An English Garden Murder by Katie Gayle

An English Garden Murder by Katie Gayle

by CarolNo Comments
Newly-retired and newly-divorced London social worker Julia Bird has just moved to a village in the Cotswolds. Julia is working on making it her home - meeting new people, having a chicken coop built, getting a dog. No sooner has Julia hired local handyman Johnny Blunt and his grandson to tear down an old shed and build the chicken coop, than human remains are discovered under the shed's foundation. Julia is of course curious about the identity of the body and is pretty good at reading people's behaviors so starts asking questions. And then she discovers a second body, and she knows there's a killer still living in the town. The village is full of appropriately quirky people but there's a lot going on under the surface. Julia is a good lead character. She's kind of reinventing herself and finding her feet in her new situation. She even has a possible love interest. D.I. Hayley Gibson is in charge of...
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A Purrfect Alibi by Leighann Dobbs

A Purrfect Alibi by Leighann Dobbs

by Carol4 Comments
In A Purrfect Alibi, the Oyster Cove Guesthouse is full of psychics, mediums, tea readers, etc. all hoping to speak to the ghost of Jedediah Biddeford and find his treasure. Josie doesn't believe in ghosts and is really just happy to have paying guests, until—surprise, surprise—one of them ends up dead. Nero and Marlowe, the guest house cats, have a case to solve, and a ghost to deal with, because Jed is hanging around now, even if Josie doesn't know it. It's a cute enough story. The cats and Jed are fun. The killer's a little obvious, even if I didn't catch the motive until it was revealed. The Oyster Cover Guesthouse series is light and breezy. The books are perfect for lazy summer afternoons. This counts as 4 pts in the COYER Treasure Hunt (the last book in a series). ...
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A Whisker in the Dark by Leighann Dobbs

A Whisker in the Dark by Leighann Dobbs

by Carol2 Comments
A Whisker in the Dark was a fun, easy, silly read. Josie owns a guesthouse where people keep ending up dead. Well, this time around the first dead body is a skeleton from 300 years ago, but we end up with a murder soon enough—and it's probably no surprise with so many folks thinking there's a treasure buried on the guesthouse's property. So, the cats, Nero and Marlowe and their friends, are the real detectives here, although Josie does some investigating too. In Josie's defense, she's got a lot on her mind, with running the guesthouse, trying to learn how to cook, and flirting with the building inspector. The cats are pretty darn smart, and cats can get into places people can't and eavesdrop without being noticed. I'm still getting used to the cats talking to each other, but it does make the series stand out. The book is really about the characters, both human and feline. The mystery itself is...
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Mailbox Monday – 8/5

Mailbox Monday – 8/5

by Carol6 Comments
Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists. Tell us about your new arrivals by adding your Mailbox Monday post to the linky at mailboxmonday.wordpress.com. I picked up the next two in The Oyster Cove Guesthouse series from NetGalley. ...
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A Twist in the Tail by Leighann Dobbs

A Twist in the Tail by Leighann Dobbs

by Carol2 Comments
First of all, A Twist in the Tail has talking cats. They don't talk out loud to people, but they talk to each other in English. They have conversations and find clues and discuss the best way to help their not so competent humans. It caught me off-guard. I knew there were going to be cats, just didn't realize the extent of their involvement, that they were also amateur detectives. I've read other Leighann Dobbs mysteries that didn't have talking animals and I don't think I could have been expected to know it based on the blurb. It turned out I enjoyed the book, so maybe it's just as well I was clueless since I'm not sure if I would have picked it up had I known. A Twist in the Tail is the first in a series, and it's a good start. It's fun and light-hearted but the mystery had plenty of clues for the cats to get Josie to...
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Murder at Larkfield Barn by Betty Rowlands

Murder at Larkfield Barn by Betty Rowlands

by Carol2 Comments
Murder at Larkfield Barn is the second of the Melissa Craig mysteries I've read, so while I usually avoid books with serial killers, I knew the type of book it was going to be and wasn't too concerned. Melissa is a mystery writer with a Private Investigator boyfriend, so it's really no wonder she gets mixed up in these mysteries. The blurb gives you the lay-out. There's a serial killer in the area who paints horrible smiles on the victims. But the police aren't convinced the murder in Upper Benbury was committed by the same person, maybe it's a copycat. It turns out that of course there's more than one killer. And Melissa is always at just the right place at the right time to put all the clues together. Rowland can be a little heavy-handed in this one. The foreshadowing is annoying rather than suspense-building. It's pretty easy to guess who the killer(s) are, just based on how they're portrayed, but...
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