Death of a Russian Doll (A Vintage Toy Shop Mystery Book 3)

Author:  Barbara Early
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781683317029
Crooked Lane Books
295 Pages
$17.70; $9.99 Amazon
October 9, 2018

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Who knew?  Liz McCall is not thrilled when her boyfriend Police Chief Ken Young introduces her to his estranged wife Marya.  The model-quality Russian immigrant, back in East Aurora to rekindle their romance, will be working as a hairstylist at the barber shop next door to Well Played, the toyshop Liz manages for her dad.  When Marya offers to help with the shop's doll rehab project, Liz can't help but offer up only a weak smile, but her secret hesitations are for naught as Marya's body is discovered in the barber shop with a hair dryer cord wrapped around her neck.

Liz's dad, retired from the police force, is asked to investigate since Ken is the prime suspect.  The whole town is abuzz with the scandal and Liz has a few questions of her own, wanting nothing more than to forget the loud argument she overheard between Marya and Ken the night before.  There could have been other motives...Was Marya going to cut into a competing hairstylist business?  Who is the bumbling private investigator hanging around and why won't he explain himself?

All eyes are on Liz, including those of an odd matryoshka doll in the shop which seems to move of its own accord...

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Liz McCall works in her father's toy shop and lives above it with her dad.  She has a pretty decent life, and seems to be content, but she's had a rough love life.  She broke up with her first love, Jack Wallace, in order to be with Police Chief Ken Young.  However, just as Liz decided she made the right decision, Ken dropped a bomb...

It seems he had a wife he never told her about named Marya, and Liz felt betrayed.  Needless to say, after that, she didn't want much to do with either one of them.  But Liz and her sister-in-law Cathy are rehabbing dolls for needy children, and Liz, who hates dolls, doesn't want much to do with them.  Cathy has help with the clothes and cleaning, but she doesn't know about doll hair - although she knows someone who does.  That someone is Marya, so she asks her to help.  To Liz's dismay, Marya shows up at the shop ready to start work, but it's apparent she doesn't like Liz.

When Marya is found murdered and Ken is the main suspect, he's temporarily removed from his job while her father Hank, former police chief, is asked to fill in until the case is solved.  While she's worried for her dad, Liz decides if she can do a little digging on her own she'll be able to help.  But will it be helping her dad or allow a murderer to kill again?...

I've read the first two books in the series, so if anyone hasn't read them, I'll try not to say too much rather than ruin it for anyone.

I didn't care for the resolution of Liz's love life. I didn't like the fact that after being nice in the first two books Ken was being made to look like a real jerk toward the end, that Jack had moved on, and a new character was brought into the mix 'to make it all better.'

Then there's Liz herself, who probably isn't mature enough to handle a relationship of any kind.  She still lives with her dad (which pretty much kills the love life of any adult woman) and allows her father to cut her hair. (Really?)  She wears cartoon-themed footed pajamas.  (Honestly?)  She allows her sister-in-law to fix her makeup and hair when she's going out, and even choose her clothes for her.  This is an adult woman, not a five-year-old child.  Yet it seems she's never gotten out of the childhood stage at all.  I was choosing my own clothes (and can dress quite nicely for events) and wearing makeup when I was a teenager.  Liz still isn't capable of these things, and we're supposed to believe that she's even capable of handling a relationship?

Unfortunately, because of the things I mentioned above, it detracted from the mystery.  Every time it progressed, Liz did (or wore) something else that just seemed unreal.  In real life, if a bunch of people saw her in those pajamas, they wouldn't think it was cute; they'd wonder what was wrong with her.

We were also given no clues at all to the killer until the very end.  We weren't given a chance to figure it out for ourselves - which is why we read mysteries.  Most of the book was centered on Liz and her love life; less on the mystery.  Other than that, it was a decent cozy and can be read in one evening.

https://www.amazon.com/Death-Russian-Doll-Vintage-Mysteries/dp/1683317025?SubscriptionId=

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2558011604

More on Barbara Early's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/e/barbara-early/

Deadly Dram (A Whisky Business Mystery #3)

Author:  Melinda Mullet
Genre:  Mystery

Digital Book; Audio Book
ASIN #:  B079R3PW46
Alibi Publishing
272 Pages
$4.99 Amazon
September 4, 2018

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It's been a year since globetrotting photojournalist Abi Logan inherited Abbey Glen, a whisky distillery in the heart of the Scottish countryside.  To her surprise, the village of Balfour already feels like home, and her new business partner, Grant MacEwan, continues to be too charming to resist.  But Abi has a history of relationship disasters, so she struggles to avoid an ill-fated romance with Grant.  Steering clear is hard enough on a day-to-day basis, but when the two head off to a whisky industry competition together, Abi panics.  Five-star resort, four glorious days of nonstop whisky tasting, and a fatally attractive Scotsman - what could possibly go wrong?

The night before the award presentations, with foreign and domestic whisky makers at one anothers' throats, two judges are found dead under mysterious circumstances.  What started with three dream-come-true nominations for Abby Glen's whisky soon turns into a nightmare for Abi.  With a killer on the loose, she must call on her investigative skills to stop another murder - before she gets taken out of the running herself.

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Abi Logan is a photojournalist who has just returned from a month in Iceland.  After being home for a few days she's starting to rethink her career choices, especially since she's inherited a distillery that's one of the best in Scotland.  She's also attracted to her partner Grant McEwan, who hasn't hidden the fact that he's attracted to her as well.  But since she has a lousy relationship history (she, for some reason, doesn't think this has to do with her traveling all the time!) she's determined to stay away from him.

So it's that much harder when they, along with her friend Patrick, have to attend a whisky industry competition together.  Armed with a new wardrobe (with the help of the local veterinarian) she's sure everything will go swimmingly.  But when someone is killing off the judges and Patrick looks as if he might be the culprit, Abi must use all her sleuthing ability to ferret out a murderer before he's the one losing everything..

I really wanted to like this book, and for the most part I did.  Ms. Mullet draws beautiful descriptions of everything going on around Abi, of the countryside, etc.; so much so that you can imagine being there yourself.  Her characterizations of people are also wonderful, giving us a feeling for who they are.  I liked the plot line, and thought everything was very well written.

However, I don't know if I'll read any more in this series, and the reasons why are in spoilers below (since I don't want to ruin this for those who have no read it as yet):

But, and this is a big But, the author seems to be out of ideas to keep the series going. I say this because she decided to add the dreaded Love Triangle. That's right, dreaded. There are far too many of them in series already, and we certainly don't need another. They're not interesting, just annoying. Honestly, if I had known the author was going to do this, I never would have read any of these books (and I have read them all).

I don't know what one is going for, but it's a trite ploy to keep readers interested, and it doesn't for many. How are we supposed to know if, or when, it will be resolved? Will it be resolved in the next book, or will it go on forever? Besides, who needs to "fight" for a man? He either wants you or he doesn't. It's cheap, and it lessens the woman who thinks she needs to compete for love (and I feel the same for men). It detracts from the story and cheats the readers who are not interested in love triangles nor cliffhangers who have read the series all along. (Also, Grant's not a teenager, he's a grown man. If he doesn't know who he wants in his life, then there's a problem. (Gee, great! I have two women fighting for me! How cool is that?)

As for ending books on cliffhangers, I've always felt it's just another ploy to make sure someone buys the next one. I call it 'holding the reader hostage' and I don't care for it. As you can see, I was NOT pleased at all by the ending and I will have to know that this will be resolved in the next book or I won't continue with this series.

If you've read the spoiler, then you know my final thoughts on the book and the ending, so there isn't much left to say.  Other than that, if you're inclined this is a decent book that can be read in one sitting.

https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Dram-Whisky-Business-Mystery-ebook/dp/B079R3PW46/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2553037863

More on Melinda Mullet's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/melinda-mullet/

Death of an English Muffin (Merry Muffin Mystery #3)

Author:  Victoria Hamilton
Genre:  Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Audio CD; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780425258859; 9781515950356
Berkley Publishing
304 Pages
$7.19; $24.99; $7.99 Amazon
July 7, 2015

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They say one's home is one's castle, but when it comes to Wynter Castle, Merry would like it to belong to someone else.  But until a buyer bites, she could use some extra dough, so she decides to take in renters.  The idea pans out, and Merry's able to find a handful of tenants eager to live in a real castle.  The only problem is most of them are crumby, tea-swilling old biddies.

The Legion of Horrible Ladies, as Merry calls them, is led by the terribly nasty - and fabulously wealthy - Cleta Sanson.  The abrasive Englishwoman keeps everyone whipped into a frenzy - until she meets an embarrassing end behind a locked door.  Evidence reveals that Cleta was murdered, yet non one is privy to how the deed was done.  Merry knows she must quickly find the killer before another of her guests gets greased...

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Merry Wynter inherited Wynter Castle from her late uncle, and has decided to temporarily take in renters.  When her friend Pish says his aunt wants to stay, Merry is delighted.  But Aunt Lush shows up with a group of four other women - all well-to-do, whom Merry has termed the Legion of Horrible Ladies.  Now Merry's stuck with a demanding group of older women who don't seem to want to leave, and one of them - Cleta Sanson - outdoes all the others with her nasty barbs against others.  But since she's paid for the time, Merry's stuck with her or faces a lawsuit.

When Cleta is found dead it's at first considered natural circumstances.  But the coroner discovers that Cleta was murdered, and since the likely suspects are all staying at the castle, Merry doesn't want a murderer under her roof and does a little investigating on her own, hoping one of them will let something slip that leads her to the killer...

I was really hoping that this book, the third in the series, would improve over the last but it was not to be.  A lot of the book rehashed the characters from other books and it got tiresome hearing how what a good friend Pish was.  As a matter of fact, we really didn't get to know anything about most the guests, so never got to connect with them.  As far as the locals go, I can't in all honesty like Juniper, who doesn't listen to her employer and is mouthy; nor Emerald, who seems to have "found religion" of a sort and spouts it to Merry every chance she gets.  That's annoying in itself.

I also didn't feel the connection between Merry and Virgil.  I get that they're interested in each other, but there's no spark at all.  They seem to be just two people who sort of leeched onto one another for lack of better prospects around.  I also wondered about Merry's age.  When the books began she was thirty-nine, but now it's less than a year later and she's 'almost' forty-two?  How fast do people age in this town?  Some people even age backwards.  In the first book, Hannah mentions how she's thirty (stated "Binny left when Hannah was fifteen so it must have been fifteen years ago"); but now she's in her twenties.  Curious, indeed.

Of all the characters, I disliked Lauda as much as Cleta.  She was pushy, annoying, and rude; and we're supposed to believe she was the poor put-upon niece.  If I were Merry, I would have just handed her a refund check and told her to hightail it off my land.  I wouldn't put up with a rude, nasty person like that.  She really wasn't much different than her aunt and all Merry did was trade one for the other.  In Lauda's case, though, she could have removed her from the premises.  There's also something said to Lauda that pertains to the murder which didn't make sense to me because it would have to be proven in order to be valid.

I also didn't get why Merry would allow five people (plus herself, Pish, and assorted employees) to live at her home and cook for each and every one of them.  Just because someone is paying you rent doesn't mean you're responsible for all their meals.  I've yet to see a landlord provide meals to all their tenants (if people are staying for months you in effect become a landlord, not an innkeeper) three times a day.  Maybe breakfast, but send those people out to eat.  Not to mention the recipes in the back are horrendous - Chicken Spaghetti?  Bacon and Peanut Butter Muffins?  (What is it with the bacon muffins?  She had bacon muffins in the first book, too).  Just my opinion on the recipes, though...

Anyway, as you can tell I wasn't enthralled with this book.  It was merely average as far as cozies go.  There was nothing to make it stand out and even when Merry discovers a little bit more about her father's family in each book, it's not really interesting enough to make me care anything about any of them, Merry included.  She's got a rather morose type of personality, lamenting about one thing or another all the time.  At least she's beginning to change a little bit toward the end of the book, so that's a good thing.

At the end, while I didn't feel we were given any clues as to who the murderer was, it was satisfactory and everything came out alright.  As I said, this is fine for a mystery and can be read in a few hours or so.

https://www.amazon.com/Death-English-Muffin-Merry-Mystery/dp/0425258858/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2432370851

More on Victoria Hamilton's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/victoria-hamilton/

Macramé Murder (A Cora Crafts Mystery #3)

Author:  Mollie Cox Bryan
Genre:  Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #9781496704689
Kensington Publishing
352 Pages
$7.99; $4.99 Amazon
August 29, 2107

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As head of a bustling crafting retreat, Cora Chevalier could use a break of her own.  So she and her creative cohorts temporarily swap small-town Indigo Gap for the Sea Glass Island Craft Retreat, where they teach classes and create beachy crafts like shell mosaics and sea glass chimes.  Cora and her boyfriend Adrian are enchanted by their surroundings - especially the stunning wedding and blissful newlyweds they encounter on the beach.  But awe becomes shock when the bride turns up dead the next day...

The woman's death appears to be the result of a severe jellyfish sting.  But when it's revealed that she was murdered and Adrian becomes a suspect, Cora must hitch the real culprit to the crime - and fast.  Because it just might take everything she has to crack a case more twisted than her most complex macramé knot!

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Cora Chevalier and her friend Jane Starr are working at a seaside crafter’s retreat.  Along with them is their friend Ruby, who also is teaching, Ruby’s son Cashel, an attorney who decided to take a vacation, and Cora’s boyfriend Adrian. While walking on the beach with Adrian, Cora sees a wedding and remarks on how lovely it is but is stunned the next day when it’s discovered that the bride has been murdered.  What’s worse, she soon discovers that Adrian knew the woman, and now the police consider him a suspect in the murder.

While Cora knows he’s not capable of it, she still wonders why the police are questioning him, and Ruby volunteers her son’s services as Adrian’s attorney.  It's not the vacation Cashel planned, but nevertheless he accepts that Adrian needs help - even if he doesn't really like him.

When Cora thinks that Cashel might not do his best for Adrian, she decides to step in and try and find out who wanted the bride dead.  But when she starts looking around, she finds that the answer might be closer than she thinks since there are people at the retreat who have secrets of their own, including the woman who organized everything.  It's only when she sees that someone wants Cashel out of the way - and maybe herself - that she understands not only are there secrets, but someone else might die in order to protect them...

While I really enjoyed this book and it was quite interesting, I also discovered that I like Cashel better than Adrian.  While Adrian is nice (and like Cora, I believe nice men are better than those who aren't; I'm married to one myself) I also discovered that there is no fire to him; practically no personality at all.  He seems rather lifeless, while Cashel at least has a personality and you get a sense that he probably also has a fun sense of humor and would do well by Cora; he also seems more intelligent, and I like intelligent men.  I don't get that impression of Adrian - the man wasn't even smart enough to realize that he was wrong in keeping secrets from her while wanting to 'get into her pants' as it were, and he seems so dull.  Ah, well.  There's always the hope that they'll figure they aren't right for each other after all.  Just my opinion...

Aside from that little tidbit, I felt the story was well done and kept the reader interested throughout.  There were enough twists that you had to look for the clues in order to see them, and enough red herrings strewn within.  While there weren't any nail biting moments, there didn't really need to be; you just had to put things together as the plot moved along - which it did admirably.  When the ending came it was done nicely, and while it wasn't a complete surprise, it was satisfying.  Recommended.  

https://www.amazon.com/Macram%C3%A9-Murder-Cora-Crafts-Mystery/dp/1496704681/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2027364462

More on Mollie Cox Bryan's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/mollie-cox-bryan/

Death on West End Road (Hamptons Murder Mysteries Book 3)

Author:  Carrie Doyle
Genre:  Mystery

Trade Paperback; Ebook
ISBN #:  9780997270181
Dunemere Books
377 Pages
$14.99; $6.99 Amazon
June 11, 2017

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An unsolved crime is something that Hamptons innkeeper and sleuth Antonia Bingham just can't resist.  Despire a busy high-season schedule and an inn booked to capacity, Antonia has agreed to investigate a cold case in her beloved adopted hometown, East Hampton, NY: the killing of Susie Whitaker, whose brutal 1990 slaying on a tennis court in the poshes part of town was never solved.

And the person who has hired Antonia?  Prime suspect Pauline Framingham, a manipulative pharmaceutical heiress from a powerful family.  As Antonia attempts to unravel the mysteries of the past she unearths even darker secrets and ultimately wonders if it would have been best to let sleeping does lie.  To make matters worse, past acquaintances and love interests reappear in the Hamptons, disrupting Antonia's world and causing her to scurry to the fridge for comfort.

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Antonia Bingham owns and operates an inn in the Hamptons, and it's a busy place this time of the year.  One day she receives a visit from Pauline Framingham, one of the richest people who lives there, and Pauline makes a strange request:  she wants Antonia to solve a murder that occurred 27 years ago.  Pauline's best friend Susie Whitaker was bludgeoned to death on Pauline's tennis court, and while many were suspected - including Pauline herself - no one was ever found guilty of the crime.  While there are plenty of suspects, there aren't many clues.  Susie was alone on the court, and no one saw anything that pointed to any one person.  In the end, it was left as an unsolved crime.

Pauline, however, has asked Antonia to solve it because she was able to solve murders that others were not.  It seems no matter how many private detectives Pauline hired, none were able to get to the truth, and Pauline is tired of the cloud of suspicion constantly hanging over her.  While every instinct tells Antonia no, her curiosity wins out, and with Pauline agreeing to rent every room in the hotel during her slowest month, Antonia acquiesces.

With the help of her friend Joseph who is the best researcher she knows, and Larry Lipper, a newspaper reporter who manages to ferret out information where Antonia can't, she sets out to find the truth.  But it seems everyone she asks has an alibi, and while she still thinks they're all hiding something, she can't prove it, and none of their answers seems genuine.  But even though Antonia is determined to find out why 17-year-old Susie was so brutally murdered, it seems there are others who don't want her to know, and will go to great lengths to keep her from finding out the truth...

First off I want to say how much I enjoyed this book.  We are given the mystery immediately:  the sad death of a young girl who was summering in the Hamptons with her friends.  Her life cut short, and at first glance Antonia sees that Pauline wants to find out the truth.  Pauline, cold, forbidding and manipulative, is used to getting what she wants, and Antonia is no match against her, so while Antonia isn't a private detective or a police officer, Pauline convinces her she can do what none of them have been able to so far.

But there is more to the story (as we know there will be) and it is indeed a mystery worth reading.  The tale is spun as well as a tapestry; each thread is is twisted with another just enough to keep us wondering who the murderer could be.  The clues are there, but they are well hidden within the narrative; I realized the truth just shortly before Antonia herself, which makes a very good book indeed.

All the main characters are given life and breadth and you get a feel for the type of people they are.  Antonia has her issues to deal with, but she's a caring and loyal friend, and while her curiosity sometimes takes her places she'd rather not be, her heart always brings her back to what's important in life; and Larry's a riot - for all his faults, he's a good friend.  Pauline was indeed humorless and it's hard to find sympathy for her character, but I don't think we were meant to do so.

In the end, when the murderer is discovered, you find out the true measure of people and the lengths they will go to to keep the secrets of the dead.  It is hard to define what causes people to do the things they do, and you wonder at their reasoning for doing so.  But even knowing this, secrets have a way of coming forth even when you try your best to keep them hidden forever.  All in all, a wonderful book with plenty of twists and turns, and I hope to see many more from this author.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Death-West-Hamptons-Murder-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B06XKLVMZC/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2024834232

More on Carrie Doyle's Books:  https://carriekarasyov.com/