I will admit I picked up 10 Marchfield Square based on the blurb alone. Granted, I've only seen a couple of episodes of Only Murders in the Building and haven't read The Paris Apartment, but I know I would enjoy both of those and a mix of the two sounded. fun. And it was a good pick.
Marchfield Square is a close-knit, safe community—until one of its residents is found dead. The elderly and eccentric landlady, Celeste, doesn't trust the cops and recruits two of the other residents of the square to solve the murder, Audrey and Lewis. Audrey, Celeste's cleaner, is personable and knows everyone in the square and some of their secrets. Lewis is a crime writer who's writing career has stalled. He's socially awkward and lives a solitary life, but sees this as a way to kickstart his writing. The interactions between these two are funny and heartwarming.
The characters really drive the book. Audrey and Lewis of course,...
The Cupcake Bakery Mysteries are typical cozies. This time around Mel, Angie, and the Fairy Tale Cupcake crew have the truck set up at a local zombie walk. Of course, the event takes a horrible turn when one of the "zombies" is killed and left in their prop casket, a zombie whose outfit is strikingly similar to Angie's.
I've complained before about over-arching storylines taking over a series. This time, it's Joe's super-important, super-dangerous case against a mob boss. It came up in the book previous to this one, maybe, when Joe had to break up with Mel. (But don't worry, he's still spying on her.) Since Joe is Angie's brother, everyone's worried that she might have been the actual target.
The mystery is pretty obvious. And I'm tired of Angie and Mel's love lifes. Of course, next time I can't decide what to read, I'll probably borrow #8 from the library. The characters are decent and I love cupcakes....
I read the first Gethsemane Brown mystery back in 2016 when it came out, but never got back to the series. Last year I watched the show on Hallmark mysteries, which was fun. Killing in C Sharp has been sitting on my to-read list for probably years now, but the audio was available from the library and I was in the mood for something light. (I'm always in the mood for something light.)
There is a lot going on in this one. Ghost hunters have come to Gethsemane's cottage to prove her friend and resident ghost, Eamon, exists. A true crime writer is in town working on an updated version of the book she wrote on Eamon and his wife. Aed, a once-famous composer, is premiering his new opera at the opera house and giving a couple guest lectures at the school. He is followed by the reviewer who nearly killed his career with a bad review. And the opera manages...
The Secret Bookcase Mysteries is one of those series with an overarching plot that hasn't been resolved yet. That is both my least favorite thing about the series and why this one doesn't work well as a stand-alone. Annie's best friend, Scarlet, was killed over a decade ago, but Annie has some new information and is working on solving the cold case. I'm just not a fan of those overarching mysteries.
Annie's works full-time at a bookstore, where part of her job is coordinating events. For Valentine's Day, the store has teamed up with a matchmaker for a weekend of books and romantic events. Early the morning of the second day, a well-liked member of the community is found dead near the store. While the event continues as planned, Annie is determined to help the local detective, Dr. Caldwell, discover who the killer is.
The mystery is fine. The plot moves along well. We have three potential suspects and a few...
I've read this series from the beginning and thoroughly enjoy seeing Queen Elizabeth II as an amateur sleuth. She knows people well and has access to a lot of information but needs her assistant private secretary to do most of the legwork. This time around we've gone back in time to the late 50s. It's early in the Queen's reign and she has two young children. She and Prince Phillip have been married about 10 years and their marriage has more stressors than most, one being that a club Prince Phillip attends has been connected to a murder.
Joan, the assistant private secretary, is bold, resourceful, and intelligent. She is the only one the Queen can truly trust, since in addition to the murder case, they are trying to figure out which of the Queen's advisors has been attempting to sabotage her trips abroad.
The peeks into royal life are fun. The queen visits a few other countries in this one and...
I love catching a new series at the beginning and Haunting and Homicide is a fun read and a good introduction to Tallulah “Lou” Thatcher and her family and friends, both living and dead. Lou lives with her grandmother in New Orleans and has a business doing ghost tours which makes perfect sense since she has been able to see and talk to ghosts since she was little. When a rival ghost tour guide dies Lou is unfortunate enough to stumble across his body. But now he's a ghost who begs her to make sure the police find out who killed him. She wants to help and she wants to clear her own name - she found the body, they were clearly not friends, and the murder weapon came from her store.
The mystery is well-written with several twists and surprises. This is Lou's first outing as an amateur sleuth and she's not great at it yet, but she does...
