Cookies and Haunted Screams (A Yummy Bites Cozy Mystery Book 1)

Author:    Ava Zuma

Genre:     Mystery

Hardcover; Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9798353790334; 9798353788362

Clean Tales Publishing

180 Pages

$17.99; $9.99; $2.99 Amazon

September 24, 2022

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When Jess is invited to cater for the grand opening of a new hotel in her small town, she's excited about the opportunity to amaze the guests with her yummy treats.

Her co-workers try to dampen her enthusiasm with talk of the hotel's building being haunted and harboring malevolent spirits.

It seems their worst fears are confirmed when the hotel's owner drops dead in questionable circumstances on the opening day.

Things go from bad to worse for Jess when her treats are taken for cross-examination by the local authorities.

But she knows her treats didn't kill the deceased.

But if they didn't, then who or what did?

Jess will have to overcome her personal fears and domestic distractions and focus her attention on finding a cunning killer.  Or else, her efforts to find the haunted house killer, if unsuccessful, might make her the hunted one with dire consequences.

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Jess, along with her best friend and an employee run the best bakery in town.  Everyone knows it, and when a newcomer enters and wants all of the ginger cookies that she has, she's surprised when he later calls her and asks her to cater treats for the grand opening of his new hotel.  A supposedly haunted hotel that's been vacant and rundown.  So she's not only surprised he renovated it, but also that she's willing to say yes.

Things are running smoothly until later in the evening she hears a scream -- and when she goes to check it out, she finds that someone has just died.  Is the haunting real?  The police don't think so, but they take all that's left of her treats to test them for poison, just to be sure the man didn't ingest it from them.

With her freedom on the line, she's determined to find a killer -- and hope the killer doesn't find her first...

This is the first book in a new series, and I will say that it was indeed different to me, as I have not read anything by this author before.  However, it was an interesting book with a plot line that left Jess to go and discover what she could; her background as an ex-attorney helping her along the way.  When she questioned people, it was almost natural, and did not seem invasive at all, which I always find uncomfortable to read.

Jess is a powerful protagonist -- big-boned and six feet tall, and that would intimidate a lot of people (but not me; I have a six-foot tall daughter-in-law and my son is six-seven).  Still, I can understand first hand how it would feel to be a lot shorter around such a woman.  Fun indeed to read of.

The victim's son asks her for help in discovering who killed his father, and this segues into another story line that comes together with the first; it is delivered easily and seamlessly.  Not to mention that Jess has troubles at home with her own son, and even though it is a secondary subplot, some of the readers can sympathize with her.

In the end, after all her questioning, she begins to put things together which almost become a fatal reaction for Jess, but of course we know it won't be or the series will end as soon as it is begun!  It all begins to make sense, and we discover if the hotel is haunted and who the killer really is.  I enjoyed this quite a bit and will read the next in the series.  Recommended.

I received an advance copy of this book from Clean Tales Publishing and the author but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BB8PCZBB?tag=amberstone81-20

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5006436515

More on Ava Zuma's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/z/ava-zuma/

Safari

Author:  Parnell Hall

Genre:  Mystery

Five Stars

Stanley Hastings on safari?  I don’t think so. Neither did Stanley, until Alice’s small inheritance—coupled with scrimping on a few luxuries like food and rent—allowed them to book a group trip to Zambia. Now the New York PI is hiking with lions, canoeing with hippos, and having close encounters with elephants and giraffes.
It’s a dangerous safari. The leader is a reckless, gung-ho, great white hunter who delights in leaping from the jeep with a hearty “Come on, gang, let’s see where this lion is going!” And a series of bizarre accidents quickly dwindles the group’s numbers. Why was the guide’s young spotter foolish enough to walk under a sausage fruit tree . . . just as one of the huge sausage fruits fell? How did the leaves of a poisonous plant wind up in a tourist’s salad? Are these really accidents?

A stabbing tips the scale. It’s murder, and the only policeman in a hundred miles is a park ranger (whose only murder case was that of an ivory poacher shot dead in plain sight).
It’s up to Stanley to crack the case . . . if he can just avoid being eaten by a lion.

********

Stanley Hastings and his wife Alice are heading for an African Safari.  It seems Alice came into an inheritance and this is what she wants to do with it, and Stanley, never wanting to argue with Alice when she sets her mind to something, just goes along.  Not that he's thrilled about it, but he's willing to go.

Stanley knows things aren't going to go well when he's approached at the airport by a young woman he calls "Lolita," if you get my drift.  Managing to hurry out of that situation, he doesn't know that this is the easiest thing he'll have to worry about on this trip.

Along for the trip are a young married couple; two women Stanley refers to as "Biker Chick #1 and #2; two men, Keith and Jason; an attorney also named Alice, whom he dubs Alice 2; and, of course, the randy Lolita and her "mother." 

Shortly after they begin their African trek, one of the local guides is found dead.  Although everyone is told the death was due to "sausage fruit," Stanley, PI extraordinaire, knows better.  He's seen enough crime scenes to know a murder, although even suggesting that it might have been is scoffed at by everyone.  Especially by the tour owner/guide, Clemson, who insists it was just an accident.  Even so, Stanley isn't sure.  While trying to make the best of the situation and also trying to keep his Alice happy, Stanley treks along on the safari attempting not to think about the man who was killed - until there's another death.  At this point Stanley knows his instincts were right even if no one else will believe him, so he keeps his ideas to himself, while doing a little investigating on his own.

Although he's trying to openly stay out of the investigation, he's somewhat being pushed into it by Alice (who insists she's not telling him anything but tells everyone proudly that he's a private investigator), he just wants to enjoy the rest of his vacation - until Clemson asks for his help in finding the killer.  Clemson is now convinced that it has to be one of the tourists, and wants Stanley to discreetly question them in the hopes someone will let their guard down.  Now officially involved, Stanley has to try and find a killer before he becomes the next victim.

This is a very funny book.  There were several points where I just started laughing outright.  Poor Stanley being cornered by a younger woman while his wife is nearby was just too funny for words.  His inner thoughts are better than anything that actually comes out of his mouth, and I found this not only delightful, but the mystery was very, very good.  A highly recommended read that I am sure others will enjoy.

http://www.amazon.com/Safari-Stanley-Hastings-Parnell-Hall/dp/1605986372/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1053215419