This Murder Is Nacho Business

Author:    D.C. Owens

Genre:     Mystery

Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:   9798989867226

Gearspin Press 

267 Pages

$11.95; $2.99 Amazon

June 25, 2025

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Nachos, pie, murder, oh my!  

Losing her engineering job in the 1983 oil bust?  Rough.  Moving back to her Texas Hill Country hometown to help out at the family cafe?  Unexpected.  Getting tangled up in a murder investigation involving nachos, pickles, and nosy Main Street neighbors?  Definitely not on Josie Barbosa's to-do list.

Back in quirky Andorra Springs, Josie's helping out at her family's cafe, testing pie recipes and supporting her dad's latest culinary brainstorm: ready-to-serve nachos.  But when a fellow Main Street business owner turns up dead -- just hours after a heated public spat with her dad -- suddenly the local gossip is spicier than a jalapeno biscuit.

Armed with her analytical brain, a healthy dose of sarcasm, and her best friend Liz -- a tougher-than-nails rancher with a flair for the dramatic -- Josie sets out to clear her dad's name.  But between secretive shopkeepers, a charming wine bar owner, a suspiciously serene garden guru, and the big time BBQ family down the street, this sleepy little town is looking more and more like a murder buffet.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

It's the 1980's, before cell phones and the Internet, and Josie Barbosa is a scientist who's just lost her job in the oil industry.  So, she's back home in the Hill Country of Texas, helping her dad in his cafe and watching him create new foods for the market.  But things take a dark turn when his business neighbor in town is murdered, and suddenly her dad George is the main suspect.  

Josie isn't about to allow her dad to be railroaded for something he didn't do.  Along with her best friend Liz, she's bound and determined to investigate on her own and find the killer, even if it means putting herself in danger.  But will the business owners cooperate with her?  Or worse, is one of them the murderer?...

First off, I have to admit that my son lives in Fredericksburg, half of my family is from Texas, so I know the Hill Country well.  In this book, I have no complaints about the descriptions thereof.  What I didn't like: What does Josie look like?  There are no descriptions (or if there are, I missed It).  Where is her mother?  Is her dad widowed or divorced?  Does she have any other siblings?  No mention is ever made.  I also didn't get how Josie and Liz are constantly telling each other how much they love each other (got it?), and calling each other by names that one would use for their significant other (which they are not).  Plus, Josie was very pushy in her investigation, practically accusing everyone of murder.  It's a wonder anyone would even talk to her a second time.

Don't get me wrong: just because I point out what bothers me doesn't mean I didn't like the book.  It started slowly, but soon got my attention, and I enjoyed reading it very much.  Since this is a first book, it's easy to miss those details I mentioned above.  

The book had a good mystery to solve, and Josie is a likeable character.  In fact, so are most of the other characters.  It's good to travel back in time once in a while, when people had to meet face-to-face to enjoy each other's company.  I really liked that about this book.  I thought the close relationship between the two women to be plausible, and it's obvious that Josie loves her dad; being attached at the hip to my own father, I can understand that.

The author has done a good job of plotting a murder, and keeping the ending a secret.  I appreciate this, as like others who read mysteries, we want to try ourselves to find the killer before the protagonist does.  In this case, I figured it out the same time as Josie, and that's a big plus in itself.  The climax was done well, and there are even a few recipes at the back that sound delicious.  I truly enjoyed immersing myself in this book and look forward to the next in the series.  Recommended.

I was given an advance copy of this book from Book Sirens, but this in no way influenced my review.  

https://www.amazon.com/This-Murder-Nacho-Business-Owens-ebook/dp/B0FCZFQBMD/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7706960491

More about D.C. Owens:    https://www.amazon.com/stores/D.C.-Owens/author/B0FD9MTT7M?ref

Murder at the Scottish Games

 A Scottish Shire Mystery Book 7

Author:    Traci Hall

Genre:     Mystery

Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781496754677

Kensington Cozies

304 Pages

$17.95; $9.99 Amazon

November 25, 2025

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Highland Games have taken over the quaint seaside village of Nairn, Scotland -- and the life of sweater shop owner, knitting enthusiast, and busy single mom Paislee Shaw...especially when a killer enters the competition!

Paislee Shaw is no stranger to managing tricky tangles, but mid-August spins her world into more chaos than she ever could have imagined.  Between her teenage son's moody antics, friends making life-changing decisions, and the looming Nairn Highland Games, evenings with fellow crafts of the Knit and Sip crew are her one escape.  But when she joins the organizing committee, Paislee is instantly plunged into a whirlwind of clashing personalities and scandalous mishaps...

The festivities unravel faster than a dropped stitch when heavy throwing competitor Artie Whittle is accused of cheating -- and his ill-tempered father is found murdered the next day.  With Artie unconscious and pegged as the prime suspect, Paislee and DI Zeffer team up to untangle the truth.  Navigating a cast of unusual suspects -- from jealous judges to grudge-holding locals -- Paislee must weave together clues hidden amidst caber tosses, kilts, and a killer who only plays to win...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Paislee Shaw lives with her son Brody and grandfather in their small town of Nairn, Scotland.  She owns a yarn shop which fortunately is doing well.  Volunteering to help with the annual Nairn Highland games should be easy enough -- that is, until she finds that there is plenty of friction between others involved.  Her employee is dating one of the entrants - Artie Whittle -- but her parents think he's not good enough, though she stays close.  When Artie is accused of cheating in the caber throw, he denies it, and his father Joseph is angered enough to confront the man who accused him.  In fact, Paislee learns later that Artie's father is not only full of anger, he's also a philanderer, and just downright mean.

Which doesn't mean that he should be murdered, but that's exactly what happens -- and Artie is the prime suspect.  Paislee wants to believe him innocent; if not for herself, then for her employee, but who would want to kill him?  As it turns out, many people, including his long-suffering wife.  But would she go that far?  

When DI Zeffer turns up, it turns up feelings in Paislee that she never expected to feel.  It also turns up questions she never wanted to answer, and even questions her son never knew existed.  Now, with the murder first and foremost, Paislee must put her personal feelings aside -- even though she doesn't really want to -- and concentrate on the here and now,  And that means Brody comes first, even at her own cost.

\

But can Paislee find a killer, keep Mack Zeffer at bay, and keep Brody close?  These are questions that need answers, and Paislee is at once confused and determined...if she can find a killer before they strike again...

This is the seventh book in the series and I have loved them all.  The author brings us to Scotland with ease, and describes the surrounding areas, which makes me want to visit.  She also engulfs us in the lives of Paislee, her family, and her close friends; and we find that things are changing; whether it is wanted or not.

As to the murder, there are people to sift through, and they all seem to have secrets of their own that somehow connect them to the dead man.  While Zeffer is looking through his clues and conducting investigations, Paislee is sifting through her own.  

When the ending comes and we finally figure out the identity of the killer, Paislee discovers it also, and it leads to a climax that is worth the wait.  At the end, the epilogue is worth reading the book alone, and I am glad that I was given the chance to do so.

I was given an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review. 

https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Scottish-Games-Shire-Mystery/dp/1496754670/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7701335972

More on Traci Hall's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/traci-hall/