Cruisin' thru the Cozies Reading Challenge discussion

My 2022 Sleuth Extraordinaire (40+ reads) challenge journey via cover:

** 01. ** 02. ** 03. ** 04. ** 05. ** 06a.
** 06b. ** 07. ** 08. ** 09. ** 10. ** 11. ** 12. ** 13. ** 14. ** 15. ** 16. ** 17.
** 18. aka ** 19. ** 20. ** 21. ** 22.
** 23. ** 24. ** 25. ** 26. ** 27. ** 28.
** 29. ** 30. ** 31. ** 32. ** 33. ** 34.
** 35. ** 36. ** 37. ** 38. ** 39. ** 40.
** 41. ** 42. ** 43. ** 44. ** 45. ** 46.
** 47. ** 48. ** 49. ** 50. ** 51. ** 52.
** 53. ** 54. ** 55. ** 56. ** 57. ** 58.
** 59a. ** 59b. ** 60a. ** 60b. ** 61.
** 62. ** 63.

As usual, I'm doing version "A." I'll read what I read and see where they fall for "B." I will, however, list (and track) sub-genres when I post updates to see if I can hit the "B" goal. Though "Travel" usually falls within regular series reads, it and "Outside the US" and "Historical" were my 2021 downfalls. I'm still great with freebies. :o)

Level Four (Sleuth Extraordinaire)
A) Read 40 cozy mysteries of your choice ✔️
B) Read two books from each sub-genre in level one plus an additional 20 cozy books of your choice (total of 40 books) ✔️

❌❌ UPDATE (221223)... OMG!!! The reading stars finally aligned. My read-what-I-want fell into the B categories perfectly. For the first time, I've hit both version goals. On to the 2023 challenge to see if I can do it again! ❌❌

B categories (two each of 9 specific sub-genres; plus 22 "freebies"):
* ✅ Culinary (restaurants, baked goods, etc.)
* ✅ Animal-related (cats, dogs, birds, etc.)
* ✅ Craft-related (knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking, etc.)
* ✅ Paranormal (witches, vampires, etc.)
* ✅ Series based outside the US
* ✅ Career-based cozy mystery (housekeeping, wedding planner, etc.)
* ✅ Holiday-based (set during any holiday)
* ✅ Travel mystery (character could be on a cruise, touring another area, etc.)
* ✅ Historical mystery (any mystery not set in the present)
* ✅ Freebies (22 total)

There's no shortage of material to get to my goal. Currently (still!) in the pipe:
** The latest SEVEN (+1 on the way)! Murder in the Mix (Lottie Lemon)
** The rest of Amorette Anderson's Hillcrest Witch series -- and I see there is a spin-off series, Marley the Witch, starring Penny's BFF
** Denise Swanson - Winner Cake All (Chef-to-Go) (and the rest of the series)
** Denise Swanson - Fly Me to the Tomb, the latest entry in one of my favorite series, Devereaux's Dime Store
** Lorna Barrett - A Deadly Deletion (Booktown series)
** Kate Carlisle - Little Black Book (Bibliophile series)
** Victoria Laurie's - Coached in the Act (Life Coach series)
** Jenn McKinlay - Killer Research (Library Lovers series)
** Kari Lee Townsend - Hazard in the Horoscope (Fortune Teller/Sunny Meadows)
** Emily James - Stumped (Maple Syrup series) I still haven't been able find this at the libraries as of yet...
** And, I'd still like to reread Jenn McKinlay's (Lucy Lawrence) Decoupage series. But, mystery rereads take a back seat.

Enjoy the challenge Karen! Good luck with it. You have many great books on your list!

Doing my best to keep my New Year's Day activities to what I want to be dong year round, I slept in this morning. I read (finished!) a cozy and am starting another, I am trying hard not to spend money before the end of the day, and doing the least amount of work, organizing, and housework I can. The year's off to a good start! :o)

And, I've started the year with a GOOD book...
01. Denise Swanson - Fly Me to the Tomb (3.5) [B=Career] (220101)
I rated it up to 4 for GoodReads because of my love for the series, Devereaux's Dime Store. There was a small editing error and the mystery solution sort of came out of nowhere. However, I was so grateful to read a good book (overall) that the enjoyment had me rate up rather than down. The end of the book hints that there will be another. I can't wait! Of all Swanson's characters, Devereaux Sinclair is my favorite. And the books... I love the characters and adult relationships. The mysteries are good, too.

I'm off to start another "catch-up-the-series" entry, Kari Lee Townsend's Hazard in the Horoscope, the latest in the Fortune Teller/Sunny Meadows series.

I finished off 2021 reading three of Addison Moore's Murder in the Mix (Lottie Lemons). I have four to catch up (with another due in Feb), but I'm a bit disappointed with the series right now and am "fluking" it for a while.

I also read Lucy Lawrence's (Jenn McKinlay) Decoupage series to hit last year's goal so I have to adjust my pipeline a bit as I start the year.

I'm still playing catch-up-the-seires:
** Lorna Barrett - A Deadly Deletion (Booktown series)
** Kate Carlisle - Little Black Book (Bibliophile series)
** Victoria Laurie's - Coached in the Act (Life Coach series)
** Jenn McKinlay - Killer Research (Library Lovers series)
** The rest of Amorette Anderson's Hillcrest Witch series and her spin-off series, Marley the Witch, starring Penny's BFF
** Emily James - Stumped (Maple Syrup series)

Update... Not reading as much of anything as I want to be. The holidays put me behind and I still haven't caught up with everything. :o(

The good news is that I try to finish the minimum 40 reads in 40 weeks and I'm (ever so slightly) ahead of that mark!

On to the additions!
I don't really know what made me pick up this new-to-me series (maybe a freebie??), but I read the four available (to date) in the Ravenmist Whodunit series by Olivia Jaymes.

Divorcée Theodosia “Tedi” Hamilton returns to her hometown, Ravenmist, to run her family's inn (last run by her grandmother). Along with Tedi, we get her best friend, Missy, a new Sheriff who butts heads with Tedi, his son, and a few resident ghosts -- yes ghosts. The town is thought to be haunted and to Tedi's surprise actually is.

Tedi and the Sheriff dance around one another as they deal with deaths surrounding the inn and town. They also deal with the townsfolk pushing them at one another romantically -- even though both say (doth protest!) they're happily single and not definitely not looking. Tedi also discovers her bestie (Missy) is a Grim Reaper, and befriends several ghosts that both she and Missy can see and speak with. On top of that, the spectres are getting stronger and now can interact and be seen by others (who think they're just pale humans). So while dealing with murder, Tedi and Missy are trying to figure out what's causing the increase and strength in the paranormal activity.

So far, the series is sweet, fun, and funny. The mysteries are not too difficult to solve, but are okay. However... one thing I didn't like in the last two books (to date) is that the mysteries have been solved by unexplainable means. That is, in one THE clue to the solution is provided by something a ghost was doing at the time of the murder. Without the clue, which readers are not privy to until right before the culprit is caught, I don't think readers could solve the mystery. The last one, too, had an unusual resolution that can't be part of public record. While I like the series, I don't like that readers aren't given what we need to be detective. I'll keep reading new entries at this point. I do like the cozy parts of the stories and look forward to the romance between Tedi and the Sheriff. So far, so good.
02. Olivia Jaymes - Eat, Drink, and Be Scary (3.0) [B=Career; Paranormal] (220112)
03. Olivia Jaymes - Ghoul You Be My Valentine? (3.0) [B=Career; Paranormal] (220112)
04. Olivia Jaymes - Ghosts, Lies, and Videotape (3.5) [B=Career; Paranormal] (220113)
05. Olivia Jaymes - Grandma Got Run Over by a Demon (3.0) [B=Career; Paranormal] (220119)

Then it was on to catching up on some series.
First up, a couple in the Fortune Teller/Sunny Meadows series by Kari Lee Townsend -- last seen in 2015!

This continues the story of fortuneteller Sunny Meadows. Though they list Chaos and Cold Feet as a "book," it's really a short story that bridges the story between Hazard in the Horoscope and the latest (to date), Murder in the Meditation (on my TBR). I've listed it as a "b" book and am not counting it toward the total.
06a. Kari Lee Townsend - Hazard in the Horoscope (3.0) [B=Career; Paranormal] (220129)
06b. Kari Lee Townsend - Chaos and Cold Feet (3.0) [B=Career; Paranormal] (220206)

Then onto one of my most favorite series, the Coffeehouse series by Cleo Coyle.

I noted in a what-are-you-reading board The feeling after completing a good book that exposes some of what you've been reading as mediocre in comparison... That! I devoured this book in one morning. I didn't realize how starved I was for a great read. So good!
07. Cleo Coyle - Honey Roasted (4.5) [B=Food; Career] (220213)

I was finally able to find the final (to date) book in Emily James' Maple Syrup series. While I hope the author adds more to the series, this book serves as a good end point.
08. Emily James - Stumped (3.5) [B=Career] (220225)

Next was catching up Lorraine Bartlett's Victoria Square series. She's now writing it with Gayle Leeson. I am so glad! I love the setting and the characters in this series. Some changes in the heroine's situation have breathed new life in the series. And while I'm not exactly happy with one area of the cozy story at this point, I'm willing to stick with it and see where things go. The mysteries are still good and most of the cozy part is good. I'm still enjoying it and am looking forward to the next entry.
10. Lorraine Bartlett & Gayle Leeson - Dead Man's Hand (3.5) [B=Food; Career] (220227)

When catching up Ada Madison's (Camille Minichino) Sophie Knowles series, I decided to start at the beginning. There are only four books (to date), I'd read two when they came out 10-12 years ago, but didn't read the last two. For whatever reason, this took me a long time to finish. It wasn't that I didn't like the characters. I do. Sophie is a math professor and puzzle creator (and solver). In the book I reread, she comes to the aid of one of her students implicated in the death of one of their colleagues. The mystery was involving so it wasn't that. Anyway... I plan on reading the others in the series. The last was published in 2013 so I'm not holding out hope that there will be more. :o(
12. Ada Madison (Camille Minichino) - The Square Root of Murder (3.5) [B=Career] (220306)

I caught up with Jaine Austin... Still fun and funny. The read went by so fast, I can't wait for the next-in-series.
11. Laura Levine - Murder Gets a Makeover (3.5) [B=Career] (220307)

Finally (for now), a new-to-me author, Debra Sennefelder and the first book from her Resale Boutique series.

Kelly Quinn returns to her home town after losing her job as a department store buyer and inheriting her grandmother's consignment store. Kelly wants to modernize things and merchandize things her own way. She faces some pushback from her employee, Pepper (her gran's best friend), who likes things at they are, and her uncle, who wants her to sell the building and go back to the city. There is some other family and town drama in the back story that isn't quite resolved in this entry, so we have the inkling of the continuous cozy story.

Kelly is drawn into investigating a murder after a local medium faints after trying on a dress and seeing a vision of murder. Now everyone thinks the shop sells haunted goods. To top it off, Kelly becomes a suspect.

This turned out to be a really fast read for me. I enjoyed the book and will be reading the series to date.
12. Debra Sennefelder - Murder Wears a Little Black Dress (3.5) [B=Career] (220307)

That's it for now. As I said, slightly ahead of where I need to be, but not where I'd like to be. Oh well...

Next up (alphabetically but not necessarily reading order!):
** Lorna Barrett - A Deadly Deletion (Booktown series)
** Juliet Blackwell - Synchronized Sorcery (Witchcraft; I’d also like to get back to her Haunted Home Renovation series. I started it years ago, but read a couple. I’ll be (re)starting from the beginning)
** Kate Carlisle - Little Black Book (Bibliophile series)
** Olivia Jaymes - Wedding Bell Boos (Ravenmist Whodunit; I don't know if this book is out or not. GoodReads shows it out as of last April, but the author's web site says it's coming soon. There aren't a lot of reviews or ratings, so I'm wondering if only the ARC came?? Either way, I'm looking for it...)
** Victoria Laurie's - Coached in the Act (Life Coach series)
** Kari Lee Townsend - Murder in the Meditation (Fortune Teller/Sunny Meadows)

Then, a few (or more than!) in these…
** The rest of Amorette Anderson's Hillcrest Witch series (and spin-off Marley the Witch ???)
** The last three of Ada Madison's (Camille Minichino) Sophie Knowles series
** The latest two in Jenn McKinlay's Library Lovers series; another is due in October
** The rest (to date) of Debra Sennefelder's Resale Boutique series

** I did "fluke" Murder in the Mix (Lottie Lemon) series, There are five or six I need to get to at this point, but I'm leaving it set aside -- for now at least.

Of course... This list can (and most likely will) be interrupted by new additions to my usual series and anything else that catches my eye. :o)

Back with another (long) update (better intermittent than never, I guess). For some reason I haven't been reading as much this year as I usually do. Thankfully, I'm reading enough cozies to be slightly ahead of where I need to be -- though behind where I want to be -- for the challenge. Yay!

On to the update...

Starting with four catch-ups...
13. Juliet Blackwell - Synchronized Sorcery (4.0) [B=Career-based; Paranormal (Witchcraft)] (220319) from the Witchcraft series
14. Kate Carlisle - Little Black book (4.0) [B=Career-based; Travel (Scotland; and Dharma)] (220322) from the Bibliophile series
15. Victoria Laurie - Coached in the Act (3.5) [B=Career-based] (220407) from the Life Coach/Cat Cooper series
16. Lorna Barrett - A Deadly Deletion (3.0) [B=Career-based] (220416) from the Booktown series
This entry in the series angered me because the author changed the fundamental personality of one of the characters -- and it seemed like there was no good reason for it. I could think of several ways to wrap up the mystery without ruining the character. ** My Review **

I started a new-to-me series, Kitchen Witch, from Lynn Cahoon. I'm looking forward to reading more. Cahoon writes several series (which I have TBRed!), but this is the first I've read from her.
17. Lynn Cahoon - Chili Cauldron Curse (3.5) [B=Culinary; Career-based; Paranormal (Witchcraft)] (220501)

Then two books from Kari Lee Townsend's Mind Reader/Kalli Ballas series. I reread book 1 when I saw the second book had been published. I'd originally read the book when it was issued as a Kindle Serial. I loved it and looked forward to more in the series. It took nine years, but book two came in April, a third is due in October, with another following in April 2023!

Kalliope (Kalli) Ballas is a talented lingerie designer who lives and works with her best friend Jazlyn (Jaz) Alveraz in a small Connecticut town. Kalli's extended and intrusive Greek family also lives in town. Kalli's mother is constantly on her daughter to settle down with a nice Greek man and start producing grandbabies, but Kalli is slightly OCD about cleanliness (germs) and touching and doesn't see that happening. Enter Detective Nikos (Nik) Stevens, who is half Greek and is getting the same nagging to settle down and produce grandbabies from his mother.

After a disastrous blind date, Kalli and Nik are thrown together again when Jaz becomes a murder suspect. To Nik's annoyance, Kalli, who after an accident suddenly finds she can read the minds of people she touches (or who touch her), decides to clear her friend's name. On top of that, the mamas have gotten together -- and that can't be good. And, Nik can be a pain, but his thoughts when he touches (and kisses!) Kalli silence her OCD. Could they have a future once this murder is solved?

Rounding out the main cast is Nik's partner Boomer Matheson, an ex of Jaz's.

A link to my full review of book 1 under it's original title is below.
18. Kari Lee Townsend - Peril for Your Thoughts || Mind Over Murder (3.5 ) [B=Career-based; Paranormal (ESP)] (220504) ** My review **
19. Kari Lee Townsend - Two Cents of Doom (3.5) [B=Career-based; Paranormal (ESP)] (220507) from the series ** My review **

Two more catch-ups (but not catsup or ketchp!)...
20. Jenn McKinlay - One for the books (3.5) [B=Career-based] (220510) from the Library Lover's series
21. Victoria Hamilton - A Calculated Whisk (3.5) [B=Culinary; Career-based] (220511) from the Vintage Kitchen series

AND... I was finally able to hit my "B" category HISTORICAL quota (thanks to its liberal definition of "historical" as any mystery not set in the present. I don't read a lot of what I would consider "historical" mysteries. And, most contemporary cozies are timeless -- that is, other than technological advances (mobiles instead of pay phones, for example) most can't be placed in a specific time unless noted explicitly by the author. Thankfully, the author notes that her Friday Night Mystery Club series takes place in 1986.
22. Joanna Campbell-Slan - The Friday Night Mystery Club (2.5) [B=Career-based; Historical (1986)] (220514) ** My Review **
23. Joanna Campbell-Slan - Monday Morning Blues (3.5) [B=Career-based; Historical (1986)] (220516) ** My Review **

And more catch-up...
24. Cleo Coyle (Alice Kimberly) - The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait (3.5) [B=Career-based; Paranormal (Ghost)] (220518) Do you think it would count as "historical" if part of the mystery takes place in the past, but only in the dreams of the protagonist?? :o) Anyway... this is from the author's from the Haunted Bookshop series. It was originally written under the pseudonym Alice Kimberly, but now they're being released under the Cleo Coyle name.
25. Jenn McKinlay - Strawberried Alive (3.5) [B=Culinary; Career-based] (220522) from the Cupcake Bakery series

I'm showing the next two books out of reading order because I finished one while reading the other two, but the latter two are from the same series. It makes it easier to comment on the new-to-me series.

So, book...
27. Camille Minichino (Ada Madison) - The Probability of Murder (3.0) [B=Career-based] (220610) from the series
This is a reread. As mentioned previously, I restarted this series, Sophie Knowles, over again. I'm now on to book three, A Function of Murder. One more and I'm done (to date). This series was originally issued under the pseudonym Ada Madison, but now they're being issued under Camille Minichino.

Back to book 26 and 28... I happened upon a series titled Drag Queen Detective, by Shane K Morton. It sounded like a hoot. I TBRed it and a couple of weeks ago I picked up the first book.

Victor Sommers is a drag queen living in a small northern California town. He used to live in San Francisco, but left there for his mental health. There's a back story there that we're given snippets of, but not the full story. (I don't know if that will come up later at some point.) Anyway... Vic is a hair stylist by day and, as his drag alter ego Raven Ronelle, the emcee of a local bar's drag show by night. Unbeknownst to the people in town -- including his best friend, Cory -- Vic has another alter ego (and another career!) as Vicki Dean, best-selling mystery novelist. Though famous, Vicki Dean is a recluse -- gossiped about, but rarely seen around town. So far so good for Vic. But when someone kills the mayor and sets up Vicki Dean as the murderer, she needs to come out of hiding to clear her name. How can Vicki help Sheriff "Hottie" Harper Wolfe clear her name without revealing her biggest secret of all?

This series, so far, has been fun. The language is a bit more "colorful" than the usual cozy -- and seemed a bit stereotypical to me, but I don't really know the "drag" world enough to say if that's true. That being said, the characters don't seem stereotypical other than what you get in cozies. There's the protagonist (Vic/Raven/Vicki), the best friend and sidekick (Cory), the love interest (Sheriff Hottie, er, Harper Wolfe), plus secondary characters that inhabit the town.

My only negative at this point is that in the two I've read, "Vicki" is the one who works with the sheriff to solve crimes. I mean, it's Vic, but he must don his "Vicki" persona to do it. It does add a layer of suspense as to whether s/he'll get found out, but it takes away some of Vic's power as the main character (but, I guess it does give Vicki the power...).

There are currently three more books in the series (to date, five total).
26. Shane K Morton - Men, Murder & Makeup (3.5) [B=Career-based] (220609) ** My review **
28. Shane K Morton - Divas, Death & Drag (3.0) [B=Career-based] (220621) ** My review **

Twelve more to go to hit the minimum and 28 weeks (6 months) to get it done. Well, minus the holidays...

In the pipe, save veering here and there and the new additions to my regular series (seemingly coming monthly!)...
** Addison Moore - Murder in the Mix (Lottie Lemon) series
I set this aside at the end of the year when I found the last few I'd read lacking. I'm now seven (!!) behind. I might be picking it up, but???
** Amorette Anderson - Hillcrest Witch series, which I still haven't finished! (And, haven't started the spinoff, Marley the Witch)
** Ada Madison (Camille Minichino) - Sophie Knowles
I'm reading book three now; one more after that.
** Jenn McKinlay's - Library Lovers
(Killer Research; another is due in October)
** Debra Sennefelder - Resale Boutique
Still haven't gotten back to this one.

On to updating (entering!) my GoodRead book list. Ugh!

Your updates are great; definitely helps others get a feel for the book/series.

Arow wrote: "Your updates are great; definitely helps others get a feel for the book/series."

Thank you. Since I don't review everything I read, I tend to put mini reviews here. I think about what might be interesting to readers (including me) perusing my list, hoping it helps yay or nay a series or book.

As a plus, this sort of turns into a book journal (at least for cozies!) for the year.

I like that aspect of yours. I don't review many books and the volume of cozies read means I often are mixing them up.

Back with another update! Some new-to-me authors (off the TBR!) and some new-to-me series from favorite authors. Without further ado...

I started off July (yes, JULY!) with a new-to-me series from Tonya Kappes. The Holiday series is a spinoff of her Campers & Criminals series, which I haven't read.

Violet Rhinehammer wants out of her home town of Normal, KY. She's been working at the local news station and writing for the local paper in hopes of being discovered by a national new network. She finally gets her big break, but things don't go as planned. While on the plane to her big interview -- on St Patrick's Day no less -- she discovers a dead body in the restroom. Now she's grounded, literally, in Holiday Junction by the NTSB and the local authorities while they investigate. She's never going to get to her interview unless the crime gets solved. Using what she learned from the Laundry Club Ladies in Normal, she sets out to do just that.
29. Tonya Kappes - Four Leaf Felony (3.0) [Career, Holiday (St. Patrick's Day)] (220703)
30. Tonya Kappes - Mother's Day Murder (3.0) [Career, Holiday (Mother's Day)] (220703)
In this entry, Violet is still in Holiday Junction. She now works for the local paper. It's Mother's Day and Holiday Junction, a town that hasn't found a holiday it doesn't celebrate, is doing it up big! Violet is covering the festivities. However, that gets impacted when her mother shows up with news that she's divorcing Violet's father. Worse, she starts house hunting. On top of that, her mother then becomes the suspect in a murder. Violet isn't going to let her mother go to jail and investigates.

The mysteries were good, but there were issues. As with other things I've read by Kappes, there is some careless editing (which can be annoying!). And, I'm still trying to decide if I like Violet. I am interested in seeing what she's like in the Campers & Criminals series and may pick that up. I do plan to read subsequent entries to this series. We'll see...

Then it was on to catching up the Kappes' series Killer Coffee. I like this series, but -- as with the Holiday series -- there were editing issues. Plus, there were threads left dangling at the end of the books that were not covered in the next book. Mysteries are solved, but I like things tied up. The negatives are not enough to keep me from reading further entries; I'm still enjoying it overall.
31. Tonya Kappes - Frothy Foul Play (3.0) [Career, Culinary] (220707)
32. Tonya Kappes - Spoonful of Murder (3.0) [Career, Culinary] (220719)
33. Tonya Kappes - Barista Bump Off (3.0) [Career, Culinary] (220722)

Then... an old favorite got a new entry.
34. Mary Jane Maffini- Death Plans a Perfect Trip (3.5) [Career, Travel (Canada, France, Portugal, Spain)] (220729)
This is the sixth book in the Charlotte Adams series. The previous book came in 2011, so I was surprised when this popped up! Charlotte Adams is a professional organizer who helps people organize (duh!) and purge. In this entry, her author mother. Esme, has disappeared and though she's done this before, she's never not called Charlotte at least once a week. Then Charlotte's apartment is ransacked and set on fire, she's being followed, and an old friend of her mother's is killed right after Charlotte visits with her... and she and her fiancé, Jack, are suspects. Charlotte and Jack go in the run to find Esme. This takes them to France, Portugal, and Italy as they dig into Esme's (and Charlotte's) mysterious past. This was actually an action-filled mystery. Charlotte and Jack search for Esme while trying to outwit the people following them in hopes of locating Esme. We get a look into Charlotte's background and learn a little about why she's the way she is. I can't wait for another entry to see what happens nest.

Then, I found out a favorite author has issued new series under new pseudonyms. First up... Two entries in the Haunted Mansion series by Lucy Ness.
35. Lucy Ness - Haunted Homicide (4.5) [Career, Paranormal] (220805) ** My Review **
36. Lucy Ness - Phantoms and Felonies (4.0) [Career, Paranormal] (220809)
This series stars Avery Morgan, newly hire hired manager of the Portage Path Women's Club, a ladies club that has seen better days. Once numbering over 2000, current membership stands at 89 -- most of whom are, well, old to older (one, Gracie, likes to say she's "older than dirt"). Avery has been hired by the board to revitalize and save the ladies club -- and maybe bring it into the 21st century. However, the day she arrives to move in, she finds the club's grand old mansion home is in disrepair -- and there's been a fire! -- and a restorationist has been hired. On her official first day, she finds out the maintenance man has been fired by the current club president, her room is trashed and burgled, and she finds snobby, hoity-toity club president Muriel Sadler dead in the basement. Oh... and, she meets the ghost of a 1920s singer. Said ghost, Clementine (Clemmie) was a young singer when the cellar of the mansion was a speakeasy. She was killed when two guests got into a gun battle. What will day three bring!

I instantly liked Avery. The club ladies are fun and Clemmie is a hoot. Then there's love interest Sergeant Oscar (Oz) Alterman. I love this series and can't wait for more entries.

I caught up the latest Library Lovers entry.
37. Jenn McKinlay - Killer Research (4.0) [Career] (220812)

I hit the challenge minimum (and a bit of "gravy") with a new-to-me author and series (duh!) from my TBR. Two Broomsticks Gas & Grill by Amanda M. Lee. I have a lot of Ms. Lee's series TBRed. I don't know how this one caught my eye, but I'm glad it did. When I started it, I didn't think I'd like it. The family in the book picks at one another, is all up in one another's business, etc., and it felt claustrophobic. After a couple of chapters, however, I really started liking the Protagonist and her Grandfather and I could see the love. Then, I got caught up in the cozy story. I won't say they're 5-star reads, but I really enjoyed them. The series is a spinoff of sorts to Lee's Wicked Witches of the Midwest and related series (Wicked Witches of the Midwest Shorts and Wicked Witches of the Midwest Fantasy series), taking place in the next town over.
38. Amanda M. Lee - Sinfully Delicious (3.5) [Paranormal] (220816)
39. Amanda M. Lee - Caffeinated Calamity (3.5) [Paranormal] (220820)
40. Amanda M. Lee - A Little Slice of Death (3.5) [Paranormal] (220820)
41. Amanda M. Lee - Follow the Crumbs (3.5) [Paranormal] (220821)
42. Amanda M. Lee - Grease the Wheel (3.5) [Paranormal] (220823)
Stormy Morgan left town -- and her beau -- for college and to write novels. She had a best-seller, but her second book didn't do so well. She lost her contract and ran out of money. Now she's renting the apartment above her grandfather's restaurant and waitressing for him while she gets back on her feet. As if things couldn't get worse, she trips over the body of Shadow Hills most hated resident Roy “Axehole” Axe. Even worse, the detective on the case is none other than Hunter Ryan, Stormy’s long time friend and high school beau -- and the only man Stormy has ever loved. She broke his heart when she left. Now Hunter wants to work the case and avoid all things personal with Stormy, even using his current girlfriend as a shield.

Then... Stormy and her cousin, Alice, get drunk and fool around with a Ouiji board and strange things start happening to Stormy. Turns out she follows in her great-grandmother's (her grandfather's mother) footsteps -- she's a witch. Subsequent stories have her trying to hone her powers while helping Hunter solve the murders that she trips upon, while trying to keep her powers a secret from her family and the town. She gets help from the Midwest Witches and from her familiar, a (supposed) gnome shifter named Krankle stuck in the body of a black kitten. While the investigations sometimes take a back seat to the witchy stuff, they've all been good. i can't wait for the next one and I want to read the three "Midwest" series.

Okay... That gets me to the minimum (plus two). YAY!! I finished ahead of schedule. On to the gravy...

The gravy, which started with two stories in the Amanda M. Lee series Two Broomsticks Gas & Grill (noted in the previous post).

The next three are out of order because I was reading two different series on two different devices and wound up bookending one series read with two from another...

I finished Ada Madison's (Camille Minichino) series Sophie Knowles (to date -- though there hasn't been a new entry since 2013 so I'm thinking the four in the series are it.) It both gladdens and saddens me. As mentioned, I read the first two when they were published. I reread them when I decided to pick up the series again. While I liked them, I found the reads to be looooooong... It's not that the books were that long, fewer than 300 pages, or that they were boring. They weren't. For some reason, though, they took me a while to get through. That is, until book 4, which flew by. Books 43 and 45 are the last two books from the series Sophie Knowles (to date).
43. Ada Madison's (Camille Minichino) - A Function of Murder (4.0) [Career] (220824)
45. Ada Madison's (Camille Minichino) - The Quotient of Murder (4.0) [Career] (220828)
Sophies Knowles is a math professor and a puzzle creator. Her logical and puzzle-solving mind help her as he investigates murders around the campus at which she teaches. In the last entry, my favorite in the series -- and that didn't feel like a long read -- has Sophie solving two cases. One of her current students is attacked and badly beaten. It mirrors the case of a student who'd committed suicide 18 years earlier, something Sophie knew nothing about until this attack. She can't get either incident out of her head and sets out to find out more about the dead student and to find out if she'd been murdered. The two mysteries were interesting and well-crafted. So what gladdens me is that I finished the series and it ended on a high note. What saddens me is that the last book has me wanting more. :o( **My Review**

In between the last two Sophies, I finished the latest in Victoria Laurie's Life Coach series.
44. Victoria Laurie - Coached Red-Handed (4.0) [Career] (220827)
I am loving this series! (Though, I kind of hate the cozy cliffhangers!) I fingered the killer the moment the character was introduced, but never figured on the how. I can't wait for the next book.

The next three are also going to be listed out of order. I read the two (to date) in another new-to-me author's series... Tara Lush's Coffee Lovers series. Lana Lewis is back in her home town of Devil's Beach after divorcing her news reporter husband and losing her newspaper reporter job in a downsizing. She's now licking her wounds and running her family's coffee shop, Perkatory. That takes a back seat when her ex-employee is killed right after they had a very public confrontation. The good news is that her old boss at the Devil's Beach newspaper hires her to report on the murder, but can't pay her much. The bad news... she needs to be ruled out as a suspect. Worse news... the chief of police, Noah Garcia, is a hottie and she's sworn off good looking men... I'm enjoying the series so far and look forward to the next-in-series.
46. Tara Lush - Grounds for Murder (4.0) [Career, Culinary] (220903)
48. Tara Lush - Cold Brew Corpse (4.0) [Career, Culinary] (220908)


47. Tara Lush - Give Me Chills (3.5-4) [Career, Culinary] (220906)
Book 47 is sort of a spinoff to the main series. It takes place in the same town as the Coffee Lovers series, but features a different protagonist, Hadley Mortimer. Hadley owns and operates her business, Give Me Chills, an artisan ice cream truck. Hadley meets the gorgeous Zander when he tries her ice-cream and purchases three quarts for his aunt. A few days later, he hires her to make an ice-cream cake for his aunt's wake. She loved the ice-cream he brought her, but passed away suddenly. While delivering the cake, Hadley overhears two people talking about murder -- and the victim... Zander's aunt. Hadley and Zander team up to find the culprits and bring them to justice.

I know it would be hard having two different series set in the same town, but I so hope we get more of Hadley and Zander. Right now it's sort of an introduction to her series, but is listed as a novella in the Coffee Lover's series.

I round out this update with two books from Mimi Granger. The Love is Murder series stars Lizzie Hale as the owner of a romance bookstore. While she loves all things romance, her love life is anything but romantic. She gets itchy when someone shows an interest in her. She stumbles over her words and falls back on what she knows to cover small talk -- romance books. As her BFF, Brynn, tells her, no man wants to hear about romance and HEAs on a first date -- and Lizzie rarely gets a second one.

Anyway... in the first book, Lizzie finds the victim when she tries to return the credit card he left at her store. Who would want to kill the town's favorite son? Lizzie can't keep herself from investigating. Her cousin, Josh is a town cop. Because his chief is laid up, he brings in local park ranger (and ex baseball player) Max Alverez to assist. Next to romance, baseball is one of Lizzie's passions. While Max make her arm itch, she finds herself working with him to solve the case. Rounding out the main characters is Lizzie's aunt (Josh's mother), Charmaine, who works with Lizzie at the bookstore. Oh... and Lizzie inherits Violet, the victim's dog when she takes her home the night of the murder.
49. Mimi Granger - Death of a Red-Hot Rancher (3.5) [Career] (220912)
50. Mimi Granger - Murder of a Mail-Order Bride (3.5) [Career] (220917)
While I'm enjoying the series, there are some threads left hanging. The mysteries are solved, but what happened to this sub-story... I dislike loose threads. Plus, I'm hoping we get more backstory on Lizzie. Why did she open her store in the little town? Where are her parents? Does she have other family? Etc...

Lucy Ness (books 35-36) and Mimi Granger (books 49 and 50) are pseudonyms for Constance Laux who writes romance, young adult, and mysteries under various pseudonyms. While I haven't read any of her romance or YA, I have enjoyed her mysteries. I've read or started most of her series under her various names. You can't go wrong with any of them.
* Miranda Bliss - Cooking Class
* Casey Daniels - Pepper Martin LOVE(D) THIS SERIES!
* Mimi Granger - Love is Murder Liking this so far...
* Anastasia Hastings - Dear Miss Hermione coming in 2023, TBRed
* Kylie Logan - Button Box LOVE(D) THIS SERIES -- Chili Cook-off -- Ethinic Eats -- Jazz Ramsey -- League of Literary Ladies I had a slow start with the first book in this series, but once I got into it, I wound up really enjoying it and the rest of the series (to date).
* Lucy Ness - Haunted Mansion Liking this so far...

This brings me to 50! YAY! More gravy to come.

Now to update my GR list of reads and the boards. ("Soon," she says, putting it off...). I hope they don't ask for captchas after every entry this time. :o/

Adding more gravy...

And -- DRUM ROLL!! -- I've hit the B goal of the challenge!!! This is the first time I've done that since "B" was introduced. I started a new-to-me series and author not realizing it was set in New Zealand. Out-of-US... CHECK! They were crafting-related as well, but OoUS was more important so I followed them up with an old "crafty" favorite. To the update...

I decided at the end of last year to fluke Addison Moore's Murder in the Mix series. While the mysteries are okay and I like the main characters, I was getting tired of the secondary characters and their antics (and bullying). At the time I was four behind. Four more joined in 2022. I don't know if absence makes the heart grow fonder or the antics have been toned down a bit, but I enjoyed catching up and I'm looking forward to new additions -- at least at this point. I'm still not a fan of bio-mom Carlotta and the secondary characters still bully Lottie and there's still a secondary story fiasco carrying on, but I still like the main characters and the mysteries.
51. Addison Moore - Apple Fritter Fright (4.0) [B=Culinary; Career; Paranormal (Psychic/Ghost); Animal (Fox)] (221018)
52. Addison Moore - Vampire Brownie Bite Bereavement (4.0) [B=Culinary; Career; Paranormal (Psychic & Vampire)] (221021)
This is a crossover with characters from Moore's cozy series Hot Flash Homicides (Glimmerspell || Billie Buttonwood). Lottie usually deals with beloved dead pets, but the beloved "dead" in this is a vampire (undead??). I don't mind series that revolve around fae, vampires, werewolves, witches, etc., but I wasn't happy that Moore shared that "world" with Lottie's. I see those more as fantasy and, as outlandish as Lottie's life gets, it makes the Murder in the Mix world less believable. The mystery was good, but not "real," if you know what I mean. And though I liked the characters, it didn't make me want to rush into reading the Glimmerspell series. It's TBRed, but I don't know when I'll get to it.

53. Addison Moore - Pumpkin Roll Reckoning (4.0) [B=Culinary; Career; Paranormal (Psychic/Ghost); Animal (Raccoon)] (221022)
54. Addison Moore - Cookie Exchange Execution (4.0) [B=Culinary; Career; Paranormal (Psychic/Ghost)] (221022)
55. Addison Moore - Heart-Shaped Confection Deception (4.0) [B=Culinary; Career; Paranormal (Psychic/Ghost); Animal (Dog: Labrador)] (221026)
56. Addison Moore - Birthday Cake Bloodshed (3.0) [B=Culinary; Career; Paranormal (Psychic/Ghost); Animal (Pony)] (221028)
57. Addison Moore - Cream Puff Punishment (3.0) [B=Culinary; Career; Paranormal (Psychic/Ghost); Animal (Dog: fluffy furball??)] (221030)
58. Addison Moore - Last Rites Beignet Bites (3.0) [B=Culinary; Career; Paranormal (Psychic/Ghost); Animal (Falcon)] (221107)
This is a crossover with Moore's Cruising Through Midlife (Trixie Troublefield) series. Turns out that Murder in the Mix hottie Everett has a lookalike cousin, Ransom Baxter, who is a character in the Midlife series, thus tying the two series together. The good news is that this crossover did NOT turn me off wanting to read that series. My only negative -- at this point without having read any of the books -- is that it appears to mirror the plot lines of the Murder in the Mix series. As with Moore's others, it's TBRed. Chances are, however, this will be my next Moore mystery series.

59a. Lorna Barrett - Clause of Death (3.0) [B=Career] (221211) [Booktown series]
I'm still angry about events in the last book, but still hope it breathes new life into the series. They've brought a charater introduced a few books ago into town as, I beleive, a love interest for main character Tricia. Tricia is still a bit wishy-washy in this story. There wasn't a lot of "investigation" and the solution came minutes before the climactic finish when the last clue was dropped. The book didn't turn me off reading the next.

59b. Lawrence Block - The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown (3.0) [B=Career] (221212) [Burglar/Bernie Rhodenbarr series]
I was so excited to see t a new addition to Block's Burglar/Bernie Rhodenbarr series was published. I'm listing it because it's part of what I think of as a cozy series -- even if it stars a bookseller/burglar -- but I can't count this toward my challenge numbers. Block knocks the series for a loop and uses a sci-fi author Fredric Brown "multiverse" convention to move Bernie and BFF Carolyn to an alternate universe where security cameras aren't on every corner and Amazon and eBay don't exist. There's murder, but Bernie really doesn't do any real investigating -- and we really don't get a satisfying solution anyway -- and it doesn't matter because Bernie and Carolyn return to their universe where no murder took place (at least not a Bernie-involved one). To me it really was more of an author's writing exercise than it was a mystery. I loved catching up with my old friends, but...

On to a new-to-me author, Tracey Drew and her Knitty Kitty series. The series stars Tessa Wakefield, a former guidance counselor, who returns to her home town, Cape Discovery, after finding out her partner was cheating on her. She moves in with her recently widowed grandfather (and former cop), Harry and takes over his yarn store. Her other family members and customers serve as secondary characters. There are, as with a lot of cozy series, two love interests for Tessa, a local bar owner and the homicide detective. A plus for me is that the action takes place in New Zealand -- score for the Out-of-US cateogry!!
60a. Tracey Drew - Balls and Bones (3.0) [B=Career; Out-of-US (New Zealand); Crafting (Knit/Crochet); Animal (Cats)] (221213)
This serves as a prequel of sorts to the series and is only 40-some pages. While it's a complete story and I'm listing it, I won't count it as a full entry for challenge purposes. In this, Harry's wife, Nana Dee-Dee is alive. She and the recently-returned Tessa, with the help of Nana Dee-Dee's cats, stumble upon a murder. I wasn't sure after reading this if I'd continue with the series or not. The action takes place from the point of view of black cats Kit (male) and Pearl (female). The "twins" are the only survivors from their litter and were rescued by Nana Dee-Dee as kittens shortly after their mother was killed. In this, they have thoughts and conversations with one another and try to get "their humans" to understand them (in a "Lassie" kind of way). We're privy to human conversations the cats witness. I wasn't sure I'd want to keep reading cat thoughts. However, that hasn't continued in the books I've read. I think the prequel helps readers understand that the cats are active participants in solving the crimes and have a hand in protecting and/or saving "their humans." So, for example, when Pearl picks up a shiny thing at a crime scene, it more than likely will be a clue later on. It's a cute, fun series. I'll continue reading it (only five to date) in the new year so it can be my OoUS next year, too. :o)

60b. Tracey Drew - Knitted and Knifed (3.5-3) [B=Career; Out-of-US (New Zealand); Crafting (Knit/Crochet); Animal (Cats)] (221215)
61. Tracey Drew - Purled and Poisoned (3.5-3) [B=Career; Out-of-US (New Zealand); Crafting (Knit/Crochet); Animal (Cats)] (221218)

Finally, to date anyway, since I'm using the Knitty Kitty series for the out-of-county category, I returned to a series I started years ago to hit the "crafting" category (the only one left to hit the B goal), Laura Childs' Scrapbooking series. I'd read four before getting distracted by other reads. The series is set in New Orleans and stars Carmela Bertrand and BFF Ava Grieux. Both own shops on the fringes of the French Quarter -- Carmela, scrapbooking/papercrafting store Memory Mine and Ava, voodoo shop Juju Voodoo. Rounding out the main cast are Shamus Meechum, Carmela's rich and soon-to-be ex (?? they're still emotionally connected and continually working on a settlement), and Detective Edgar Babcock (another love interest for Carmela). Secondary characters include the ladies who hang out at Carmela's shop, Shamus' snotty and snobby older sister Glory, restaurateur Quigg (would-be third love interest for Carmela), and friend Jekyl Hardy, an antique dealer who also designs and builds floats for the multitudes of parades that happen in New Orleans. The books contain tips on creating scrapbook pages and other papercrafting as well as recipes for some of the food the characters cook/bake and/or eat.
62. Laura Childs - Frill Kill (3.0) [B=Career; Crafting (Scrapbooking/Papercrafting)] (221220)
63. Laura Childs - Death Swatch (3.0) [B=Career; Crafting (Scrapbooking/Papercrafting)] (221222)

I don't know how much more reading I'll get in before the end of the year, but YAY ME!! I've hit both challenge goals -- barely -- and then some. Phew!

Congrats! Great job and some great books on your list!

Yvonne wrote: "Congrats! Great job and some great books on your list!"

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I am so excited that I hit the "B" version. I look forward to 2023's challenge.

Just finished inputting the last five to six months' reads -- or a lot of them, anyway; I don't list everything I read. That kept me from finishing a cozy (or any book, really) today (at least I don't think I will finish one in the next hour or so). Maybe I should make a resolution to update more frequently.

So... This is my complete cozy list for 2022.