The Book of Candlelight (Secret, Book, and Scone Society #3)

Author:  Ellery Adams
Genre:   Mystery

Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781496712431
Kensington Publishing
304 Pages
$16.99; $12.99 Amazon
January 20, 2020

⭐⭐⭐⭐

As the owner of Miracle Books, Nora Pennington figures all the wet weather this spring is at least good for business.  The local inns are packed with stranded travelers, and among them Nora finds both new customers and a new friend, the sixty-something Sheldon, who starts helping out at the store.

Since a little rain never hurt anyone, Nora rides her bike over to the flea market one sodden day and buys a bowl from Danny, a Cherokee potter.  It'll make a great present for Nora's EMT boyfriend, but the next day, a little rain turns into a lot of rain, and the Miracle River overflows its banks.  Amid the wreckage of a collapsed footbridge, Danny's body lies within the churning water.

Nora and the sheriff both doubt the ruling of accidental drowning, and Nora decides it's time for the Secret, Book, and Scone Society to spring into action.  When another body turns up, it becomes clear that Danny's death can't be blamed on a natural disaster.  A crucial clue may lie within the stone walls of the Inn of Mist and Roses: a diary, over a century old and spattered with candle wax, that leads Nora and her friends through a maze of intrigue - and onto the trail of a murderer...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Nora Pennington owns Miracle Books and lives in a renovated train car.  Her life is simplistic, or at least she thinks it is.  It's been raining incessantly in her small North Carolina town, and people are buying books and the shelf enhancers she has throughout her shop.  When she heads to the local flea market to replenish her supply, she comes across Danny, a Cherokee potter who has the perfect bowl for her boyfriend, EMT Jed.  But she has an accident with her bike on the way home, and the bowl gets chipped.  The next day she intends to take it back to Danny and see if he can repair the chip, but she never makes it.  As she crosses the bridge, she sees a body in the river - Danny.  But Nora doesn't think it's an accidental drowning, and she's determined to find out who - and why - Danny was killed.  Then, when there's a second murder, she knows she needs to act soon, or there might be more on the way...

I felt that the book started out slow, but I'm glad I stayed with it.  I really enjoyed the plot and that's probably because I love 'mysteries within mysteries' and this book certainly had an interesting one.  Intertwined with Danny's death is the discovery of an old diary within the walls of an inn that's being renovated, and Nora is positive that it has something to do with the murder, although she doesn't know how, since Danny never knew the diary existed.  There's also a mysterious person in town that people keep seeing but no one seems to know who may or may not be causing problems; and the appearance of Sheldon, an older man who is staying at the inn but appears in Nora's shop one day and soon becomes her lifesaver.

Then there's the women of the Secret, Book, and Scone Society themselves - four women who have been either physically or emotionally damaged - or both - and hold onto their pain using it as a crutch in their lives.

This is a very good mystery, but it's also a book about damaged and broken women.  Not just women who have been physically or emotionally hurt in one way or another, but women who have not been able to move on from their pasts and learn to be happy.  It does no good to carry your pain, to punish yourself incessantly.  These women refuse not only to trust others, they refuse to trust themselves.  We're all scarred one way or another, either inside or out.  You can't allow it to define your life.  Nora not wanting to get married again isn't because of her scars; it's because of fear.  If she's afraid to trust a man enough to love him completely (and more than you know have had bad marriages and move on to a good one) then that's fear.  She's afraid.  And until she faces her fears, her life will never be whole nor complete.  She's using her scars to hide behind; not just of a reminder of the pain in her life, but a reminder not to ever love completely.   

I know no one who has not suffered in their life one way or another, but they’ve managed to create good lives and be people you want to spend time with.  Therefore, it makes the book rather depressing in part.  (FYI, this isn't the 1940's; men don't look at women as 'damaged goods' anymore, so that argument is patently ridiculous.)

However, I did find the plot intriguing, so much so that I read the book in one sitting, without even bothering to get a second cup of coffee.  That's a very good sign in itself.  I felt the way the two stories were intertwined was done nicely, with twists and turns aplenty.  It made for satisfying read, and I was delighted with the ending.  This book is definitely a must-read, and I will put this series on my 'need to buy the others' list.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Book-Candlelight-Secret-Scone-Society/dp/1496712439/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3169486016

More on Ellery Adams's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/a/ellery-adams/

Dead on the Vine (A Finn Family Farm Mystery #1)

Author:  Elle Brooke White
Genre:   Mystery

Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781643852966
Crooked Lane Publishing
$26.99; $12.99 Amazon
April 26, 2020

⭐⭐⭐

Charlotte Finn never wanted to inherit the family's produce farm - much less plow a heap of money into it.  Her plan is to hammer a great big FOR SALE sign into the farm's fallow furrows -- but Charlotte's sunny hopes of a quick sale succumb to a killing frost when she finds a dead body entwined supine in the tomato vines.  The poor man, it seems, was run through...with a pitchfork?

Now, Charlotte is stuck with running the farm in the midst of a murder investigations.  Charlotte's knowledge of farming is smaller than her bank balance, so she relies on caretakers Joe and Alice Wong and their farmhands.  Can she trust them?  She doesn't know them.  There's also farmer Samuel Brown, who still carries a childhood grudge.  But the case gets personal when Charlotte learns that the victim might have been her own kin -- and seeds of suspicion grow into a fertile field of suspects.

Charlotte turns to the farm's pig to root out the killer.  Soon, the goats, geese, and horse join in, but will Charlotte harvest a murderer - or buy the farm?

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Charlotte Finn inherited her great-uncle's farm - and has no idea what to do with it.  She'd been in advertising, but after a bad ad, she retreated in disgrace.  Things go from bad to worse when the real estate agent she asked to appraise the farm trips over the body of a young man with a pitchfork in his neck.  Now Charlotte and her friends Diane and Beau are stuck there until the sheriff finds a killer.  With plenty of suspects - including the town's bully brothers - Charlotte decides she needs to hurry things along if she wants to decide to keep the farm or not.  But does the killer decide to hurry things along, too, by making sure they're not found out?...

As far as new series go, this is a pretty cute one, with a pig as Charlotte's main 'helper' in solving the murder.  While I'm not big on pigs myself as pets, and I certainly wouldn't allow one to sleep in my bed with me, granted it's a farm so Horse the pig fits right in.

The mystery was done decently, and there were enough red herrings to keep people wondering who the killer was.  I would have liked to have known more about Charlotte's past (if she was in advertising, why was she broke, considering she stated she had her own staff), or even the secondary characters, but there's plenty of time for that in other books.

When the killer was discovered it didn't really come as a surprise, since the clues were there all along, but I liked the plot and the inventive ways the characters came up with to keep the farm running while the murder investigation was being conducted.  It was an enjoyable read that can be done in an afternoon and a nice start to a new cozy series.

https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Vine-Finn-Family-Mystery/dp/1643852965/ref=

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3167928832

More on Elle Brooke White's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/elle-brooke-white/

To Kill a Mocking Girl: A Bookbinding Mystery

Author:  Harper Kincaid
Genre:   Mystery

Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781643853048
Crooked Lane Publishing
$26.99; $12.99 Amazon
May 12, 2020

⭐

Quinn Victoria Caine is back in her quirky town of Vienna, Virginia, starting her new life as a bookbinder in her family-owned, charm-for-days bookshop, Prose & Scones.  With her trusty German Shepard RBG - 'Ruff Barker' Ginsburg by her side, what can go wrong?  Okay, sure, bumping into her ex, Scott, or her former high school nemesis, Tricia, is a drag.  It certainly doesn't help they have acquired the new hobby of shoving their recent engagement in her face every chance they get.  But that doesn't mean Quinn wanted to find Tricia dead in the road.  So why does half the town think she may have done it?

Quinn is determined to find Tricia's killer, even if it means partnering with her cousin-turned-nun, Sister Daria, and Detective Aiden Harrington, her older brother's too-movie-star-handsome-for-his-own-good, best friend.  They believe she's innocent, but of course that doesn't influence the police, who peg her as their prime suspect.  Or, at least until she's poisoned.

But there is no way Quinn is going to stop now.  Vienna is her town and - for better or worse - Tricia was one of their own.  Someone may have killed the mocking girl, but no one's going to stop the notorious QVC.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

First off, I have to say that the blurb is off.  Quinn isn't really suspected of murder, and no one poisons her.  I just wanted to make that clear.

Quinn has returned home, working as a bookbinder in her parents' bookstore after three years overseas teaching English in other countries.  It seems everyone in the town welcomes her back with open arms.  After one of the high school 'mean girls', Tricia, makes a point to show Quinn her engagement ring - from Quinn's ex-boyfriend, Quinn assures her it's fine and she's happy for her.  But when she comes across the body of Tricia, she's suspected of murdering the girl out of jealousy...for a heartbeat only.  Now Quinn thinks she needs to find the real killer so her life can get back to normal...only if she can keep her mind off the hot detective and the real killer doesn't get too close...

I will say that I really, really, wanted to like this book.  The writing is very good, which is why I gave it any stars at all.  But there were things that bothered me:

✻An officer of the law does not accuse someone of murder without proof, nor physically grab a witness to 'haul them in'.

✻Why would Quinn just get up and go out in the middle of the night with her dog (who apparently can tell when a crime is about to be committed but not control their own bladder).  Trained police dogs can search for suspects, but they don't jump out of the police car on their own because they know a crime is occurring.  (Especially since they're kept in the back seat with the windows up, and there's bars between the front and back, so unless the dog was capable of doing a magic act, it would be impossible for the dog to jump out on their own).

✻Everyone kept saying how smart Quinn was, but she thought it was okay to find information then keep it from the police.

✻How did she take pictures with her phone when the police had it and then they didn't give it back to her until the next day?

✻The police would not arrive with lights and siren on just because someone found a piece of evidence.

✻Police dogs are trained to go for a limb, not the throat.  They use all their teeth - both top and bottom - and it rips into the skin because they need to hold on, so if they went for the throat they would probably kill the suspect, which is something the officer does not want to happen.  I also thought it was ridiculous when she said that Reuger would chase criminals on his own.  How did he know?  Did he chase someone running and assume it was a criminal?  So this wasn't believable to me.

Since the author doesn't do her homework as far as how police officers work, I won't be reading any more of these books.  Sorry.

https://www.amazon.com/Kill-Mocking-Girl-Bookbinding-Mystery/dp/164385304X/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3458042100

More on Harper Kincaid's Books:  https://www.amazon.com/Harper-Kincaid/e/B00UB6QP3Y?ref

Botched 4 Murder (A Sophie Kimball Mystery #4)

Author:  J. C. Eaton

Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781496719881
Kensington Publishing
283 Pages
$7.99; $6.87 Amazon
December 18, 2018

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sophie “Phee” Kimball is getting dragged into the drama again at her mom’s Arizona retirement community.  A new board member wants to get rid of two golf course and replace them with eco-friendly parks, and some of the residents are pretty teed off about it.  On top of that, her mother’s book club friend Myrna is being pushed out of the bocce league.  These seniors are serious about winning, and Myrna’s dragging them down.  She’s so bad at bocce, in fact, that when a community member’s dead body is discovered while Myrna’s practicing for a tournament, she assumes it was one of her own errant balls that killed the woman.

But before Myrna can be tossed off the bocce court and into criminal court, the police find an arrow in the victim’s neck.  It looks like this was no accident - and Phee and her investigator boyfriend Marshall will have to team up to bounce a killer into the slammer...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Sophie "Phee" Kimball works as a bookkeeper for a private investigation firm in Arizona, and has recently started dating one of the PIs.  Her mother Harriet, who lives in a retirement community has taken it in her head that this means Phee can cajole her employers to do her bidding. This time out, Phee is roped into attending a meeting at the community because Harriet and her friends are against turning two of the golf courses into parks, which one of the board members is determined to do.  It's no surprise when the meeting turns heated, nor when Phee is hounded to help Harriet convince the other board members to vote 'no' on the proposal.  But when a murder occurs at the retirement community, Phee is once again dragged into the investigation, and finds herself at the beck and call of the seniors, trying to keep them calm and convinced a serial killer is not at large.

When Harriet discovers that Phee's firm is also once again involved in the investigation, Phee knows that unless a killer is found soon, things will only get worse with the seniors and that might mean one of them might be next on the list...

I have to say that I absolutely love reading these books.  Phee moved from Minnesota to Arizona to escape the frigid winters (not that I blame her; it's the same reason I moved from Minnesota to Las Vegas), but unfortunately, she moved a stone's throw from her mother Harriet who drives her crazy and turns her life into chaos every chance she gets.

This time out, the seniors are determined to corner the remaining board members and make them 'see reason' but what ensues is at times quite funny to read.  I love Phee's 'inside thoughts'; she has a gift for sarcasm and wit that's truly delighting, and she's the type of person I'd love to have as a friend (but only if I could sidestep Harriet).  The seniors have a way about them, but I honestly don't know which way, for even though they're humorous, they manage to go over the deep end about almost everything, which gives me a chuckle nonetheless.

Phee's relationship with Marshall is progressing, and he's a tolerant sort (being a private investigator, that's a good thing) because he manages to remain patient when he's around the seniors but is always on top of the investigation - even if Phee doesn't know it herself. 

When we finally discover the truth of the matter, and it all starts coming together, there's a bit of a climax that's definitely engrossing, and makes the entire book worthwhile.  This was an enjoyable book, and I look forward to the next in the series.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Botched-Murder-Sophie-Kimball-Mystery/dp/1496719883/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3156868134

More on J. C. Eaton's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/e/j-c-eaton/

Memories and Murder (A Tourist Trap Mystery #10)

Author:  Lynn Cahoon
Genre:   Mystery

Trade Paperback; Audio CD; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781516103072; 9781515938507
Kensington Publishing
182 Pages
$14.69; $24.01; $5.97 Amazon
November 12, 2019

⭐⭐⭐⭐

It's October in South Cove, California and the locals in the quaint resort seem to be happily pairing of in the lull before the holidays.  Everyone, that is, except for Jill Gardner's elderly aunt, who just dumped her besotted fiancé  - and she won't say why.

When Jill hosts a talk at Coffee, Books, and More on the topic of elder abuse, all that's really on her mind is lunch.  But the topic hits close to home when she discovers Aunt Jackie has been getting mysterious calls.  Jill's certain the caller is a con artist, of course, but her feisty aunt claims to understand this, though she's still shaken - and Harrold's still heartbroken.  Who's behind the scam and why was her aunt targeted?  When a volunteer from the Senior Project is found murdered, Jill's detective boyfriend is on the case - and it soon becomes clear no one is safe when a caller from the beyond becomes a killer in their midst.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

When Jill Gardner, owner of Coffee, Books, and More hosts a meeting that includes the topic of elder abuse, she doesn't expect it to hit close to home.  The speaker, a woman named Paula, can barely keep anyone interested, and Jill knows that Paula needs to be more outgoing.  She also notices that Paula's boyfriend, Ben, treats her badly, but Paula herself doesn't see it. 

But she's also worried about her Aunt Jackie, who has taken to becoming a recluse - only going to work and then home again, and she wonders why Jackie broke her engagement to Harrold without warning.  Jackie won't say, and Jill won't press her.

Then a murder occurs, and it soon becomes apparent that there's more going on than meets the eye.  Jill promises her boyfriend, police chief Greg King that she'll stay out of investigating if he'll help with Aunt Jackie - who has confessed everything to Jill, who's convinced a con artist is at work.

But Jill doesn't realize that there's more going on than meets the eye, and she needs to connect the dots before Jackie gets hurt or someone else gets killed...

I absolutely love this series, and this one doesn't disappoint.  Ms. Cahoon takes the subject of elder abuse and shows us that even the most logical-seeming person can be taken in if the subject is right.  The threads that start out as simple - with a murder on one hand and Aunt Jackie on the other - are slowly woven together to give us a portrait of murder, greed, jealousy, and even pain.  It's an intriguing tale that while rather a quick read still gives us a tale that is delightful itself.

She manages to show us that Jill and Greg's relationship is moving forward, and gives us more information on Deek, the newest employee, and his background.  He's definitely beginning to grow on me and I hope that he sticks around for awhile.  We also have the usual characters of Jill's friend Amy, who is planning her wedding; psychic Esmeralda; and even the mayor, who seems to be suspicious of Greg's intentions (read the book and you'll know why).

All in all, the ending was satisfying with, of course, the discovery of who was the killer and the reasons behind it, and as also expected, South Cove is safe once again - until the next murderer decides to come to town.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Memories-Murder-Tourist-Trap-Mystery/dp/1516103076/ref=

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3156814631

More on Lynn Cahoon's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/lynn-cahoon/

Sealed Off (A Maine Clambake Mystery #8)

Author:  Barbara Ross
Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781496717955
Kensington Publishing
234 Pages
$$6.59; $6.26 Amazon
December 31, 2019

⭐⭐⭐⭐

When the Russian demo team clearing out the mansion discovers a room that's been sealed off for decades, Julia's baffled as to its purpose and what secrets it might have held.  Tensions are already simmering with the crew, but when one of the workers is found murdered, things come to a boil.  With the discovery of another body - and a mysterious diary with Cyrillic text in the hidden room - the pressure's on Julia to dig up a real killer fast.  But she'll have to sort through a pile of suspects, including ex-spouses, a spurned lover, and a recently released prisoner, to fish out one clammed-up killer.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Julia Snowden runs the Snowden Family Clambake Company, along with other family members.  It's October, and soon they'll be closing up for the winter.  There's just a few excursions left to Morrow Island, where it's held and where her family's mansion lies, in the process of being restored by a Russian demolition team that was hired to do the job.

There's trouble brewing, however, between a longtime employee and a recent hire.  Jason Caraway has been with them a long time and Julia hired her boyfriend Chris's brother Terry as a favor.  Terry's an ex-con who recently got out of prison, and it's apparent there's a problem between them - the problem being another employee, Emmy Bailey, a single mother who needs the job.  Just when Julia agrees to fire Terry, a body is found on the island and Terry has disappeared.  Chris has asked Julia to prove his brother innocent, and Julia reluctantly agrees, even if others think he's guilty.  But in doing so, will Julia be putting her own life in danger?

I have read every single book in this series and I have loved them all.  Ms. Ross has a way of bringing you not only to Maine, but to Morrow Island, the surrounding areas, and the characters she writes about.  While we may not like every person, we certainly get to know them.

Julia's elderly cousin Marguerite and her granddaughter Tallulah have come for a visit, with Marguerite's intention to see the mansion once more in her lifetime.  There's also a secondary mystery that I really enjoyed: when the workers discover a sealed-up room in the mansion, it was left exactly the way it was originally when used by its last occupant in 1898.  There are personal belongings, and a diary that proves to be a mystery in itself.  Giving the diary to Marguerite, they're hoping she'll be able to shed light on who the woman was who wrote it.

While I enjoyed the mystery and trying to discover who killed the person and why, I enjoyed the mystery of the diary more.  I'm a sucker for a mystery-within-a-mystery, especially when it concerns something that occurred at least a century or more before.  This one, while not as involved as the main mystery (nor should it be) was still quite fun to watch them solve.

There are plenty of red herrings, and enough suspects to go around; and I found the reason for the murder believable enough to carry the story.  As always, it was well-written with a decent plot, and easy enough to be read in one sitting.  I look forward to the next in the series.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Sealed-Off-Maine-Clambake-Mystery/dp/1496717953/ref=

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3146769773

More on Barbara Ross's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/r/barbara-ross/

Murder in Galway (A Galway Island Mystery #1)

Author:  Carlene O'Connor

Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:  9781496719843

Kensington Publishing

330 Pages

$7.99; $5.99 Amazon
May 2019

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Tara never imagined her introduction to Ireland like this - carrying her mam's ashes to honor her final request: "Tell Johnny I'm sorry...take me home."  She's never met her mam's estranged brother, Johnny Meehan, who owns an architectural salvage business in Galway.  Although Tara is immediately charmed by the medieval city, the locals seem wary of strangers and a gypsy warns her that death is all around.

When Tara arrives at her uncle's stone cottage, the prophesy seems true.  A dead man lies sprawled over the threshold in a pool of blood.  The victim turns out to be Johnny's wealthiest client, and her missing uncle is the garda's number-one suspect.  In trying to find Johnny and solve the crime, Tara uncovers her mam and uncle's troubled past.  But with a desperate killer about, she had better mind herself, or they'll be tossing her ashes in Galway Bay...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

When Tara Meehan goes to Ireland, it's to spread her mam's ashes in the sea and meet her Uncle Johnny for the first time.  But when she arrives at her uncle's cottage, she finds a dead body, and assumes it's him.  When she's later informed that it's instead a wealthy man who was her uncle's client, and that he's suspected of the murder, she doesn't want to believe it.

So she sets about trying to find her uncle and discover who is framing him for murder.  But after a dire warning from a local gypsy, and a threatening message on the side of her uncle's mill, Tara is more determined than ever to find a killer...unless the killer finds her first...

This is the first book in a new series by Carlene O'Connor, who also writes the Irish Village Mysteries.  While I have as yet to read any of them, I still am glad that I read this one.  My feelings toward the book are conflicted, as on the one hand, Ireland seems like a charming place to visit, but on the other hand, the locals seem as if they don't want Americans in their country.  None of the locals - save for Danny, our potential love interest - seem to like Tara being in their midst, and many are quite rude to her.  Also, the characters aren't really fleshed-out, but I am hoping that in later books we learn more about Danny, Tara, and what their and others' lives were like in the past.

That being said, the mystery was decent and kept me interested, and the ending was expected if one is looking for the clues which are throughout.  The only thing I can add is that while I would have liked to have known more about the countryside, the characters, and Tara, perhaps this will be given in future books, and I plan to read the next in the series.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Galway-Home-Ireland-Mystery/dp/149672447X/ref=

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3143582527

More on Carlene O'Connor's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/o/carlene-oconnor/