How to Murder a Millionaire by Zara Keane

Maggie has opened her private eye business and even has her first case. She's been asked to find a sheep that went missing... twenty years ago. Paddy Driscoll 

is still upset that she's gone and Jimmy Wright is his main suspect. When Maggie goes to ask Jimmy about it, she finds a dead body. 

Interestingly, Jimmy's wealthy family is visiting from America. While his aunt Helen claims she hasn't seen him in decades, Maggie knows differently. Helen's son, Huff, is the same age as Jimmy and is a blowhard, yelling at all of his three children, his staff, even Maggie. Guess who is the next to get murdered?

The two cases do overlap in interesting ways.

Three stars

This book came out June 11, 2017

Follows The Postman Always Dies Twice

Followed by The 39 Cupcakes

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

The Bounty by Janet Evanovich, Steve Hamilton

Kate and Nick are helping the Vatican against a thief coming to steal a priceless ring. The thief makes it past all of their safeguards but then takes something else. While chasing him down, the two discover something startling - the thief is Nick's father.

Tracking him down will take them on a whirlwhind race across the globe to find the other pieces of the map which will lead to $30 billion dollars of gold stolen by the Nazis. The problem? The grandson of one of the men who put the map together is after the information as well. 

We get a few new characters who may end up being recurring in Nick's father and his friends. They remind me very much of Jake (Kate's father) and his friends with their knowledge of life and weaponry. A nice addition.

Four stars

This book came out March 23, 2021

Follows The Big Kahuna

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby and hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Belinda Goes to Bath by M.C. Beaton

Hannah Pym is off on her next adventure, heading to Bath (she can't bring herself to call it "The Bath"). Her group of traveling companions does not at first appear to be as congenial as the last group but she is intrigued by the young lady who is dropped off by carriage with a companion. It seems that Belinda is an heiress but she didn't "take." To try and get out of her own life, she ran away with a footman. It was not the usual story as the footman didn't want to do anything other than help her leave the house but the damage was done. Her aunt and uncle are sending her to Bath to live with her very Methodist great aunt and she has to go by coach as part of her punishment. 

The carriage has an accident and Miss Pym, Belinda, Miss Wimple (the companion), and the quarreling couple, the Judsons, are all put up by the Marquess of Frenton. He has other visitors, the Jordans, who are under the belief that he is going to propose to their daughter Penelope. Having the lovely Belinda in the house does look like it  might cause those plans to derail. 

The first book in this series was a romance. This book has some romance in it but is more fiction than anything else. I have also recently read the third book in this series and that goes completely off the rails.

Three stars
This book came out August 1, 1991

Follows Emily Goes to Exeter

Followed by Penelope Goes to Portsmouth

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Raven Thief by Gigi Pandian

Tempest Raj is settling back into working for her family's construction company. They've just finished a basement for the newly single Lavinia. She's ready to banish the spirit of her ex-husband, Corbin Colt, the famous mystery writer. He's still alive... at least he is at the beginning of the book. 

Lavinia hires Tempest's friend (?) Sanjay to hold a seance. She invites her book club as well as Tempest. Tempest's grandfather also comes along. It is during the seance that a body lands on the table. But... they are in a locked room. Interestingly, the person the police look at as having the most motive is Tempest's grandfather. So it will be up to her to solve the mystery and get her grandfather out of jail before he can cause any more trouble. 

Four stars

This book came out

Follows Under Lock & Skeleton Key

Followed by A Midnight Puzzle

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Wisteria Wonders by Angela Pepper

Zara's had some changes since she moved to Wisteria but one of the better ones is her friend Frank at the library. Too bad he's just been turned into a flamingo. But was it her magic or is he just a shifter who is just discovering his talents?
He's whisked away to the Department of Water (and Magic.) They are willing to help because they need Zara's skill at finding spirits to capture one in particular. It's one that is particularly dear to Chet's heart.
Zara goes over and above to connect with this spirit which can be dangerous when gorgons are involved. But a lot of the confusion over why she's in Wisteria gets solved as well as some of the feelings that she's had that things here are familiar. We also find out that Zoey has been name checked in a hundreds year old prophecy.
There is so much drama in this series. I'm hoping that there is some ending to a few of the story lines in the next book or two.

Three stars

This book came out January 15, 2017

Follows Wicked Wisteria

Followed by Watchful Wisteria

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Grim and Bear It by Juliette Cross

We've been watching Clara Savoie and Henry Blackwater dance around each other for most of this series. Finally, the two will get their own story. In the last story, we learned that Henry has some sort of odd magic. He is raising his younger brother as a result of a contentious relationship with their father.
Clara has had a crush on Henry forever and finally makes her move. The two get together but there are external forces at play here when Henry's father is arrested after being found at the scene of a murder. Henry would rather not help him but does so anyway and Clara is pulled into the mystery as well.
I really enjoyed the first two books in this series but the rest were a little less closed door than I would have liked. I wanted to finish the series though and am generally glad that I did.

Three stars

This book came out May 9, 2023

Follows Resting Witch Face

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Death at the Dance by Verity Bright

Lord Lance stands accused of murder! Lady Eleanor attends a masquerade at his parents house and one of the guests ends up dead. The man had been a hero in some war but was considered by many of the younger set as something of a bore. But why was he killed?

We get to see more of Lancelot's life and the friends he hangs out with. He really doesn't seem to have a redeeming quality in this book so I'm hopeful he either grows as a person or gets dropped by Lady Eleanor in subsequent books. 

Why is Lance arrested? Well, he's found standing over the body holding the murder weapon. So... he seems to be the obvious choice. Eleanor is determined to clear his name, even when she is specifically warned off by the detective inspector. 

An interesting follow up to the first in this series but am interested to see how the characters grow.

Three stars

This book came out July 8, 2020

Follows A Very English Murder

Followed by A Witness to Murder

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own