cozy mystery – Page 9 – Rosepoint Publishing

Confound It by Maggie Toussaint – a #BlogTour #BookReview and #Giveaway

Confound It - a Dreamwalker Mystery by Maggie Toussaint

I am super-excited today to provide a review for my blog stop for Confound It by Maggie Toussaint on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour.

Confound It (Dreamwalker Mystery #5)

Book Details

Cozy Mystery – Paranormal

Series: A Dreamwalker Mystery (Book 5)
Paperback: 248 pages
Publisher: Camel Press (June 1, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10:1603815953
ISBN-13:978-1603815956

Book Blurb

While hosting out-of-town guests at her Georgia home, Dreamwalker Baxley Powell is called upon to help investigate a suspicious fire. One of her guests, close friend and fellow dreamwalker Deputy Sam Mayes, accompanies her to the scene. A meth cook is dead, and when Baxley visits her beyond the Veil of Life, she determines that the woman was murdered. Baxley pities Mandy Patterson, a single mother with aspirations for her teenage son Doodle. Unconcerned about the death of a criminal, the authorities pursue the drug-supply chain angle. Baxley worries about Doodle and vows to find out who killed his mother. As the case grows more baffling, Baxley struggles against her attraction to Sam. Although her husband is missing and declared dead, she does not feel free to love again until she is sure of his fate. Two suspects have the strongest motive, but Baxley has reason to believe they are pawns in a deeper game. And unless she can stop them, the world will never be the same. Book 5 in the Dreamwalker Mystery series. Continue reading “Confound It by Maggie Toussaint – a #BlogTour #BookReview and #Giveaway”

A Spook in the Stacks by Eva Gates #BlogTour #Spotlight #Giveaway

The Spook in the Stacks Lighthouse Library Mystery by Eva Gates

The Spook in the Stacks: A Lighthouse Library Mystery
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Crooked Lane Books (Happy Publication Day!! June 12, 2018)
Hardcover: 250 Pages
ISBN-13: 978-1683315803
Digital ASIN: B075QJ59PX

**I am super-excited today to provide a spotlight at my blog stop for The Spook in the Stacks by Eva Gates on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour.**

Book Blurb

Halloween in North Carolina’s Outer Banks becomes seriously tricky when librarian Lucy Richardson stumbles across something extra unusual in the rare books section: a dead body.

Wealthy businessman Jay Ruddle is considering donating his extensive collection of North Carolina historical documents to the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, but the competition for the collection is fierce. Unfortunately, while the library is hosting a lecture on ghostly legends, Jay becomes one of the dearly departed in the rare books section. Now, it’s up to Lucy Richardson and her fellow librarians to bone up on their detective skills and discover who is responsible for this wicked Halloween homicide.

Meanwhile, very strange things are happening at the library―haunted horses are materializing in the marsh, the lights seem to have an eerie life of their own, and the tiny crew of a model ship appears to move around when no one is watching. Is Lucy at her wit’s end? Or can it be that the Bodie Island Lighthouse really is haunted?

With The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on everyone’s minds and ghoulish gossip on everyone’s lips, Lucy will need to separate the clues from the boos if she wants to crack this case without losing her head in The Spook in the Stacks, the delightful fourth in national bestseller Eva Gates’ Lighthouse Library mysteries.

Giveaway

The author will be giving away one (1) print copy of her book (US only) in this Rafflecopter giveaway!

About the Author

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than twenty-five books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing three cozy mystery series: the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series for Crooked Lane, the Year Round Christmas mysteries for Penguin Random House and, under the pen name of Eva Gates, the Lighthouse Library series, for Crooked Lane Books.

Vicki lives and writes in bucolic Prince Edward County, Ontario. She is the past president of the Crime Writers of Canada. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards.

Visit Vicki at www.vickidelany.com. On Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. Twitter @vickidelany @evagatesauthor

Purchase Links

Amazon B&N Kobo Google Play BookBub

Thank you for visiting my stop on the tour and please visit the other stops listed below!

TOUR PARTICIPANTS

June 10 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW

June 10 – Mallory Heart’s Cozies – REVIEW

June 10 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT

June 11 – The Book’s the Thing – REVIEW, GUEST POST

June 11 – Mochas, Mysteries and Meows – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 12 – Valerie’s Musings – REVIEW

June 12 – Varietats – REVIEW, GUEST POST

June 12 – Rosepoint Publishing – SPOTLIGHT

June 13 – Sapphyria’s Books – REVIEW

June 13 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW

June 13 – The Power of Words – REVIEW

June 14 – Devilishly Delicious Book Reviews – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

June 14 – Readeropolis – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 15 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW

June 15 – Teresa Trent Author Blog – SPOTLIGHT

June 15 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 16 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW

June 16 – Brooke Blogs – GUEST POST

June 17 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 17 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT

June 18 – Back Porchervations – REVIEW

June 18 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

June 18 – The Book Diva’s Reads – CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 19 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW

June 19 – Curling up by the Fire – REVIEW

June 19 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 20 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW

June 20 – A Blue Million Books – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

June 20 – Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

June 21 – That’s What She’s Reading – REVIEW, GUEST POST

June 21 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW

June 21 – Sneaky the Library Cat’s Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

June 22 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 22 – The Montana Bookaholic – CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 22 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

June 23 – Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 23 – Island Confidential – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

I was granted a spotlight date of The Spook in the Stacks by Eva Gates through tour host Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours–thank you!

As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles by Leslie Budewitz – a #BlogTour #BookReview and #Giveaway

As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles (A Food Lovers’ Village Mystery)
Book Details:

Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Midnight Ink (June 8, 2018)
Paperback: 288 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0738752419
Digital ASIN: B075W25FNF

I am super-excited today to provide a review at my blog stop for As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles by Leslie Budewitz on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour.

Book Blurb

Erin is one smart cookie, but can she keep the holiday spirit—and herself—alive till Christmas?

In Jewel Bay, all is merry and bright. At Murphy’s Mercantile, AKA the Merc, manager Erin Murphy is ringing in the holiday season with food, drink, and a new friend: Merrily Thornton. A local girl gone wrong, Merrily has turned her life around. But her parents have publicly shunned her, and they nurse a bitterness that chills Erin.

When Merrily goes missing and her boss discovers he’s been robbed, fingers point to Merrily—until she’s found dead, a string of lights around her neck. The clues and danger snowball from there. Can Erin nab the killer—and keep herself in one piece—in time for a special Christmas Eve?

Includes delicious recipes! Continue reading “As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles by Leslie Budewitz – a #BlogTour #BookReview and #Giveaway”

Reading on the #Cozy Side with a Little #Sci-Fi, #K-9, or #HistFic for Spice

#TBR - #Cozies

It’s not true that I’ve gone to the Cozy side, but sometimes it does appear that way, huh.

Take for instance these five on my current #TBR pile. It would appear at least four are cozy, and you’d be part right. Obviously, however, Bad Time to be In It by David Burnsworth is a Blu Carraway mystery, actually classified by Amazon as “hard-boiled.” You may remember I used that term in the discussion on Family Noir.

That would leave three with the cozy, women sleuth, and amateur sleuth designation, because (**surprise**) Soufflé of Suspicion by Daryl Wood Gerber has the additional distinction of also being classified as culinary. (Do you see more recipes in my future? The cover even SAYS “Includes Recipes.” But Nope!)

I really do enjoy a cozy mystery or two, particularly between heavier genres, such as the Irish historical fiction I recently reviewed or the sci-fi, or even the hysterically funny, campy, and definitely unique Ray vs the Meaning of Life by Michael F Stewart. If you missed it, see my review here.

At most, there may be a conceived pattern. If you detect the upcoming pattern is filled with food or decadent desserts, it would appear that food or desserts are a necessary ingredient for the genre. But please, no more recipes for me, unless it includes a pleasing classic cocktail.

Pick and Chews – a #BookReview

Title: Pick and Chews (Barkery and Biscuits Mystery #4) by Linda O. Johnston

Genre: Currently #695 on Amazon Best Sellers Rank in Kindle eBooks, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Cozy, Animals

Publisher: Midnight Ink

Publication Date: Release date: May 8, 2018 Happy Publication Day!

Source: Midnight Ink and NetGalley

Title and Cover: Pick and Chews – Beautiful cozy cover complete with dogs and kitty

First, let me thank the publisher and NetGalley for granting me an ARC of this book. I was thrilled to receive the download and went into the book with high expectations, happy with checking out a new author (to me) and her series that promised to be amazing. And, of course, it features dogs. How could you go wrong? Well, ***spoiler*** alert, something went very wrong. First, I’ll quickly list what I did appreciate here in the “upper fold.”

Looking at the cover (and there I go again…must repeat mantra…cannot judge a book, blah, blah, blah). Absolutely too cute. Appeals to both dog and cat lovers. And the blurb? Well, okay, it sounded interesting. A woman who owns two howlingly successful businesses? Could happen. Her also being a part-time vet tech. Hmmm, now we may be stretching things a bit.

The Barkery and Biscuit is definitely a unique name for a bakery catering to healthy food and treats for animals. Also appreciated that she wrote about holding rescue animal adoption events. Super.

However, you should be warned that I periodically invoke my rule not to note less than three stars and, therefore, will not rate the book on this blog, although I’m compelled to leave a short review for Goodreads and the publisher.

So what set up the hackles? Continue reading “Pick and Chews – a #BookReview”

Murder at the Mushroom Festival – a #BookReview

Title: Murder at the Mushroom Festival (A Kelly Jackson Mystery) by Janet Finsilver

Genre: Currently #4576 on Amazon Best Sellers Rank in Kindle eBooks, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Mystery, Cozy

Publisher: Kensington Publishing/Lyrical

Publication Date: To be released April 17, 2018 – Happy publication day!

Source: Kensington Publishing/Lyrical and NetGalley

Title and Cover: Murder at the Mushroom Festival – Cute cozy cover

Murder at the Mushroom Festival is the fourth in the Kelly Jackson series and my first experience with the series or the author. In this installment, Kelly Jackson has been named permanent manager of the Redwood Cove B&B and is gearing up for the festivities by bringing in Elise Jenkins to host a cooking class featuring mushrooms. Continue reading “Murder at the Mushroom Festival – a #BookReview”

Claws for Concern – a #BookReview

Title: Claws for Concern (Cat in the Stacks Mystery)

Genre: Currently # 594 on Amazon Best Sellers Rank in Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Mystery, Cozy, Animals

Publisher: Berkley

Publication Date: February 20, 2018

Source: Berkley and Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book

Title and Cover: Claws for Concern – Cover is way too cute cozy typical

OMG, just to look at that beautiful cover you know it’s going to be a cat-lovers kind of novel. Well, I’ve mentioned before that I do love both cats and dogs, though as most of you know, since I have a pretty-extraordinary (cat-sized) dog in the house, my heart is with my adorable puppy.

Still if you lean at all feline, that cover got you. It got me too. And this is the ninth of the series, so you know there are a lot of kitty fans out there, not to mention a NY Times best-selling author. There’s obviously a lot of history here with protagonist Charlie and Diesel, although I’m not sure that the 40 pound Maine Coon isn’t the protagonist. There is definitely some over-the-top anthropomorphizing going on here. A Maine Coon owned my mother and I must admit the cat was definitely a one of a kind kitty. That said… Continue reading “Claws for Concern – a #BookReview”

Rosepoint #Reviews – January Recap

Congratulations to you for surviving the holidays and making it through January! Isn’t that considered the worst of winter is over? We can only hope! It’s certainly been a frantic month for me, back to reading, reviewing, and concentrating on “stats.” (Yes, I know. I’m not supposed to think about those, but…)

I have achieved some goals:

Books to Cell — Photo attribution: Shutterstock

Blog stats (hit 1,000 followers–Thank you all–again!), Goodreads stats (made my Book Challenge!), Amazon reviewer status (now down under 15K), and NetGalley stats achieved 80%–gonna keep it that way and pushing for my 50 reviews badge. (As a new reviewer on NetGalley, it’s easy to fall into that trap–BOOKS! All those BOOKS! I want them all–no, wait…oops!)

So, besides the ARC’s from NetGalley, there was #ThrowbackThursdays highlighting two of my favorite authors (Jodie Bailey and Linda McDonald). Spent some heavy time doing #AmReading posts, #TBR posts, and #Bookstagrams, the latter of which has fired up new ideas for “staging” books and that’s been fun.

Eleven January reads, most ARC’s through NetGalley and one read (#11) by my associate, the CE (If you haven’t caught his review yet, check it out!):

Strangers - by Ursula Archer and Arno Strobel

An Engineered Injustice by William L Myers, Jr.

January 02 – No Turning Back by Nancy Bush
January 04 – The Last Homecoming by Dan Chabot (author request)
January 07 – Grist Mill Road by Christopher J Yates
January 09 – Strangers by Ursula Archer and Arno Strobel
January 10 – Need to Know by Karen Cleveland
January 14 – An Engineered Injustice by William L Myers Jr
January 16 – Dark Ocean by Nick Elliott (author request)
January 21 – Deep Zero by V S Kemanis
January 23 – An Eye for an Eye by Caroline Fardig
January 28 – Curses, Boiled Again by Shari Randall
January 30 – The Yanks Are Starving by Glen Craney (author request)

See anything here that catches your eye? These run the gamut from historical fiction to psychological and legal thrillers and I know you’ve read at least one of them.

I’m having a tough time keeping up with reading and commenting on all your reviews! I comment when I can and I enjoy receiving all your comments here as well as the likes and comments on Bookstagram.

Photo attibution: lifewithdogsandcats Maybe you CAN teach an old dog new tricks, it just takes us longer. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them! ©2018 V Williams I Love Likes and Comments--Please Share!