High Jinx by Kelley Armstrong

Kennedy Bennett is JUST FRIENDS with Aiden Connolly thank-you-very-much. Yes the luck worker is handsome and rich but that doesn't mean she is dating the man. In fact, they are very scrupulous about keeping romance out of their relationship. That doesn't mean she isn't bummed that he isn't texting her back. Suddenly, he is in her shop of previously cursed objects (even the creepy dolls her sister Hope really likes but Kennedy definitely does not). He takes over the bidding on a painting that Kennedy knows to
have been part of a quartet, each cursed based on the four children of a woman who some people would rather history forgot. When they go to pick up the painting, the experience is not textbook. From a woman who is not who she seems to a young girl rushing out of the painting, it is topsy turvy. Kennedy suspects that Mercy (also Hermes, Mercury, whatever-ever-name) is testing her. But the real story ends up being so much bigger and weirder. And they are working on finding the other three paintings at the same time Aiden is working to pay off his parents... a year earlier than he had expected.

A lot of plot holes but a fun ride and I like that we get to see the relationship between Aiden and Kennedy grow.

Four stars

This book came out December 7, 2021

Follows Cursed Luck

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Give Up the Ghost by Angie Fox

Verity Long has had problems with her boyfriend's mother since before the series started. Virginia Wydell destroyed Verity's family mansion taking all of the family heirlooms. And she has definitely tried to come between her son, Ellis, and Verity. But she's just called Ellis and needs help. 

See, Virginia has just discovered her best friend, Twyla Sue, dead on the floor of her beauty salon. The book her mother Erma Sue left behind contained a lot of gossip. Actually, it was a lot of blackmail material that she used to rule Sugarland. The book turned up in the recently opened time capsule and Twyla Sue spirited it away before anyone could read it. Now Twyla's dead and pages from the book are turning up. And all of them are revealing secrets Virginia would rather keep hidden. She begs Verity to take the case. Verity does, but only to help Ellis. And it turns out Erma Sue, once grounded, has figured out how to move around. This could have major implications for Verity and Frankie.

The mystery was really loose on this one but there was major character development, especially for Virginia. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 31, 2022

Follows The Haunted Homecoming

Followed by Dread and Buried

ARC kindly provided by Moose Island Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Boardwalk Bookshop by Susan Mallery

Three women come together to rent space on the boardwalk. They are strangers to begin with, each with a life that seems relatively perfect for them. But there are currents underneath and all three are about to find their metaphorical boats rocked.

Bree is a bookstore owner who holds her heart close, even for the author who is currently in town. 

Ashley loves her boyfriend and she's ready to take the next step but he doesn't appear to be.

 Mikki is divorced but she is still good friends with her ex. That might be a problem for the man she's dating. 

There is so much sturm and drang in this book. It was a little much for me this time but I think regular readers of Mallery's contemporaries will enjoy it. 

Three stars

This book comes out May 31, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Mitzvah by Erik Henry Vick

Someone is trying to set up Leery Oriscoe. There's a dead body and the witness describes his wolf to a T. He's taken off the case and it's up to Dru to figure out what is going on. This requires a trip to visit her parents in Hell. Then Leery and Dru are off across the country to talk to an old friend of her father's who seems to be the person pulling the strings.

Three stars

This book came out May 29, 2020

Follows Arms Dealer 

Followed by Silkie Stalkings

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus

Opinions are my own

Clutch of Constables by Ngaio Marsh

The book opens with Roderick Alleyn telling the story to group of upcoming police of the time Troy decided to take a riverboat cruise on impulse. And this group is interspersed with a third person view of how a murder occurred on board and why/how a famous thief, the Jam Pot (sp?) was involved.

With Roderick in the United States and her son away as well, Troy can afford to take eight days on the river. Of course, people will probably find out who she is but she does try to stay under the radar, especially when a cloying Englishwoman with a cold latches on to her. If the woman knew that Troy was a famous artist... ugh. No one on the trip is too upset when that woman ends up leaving the boat but Troy is definitely concerned. Especially since she was already on alert when she makes an offhand comment about Constables (meaning the artist) and feels a sudden tension. Then she sees a newspaper article mentioning that the man who was supposed to be in her cabin was strangled. It makes her call Brer Fox to see if she needs to be worried. 

Overt racism is exhibited by some of the passengers making some of the trip uncomfortable. Also, the solution is a little overly dramatic. I decided to read this out of order based on the Classic Mysteries podcast episode.

Three and a half stars

This book came out in 1968

Follows Killer Dolphin

Followed by When in Rome

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own

Arms Dealer by Erik Henry Vick

A young woman is waiting for her friend but only receives a phone call saying her friend has been injured. When the young woman goes to look, she is also attacked and left for dead. Leery Oriscoe and his partner Dru Nogan are assigned to the case. 

It turns out that they are diving into the underground world of arms dealing. No, not guns. This is connected to the zombie mafia so we are looking at literal arms. and this leads into a feud that travels into at least the next book. 

A play on the Law & Order television series but with supernatural creatures. Definitely needs to be read as tongue firmly in cheek.

Three stars

This book came out April 24, 2020

Follows Seduction

Followed by Mitzvah

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus

Opinions are my own

Harm's Way by Catherine Aird

When a man and woman go out to scout a footpath for their groups trek the next day they think the hardest part might be clearing a path or dealing with a farmer who doesn't want them using the easement. However, today a crow drops a finger in their path. Since the local police normally keep things pretty clean, Sloan is called in to figure out what is going on and maybe try to find the rest of the body. 
The farm the finger is found on belongs to a man named Mellot, the brother of the man who owns the famous furniture store. Tom, the brother who owns the furniture, has just beaten off a takeover bid from a man who disappeared soon afterward. Len, a local, had a fight with a stranger at the local pub. Another farmer appears to have run away with a woman named Beverly. Any of them could be the body. Especially since, when Sloan does find the body , it doesn't have a head. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out in 1984

Follows Last Respects

Followed by A Dead Liberty

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus

Opinions are my own