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The Overlook Murder–police procedural with a view
The Overlook Murder
by Patrick Kelly
Bill O’Shea was a big-city police detective. He has retired and is settling into his new home in the mountain resort of Wintergreen. His condominium is near the condo of Cindy, his new girlfriend. In The Overlook Murder by Patrick Kelly, Bill is helping Cindy with her catering business. She has been hired to provide meals and refreshments for a small group event for a wealthy businessman, Damian Susskind, at his mountain retreat.
All goes well until some of the guests go on a hike, starting a spiral of deadly events. Was the fall off a cliff an accident, the result of a medical event, or a murder? Everyone at the house that day is a suspect including Bill. Bill, nevertheless, is asked to assist in the investigation that becomes a combination of medical forensics, intense interviews, old-fashioned searches, and astute reasoning.
The book is written in short chapters, and the author excels in providing hooks that draw the reader into the next chapter. It is a page turner. The author is also skillful in descriptive writing that makes you feel you are in the scene.
As Bill and the local officers dive into the investigation with interviews and research, we learn more about the backgrounds and personalities of the guests and of the investigators. By the end of the book you know details about Bill and Cindy and their ex-spouses. Cindy’s son Justin has a major career decision as does his new girlfriend Maggie. All of the guests have complicated relationships with the host and motivations for murder. A little humor is added with Bill’s efforts to befriend Mr. Chips, a groundhog.
I have not read the first book in the series. It was referred to a number of times in The Overlook Murder as many of the characters had met in The Mountain View Murder. I did not feel I missed anything in the current book. I’m looking forward to reading about the adventures Bill encounters in the next police procedural Murder in White.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #2 in the Wintergreen Mystery Series, but can be read as a standalone.
Publication: June 4, 2022—Chaparral Press
Memorable Lines:
But if the prosecuting attorney couldn’t make a case, the true cause of death would remain a mystery, perhaps for all time. Which was part of the job. If you couldn’t deal with uncertainty, you shouldn’t become a homicide detective.
After a quick dinner, Bill strolled onto his balcony to watch the approaching storm. Wind rushed up the mountain and eerily moaned as it fought for entrance to closed windows and doors. Lightning flashed in the Rockfish Valley.
Bill wrestled with where to take the conversation. Secrets were like hidden fruit in a tree. Sometimes if you shook the trunk, the juicy facts would fall out.
Death by Chocolate Chip Cupcake–literally a cliffhanger
Death by Chocolate Chip Cupcake
by Sarah Graves
Most cozy mysteries are fairly tame. They have an interesting plot with a great whodunnit puzzle, a little action, and a sprinkling or two of danger. With Death by Chocolate Chip Cupcake, you can take those expectations and turn them upside down. Then double the pace, add lots of adventure, and throw in some creepiness.
The settings are extremely important to the plot. Main character Jacobia (Jake) and her friend Ellie own a chocolate-themed bakery, The Chocolate Moose, in the island village of Eastport, Maine. A lot of the action takes place at a remote cliffside house recently purchased by Ingrid Merryfield, a past-her-prime actress. Formerly glorious but currently decaying, Cliff House sits at the end of a narrow peninsula. With one way in by car, boat access when the tides are right, earthquakes, swamps, and secret tunnels, Sarah Graves has created a setting that is the perfect background for her plot.
Merryfield is hosting a party to ostensibly show off her new house to old friends even before any remodeling has been done. The guests who are staying overnight are plunged into sudden danger as they are trapped when a ginormous tree is uprooted and blocks the egress just as someone starts murdering them one by one. Instead of a locked room mystery, we can call it a sealed island mystery.
Ellie and Jake have been hired and paid well to provide chocolate desserts with the proviso that they stay overnight to serve and clean up. Things go from bad to worse as Jake tries to save Ellie, Jake’s stepmother, and Jake’s daughter-in-law and get them off the island. Graves goes into great detail with the setting helping the reader picture the dangerous cliffs and rising tides.
Sorting through the characters, their motivations, and the numerous plot twists is a full-time job. In the conclusion, everything is spelled out and loose ends are tied up. Jake and Ellie are brave, self-sacrificing, and ingenious ladies, but two of my favorite characters critical to the plot are not main characters. My semi-heroes are Igor the Irish Wolfhound who has a recurrent role and Jake’s elderly father who should not be underestimated. Death by Chocolate Chip Cupcake is not the book for a calm afternoon’s read, but a cup of hot tea might go with it well as there are some wet, cold scenes.
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. #5 in the Death by Chocolate Series. It could be read as a standalone, but would be enjoyed better with more character background.
2. Minor swearing (about 5 occasions)
Publication: March 29, 2021—Kensington
Memorable Lines:
…there are no dumb housewives in Maine. If there were, they’d get eaten by bears, poisoned by toadstools masquerading as mushrooms, or bled dry by mosquitoes so big they could stand flat-footed and look right over the barn at you.
So the whole line of thought was a vicious circle and for now I set it aside turning instead to thoughts of our imminent journey: Life jacket, check. Iron grip on the rail, check.
On the hearth, flames licked hungrily at the logs, curling their splinters to frizzled wisps.
Murder on the Chopping Block–movie set turns violent
Murder on the Chopping Block
by Shawn Reilly Simmons
The Red Carpet Catering Mystery Series is always open to new adventures because the main character, Penelope Sutherland, is the owner of a catering company that provides meals and snacks for movie productions. So, Penelope and her crew have to travel to wherever the setting for a film is. In Murder on the Chopping Block, they are in Salacia Beach, California, near Monterey.
Author Shawn Reilly Simmons really knows how to move a cozy mystery along. She uses fairly short chapters, but they end up making you want to jump into the next one. This book has just the right amount of character focus, intrigue, and action combined with a little romance and settings that range from cliffs along the Pacific to beautiful homes of the wealthy. A fun character in this cozy is Mirabella, a cat with an important role.
When a shot rings out on the movie set, the blood is not fake, and Penelope jumps into action. She also overhears a domestic incident that later leads to violence. She picks up on a lot of clues that others might miss by being observant when she is in the right place at the right time. When others notice her perceptiveness, however, things get dangerous for her.
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: #7 in the Red Carpet Catering Mystery Series, but works well as a standalone as this plot is not dependent on understanding an extensive character background.
Publication: September 17, 2019—Henery Press
Memorable Lines:
“Come on, sweetie,” Penelope said in a soft voice. Mirabella stared at her, acting like she wasn’t going to follow, then rose up on stiff legs and strutted toward the gate as if it was her idea in the first place.
“I never even thought about what happens to animals after…” “The unexpected happens,” Brice finished her thought. “You know how it is. A lot of people have pets. Even criminals have pets. When stuff goes down, these guys are impacted too. Kids and animals, they suffer the most, if you ask me.”
“Forgiveness is its own reward,” Joey said. “It’s easier and healthier to forgive than it is to carry around a grudge forever.”
Murder with All the Trimmings–catering mystery with a focus on dancers
Murder with All the Trimmings
by Shawn Reilly Simmons
One of the appealing things about the Red Carpet Catering Mystery Series is that as a caterer associated with a movie star, Penelope Sutherland works in a variety of settings, each with its own catering problems. This setup allows the author, Shawn Reilly Simmons, opportunities for exploring various kinds of offenses without the main character seeming to follow or be followed by crime. In Murder with All the Trimmings, the setting is the old Vitrine Theater where the Big Apple Dancers perform a show that is a holiday tradition for many locals and a big attraction for tourists. Trouble plagues the show with murder and accidents. Penelope herself is endangered as she tries to get to the bottom of this mystery which involves a missing girl, a neighboring homeless shelter, fraud, and a dine and dash artist.
Murder with All the Trimmings has a complicated plot with lots of interesting threads. In spite of my having lots of interruptions due to travel, I enjoyed this book and had no problem picking up where I left off each time. Although the action occurs at Christmas time, it doesn’t have any warm and fuzzy Christmas connections, but it is a good mystery.
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: # 6 in the Red Carpet Catering Mystery Series, but acceptable as a standalone.
Publication: November 13, 2018—Henery Press
Ditched 4 Murder–murder mystery with a side of humor
Ditched 4 Murder
by J.C. Eaton
Phee (Sophie Kimball) is still acclimating to Arizona’s high temperatures: quite a change from Minnesota. She is employed as a bookkeeper at Williams Investigations, on a year’s leave of absence from the Mankato Police Department. She makes it clear that she is not a Private Investigator and has no ambitions to be one. Despite her inclinations, she gets dragged into several murder investigations because of her family ties. Her mother and her looney aunt, a soon-to-be-bride in her seventies, are already part of the aging retirement community in Sun West City, and they call on her frequently for support and particularly in tough times. Phee is in her forties and is quite likable and intelligent. Although she is single, there is no potential love interest in this book.
Ditched 4 Murder is a cozy mystery by J.C. Eaton. I enjoyed the Arizona setting, the characters, many of whom are in the catering business, and the plot with multiple threads and many complications. Especially appealing is the author’s sense of humor, a delight throughout.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com 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: #2 in the Sophie Kimball Mystery Series, but works well as a standalone
Publication: November 28, 2017—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
“Quaint! Don’t you know what that means? It means no air-conditioning, no cable TV, forget about a mini-fridge and a microwave, and we’ll be lucky if they stick a fan in the room. There’s only one thing worse than quaint, and that’s rustic. Thank God she did’t pick rustic. That means no electricity and an outhouse!”
…honey, we spend the first fifty years of our lives collecting things and the next fifty giving them away.
“You ever think about doing that detective stuff, Phee?” I walked to the outside office. “Sure, I think about it. It’s right up there with trekking the Andes and riding an Icelandic horse across glacial rivers.”
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