Month: June 2015

Review – Death by Coffee

~ Erika K ~ 5 Comments

Death by Coffee by Alex Erickson
Death by Coffee
Book 1 of the Bookstore Cafe Mysteries Series

My Rating: *** (3 of 5 stars)
Genre: Cozy Mystery

***NOTE: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Krissy Hancock has moved to Pine Hills with her best friend to open a coffee and book shop, Death by Coffee. When business doesn’t pick up right away, Krissy is concerned that it could be due to the death of a man who works in the building across the street – a man who had come in for a cup of coffee just minutes before his death. Determined to find the killer in order to squelch rumors that Death by Coffee may actually be serving tainted coffee, Krissy conducts her own investigation.

This was a well plotted and well written mystery, but I did have trouble believing people would tell Krissy as much as they did, with her confrontational way of interrogating her suspects.

The story was entertaining though, and cozy mystery fans should enjoy it. I’ll be watching for the next installment, Death by Tea, to come out this December!

Visit Alex Erickson’s website

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Review – The Devil’s Music by Pearl R. Meaker

~ Erika K ~ 1 Comment

The Devil’s Music by Pearl R. Meaker
The Devil's Music (Emory Crawford Mysteries #1)
Book 1 of the Emory Crawford Mysteries

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Rating **** (4 of 5 stars)

Synopsis from Goodreads:
When an acclaimed scholar and musician is found murdered on the Twombly College campus where her husband teaches chemistry and is a forensic scientist, Emory Crawford decides she can help. She’s a professor’s wife, not an official. People will talk to her. So she heads out with her knitting tote and emerges as the most inquisitive, persistent and clever amateur detective since Miss Marple.

***I was provided with a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review***

The Devil’s Music was a quick, easy read at only 218 pages, but also an enjoyable one. The story is sprinkled with plant lore as well as bluegrass and folk music tidbits that add interest to the story. I would suggest not reading this book on an empty stomach, however, as the descriptions of all of the delicious sounding food served at various functions are sure to leave you hungry!

The Sleuth, Emory Crawford, is a likable protagonist. Even though she aspires to be a young Miss Marple, she has her faults, and they add to her charm. Her occasional fumbling around after clues makes her seem all the more genuine. I did appreciate the fact that she wasn’t all-knowing despite the “gift” that she realizes she has part of the way through the story. She still had to rely on her wits and ability to make logical deductions, not solely on her intuition.

Overall, a nice start to a new cozy mystery series. I look forward to more of Emory in October, when the next book in the series, The Devil’s Hook, will be available.

Pearl R. Meaker – http://www.pearlrmeaker.com/
Author of The Devil’s Music
Available May 1, 2015
Let’s keep in touch – subscribe to my newsletter 🙂 Pearl & Emory

What are you reading Wednesday – Death by Coffee

~ Erika K ~ Leave a comment

What are you reading Wednesday – 6/10/15

whatareyoureadingwed
What Are You Reading Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Its A Reading Thing. To participate, open the book you are reading now to page 34 and answer the three questions listed below. If you have a blog, feel free to leave a link down in the comments so that others can visit and see your post. If you don’t, just leave a note with your answers.

The Questions are:
1. What’s the name of your current read?

2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share one complete sentence. (or two!)

3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

My Answers this week:
1. Death by Coffee – by Alex Erickson
Death by Coffee
Bookstore Cafe Mystery #1

2. I took a moment to brush away the worst of the mess, though some of it had stuck, thanks to the kitty slobber that acted like glue.

3. Pine Hills seems like a pleasant enough medium-small town, and on a normal, non-murder day, I think it would be an ok place to live.

Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For the Rest of 2015

~ Erika K ~ 16 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every Tuesday they post a new Top Ten list prompt. This week’s list is the Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For the Rest of 2015.

I’d love to hear what you think – are there any books you are anxiously awaiting? Let me know in the comments! If you have a blog and would like to create your own list, feel free to leave a link to your post.

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Review – The Forgotten Room by Lincoln Child

~ Erika K ~ 5 Comments

The Forgotten Room by Lincoln Child
The Forgotten Room (Jeremy Logan #4)
Random House Audio – Narrated by Johnathan McClain

Genre : Thriller
Series : Dr Jeremy Logan #4

My Rating: *** (3 of 5 stars)

I am a big fan of both Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston, whether writing on their own or together as a team. I’m always excited when one of them has a new book published, so I was really looking forward to this one. I enjoyed the first three books in this series (LOVED #1 and #2), and I really wanted to love this book too. I have to admit that I was disappointed. It is still a good book, just not the great book that I was hoping for.

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What are you reading Wednesday – The Devil’s Music

~ Erika K ~ 11 Comments

What are you reading Wednesday – 6/3/15

whatareyoureadingwed
What Are You Reading Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Its A Reading Thing. To participate, open your current read to page 34 and answer the three questions listed below. If you have a blog, feel free to leave a link down in the comments so that others can visit and see your post. If you don’t, just leave a note with your answers.

The Questions are:
1. What’s the name of your current read?

2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share one complete sentence. (or two!)

3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

My Answers this week:
1. The Devil’s Music by Pearl R. Meaker
The Devil's Music (Emory Crawford Mysteries #1)

2. The witch accusations all eventually fizzled out, but the Twombleys never lost their reputation for strangeness. They usually seemed to get what they wanted without becoming tyrants in the process.

3. I already live in Illinois, but not in a college town. I think I would enjoy this serene university environment, as long as the murder had been solved long before I arrived, and I could live on campus as a professor rather than a student! 🙂

Top Ten Books I’d Like to See as Movies or TV Shows

~ Erika K ~ 6 Comments

Top Ten Books I’d Love To See As Movies or Tv Shows

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every Tuesday they post a new Top Ten list prompt. This week’s list is the Top Ten books I’d like to see as movies or TV shows. The first several I thought of have already been made into TV shows and / or movies, so this was harder than I expected! 🙂

I’d love to hear what your thoughts – anything you’d add to the list? Let me know in the comments, and if you have a blog, create your own Top Ten list! Just be sure to link back to The Broke and the Bookish, and feel free to leave a link to your post in the comments here, too.

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Review – Crazy Mountain Kiss by Keith McCafferty

~ Erika K ~ 4 Comments

Crazy Mountain Kiss by Keith McCafferty
Crazy Mountain Kiss: A Sean Stranahan Mystery (Sean Stranahan Mystery, #4)
A Sean Stranahan Mystery – #4
Release date – June 9, 2015

My Rating *** (3 of 5 stars)

***NOTE: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

From Goodreads:
It’s April, but there’s still snow on the Montana mountains the day a member of the Madison River Liar and Fly Tiers club finds a Santa hat in the chimney of his rented cabin. With the flue clogged and desperate to make a fire, he climbs up to the roof, only to find the body of a teenage girl wedged into the chimney. When Sheriff Martha Ettinger and her team arrive to extract the body they identify the victim as Cinderella “Cindy” Huntingdon, a promising young rodeo star, missing since November. (read more)

Crazy Mountain Kiss takes place in the Crazy Mountains of Montana. The corpse of a young girl who went missing months earlier has been found in the chimney of a rental cabin. The sheriff and her team, along with Sean Stranahan, a private detective, investigate to discover where the girl has been since her disappearance, and the events that lead to her death.

There are almost as many people trying to impede the investigation in some way as there are individuals trying to locate Cinderella’s trail. A mix of law enforcement, ranch people, and  other colorful (and at times unsavory) characters keep the story interesting. The author does a good job of casting suspicion first one way and then another, keeping me guessing all the way through. I like mystery novels that manage to keep me from figuring out who the culprit is too soon in the story, but that haven’t kept some important detail hidden up to the end. This novel is like that. You are privy to every detail Sean Stranahan uncovers as he questions Cinderella’s family and acquaintances and searches for clues.

I did feel a little confused at the main characters relationships near the beginning, but since this is the fourth book in a series (but the first one I have read) that isn’t too surprising. The author does let you in on what is going on with the main characters, but I think I might have liked the story more and the characters might have mattered a little more to me if I had started at the beginning and had more backstory for them.

All in all, this was a good mystery. I would recommend it to fans of the Longmire series by Craig Johnson.

Warning: Mature content – some language and brief sex scenes

You can find purchase links and more on Keith McCafferty’s website