Secrets of a Scottish Isle by Erica Ruth Neubauer

Jane Wunderly has infiltrated a secret cult. She's mainly on her own though her fiance, Redvers, is also on the island. This is the Golden Dawn, based on a cult that actually existed. And involved in that cult? W. B. Yeats who makes an appearance in this book. Not sure if it's actually successful though. 

 The mystery deepens when one of the initiates is killed but nobody's really sure how it was done. Add in a rival cult made up of former members and the suspect pool deepens.  

Three stars

This book comes out March 26, 2023

Follows Intrigue in Istanbul

Followed by Homicide in the Indian Hills

ARC kindly provided by Kensington 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

Followed by The Library Game

ARC provided by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas

When Evie's friend Lillian was kidnapped by Sebastian, Viscount St. Vincent, Lillian's fiance quickly came to the rescue. Sebastian was just trying to get his hands on a bountiful dowry. Well, Evie has such a dowry and she is in desperate need of a noble husband. Her mother's family won't let her see her father. He's the owner of a lucrative gaming hall but he's also dying and Evie wants to be there for him at the end. Sebastian decides that she's as good a bride as any and they take off for Scotland. 

When they get back, Sebastian immediately steps in and takes over the business. It turns out that Jenner's (Evie's father) business manager has been robbing the place blind and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Evie and Sebastian will have to battle old ghosts, former friends, and a murderous enemy before they can find their Happily Ever After.

My favorite book in the series.

Four and a half stars

Wallflowers #3

This book came out February 28, 2006

Follows It Happened One Autumn

Followed by Scandal in Spring

Audiobook of mine from Audible

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.

Three stars

This book came out December 12, 2017

Jake Longly #2

Follows Deep Six 

Followed by Sunshine State

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own