Witch Way Out by Cate Conte

At the end of the last book, Violet Mooney was whisked away by Blake along with the man she's been dating, Todd. They end up in the office of Mac, a private investigator and leprechaun, but Mac is not there. Instead, there is a pile of goo, evidence that Mac has been genied. Todd immediately disappears. Violet is shocked but she tries to keep her involvement quiet since she also discovered the last genie victim and her mother and Blake are worried that she might actually be the one targeted.

That's fine with Fiona, she doesn't want to rush into danger and she's still trying to get a handle on being a witch. Plus, she's gotten an unexpected call to join the local (and very popular) craft fair. This is a fabulous opportunity to highlight her shop and it's a chance to meet one of her heroes, a proponent of ethical crystal mining, Horatio Hale. But there's a saying that you should never meet your idols and that seems to be true for Violet and Horatio. Not only does he seem to be sneaking around on his ex-wife with another vendor (why keep the relationship a secret?), Violet overhears a conversation that makes it seem Horatio might not be as upstanding as he seems. Plus, there's the gentleman hanging around saying that Horatio kicked him out of the fair. 

If you've read a cozy before, you'll probably realize who is going to end up dead. It's up to Violet to finally step into her power and take control of the whole situation.

Three and a half stars

This book comes out March 28, 2023

Follows Witch Trial

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

I thought I had heard about this book from NPR Best Books but it wasn't on this year's list so It may have been a podcast. The layout of the book is incredible. The first person narrator writes and self-publishes books on how to write books. He starts with laying out the rules from the Golden Age of Detectives and then follows them... to the letter but not necessarily the law.So we see not only the full story of the book but the building blocks as well. And details are deftly woven throughout the book like, "x won't happen for 6 more chapters" or " you won't find out about x until Chapter 27." The ending was a bit fantastical and there were definitely some plot holes but I really enjoyed this book. I have the ebook on reserve to see if the experience of  reading it in print is different from the audiobook. 

Ernest Cunningham, our first person narrator, is meeting his family for a reunion. As it happens in most good mystery stories, everyone there is hiding something. Chapters unfold and we learn that, indeed, everyone in his family has killed someone. We start with Ernie's brother and move on from there as the story moves in and out and all around fulfilling it's own self-prophecies about mystery novels. 

Four and a half stars

This book came out March 29, 2022

Followed by Everyone on this Train is a Suspect

Audiobook borrowed from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread January 2024

Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder by Valerie Burns

I liked the cover of this book and figured I should give it a try. I wasn't really paying attention to the story until they mentioned the border of Indiana and Michigan where I grew up. Instantly, I started paying more attention - I know this town!

That wasn't what kept me reading though, instead it's getting to watch Maddy slowly figure out how to be an adult standing on her own two feet. 

As we get to know her, it seems that Maddy has always been cossetted and protected by her colonel father. After her ex dumped her basically at the altar, Maddy is ready for a change. Inheriting her aunt's bakery in New Bison makes for an opportunity to get out of town. Once there, she finds out that she's also inherited a large English mastiff named Baby. But there is also a mystery. It seems Maddy's Aunt Olivia was somewhat expecting that she may die and she's left behind the clues for Maddy to follow. 

The characters are fun. The mystery is maybe a little thin and there are some threads left hanging but I overall enjoyed the book.

Four stars
This book came out August 30, 2022

Followed by Murder is a Piece of Cake

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Back in a Spell by Lana Harper

Nineve "Nina" Blackmoore is having some really bad luck at the moment. First, she's been dumped. Second, her family is known as being kind of the "bad guys" around town which is severely hindering her love life as she tries to jump back in the dating pool. Third, her magic is acting really weird. Like, way overreacting to any spells she tries to cast. And the dreams... Plus she seems to be witchbound (married) to a guy that her friend picked off a dating application. 

Morty isn't sure what's going on. First, his date ends up being the lawyer whose family sent a whole bunch of letters trying to buy his family bar. Then, he woke up and had magic. Like, real magic. What the heck? Only Nina will know the answer but he's not sure he wants to be near her. Yet he can't stay away. Is she really a black-hearted witch like the rest of her family?

I wish we had gotten to see more of Morty and Nina's relationship. It went from "I think I should hate you" to "Let's hang out forever" really, really fast. There was a lot of plot movement for the series but I wish we had seen more for them.

Three and a half stars

This book comes out January 10, 2023

Follows From Bad to Cursed

Followed by In Charm's Way

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group

Opinions are my own

The Spare Man Mary Robinette Kowal

I've really enjoyed Kowal's books in the past and, upon hearing that this was like a sci-fi version of The Thin Man, immediately reserved the book from my local library. And this is like the movie (the book didn't have as much comedy) in that you have now "retired" detective who has married an heiress. In this book, we get more from the wife since the book is told from her point of view.

Tesla and her new husband are on a planetary cruise when a murder occurs. Though she is recognizable to the point of creating a horde, she has been able to fly under the radar to this point. The ship's security is less than stellar and, not knowing who she is, immediately pin their gaze on her husband as the guilty party. Tesla is less than impressed and decides (against her attorney's direct orders) to investigate herself. How else is her husband supposed to be freed?

This book is good but it is very much the first in a series and there is a lot of world-building. I do hope there are more in the series though as I have enjoyed Kowal's characters in the past and I think this book will improve when there are more books in the series.

Three and a half stars

This book came out October 22, 2023

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Murder on the Golden Arrow by Magda Alexander

Apparently Kindle Unlimited has decided that I enjoyed one book about a privileged young lady solving murders in the early 1900s so it will recommend ALL of the series about privileged young ladies solving murders. This one is a little different in that the heroine is neither aristocracy nor an orphan but it follows much the same lines.

Kitty Worthington is a socialite and, though she has just finished a year in finishing school, she has little interest in marriage.  Her brother Ned has come to retrieve her as well as further some of her father's business interests but now they are on their way home. On the way, they encounter a woman, Rose Trevvyan, who is a part of Ned's past, one he'd rather not see again. Later, Kitty overhears the woman talking to her husband; Rose is planning on blackmailing Ned but her husband, Jack, is reluctant.

They, along with a motley crew of characters, board The Golden Arrow. Along the way, Rose gets very sick and falls dead, poisoned. Nearly everyone on the deck had a connection to Rose and almost everyone had the opportunity to get poison into her system. The police seem inclined to pin the murder on Ned but Kitty, an inveterate reader of Agatha Christie, has other ideas.

Going to be honest, some of these series are starting to run together in some ways but I did enjoy this book and am immediately going to return it and read the next in the series. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 21, 2021

Followed by Murder at Westminster

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

The Maid by Nita Prose

Molly Gray's having a bit of a hard time. Her grandmother has died so she's lost her touchstone with the world. Molly has trouble understanding other people and her Gran used to help. It really doesn't help that Molly has just discovered the body of one of the hotel's best clients.

Readers will quickly discern that Molly is an unreliable narrator. Not because she is lying to us but because she has trouble distinguishing between truth and what people tell her is truth.

A very interesting read. I didn't especially bond with Molly but I did like the unexpected ending.

Four stars

This book came out January 4, 2022

Ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Socialite's Guide to Murder by S.K. Golden

Evelyn Elizabeth Grace Murphy lives in the Pinnacle Hotel, rather like Eloise in The Plaza. But her reason is rather more sinister, though she doesn't really seem to realize it. On the outside, it looks like she has it all, the daughter of a rich hotelier, lives in a place that has room service, fancy clothes, adorable dog, movie star boyfriend. But all is not as it seems and some secrets are about to come to the surface.
There is to be an exhibition of the latest painting of a semi-famous artist. Evelyn is to attend with her boyfriend, Henry Fox. The night is ruined when the painting is stolen. Shortly afterwards, the artist is murdered. It seems like an open and shut case as the hotel's security manager is arrested after his blade is discovered to have been the murder weapon. Evelyn isn't convinced. She's determined to get to the bottom of the case with the help of the incredibly handsome Mac Cooper. Of course, it might mean she has to leave the Pinnacle.
We've read the stories of Girl Detectives and this seems to be a New Adult version. Evelyn really likes to read murder mysteries and is singularly helped in the fact that she grew up in the hotel and that she enjoys meeting people. I didn't always particularly like Evelyn and I would class this as New Adult since she still seems to be finding her footing (which can be all adults, really but even more than most). I'm really hoping though that this will become a series as it was a really good read.

Four stars

This book came out October 11, 2022

Followed by the Socialite's Guide to Death and Dating

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Witch and Famous by Angela M. Sanders

Daphne Morris, A-list movie star, is coming to visit small-town Wilfred. Why? Because she is featuring one of Roz's books in her celebrity book club. The town is abuzz. And Josie knows this because everyone is still gathering in the library since the other places in town for gathering are either closed or burned down. 

When Daphne arrives, she brings her entourage (assistant, personal chef, stylist, etc.) She also brings a stalker and a lot of heartache as the men in town seem to fall for her good looks. 

A dead body is found in Daphne's tub but it's not Daphne. It's up to Sam (and Josie) to work through what is going on.

There are a lot of stories with bumbling sleuths doing stupid things and Josie isn't among the worst offenders but I'm not sure why she keeps poking around without talking to Sam if they are supposedly such good friends. I am enjoying Sanders' writing but the characters are a bit infuriating at times. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 26, 2022

Follows Seven-Year Witch

Followed by Witch Upon a Star

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Eclipse the Moon by Jessie Mihalik

I feel like we missed some character development in this book that I don't remember from the first book. The book starts off sort of slow with Kee Ildez deciding to get off the ship and go to gather information. Does that get her away from Varro Runkow who she is mega-attracted to? Yes. So that will help since he doesn't seem interested in her. There is a little bit of exposition and story building and then, a bombshell. And from there, it is non-stop go, go, go. I enjoyed both parts well enough but it was a little jarring and left little time for us to really see how Kee and Varro connect. 

More of the plot to restart the galactic war is revealed with at least one rather shocking fact thrown in the mix.

Three stars

This book came out July 12, 2022

Follow Hunt the Stars

Followed by Capture the Sun

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Better than Fiction by Alexa Martin

Drew Young hasn't had time to mourn her grandmother's passing. Instead, she's been focusing her life on the bookstore her grandmother left her. She's feeling inadequate because she doesn't have her grandmother's charm or knowledge of books. She doesn't even have a love of books. Her love was photography but she had to give that up in order to run the store. Her grandmother's cronies are trying to help (probably) by getting a hot romance author to come in to talk to the book club. Drew is not impressed. Not by his handsome face, or gorgeous eyes, or charm... When the cronies set them up on a date, she is REALLY not amused. But Jasper manages to charm her anyway. But he's keeping some secrets that Drew might not appreciate.

Drews love for her grandmother and her grandmother's love for her both shine through and are the best part of this story. There are also some subplots with Drew's half-sister who is trying to get to know Drew better and Drew's father who is not nearly so nice. 

Four stars

This book comes out November 8, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Cloisters by Katy Hays

Ann Stillwell is delighted to leave Washington, leave behind her grieving mother and the memories of her father. When she gets to New York however, all of her dreams are dashed. The man she was supposed to work under has left the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the summer. Luckily, even as her heart is falling from the news she's just gotten from the Director of Human Resources, hope springs. Patrick Roland, the curator at The Cloisters, needs help and, well, Ann is available. While slightly disappointed that the job isn't going to be what she expected, at least she has a job.

It's this job that introduces her to not only Patrick but Rachel and Leo as well as a handful of other people but those are the two that are going to affect her the most deeply as she is dragged into theories of 15th-century fortune telling. Could a deck of cards really tell the future? Especially a particular set of cards? And what does it have to do with her father's work? And her mentor's?

When their work leads to someone dying, Ann suddenly has to decide what she believes in and how much fate really does play a hand in our lives. 

I am not usually a reader of darker books like this but around the Halloween season, I often turn towards these and this was a perfect book for this time of year. 

Four stars

This book comes out November 1, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Atria Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict

There is a saying that you can't go home and Lily Armitage doesn't want to. Endgame House holds bad memories for her; memories she'd rather not revisit. But her aunt Lillian has died and Lily and her cousins are back at Endgame for one last Christmas games revelry. They are to stay at the house, without cell phones, for the entirety of the Christmas season. Every day, one clue will be released leading the cousins to a key. One of the twelve keys they find will unlock the door of a secret room. Whoever has that key on the last day will inherit the house. Of course, they have to survive in order to win. Not all of them will.

This is an intriguing story and there are two games woven into the mystery. There was a lot going on in this story but that left some gaps that I would have liked to have had filled in. 

Three and a half stars

This book come out October 4, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Black Cat Murders by Karen Baugh Menuhin

Heathcliff Lennox grew up with Ruth, running around the family estates together. He is somewhat excited to get to go to her wedding but is more intrigued by the death of one of the opera singers who is at the estate to entertain the guests. The man fell through a trap door and acted as a cushion for the woman singing alongside him. 

It seems that Ruth is going to be marrying a wealthy American who seems to be a good ol' Southern boy but the wedding may not happen as the alto's death is not the only one to occur in this book. This is all wrapped in with the mystery of a series of paintings known as the Bloxford beauties and has something to do with the Black Cat which is a bar catering to men who dress and perform as women. Also occurring was Inspector Swift falling in love with one of the bridesmaids.

There was a lot going on in this book and it got a little confusing but it was good enough to continue reading the series.

Three stars

This book came out April 28, 2019

Follows Murder at Melrose Court 

Followed by The Curse of Braeburn Castle

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle

Opinions are my own

All Dressed Up by Jilly Gagnon

Blake has picked out a surprise weekend for his wife as a way to mend fences. It should be a no-brainer, a murder mystery weekend away at a private home. Except that he doesn't exactly let her know that it's going to be a murder mystery.. just another in a string of things he hasn't told her. And another couple that they know, Heather and Phil, the perfect couple, are there as well, which just heightens Becca's nerves. She just can't seem to hide her anger. Except that the weekend isn't what anyone seems to think it's going to be and there are more surprises on the books and it might end with Becca losing her life.

I really enjoyed most of this book. Getting into Becca's head was really interesting and I thought most of the characters were well-fleshed out (though there was some reliance on stereotypes.) The ending was a bit rocky and didn't quite seem to fit but I did like that there were breadcrumbs throughout the story (and some hits broadly over the head) to help the reader see where the finale was going.

Four stars

This book comes out September 6, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

A Cornish Recipe for Murder by Fiona Leitch

I seem to be on a spate of books centered around the Great British Bakeoff all of which have been fairly enjoyable. This iteration has Jodie Parker involved in the show (though she's not really quite sure why she was chosen.) It's just to bad that there are some weird things going on during the show, mostly centered around her very own bakes. But then one of the crew is murdered. He had only recently joined the team so Jodie isn't sure who would have hated him enough to kill him.

The secondary characters are well-developed including the host who is a drag queen with a secret to hide, the producer with a temper, and some of the crew. We get to see some relationship development between Jodie and Nate and some personal development for Jodie as well. 

Four stars

This book comes out August 18, 2022

Follows A Cornish Christmas Murder

Followed by A Cornish Seaside Murder

ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins UK and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik

Captain Octavia Zarola has not had good interactions with the Valoff race. So when former general Torran Fletcher asks for her help in finding a thief. Octavia very much would like to turn the man down (Valoffs on her ship for the next two months? Blergh) but he is offering a buttload of money. And her team needs it. She might have been labeled a hero in the war between the Valoffs and the humans but that doesn't mean it came with a monetary reward. Nor does she feel particularly heroic. And that can be a problem since the Valoffs can read minds and Tavi has a lot of secrets.

Of course, she also gets to know more about the handsome Torran. It seems he has a lot of secrets as well. And his secrets are even more deadly. 

This book definitely sets up a series that I think is going to be very interesting but this book definitely suffered from having to do a lot of world building. There were repetitious points that never went anywhere in this book.

Three stars

This book came out 

Followed by Eclipse the Moon

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Danger on the Atlantic by Erica Ruth Neubauer

In the first two books, Jane was starting to step out of her shell after having been in an abusive marriage. She moves out a little further in this one, joining the mysterious Mr. Redvers on a transatlantic voyage. Jane will be posing as his wife as they try to uncover who is working as a German spy. 

While on the trip, Jane meets Vanessa FitzSimmons, a newly married woman whose husband disappears almost immediately after the ship goes out to sea. But no one else seems to believe the man ever existed. 

This was an interesting story but I thought some of the plot lines could have been more thoroughly developed. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out March 29, 2022

Follows Murder at Mena House

Followed by Intrigue in Istanbul

Opinions are my own

Bad Girls Drink Blood by S.L. Choi

I liked the title of this book and the description drew me in but I had a hard time sinking into the story. There was a lot, A LOT going on in the first few chapters of this book. And it just kept going. I overall liked the book but there was so much happening on every page that it started to feel like a slog to get to the end.

Malaney "Lane" Callaghan escaped to the human world after years of being mocked for being a monster. Half sun fae and half blood fae, she belongs to neither world. Even worse, though she requires blood, she seems to be allergic to it (in the sense that she blacks out and becomes very violent.) 

She didn't come to this world alone though, her two sisters traveled along with her. They are adopted but they form a true family. Including a family business working as private investigators. The book starts off with two cases, one of which involves a banshee cheating on her kelpie husband. But he is not the one who magics her into a pile of dust. 

Suddenly, Lane and her sisters are thrust into a murky world where they are up against pure evil and magic more powerful than anything they've run into before. And not all of them are going to make it out whole.

Three and a half stars

This book came out May 19, 2022

ARC kindly provided by City Owl Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen

I had heard about this book on Book Riot where they described it as an origin story for a detective. They are very careful in outlining the plot of the book and that somehow made me miss exactly how dark this book really was going to be. This is also sort of a homecoming book as well as a self-realization book. 

Told from the first-person view of recent college graduate Annie McIntyre, we see brief glimpses of her life as she prepares to go out for the evening with her cousin. They get dressed, drive around for awhile visiting the diner where Annie works, and then head out to the land of what appears to be one of the local wealthy families. They have two sons, one of who has a past with Annie. 

While there, Annie sees a server from the diner, Victoria, and she is wildly drunk. Annie tries to help her but gets distracted trying to stop her cousin from getting into a fight. Victoria's body is discovered the next day.

This whole book dives into the love Annie has for her town, Garnett, but also the problems inherent with staying there. Annie decides to work with her grandfather, Leroy, to become a private investigator. She wants to know what happened to Victoria. But working on this investigation exposes more than just the murderer, it also forces Annie to face that her quaint little town might not be so perfect after all.

Three stars

This book came out April 19, 2022

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own