Lights, Camera, Bones by Carolyn Haines

There's a movie production in town and everyone is atwitter. Famous actor Marlon Brandon is doing a film about his family who have been movers and shakers in Greenville for a very long time but this film focuses on the flood of 1927. But, this being Greenville, there's something going on. A gaffer, Jules is missing. And there are people in town who aren't happy that this movie is being made. 

When Marlon goes missing, there are any number motives that come out of the woodwork though most seem to center around the past. So who is behind the murder and the disappearance?
The Sarah Both Delaney stories are often a little out there (I mean, there's a ghost in every story) but this story includes a shark. Yes, in freshwater. I get that this is a thing that can happen but... it was set up as a major part of the story. 

Three stars

Sarah Booth Delaney #27

This book comes out May 21, 2024

Follows Tell-Tale Bones

ARC kindly provided by Minotaur Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places by Claire Kann

5`

stars`32

This book comes out May 21, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Last to Pie by Misha Popp

stars

This book comes out May 21, 2024

Follows A Good Day to Pie

ARC provided by Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Tastes Like Shakkar by Nisha Sharma

Have we read books before where the two best friends of the hero/heroine from the first book fall in love? Why, yes, yes we have. But have they perfectly played off the repartee of Beatrice and Benedick? Maybe. But I haven't read them. Highly enjoyable book although I thought the B-plot was a bit rough and really could have been left out.
Bobbi and Bunty have been thrown together for some wedding planning. He became her number one enemy when he, well-known chef, turned her down in for catering a wedding. She lost a lucrative contract and her uncle lost confidence in her. Now the man that raised her seems like he is pulling her dream further and further out of reach.
Bunty is trying to juggle the life he wants with the expectations of his family. While he is still in food, his father is trying to woo him back to the family business, frozen naan. To add to the complications, it is on the West Coast while his friends, and Bobbi, are on the East Coast. What is going to be more important in the end?

Three and a half stars

If Shakespeare Was an Auntie #2

This book came out August 1, 2023

Follows Dating Dr. Dil

Followed by Marriage & Masti

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

You May Now Kill the Bride by Kate Weston

Five friends have been tight since they were girls. Now, one of them is getting married. Technically, two of them are but this book focuses on the first wedding, Tansy's. Mainly because the hen party is about to go off the rails. 

It starts off bad enough that Tansy has a new influencer, ahem, "content creator" friend. Plus, she's gone all vegan in the last few years so her bachelorette is at a retreat that has no alcohol, no sugars, and nothing that makes a party fun. Plus, the five friends all have secrets including one big one. Tansy is particularly stressed because she is being blackmailed. She's not sure why. Or, to be more specific, she's not sure which one of her secrets is going to be exposed. Of course, it could be worse. She could be dead. And that's exactly what happens. But she's not the last to die...

There were so many arch comments that were dropped at the end of chapters. I felt like I was reading a serial radio show... but find out what happens in the next chapter! This was definitely fairly clued and the end was a bit over the top but a good story. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 14, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau

Told mainly from the point of view of the heroine, this book explores a fake dating situation that, of course, turns into a full blown relationship by the end of the book. 
Writer and barista Emily Hung has a mother who is full bore into matchmaking. Emily is the second of five girls and her youngest sister just got married leaving her as the only single child. Add in the fact that she's working in the arts and she just feels like her mother doesn't approve of Emily's lifestyle. Enter, Mark Chung. The son of Emily's mother's friend, he is held up as a paragon. And at her sister's wedding, Emily is forced to spend time with the man. Mark, spends most of that time on his phone. Obviously, he isn't very interested either. But, to get her mother off their backs, they decide to fake date. This gets very involved with cake decorating dates and meeting to sync their stories.
It is during these meetings that Emily starts to notice that Mark may be different than she originally assumed. Not quite as lofty and maybe, just maybe, he is interested in her too.
I wish we had gotten more time with Mark. I think we were almost three quarters of the way through the book when we switch to his perspective. Because we saw so much from Emily's side, I was left feeling that there was more to explore from him. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out April 7, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Atria Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma

Kareena Mann's life is crashing down around her. Her younger sister's wedding is pushing out all thoughts of anything else, her father is selling the house that Kareena has put in a ridiculous number of hours putting together, and the handsome man she just met ditched her in the middle of a makeout session. Now, a crushing hangover is making her regret agreeing to help her sister, a YouTube influencer, get to the set of the Dr. Dil show.

Dr. Prem Verma regrets leaving behind the amazing woman in the sweater vest. He had a hospital emergency. But he really regrets it now, especially since she's yelling at him for not believing in true love in the middle of his show. It causes any number of rumors about him in the Indian community and causes the funding for his community health center to be jeopardized. He needs Kareena as much as she needs him. If they have a fake relationship, he could get the funding for his center and she'll get the funding to buy her mother's dream house.
The fake relationship never really took off (thankfully) but the two still find their way to each other in the end.

Four stars

If Shakespeare Was an Auntie #1

Followed by Tastes Like Shakkar

This book came out March 15, 2022

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack

10 years ago, Eleanor Dash wrote a bestselling mystery novel. That would be great for many people, but hers came with some drawbacks. First, being an author was her sister's dream; Harper is now Eleanor's assistant. Second, she based her detective on a real man, Connor Smith (used his name and everything), and the story is based on a mystery they solved together. But he's blackmailing her with... something.
In true first-person-narrator mystery fashion, our author may not be telling us the unvarnished truth. Some of it may be lies she's telling us, others may be lies she's telling herself. Either way, she's on a tour celebrating the anniversary with her sister, Connor, his ex-wife (also an author, a biography based on living with Connor), a TikTok influencer who wrote a book stunningly similar to Eleanor's, Connor's ex-partner from their detective agency (who also wrote a book about Connor), Connor's latest fling, and Shek, an author whose book sales are waning. Oh, and there are the paying guests, a BookFace group, including Eleanor's stalker, and a tour guide who doesn't seem to know what she's talking about.
Connor is convinced that someone is trying to kill him, but he's not the one who dies.

The Vacation Mysteries #1

Four stars

This book comes out April 30, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Minotaur Books and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

The Last Word by Elly Griffiths

I didn't think I had read the other books in this series but didn't feel the need to (in going back, I had read book #2 but didn't realize it). Oddly, though there are a few deaths in this book, I would call it a quiet mystery. I'm not sure why but it was just an enjoyable read and mostly reminds me of how Mary Balogh might write a mystery.
Natalka, a younger woman, and Edwin, who is in his eighties, run a detective agency. Natalka does this in addition to running a care agency. They finally get a bigger case when a woman's daughters come in convinced that their mother was killed by her husband.
The woman who died was a writer and their investigations lead them to a writer's retreat which Benedict (Natalka's significant other) and Edwin attend. And that's where the first person dies. Is this death connected to the other writer? That's what they are going to work to find out.

Three and a half stars

This book comes out April 23, 2024

Harbinder Kaur #4

Follows Bleeding Heart Yard

ARC kindly provided by Mariner Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie

Duncan Kincaid just needs a vacation. He's lucky enough to be able to use a timeshare that his cousin can't take. The other visitors are certainly an interesting bunch: two sisters, one who might be losing her memory, the other who reminds Duncan of particularly strict teacher; a husband and wife who own a health food store and have their two children along; a self-proclaimed "spinster" who seems to be at this time share during this week for a specific purpose; a recently divorced father with his teen daughter; a couple where the husband is a budding politician. For the staff, he heard Cassie and Sebastian arguing when he walked in though the two quickly reverted to their polite masks. 

By the next morning, one of the them is dead. And they're not the last person to die. The local constabulary aren't real excited about him potentially helping (at least not the one in charge.) 

I had heard about this series on the Modern Mrs. Darcy and I am excited to read the next one. 

Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James #1

Four stars

This book came out in 1993

Followed by All Shall Be Well

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

An Enchanting Case of Spirits by Melissa Holtz

 In my life, I've never had the urge to see a ghost. Neither has Alyssa Mann but, after a 40th birthday party gone awry, here she is with a ghost in the house. Then another. And all of them want something. But she doesn't know how to help them. So she enlists the help of the medium who seemed to have unlocked the power.
Suddenly, she and her two besties (as well as the psychic, Corinne) are trying to figure out why the ghost of an obnoxious young man whose death was declared a suicide is hanging around her. He's the first, but he certainly won't be the last. Except the only one she doesn't see is her husband. Which is probably good because, like many cozies, there is a Hot Detective.
An interesting start to a series though I don't generally enjoy books where the point of view switches and this one was so infrequent it often confused me the first three or four sentences when it switched. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out April 9, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Murder Takes Root by Rosie Sandler

Steph Williams consults on gardens. She is just arriving at her latest estate with her very large dog, Mouse, when the book opens. Her main point of contact is Lady Clara although there is a plethora of other characters. Though Sandler tries to space out introductions, there were so many characters, I got confused. 

Steph is put into a bedroom in a round tower which is fantastic, but she keeps hearing arguments late at night in the servants' corridor. Thin walls but she has to leave her tower to go to the main house in order to access it. While she's there, Steph is dealing with some hard personalities including the manor's gardener who would prefer she weren't there, a number of people who are running around on each other, and an elderly gentleman who keeps dropping cryptic warnings. And then, there's the body. Though it's an apparent suicide, the police aren't so sure.

I hadn't read the first book in the series and Sandler does a good job of explaining without info dumping but I did feel like I was missing some things, especially in regard to Steph's ex-husband. I also wish we had gotten a few more clues to the solution. 

The Gardener Mysteries #2

Three stars

This book comes out April 3, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Embla Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Honeymoons are supposed to be a time to relax and get to spend time with your new partner, right? So why is Meddy so stressed? Could it be because she is introducing her husband to the full extended family (close to 80 people)? Well, that could be a big part of it. It could also be the (purported) mob boss who has accidentally handed out a gift to the wrong person, but he's not quite sure who got the red envelope meant for his business rival. And, when they don't show up with the right gift, something very valuable to Meddy is held instead.
Still a crash of craziness and I think regular readers will enjoy the mayhem.

Four stars

This book comes out March 26, 2024

Follows Four Aunties and a Wedding

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin

A fun story though I am not a fan of jumping back and forth in time. I quite enjoyed Annie as a character. She's in her mid-20s and thought she'd have life figured out at this point but she sure doesn't. When visiting her (possibly somewhat flaky though we don't see her much in this book) mother, Annie sees some mail addressed to her. It's from her great aunt's lawyers. Though Annie's mother has, for decades, been thought to be her great aunt's presumptive heir, it seems that a last minute change is being made and Great Aunt Frances would like to see her and the other heirs to talk it through. So Annie travels to Castle Knoll, only to discover that her aunt has been killed and the person who solves the crime will inherit a fortune.
I didn't think this was fairly clued but the story was intriguing nonetheless. Lots of options for sequels: Annie's mother's history, Annie's father, her best friend, more about the Great Aunt's stepson.

Four stars

This book comes out March 26, 2024

Castle Knoll Files #1

ARC kindly provided by Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Death at the Drive-In Angie Fox

I do NOT remember that many people knowing that Verity talks to ghosts but, we are already suspending disbelief in this story, so why not here as well? Even more startling, Verity actually works with Virginia (her current AND ex fiances mother, read the rest of the books in the series, it's worth it)

Frankie is really excited to show off his new still to his girlfriend Molly but she's been possessed. And this ghost is a young woman who was killed in 1956. 

Kitty Cunningham disappeared and was assumed to have run away with her boyfriend. But her boyfriend was the son of the local mob boss and a hit had been put on her so no on really knows. It's going to be a race against time to figure out what happened to her since her possessing Molly means that she can drain Molly's power, and Frankie's as well. And if they are drained, they will cease to exist. 

Four stars

This book comes out March 19, 2024

Follows Dread and Buried

ARC kindly provided by Moose Island Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

A Midnight Puzzle by Gigi Pandian

Tempest Raj finally figures out the mystery of her mother's death in this book. It's not particularly fairly clued and I wish we had gotten to know the twists a little bit more (trying to be cryptic here...) but I enjoyed the ride.

Tempest has bought the old Whispering Creek Theater, the one where her mother disappeared from. She should be rejoicing but she is worrying about Julian Rhodes. Her family did some construction on his house and now he's suing them. So when she gets a phone call to meet him at the theater at midnight, she is less than ecstatic. When she arrives, Julian is dead. Apparently dead from a contraption that stabbed him through the heart. A note, in her handwriting, is on the door. 

We see more of Tempest and quite a bit from her mentor in this book. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out March 19, 2024

Secret Staircase Mystery #3

Follows The Raven Thief

ARC provided by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

A-List by D.P. Lyle

Nicole's uncle, the famous producer Charles Balfour, is in need of a PI so he calls Jake's dad. Nicole is still an employee (at least according to the ID she held on to from the last case) so she drags Jake down to New Orleans to find out what happened to Kristi Guidry, a young woman who was strangled, puportedly by A-list star Kirk Ford. They were alone in the hotel room so it seems like he is the obvious (and only) suspect. Mucking up the works are Kristi's brothers and her uncle who are searching for revenge. Can Jake and Nicole solve the mystery before Kristi's family kills Kirk?

Also included are a pair of fantastically gorgeous identical twins, Pancake (who may have found a girlfriend in the movie's makeup artist) and a fortune teller.

About the same level of insanity as the first book though this one wasn't as well put together.

Jake Longly #2

Three stars

This book came out December 12, 2017

Follows Deep Six 

Followed by Sunshine State

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren

This novella is written mostly in emails. It starts when one high school student accidentally emails another instead of a teacher. The train of Valentine's emails continue for years with either one of the other of the two trying to be the first to say hello. They also start to learn more about each other and discover they might just be made for each other.

A really quick, enjoyable read.

The Improbable Meet-Cute #1

Four stars

This book came out January 23, 2024

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Magic Triumphs by Ilona Andrews

What do you do when an ancient evil returns to your world, threatening to kill everyone you hold dear? An evil who causes thousands of people leave their homes to be boiled. Well, Kate decides she needs to make a deal with the devil, aka her father.

I hope that this is the ending to the Kate Daniels series while starting one with Julie and Erra and launching Hugh's. This is just a perfect bookend to the series bringing everyone together in a satisfactory way. 

Kate Daniels #10

This book came out August 28, 2018

Follows Iron and Magic

Followed by Magic Tides

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie

 Nurse Amy Leatheran has just finished a position with a nice young family and decides to stay in Iraq with an archaeological dig. Famous archaeologist, Dr. Leidner, is married to a woman who is very stressed out. She is worried that her former husband is coming back to get even with her marrying another man. The only problem? Her former husband died in the war. 

Nurse Leatheran is only there a short time but she sketches a short outline of each of the characters at the dig. It's just too bad that Mrs. Leidner is killed in a locked room manner; there was no way for anyone to get in and out of the dig without being seen so it has to be someone on the inside.

Hercule Poirot #14

Four stars

This book came out July 6, 1936

Follows The ABC Murders

Followed by Cards on the Table

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own