Dig Deep My Grave by Cheryl Honigford

Charlie is going to the big house. To meet his love's, Vivian Witchell, wealthy family. It's touted as a cottage but... it is not as small as it sounds. Plus, her first lover is there on the scene and seems to be making a play for her. Is that why he apparently ends up dead, stabbed, with Charlie holding the murder weapon?
Viv doesn't even hesitate. Even knowing that her tryout for a Hollywood screenplay is on the line, she's going to stick around and make sure that Charlie's proved innocent.
Regular readers will really enjoy this addition to the series.

Four stars
This book comes out August 7
ARC kindly provided by Edelweiss
Follows Homicide for the Holidays

Homicide for the Holidays by Cheryl Honigford

It's the Christmas season but Vivian is not so merry. She's back at the family mansion for a command performance and has stumbled on a secret key in her father's study. It's a key that opens up a drawer that has been locked for eight years, since her father's death. In it, a mysterious envelope filled with cash. But it has disappeared when Viv next goes back to look for it. It's a mystery that Viv isn't sure she wants to explore, delving deep into the last few weeks of her father's life. Even though it is eight years past, this murder has repercussions that ripple into Viv's life today.
I'm not sure about the ending on this one. And the story is just a little confused. I am still looking forward to the next one in the series.

Three stars
This book comes out October 3
ARC kindly provided by Edelweiss
Followed by Dig Deep My Grave

The Darkness Knows by Cheryl Honigford

I liked the cover of this book, the setting (1938 Chicago), and the description of the heroine (up-and-coming radio star) so I requested it from NetGalley. And Edelweiss. Oops.
And it is exactly the kind of cozy that I was expecting. The heroine, Vivian "Viv" Witchell, is snappy and quick on her feet. Even when she finds the network star of their most popular series dead in the radio station with a note that seems to indicate that Viv is next. While she may have grown up in the lap of luxury, Viv is more than used to doing for herself and she's not going to let someone else watch over her, even if that some <i>is</i> the handsome detective, Charlie Haverman, that her serial is based on.
Generally, I liked this book. But the way that Charlie treated Viv, though it may be time period appropriate, just made him go down in my book as a lot less likable than he had been. And the same was true of Viv, I just never completely warmed to her. She was ambitious, but not. And she liked Charlie but still felt things for her costar. She was supposed to be smart but did some really dumb things. At least, I think she was supposed to be smart. And, yes, humans are generally contradictory, but SO MUCH contradiction really made it hard for me to find her relatable.

Three stars
This book comes out August 1