Sweet Tea and Secrets (A Tea and Read Mystery #2)

Author:  Joy Avon
Genre:   Mystery

Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN:  9781643850238
Crooked Lane Books
$26.99; $12.99 Amazon
June 11, 2019

✮✮✮✮

Last Christmas, Callie Aspen left her tour guide job and settled in Heart's Harbor, Maine.  Now, she helps out at Book Tea, her great aunt's vintage tearoom, where each treat has a bookish clue.  Though she's excited to start her new life, Callie worries she may regret having burned her bridges behind her.  Fortunately, she finds immediate distraction in the preparations for a spectacular Fourth of July tea party, which will recreate moments from the town's rich history.

Intrigued to learn that 1980s TV star Monica Walker was last seen in Heart's Harbor before she vanished - allegedly to elope - Callie probes the townsfolk for information.  She's stunned when several locals share contradictory stories about the last day before Monica's disappearance.  Did she intend to leave her hit TV series?  Was she being stalked by her ex?  And why is the newspaper editor who investigated the stroy at the time so anxious about the cold case heating up?

When one of the talkative townspeople turns up dead, Callie aims to catch the killer.  But it's no picnic: Deputy Falk doesn't want her meddling, and the locals suddenly know more about the past than they'd been at liberty to admit.  If Callie and the Book Tea crew can't crack the case, they'll pay a very steep price.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Callie Aspen has left her job as an international tour guide and returned home to Heart's Harbor, Maine, to help her aunt Iphy run Book Tea, the tearoom her aunt owns.  She's having a little trepidation about it, though, especially when she sees the cottage her aunt has rented for her.  From the outside, it appears a bit of a disaster, but Iphy assures her that she's put an ad in town for a handyman, and things can be fixed.

They also discover a man outside the home measuring things, and when Callie confronts him, he identifies himself as Quinn Darrow, says he saw the ad and decided to come and look at the place.  When he offers a very good estimate, Callie hires him.  While still at the cottage, Iphy mentions how Callie needs to help plan the Fourth of July celebration, and adds that Quinn can help her, which he readily agrees to.  But when Quinn and Callie go to the town's archives, he steers her toward an old cold case that he thinks will be a hit with the townspeople.

Callie's also having questions about whether she made the right decision to move when Deputy Falk, whom she had (and still does) an attraction to when she was home in December now seems to be aloof to her and keeping his distance.  She's wondering if maybe he's regretting her coming back.

In 1989 an actress disappeared into thin air after arriving in Heart's Harbor, and no one knew if she left on her own, with someone else, or was murdered.  After Callie and Quinn question a local regarding the case, that person is murdered.  Now Callie wonders if Quinn was involved, and so does Deputy Falk.  When Quinn's caught in several lies, Callie wants to know what his connection is to the case.  But when she starts investigating to find a killer, she sees that things not only aren't always as they seem, but sometimes the truth can be closer than you think...

I read the first in the series and while I felt it was a decent enough beginning, I have to say that I liked this second one so much better.  The mystery was done very well, with clues strewn about here and there, yet not overt at all; Callie is having doubts about her move, which is natural, and she's finding her way with Deputy Falk which might not be as difficult as she at first thinks.

Callie shows that she is a strong woman who is willing to compromise, and she's smart, serious, and willing to see all sides of a situation before she acts.  She doesn't put herself into untenable situations or do stupid things, and I really like that.  She can keep secrets if need be, and that shows integrity - which I have always found important in a person.

When the ending comes and the murderer is revealed, I really enjoyed the scene.  It was a bit surreal in a way, and that made it all the better.  The killer came as a bit of a surprise, even as there were, as I mentioned before, clues aplenty; still it was done nicely and all the ends were woven together well.  We are given a clue as to where the next book will go, a bit of a teaser, as it were.  I thoroughly enjoyed this one.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Tea-Secrets-Read-Mystery/dp/1643850237/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2763178382

More on Joy Avon's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/a/joy-avon/

Blackberry Burial (A Berry Basket Mystery #2)

Author:  Sharon Farrow
Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781496704887
Kensington Publishing
320 Pages
$7.99; $3.99 Amazon
October 31, 2017

✮✮✮

As owner of The Berry Basket, Marlee Jacob has learned a thing or two about surviving the summer tourist season in Oriole Point.  So she gladly agrees to help run the annual road rally in honor of the local Blackberry Art School's centenary celebration.  While alumni arrive from around the country, Marlee hopes the expansive Sanderling farm will make an appropriate starting point for the race - despite rumors that the land is cursed...

But when Marlee surveys the property, she stumbles upon a long-dead body hidden in the bramble.  It's a horrifying mystery to everyone except her baker, who's convinced the skeletal remains belong to a former student who had gone missing twenty years earlier.  As the Fourth of July activities heat up, Marlee must rush to catch an elusive murderer - before the next 'blackberry victim' is ripe for the picking!

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Marlee Jacobs owns The Berry Basket, a store centered around berries (obviously) in Oriole Point, Michigan.  She's helping Piper Lyall-Pierce with the Blackberry Road Rally; the person who owns the land where they were going to start has backed out and they need a new place, so with Marlee's suggestion of using the Sanderling place, the two of them - along with Piper's Great Dane - head out to see if it will be suitable.  But when they arrive, the Great Dane escapes and heads to the woods, with Marlee in chase.  But when she finds him, he's digging at something and she sees that he's unearthed a skeleton.  With a call to the police, they're stuck where they are for the moment.

After returning to town, it's not long before the remains are identified - by an unlikely source - and the hunt is on for who buried the woman in the woods and why.  As Marlee starts to dig for answers, she doesn't realize that the closer she gets the more some people are noticing, and one of them wants her out of the way...permanently...

While I really wanted to like this book, I found myself rolling my eyes several times.  Some scenes were just unbelievable.  When her friend Natasha leaves a Yorkie puppy at Marlee's shop (in Natasha's handbag), somehow the little dog escapes and manages to terrorize the people in the shop.  A Yorkie puppy?  A Yorkie?  Really?  Also, this tiny thing also manages to jump into the display window.  Are Marlee's windows only a foot off the ground?  Because the ones I've seen are higher than that, and a puppy couldn't jump into them.  I also have to note that the dogs portrayed in this book are not trained.  They do whatever they want with the owners merely accepting it.

Marlee's also not the brightest bulb in the box.  At one point she asks one of the detectives if they think more bodies were buried in the woods.  Is this place a hot spot for murders to get rid of bodies?  Find one, there must be more?  Just bring your unwanted bodies to Oriole Point and dump them in the woods!  Honestly?  She's also unlikable as a person, and invasive in asking questions of people.  She walks right up to them and wants answers, like she thinks she's a police officer.  Her boyfriend Ryan is just as unlikable, and he never spends any time with her; he seems awfully controlling.

Then there's the fact that somehow Marlee's driving can rival Jeff Gordon's.  It's a wonder she's not out on the track along with Danica Patrick.  Another eye roll.  It's amazing no one was thrown, no one was hurt.  Not realistic.

In the end, the mystery was just so-so; probably because I got tired of Marlee's behavior.  Maybe I expected a better reason for her to involve herself in the investigation, I don't know.  But the book just never drew me in the way others do.  However, I try to give authors the benefit of the doubt, and will read the third in the series before I decide whether to continue on with it or not.

Also, as a bit of trivia in response to something Dean mentioned in the book as to Goya's Naked Maja (which was actually titled The Nude Maja and is coupled with another Goya painting, the Clothed Maja; the Naked Maja was a film based on it) her identity is unknown.  The film took liberties to showcase Ava Gardner.

https://www.amazon.com/Blackberry-Burial-Berry-Basket-Mystery/dp/1496704886/ref=

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2721996645

More on Sharon Farrow's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/f/sharon-farrow/

Fireworks in Paradise (A Tj Jensen Mystery #8)

Author:  Kathi Daley
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Trade Paperback; Digital Book; Audiobook
ISBN #:  9781635112580; 9781635112559
Henery Press Publishing
242 Pages
$31.75. $15.95; $6.99 Amazon
October 10, 2017

✮✮✮✮

While on vacation in South Carolina, Tj Jensen receives a call that her father has been left in a coma after a devastating car crash.  Back home in Paradise Lake, Tj learns the accident that killed family friend Judge Harper and left her father clinging to life wasn't an accident at all -- someone cut their brake lines.  To make matters worse, her friend and police contact, Deputy Roy Fisher, is working with a new partner who has no intention of letting Tj anywhere near the case.  Facing an investigation more explosive than the annual fireworks show, Tj enlists the help of her best friends to unravel the mystery, all the while navigating a new romance and the thought her father may never wake up.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Tj's on vacation in South Carolina when she receives a call telling her that her father's been in a car accident and might not make it.  Hurrying home, she discovers he's in a coma, and Judge Harper, who was driving, was killed.  She also discovers it wasn't an accident - the brake lines were cut; meaning someone wanted the judge to die...

Roy Fisher, deputy assigned to the case, has no problem with Tj's help in solving it, since she's helped him many times before.  But this time is different - he has a new partner who wants nothing to do with 'civilians' and threatens to report Roy if he allows Tj and her friends near the case.

But Tj isn't giving up.  After all, he father was nearly killed, so this hits close to home.  When Tj and Kyle, her new boyfriend, start investigating on the sly, they discover that the judge was looking at several old cases that weren't resolved the way he thought they should be, and wanted to reopen them again.

Could any of these people have caused the accident?  If so, she's got her work cut out for her, since she also has to help run her family's resort for the Fourth of July weekend and worry about her father until he's out of danger.  But will she discover the truth before the new deputy - Kate - discovers what's going on and arrest her for obstruction?

While I enjoyed the book for the most part, I don't understand why anyone would tell the new detective that Tj investigated crimes.  She's not a PI, not a police officer, so really she has no business doing so at all.  Yet her friends - and Roy - seem proud of that fact and naturally, it rankles the new detective.

Secondly, I didn't like Kate at all.  She's too hard-nosed to be a police officer.  She has no compassion, understanding or humor in her, and she seems like the type of person that would arrest someone for sneezing in her direction.  She's ungrateful to boot.  Not a nice person and I couldn't see any redeeming qualities for keeping her in future storylines.

Aside from that, there were several subplots going on at the same time - the Fourth of July festivities, Tj's new relationship with Kyle, and family drama, along with trying to find out who the murderer is.  There's no lack of suspects, and Tj has plenty of help from townspeople to get any information she might need.

When we finally discover who the murderer is, there is no sympathy for the killer.  In fact, one feels he pretty much deserved everything that happened to him.  While this book was more family centered than mystery centered, it was still an interesting way to spend an evening.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Fireworks-Paradise-Tj-Jensen-Mystery/dp/1635112583/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2170851963

More on Kathi Daley's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/kathi-daley/

Oh Say Can You Fudge (A Candy Coated Mystery Book 3)

Author:  Nancy Coco
Genre:  Mystery

Four Stars

It's the Fourth of July on Mackinac Island without fireworks and fudge.  The Historic McMurphy Hotel and Fudge Shop is supplying the treats--and Allie has hired Rodney Rivers, the biggest name in aerial displays, to create an unforgettable spectacle.

Unfortunately, Allie finds him dead, covered with screaming chicken fireworks, just before the entire warehouse of pyrotechnics goes up in smoke.  Is it arson or murder?  Allie and her bichonpoo, Mal, must sift through the suspects until the killer is caught and the island can enjoy a star-spangled celebration,

********

Allie McMurphy runs the McMurphy Hotel and Fudge Shop, as well as makes the fudge.  She's preparing for a riotous Fourth of July with the help of her employees, and is also responsible for coordinating the fireworks this year.  When she receives several strange calls from her pyrotechnist. Rodney Rivers, and sets out to find him at the warehouse, she arrives and finds that the warehouse is booby-trapped and barely makes it out before everything explodes.  When her dog, Mal, finds another suspicious fire soon after, she begins to believe that the warehouse wasn't an accident.  

As the set fires begin to escalate, and Allie herself is eventually injured in the process, she has more to worry about.  She needs to find replacement fireworks, someone to detonate them, and wonders who is setting them off and why, even as she is warned to stay out of the investigation.

For the most part, I liked the book and thought it was light, even enjoyable, reading.  Then why the lack of a star?  Well, it quickly began to grate on my nerves that Allie was describing every single thing everyone in the book was wearing, every single time we encountered them, right down to their bedclothes.  Really?  I need to know what type of pajamas her father wears?  I expect to encounter this in say, a Regency novel, where clothes were extremely important, but not in a mystery.

The second was that she took Mal everywhere.  Yes, I understand that Mal was a big part of the book, but it appears she is the only dog on the island.  Nowhere is it mentioned that anyone else has a pet, and the only other animal mentioned in the book is the new-found cat.  I also didn't agree with the idea of bringing animals to fireworks displays.  They are frightening for animals, and Allie needs to learn that sometimes it is kinder if you leave your pets home.  She also isn't able to control Mal.  She either needs a stronger leash or Allie herself needs some serious wrist-training.  This is a bishonpoo, not a Great Dane.  She should be able to hang onto the leash of one very small dog, but for some reason, she can't.  Mal escapes constantly.  (I owned a Cocker Spaniel, and she never escaped from me one time.)   But, to be fair, if Mal didn't escape, Allie might not find herself in some of the positions she got herself in - all the more reason for a stronger leash (ha).  And the last thing that bothered me is the fact that every single (younger) woman is gorgeous, and all the men are hot.  At least to Allie.

Aside from these three things, the book has a comfortable feel to it.  It's one of those books you can read on a lazy afternoon without thinking too hard about whodunit and know that in the end, everything will come out alright.  And it does.  Recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Say-Can-Fudge-Candy-coated-Mystery/dp/0758287143/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1272764684

Independence Slay

Author:  Shelley Freydont
Genre:  Mystery

Five Stars

With Independence Day fast approaching, Liv Montgomery is swamped with coordinating one of the town's biggest festivals.  In addition to the traditional July Fourth events, the town stages a spooky Revolutionary War reenactment that can't be missed.  Every year, the ghost of local war hero Henry Gallantine - played by his eccentric descendant of the same name - appears at the top of the family mansion, kicking off the night's revelries.

But Henry's annual cameo goes awry after the ghost signals SOS instead of his traditional cue.  When Liv rushes to the rescue, she finds Henry missing and a real dead body instead of a fake haunt.  Now she will have to hunt down both a murderer and a missing person quickly before unwanted political fireworks ignite and someone else winds up as local history...

********

Liv Montgomery moved from Manhattan to Celebration Bay, where she works as the town's event planner.  It sounds like an easy job, but it isn't.  Especially when, while watching the July Fourth battle reenactment with her assistant Ted, both notice that there is an SOS signal coming from the top of the Gallantine mansion, which holds the festivities outside every year.  When they rush to find out why there was an SOS, they find instead a dead body on one side of the parapet, and on the other, a very scared, huddled teenager, Leo, who is holding the murder weapon.

Both Ted and Liv agree that Leo, who is 'a gentle soul,' could not possibly have committed the murder.  But when he insists that "the ghost did it," everyone is puzzled.  While Liv's instincts tell her to stay out of it, she is asked by Leo's friend Roseanne to help him, and soon the other town residents are hinting at it too.  So Liv finds herself smack dab in the middle of the murder investigation, all the while trying to find a place for Leo to stay, and get her friend Chaz (who runs the local newspaper whenever he feels up to doing so) to help clear Leo from suspicion.  While no one really believes Leo is the killer, they do know that someone was murdered, and that the killer could also come after Leo.

This was actually a lot of fun to read.  Although it started out slow - I really didn't get too interested until after the murder was committed - it picked up really fast after that.  There is enough going on with the secondary characters - retired schoolteachers Ida and Edna (Liv's landladies), Chaz, Bill, and even Hildy, Henry's housekeeper, that you become immersed in the town and its residents.  While Liv doesn't exactly dig for clues, they seem to find their way to her, and Sheriff Bill Gunnison just rolls his eyes and threatens to lock her up if she doesn't stop it.  (An idle threat, of course).

With one occurrence rolling into another, and all connecting together somehow, this is a really fun and quick read.  I intend to 'backtrack' to the first in the series so I can get to know everyone better.  I think you'll find it enjoyable.

http://www.amazon.com/Independence-Slay-Celebration-Bay-Mystery/dp/0425252566/