The Witless Protection Program (A Catering Hall Mystery #5)

Author:    Maria DiRico

Genre:     Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781496744623

Kensington Cozies

304 Pages

$8.99; $6.99 Amazon

March 26, 2024

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mia Carina has steered her Italian-American family's Astoria, Queens, catering hall, Belle View Banquet Manor, into becoming the borough's premiere party site, and nothing could make her happier -- except her boyfriend proposing.  There's just one presumed-dead obstacle in the way...

A strong, independent woman and respected entrepreneur, Mia never imagined she's pine for a marriage proposal.  Yet lately, with her beloved Shane, she's on tenterhooks.  It's especially surprising, considering Mia's first husband, Adam, was a philandering grifter, assumed lost-at-sea after a boating disaster.  But everyone knows what happens when you assume...

While working a huge wedding expo in Manhattan, Mia is shocked to spot the man who nearly destroyed her life.  The one who's supposed to be sleeping with the fishes.  But she loses him in the crowd.  And when it happens again the next day, it's time for an emergency meeting with the family -- and the Family.  Because if Adam is alive, Mia is still married.

Everyone wants Adam dead.  Everyone except Mia.  She's dealt with enough police for a lifetime.  Mia needs to be a divorcee, not a widow.  But someone out there disagrees, and if Mia doesn't discover who, she may never be free to marry Shane -- or anyone else...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Mia Carina's family is going straight -- and the mob boss who owns the banquet hall where she works is proud of what she's been able to accomplish.  When she and her friend Cammie go to the wedding expo to promote their business, Mia thinks she sees a familiar face -- that of her late husband, Adam Grosso, who is supposed to have died in an accident at sea.  But if he's dead, how can she trust her eyes?

The next day she attends a baseball game with her fiancé Shane and sees Adam again.  But he disappears just as quickly.  Now she's called a meeting with both her family and the Family to try and find Adam.  But she doesn't expect it when he shows up at her home late at night.  He says he won't divorce her, and she wants to marry Shane.  But not enough to kill Adam.  Although there are others who would happily see him dead...

Then there's the problem of the House.  Her grandmother had purchased the home across the street from hers as a wedding gift for Shane and Mia.  Unfortunately, it's filled with memorabilia from the person who lately lived there -- a comic artist -- and he has followers who want it declared an historical site, so now Mia has that fight on her hands as well.

Between trying to run her business, save her new home, and try to find suspects in the latest murder, life is killing her.  How could things have gone so wrong so fast?  And how can she set them right in time to marry the love of her life...

This is the fifth book in the series and I have loved them all.  I've become attached to the characters, even the quirky ones like Cammie and her long-suffering police detective ex-husband, Pete.  Mia is sharp, independent, and takes care of her family as well as running the day-to-day operations of her business.   Unfortunately, she wishes she didn't have to find her husband to get a divorce.  It's kind of hard to get married when you're still married to your supposedly late husband.

Where has Adam been all this time, by the way?  He feeds her one story and someone else another.  And when she goes looking for clues, all it does is give her more questions, along with finding out just how low a snake she really married.  She wants him out of her life, but not dead.  If she can only convince the higher-ups of that...

But this book is a fun ride.  Probably the best in the series so far.  There's a lot going on, and not all of it surrounding Adam and his whereabouts.  Enough action to keep you reading -- and I read this in one night; that's how good this book is.  (Now I'm tired and barely functioning, but hey--).

When we discover the killer, it really does come as a surprise.  And I loved it.  But that's not the end of the story.  There's more to come, and it's delightful.  Please keep this series going, as it's one of my favorites, and it's so much fun to read.  Murders included.  (Plus, great recipes in the back).  Highly recommended.

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

https://www.amazon.com/Witless-Protection-Program-Maria-DiRico-ebook/dp/B0C9W8W668/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6285739951

More on Maria DiRico's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/maria-dirico/

Early Poverty Row Studios (Images of America)

Author:    E.J. Stephens/Marc Wanamaker

Genre:     History/Film

Hardcover; Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781531677138; 9781467132589

Arcadia Publishing

128 Pages

$26.99; $16.70; $9.99 Amazon

November 10, 2014

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The history of Hollywood is often seen only through the lens of major studios, forgetting that many of Tinseltown's early creations came from micro-studios stretched along Sunset Boulevard in an area disparagingly known as Poverty Row.  Here, the first wave of West Coast moviemakers migrated to the tiny village of Hollywood, where alcohol was illegal, actors were unwelcome, and cattle were herded down the unpaved streets.  Most Poverty Row producers survived from film to film, their fortunes tied to the previous week's take from hundreds of nickelodeon tills.  They would routinely script movies around an event or disaster, often creating scenarios using sets from more established productions, when the bosses weren't looking, of course.  Poverty Row quickly became a generic term for other fly-by-night studios throughout the Los Angeles area.  Their struggles to hand on in Hollywood were often more intriguing than the serialized cliffhangers they produced.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

I love anything about old Hollywood.  I own thousands of classic films, biographies of actors, studios, etc.  I don't watch new movies as I don't think they are as good as those long past.  In my opinion there will never be another Bogart, Cagney, Stanwyck -- or even someone like Charlie Chaplin, who revolutionized films.  

This is the pictorial story of the first studios in Hollywood -- those on Poverty Row, where they changed hands constantly, silent films and serials being made daily, and cowboys waiting for their turn to be chosen for a western or two.

If you are interested in how film studios began, then this is the book.  While it isn't high art, it isn't meant to be.  But what it is, is showing us how everything began, where the studios were located, and even little tidbits of history that one might not have known about actors (or those who wanted to be).  It's an interesting album of pictures that I have never seen before, and I found fascinating to see.  Hollywood as it was when movies were churned out as fast as they could, trying to make actors stars and therefore fill the coffers of the producers and directors; and while it is a short book it has packed in a lot of history.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Early-Poverty-Studios-Images-America-ebook/dp/B00PMG2TL0/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6274902330

More on the Authors:    https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4045873.E_J_Stephens

The Diva Goes Overboard (A Domestic Diva Mystery Book 17)

Author:    Krista Davis

Genre:     Mystery

Hardcover; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781496743428

Kensington Cozies

320 Pages

$27.00; $12.99 Amazon

May 21, 2024

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

In Old Town Alexandria's unlikeliest match, Natasha Smith's free-spirited mother, Wanda, is engaged to notoriously pompous antiques dealer, Orson Chatsworth -- leaving Natasha to plan the entire wedding, beginning with an elaborate engagement party.  For the extravagant affair, Natasha splurges on trendy food boards created by rising social media start, Stella St. James.  The sumptuous boards go way beyond basic cheese and crackers, as Stella dazzles guests with picture-worthy butter boards, dessert boards, and even doughnut boards.  Just as Natasha planned, the food is to die for -- and someone actually does.

When the groom collapses, it seems as if a heart attack is to blame.  Then guests discover Orson was poisoned, and suddenly Stella's bespoke boards look a lot less appealing.  But with an event this big, the spread of suspects is sure to be impressive.  Could Orson's killer be a jilted ex-lover?  A money hungry relative?  A bitter former business partner?  When even Sophie is not above suspicion, she knows it's time to get on board and scrape together an investigation of her own...before murder becomes the town's next trend.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Sophie Winston is an event planner that lives in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, with her dog and cat.  While walking her dog one morning she spots a car on fire and calls it in.  She has no idea who did it, or why.  It seems odd, but life goes on...while visiting with her best friend Nina, her frenemy Natasha Smith, who has been in competition with Sophie most of her life, arrives in a dither.  It seems her mother Wanda is getting married -- to Orson Chatsworth, who doesn't seem like Wanda's type, but Sophie offers to help Natasha with the engagement party.  Part of that is hiring Orson's daughter Stella to make charcuterie boards, which are becoming a trend and Stella's new business.

While all seems to be going well at the party, Orson suddenly drops to the floor and at first appears to be having a heart attack.  But Sophie thinks that he was murdered, even though her police detective friend Wolf doesn't.  Another surprise comes when Orson's will is read and he leaves Sophie his antique business and all it entails, including the bank account.  In his strange video will he tells her that 'you will know what to do.'

But Sophie has no idea what to do.  At least not at first.  And with half the town thinking there was something going on with her and Orson (why else would he leave her the business instead of to his daughter?) or Sophie being a gold digger, there's problems with trying to find out who killed Orson.  When the police finally do reveal that it was murder, Sophie's problems just got bigger.  Now she not only has to find the murderer, but she has to discover why he had the secret room in his store and what he wanted her to do with the information.  With the help of Nina, her ex-husband Mars and friend Bernie, she's about to learn what Orson wanted to tell her, and hope she'll be able to prevent another murder...

This is the 17th book in the series, and I have read most of them.  In my opinion, each one gets better than the last.  In this one, Sophie is up to her ears in intrigue, secrets, and lies.  All her suspects are keeping them, and it's up to her to ferret them out.  But with everyone suspecting her of swaying Orson in her favor, she needs the help of her friends to get to the bottom of it.

But when Sophie learns what Orson really wanted her to do, she's stunned.  It's something no one could have suspected, and when she discreetly shares some of the information, others don't think it's possible.  After discovering an item that gives her the link she needs, Sophie can begin to put everything together.  And watching her do so is like watching a clock being assembled.  The parts are there, and it is up to the clockmaker to put them into the proper order and make sure that it works.  This Sophie does beautifully.  

The ending has another surprise in store, and when it is all woven together, Sophie manages to show us once again why she is our favorite Domestic Diva.  This book is so entertaining that I read it in one sitting (whew!) because I wanted to find out how it all came about and I don't like to peek!  There are also some delicious recipes at the back that I intend to make (and you should, too!).  I eagerly await the next in the series.  Highly recommended.

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

https://www.amazon.com/Diva-Goes-Overboard-Domestic-Mystery/dp/1496743423/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6273795021

More on Krista Davis's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/krista-davis/

Petals and A Poison (The Accidental Ghost Detective Book 6)

Author:    Emmie Lyn

Genre:     Mystery/Paranormal

Digital Book

ASIN #:    B0CT7NFGD6

The Cozy Mystery Cafe (Whiskered Mysteries)

176 Pages

$4.99 Amazon

January 31, 2024

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Does this award-winning flower garden hide a sinister secret?

After the Frog Hollow Garden Tour announces the winner of this year's contest, all that's left is to enjoy a delicious banquet with friends and neighbors.  But the evening takes a chilling turn when my dog Dash discovers a body near the garden's beautiful pond.

What was meant to be a night of celebration soon blossoms into a true crime scene.  As we try to weed out the culprit, every clue points to my good witchy pal, Pearl, especially when her pet peacock is found nesting in a patch of poisonous plants.

Can Dash and the Accidental Ghost Detective team unearth this garden of secrets and restore tranquility to Frog Hollow before the poison finds its next victim?

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Nikki Knight inherited her aunt Audrey's B&B when the woman was killed.  What she didn't know, however, is that she also inherited the ghost of Audrey, too, along with her quirky attorney friend and cook Birdie.  Not to mention having acquired a talking Dachshund named Dash (for short), her best friend Lacey, and a witch named Pearl whose spells always seem to come out wonky.

When she attends the garden party for Pearl, who has won this year's award for best garden, she doesn't expect to find another body.  Well, technically, Dash found the body.  She just followed him.  Unfortunately, it was the head of the committee, and Nikki has discovered that the woman regretted giving Pearl the award.  When Detective Mallory Paine arrives, she finds that the woman was poisoned, and since it might have been from something in Pearl's garden, she becomes the prime suspect.  But Nikki and her friends refuse to believe that Pearl could kill anyone.

So naturally they start their own investigation to discover a killer -- and if they can stay under the radar while rescuing an angry peacock, they just might stay alive and keep Pearl out of jail...

I must say that I really enjoy this series.  In order to read fantasy, you need to leave your logic at the door.  It's delightful enough that I can willingly step into the world of Nikki Knight and follow along as she (and Dash) sniff out clues to solve a murder.  In fact, without Dash by her side, Nikki might have a harder time than she does.

This time out, she has another problem: her relationship with the mystery writer Luc.  While she's growing fond of him (to say the least) she also wonders if she needs to let him into her world.  Will he stay or run?  What a conundrum to have, right?

Looking at all the clues, she comes to the realization that someone is framing Pearl for the crime.  Is it one of the other gardeners or the new head of committee?  Or someone who was at the party?  As it all heats up, the last clues from from an unexpected source, and we watch while Nikki puts it all together and sets the trap, hoping her fish will bite...

All in all, I loved the stories and the characters, and I can't wait to visit Frog Hollow, Georgia again.  Highly recommended.

I was given a copy of this book from the publisher but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Petals-Poison-Accidental-Ghost-Detective-ebook/dp/B0CT7NFGD6/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6260380010

More on Emmie Lyn's Books:      https://www.fantasticfiction.com/l/emmie-lyn/   

The Fog Ladies: A Date with Death (A San Francisco Cozy Mystery Book 4)

Author:    Susan McCormick

Genre:     Mystery

Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781509249817

Wild Rose Press

338 Pages

$9.50; $3.99 Amazon

October 2, 2023

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Fog Ladies are at it again, spunky senior sleuths and an overstressed young medical resident solving murders from their elegant apartment building in San Francisco.  They join a senior dating group, and romantic intrigue soon turns to murder.  Graham Parselle, lady killer extraordinaire, plunges off a cliff on a Senior Singles outing.  Did one of his dates pitch him over?  Or is Olivia Honeycutt's new beau to blame?

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

When the Fog Ladies (most of them, anyway) decide to join a senior dating group, it seems there is a dearth of men.  However, Olivia Honeycutt has reconnected with an old beau from high school.  Even though the others might be suspicious of him, Olivia is happy with her Malcolm, and he seems to be so with her.  But one of the group's members -- a man named Graham Parselle, seems overly friendly with some of the senior women.  He's not afraid to break hearts, and with his trim figure and nice face, women can't help but fall for him.  But it's Graham who's fallen -- right off a cliff on a senior hike.  While the police think it was an accident, the Ladies aren't so sure, and they're again on a case to find a murderer...

I must admit that I have never read any of the other books in this series (as there are so many books out there and I just haven't gotten to these yet!).  But I also have to admit that I enjoyed this one very much.  Many of the characters are interesting, and the Fog Ladies are given enough in their descriptions that even if you haven't read the other books, you are able to decipher what they look like and act like.  While I did enjoy interacting with many of them, I also have to say that by the end of the book I was, myself, wanting to throw Enid Carmichael into the ocean.  Yes, I said it.  She's annoying and pushy, and is wrong on so many counts that I won't list here.  Read the book and draw your own conclusions.  (Okay, mini-rant done!)

Other than that, the book was filled with questions surrounding the murder (because, of course, we know that it was, even if the police don't), and I loved how the Ladies went about trying to figure it out.  Then another murder occurs, which puts the Ladies on high alert, and now they're wondering if one of their own is the next target.

Sarah, their friend and medical resident, has problems of her own.  She's still figuring out her new relationship with boyfriend Andy, and trying to get a fellowship at the hospital where she works.  She has little free time, but is more than willing to help the Ladies -- and it's a good thing, too -- when she can.

When the ending comes and we reach the climax, it's both satisfying and rewarding.  While I knew the murderer before they did (once again I will say that I read a lot of mysteries, so most times it comes easy for me), still, I liked how it all came together.  I will say that I am going to go back to the first in the series and see how the Ladies started.  Recommended.

I received a free copy of this book through the author and Voracious Readers, but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Fog-Ladies-Francisco-Murder-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0CCWC8B95/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6237877225

More on Susan McCormick's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/susan-mccormick/

Feline Fatale (A Mrs. Murphy Mystery Book 32)

Author:    Rita Mae Brown

Genre:     Mystery

Hardcover; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9780593357637

Bantam Publishing

304 Pages

$28.00; $13.99 Amazon

April 16, 2024

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Spring flowers  may be about to bloom in Crozet, Virginia, but Harry is thinking about snow.  Her dear friend Ned Tucker is in the House of Delegates, advocating for a bill to improve road clearing during bad weather, and Harry and Ned's wife, Susan, have gone down to the statehouse to support him.  Tensions are high between political parties, and no one can agree on anything for long enough to get something done.

The bill's chief detractor is the glamorous Amanda Fields, a former newscaster turned delegate whose flair for the dramatic has earned her a formidable reputation -- and made her more than a few enemies.  Amanda's claws-out approach to politics might have some of her colleagues wishing she was dead, but the statehouse is rocked when one of the young pages who assists the delegates dies under mysterious circumstances.

Could his death be related to the political infighting?  Or is something even more sinister threatening the lives of Virginia's finest representatives?  With help from her feline sidekicks Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, as well as Tee Tucker the corgi and Irish Wolfhound Pirate, Harry is determined to find the answers and restore order once more to the Capitol.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

We are back in Crozet, Virginia with farmer "Harry" Harristeen and her husband and friends, not to mention her furry pets Mrs. Murphy and Pewter (the cats), Tucker and Pirate (the dogs).  Harry is braving the last of winter when the threat of another snowstorm prevails, making everyone wonder how long winter is going to last.  But it is also the time when the state house representatives meet in Richmond, and both Harry and her best friend, Susan Tucker, travel there to support Susan's husband Ned while he presents a bill to the house.

Unfortunately, it isn't received well by the other side, and a heated argument ensues where delegate Amanda Fields reacts violently to a slur by Aiden Harkness of the other side, which causes more problems along the way.  Amanda seems obsessed with Aiden and his antics, and Ned is just trying to keep the peace.  But when a young page is killed while in the car of the videographer, questions arise.  What was he doing, and was he murdered?

Harry wants answers, and if it lies in the state house, then she's going to find it.  But along the way she's learning Morse code, as an elderly town resident still uses a ham radio and Harry wants to be able to speak with her on days she can't get over to see her.  But what is going on in the house, and does anyone know the truth?...

This is the latest book in the Mrs. Murphy series, and I have read as many as I can.  I simply love the writing style of Ms. Brown.  Although in the beginning I was disappointed to learn that this was not a mystery where we travel back in time to Revolutionary days, I also read the back where she stated that not everyone enjoyed that.  (Really?  It's part of the charm of the books, but just my humble opinion on that!  I also love history, so it's again, part of the charm of reading these novels.)  Anyway, since I was already invested, I continued to read on.

In this installment, as you've probably already gathered, Harry and pals are concerned with what is happening in Richmond.  Ned Tucker is too concerned with what is going on in his own office to even take time to wonder -- and here is where he avails himself of both Harry and Susan's help -- because they are trying to finish the session and that means endless paperwork (don't we all have that?).

When the young page is killed, his girlfriend and family both insist that it must have been murder, and Harry tends to believe them.  So does Amanda's assistant, Lucas.  But what can be done?  No one is going to admit it, and someone's sudden disappearance points to them as the prime suspect.

There is a lot going on in this book; a lot about politics (and honestly, I don't read political books as there is so much in the world right now that is wrong and I read to relax, not have everything shoved at me), but I will tell you that this book doesn't do any of that, and I appreciate it.  While we may not agree on our politics, the book is subtle about it and you don't feel that you are getting a lecture on what to believe or not believe.  And that, my friends, is all the difference.

Once again, Ms. Brown has written another mystery that will keep you reading merely to get to the final outcome, if nothing else.  It is a wonderful read, and I look forward to the next in the series.  Highly recommended.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Feline-Fatale-Mrs-Murphy-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0CC1H46PC/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6219578969

More on Rita Mae Brown's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/rita-mae-brown/

Public Anchovy #1 (Deep Dish Mysteries #3)

Author:    Mindy Quigley

Genre:     Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book (LP and Audiobook Available)

ISBN #:    9781250792471

St. Martin's Books

320 Pages

$8.99; $8.99 Amazon

December 26, 2023

⭐⭐⭐⭐

While Geneva Bay's upper crust gets ready to party down at a Prohibition-themed fundraiser, pizza chef Delilah O'Leary is focused on seeing her struggling restaurant through the winter slow season.  The temperature outside is plummeting, but Delilah's love life might finally be heating up, as hunky detective Calvin Capone seems poised to (finally) make a move.

But Delilah's hopes of perfecting a new "free-from" pizza recipe for a charity bash are dashed when a dead body crashes the party.  Soon, Capone, Delilah, and her entire staff are trapped in an isolated mansion and embroiled in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. 

To catch an increasingly desperate killer, Delilah will have to top all of her previous crime-solving accomplishments, and a few pizzas, too.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Delilah O'Leary owns an Italian restaurant in Geneva Bay, Wisconsin.  On the night of a fundraising bash for the library, she is tasked with not only her pizzas, but creating a new "free-from" pizza for one of the guests who is allergic to almost everything.  already nervous about the party because she is hoping to get new customers, this one is a challenge.  But before the meal can be served, one of the guests tumbles down the stairs to their death -- and with detective Calvin Capone attending, it's eventually ruled a murder.

But since everyone is snowed in at the mansion, who is the killer?  Is it one of the guests or one of Delilah's staff?  She intends to finds out, even if Capone wants her to leave it alone...and so does the murderer....

This is the third book in the series and I really wanted to like it.  It's a decent mystery, but I liked the first two much better.  This one seems to drag on and on, never really going anywhere until close to the end.  We don't learn much about the attendees, and if you haven't read the first two books, then you are given snippets here and there of Delilah's staff.  What we are given ad nauseum, is Delilah's hots for Capone.  Over and over.  The entire book is filled with Delilah lusting after our detective, and he seemingly oblivious to it.  (Well, why shouldn't he be concerned with the murder first?  Of course).  It's in every page.  Constantly.  This book is more of a romance/mystery instead of a mystery/romance.  I don't mind romance in my cozies (after all, it's part of the book) but she is practically drooling every time she comes near him.  Down, girl!

Other than that, the mystery was done very well.  I really didn't guess the reason for the murder until close to the end, and I did think the way it was wrapped up was done nicely indeed.  Ms. Quigley is a talented writer, and I do hope that in the next in the series we can get back to the mystery first instead of second.  A very nice cozy to read on a winter night -- and you don't have to read the first two to enjoy this one.

I was given a copy of this book from the publisher but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Public-Anchovy-Deep-Dish-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0C1X7M6ZS/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6201507267

More on Mindy Quigley's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/q/mindy-quigley/