A Date to Die For by E.V. Hunter

Alexi Ellis is leaving London to hang out with her best friend and she's bringing along her feline with an attitude, Cosmo. She just got cut from the journalism job that she loves, her ex knowing about it and not telling her was just icing on the cake. So, now she's in a small town, living in a hotel, and wondering about a local woman who has disappeared.
While looking into it, she runs into a private investigator, Jack Maddox. The two team up to try and figure out exactly what happened to Natalie.
The characters were a little flat and I feel like there is going to be a build up to Jack and Alexi having Twu Lurv but there was something that just didn't quite fit for me. Will probably read the next book in the series but may wait a bit to do so.

The Hopgood Hall Murder Mysteries

Three stars

This book came out February 3, 2023

Followed by A Contest to Kill For

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Death Comes to the Village by Catherine Lloyd

Lucy Harrington is the oldest daughter of the village rector. She has taken over many of the duties that are usually given to the rector's wife after her mother died. One of those duties includes caring for the invalids in her father's parish. That includes Major Robert Kurland who has recently returned from Waterloo.

Many of Major Kurland's memories from his time after returning home involve the managing voice of Miss Lucy Harrington telling him what to do and what not to do after she replace his original nurse who was a bit of a drunk. Though she is a plain woman, he appreciates her attitude. It is forthright and she is one of the few people who doesn't treat him as though his mind is as damaged as his leg. 

One night, the major looks out his window and sees someone carrying a heavy load. How does that tie in to the disappearance of two girls from the village? And what about the small thefts from various stores and houses?

The mysteries all tied together neatly. We get to see how Lucy and Robert interact. Though childhood friends, the two are definitely not in love (at this point) but they are making each other better and supporting each other when no one else will. 

Kurland St. Mary Mystery #1

Four stars

This book came out November 26, 2013

Followed by Death comes to London

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus catalog

Opinions are my own

Murder at Queen's Landing by Andrea Penrose

At first, Charlotte and Wrexford do not appear to be involved in this murder at all. But then, a mysterious exchange Charlotte overheard at a ball and the sudden disappearance of a friend mean that they are pulled into another mystery. 

Some new characters in this book but a number of people we've seen in previous books as well. Charlotte and Wrexford are growing ever closer but so is his friend Sheffield and the Lady Cordelia. It will take the intelligence of all of them as well as the guile of the Weasels to figure out why a clerk from the East India company was killed and then left for dead. And what their friends may have had to do with it. A convoluted set of intertwining mysteries (could have been a little less convoluted) but Penrose puts them together well.

Wrexford & Sloane #4

Four stars

This book came out September 29, 2020

Follows Murder at Kensington Palace

Followed by Murder at the Royal Botanic Gardens

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Hurtwood Village Murders by Benedict Brown

His second book now safely published, Marius Quin is going for a celebratory lunch with his Lady Isabella Montague. Too bad her beau, Gilbert Gaines, joins them. It seems the two have an idea for a new business as private investigators. Their first case can be why people are sending poison pen letters to people in the village they grew up in. Specifically, why Lucinda Heaton, who is revered by most of the town, is getting these letters. 

Isabella and Marius travel back and get to know some of the people in town, none of whom have changed very much though Marius describes trying to overlay the people from his memories with the people in front of him. Then, someone is murdered. Inspector Lovelace is pressed into service once again (though neither Bella nor Marius know his first name...

This was a nice addition to the series. I didn't love the wrap up to the mystery but it left us with an open ended question for the next book in the series.

Four stars

This book comes out February 20, 2024

A Marius Quin Mystery #2

Follows Murder at Everham Hall

Followed by The Castleton Affair

ARC kindly provided by Storm Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Lady Avely's Guide to Truth and Magic by Rosalie Oaks

This is a really cute book and I am going to figure out how to read the other series that Oaks has. I was a little annoyed at some of the capitalization in this book and can't figure out why because I haven't minded it in other books. I am also not a fan of time skips but that only happened in the first half of this book and I was very relieved. 

Judith Avely has only recently been given the rank of marchioness for her husband's service to the crown. Unfortunately, after his death, she also discovered something else about him and she is returning to Sargenet, the estate of the Duke of Sargen, to try to heal that secret. Being able to use her new title will work to her advantage as she doesn't want anyone to know who she is. 

The first night at the inn, she not only encounters a vampiri, she also sees, and is seen by, the Duke. It seems that he is recently returned after nine years abroad to deal with the rumors of a haunting on his estate and the death of a footman. He could use her Gift of Discernment (being able to hear a lie) to help ferret out the truth of what has been going on while he is gone. 

I loved the lay out of the main characters but thought we could have learned more about some of the side characters, especially the ones that come into play at the end of the book. It is hard to do when there are so many characters that we will probably see in future books so Oaks was trying to paint them all equally. 

Matronly Misadventures #1

Four stars

This book came out February 16, 2024

Followed by Lady Avely's Guide to Lies and Charms

ARC kindly provided by Parkerville Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Gone with the Witch by Angela M. Sanders

The book opens with an old outhouse being demolished and a set of bones being discovered. But whoever could the bones have been? There is a thought that they could be Martin Garlington. He disappeared almost fifty years ago. But the DNA says not and, besides, his wife, Helen, has just seen a man on a quiz show that she's convinced is her long, lost husband. She prevails on Josie to find out about the man, Bruno Gates, and ask him to come to town. 

Josie does find him and the man comes to town but he is decidedly NOT Martin. What he is, is a flirt who drinks too much at the bar, flirts a little too hard with the women of the town, and is found dead near where the old bones were discovered.

That is just the start of a mystery that unwinds the past fifty years. This time, Josie has some help in solving it. Her powers must be growing because she is once again finding the same book everywhere, but this time, when she opens it, Sherlock Holmes walks out of an illustration and into helping her solve the mystery. He also warns her that her own Moriarity is going to be making trouble for her.

This was a fun story with a lot of foreshadowing for future books. I felt like some of the characters could have been developed a bit more if they were going to be a part of the eventual solution. There are also some new people who have moved to town including a new rare book dealer whose last name is the same as that of a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out February 20, 2024

Follows Witch Upon a Star

Followed by The Witch is Back

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Perfect Partners by Jayne Ann Krentz

When Charlie Thornquist dies and leaves Thornquist Gear to his niece Leticia (Letty), Joel Blackstone is in a fury. While Charlie was off fishing, Joel was the one to build Thornquist Gear into a burgeoning empire.  It was understood that Charlie would be selling the company to Joel in a year (we hear about it a lot.)  And now Letty wants to use the company to reinvent herself or somesuch nonsense. A former librarian from Indiana, she's chucked the cheating fiance and has decided to throw her hand in at being a businesswoman. And wants Joel to be her mentor. But Joel is also wrestling with the seeds of revenge that are finally coming to fruition. He is about to take down Victor Copeland, the man who killed his father. 

I go back and forth on how to rate this book. Joel does seem like a jerk but, at the same time, he's spent so much time of his own building up the company. Then this librarian from Indiana (ha!) comes in and wants to use his company to change her life. Is the romance a little thin? Maybe. But the scene with Letty's ex barging into Joel's office makes me smile every time I read it.

Three stars
This book came out in 1992

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus catalog

Opinions are my own