The Secret of High Eldersham by Miles Burton

I first heard about this book on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and thought, "Hm. A mystery that is turned into a detective story/thriller combo by runaway events? I MUST read this." And when it came up as an ARC on NetGalley? I requested it immediately. Thank you Poisoned Pen Press for re-releasing this book.
The first story to feature Desmond Merrion, this book starts out with the description of a small village, seemingly untouched by the modern day (the main road goes around it) and newcomers seem to have spates of bad luck that run them out of town. In fact, the only "newcomer" to have succeeded, though on a small scale, was the pubkeeper of the Rose and Crown. A former policeman, he had retired there to live the rest of his life and work in the garden. So why was he stabbed so ferociously one evening?
At first, Detective Inspector Young, called in from Scotland Yard thinks this is an open and shut case. But he soon discovers that the easy solution is not the correct one. So Inspector Young writes to a man he's known from the war, Desmond Merrion.

Tea Cups and Carnage by Lynn Cahoon

A new shop has opened up in South Cove, California. Run by a former beauty contestant runner-up who seems to be wrapping men around her little finger, Tea Hee is going to be a shop selling china. But she's not the only new person in town. There's also a biker that has taken to riding up and down the sidewalks, even injuring Jill's aunt Jackie.
There is definitely a cloud around Kathi though. Her sister Ivy has followed her to town and seems to be spying on her. And then her cousin also comes to town, under an assumed name, and is shot in his hotel room. Who is doing all of this killing?
For some reason, Jill's insistence on solving mysteries when she keeps getting close to death at the end of each story didn't bother me as much. Maybe because she acknowledged it? Whatever, this is another nice addition to the Tourist Trap series and I'm definitely intrigued by the new series introduced at the end of this one.



Three and a half stars
Comes out June 7
Followed by Hospitality and Homicide

From This Day Forward by Lauren Layne

I don't generally love novellas since it's so hard to get to know the characters but this one wasn't bad.  I felt that Layne set up a nice back story for Leah and Jason so it wasn't a case of insta-love. The fact that if the two had just talked to each other they wouldn't have been so miserable for a year was annoying but they did come to that realization at the end. There was also some nice world building for the Wedding Belles series.
Leah McHale and Jason Rhodes are both photographers that have been asked to fill in for a high profile wedding at the last minute. Jason doesn't mind at all since he's been thinking about Leah ever since she ran away from their budding relationship but Leah isn't happy at all. In fact, their first meeting ends when she tosses a glass of water into his lap. But the two will have to work through their feelings and get over their knee-jerk middle school reactions to come together and create magical pictures for this important function. And maybe find their way back to each other.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out June 6

Murder at the Spa by Stefanie Matteson

Charlotte Graham is an aging (at 60ish? I think they said her age but I lost track) movie star in the early 1990s (when this book was originally published. And it shows in the attitudes of some of the characters toward others in the book. Can you imagine the word "cripple" being used to describe someone today?)
Anyway, it seems Charlotte has gotten some press for helping to solve a mystery and so it's to Charlotte that her friend Paulina Laugenberg turns when something's rotten in Denmark. Or at least in the beauty empire that Paulina has built.
There are a LOT of characters in this book. From the great Paulina and her personal staff to the spa staff to the other guests at the spa. If you can sit down and read this book in a shorter span of time, I'd highly recommend it. Otherwise you can get mired in trying to remember who exactly is who.

Three stars
This book will be re-released as an ebook on June 7

Sleepless In Manhattan by Sarah Morgan

This book is evil. EVIL I tell's ya. I could NOT put it down. It was horrible. Just horrible. Did I have problems with the "she's my best friend's sister, so hands off" storyline? Yes. Sarah Morgan worked her magic and made it <i>almost</i> reasonable. But still felt a little false. And in this story, the best friends were a little <i>too</i>. Eva was too sweet, Frankie was too prickly. But I'm guessing that will be straightened out in their own books. The books which I can NOT wait for. Hopefully they're already in the pipline because I am distraught (distraught, do you hear me?) that I can't read Frankie and Matt's (Paige's brother) story.
Also, did we have to have yet <i>another</i> trio of one blonde, one brunette, and one redhead? Couldn't they be a trio that are ash, mousy, and platinum blondes?
But I quibble. And despite my numerous quibbles, this was a REALLY good book. Even the end (not the end-end but the lead up was a little too pat and predictable for me) couldn't knock this down to three stars.
Paige is on Cloud 9, convince that she is about to be promoted only to find out she (and half of the company she works for, including her two best friends) have all been fired. It's Jake (her brother's best friend and her lifelong crush) who convinces the women to go into business for themselves. He's a handsome and successful bazillionaire who dates a new woman every month. So when his attraction to Paige finally boils over, sparks will fly (or is that mixing metaphors?). Either way, this is definitely a book worth picking up!

Four Stars
Followed by Sunset in Central Park

The Fairest of Them All by Cathy Maxwell

Oh. I really wanted to like this book. When I read the excerpt of the Gavin looking the ballroom over and being ready to choose his duchess, I was very excited. And then... he turned into such a douche. And he wasn't even the main character. Instead, his decades-missing twin brother turns up and swipes the girl that Gavin had just set his eyes on. Literally, hasn't even met her (though Jack has)and thinks that he's going to lurv her forevs. Even after this book though, I'm still ready to find out what happens with Gavin and Sarah, Charlotte's aunt.
Anyway, Jack is astonished to see the young woman who had pick pocketed his friend at the duke's ball. And the more time they spend together, the more he wants to be closer to her. Like, a LOT closer. This book is wrought with more drama than most Maxwells.
As I mentioned, I didn't love this book but I did like the first in the series am still looking forward to the next one.

Two and a half stars
This book comes out on May 31

The Underdogs by Sara Hammel

I was zooming along, this was a perfectly nice book told in first person by Chelsea Jestin. It was a little confusing at first because it switches between "before" the murder and "after" but both are done chronologically so it gets easier as you read. The golden girl of the country club, Annabel Harper has been murdered and left by the pool. As the story unfolds, it seems like there are so many people who might have wanted her dead. But Chelsea and her best friend Evie are the only two who are invisible enough to wander around the club hearing all the pieces of the puzzle.
This story is not just about Chelsea, who has a pretty horrific past, but also about the evolution of Evie. And it was the ending, the ending that was fairly clued, that just sent me over the edge. A slow start but a killer end.

Four stars
This book comes out May 31