★★★
18 – The Merlot Murders (Wine Country #1), by Ellen Crosby, finished 9/16 ★★★★
19 – Death by the Dozen (Cupcake Bakery #3), by Jenn McKinlay, finished 9/19 ★★★.5
20 – The Red Book of Primrose House (Potting Shed #2), by Marty Wingate, finished 9/22 ★★★.5


         

         

BOOK SUMMARIES, SET 4, part 1:

A Crossworder's Delight (Crossword #11), by Nero Blanc
finished 8/8 ★★★
While helping decorate a local inn for Christmas, Belle finds a handmade book of dessert recipes written in the form of crosswords, dedicated from mother to daughter. While she tries to puzzle out how such a treasure could have been abandoned, a precious poem belonging to the inn goes missing and the owners call Rosco to help. At first, Belle and Rosco think the case is a piece of cake, and gently roll their eyes at the fantastic scenarios that an eager young boy is cooking up to explain the theft. But his wild story might just measure up to the truth.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Killer, Paper, Cut (Kiki Lowenstein #9), by Joanna Campbell-Slan
finished 8/9 ★★★
A Halloween charity crop planned by Kiki Lowenstein is chopped short when her employee is attacked by a knife-wielding assailant. There's blood on someone's hands-but whose? A very pregnant Kiki connects the dots and quickly discovers that she has been clueless far too long. Closely held secrets point to a web of deception, one that has Kiki tied in knots. But the spunky scrapbooker refuses to lie down and die. Bumping her snooping skills up a notch, Kiki whittles down her suspect list. Meanwhile, on the home front, she's stabbed in the back by someone she trusted. Will our intrepid crafter survive the unkindest cut of all?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A Roux of Revenge (Soup Lover’s #3), by Connie Archer
finished 8/10 ★★★★
Lucky’s soup shop is busier than usual this October, with groups of itinerant travelers in town to work the Harvest Festival. One newcomer seems to take a particular interest in Lucky’s young waitress, Janie, spying on her from across the street. Is the stranger stalking Janie?

After an unidentified man is found murdered in a van by the side of the road, simmering suspicions about the travelers are brought to a boil. But when Janie is put in harm’s way, Lucky must join forces with the travelers to turn up the heat on a killer.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Wrapped Up In Crosswords (Crossword #9), by Nero Blanc
finished 8/12 ★★★
Santa Claus is coming to the town of Newcastle, Massachusetts. But this year, there are three of them-and more is not the merrier. That's because these Santas look an awful lot like the three escaped prisoners who are supposedly missing from a nearby jail. Now as holiday jitters abound, crossword editor Belle Graham and her P.I. partner Rosco Polycrates must follow a trail of crossword clues to make sure these costumed convicts are caught red-handed.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ink, Red, Dead (Kiki Lowenstein #3), by Joanna Campbell-Slan
finished 8/12 ★★★.5
On a sweltering day, ace scrapbooker Kiki Lowenstein has to cancel a crafting party when she discovers Marla Lever, their hostess, nearly dead of the heat. Not only is Marla seriously "under the weather," she's also a hoarder, and her home is a house of horrors, complete with a corpse in the cooler. Meanwhile, Detective Chad Detweiler works a cold case that involves women disappearing all over St. Louis. The attraction between Kiki and Detweiler heats to a red-hot fever pitch, but will it boil over and leave both of them feeling burned?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sudden Death Sudoku (Katie McDonald #2), by Shelley Freydont
finished 8/14 ★★★.5
It’s February in the small town of Granville, New Hampshire, and Katie McDonald, math geek and curator of the Avondale Puzzle Museum, is up to her ears in snow and the First Annual Avondale Sudoku Challenge. What began as a small event, geared toward regional Sudoku clubs and individuals, has grown to include competitors from up and down the East Coast.

When the Sudden Death Champion is found “suddenly” dead, Katie is forced to deal once again with chief of police Brandon Mitchell. He wants to close the fair for the rest of the weekend, but that would be disastrous for the museum. And besides, Katie thinks, all the suspects are already in one place.... How hard can this be to solve? But only in a theoretical way. Promising not to interfere, Katie and her right hand man, fourteen year old Harry Perkins, set about solving the murder and soon find themselves up to their snowbanks in trouble.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A View to Die For (To Die For #1), by Richard Houston
finished 8/18 ★★★
The story is not your typical murder mystery. The sleuth is not a detective, private eye, or lawyer. He's an ordinary guy with an extraordinary dog.

Jacob Martin is trying to make the best of a divorce and mid-life crisis when he gets a call at two o’clock Sunday morning from his mother. His sister has been arrested for the murder of her fourth husband, and his father is near death. Thus begins an adventure that takes Jake and Fred, his golden retriever, from their Colorado retreat to a backwater town in the Missouri Ozarks where they search for cold-blooded killers, a cache of gold coins buried by Jesse James, and the love of a beautiful nurse.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Uncommon Grounds (Maggy Thorsen #1), by Sandra Balzo
finished 8/19 ★★★★
Patricia Harper is dead, killed by a hot-wired espresso machine, in Uncommon Grounds, her very own gourmet coffee store! Maggy Thorsen wants to know who killed one of her partners. Maggy needs the store to succeed. Starting over after her divorce, she's quit her PR job to open the coffee store. And if things aren't already tough enough, she begins to suspect one of her friends is responsible for Patricia's murder. Maggy joins forces with Sarah Kingstown, Patricia's closest friend, to investigate her killing. Together, they uncover unsavory small-town politics, bribes, kickbacks, and rampant infidelity. Before she's through, Maggy's sense of right and wrong will be shaken to its foundations. For once in her life, she is forced to draw her own line in the sand, and be prepared to defend it.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mischief in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law #2), by Jana DeLeon
finished 8/28 ★★★★
Family can be the death of you.....

Sabine LaVeche needs to locate a blood relative fast - her life depends on it. Then Helena Henry shows up offering to help, and Sabine knows she's really in trouble when it's the best idea she's heard in a while. When private investigator Beau Villeneuve takes on Sabine's case, things heat up in more ways than one, and Sabine struggles to balance thoughts of a life with Beau against her chances of living at all. As the investigation proceeds, they begin to uncover the secrets of Sabine's past and one thing becomes clear – someone doesn't want Sabine to get the answers she seeks.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Murder by the Glass (Wine Lovers #2), by Michele Scott
finished 8/30 ★★★★
Life is sweet for Nikki Sands. She's toasting her new job at the Malveaux Estate in Napa Valley and balancing a love triangle with a neighboring winemaker and her boss, vineyard owner Derek Malveaux the catch of the country. And tonight, Nikki will be on the arm of Napa's golden boy at a Sonoma mansion for the wedding of the decade. Nikki's friend Isabel agreed to cater the wedding before she learned that the groom was her cheating lover. After the ceremony, Isabel asks Nikki to bring the obnoxious bride another glass of wine. But Nikki finds the new wife dead on the floor. Since the dearly departed made plenty of enemies, there’s no shortage of suspects – many of them friends of Nikki’s. Shell just have to get to the bottom of what may have been a killer bottle of wine.

BOOK SUMMARIES, SET 4, part 2:


Magic Mirror (George Lee Maxwell #1), by Michaela Thompson
finished 8/31 ★★★
Florida transplant Georgia Lee Maxwell doesn't take to Paris at first, despite the fact that she's at least leaving a no-good man and a hated job as a society editor. Now she's a Paris correspondent, thank you very much — a dream come true for any journalist. There's just a slight down side — she arrives in freezing rain, gets caught in a traffic jam caused by a bomb scare, and hates her apartment; but the real Bonjour is finding herself face down on a museum floor during a robbery. "Killed for a boring story!" she thinks. But as it happens, she isn't the one who dies. Three terrifying masked gunmen shoot the unfortunate security guard.

They could have stolen all the treasures of Monte Cristo's cave, so to speak, but it turns out they've made off with only a mirror. True, it once belonged to the French seer Nostradamus, but it may be the museum's least valuable item. Does it have some prophetic ability? Does someone know something the gendarmes don't? Here's what Georgia Lee knows: If she finds out first, she's a journalistic hero. If she doesn't, she's dead.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Funeral Food (Tory Bauer #1), by Kathleen Taylor
finished 8/31 ★★★
There aren't many amusements in little Delphi, South Dakota – and that suits Tory Bauer just fine. Widowed, over forty, and somewhat exceeding the surgeon general's weight guidelines, she's content to sling hash at the locals in the Delphi Cafe and craves no additional excitement. Her oversexed fellow waitress and trailer-mate Delphine, however, is always hungry for a new thrill. So when young, good-looking Mormon missionary Charles Winston brings his soul saving fervor to the Cafe's table, Del's all over him like ketchup on fries, totally unconcerned about how her boyfriend – the dangerously short-tempered county deputy, Big Dick Albrecht –will react.

And it's Tory who has to clean up the sloppy mess left behind – because it's she who discovers Winston's corpse stuffed in a mop closet several days later. Tory's large appetite for answers and natural talent for deduction are dumping her into a crockpot of lethal, long-simmering small town secrets. And if she's not careful, she'll wind up in the missionary's position: flat-out, stone-cold dead.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sounds of Murder (Pamela Barnes Acoustic Mystery #1), by Patricia Rockwell
finished 9/2 ★★★.5
At Grace University, a small southern college, no one in the Psychology Department likes Charlotte Clark, so no one is particularly upset when she is found murdered in the department's million-dollar computer lab. But because she discovered the body, Associate Professor Pamela Barnes feels obligated to find Charlotte's killer, and when she discovers a recording of the murder that was accidentally produced during Charlotte's struggle with the killer, she begins her own investigation.

Along the way, Pamela agonizes with her own conscience, fights her growing fear, placates her protective husband, and avoids antagonizing a local rube detective who belittles her efforts – all while she struggles to make sense of the sounds on the recording. As she gets deeper and deeper into her analysis – trying to connect what she hears in the recording with sounds from people (and potential killers) around her – she gets closer and closer to the killer who, unbeknownst to her, is observing her efforts to find the killer, and resolving to stop her. When Pamela finally identifies the one sound on the tape that positively identifies the killer, she works with the detective to try to trick the killer into a confession.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Clam Wake (Bed and Breakfast #29), by Mary Daheim
finished 9/4 ★★★
With the holidays gone and Hillside Manor almost empty, Innkeeper Judith McMonigle Flynn has a bad case of the blues. A housesitting stint at her aunt and uncle’s retirement home on Whoopee Island with cousin Renie seems like the ideal pick-me-up. Surrounded by retirees in the off-season sounds peaceful and pleasant – or so the duo thinks. But it isn’t long before a dead body pops up in their vicinity. Not surprising in an area full of older folks – until they learn it wasn’t a bad ticker that did in the victim, but a very sharp knife. With clouds of suspicion hovering over her and Renie, Judith reluctantly begins sleuthing – if only to prove they didn’t commit the crime.

But what she finds is puzzling. The victim reputedly didn’t have an enemy in the world – except for the killer. Digging for clams and answers, the cousins discover that retirement can be deadly – at least among the eclectic, eccentric residents of Obsession Shores.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Whiskey Rebellion (Addison Holmes #1), by Liliana Hart
finished 9/7 ★★★
My name is Addison Holmes, and I teach history at James Madison High School in Whiskey Bayou, Georgia. You might be under the assumption that my life went to the dogs when my fiance left me at the altar for the home economics teacher, or when I got notice that my apartment building was going to be condemned, or even when I was desperate enough to strip to my unmentionables to earn some extra cash. The truth is that I'm pretty much used to disasters following me around on a daily basis, but I could have gone without finding my principal dead in the parking lot of a seedy gentlemen's club.

After the initial shock of finding my first dead body, which included throwing back shots of Jack Daniels like it was water, I decided to take stock of my life. I was in a desperate situation and if the school board ever found out I'd been a stripper, even a bad stripper, I'd be jobless as well as fiance-less and homeless.

Fortunately, I had a friend who felt sorry enough for me to give me a job doing some surveillance work at her detective agency. Not to mention the fact that I was now able to stick my nose into other people's business for a good cause, find a murderer, and pick up helpful tips from an incredibly attractive detective.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Three Odd Balls (Cue Ball #3), by Cindy Blackburn
finished 9/10 ★★★
A romantic vacation for...five? This wasn't exactly what Jessie and Wilson had in mind when they planned their trip to the tropics. But when Jessie's delightfully spry mother, Wilson's surfer dude son, and Jessie's rabidly hyperactive New York agent decide to tag along the fun begins. What kind of trouble can these three oddest of odd balls possibly get into? Take a guess.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Grace Under Pressure (Manor House #1), by Julie Hyzy
finished 9/11 ★★★★
Everyone wants a piece of millionaire Bennett Marshfield, owner of Marshfield Manor, but now it's up to a new curator Grace Wheaton and handsome groundskeeper Jack Embers to protect dear old Marshfield. But to do this, they'll have to investigate a botched Ponzi scheme, some torrid Wheaton family secrets – and sour grapes out for revenge.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Merlot Murders (Wine Country #1), by Ellen Crosby
finished 9/16 ★★★★
Leland Montgomery's death was deemed accidental but when his daughter Lucie returns from France, she finds the once-thriving family vineyard under huge debt. Lucie's Godfather warns Leland's demise may have been an attempt to force the sale of the vineyard. Her extravagant brother and rebellious sister are determined to sell and there's something suspicious about the vintner her father hired before death. When another oenophile turns up dead, Lucie – the holdout of the vineyard's sale – realizes she's next for an "accident." Can she trust in the proverb in vino veritas – in wine there is truth – as she attempts to survive a very bad year for Merlot?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Death by the Dozen (Cupcake Bakery #3), by Jenn McKinlay
finished 9/19 ★★★.5
Melanie and Angie are determined to win the Challenge to the Chef to promote their Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery. Mel's mentor from culinary school, Vic Mazzotta, may be one of the judges, but Mel and Angie will have to win fair and square. But, when Vic's dead body is found inside a freezer truck, Mel and Angie will need to use their best judgment to find the cold-blooded killer or they may lose more than the contest – they may lose their lives.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Red Book of Primrose House (Potting Shed #2), by Marty Wingate
finished 9/22 ★★★.5
Pru Parke has her dream job: head gardener at an eighteenth-century manor house in Sussex. The landscape for Primrose House was laid out in 1806 by renowned designer Humphry Repton in one of his meticulously illustrated Red Books, and the new owners want Pru to restore the estate to its former glory — quickly, as they’re planning to showcase it in less than a year at a summer party.

But life gets in the way of the best laid plans: When not being happily distracted by the romantic attentions of the handsome Inspector Christopher Pearse, Pru is digging into the mystery of her own British roots. Still, she manages to make considerable progress on the vast grounds — until vandals wreak havoc on each of her projects. Then, to her horror, one of her workers is found murdered among the yews. The police have a suspect, but Pru is certain they’re wrong. Once again, Pru finds herself entangled in a thicket of evil intentions — and her, without a hatchet.

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SLEUTH EXTRAORDINAIRE, SET FIVE:

1 – Murder in the Mystery Suite (Book Retreat #1), by Ellery Adams, finished 9/28 ★★★★
2 – Scones & Bones (Tea Shop #12), by Laura Childs, finished 9/29 ★★★★
3 – 4:50 from Paddington (Miss Marple #8), by Agatha Christie, finished 10/3 ★★★★
4 – I Am Half-Sick of Shadows (Flavia de Luce #4), by Alan Bradley, finished 10/5 ★★★.5
5 – The KenKen Killings (Puzzle Lady #12), by Parnell Hall, finished 10/6 ★★★.5
6 – Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels (Million Dollar Mysteries #2), by Mindy Starns Clark, finished 10/10 ★★★
7 – Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon (Meg Langslow #4), by Donna Andrews, finished 10/14 ★★★★
8 – French Pastry Murder (Lucy Stone #21), by Leslie Meier, finished 10/16 ★★★.5
9 – Death On The Diagonal (Crossword #12), by Nero Blanc, finished 10/17 ★★★.5
10 – Bloodstone (Stacy Justice #2), by Barbra Annino, finished 10/18 ★★★.5

11 – Lie Down in Green Pastures (Psalm 23 #3), by Debbie Viguié, finished 10/26 ★★★★
12 – Trick or Deadly Treat (Fresh Baked #9), by Livia J. Washburn, finished 10/27 ★★★★
13 – Gossamer Ghost (Carmela Bertrand #12), by Laura Childs, finished 10/30 ★★★★
14 – Buried in a Bog (Cork County #1), by Sheila Connolly, finished 11/3 ★★★★
15 – Dead Men Don’t Lye (Soapmaking #1), by Tim Myers, finished 11/4 ★★★.5
16 – Goody Goody Gunshots (Candy Shop #4), by Sammi Carter, finished 11/6 ★★★
17 – On Borrowed Time (Library Lovers #5), by Jenn McKinlay, finished 11/9 ★★★★
18 – Lavender Lies (China Bayles #8), by Susan Wittig Albert, finished 11/12 ★★★★
19 – The Handsome Man’s De Luxe Cafe (No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency #15), by Alexander McCall Smith, finished 11/16 ★★★.5
20 – Pasta Imperfect (Passport to Peril #3), by Maddy Hunter, finished 11/18 ★★★


         

         

BOOK SUMMARIES, SET 5, part 1:

Murder in the Mystery Suite (Book Retreat #1), by Ellery Adams
finished 9/28 ★★★★
Tucked away in the rolling hills of rural western Virginia is the storybook resort of Storyton Hall, catering to book lovers who want to get away from it all. To increase her number of bookings, resort manager Jane Steward has decided to host a Murder and Mayhem week so that fans of the mystery genre can gather together for some role-playing and fantasy crime solving.

But when the winner of the scavenger hunt, Felix Hampden, is found dead in the Mystery Suite, and the valuable book he won as his prize is missing, Jane realizes one of her guests is an actual murderer. Amid a resort full of fake detectives, Jane is bound and determined to find a real-life killer. There’s no room for error as Jane tries to unlock this mystery before another vacancy opens up.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Scones & Bones (Tea Shop #12), by Laura Childs
finished 9/29 ★★★★
Indigo Tea Shop owner Theodosia Browning is lured into attending the Heritage Society's "Pirates and Plunder" soiree. But it's an antique diamond skull ring that gets plundered by someone who murders a history intern in the process. Theodosia knows she'll have to whet her investigative skills to find the killer among a raft of suspects.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

4:50 from Paddington (Miss Marple #8), by Agatha Christie
finished 10/3 ★★★★
previously published as “What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw”
Elspeth McGillicuddy is not given to hallucinations. Until she witnesses a murder at Paddington Station. But did she? No victim, no suspect, no other witnesses. In fact no one believes it really happened at all. Except her friend Miss Jane Marple, and she's returning to the scene of the crime to discover just exactly what Mrs. McGillicuddy saw.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows (Flavia de Luce #4), by Alan Bradley
finished 10/5 ★★★.5
Colonel de Luce, in desperate need of funds, rents his beloved estate of Buckshaw to a film company. They will be shooting a movie over the Christmas holidays, filming scenes in the decaying manse with a reclusive star. She is widely despised, so it is to no one's surprise when she turns up murdered, strangled by a length of film from one of her own movies! With a blizzard raging outside and Buckshaw locked in, the house is full of suspects. But Flavia de Luce is more than ready to put aside her investigations into the existence of Father Christmas to solve this yuletide country-house murder.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The KenKen Killings (Puzzle Lady #12), by Parnell Hall
finished 10/6 ★★★.5
The Puzzle Lady just can’t stay out of trouble. When the late Chester T. Markowitz, a man she never met, leaves $10,000 to his beloved wife, Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady can’t help cashing the check. Quicker than you can say legal proceedings, Cora’s least favorite ex-husband, Melvin, shows up in Bakerhaven with an attorney and a young bimbo, demanding that her alimony be terminated on the grounds she remarried.

When a key witness in the alimony hearing gets murdered, a KenKen puzzle is left at the scene of the crime. Is someone trying to tell Cora something? Before she can find out, she runs into more murders, more puzzles (both KenKen and crossword) and a murder weapon that seems to point to Melvin as the killer! At least it might have, if Cora hadn’t suppressed it.

Does the Puzzle Lady still have feelings for the scoundrel she once married? Don’t ask. She might kill you!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels (Million Dollar Mysteries #2), by Mindy Starns Clark
finished 10/10 ★★★
Working to provide quality work clothes to women who can't afford to buy their own, Callie becomes involved with one young woman trying to come out of drug rehabilitation — just as she's charged with murder.

What appears to be a routine murder investigation in her sleepy waterside village suddenly becomes complicated amid international intrigue, cutting-edge technology, and deadly deception. In a desperate moment at what could be the end of her life, Callie cries out to the God who is as close as a whispered prayer.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon (Meg Langslow #4), by Donna Andrews
finished 10/14 ★★★★
Poor Meg Langslow. She's blessed in so many ways. Michael, her boyfriend, is a handsome, delightful heartthrob who adores her. She's a successful blacksmith, known for her artistic wrought-iron creations. But somehow Meg's road to contentment is more rutted and filled with potholes than seems fair.

There are Michael's and Meg's doting but demanding mothers, for a start. And then there's the fruitless hunt for a place big enough for the couple to live together. And a succession of crises brought on by the well-meaning but utterly wacky demands of her friends and family. Demands that Meg has a hard time refusing – which is why she's tending the switchboard of Mutant Wizards, where her brother's computer games are created, and handling all the office management problems that no one else bothers with. For companionship, besides a crew of eccentric techies, she has a buzzard with one wing – who she must feed frozen mice thawed in the office microwave – and Michael's mother's nightmare dog. Not to mention the psychotherapists who refuse to give up their lease on half of the office space, and whose conflicting therapies cause continuing dissension. This is not what Meg had in mind when she agreed to help her brother move his staff to new offices.

In fact, the atmosphere is so consistently loony that the office mail cart makes several passes through the reception room, with the office practical joker lying on top of it pretending to be dead, before Meg realizes that he's become the victim of someone who wasn't joking at all. He's been murdered for real.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

French Pastry Murder (Lucy Stone #21), by Leslie Meier
finished 10/16 ★★★.5
Tinker's Cove is abuzz with excitement when Norah, the queen of daytime TV, comes to town and selects Lucy and her pals to be featured in her "Women Who Make a Difference" episode. In recognition for their charitable work, the ladies and their husbands are awarded a dream vacation in Paris, complete with classes at Le Cooking School with renowned pastry chef Larry Bruneau. But their bon voyage is cut short when Lucy discovers the chef in a pool of blood on the second day of class. . .

Lucy always dreamed of visiting Paris, but with Chef Larry on death's doorstep and Lucy and her friends detained for questioning, she's worried she'll be trading in her luxury accommodations for a sojourn in the bastille. If she's going to enjoy her vacation, she'll have to unpack her sleuthing skills and clear her name.

Lucy's search for the truth takes her from the towers of Notre Dame to the gardens of Versailles and a dozen charming bistros in between. But will she be able to track down a killer more elusive than the perfect macaron?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Death On The Diagonal (Crossword #12), by Nero Blanc
finished 10/17 ★★★.5
Crossword editor Belle Graham hears that the devastating fire at the Collins family stables may have been a torch job. Former Prohibition-era bootleggers, the Collinses morphed into legitimate Newcastle high society. Rich and shameless, they feud amongst themselves as the aged patriarch enjoys marriage to a woman younger than his children – who have been pushed aside by their new step-mom.

Belle's P.I. hubby, Roscoe, is investigating the fire for the insurance company. The blaze is being blamed on the barn manager, a hard drinker who was sober enough to rescue the horses before being knocked into a coma. As Roscoe searches through a haystack of clues, Belle's guessing that someone in the Collins family already knows the answers.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Bloodstone (Stacy Justice #2), by Barbra Annino
finished 10/18 ★★★.5
All Stacy Justice wants to do is recover from the bizarre couple of weeks she’s had — the whirlwind kicked off by the fire at her cousin’s bar, the Black Opal. But just when life is settling down, fourteen-year-old Ivy appears on her doorstep, claiming to be her sister. Ivy insists their mother is in danger and Stacy’s magic is the key to saving her. Sure, Ivy shares Stacy’s fiery hair and green eyes — but is she really her sister? And can the secretive teen be trusted with the family magic?

Then a man turns up dead at the bed-and-breakfast run by Stacy’s grandmother, the family’s Blessed Book goes missing, and it seems someone is out to kill Stacy — again. So she has no choice but to follow Ivy’s lead.

BOOK SUMMARIES, SET 5, part 2:

Lie Down in Green Pastures (Psalm 23 #3), by Debbie Viguié
finished 10/26 ★★★★
St. Patrick's Day unravels a whole new murder mystery for Cindy and Jeremiah. When several accidental deaths start leading to the place of a land developer trying to buy land that the local churches use for a camp retreat, lives are suddenly at risk. Cindy has to act fast in order to save the camp, the kids, and the man she has grown to depend on more than she cares to admit.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Trick or Deadly Treat (Fresh Baked #9), by Livia J. Washburn
finished 10/27 ★★★★
While Phyllis and her friend Carolyn are preparing for a baking contest, her housemate Sam adopts Buck, an adorable Dalmatian who was hit by a car. To thank local veterinarian Hank Baxter for helping the dog, Phyllis and Carolyn bake a batch of doggie treats for his other four-legged patients’ Halloween party.

But when they arrive at the clinic, the vet is in the process of being arrested – for the murder of his wife! Convinced that the police are barking up the wrong tree and that someone’s been burying evidence, Sam begs Phyllis to help find the real killer. Joined by Buck, the friends engage in a dogged pursuit of the murderer, who will stop at nothing to muzzle them … permanently.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Gossamer Ghost (Carmela Bertrand #12), by Laura Childs
finished 10/30 ★★★★
An evening’s work deciding on the class schedule for her scrapbooking shop has put Carmela in the mood to kick up her heels. But after some strange noises draw her into Oddities, the neighboring antiques shop, Carmela’s night is abruptly put on hold when a bloody body falls out of a curio cabinet – and into her arms.

While shop owner Marcus Joubert was known for being an eccentric with a penchant for eclectic merchandise, Carmela never thought he was the kind of man who could inspire the passion required to kill. But when Marcus’s assistant – and fiancée – Mavis reveals that a priceless death mask was also stolen, it becomes clear that murder wasn’t the culprit’s sole intention.

Carmela can’t resist the urge to investigate the growing mystery, but as the list of suspects increases, she realizes it’ll take every trick in the book to unmask the killer thief before there’s another night of murderous mischief.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Buried in a Bog (Cork County #1), by Sheila Connolly
finished 11/3 ★★★★
Honoring the wish of her late grandmother, Maura Donovan visits the small Irish village where her Gran was born – though she never expected to get bogged down in a murder mystery. Nor had she planned to take a job in one of the local pubs, but she finds herself excited to get to know the people who knew her Gran.

In the pub, she’s swamped with drink orders as everyone in town gathers to talk about the recent discovery of a nearly one-hundred-year-old body in a nearby bog. When Maura realizes she may know something about the dead man – and that the body’s connected to another, more recent, death – she fears she’s about to become mired in a homicide investigation. After she discovers the death is connected to another from almost a century earlier, Maura has a sinking feeling she may really be getting in over her head.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dead Men Don’t Lye (Soapmaking #1), by Tim Myers
finished 11/4 ★★★.5
Ben Perkins is the family and business troubleshooter for Where There's Soap, a family-owned boutique and small scale production shop the creates and sells all things Soap related. When one of the store's suppliers is doused with lye and dies, Ben soon finds out that one of his sisters was dating the man, and worse yet, it had just ended badly. Ben must deal with his ex-girlfriend and police officer Molly Wilkes, as well as a new woman in his life as he tries to solve the supplier's murder.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Goody Goody Gunshots (Candy Shop #4), by Sammi Carter
finished 11/6 ★★★
No visit to Paradise, Colorado, is complete without a stop at Divinity candy shop for a little taste of heaven. For owner Abby Shaw, it's a sweet deal, too. When her aunt Grace passed away, Abby inherited Divinity – and with it the opportunity to leave her career as a corporate lawyer and dump her cheating husband. Now she spends her time serving up delectable treats – and performing the occasional deductive feat. When Abby Shaw witnesses a stranger being gunned down on the highway, she's convinced she's seen a murder. Problem is, there's no body. But days later, when a body does turn up, wishy-washy witnesses make things sticky. Even elbow-deep in hot syrup, Abby is determined to find out the truth. And it's not as if she can take her sweet time figuring it out – she's busy running Divinity, training a new employee, and helping coach her nephews' basketball team. Not to mention that nosing around for too long could get her killed.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

On Borrowed Time (Library Lovers #5), by Jenn McKinlay
finished 11/9 ★★★★
Between preparing the library for the holidays and juggling the affections of ex-boyfriend, Captain Mike Sullivan, and her new crush, actor Robbie Vine, Lindsey has her hands full. But the mysterious disappearance of her world-traveling playboy brother takes precedence over all. Afraid that involving the police could brew trouble for Jack, Lindsey takes matters into her own hands. But as her quest for her brother embroils her in a strange case involving South American business dealings and an enigmatic and exotic woman, it’ll take the help of both her library book club — the crafternooners — and her eager-to-please suitors to keep Jack from ending up in hot water.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Lavender Lies (China Bayles #8), by Susan Wittig Albert
finished 11/12 ★★★★
"Good riddance" is the response of every Pecan Springs resident to the murder of Edgar Coleman, a local real estate shark found shot to death in his garage. With the small-town gossip mill running full tilt, it doesn't take long for China to learn that Coleman was having numerous affairs and was blackmailing City Council members for their votes on a bad land development deal. With her fiance, interim police chief Mike McQuaid immersed in the murder investigation – and the suspect list growing longer by the minute – China can forget about a honeymoon, unless she can find the killer. As China investigates, she starts digging up dirt on people she knows – and unearthing secrets best left six feet under.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Handsome Man’s De Luxe Cafe (No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency #15), by Alexander McCall Smith
finished 11/16 ★★★.5
A kindhearted brother and sister have taken in a woman known only as “Mrs.” — a woman with no memory of her name or of how she came to Botswana. And so it’s up to Precious Ramotswe and her new co-director, Grace Makutsi, to discover the woman’s identity.

Meanwhile, motherhood proves to be no obstacle to Mma Makutsi’s professional success. As she settles into her role as partner at the agency, she also launches a new enterprise of her own: the Handsome Man’s De Luxe Café, a restaurant for Gaborone’s most fashionable diners. But even Miss 97 Per Cent isn’t fully prepared for the temperamental chefs, drunken waiters, and other challenges that come with running one’s own business. Help may come from an unexpected source, if only Mma Makutsi can swallow her pride and ask.

And next door to the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni is all too familiar with the difficult decisions of business owners. He is finally forced to make a tough choice, one that will bring major changes to both Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors and the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency — and that will require all of Mma Ramotswe’s finesse and patience to sort out.

With sympathy and indefatigable good humor, Mma Ramotswe and her friends see one another through these major changes and discover along the way what true friendship really means.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Pasta Imperfect (Passport to Peril #3), by Maddy Hunter
finished 11/18 ★★★
It was an offer she couldn't refuse. The discount travel package to Italy seemed like a great deal: Emily Andrew could lead her globe-trotting Iowans on the trip of a lifetime and bring her family to boot. Maybe she should have read the fine print. Sharing their itinerary with a group of hyper-competitive aspiring romance writers is just a prelude to more Machiavellian drama than an Italian opera.

First, their hotel burns to the ground. Then, when Emily's lost luggage turns up found, the disgruntled literary ladies raid her clothing supply like she's a one-woman Gucci outlet. But the real killer is a contest sponsored by a publishing house – and the depths to which the dime-novel divas will plunge to win a book contract. Amid backstabbing and catcalling, bodies start turning up – in Emily's favorite outfits! Now, Emily will need more than a phrasebook to say "ciao" to someone with a hot and spicy passion for murder.

I know this runs until the end of the year, but I'm at a nice, even 100 cozies in 2014, and life is going to be really crazy busy for the next six weeks, so I'm going to call it quits here :)

Thanks! Cozies are my go-to genre, so it wasn't really hard to complete this challenge :)