Midnight Snacks are Murder – Rosepoint Publishing

Rosepoint #BookReviews – August Recap

dog days header

So great to welcome our Navy buddies in August and must admit Northwest Indiana was exceedingly cooperative with beautiful, comfortable temps. As always, Kitra was a dynamo, bundle of energy who helped me get in and FINALLY put together the 50th Anniversary quilt that sister-in-law Ann’et made for us in 2012. Yes! Can you say “winter project?” Ted made his world-class ceviche (yum!) and he and the CE shared their old Navy stories (again) and quite a number of new ones! I posted a pic of the two of them trying to sink a sub at the Science Museum in Chicago. Kitra baked a new favorite–biscotti–and the boys put together a couple flower boxes for the fairy garden!

Catching up has taken the better part of a week; the blog, reading and reviews, social media, my veggie and fairy garden. Oh my goodness! The tomatoes!! Kitra got in and froze a bunch of them for me–they’ll make a great addition to stews and soups. (Never tried freezing them before, so we HOPE they’ll work well!) When the fairy garden doesn’t look quite so desolate, I’ll take another pic to share (discovered another downed snag today).

SO! What I read before they arrived is pretty much it for August, although I was able to get in some great reads.

Midnight Snacks are Murder by Libby Klein

Burning Ridge - a Timber Creek K-9 Mystery by Margaret Mizushima

Aug 3 – Knot My Sister’s Keeper by Mary Marks

Aug 7 – Death Over Easy (A Country Store Mystery #5) by Maddie Day

Aug 12 – Midnight Snacks are Murder by Libby Klein

Aug 14 – Death on the Menu by Lucy Burdette

Aug 21 – Burning Ridge – a #BookReview by Margaret Mizushima

Aug 28 – Samhain Secrets – a #BookReview by Jennifer David Hesse

The Forbidden Door by Dean Koontz Nice Try, Afton All of the above were downloaded from NetGalley and/or were book tours. In the meantime, I #AmReading The Forbidden Door by Dean Koontz (number 4 of 5) and will be posting my review this Sunday, September 2nd. I read and reviewed The Crooked Staircase (#3) here and The Whispering Room (2) here. Following on Tuesday, the 4th, my review of Nice Try, Afton by Brent Jones. That is the third of four in his Afton Morrison series and will release September 17th. Be aware that this gritty series profiles protagonist Afton Morrison in a frank assault of adult situations and language. Author Brent Jones paints an abstract of “moral ambiguity.” Dark and disturbing, crime fiction, vigilante justice–Afton style. I reviewed the second in the series, See You Soon, Afton in July and Go Home, Afton (#1) here.

I have a line up of cozies scheduled for September (book tours), as well as my fav (thrillers), and as always Throwback Thursdays, Cee’s Fun Fotos, or other features as captures my attention.

Hope this summer is going well for all of you: Blue Skies, Easy Breezes, Green Gardens, and nothing but GOOD books coming your way!

A big thank to all my new followers and as always so appreciate you who continue to read and comment! Thank you!

Midnight Snacks are Murder by Libby Klein (A Poppy McAllister Mystery) #BookTour #BookReview #Giveaway

I am so delighted today to provide a review for you at my blog stop for Midnight Snacks are Murder by Libby Klein on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour. Scroll down to enter for your chance to win the Giveaway!

Book Details

Midnight Snacks are Murder (A Poppy McAllister Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Kensington (July 31, 2018)
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1496713056
Digital ASIN: B0776HFC8V

Book Blurb

When her sleepwalking aunt is accused of committing murder, Poppy McAllister finds out there’s no rest for the weary . . .

Between trying to get her gluten-free baking business off the ground and helping her aunt remodel her old Victorian into the Butterfly House Bed and Breakfast in Cape May, New Jersey, Poppy is ready to call, “Mayday!” And now Aunt Ginny—who’s a handful wide-awake—is sleepwalking on her new sleeping pill prescription and helping herself to neighbors’ snacks and knickknacks.

Even more alarming, a local humanitarian who worked with troubled teens is found murdered, and the police suspect the “Snack Bandit.” Other than a bad case of midnight munchies and some mild knickknack kleptomania, Aunt Ginny is harmless. Someone’s trying to frame her. Poppy will need to work tirelessly to uncover the killer and put the case to rest—before Aunt Ginny has to trade in her B & B for a bunk bed behind bars . . .

Includes Seven Recipes from Poppy’s Kitchen!

My Review

I love that this cozy mystery includes a plus-sized widow of middle age trying valiantly to get on with life! She has discovered a Paleo niché for herself with the local gorgeous Italian barista. Her gluten-free desserts are finding a market along with a new possible love interest, but is that just one more complication she doesn’t need?

Poppy McAllister is a 40ish protagonist who has moved into her Aunt Ginny’s old Victorian they are trying to convert into the Butterfly House B&B in Cape May, NJ. But as anyone with a cantankerous but healthy octogenarian in tow will tell you, that isn’t easy, even less so when former mother-in-law Georgina comes to help with the renovation with investment money and more than a little opinion about how the rooms should be finished.

Unfortunately, about this time, Aunt Ginny begins sleepwalking and helping herself to her neighbors’ cupboards in their kitchens and knick-knacks in general. By the time they’ve gotten to the bottom of her sleep-aid medications, there has been a homicide down the block and it doesn’t look good for feisty Aunt Ginny, the “Snack Bandit.”

Unfortunately, the victim was a recent recipient of the local Humanitarian Award for working tirelessly with at-risk teens. His fervor and every dime went into the Teen Center and he had made great strides with many of his wards. It doesn’t seem possible he could have an enemy at that level of passion.

As Poppy discovers, since Amber apparently had history with Poppy before, she is determined this time she has her (wo)man and won’t be working hard to find another suspect. This one appears just too easy.

In the meantime, this well-plotted cozy mystery starts uncovering all the twists and turns you’ve come to expect in a cozy mystery. The protagonist has been well developed in the first of the series and continues to flesh in #2. She has a BFF in Sawyer and old schoolmate Tim, who is trying for a second chance now that she is looking at the end of her mourning period. Red herrings are thrown in when Poppy feels she has a strong person of interest, but in going about gathering evidence appears to open more of Pandora’s boxes.

Sassy, snappy dialogue borders at times on being a bit juvenile or trying too hard (possibly) for a younger age group and Aunt Ginny’s antics push the patience button. Still, there are a number of humorous passages, scenes that include the resident cat Figaro, and confrontations with the independent contractor/handyman and Georgina to lighten the plot and keep a steady pace throughout the narrative. It’s easy to tear through to the end and in the end included a culprit that could not have been guessed earlier. A satisfying conclusion that ties all loose ends and proceeds to Epilogue.

I was given this ebook download by the publisher and NetGalley for the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour and greatly appreciated the opportunity to read and review. This is definitely a fun book, looking to be a great series and an author to keep an eye on. Recommended to all cozy mystery fans. (And yes, gluten-free recipes to try at the back of the book. Even I found one of interest!)

Giveaway

Don’t forget to sign up for your chance to win one of two print copies of Midnight Snacks Are Murder in this Rafflecopter giveaway

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five of Five Stars

About the Author

Libby Klein dabbles in the position of Vice President of a technology company which mostly involves bossing other people around, making spreadsheets, and taking out the trash. She writes culinary cozy mysteries from her Northern Virginia office while trying to keep her cat Figaro off her keyboard.

(From Amazon Author page) Libby Klein graduated Lower Cape May Regional High School sometime in the ’80s. Her classes revolved mostly around the culinary sciences and theater, with the occasional nap in Chemistry. A few years ago, she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that forced her to remove gluten from her kitchen and adopt a Paleo Diet. Now her life revolves around coffee and bacon. When she’s not feeling sorry for herself that she can’t eat bread, she writes from her Northern Virginia office… Most of her hobbies revolve around eating, and travel, and eating while traveling.