The Book Club Murders by Leslie Nagel

~ Erika K ~ 6 Comments

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the-book-club-murders-coverSynopsis – 

In a charming cozy mystery series debut, Leslie Nagel’s irrepressible small-town heroine finds that her fellow mystery book club members may be taking their Agatha Christie a bit too literally—and murder a bit too lightly.
  
Charley Carpenter has poured heart and soul into her clothing store, Old Hat Vintage Fashions. She’ll do anything to make it a success—even join the stuffy Agathas Book Club in order to cultivate customers among the wealthy elite of Oakwood, Ohio.
  
 Although mixing with the most influential women in town has its advantages, Charley finds the endless gossip a high price to pay. But after two women with close ties to the Agathas are brutally murdered, everyone falls under threat—and suspicion. When key evidence indicates that both murders are the work of the same hand, Charley realizes that the killer has arranged each corpse in perfect imitation of crime scenes from the Club’s murder mystery reading list. She uses her membership in the Club to convince Detective Marcus Trenault to use her as an inside informant. Not that he could stop her anyway.
  
 Intelligent, fearless, and every bit as stubborn as Marc is, Charley soon learns the Agathas aren’t the only ones with secrets to protect. Passions explode as she and Marc must race against time to prevent another murder. And if Charley’s not careful, she may find herself becoming the killer’s next plot twist.

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A Charming Voodoo Scavenger Hunt (ENDED) Tour

~ Erika K ~ 24 Comments

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Yes that’s right, a scavenger hunt! Just keep reading – you’ll have a chance to win an audiobook from Tonya on this blog, and you’ll find a link to a Rafflecopter for a chance at the grand prize pictured below. You’ll want to check the tour’s Facebook event page to make sure you don’t miss a stop. The more blogs you visit, the more chances you’ll have to enter!

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Unlucky Charms by Linda O. Johnston Blog Tour and Giveaway (ENDED)

~ Erika K ~ 6 Comments

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Unlucky Charms

Synopsis: Rory Chasen, manager of the Lucky Dog Boutique in Destiny, California, hopes her new line of good-luck doggy toys will be a hit, especially the stuffed rabbits with extra-large feet. The timing of the line’s debut proves ill-fated, though, as several local shops—including Rory’s—are ransacked and vandalized with spilled salt and other unlucky charms.
The most likely culprit is disgruntled real estate agent Flora Curtival, whose issues with the town give her a motive. But after Flora is murdered and one of Rory’s toy rabbits is found with the body, Rory needs all the luck she can get while trying to determine just who killed the superstitious vandal.

 

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Masking for Trouble by Dianne Vallere – Blog Tour and Giveaway (ENDED)

~ Erika K ~ 5 Comments

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masking-for-troubleSynopsis: Halloween conjures up big business for Margo Tamblyn’s costume shop, Disguise DeLimit, but this year, the holiday comes knocking with serious trouble. Venture capitalist Paul Haverford plans to rezone historic downtown into a glitzy commercial area which would push out local business. Margo is set on saving her family’s store, especially after a nasty run-in with the chain-store tycoon, but after Haverford’s body is discovered during a spooky party at the derelict Alexandria Hotel, Margo finds herself dressed as the police’s prime suspect.

Anxious to clear her name, Margo begins hunting down anyone who might have wanted Haverford dead. Between all of his malicious maneuverings, the murdered mogul had buckets of people anxious to see him gone. Now, Margo will have to use every trick in the book to find a cloaked killer—before someone else winds up wearing a death shroud…

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Putting on the Witch by Joyce and Jim Lavene – Blog Tour and Giveaway

~ Erika K ~ 6 Comments

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PUTTING ON THE WITCH

Putting on the Witch (Retired Witches Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Berkley (October 4, 2016)
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0425268278
E-Book – ASIN: B01AHKXHTS
goodreads-badge-add-plusShop Indie Bookstores

Synopsis

With their coven’s spell book still missing, Molly and Elsie—along with their ghostly friend Olivia, her daughter Dorothy, and her boyfriend Brian—are all on edge, especially now that Dorothy’s infamously wicked father is back in the picture. So when they receive an invitation to an exclusive Witches Ball, the ladies jump at the chance to dress up and have some fun.

The castle locale is spectacular and the party is hopping, but the festivities come to a swift end when a member of the Grand Council of Witches is murdered. With the whole place on lock down, the coven is determined to find the cunning killer, even with an angry council and a real Spanish Inquisitor breathing down their necks… 

Putting on the Witch is a part urban fantasy, and part cozy mystery. I’ve read (and enjoyed) other paranormal cozies, but Putting on the Witch is in a class of its own. The fantasy element and magical world building was wonderfully done. The mystery is well-written, the characters are likable (at least most of them are!), and I loved every word of it.

About The Authors

I just love this picture of Joyce and Jim
Joyce and Jim Lavene

Joyce and Jim Lavene wrote award-winning, bestselling mystery fiction as themselves, J.J. Cook, and Ellie Grant. They had written and published more than 70 novels for Harlequin, Berkley, Amazon, and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications. Joyce passed away October 20, 2015 and Jim passed on May 5, 2016. They are missed by family, friends and their many fans.

www.joyceandjimlavene.com

www.facebook.com/joyceandjimlavene

Purchase links:  Amazon – Barnes and Noble

Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for a chance to win one of 5 print copies of Putting on the Witch (US Only)

Tour Participants

October 3 – Back Porchervations – REVIEW
October 3 – Queen of All She Reads – SPOTLIGHT
October 3 – Blogger Nicole – SPOTLIGHT
October 4 – Sleuth Cafe – REVIEW, SPOTLIGHT
October 4 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW
October 4 – The Angry Grey Cat Reads – REVIEW
October 5 – The Book’s the Thing – REVIEW
October 5 – I Read What You Write – REVIEW (Repost Interview)
October 6 – Book Babble – REVIEW
October 6 – Cozy Up With Kathy – SPOTLIGHT
October 6 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
October 7 – Mallory Heart’s Cozies – REVIEW, SPOTLIGHT
October 7 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – REVIEW
October 8 – Texas Book-aholic – REVIEW
October 8 – Community Bookstop – REVIEW
October 9 – Shelley’s Book Case – REVIEW
October 9 – fuonlyknew – REVIEW
October 10 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
October 10 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too! – REVIEW
October 10 – Cassidy Salem Reads & Writes – SPOTLIGHT
October 11 – A Holland Reads – REVIEW, SPOTLIGHT
October 11 – Deal Sharing Aunt – REVIEW
October 12 – A Chick Who Reads – REVIEW
October 12 – A Blue Million Books – SPOTLIGHT
October 13 – Booth Talks Books – REVIEW
October 13 – The Cozy Mystery Journal – REVIEW
October 14 – Brooke Blogs – REVIEW, SPOTLIGHT
October 15 – Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
October 16 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW
October 16 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT
October 17 – LibriAmoriMiei – REVIEW
October 17 – MysteriesEtc – REVIEW
October 18 – Kathy Loves 2 Read – REVIEW
October 19 – ChristyMystery – REVIEW
October 20 – My Interdimensional Chaos – REVIEW
October 21 – Murder, Mystery & More… – REVIEW
October 22 – centraleast2 – REVIEW
October 23 – Lori’s Reading Corner – SPOTLIGHT
October 24 – The Girl with Book Lungs – SPOTLIGHT
October 24 – Polished Nails and Puppy Dog Tales – REVIEW

Also Joining us with Reviews/Spotlights
Nicole G.
Linda L.
Kendrea P.
Robin C.
Daniele K.
Lisa C.
Stacie A.
Karen K.
Brittany A.
Kathy D.

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NOTE: I was provided with a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Release Day Review & Giveaway (ENDED)- Teetotaled by Maia Chance

~ Erika K ~ 1 Comment

Teetotaled (Discreet Retrieval Agency, #2)Synopsis: After her philandering husband died and left her penniless in Prohibition-era New York, Lola Woodby escaped with her cook to her deceased husband’s secret love nest in Manhattan. Her only comforts were chocolate cake, dime store detective novels, and the occasional highball. But rent came due and Lola and Berta were forced to accept the first job that came their way, leading them to set up shop as private detectives.


Now Lola and Berta are in danger of losing the business they’ve barely gotten off the ground―work is sparse and money is running out. So when a society matron offers them a job, they take it―even if it means sneaking into a slimming and exercise facility until they can steal a diary from Grace Whiddle. But barely a day in, Grace and her diary escape from the facility―and Grace’s future mother-in-law is found murdered on the premises. Lola and Berta are promptly fired. But before they can climb into Lola’s Duesenberg Model A and whiz off the health farm property, they find themselves with a new client and a new charge: to solve the murder of Grace’s future mother-in-law.

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Dandelion Dead by Chrystle Fiedler – Blog Tour and Gift Card Giveaway

~ Erika K ~ 7 Comments

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Dandelion Dead by Chrystle Fiedler

A Natural Remedies Mystery – #4

Synopsis:

In a spicy cozy mystery filled with herbal remedies readers will love, a sustainable winery becomes the backdrop for murder! Fortunately, solving crimes comes naturally to charmingly unconventional naturopath and amateur sleuth Willow McQuade, as she looks for clues that will reveal a killer’s true essence.

 

I jumped in at the middle again – this is book #4 in the series, but the first one that I read. Although some characters did share a history, I had no problem figuring out who was who, or how they related to each other, so you don’t have to have read the earlier books to enjoy this one.

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Review – A Palette for Murder by Vanessa A. Ryan

~ Erika K ~ 2 Comments

A Palette for MurderSynopsis: Lana Davis arrives in New Mexico from Los Angeles, planning to look up a former boyfriend and take in some sightseeing. But this all-expense-paid trip is not a vacation. She’s here to find Antonio Chavez, last seen in Santa Fe. He’s the missing beneficiary of a large life insurance policy her company issued. The heat is on because a disgruntled heir insists he should receive the proceeds instead. However bogus his claim is, the public relations nightmare he causes for her company is real. If Lana doesn’t find Antonio, her job is on the line.

Lana’s search for Antonio brings her into the inner circle of a powerful art gallery in Santa Fe, owned by the daughter of a wealthy family. Although Lana’s knowledge of art is limited to the one art history class she took in college, she soon discovers that when art and greed collide, the result is deadly. Her knack for finding dead bodies makes the police nervous–and finding herself a target for murder is more than she signed up for.

Genre: Cozy Mystery
My rating – *** (3 stars)

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Guest Post from Author Rodney Page

~ Erika K ~ 1 Comment

Hello everyone. Please join me in welcoming Rodney Page, author of recent release “The Fourth Partner” (available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble), to The Book’s the Thing.

The Fourth PartnerAll Detective Leroy Meriwether wants is to coast to retirement and restore his ’65 GTO, but Billy Howell will change all that.

Howell, a well-liked local business owner, disappeared in 1991, the presumed victim of a boating accident. When his skeleton is discovered in a shallow grave on Saint Simons Island, Leroy’s considerable but underutilized talents are put to the test.

Initially, the cold case investigation goes nowhere. But the hardheaded and persistent detective is soon bedeviled by a ‘high class’ problem: too many suspects…Howell’s wife, his estranged teenage son, his bookie, his clients and the shadowy ringleaders of a nineties drug-smuggling operation.

Leroy gets closer to the truth and runs afoul of his boss. Trumped-up sexual harassment charges lead to his suspension, but Leroy continues to pursue the investigation at his own peril. 

The murderer is determined his twenty-five year-old secrets must never be discovered.

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