Cavaliered to Death (Barkview Mysteries Book 1)

Author:    C.B. Wilson

Genre:     Mystery

Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781737439349

Self-Published

272 Pages

$12.99; $3.99 Amazon

November 1, 2021

⭐⭐⭐

A feline loving investigative reporter living in the dog friendliest city in America, what can go wrong during dog show week when the quaint seaside town turns dog-eat-dog?

Cat Wright can almost handle dogs, but she finds the delicate balance bitterly disrupted when two opposing Cavalier King Charles Spaniels disappear and the mayor's wife is murderer.

With her aunt heading the list of suspects due to the town's cutthroat rivalry, Cat determines she must dig up enough evidence to prove her innocence.  But, as the facts stack up against them, she's plagued with a new problem -- the dognapped Cavaliers are found in her aunt's kennel.

Can Cat walk with the leash lovers long enough to catch a killer and save the dog show?

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Cat Wright is an ex-investigative reporter now working at a studio for her aunt's radio show.  She has a traumatic past that deals with pit bulls, but she doesn't want to talk about or relive it.  One morning, the mayor's wife stumbles into the studio mumbling about her champion Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, then collapses.  When it's discovered that the dog is missing and the woman dies, Cat's aunt is the first suspect.  Then another dog is kidnapped, and now the dog-loving town is suspicious of her aunt -- who would likely win the dog show without the two entrants.

Cat knows her aunt is innocent, but proving it is another thing.  With the police chief being her uncle, she has a chance at finding out the truth.  But a man who's assigned to the case by the feds isn't totally happy about it, yet is allowing her to stay.  Now, if she can just get over her fears of the past, she just might catch a killer...

This is the first book in the series, and I really wanted to like it more than I did.  While I think the idea of a canine-loving town is cute, I didn't understand why everyone hated cats.  It seems dog lovers don't like cats, but cat lovers like dogs.  (I'm sure there are exceptions, as there always is, so please don't take offense; but go figure).  Anyway, Cat's sure the kidnapper is a local, since she doesn't believe a stranger would have the information regarding the collars (read the book and you will know what I am talking about).  Still, she has no real clue as to whom the nappers are.

But as Cat searches, she also has to dig into her own troubled past, wondering if there's something there that might give her a clue -- and also wondering if the incidents are tied together with what occurred in her past.  Finding the answers to one could give her the answers to the other...

This book was written very well, but unfortunately it couldn't keep my interest for some reason.  I do love a good mystery, but I just can't put my finger on what is was that exactly kept me from reading through in one session.  In the end, everything was tied up nicely and gave us a very satisfactory ending; and I really wish I could have enjoyed it more.  

I was given a copy of this book from the author and AXP, but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Cavaliered-Death-Mystery-Barkview-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B09DXG5V69/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4777695032

More on C.B. Wilson's Books:https://www.amazon.com/C-B-Wilson/e/B09DXF436G/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1

Mystery Repeats Itself (A Minerva Biggs Mystery Book 1)

Author:    Cordelia Rook

Genre:     Mystery

Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9798424657863

Independently Published

222 Pages

$8.99; $.99 Amazon

February 22. 2022

⭐⭐⭐

Delighted by the promise of living and working in a glittering Gilded Age mansion, Minerva Biggs moves to idyllic Bryd Hollow, North Carolina with her dog Plantagenet.  She's looking for a new beginning; what she finds is five quite possibly deranged people, four French bulldogs, two distracting dimples attached to one inconvenient man...and one murder.

Nope, make that two murders.  When Minerva makes a connection between her new employer's fatal fall and the death of his celebrated great-grandfather in the same spot more than a century before, she doubts that either was an accident.  Delving into old secrets and new grudges, she begins to unravel the twisted threads that bind the past to present.  Right up until she tangles them around the wrong guy.  Oops. 

With a trial looming, a scandal raging, and her job prospects dwindling, Minerva races to solve both crimes.  Preferably before her new beginning comes to an unfortunate end.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Minerva Biggs accepts a job as a personal assistant in Bryd Hollow, North Carolina, bringing along her very large dog, Plantagenet, assured that he's welcome.  But when she's injured by her employer the first day, and her dog is also a target, she at first rethinks, then decides she has nowhere else to go, so lets it slide.  

Not long after, her new employer is found dead, and she finds her own job in jeopardy.  Convinced it was not an accident, and might actually be related to the death of his great-grandfather over a century before in the same spot, she sets out to find a killer.  Unfortunately, in doing so she might also find herself a casualty...

When I saw this book I really liked the plot line, so thought I would give it a try.  It started out well, but unfortunately, soon became boring to me.  It just could not hold my attention.  I would like to know why she left her job as a teacher.  What was the point of installing her in the mansion if she wasn't going to stay there?  At that point, the book lost my interest completely, and I really didn't care what happened or who was the murderer.  It just became another cozy about a woman who is penniless, homeless, and doesn't know what to do with her life.

I skimmed to the end just to see what happens, and while it was well written (hence the three stars), I didn't find anything here that would make me read the next in the series.  Sorry.

https://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Repeats-Itself-Minerva-Biggs-ebook/dp/B09TLFBYF1/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4774297462

More on Cordelia Rook's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/r/cordelia-rook/

Sunny Side Up (A Deadline Cozy Mystery Book 1)

Author:    Sonia Parin

Genre:     Mystery

Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781537026756

CreateSpace Publishing

196 Pages

$10.99; $0.00 Amazon

August 9, 2016

⭐⭐⭐

With her bitter divorce behind her, Eve Lloyd wants to relax and think about her next step.  Paying her aunt, Mira Lloyd, a.k.a. Elizabeth Lloyd, renowned historical romance author, a long overdue visit, she plans to spend a month on Rock-Maine Island lounging around and plotting the launch of her new life.  Her ex-husband, however, has other ideas.  As for her aunt...she's gone missing.  And now there's a dead body to contend with and a murder weapon with her fingerprints on it...

A mantle of suspicion hangs over Eve and everyone she encounters has a reason to want her out of the way.  Unwilling to leave matters in the hands of swoon worth Detective Jack Bradford...only because it's her civic duty to provide a new perspective, Eve Lloyd engages the assistance of her new friend and fellow suspect Jill Saunders.  The both stumble their way through a long list of possible motives and suspects in a race to find the killer before either one turns into the next victim.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Eve Lloyd is divorced from her embezzling ex-husband, Alex.  She left him when she found out that he was stealing money from her restaurant.  So she's come to Rock-Maine Island to visit her romance writing Aunt Mira.  Only when she arrives, Mira isn't there, and no one knows where she is.  She meets a young woman named Jill who has been caring for Mira's home while she's gone, and once they circle each other for awhile, they become friends.  That is, until Eve returns home after a dinner out and finds the police at her home...and the dead body of Alex.

Now she's a suspect in his murder, never mind that she has an alibi; and Jill isn't much help, considering Eve could be guilty.  But there's strange goings-on at Mira's home, and Eve decides that finding out who's looking for something in the house could lead her and Jill to the actual killer.  That is, if she can stay out of their way long enough to stay alive...

This is the first book in the series, and as such, it is decent enough.  But I'm on the fence about Jill, whom, considering her own past, sure is willing to throw Eve under the bus if it keeps her off the radar.  Not much of a friend, if you ask me.

The story line started off okay, and it had the standard hot cop scenario; which is fine if you can make it work.  (It did, in this story).  But there were pacing problems, and questions that I didn't think were answered.  If Eve closed her restaurant, and is open-ended about her future, why doesn't she just open another restaurant?  Why even consider working in a bookstore if you don't know anything about books?  Do what you know.

In the end, when the murderer was revealed, it seemed a strange reason to kill someone; the idea that the murderer had in mind was odd enough in itself.  At any rate, the book was a pleasant enough diversion for a night, and just to be fair, I will read the next in the series to see if I will stick with it.

https://www.amazon.com/Sunny-Side-Deadline-Cozy-Mystery-ebook/dp/B01K5WHEZ6/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4770218739

More on Sonia Parin's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/p/sonia-parin/

Pottery and Perps (A Mira Michaels Mystery #6)

Author:    Julia Koty

Genre:     Mystery

Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781939309150

Busstop Press

158 Pages

$9.99; $3.99 Amazon

June 21, 2022

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pleasant Pond has another murder.  This time the body is found at the local paint-your-own pottery shop.  Mira and Aerie know what it's like to worry about a small business going under and they are determined to help solve this mystery.  But with so many possible suspects, including Chelsea, it's going to prove harder to do than they thought.  And when another murder happens in the nearby town Dan even concedes to help Mira find the killer...as long as she can manage to stay out of danger.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Mira Michaels is living in the small town of Pleasant Pond.  She works at a local diner and has a Victorian home she's restoring bit by bit.  She also has a menagerie of pets -- including her cat Arnold, whom she can talk with.  Yes, with, not to.  It makes for an interesting life.  Oh -- did I mention she has a habit of stumbling over dead bodies every now and then?

This time, she doesn't, but she gets involved anyway, because when the body of a local is discovered at a paint-your-own pottery shop, she and her partner-in-crime (and owner of said diner) Aerie, know what it's like to have your business suffer because of a nasty murder.  So naturally, they vow to help her find the killer.  Even if the police don't want her to.  Or even if she puts herself in the way of a killer...

The other little problem Mira has is that there are a few men who might be interested in her, and while she protests that she's not interested, it doesn't stop Aerie from trying to push her in their direction, hoping she'll choose one.  Then there's the package her psychic sister Darla sent her; she knows she has to open it eventually.  Oh, and her resident ghost Clara seems to want some attention, too...

This is the sixth book in the series and I have read them all.  I have to say that I am getting quite cozy with the characters, wondering what each book will find them involved in.  This book is no different.  Mira and Aerie are searching for someone who could have killed the young woman, but their search brings them suspects that they don't want to believe are guilty.  Is it the best friend?  The husband?  Or even Jay's girlfriend Chelsea, who is definitely hiding something.  But when another body is found, they have to rethink their entire process, and even Detective Dan is stumped and actually asks Mira to help (as long as she stays out of danger.  Yeah, right).

It's a fun caper of a read, with Mira and Aerie at their best; it even shows a softer side to a couple of the characters, and of course, there are a couple of scenes that has Mira beating a hasty retreat behind her personal walls -- which, I hope, we'll see pushed away in a later book.  There's a lot going on here besides murder.  There are clues to the murderer; you just have to look for them.  And they almost caught me unawares, but in the end, I prevailed along with Mira.  I just knew that no matter what, being the reader and not the character, I was safe from danger (ha).

When the ending comes and the murderer is revealed, it's an interesting climax that has one wondering how it's all going to end.  I can tell you that it is definitely worth the read, and Ms. Koty definitely knows her characters well!  It also gives us a teaser of what we might have in the next in the series.  I look forward to the next in the series.  Highly recommended.

I received an advance copy from the author but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Pottery-Perps-Michaels-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0B2KKZPH2/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4771810701

More on Julia Koty's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/k/julia-koty/

Hanging Hannah (Jane & Winky, Amateur PIs. Book #2)

Author:    Evan Marshall

Genre:     Mystery

Hardcover; Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781575665504; 9781980340003

Kensington Publishing

303 Pages

[Various Prices[; $2.99 Amazon

February 11, 2018

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Jane's last brush with a murderer landed her with a feature in People magazine, she is eager to get back to her literary life as a book agent -- reading book proposals, making deals, talking to authors.  She's glad to put fame aside and now that her beloved son Nick's birthday is coming up, she's busy planning a birthday party for him.

She selects one of her favorite spots, a local inn, but before anyone can sing Happy Birthday and say "make a wish," the body of a young woman is found hanging from a tree in the woods back behind the inn.

No one seems to know who she is, but she has been murdered.

Found near the body is a clipping of the People magazine article about Jane, the only clue.  Why did this woman have it?  What does it have to do with her murder?  And why was she so interested in Jane and her neighbors?

The mystery deepens as more people start to die in Shady Hills while Jane and her detective friend hunt as fast as they can for clues as to the identity of the mystery woman -- and of the killer on the loose.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Jane Stuart is a literary agent who's just getting her life back to normal after finding a dead body.  She's planning her son's tenth birthday party at a friend's inn, and all seems to be going well.  The day of the party she hears a scream while the kids are on a scavenger hunt, and runs to find her son -- and the body of a dead woman hanging from a tree.  When it's determined that this is a homicide, Detective Stanley Greenberg is brought in to investigate.  But there's no clue as to whom the woman is, nor how she got there.  Jane's friend Louise thinks she saw her walking into the woods, But Louise has bigger problems of her own -- and Jane wants to help her.

Then Jane's assistant Daniel tells her he's going to marry his fiancée Laura, and he drops a bombshell on Jane about his past that has her stunned.  But more than this, an editor friend named Holly tells Jane that she's giving her a new client -- hot new star Goddess, who wants to write a book.  Jane accepts, but discovers that Goddess doesn't exactly live up to her name.  When there's another death soon after, Jane wants to know what's going on.  She also begins to wonder if the two might be connected.  But how?

It's when she starts thinking about things she knows, and some things that are practically dropped into her lap, she comes to a devastating conclusion about the killer.  Unfortunately, it may be too late for Jane, unless she can save herself somehow...

This is the second book in the series and I must say that I quite enjoyed it as much as the first.  Mr. Marshall is indeed a talented writer, and keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering where the story is going to go next.  

Jane, finding herself lonely and missing her late husband, tries to pull herself into her work, but things keep getting in the way.  'Things' being dead bodies.  Unfortunately, she's once again involved in murder, and it escalates when something occurs to put her on her guard.  I shall not say more about that, not wanting to ruin the book for others who have not read it.

If you have not, I recommend that you do.  It is full of twists and unexpected happenings, and there is a subplot that is interesting, to say the least; and watching Jane put everything together is worth reading the book alone.  Ah, it is these twists that one has to watch for; they are the gist and meat of the book, and looking for them has you come to the same conclusion as Jane, although not so soon as to think you have got it all.

In the end, when we discover the murderer, one never knows what goes on in the mind of a sociopath; nor what one will strive for at any cost.  I look forward to the next in this series.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Hanging-Hannah-Winky-Suburban-Sleuths-ebook/dp/B079SCFY5S/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4769833255

More on Evan Marshall's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/evan-marshall/

The Mourning Beads (A Maggie & Jasper Mystery Book 2)

Author:    Barbara Cool Lee

Genre:     Mystery

Digital Book

ASIN #:    B098PSN8M2

Pajaro Bay Publishing

149 Pages

$2.99 Amazon

July 19, 2021

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Can Maggie find the real killer when her teenage student threatens to strangle her mother with a jet-black necklace...hours before the woman is found dead?  And what deep, dark secret is movie star Reese Stevens hiding from the world?  Can Maggie help him face the truth?

Maggie McJasper is starting over in a little California beach town.  She has a bead shop, a nice circle of friends, and a handsome movie star who keeps flirting with her.  Life would be pretty great if she could just stop stumbling over dead bodies...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Maggie McJasper is starting life over after her divorce from a Hollywood mogul.  Unfortunately, when she got the beach mansion in the divorce, she also got its mortgage and bills.  So she has to rent it out of a Hollywood star who's also a friend.  But she's happy, living in a tiny house in the driveway; she has her bead shop and her dog Jasper, who takes up a lot of the room but whom she wouldn't know what to do without him.

After getting into yet another argument with Alexis, who owns the art gallery next door, she witnesses an argument between Alexis and her daughter Willow, and it doesn't end well, with Alexis slashing her own paintings with a knife.  But later, she's teaching a class on making mourning beads, with two of the of the customers being Willow, and Willow's boyfriend Grey.  Both are making bracelets to remind them that their relationships with their mother and father respectively, are dead to them.  It saddens Maggie, but there's nothing she can do to heal the relationships.

Later, Maggie finds Alexis's body in the alley and the natural suspect is Willow, since others heard their argument.  But neither Willow nor Grey can be found, and Maggie worries for them.  She doesn't believe they're murderers, but even Willow's father think they did it.  So how is she going to prove their innocence?

On top of this, Maggie's tenant, Reese Stevens, is having issues with his ex-girlfriend, who isn't happy that he's got custody of his son for summer visits.  When he gets Shane home, it seems the two of them don't have anything in common.  Maggie wants them to find a common thread, but she knows it will have to be something they work out between them.  Not to mention Reese is indicating he'd like to be more than friends, but Maggie isn't sure she wants to be part of that world again.

Setting her personal problems aside for the time being, Maggie is sure she can find out who killed Alexis.  She just needs time -- and to stay away from the real culprit...

This is the second book in the series, and I must say that I enjoyed it more than the first.  The characters are showing a little more depth, and we're getting to see the reasons behind their past and their current actions.  It makes for an enjoyable read.  Watching Maggie try and find a killer is rather fun, and looking for clues along with her make it all the more worthwhile.

When the killer is discovered, it comes almost at a strange moment, and with an 'aha' right beside it.  It makes the conclusion satisfying and you never really know what is inside the mind of a murderer.  There is also something to look forward to in the next book, and I will read it soon.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Mourning-Beads-Maggie-Jasper-Caper-ebook/dp/B098PSN8M2/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4762281996

More on Barbara Cool Lee's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/l/barbara-cool-lee/

Murder at the Blueberry Festival (A Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Book 3)

Author:    Darci Hannah

Genre:     Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781496731746

Kensington Publishing

352 Pages

$8.99; $6.99 Amazon

July 26, 2022

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After a career on Wall Street, Lindsey is making a different kind of dough in a pretty lakeside village, and the upcoming blueberry festival -- including the pie-eating contest her bakery is hosting -- is the highlight of the summer.  But soon Beacon Harbor runs into a patch of trouble.

A local real estate agent gets pranked.  A parade float gets pelted with water balloons.  It's all laughed off until the stunts start escalating -- and looking more like sabotage.  Asthe event turns into a debacle complete with rampaging goats, Lindsey's sweetheart, a former SEAL, starts investigating.  But the juicy mystery takes a bitter turn when a man -- dressed up as a Viking -- is found dead in a boat, and it's no longer mischief but murder...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Lindsey Bakewell left a high-stress job on Wall Street to move to Michigan and buy a lighthouse, which she proceeded to turn into a bakery.  The town loves her cooking, and her shop is a success.  She also has a boyfriend in Rory Campbell, an ex-Navy SEAL who is still trying to figure out what he wants to do after leaving the service.  Then there's Wellington, her Newfoundland dog who thinks he's small, and her best friend Kennedy, a media sensation, who's sticking around because she's fallen for one of the cops there.

Everyone in town is getting ready for the Blueberry Festival when Lindsey receives a visit from Betty Van Hoosen, the town's top realtor.  She's upset because she was awakened by car horns and finding 50 realty signs all over her lawn.  Thinking it was just a prank, everyone tells her to laugh it off.  But when the 5K run is also pranked, they start to wonder who's doing this.  Then every event is pranked in one way or another, and soon Lindsey is worried that her blueberry pie-eating contest is going to be sabotaged, too. 

But she has something in store -- the sound of a goat bleating, and the discovery of a dead man in a boat.  Now it looks like murder, and Lindsey and Rory, along with the local police, are out to find a killer...

This is the third book in the series and I have read them all.  I have also enjoyed them all, with each one being better than the first.  Ms. Hannah has created characters that come to life on the page, and with each book we learn a little more about them, and this book is no different.

With the festival taking center stage, everyone is on edge wondering if they're going to be next, but then a local is murdered, and the focus takes a different turn.  It's entertaining watching them try to pick up clues and find out who is responsible; and of course, Kennedy, with a personality all her own, is on board to find clues.  She also does something quite funny that doesn't please Lindsey too much, but still, it's something I find humorous and would never have thought of myself in her situation.  Kudos to Kennedy.

Without giving too much away (I have said very little above that wasn't already in the blurb) I have to say that once the mystery gets going, it's definitely worth the time to read.  There are a lot of questions, and several people that pop up as suspects.  Each one had a motive, and none had a true alibi.

But when the ending comes and the killer is revealed, I found it rather sad; but murder is what it is, and you can't mask it.  There is also a hint of what is going to be in the next book, and I am grateful for that, hoping that we don't have to wait too long to read it.  Highly recommended.

There are also several yummy recipes with blueberries that are at the end of the book, if you want to make them.  I know I'm going to!

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

https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Blueberry-Festival-Bakeshop-Mystery-ebook/dp/B09KP36B4V/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4765601170

More on Darci Hannah's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/darci-hannah/