Death by Chocolate Frosted Doughnut–explosive action
Death by Chocolate Frosted Doughnut
by Sarah Graves
Jake and Ellie continue to make delightful chocolate goodies at The Chocolate Moose when they are not being shot at, run off the road, or drowned. In Sarah Graves’ Death by Chocolate Frosted Doughnut, there is more than enough action, some strong female characters you will want to see survive, lots of suspects, and some confusing motives. I could relate more to the chocolate than the many nautical references which are, in fact, extremely important to the plot.
Jake lives in an old home bursting at the seams with extended family. Her sidekick Ellie is instrumental and often the leader in Jake’s dangerous investigations. As you read about the remote town of Eastport, Maine, where Jake put down roots twenty years before, you can understand why she decided to stay. As autumn closes in, the town is hosting the Eastport Pirate Festival which draws a huge tourist trade and, in this case, provides the perfect atmosphere for explosive action.
I would like to extend my thanks to Netgalley and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: 1.This is #3 in the Death by Chocolate Mystery Series, but the author does an excellent job of supporting the reader so that this book can be a standalone.
2. The book concludes with a recipe for Double-Chocolate Ginger Cookies, featuring chocolate chips, white chocolate, and crystallized ginger.
Publication: February 25, 2020—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
His face, furrowed and grooved by age and the outdoors, was like something you might find carved into an old tree trunk, and his grip had felt as tough as bark.
I took a gulp of my hot drink and felt the brandy molecules percolating through my collapsed brain cells, reviving them. Or at least making them dance around very happily indeed, which was enough for me at the moment.
She was an overbearing old fussbudget, our Bella, but she would have stepped in front of a freight train for any one of us.
Dead Ringer–yellow carnation
Dead Ringer
by Annelise Ryan
Mattie Winston is overcome with personal problems as well as a case with far reaching consequences. She spends her days off on a murder investigation that might prove the innocence of a man in jail for life as a convicted serial killer. In a strange twist of affairs, Mattie finds herself at odds with her husband Hurley, a homicide detective. She is fulfilling a gift to him but has misgivings about the promised present and her abilities as a mother. Hurley is jealous and suspicious. How did the loving couple get so out of sorts with each other?
In Dead Ringer by Annelise Ryan, Mattie takes the investigation of the serial murders to nearby Eau Claire, ruffling the professional feathers of the coroner and the district attorney there. Both are up for re-election, and neither is happy with the new forensic pathology program being developed in their county. Meanwhile, the morgue in Sorenson holds a druggie killed in the same manner and following the same profile as those killed years ago. It is up to Mattie to determine if there is a copycat killer on the loose or if the wrong man is behind bars.
I would like to extend my thanks to Netgalley and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #11 in the Mattie Winston Mystery Series, but works as a standalone.
Publication: February 25, 2020—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
My son is a constant ball of energy and inquisitiveness, a cross between two of his favorite cartoon characters: the Tasmanian Devil and Curious George.
My mother wasn’t one for praise or approval. The woman is better at finding faults than a seismologist.
“Do tell,” Brenda says, feigning high interest. She not only bats her eyelashes, she manages to look alluring doing it. I’m impressed, because whenever I try to do it, I look like I’ve got a bad nervous twitch.
Charmed by the Cook’s Kids–a chef with hidden talents
Charmed by the Cook’s Kids
by Melinda Curtis
Harlan Monroe’s many descendants have personalities and passions that are as diverse as the snowflakes that fall on the dying Idaho tourist town of Second Chance, but they have one thing in common. The terms of their beloved grandfather’s will led to their parents’ firing them from family businesses. They now must agree on saving their grandfather’s hometown or selling it off.
Ivy was rescued from an abusive marriage by Harlan and is now raising her children by running the Bent Nickel, the town’s only restaurant. She supports herself as a short order cook, but she indulges her culinary passions in her secret kitchen. Cam Monroe, who has a coveted Michelin star, arrives in the little town only to discover that his family wants him to cater out of Bent Nickel’s marginally adequate kitchen for a crowd of celebrities at his cousin’s wedding.
Ivy and Cam lock horns over different culinary goals and methods before they get to know each other. They both have likable sides and honorable goals, but they have histories that they have to work through.
Melinda Curtis tells their story in Charmed by the Cook’s Kids where you, also, will be charmed by R.J., an aspiring 8 year old chef, and his 5 year old brother Nick. Foodies at heart, they are protective of their mother and have her rules and routines engrained in their psyches. I have enjoyed all the books in the Mountain Monroes, and Charmed by the Cook’s Kids is no exception. If you have read the other books in this series, you will enjoy meeting up with old friends. If this book is the first for you, I think you will find enough information provided that you will not puzzle over characters who are not central to the storyline. Although a clean and heartwarming romance, this book addresses head-on emotional and verbal abuse and the damage they cause. The main storyline has closure, but a few threads are left dangling to entice you to join the denizens of Second Chance to see how situations play out in the next book in this fun series that will leave you smiling.
I would like to extend my thanks to Melinda Curtis for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Romance
Notes: #6 in the Mountain Monroes, but works well as a standalone.
Publication: June 1, 2020—Harlequin Heartwarming
Memorable Lines:
…she’d felt a shock when he’d taken her arms and shifted her out of his way, a jolt like the first tart taste of lemon in a finely made meringue.
Don’t touch my dish, Ivy. You’ll just ruin it. Her ex-husband’s voice echoed in the kitchen, in Ivy’s head, in her very bones. He’d yell and whisper and hiss that she should stay away, and then he’d contradict himself. You knew my sauce needed more basil. What kind of idiot lets it go out that way?
Diane fixed Ivy with a stare cold enough to freeze the Salmon River.
Dressed Up 4 Murder–Chiweenie in a fashion parade
Dressed Up 4 Murder
Sun City West, a retirement community in Arizona, is the setting for a cozy mystery series featuring Sophie Kimball, an accountant for Williams Investigations. Sophie uses her deductive reasoning skills to help with cases that her boss Nate and boyfriend Marshall are called upon to investigate, often by the county sheriff’s office.
Dressed Up 4 Murder is a combination of humor, thanks to Sophie’s persistent mother Harriet and her gossipy friends, and mystery involving murder, affairs, and seafood. The star of the book in so many ways is Harriet’s chiweenie, Streetman. He competes in a series of doggy parades dressed in themed costumes designed especially for him by Harriet’s friend Shirley. When Streetman literally uncovers a body, Sophie and Marshall are on the scene. Harriet depends on Sophie to solve the case and, meanwhile, keeps Sophie regularly updated on the developments of Streetman’s costumes.
The doggy parade and the banter of Harriet and her friends will leave you smiling and chuckling, while the red herrings will keep you turning pages to solve the mysteries. Do all the threads tie together or are there actually several cases and multiple villains?
I would like to extend my thanks to Netgalley and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #6 in the Sophie Kimball Mystery Series, but works well as a standalone.
Publication: February 25, 2020—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
…my mother used all of her available time to drive me nuts. Endless phone calls about doggie designer clothes and the Halloween pet parade. I was looking forward to this first spectacle of the Precious Pooches Holiday Extravaganza as much as a root canal.
…I got to enjoy three or four minutes of blissful silence. Until my mother opened her mouth. “Phee is investigating those poisonings. It’s very hush-hush.” If it’s so hush-hush, why is she announcing it at gossip’s epicenter?”
By now I was getting really antsy, and apparently I wasn’t the only one. “Dish the dirt, Myrna,” Louise said, “while most of us still have our hearing.”
On the Lamb–deadly beach party
On the Lamb
by Tina Kashian
There is a lot of fun to be had in Tina Kashian’s latest cozy mystery, On the Lamb. Lucy Berberian, who manages her family’s Mediterranean restaurant, Kebab Kitchen, in the small Jersey tourist town of Ocean Crest has a reputation for solving mysteries with the help of a sidekick. Her best friend Katie fills the bill, only this time Katie’s husband Bill, an Ocean Crest police officer, is not assigned to the case so they are on their own in their informal investigations.
There are many suspects in the murder case as no one seems to have positive feelings about the victim Gilbert, not even his wife. You’ll want to read On the Lamb to find out what hold Gilbert had over various characters and watch the course of the duo’s inquiries that turn dangerous.
On the fun side is Eloisa Lubinski, a widow in her eighties who isn’t letting life pass her by. Lucy rents out Eloisa’s very pink upstairs apartment with an amazing oceanfront view and a sixties decor. Other interesting characters include Azad, chef at the Kabob Kitchen and Lucy’s former boyfriend, and Madame Vega, a longtime psychic on the boardwalk whose powers of observation and perception exceed any claimed clairvoyant abilities. The boardwalk setting is a fantastic backdrop and critical to the events of the story.
This cozy mystery checks off all the boxes for a fun afternoon read. My one issue is that Lucy, a former patent attorney, and Katie, the wife of a police officer, clearly break the law on several occasions. They were more concerned about how to safely share their criminally obtained information with the police than with their committing the crime. Cozies often have the main character walk in grey areas or put their own lives in danger; this one went a little too far. I still enjoyed the story very much for its interesting plot, characters, and setting and recommend it as well as the whole Kitchen Kabob Mystery Series.
I would like to extend my thanks to Netgalley and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: 1. #4 in the Kitchen Kebab Mystery Series, it will be fine as a standalone as the author gives lots of background as she begins the plot.
2. The book is wrapped up with some delicious sounding Mediterranean recipes.
Publication: February 25, 2020—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
It was old lady décor. Sixties kitchen with a limegreen refrigerator, tiered curtains, wallpaper with roosters and matching decorative wall plates displaying more roosters. One of the cabinet doors had been left open to reveal a shelf liner with a print of—she could have guessed it by now—roosters. It smelled like old lady, too. A combination of Jean Naté and BENGAY.
As she gazed at the delights behind the glass counter, she could almost feel the added extra inches on her waist and hips. The candy store took temptation to a different level.
The creamy chocolate and peanut butter combo danced like a ballet on her tongue.
Gilead–coherent ramblings
Gilead
by Marilynne Robinson
I do most of my reading and reviewing as a solitary occupation until I publish my thoughts on a book. I was glad to have read Gilead by Marilynne Robinson as a part of a book club where we could all bounce our reflections on the book off the mirrors of the impressions of others. The member of our group who suggested this book had read it several times. When I first began the book, I could not imagine enduring more than one reading. I have never liked stream-of-consciousness as a style of writing, and this book is a good example. John Ames, a Congregationalist minister, puts pen to paper to share his final thoughts with his young son, the things he would have told him as he grew, were their age difference not so pronounced. Having finished the book, I reread the first page to gather my thoughts and was amazed at what a perfect beginning it holds, carefully crafted and full of promise.
Although I still don’t favor the stream-of-consciousness style, I appreciate how appropriate it is to this epistolary novel with its many themes. The setting is the Midwestern town of Gilead that was once part of the underground railroad. Racial issues keep popping up at the most unexpected times in this book. Much of the story deals with relationships across generations. Without strict attention, it can be difficult to sort out which generation is being referenced. There are many ministers in the family line, but father and son bonds can be troublesome as the characters struggle to answer for themselves what is required to have a good life. Another level of complication is added in the thread of John’s namesake, Jack, the son of his best friend Robert who is also a pastor. There are undertones of the Biblical story of the “Prodigal Son” in some of those difficult associations. John, who never says anything bad about anyone, will leave behind a loving wife with a mysterious past, a much loved son, and boxes and boxes of sermons. How will he be remembered?
Gilead is not an easy or quick read. Be prepared to reread passages, especially those with theological depth. Some I just had to walk away from; others benefited from group discussion. I plodded through the first half of disparate pieces; I was fascinated with the second half as those pieces came together to form a beautiful design. At some point I probably will reread Gilead after I stand apart a bit and allow the characters of Gilead to become a comfortable part of my vision of “the good life.”
Rating: 4/5
Category: Historical Fiction, Christian
Notes: 1. 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
2. There are three other books that involve many of the same characters, but Gilead was written first.
Publication: November 15, 2004—Picador
Memorable Lines:
A little too much anger, too often or at the wrong time, can destroy more than you would ever image.
When you encounter another person, when you have dealings with anyone at all, it is as if a question is being put to you. So you must think, What is the Lord asking of me in this moment, in this situation?
I have decided the two choices open to me are (1) to torment myself or (2) to trust the Lord. There is no earthly solution to the problems that confront me. But I can add to my problems, as I believe I have done, by dwelling on them.
Under the Radar–extreme bullying
Under the Radar
by Annette Dashofy
With a full-time job with the Monongahela County EMS and a “part-time gig as deputy coroner,” Zoe Chambers has reason to be on the scene when bad things happen. In Annette Dashofy’s Under the Radar, murders abound. Zoe’s friend from high school, the much bullied Horace, turns himself in for the murder of long-time tormentor Dennis Culp. Did Horace snap under the continued violent harassment?
Under the Radar contains lots of twisty paths in the criminal investigations with several major surprises along the way. In addition to murder and burglaries, there are personal issues as Zoe plans her wedding to Vance Township Police Chief Pete Adams. She somehow manages to become involved in a deadly scenario while trying to track down a half brother she has never met. There is a little comic relief via Zoe’s interactions with her mother Kimberly and a “girls’ road trip.” Local politics works its way into the story as Zoe’s boss has to compete for his job, and the election results could also affect Zoe’s employment.
The books in this series are page turners and Under the Radar is no exception.
I would like to extend my thanks to Edelweiss and to Henery Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #9 in the Zoe Chambers Mystery Series, but can be read as a standalone because the mystery is the strong part of the plot and much background information is supplied at the beginning of the book.
Publication: February 25, 2020—Henery Press
Memorable Lines:
Pete didn’t need to tell Horace to stay close. If he’d been any closer, he’d have been in Pete’s back pocket.
He hated to wish ill on anyone, but he hoped someone requested assistance or needed an officer for something—anything—minor. Paperwork sucked.
Kimberly had two large suitcases, a massive carry-on, and what Zoe guessed was a makeup bag big enough to stock the Dior counter at a department store.
In Cold Camomile–a second chance for Iphy
In Cold Camomile
by Joy Avon
Callie Aspen and her great-aunt Iphy, who own the book-themed tea shop Book Tea, are managing a Valentine-themed fundraiser for lovely Haywood Hall. Callie is supervising the whole event with its many volunteers, and Iphy is providing her beautiful tea creations.
Unfortunately, there is a murder at the tea, and a long lost acquaintance of Iphy’s is a major suspect. The book includes several mysteries. Iphy is quite secretive about her relationship with the baritone guest singer. There are a pair of women overheard plotting revenge. No one seems to like the murder victim.
Callie risks her relationship with Ace, acting sheriff, to insure her aunt’s safety. Both ladies act rather rashly and contrary to Ace’s advisement as they investigate.
I enjoyed Joy Avon’s In Cold Camomile but never quite felt the thrill of the investigation. It is clear that Callie and Iphy are overstepping their bounds and that there will be negative consequences. This mystery is diverting, but not gripping. I look forward to the next book in the A Tea and a Read series as several personal relationships are at the cusp of transition.
I would like to extend my thanks to Netgalley and to Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #3 in the A Tea and a Read Mystery Series
Publication: February 11, 2020—Crooked Lane Books
Memorable Lines:
The wind played around them, and the darkness seemed to squeeze just a little tighter. Sometimes happiness seemed just out of reach, so tantalizingly close and yet too far away to ever grab hold of.
Callie had the unpleasant sensation that everyone was different that day than they usually were, and not in a good way.
She didn’t feel like eggs and yogurt with walnuts and honey anymore. Her stomach seemed too full to eat anything. Full of murder and manipulation, with no clear clues leading her anywhere.
A Field Guide to Homicide–writing retreat you’d love to attend
A Field Guide to Homicide
by Lynn Cahoon
As a book lover, to hear an author’s thoughts on writing embedded in a cozy mystery is a special experience. Lynn Cahoon provides just such an opportunity through her Cat Latimer Mystery Series, but there is even more sharing of the writing process in the latest installment of the series. Cat Latimer, a former professor, conducts writers’ retreats in her restored Victorian mansion one week per month while she continues her own writing. She appreciates that she has the best of both worlds, authoring her own books while helping other writers develop their unique potential.
In A Field Guide to Homicide, Cat is hosting an unusual group that has two writing couples and a rather awkward college student. She is just beginning to recognize the different dynamics of this group and attempt to mesh them into a working team, when they have to cut an outing short due to a gruesome discovery. Seth is Cat’s boyfriend. He restores old homes and helps out with the retreats. Suddenly he finds himself in the middle of a mystery that seems to revolve around some old army buddies who are gathering for a reunion. Cat’s Uncle Pete plays a role too; as chief of police, he attempts to solve the crime and keep everyone safe. At the same time, he tries to entertain his girlfriend Shirley, a retired Alaskan deputy and aspiring writer, who is in town for the week.
A Field Guide to Homicide is structured so that as you finish one chapter, you absolutely must keep reading into the next. The characters are likable. The relationships are complicated, but not overly so. Although the writing process is a major theme, the all-important mystery takes the lead as it heads in unexpected directions. The setting is a writer’s dream come true with Cat having her special writing space on the third floor with both a view and privacy. Her best friend and business partner, Shauna, cooks for the trio of Cat, Seth, and herself as well as providing breakfast and delicious snacks for the retreat group. This is a bookish mystery you won’t want to miss.
I would like to extend my thanks to Netgalley and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #6 in the Cat Latimer Mystery Series, but holds up well as a standalone. Cahoon has a talent for jumping right into the plot while bringing readers up to speed on the characters.
Publication: January 28, 2020—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
…she settled onto a living room couch and got lost in a futuristic world where good did conquer evil, even if it took three hundred pages.
She was sitting in the living room, in what she liked to call a good book coma or hangover. Where her mind didn’t want to leave the magic of the world she’d just created as she read the story.
Some people never found their true voice because they want to write what they think will sell or worse, what they think they should write. People needed to realize that writing is all about telling the story. And if you don’t like the story you’re writing, write something different.
education pathways 