Mystery Monday (& a giveaway!)

 

An Unexpected Peril (Veronica Speedwell #6) by Deanna Raybourn (Berkley hardcover, 2 March 2021).

January 1889.

Veronica and Stoker have been helping the Curiosity Club (an elite Society of unconventional and adventurous women) curate an exhibition honoring Alice Baker-Greene, a member who had died while mountain-climbing.

When Stoker notices that the ropes Alice used appear to have been deliberately cut, they hide the evidence while deciding what to do about it, but before they can take action, the ropes are stolen.

Meanwhile, the Princess of Alpenwald, a patron of the exhibit, disappears.  Since she is scheduled to attend some state functions, a doppelganger is needed.  That replacement is Veronica, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the princess.

This provides the perfect opportunity for the Veronica and Stoker to investigate what they are certain is the murder of their friend.

Of course, complications ensue, and Veronica's life is endangered.

An Unexpected Peril is thoroughly entertaining.  We learn more about the backgrounds of both Veronica and her paramour, and the ending provides satisfactory closure.

Thanks to the publisher, I have a finished hardcover copy to give away.  Please comment on this post to enter.  Entries from the U.S. only, please.

Cozy Monday

Death in Dark Blue (Writer's Apprentice #2) by Julia Buckley (Berkley Prime Crime mass market paperback, 2 May 2017).


Lena London has been Camilla Graham's assistant long enough that their first collaborative book, The Salzburg Train,  has been published.  They're both pretty excited, and Lena wants to share her excitement with her new beau, Sam West.  But when she goes next door to to give him a copy, she (almost literally) stumbles upon the body of a woman.

Lena recognizes the woman: Taylor Brand was the best friend of Sam's late wife Victoria, who was determined to prove that Sam had murdered Victoria, even though Sam had been exonerated when proof surfaced that Victoria was still alive. Lena is, of course, stunned.  She's also certain that Sam wouldn't be foolish enough to commit a murder on his own property, and local police chief Doug Heller agrees with her.

Still, the media presence, which had just begun to dissipate, increases, and Lena and Sam are once again in the national spotlight.

Lena and Sam are desperate to determine the identity of Taylor's killer.  They'd like to find Victoria, too, but that has been taken over by federal agencies, who seem to have given the case very low priority. 

There are some fictional characters whose jobs I'd love to have.  Lena London is one of them.  Camilla Graham is a romantic suspense author reminiscent of Mary Stewart, the grande dame of romantic suspense. 

Julia Buckley has been so thorough in the conception of her characters that there is a list of all of Camilla Graham's novels (from 1972 through 2016!) at the front of the book.  And, each chapter begins with an epigraph from Camilla and Lena's work in progress, Death on Danube.  

Although not absolutely necessary, it's probably a good idea to read the first book in the series, A Dark and Stormy Murder, to fully understand what's going on in this book, but it won't be a hardship!



The publisher has generously offered a copy of Death in Dark Blue to one of my readers.  Please comment below before 12:01 a.m. on Monday, May 8th.  Entries from the US only, please.  
Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win!

FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book.

Cozy Monday

Twelve Angry Librarians (Cat in the Stacks #8) by Miranda James (Berkley Prime Crime hardcover, 21 February 2017).

Charlie Harris enjoys being the interim library director at Athena College, but he's happy to only be "interim".  Having to deliver the welcome address to the Southern Academic Libraries Association annual conference, being held at Athena is very stressful, though, as Charlie does not enjoy public speaking.

To add to that stress, Charlie's nemesis from library school, Gavin Fong, is the keynote speaker.  To be fair, Gavin has always rubbed most people the wrong way, being an insufferable and conceited and certain he knows everything.

And he seems to still take pleasure in baiting Charlie, who eventually reaches the end of his patience and takes a swing at Gavin.  When Gavin is found dead the next day, Charlie is at the top of the suspect list.

Of course, we all know he's innocent, as does Chief Deputy Kanesha Berry.  But CD Berry has to find concrete evidence of Charlie's innocence.  Though there's no shortage of people who wished Fong harm, finding the real culprit is a difficult task.

This is an extremely well-constructed mystery.  Clues and red herrings are perfectly placed, and the identity of the killer should be a real surprise.

Charlie and his Maine Coon cat Diesel, as well as their family and friends, are a charming group, and spending time with them is a delight!

The publisher has generously offered a copy of Twelve Angry Librarians to one of my readers.  Please comment below before 12:01 a.m. on Monday, February 20th.  Entries from the US only, please.  
Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win!

FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book.

Cozy Monday

Blown Away (Kite Shop Mystery #1) by Clover Tate (Berkley Prime mass market paperback, 7 February 2017).

Emmy Adler finally feels like an adult.  She's decided to open a kite shop called "Strings Attached" in the resort town of Rock Point, Oregon.  She'll be sharing a house with her best friend Avery, who had inherited it from her parents.

The first morning after moving in with Avery, she's taking her dog, Bear, for a walk on the beach when he discovers the body of a man lying at the water's edge.  Having left her phone at home, she has to rush back to call for help, but goes back to the beach to meet the local sheriff.  

Sheriff Koppen identifies the body as Miles Logan, the chef at a local gourmet restaurant, but it takes a minute for Emmy to recognize the name of a former boyfriend of Avery's.  The relationship ended rather abruptly, and since Avery doesn't have an alibi for the prior evening, she becomes the primary suspect.

Knowing that her friend couldn't possibly have killed anyone, Emmy sets out to prove her innocence by finding the actual killer.

Being a newcomer to the area makes Emmy's investigation a little more difficult, as locals are reluctant to trust her, but she is determined to see her friend exonerated.

Blown Away is not only a well-constructed mystery, but filled with information about kites and the flying thereof.  

Reading should be informative.  

The publisher has generously offered a copy of Blown Away to one of my readers.  Please comment below before 12:01 a.m. on Monday, Feburary 13th.  Entries from the US only, please.  
Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win!

FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book.

Cozy Monday

Better Late Than Never (Library Lover's Mystery #7) by Jenn McKinlay (Berkley Prime Crime hardcover, 1 November 2016). 

It's wonderful to visit Lindsey Norris, director of the Briar Creek Public Library, again.  

We arrive at the library just in time to witness Briar Creek's very first library amnesty day, 24 hours during which library patrons can return overdue books with no fines being charged. Lindsey and her staHff are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of books returned; it's necessary to empty the overflowing bookdrop several times, and all of the book trucks are filled.

To reward her staff for all the work the've been saddled with, Lindsey is running a contest: the person who finds the most overdue item gets a free pizza.  Paula Turner, a recenly hired clerk, comes across a copy of The Catcher in the Rye that is twenty years late.

Out of curiosity, Lindsey searches the library's records (of course they go back that far!) and finds that the peron who'd checked out the book was a local high school teacher named Candice Whitley.  

She's shocked to learn that Candice was murdered, and on the very day that the book was checked out.  Certain that the book can help to identify the killer, Lindsey turns it in to the police chief.

But the small Briar Creek police force is strained to the limit by a spate of burglaries, and Lindsey knows that a late library book will certainly be given little attention, so she decides to ask a few questions herself.

But there's plenty going on in the small town besides murder and robbery investigations. New babies, new friends, new romances... it's astounding!

The back of the book contains craft ideas, recipes, and an excerpt from the fifth

 book in Ms. McKinlay's Hat Shop mystery series, Assault and Beret, due in January.

The publisher has generously offered a copy of Better Late Than Never to one of my readers.  Please comment below before 12:01 a.m. on Monday, November 14th.  Entries from the US only, please.  
Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win!

FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book.

Cozy Monday

Death at First Sight (Bay Island Psychic #1) by Lena Gregory (Berkley Prime Crime mass market paperback, 1 November 2016). 

Burnt out from practicing psychiatry in New York City, Cass Donovan moved to back to her hometown of Bay Island to set up shop as a psychic.  

While doing a reading for Ellie Callahan, one of her regulars, Cass feels an odd sort of shadow passing in front of her.  The only other time she'd had that sensation, someone had died, and Cass has no idea what it could mean this time around.  

Late for a rehearsal for her friend's fashion show, Cass nevertheless stops to get coffee on the way.  But Ellie's domineering mother, Marge Hawkins steps into the line behind her, and begins to loudly berate her for deceiving Ellie.

When she finally arrives at the theatre, she learns that Marge had changed the long-planned date of the fashion show.  Bee, whose designs will be modeled for distributors, angrily declares that the world would be a lot better off with out Marge.  

The next day, Cass arrives at the theatre early, and finds Marge sitting in the orchestra pit, dead.  She waits anxiously for the police to arrive, hoping that her friend  "Tank" Lawrence will be the officer on duty.  But Sherriff Langdon, not a fan of Cass's, answers the call, and immediately suspects Cass of the murder.  

Langdon treats Cass as though she's guilty before he even questions anyone else. Cass, who knows there's no shortage of people who disliked Marge, decides that the only way to prove her innocence is to conduct her own investigation, much to the disapproval of her friends.

Cass is a smart, engaging protagonist, though a bit impetuous, and I look forward to getting to know her and her friends in the next installment of the series, Occult and Battery (publication date not yet announced).


The publisher has generously offered a copy of Death at First Sight to one of my readers.  Please comment below before 12:01 a.m. on Monday, November 7th.  Entries from the US only, please.  
Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win!


FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book.

Cozy Monday

No Farm, No Foul (Farmer's Daughter Mystery #1) by Peg Cochran (Berkley Prime Crime mass market paperback, 6 September 2016).

Widow and mother of two, Shelby McDonald runs Love Blossom Farm in the small town of Lovett,  Michigan.  She also writes a blog called The Farmer's Daughter, in which she describes her experiences, discusses the process of growing vegetables, and shares original recipes.


Apart from missing her late husband like crazy, she has a pretty good life, even with her pre-teen daughter Amelia already being difficult.

But the bucolic peace is destroyed when the new minister's wife is killed during a church fund-raiser that Shelby hosts.  Prudence Mather was not an easy woman to like, so there are plenty of suspects, but then Shelby's best friend Kelly becomes one of the prime suspects and asks Shelby to poke around a little and see what she can come up with.

Already upset about the murder sullying the peace of her home, Shelby agrees, and gets to work.

Many of the chapters begin with the charming device of blog entries that Shelby drafts in her mind about events as she's experiencing them.  Shelby is an intelligent and accomplished protagonist who is easy to identify with.

Recipes for some of her creations are included at the end of the book, )but the one I really wanted, for the cottage cheese pie she keeps making, is missing).

The publisher has generously offered a copy of No Farm, No Foul to one of my readers.  Please comment below before 12:01 a.m. on Monday, September 19th.  Entries from the US only, please.  
Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win!

FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book.

Cozy Monday

Whispers Beyond the Veil (Change of Fortune Mystery #1) by Jessica Estevao (Berkley Prime Crime trade paperback, 6 September 2016).  

Ever since her mother died, Ruby Proulx has been travelling with her father, a snake-oil salesman, picking up a little money for herself by doing tarot readings.  After one of her father's get-rich-quick schemes ends in disaster, Ruby goes to Old Orchard, Maine to find her mother's sister Honoria Belden.

Old Orchard is a seaside resort experiencing a boom during the Gilded Age.  Many luxurious new restaurants and hotels are flourishing due to an influx of wealthy tourists. Ruby's aunt owns the Hotel Belden, which is unfortunately not one of the large new structures.

Unfortunately, the Hotel Belden is not new, nor does it have the fancy amenities that some of the newer hotels have.  In an effort to compete, Honoria has decided to cater to Spiritualists, with a staff including a numerologist, an astrologer, and other psychic practitioners, only a few of whom have arrived.

When one of the consultants is found dead on the beach, Ruby is worried about the effect it will have on her aunt's health, as well as her business.  When another death occurs, Ruby determines to find out exactly what's going on.

Ruby is an intelligent and appealing protagonist, and readers will be eager to see how her investigation fares. 

The publisher has generously offered a copy of Whispers Beyond the Veil  to one of my readers.  Please comment below before 12:01 a.m. on Monday, September 12th.  Entries from the US only, please.  
Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win!

FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book.

Cozy Monday

A Dark and Stormy Murder (Writer's Apprentice Mystery #1) by Julia Buckley (Berkley Prime Crime mass market paperback, 5 July 2016).  

As soon as I read the epigraph to the first chapter, an excerpt from fictional novelist Camilla Graham's novel The Salzburg Train, I knew I would love this book.  The tone of the passage evoked for me the Mary Stewart romantic suspense novels that I read and reread when I was a teen.  

Protagonist, aspiring author Lena London feels the same way about Camilla Graham's work.  She has her favorites of the many books Graham wrote (almost one a year from 1972 to 2010!) which have become her comfort reads.

So when her friend Allison calls and tells Lena that Camilla belongs to her knitting group, Lena at first thinks Allison is joking.  Allison assures Lena that she is absolutely serious, and then informs Lena that she has told Camilla about her.  In fact, Allison even sent Camilla a copy of Lena's graduate thesis, a novel inspired by Camilla's work. AND, Camilla liked it so much she told Allison that she'd like to meet Lena, and offer her a job.

Thus, Lena serendipitously becomes her idol's assistant/ghostwriter, moving lock, stock and feline into Camilla Graham's house, which the author believes will make working cooperatively much easier.  

On her first day in the small town of Blue Lake, Indiana, Lena discovers the body of a local waiter named Martin Jonas on the beach below Camilla's house.  

Just like that, Lena is involved in the same type of mystery as the heroines of Camilla's novels.  This gives her a great background to investigate a crime that the local law enforcement would like to pin on the recluse who lives next door, who has become a friend of Lena's.

The clever Julia Buckley has managed to create snippets from some of Camilla's books, which Lena often mentally compares to events in her own life, and reacts accordingly.  Not only that, each chapter is preceded by an epigraph from The Salzburg Train, the novel that Lena is assisting with.

Fans of Mary Stewart, Phyllis Whitney and Helen MacInnes will devour this book, and will probably (like me) be anxious for the next!



The publisher has generously offered a copy of A Dark and Stormy Murder  to one of my readers.  Please comment below before 12:01 a.m. on Friday, July 22, 2016.  Entries from the US only, please.  
Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win!


FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book.

Cozy Monday

Read to Death (Read 'Em and Eat #3) by Terrie Farley Moran (Berkley Prime Crime mass market paperback, 5 July 2016).

I love a book that teaches me stuff!

I had not known that Thomas Edison spent time in Florida, so obviously I didn't know that he'd owned an estate there, complete with beautiful gardens.

Sassy Cabot and Bridgy Mayfield, who run the Read 'Em and Eat bookstore and café in Fort Meyers, have several book clubs for area readers.  Since their Cool Reads/Warm Climate club has just finished reading The Florida Life Of Thomas Edison by Michele Albion, they decide to take the members on a day long field trip to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates, now a National Register Historic Site.

They rent a van and because he's friendly and garrulous, they request Oscar Frieland as the driver.  Oscar does tend to flirt, however, and this time it annoys some of the women. Sassy and Bridgy change the subject and the tension decreases, but someone was still upset.

After they return to the café, and are settling the clubbers with tea and snacks, Bridgy realizes she's left her expensive sunglasses in the van, and rushes out to get them before Oscar leaves.  She finds him bleeding, with a pair of scissors stuck in his neck.  

Because she's the one who found the body, Bridgy comes under severe scrutiny from the police.  Worried that her friend is being suspected of a crime that she didn't commit, Sassy does her best to find another person for the police to focus on.

The relationship between Sassy and Bridgy is amazing.  The  two women  live and work together, and still have a healthy friendship.  And, they've built a thriving business and strong support group far from their hometown.  

It's a joy to read about the way they run Read 'Em and Eat, the innovative ideas for book clubs.  Reading about the delicious food is hunger-inducing though.  Thank goodness recipes are included!



The publisher has generously offered a copy of Read to Death  to one of my readers.  Please comment below before 12:01 a.m. on July 18, 2016.  Entries from the US only, please.  
Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win!


FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book.

Cozy Monday

Written Off (Mysterious Detective #1) by E.J. Copperman (Crooked Lane Books hardcover, 14 June 2016).

Rachel Goldman is a full-time mystery writer whose protagonist is a police consultant named Duffy Madison.  After publishing three books in the series, she's successful enough that she doesn't need a day job, and is the process of working on the fifth.

Just as she's saved the first draft of Alive and Buried to the hard drive, she receives a phone call on her landline. The caller identifies himself as Duffy Madison, a consultant with the Bergen County (NJ) Prosecutor's Office, and tells her he needs to meet with her as soon as possible on a matter of life and death.

Rachel is understandable skeptical; the caller has to be a crack-pot. The fact that he assures her that he isn't crazy just makes Rachel more certain that he is.

After ending the call, it slips Rachel's mind completely.  It's not until she's signing books at the launch for the fourth in the series (How to Vanish Without a Trace) that she remembers.
This is because the last person in the signing line identifies himself as Duffy Madison and asks for her help in solving the disappearance of a Bergen County woman.  

What really throws Rachel, though, is the man's claim that he is the character from her novels, and that she created him.  He explains that he started working with the Bergen County authorities four years earlier (about the time that the Rachel's first novel was published), and has no memory of anything before that.

Rachel is intrigued enough to investigate, and determines that his story is true.  She still feels somewhat uncertain about how she could possibly assist, until she receives a threatening email.  At that point, it becomes personal, and she agrees to help Duffy.

The story that had been interesting suddenly jumps to absolutely gripping, and I kept telling myself I'd read "just one more chapter" until I reached the end of the book.  

Where will Rachel and Duffy's story go next?  Is it really true that he's her character come to life?  

There's only one way to find out...



The publisher has generously offered a copy of Written Off  to one of my readers.  Please comment below before 12:01 a.m. on June 27, 2016.  Entries from the US only, please.  
Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win!


FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book.

Cozy Monday

A Golden Cage (Newport Gilded Age Mystery #2) by Shelley Freydont (Berkley Prime Crime trade paperback, 7 June 2016).  

Deanna Randolph is spending the summer with the Ballard family, at their "cottage" in Newport Beach, while her mother and sister are in Europe.  

Although one would expect Deanna to be disappointed about this, she is thrilled to be away from her overly-strict parent, and under the guidance of the enlightened (some might say radical) Gwendolyn Manon, whom she calls "Gram Gwen".  They are staying with Gwen's daughter Laurette and her husband Lionel Ballard, parents to Deanna's almost-fiance Joe.

As the story opens, the group are arriving at a birthday celebration for a local judge, whose wife and daughter have arranged a theatrical performance on the grounds of their house. Of course, nothing is done by halves, so they have arranged for a theatre to be built, and surrounded it by a carnival which includes a fortune-teller and a coconut shy.  

Deanna has no idea why Joe has joined them, but she suspects it's to keep an eye on her (and she's right).  Meanwhile, Laurette intends to look for with Amabelle Deeks, a member of the acting troupe, who is the daughter of a school friend.  

The gilded age being a time of excess, the party runs into the early morning. At least it does for Joe, who reluctantly accompanies an acquaintance to an after-party on a yacht.  Some of the female actors are on board providing "entertainment" for a rowdily drunk bunch of young men.  

Joe nabs a plate of food from the buffet, and is enjoying it on a quiet corner of the deck, when he hears a loud argument.  The voices are obviously male and female, though he doesn't recognize them.  When he spots Amabelle looking exahusted and barely dressed, he convinces her to return to his parents' home with him.

The next morning, she has vanished, and one of her fellow actors is found in the conservatory with his head bashed in.

The judge's family pressure the police to apprehend a culprit immediately, whether guilty or not.  Deanna intends to make sure that the right person is arrested, and Joe intends to keep Deanna out of trouble.  Joe, of course, does not succeed.  

As she did with A Gilded Grave, Shelley Freydont has produced a vivid portrait of the political and social changes occurring during the late 19th Century, especially the beginnings of the women's movement, wrapped in an intriguing and well-constructed mystery.


The publisher has generously offered a copy of A Golden Cage to one of my readers.  Please comment below before 12:01 a.m. on June 13, 2016.  Entries from the US only, please.  
Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win!


FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book.

Cozy Monday

Crime and Poetry  (Magical Bookshop Mystery #1) by Amanda Flower (Obsidian mass market paperback, 5 April 2016).

When she gets a late-night phone call from her Grandma Daisy, who sounds like she’s at death’s door, Violet Waverly drops everything and rushes to Daisy’s home in the village of Cascade Springs, NY. 

But when she arrives, Daisy is absolutely fine.  Violet is upset, and wants to go back home to Chicago, where she’s working on her doctorate in English literature, but Daisy convinces her to stay for a few days, since she hasn’t been back in years.

Violet knows that Daisy wants her to stay in her hometown and begin to take over running the family bookstore, Charming Books, but she does have a dissertation to finish, but she agrees to stay for a few days.

The next morning, Violet sees Daisy's beau Benedict Raisin in her grandmother's driveway, and goes out to say "hello".  She's stunned to discover that he's dead, and not of natural causes.  

When the news comes out that Benedict had recently named Daisy as the beneficiary in his will, she of course becomes the prime suspect, and Violet realizes that she must remain in Cascade Springs and help prove her grandmother's innocence.

In the process, Violet reconnects with many of her old friends from high school, some of whom she'd have preferred not to see again.  But she's also adopted by Benedict's charming tuxedo cat, Emerson, as well as by Charming Books, which she learns is not an ordinary bookstore.

 Amanda Flower, the author of many mystery series for both adults and children, has come up with a delightful concept here.  It will be interesting to see what happens to Violet as she sets down roots in her hometown again.




The publisher has generously offered a copy of Crime and Poetry to one of my readers. Please comment below by 12:01 a.m. on Monday, April 11th. Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win. Entries from the U.S. only, please.




FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy of the book.

Cozy Monday

Kernel of Truth (Popcorn Shop Mysteries #1) by Kristi Abbott (Berkley Prime Crime mass market paperback, 1 March 2016).  

Opening a gourmet popcorn shop in her hometown of Grand Lake,Ohio was not something that Rebecca Anderson had ever planned, but she's glad she did.

The two major thorns in her side, her celebrity chef ex-husband Antoine and Grand Lake good girl Jessica James are more than offset by her friend and mentor Cordelia "Coco" Bittles, and having the opportunity to live near her sister Haley, who's married to Rebecca's best friend Dan (now the town sheriff) , and their son Evan.  

Then Coco is killed in her chocolate shop, next door to Rebecca's POPS, and everything goes sideways.  Jessica happens to be Coco's niece, and inherits Coco's Cocoas.  She's jealous of the relationship Rebecca had with her aunt, and does everything she can to make Rebecca look bad (and herself, innocent).  

At first, Rebecca is more worried about finding Coco's killer than her own safety. There is s no shortage of suspects, but her investigations keep landing her in trouble.  And it doesn't help that Antoine keeps calling to ask her to come back to him.

Rebecca is a thoroughly appealing protagonist: smart and talented, but prone to foot-in-mouth disease.  Her return to her hometown is tinged with a feeling of failure, which some of her old "friends" can't seem to let her forget.

Kernel of Truth is a quick, enjoyable read.  There is an excerpt of the sequel, Pop Goes the Murder, due next January, at the end of the book to  whet your appetite.  That is, if the decadent popcorn recipes, also included, haven't already done that.

The publisher has generously offered a copy of Kernel of Truth to one of my readers. Please comment below by 12:01 a.m. on Monday, March 14. Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy of the book.

Cozy Monday

A Familiar Tail (Witch's Cat #1) by Delia James (Obsidian mass market paperback, 2 February 2016).

Annabelle Amelia Blessingsound Britton, a freelance artist, goes from Boston to Portsmouth, New Hampshire to visit her best friend, chef Martine Devereux.  
Anna has only been in Martine's restaurant The Pale Ale, a few minutes when she's approached by an elegantly dressed woman who recognizes her as the granddaughter of Annabelle Mercy Blessingsound Britton (fondly known as Grandma B.B), a former resident of Portsmouth.

Anna is surprised.  She knew that Grandma B.B. was from the area, but didn't realize that she had any acquaintances left there.  

When Anna goes back to her car, there is a cat sitting in the driver's seat of her car.  This is disconcerting because the car is locked and the windows are closed.  She eventually learns that the cat,named  Alastair, had disappeared after the recent death of his owner Dorothy Hawthorne, a much-beloved local woman.

Dorothy's fatal fall down her basement stairs had been deemed an accident, but there are those who believe she was killed. Once Alastair accepts her, Anna finds herself involved in an unofficial investigation into Dorothy's death.  

Delia James has an unusual approach to the concepts of magical mystery cats and familiars, but it's absolutely credible.  

Both her main and secondary characeters are well-conceived and authentic. I look forward to seeing how this series develops.



The publisher has generously offered a copy of A Familiar Tail to one of my readers. Please comment below by 12:01 a.m. on Monday, February15. Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win. Entries from the U.S. only, please.


FTC Full Disclosure: Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book.

Cozy Monday

A Disguise to Die For (Costume Shop mystery #1) by Diane Vallere (Berkley Prime Crime mass market paperback, 2 February 2016).

Margo Tamblyn takes a few days from her job as a magician's assistant in Las Vegas and goes home to Proper City, Nevada to look after the family's costume shop, Disguise Delimit (say it out loud, if you don't get it).

Her first day back at the shop, a young man comes in and orders forty costumes for a detective-themed birthday party.  Blitz Manners and his frenemy Grady O'Toole were having a competition to see who could throw the best (most expensive) costume party, which Blitz thinks he can win by buying costumes from Disguise Delimit and hiring her friend Ebony Welles to plan the party.  

Margo attends the party as Ebony's assistant, and all seems to be going well until she walks into the kitchen and sees Ebony holding a large carving knife. Not alarming, except for the fact that Blitz's body is lying on the floor in front of her.

Margo is certain that Ebony did not kill the obnoxious young man, but she doesn't know how to prove it.  Her task becomes even more difficult as pieces of evidence leading to Ebony's guilt start popping up.

Diane Vallere (who also writes the Material Witness series for BPC) is one of my favorite cozy writers at present.  Her characters and locales are unusual but believable, and this engaging story is no exception.  

At the end is an excerpt from the second book in the series, Masking for Trouble, though no release date is given.


The publisher has generously offered a copy of A Disguise to Die for to one of my readers. Please comment below by 12:01 a.m. on Monday, February 8. Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

FTC Full Disclosure: Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book.

Author Interview -- Jen Klein

Photo and bio: SohoPress.com

Emmy-nominated Jen Klein grew up in North Carolina and studied theatre at Appalachian State University. She wrote the screenplay for the movie Choke and is also the author of the forthcoming contemporary YA romance Shuffle, Repeat.

Jen is currently a writer on the hit TV series Grey’s Anatomy. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two sons, and several animals, all of whom are unruly and ill-behaved.

I was invited to interview Jen Klein, the author of Jillian Cade: (Fake) Paranormal Investigator  as part of YA Reads 2015 Debut Authors Bash.

Enjoy!

S&N: Did you write when you were a kid? What made you decide to write a novel?

JK:  I wrote all the time when I was a kid. I wrote in spiral notebooks, propped up on my elbows on the floor behind the living room sofa. Why there? I have no idea, except maybe it was my very first writer’s cave, before I knew how much I loved a writer’s cave.

** Note: my “cave” these days is most often the guest room, drinking a cup of coffee while Tangerine Dream plays. Or in my bed, sitting up against the pillows, reminding children to PLEASE close the door when they come in or out. 

As far as what made me decide to write a novel…? I was already a screenwriter and -- like many screenwriters -- always THOUGHT I would write a book, but never had. Books seemed daunting: so many pages, and with words going all the way to the edges of the page. SO MANY WORDS. But then one day, I decided to try. And a few pages in, I fell in love. It was like flying. So I kept going.

S&N:  What was your high school experience like, compared to Jillian’s?

JK: I was less dark than Jillian. Less insightful. Probably just as self-involved, but less aware of my self-involvement. Like Jillian, I wasn’t sure I deserved to be seen, to be loved. Unlike Jillian, I was kinda quiet and made good grades.

S&N:  Who were your favorite authors when you were a teen?

JK:  Betty Smith.
       Judy Blume.
       Stephen King.
       Margaret Atwood.
       Orson Scott Card.
       John Irving.
       Jean Auel.
       Anne Rice.

S&N:  The premise for the book is kind of unusual. Jillian made me think of a combination of Buffy Summers (the vampire slayer) and Veronica Mars. Was Jillian based on them? If not, what inspired her?

JK:  Jillian wasn’t based on Buffy and Veronica -- those were comparisons made after she was born. And, yes. I do think of her as being “born.” I guess I think of all characters that way. 

Something I say a lot -- on panels or to other writers in my screenwriting world -- is that I think writing is more like archaeology than architecture. 

By that, what I mean is that it’s not about BUILDING a thing. It’s about FINDING a thing. In this very strange, mystical way, it’s like the story already exists somewhere and you’re just trying to find it. 

I notice it so much in a TV writers’ room, also. It feels like we’re all working together, trying to find the right version of a story. When you get tired or discouraged, someone else can pick up a shovel. In television, the shovel is in the hands of a room full of other writers. In publishing, it’s your editor.

Collaboration is a beautiful, magical thing.

Thanks to YA Reads, I have a signed copy of Jillian Cade: (Fake) Paranormal Investigator , as well as some Jillian Cade swag for one of my readers.  Please comment below by 12:01 a.m. on December 16th, and don't forget to include an e-mail address where I can contact you if you win. Entries from the US only, please.

Cozy Monday

Death Takes Priority (Postmistress Mysery #1) by Jean Flowers (Berkley Prime Crime mass market paperback, 3 November 2015).

After many years and a broken engagement, Cassie Miller returns to her hometown of North Ashcot  in the Massachusetts Berkshires.  Trading her administrative position at the Main Post Office in Boston for a position as a small-town postmistress is a huge change, but she's ready for it.

Settling back into the rhythm of small-town life is not quite as easy as the professional adjustment, and Cassie is lonely, so she finds herself calling her best friend from Boston, Linda, almost every day.

Arriving at work one morning to discover that someone broke into the post office and stole piles of telephone books that were waiting to be handed out to her customers, Cassie is justifiably puzzled. She decides not to report the theft, assuming that the police will think she's crazy, that the post office inspectors will laugh, and that contacting the local phone company rep -- her high school boyfriend Wendell -- will be awkward.  She opts to wait and try to think of a fourth option, and hopes that the situation will magically resolve itself in the meantime.

She accepts an invitiation to lunch from another newcomer to North Ashcot, Scott James, the manager of the local antique shop, hoping her friendless state is coming to an end.  But in the middle of their meal, Scott is hauled away in handcuffs for an unexplained reason.

When an unidentified male body is found in the woods just outside of town, Cassie begins to question her judgement, wondering if Scott had something to do with that.

Figuring out what's going on will at least take her mind off her loneliness, so Cassie decides to do just that.

A post-office-related mystery is unusual.  Reading this story, one not only enjoys a well-crafted mystery, one learns about the United States Postal System as well.  Tidbits of postal policy and history are sprinkled amongst descriptions of eccentric small-town characters.

It will be interesting to see where Cassie's next adventure leads!




The publisher has generously offered a copy of Death Takes Priority to one of my readers. Please comment below by 12:01 a.m. on November 16, and don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win. Entries from the U.S. only, please.



FTC Full Disclosure: Many thanks to the publisher for providing  me with  a review copy of the book.