Cozy Mystery – Page 36 – Carol's Notebook

An Ale of Two Cities by Sarah Fox

December 12, 2019December 12, 2019 by CarolNo Comments

I picked up An Ale of Two Cities thanks to Kensington's November Mystery launch party on Facebook. I had not heard of the Literary Pub series before, but it sounded like a fun idea. Sadie, our amateur sleuth runs a bar, the Inkwell, that serves food and drink with book pun names and the shelves are full of her book collection. I wish we had a place like that in our town. This is the second in the series, but it worked fine as a stand-alone for me. I skipped to #2 because it's set around Christmas, which was the second draw for me. It's Winter Carnival Time in Shady Creek, Vermont. One of the highlights is the ice sculpture contest and one of Sadie’s employees, Mel, has entered. One of the other contestants is a local man who made it big in Boston and is now a famous chef. He's a jerk and treats everyone in town like...

A Murderous Affair by Leighann Dobbs and Harmony Williams

November 26, 2019November 25, 2019 by Carol2 Comments

Lady Katherine is a non-traditional woman for her time. Her passion is solving murder mysteries, and only a few people know that's what she does. Most people believe she's a matchmaker. A Murderous Affair is the first I've read in the series. It works fine as a stand-alone, but I would probably know the characters better if I had started at the beginning. It's the Christmas season, but Katherine, along with a set of I presume recurring characters, is asked to investigate a more or less cold case. A maid was murdered six months ago, the same night as a terrible thunderstorm and a fire at the Hound and Ale Pub. Bow Street has dismissed is a random case of violence, and in all honesty, they're not terribly concerned about the death of a servant anyway. Two teams form, the men, Captain Dorian Wayland, Lord Annondale and Annondale's valet, Mctavish on one side with Lady Katherine, Prudence Burwick (Lord Annondale's...

Murder in High Places by Helen Marchmont

November 15, 2019November 14, 2019 by Carol4 Comments

I've been enjoying the Bunburry novellas, but I really think for Murder in High Places it's helpful if you've read a couple of the earlier ones. We finally meet Oscar! He comes down to visit, drawn by a party. To understand how kind of awesome that is, you need to know a little more about Oscar than this episode gives you. He's Alfie's best friend, but thinks living in the country and not London is ridiculous. And of course everyone in town acts like they already know him, since they've heard so much from Alfie. Alfie, Betty and Oscar go to the party. Alfie and Betty have some major communications errors and Alfie acts like an all-around jerk. Granted, Betty's not much better, but at least she isn't blatantly flirting with anyone else. And then we have a murder. Sergeant Wilson immediately arrests the most obvious suspect, but, since this is a cozy mystery, that's clearly not the right solution. The...

Drop Dead, Gorgeous by Helena Marchmont

November 14, 2019November 13, 2019 by Carol2 Comments

I was browsing Audible the other day and was happy to see Drop Dead, Gorgeous was out. This is just a fun little series. Alfie has inherited his aunt's cottage in the Cotswolds and has been living there for almost a year now. He's finally gathered the courage to ask the local beautician about getting a pedicure, something he enjoyed in London, but most men in Bunburry do not get pedicures. He meets the beautician while she is out walking her dog and they go back to the salon to set up the appointment only to find, what else? A dead body. Eve Mosby had been receiving a deluxe treatment, massage, hair, botox, the works, and the beautician had snuck out while Eve was napping, obviously not expecting her to be murdered while she was gone. Time for the Bunburry Triangle to take a look at the case. Alfie, Liz, and Marge toss around theories and go about asking questions as...

Mailbox Monday – 11/11

November 11, 2019January 6, 2020 by Carol12 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 received this one thanks to NetGalley....

Nogged Off by Barbara Ross

November 7, 2019November 11, 2019 by Carol4 Comments

Yes, I've started reading Christmas books. No, I haven't started Christmas shopping. I read a Halloween novella in the Maine Clambake Mystery series and enjoyed it, so I picked up this Christmas one. I do love seasonal reads. Nogged Off was fun and light and has a bit of a twist at the end. Julia is trying to wrap everything up in New York, bringing all of her belongings back to Maine. The problem is that Imogene, who was going to take over the apartment, has just lost her job and broken up with her boyfriend. Julia takes pity on her and brings her to Maine for Christmas. And that's when all the trouble starts. Imogene just attracts disaster. And then Imogene's ex-boyfriend shows up, murdered in the back of the moving truck. This is a novella, and the focus is mostly on Julia and Imogene. The mystery itself was good. We see the clues along with Julia and the cops are...