book reviews

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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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.

Have you signed up to be a Tour Host?

Click Here Find Details and Sign Up Today!

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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Review and Giveaway (ENDED)- The Beauty of the End by Debbie Howells

~ Erika K ~ 4 Comments

The Beauty of the End“I was fourteen when I fell in love with a goddess. . .”

So begins the testimony of Noah Calaway, an ex-lawyer with a sideline in armchair criminal psychology. Now living an aimless life in an inherited cottage in the English countryside, Noah is haunted by the memory of the beguiling young woman who left him at the altar sixteen years earlier. Then one day he receives a troubling phone call. April, the woman he once loved, lies in a coma, the victim of an apparent overdose–and the lead suspect in a brutal murder. Deep in his bones, Noah believes that April is innocent. Then again, he also believed they would spend the rest of their lives together.

While Noah searches for evidence that will clear April’s name, a teenager named Ella begins to sift through the secrets of her own painful family history. The same age as April was when Noah first met her, Ella harbors a revelation that could be the key to solving the murder. As the two stories converge, there are shocking consequences when at last, the truth emerges.

Or so everyone believes. . .

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Éclair and Present Danger by Laura Bradford – Review and Giveaway (ENDED)

~ Erika K ~ 8 Comments

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ECLAIR AND PRSENT DANGERThe first book in the delicious new Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery series from national bestselling author Laura Bradford.

With her rent rising faster than her pie crust, bakery owner Winnie Johnson had hoped to be rescued by an inheritance from her wealthy friend and neighbor Gertrude Redenbacher. Instead all she inherits is the widow’s hostile hissing tabby, Lovey, and a vintage ambulance, restored by Gertrude’s late husband. As her dream crumbles, Winnie makes her final delivery—a peach pie to an elderly widower. But she finds Bart Wagner lying on his kitchen floor, smothered by a pillow.

To comfort her frightened and grieving neighbors, Winnie comes to the rescue with her baked goods—and an idea is born: dessert delivery via her ambulance and a new business called the Emergency Dessert Squad. When she’s not speeding to the scenes of dessert emergencies, Winnie is also racing to track down Bart’s killer—before she needs to call a real ambulance for the next victim…

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Review – Finding Fraser by KC Dyer

~ Erika K ~ 5 Comments

Finding Fraser by KC Dyer
Finding FraserSometimes searching for true love can be a little…Outlandish.

I met Jamie Fraser when I was nineteen years old. He was tall, red-headed, and at our first meeting at least, a virgin. I fell in love hard, fast and completely. He knew how to ride a horse, wield a sword and stitch a wound. He was, in fact, the perfect man.

That he was fictional hardly entered into it.

At 29, Emma Sheridan’s life is a disaster and she’s tired of waiting for the perfect boyfriend to step from the pages of her favorite book. There’s only one place to look, and it means selling everything and leaving her world behind. With an unexpected collection of allies along the way, can Emma face down a naked fishmonger, a randy gnome, a perfidious thief, and even her own abdominal muscles on the journey to find her Fraser?

Genre: Romance, Chick-lit
My Rating: *** (3 stars)

This was a fun read, even for someone who has never read any of the Outlander series. (Gasp! I know – they are on my TBR pile!) I think nearly everyone knows the basic concept behind the novels, so it wasn’t hard to figure out what Emma was referring to when she did talk about Diana Gabaldon’s books.

The book alternates between chapters telling us the story, and blog posts that Emma writes as she goes along. The blog posts are short and sweet, and sometimes provide a little insight into things that have not yet been fully disclosed in the story.

I did feel that the heroine was a bit naive for 29. I often wanted to yell into the book at her, and to point out how blind she was being, or how ridiculous some of her choices were. Even so, Emma is a likable character, and I couldn’t help but root for her and wish her success in her quest to find love.

I have to add that I love books about other books, and books that even just mention other books. Books mentioned within other books have given me some great reading recommendations, and because of them, I’ve read things I would never have picked up otherwise. The Outlander series has definitely jumped higher up my ever-growing list after reading this story!

 

NOTE: I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Murder on Wheels Blog Tour & Guest Post from Author Lynn Cahoon

~ Erika K ~ 9 Comments

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Be sure to visit the Murder on Wheels blog tour page where you can enter to win an ebook copy of the mystery, and you’ll find a list of participating blogs to visit if you are interested.

Please join me in welcoming Lynn Cahoon, author of the Tourist Trap Mystery series, to the blog today. Lynn’s latest book in the series, Murder on Wheels, is available now, and she’s stopped by to tell us why the Book’s always been The Thing for Lynn Cahoon! scroll

Thanks for having me over to The Book’s The Thing. I have to say, my life has always been about the book. I’m in a Lean In circle and we were led through an imagery session. When I looked back at my childhood and the focus of my teen years, books and storytelling were important. No, that’s not quite right—books saved my life.

As a kid, reading gave me other worlds to live in besides the rural country farm where we lived. A Wrinkle in Time is one of my all-time favorites still.

In middle school, I hid in the library with a few kindred souls during lunch, setting up new books on the shelves and in the card catalog. I think this is where I fell in love with mystery series. Nancy Drew, (The Secret of the Old Clock) Hardy Boys, I loved checking in with my favorite characters on their new adventures.

As a teen, I learned about love by reading Gone with the Wind and developed my affection for bad boys with a heart of gold. Which was only more entrenched with my band geek friends and their love for the Tolkien books. Lord of the Rings kept us sane in a world of teenage angst and football frenzy.

As a young mother, I fell in love with Stephen King and the way his bad guys always get their due in the end. The Stand was my go to read for more summers than I’ll admit here. I still love his ability to build new worlds that seem to be just on the other side of the invisible wall.

Finally, I learned to love cozies when I was going through breast cancer treatment in 2007. We’d moved 1600 miles away from my home state of Idaho and all my support peeps when I was diagnosed. The library was my favorite place to visit. During a weekend shot visit at the hospital, the nurse noticed I was reading a cozy. She asked if I’d read Susan McBride’s Debutante Dropout mystery series. Susan is a St Louis resident and a breast cancer survivor. When I said I hadn’t, the nurse brought me Blue Blood and her entire collection that next day when I arrived for my daily shot.

I realized then that there are many people who want to support you during your walk through hell, you just have to be open to the opportunities.

I started writing cozies after that and Murder on Wheels is part of the Tourist Trap mystery series that started with Guidebook to Murder releasing in 2014. And as I write the books, I find I’m as in love with the characters as I was when I read other series.

Writing the Tourist Trap books is like going home and seeing my peeps. I hope reading the series feels the same to my readers.

Lynn

CahoonBio

Lynn Cahoon is the author of the NYT and USA Today bestselling Tourist Trap cozy mystery series. Guidebook to Murder, book 1 of the series won the Reader’s Crown for Mystery Fiction in 2015. She’s also the author of the soon to be released, Cat Latimer series, with the first book, A STORY TO KILL, releasing in mass market paperback September 2016.She lives in a small town like the ones she loves to write about with her husband and two fur babies. Sign up for her newsletter at www.lynncahoon.com

Links

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Wheels-Tourist-Trap-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00XSVSCHQ/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1445392851&sr=1-4&keywords=Lynn+Cahoon

Nook –    http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/murder-on-wheels-lynn-cahoon/1121955305?ean=9781601834195

iBooks – https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/book/murder-on-wheels/id1018633392?mt=11

Goodreads –http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5857424.Lynn_Cahoon

Twitter – https://twitter.com/LynnCahoon

Facebook –https://www.facebook.com/LynnCahoonAuthor

Website – http://lynncahoon.com/

Amazon author page – http://www.amazon.com/Lynn-Cahoon/e/B0082PWOAO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

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Thanks Lynn! And here’s my Review….

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

murder on wheelsGoodreads Description:

The food truck craze has reached the charming coastal town of South Cove, California, but before Jill Gardner—owner of Coffee, Books, and More—can sample the eats, she has to shift gears and put the brakes on a killer . . .

Now that Kacey Austin has got her new gluten-free dessert truck up and running, there’s no curbing her enthusiasm—not even when someone vandalizes the vehicle and steals her recipes. But when Kacey turns up dead on the beach and Jill’s best friend Sadie becomes the prime suspect, Jill needs to step on it to serve the real killer some just desserts.

A Tourist Trap Mystery – #6

I love a protagonist who feels like someone I could be best friends with, and that’s exactly how I felt about Jill Gardner. She isn’t afraid to eat cheesecake, tacos, and fries, she reads everything from romance novels to stories about dragons, and she isn’t afraid to (or doesn’t know when not to) speak her mind. I’d also love to quit my day job and work at Coffee, Books, and More!

This is another new-to-me series that I enjoyed so much I will be going back to the beginning to get caught up. It was full of believable characters, a touch of romance, and just enough personal drama to keep Jill on her toes. The mystery kept me guessing, and the solution did not disappoint. If you enjoy cozies, be sure to check out Murder on Wheels!

NOTE: I received a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

 

Review – Crimson Shore by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

~ Erika K ~ 4 Comments

Crimson Shore by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
Pendergast #15

Goodreads description:

Crimson Shore (Agent Pendergast, #15)

A secret chamber.

A mysterious shipwreck.

A murder in the desolate salt marshes.

A seemingly straightforward private case turns out to be much more complicated-and sinister-than Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast ever could have anticipated.

Pendergast, together with his ward Constance Greene, travels to the quaint seaside village of Exmouth, Massachusetts, to investigate the theft of a priceless wine collection. But inside the wine cellar, they find something considerably more disturbing: a bricked-up niche that once held a crumbling skeleton.

Genre: Mystery / Thriller
My Rating: **** (4 of 5 stars)

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