cozy mystery

Review: Guilt and Ginataan (Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery #5) by Mia P. Manansala

~ megs14malloy

Guilt and Ginataan (A Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery, #5)Guilt and Ginataan by Mia P. Manansala
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

Guilt and Ginataan is the 5th-installment of Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries by Mia P. Manansala. This is a Culinary Cozy series, which I have enjoyed since the very start.

This series follows Lila Macapagal and is set in the small town of Shady Palms. It is full of food, fun and family. I’ve enjoyed getting to know Lila, her quirky family and loyal friends over the course of these 5-books.

This mystery takes place during the annual Shady Palms Corn Festival, which is a big money-maker for local small businesses. Lila and the Brew-Ha Cafe crew are participating and looking forward to being a part of all the festivities.

Their festive spirits are quickly cut short however, after someone is murdered in the corn maze, and Lila’s best friend, and business partner, Adeena, found with a knife, ends up as the number one suspect.

Lila knows that Adeena could never hurt someone, let alone kill them, and she won’t rest until she’s able to clear her friend’s name and discover the identity of the real killer.

This is a solid mystery. I was so happy to be back with Lila, her sweet dachshund, and her friends. For me though, this lost a bit of the fun cozy-feel that I had relished so much in the earlier installments.

I’m not sure if it is just me, maybe the original magic is gone for me somewhat, or if it is actually written differently, but major portions of this felt so forced, particularly the dialogue. It kept knocking me out of the story.

It didn’t feel like the warm hug I had felt from the earlier books. Perhaps it’s because Lila’s family doesn’t play as big of a role in this one as they have in the earlier installments, this is more friendship-focused, and maybe I missed the warmth of the family connections.

With this being said, I did still find it entertaining and I do still love the characters. I’m not sure what the plans are for this series, but let me be clear, if there is a 6th-book, I will definitely be picking it up. Unfortunately, though, this is my least favorite of the series thus far.

I would recommend this series to Readers who love food, cooking, or Culinary Mysteries. There’s always quite a bit of food talk, including mouth-watering descriptions and there are always recipes included at the end; a nice touch.

As the series develops, and you learn more about each of the characters and watch their relationships grow and blossom, it would be hard not to fall in love with them. Shady Pines is one of those towns, though quaint and cozy, there always seems to be some nefarious things going down.

I love this type of mystery as a way to break up my darker reads, and Mia P. Manansala has firmly implanted herself on my auto-read author list.

Thank you to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I am excited to hear if there are going to be further books in this series. I’m all in, if so!

View all my reviews

Review: The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco (The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco #1) by Michelle Chouinard

~ megs14malloy

The Serial Killer Guide to San FranciscoThe Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco by Michelle Chouinard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Capri Sanzio owns and operates a tour company in her native San Francisco. These aren’t your normal run-of-the-mill tourist tours, however. Capri’s tours are focused on the serial killers of their great city.

San Francisco is rich in history, and unsurprisingly, like many big cities, some of it has been violent and bloody.

Capri has been interested in serial killers since she was a child and discovered that her own Grandfather, William Sanzio, was the convicted serial killer known as Overkill Bill.

Even though she was naturally curious about her Grandfather, her Dad refused to talk about him or his alleged crimes, so she grew up riddled with questions and those never really went away. As an adult, she transformed that unusual interest into a profitable business.

Although she’s always believed her Grandfather was innocent, Capri never dedicated any time into really researching his case.

When she suddenly needs additional money to help pay for her daughter’s grad school program though, and a copycat killer has reopened interest in Overkill Bill, Capri figures now may be the time. She could write a book, chronicling the research process via podcast, thus making cash and exonerating her Grandfather at the same time.

Before she even has the chance to get her plan off the ground though, the police discover the copycat’s latest victim, Sylvia, Capri’s mother-in-law, and the reason why Capri suddenly needed money for her daughter’s schooling.

Sylvia had been paying, but recently announced she was cutting them off. Jarringly, Capri finds herself as the main suspect. Now it’s not just about clearing her Grandfather’s name, it’s about clearing herself.

I had a blast reading The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco. I seriously need to reevaluate some of my life choices.

Why the heck did I wait so long to pick this up?

This was so cute. I loved the audiobook narration, which perfectly matched Capri’s personality. I’m stoked this is the start of a series. It’s certainly one I plan to continue with. I’m definitely down for solving more cases with Capri.

This has such a great setting and overriding premise. I would strongly recommend it for fans of the Finlay Donovan series, as it has a similar tone. It’s Cozy and modern, with great humor and a lovable cast of characters.

While this mystery hit close to home for Capri, the possibilities are endless for the other cases she could solve. I’m hoping that this will be one of those long-running Cozy series, where I just become more and more attached to the characters as we go along.

The synopsis for the 2nd-book, A Tour to Die For, has already been released and it sounds quite Rear Window. Say less, am I right? I’m so ready!!

Thank you to the publisher, Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I’m happy to be on board with another great Mystery series!

View all my reviews

Review: The Holy Terrors (Holy Terror Mysteries #1) by Simon R. Green

~ megs14malloy

The Holy Terrors is a good book. Particularly, if you go into it expecting a Cozy Mystery with potential Paranormal aspects.

Unfortunately for me, I went into this expecting Religious Horror, which it absolutely is not. I think at the time I received this as an ARC, it was not designated as Book #1 of the Holy Terrors Mystery series.

If it had been, I think it would have tempered my expectations a bit. Nevertheless, I do highly recommend the audiobook if you are going to pick this one up, and now that I know what the series is about, I would be interested in picking up the 2nd-book, [book:Stone Certainty|217105077].

I love Cozy Mysteries and I think that the MC of this, Bishop Alistair Kincaid, could be a fun one to follow. I feel we have so much more to learn about his character and I’m down to explore that.

It also seems like he may be pairing up with another one of the characters from this book, Diana, an actress. They had some interesting chemistry, so that could be fun, watching them work together again.

This story also has a fun set-up. Alistair and Diana are involved with the filming of a television ghost-hunting show, where they, along with some other folks, get locked into a reportedly haunted hall overnight.

Unfortunately, while that set-up is great and should lead to a lot of creepy action, I feel like the narrative is much more focused on the interpersonal dynamics going on between all these trapped show people.

I feel like it was a bit of a missed opportunity to create a genuinely-creepy vibe. With this being said though, there’s nothing wrong with a more character-focused mystery, it just wasn’t what I was expecting, or in the mood for, when I picked this up.

Overall though, I think if you go into this with the right expectations, this could definitely be a quick, fun read. Again, check out the audio if you plan to pick it up. I flew through it.

Thank you to the publisher, Severn House, for providing me with a copy to read and review. It’s def more likely than not that I will be checking out the next book now that I know more what to expect

Review: Beast of the North Woods (Monster Hunter #3) by Annelise Ryan

~ megs14malloy

Beast of the North Woods (Monster Hunter #3)Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up **

πŸ’šπŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’šπŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’šπŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’šπŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’šπŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’š

Beast of the North Woods is the 3rd-installment to Annelise Ryan’s Monster Hunter Cozy Mystery series. These quirky stories successfully combine two of my favorite things: creepy vibes and cozy mysteries.

These books follow MC, Morgan Carter, a cryptozoologist and specialty bookstore owner, who along with her adorable dog, Newt, investigates cases that may be linked to potential cryptid activity.

In this story, Morgan agrees to help her long-time store employee, Rita, after her nephew is accused of murder. He claims he is just a witness, having stumbled across the mutilated body of a local fisherman in the woods.

He also claims he saw a creature of many local legends, a Hodag, leaving the scene. He accuses the creature of being responsible for the gruesome crime.

The thing is, although his town of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, embraces the idea of the Hodag, incorporating it into their community, it’s also widely believed to be a hoax.

Even though she doesn’t believe Hodags to be real either, Morgan agrees to travel with Rita to Rhinelander to try to get to the bottom of it and clear Rita’s nephew’s name.

Once there though, Morgan’s presence causes a stir with the townsfolk, and the deeper she digs, the more danger she seems to be in. If a Hodag didn’t kill the fisherman, and Rita’s nephew didn’t either, who did?

This series is a bit silly, NGL, but it’s also super-duper fun. I’ve grown so attached to this cast of characters, (I’m looking at you, Newt) and am definitely hoping for more installments. There’s so many other cryptids to explore.

I had never heard of a Hodag before, so actually had to look it up. I liked how the author chose to use a lesser known cryptid this time. In the 1st-book, we had a Loch Ness Monster-like lake creature, and the 2nd-book revolved around Bigfoot, so this one was a surprise.

I also really love Morgan as an MC. She’s smart, daring and most importantly, a great Dog Mom, always putting Newt’s needs first. I never have to worry about him while reading, because I know Morgan is keeping him as safe as possible.

This was a solid mystery, that got increasingly complex the more we learned. I also appreciated that we dappled a little more into Morgan’s past as well, so it felt well-rounded. I liked learning more about her.

As with many cozy mysteries, we do follow along with Morgan’s personal life as well. She’s in a budding relationship, and it’s very new, so they are exploring those boundaries within this book, which was nice to see.

There were some fun twists, although a few things seemed obvious and it took Morgan longer to figure out than I would’ve thought. Otherwise, it did get more complicated than I expected and took some surprising turns. I had fun going along for the ride.

I would recommend this series to any Cozy Mystery fans, but particularly those looking for something a little different in their Cozy. It’s one-of-a-kind.

Thank you to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m looking forward to whatever comes next for Morgan and Newt.

Please don’t let this be the last!

View all my reviews

Review: Booked for Murder (Old Juniper Bookstore Mysteries #1) by P.J. Nelson

~ megs14malloy

Booked for Murder (Old Juniper Bookstore Mysteries)Booked for Murder by P. J. Nelson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

πŸ“šβ™₯οΈπŸ“šβ™₯οΈπŸ“šβ™₯οΈπŸ“šβ™₯οΈπŸ“šβ™₯οΈπŸ“šβ™₯οΈπŸ“šβ™₯οΈπŸ“š

Booked for Murder is the 1st-book in the Old Juniper Bookstore Mysteries series. This is a new Cozy Mystery series set in a small Georgia town.

In this, we meet Madeline Brimley, who has just returned to her hometown of Enigma, Georgia, after the passing of her Aunt Rose, her dearest remaining relative.

Maddy has mixed feelings about going back. She always dreamed of leaving Enigma and heading to NYC, as an actress, to follow in her Aunt Rose’s footsteps, actually. Things in New York were tough though, and she actually ended up in the Theater circuit in Atlanta instead.

Even though Atlanta isn’t quite what she dreamed, it’s better than Enigma, and now she has to go back. Aunt Rose left Madeline her property, including her bookstore, the Old Juniper, which caters to the local college students.

Almost as soon as Madeline arrives back, though, things start going wrong. First, the long-standing and well-loved gazebo in the back yard is set ablaze, and then Madeline starts receiving disturbing calls from someone threatening her unless she leaves.

Madeline isn’t one to be easily intimidated however, so the calls and fire end up having the opposite effect, making her dig in even more.

She befriends a local student, Tandy, who seems to have also been quite close with Aunt Rose. Tandy inserts herself into helping with the bookstore, for which Maddy is grateful. That is until the next fire, that ultimately ends in murder.

Not fully trusting the local authorities, and also feeling slightly guilty over the violent death which took place in the bookstore, Maddy begins an investigation of her own.

Will she be able to find out who is after her, or will they end up getting to her first? It seems they’ve tried to kill already. The next time, they may actually be successful.

This was a fun start to new Cozy Mystery series. I did enjoy the bookshop setting and the small town Georgia feels. I listened to the audibook, and the narrator did a great job channeling some accents that felt true to the story.

At first, I wasn’t sure I was going to vibe with Maddy. She can be a little abrasive and off-putting at times. It almost felt at certain points that she was completely unreasonable and condescending to those around her, but I think it’s all just an intentional part of her character journey.

She did become more likable over the course of the book and I started to understand where she was coming from the more I learned about her.

There was also a nice mix of side characters, Gloria, the reverend of a nearby church being my favorite, as well as a potential love interest for Maddy.

I feel like Nelson did a solid job setting up the small town atmosphere, as well as providing plenty of room for Maddy, as well as this series, to grow moving forward. I would definitely be interested in reading more mysteries centered around the Old Juniper Bookstore.

Thank you to the publisher, Dreamscape Media, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I would def recommend the audio format if you are interested in picking this one up!

View all my reviews

Review: A Front-Page Murder (Poppy Denby Investigates #1) by Fiona Veitch Smith

~ megs14malloy

A Front-Page Murder (Poppy Denby Investigates #1)A Front-Page Murder by Fiona Veitch Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

I really enjoyed A Front-Page Murder, which is the first installment of the Poppy Denby Investigates series.

I felt like in comparison to other Cozy Mysteries I’ve read lately, it’s quite simplistic, but there’s nothing wrong with keeping it simple and I mean that.

I had mistakenly believed this was the start to a new series, but it’s actually an older series being rereleased. Luckily, since it takes place in a historical time period, it didn’t feel dated, as it may have with a more modern backdrop.

This is set in 1920s-London and follows an aspiring female reporter, Poppy Denby. At the start, Poppy is moving to London from her quiet Northern town to live with her Aunt Dot, a once successful former stage actress.

At 22-years old, this is the first time Poppy has forged out on her own, away from her parents. She’s excited, but also a little nervous about starting her new life.

Poppy isn’t afraid to go after what she wants though, and the ambitious young woman quickly lands a job with the Daily Globe as an Editorial Assistant.

On her first day, one of the Globe’s veteran reporter, Bert Isaacs, falls from a balcony within their office building, plunging to his death. This occurs moments after he’s received a mysterious note related to his current project.

Isaacs was looking into the death of a local suffragette some 7-years earlier. Due to her Aunt’s ties to that movement, Poppy is assigned to help complete the article.

As Poppy begins to investigate, she is thrust headfirst into a dangerous world she never expected to end up in. The more she learns, the deeper she wants to dig. There’s a lot to uncover, involving a lot of powerful people, who grow wise quickly to Poppy’s lurking about.

The public, and the innocent people involved, have the right to know the truth, and Poppy is determined to get to the bottom of it; to expose the bad actors involved. Justice has just gained a new ally.

As mentioned above, I did enjoy this one quite a bit. Though simple, I did find it compelling enough and I really enjoyed Poppy as a main character.

I liked that this was her first time out on her own. She had a lot to learn, but grew so much more over the course of the story. Though she started out a bit unsure and self-conscious, by the conclusion she’s a confident young lady with the world as her oyster.

I would be interested in continuing on with this series. I feel like this has the potential to make me quite attached to these characters. Poppy does have a love interest and I would like to see how that turns out as well.

Thank you to the publisher, Embla Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I hope the rest of the series is rereleased with this style of cover. It’s perfectly-fitting for this story and I can’t wait to pick the rest up!

View all my reviews

Review: Murder, She Wrote: A Killer Christmas (Murder, She Wrote #59) by Jessica Fletcher and Terrie Farley Moran

~ megs14malloy

A Killer ChristmasA Killer Christmas by Jessica Fletcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

I’m rounding up for nostalgia, but either way, this was still an enjoyable Cozy Mystery. It’s set in Cabot Cove in the festive days leading up to Christmas.

While A Killer Christmas didn’t contain the most compelling mystery for me, taking over half the book to get to our murder, I still had fun sitting front row to all the town drama. You know I’m always down for that!

This is the 59th-installment of my all-time favorite Cozy Mystery series. I cherish my time with Jessica Fletcher; always have, always will. If I’m counting correctly, this is the 48th-book that I have read in this series.

In case you are new to the Murder, She Wrote books, these can be read in any order and can really be divided into two types: the Cabot Cove mysteries, which are set in Jessica’s hometown and involve a recurring cast of local characters, and the ones that are set around the world during the course of Jessica’s travels as a best-selling mystery author.

It would be difficult for me to select my favorite type. I think I prefer the travel ones, because I like to go along with Jess to the various places, however, there is something to be said about the comfort of returning to Cabot Cove.

In this one, as Christmas approaches, the entire town is getting into the holiday spirit. In fact, for the first time, the town is competing in a state-sponsored competition to be voted the Christmas Town of Maine.

With cash for the town’s non-profits and local businesses on the line, the locals are ready to put on the most festive holiday events that the town has ever seen.

In the midst of all this, local realtor and friend of Jessica, Eve Simpson has a marlin on the line, by way of Boston-based businessman, John Bragdon, who is hoping to buy the old Jarvis homestead. Eve is in a tizzy trying to impress Bragdon and see the sale through.

Eve organizes a dinner where Bragdon and his wife will be able to rub elbows with the who’s-who of Cabot Cove. Of course, as one of the most successful authors currently in the Mystery biz, Jessica secures an invite.

Although she’s not crazy about the idea, Jessica does agree to help Eve. A few of her other friends will be there too, so it can’t be all bad.

Dinner is going well, when the party is suddenly interrupted by the long-missing, and assumed dead, Kenny Jarvis. He heard his sister was putting their family home on the market and has returned to stake his claim. He announces that the Bradgons will never live in his house.

When Rose Marie Bragdon, John’s wife, dies unexpectedly days later, Kenny is quickly the number one suspect.

He was witnessed by many threatening her, but Jessica isn’t so sure it’s as simple as all of that. Doing what she does best, Jessica digs in, determined to find out the truth about what happened to Rose Marie.

As mentioned above, this mystery wasn’t super compelling for me, but everything else going on in the town certainly made up for it, IMO.

The realtor, Eve, a recurring character, always drives me a little batty. She’s abrasive, frequently steam-rolling over those around her. It’s just her personality. Jessica puts up with her in good grace, and I always feel schooled in the patience department.

Why she is even friends with this woman, I will never know.

Eve needed this sale. She reeked of desperation and was willing to do anything to get the Jarvis property sold. Bless Jessica and the others for being willing to help her out.

More than the sale though, the Christmas competition was providing quite a bit of tension in town as well. People were divided on where the winnings should go, if they were actually to win, and the planning of the events themselves got stressful.

Overall though, I did love the holiday vibes pouring from the pages. And all this stuff that I’m talking about, the stress, the tension, it did succeed in pulling me in. It made me invested. I love these characters and this town. I mean, at this point, even I feel like a local, so I was into it. It made me ready to start my own Christmas planning.

Terrie Farley Moran has done a great job with her contributions to this series. This is her 6th, I believe. I’ve read them all and I have really enjoyed them all.

I love how she has kept the original tone of the series, and she for sure has Jessica’s character and mannerisms down. I love this series with my whole heart. I will never, ever stop reading them. If you are looking for a Cozy Mystery series, a true Cozy, I can’t recommend this one highly enough.

I know for me there is a level of nostalgia that others may not have, but even without that nostalgia, I think these are still highly enjoyable mysteries.

Thank you to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I always look forward to the latest Murder, She Wrote. Please keep them coming!

View all my reviews

Review: Murder in the Scottish Highlands (An Ally McKinley Mystery #1) by Dee MacDonald

~ megs14malloy

Murder in the Scottish Highlands (An Ally McKinley Mystery #1)Murder in the Scottish Highlands by Dee MacDonald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up **

🏴󠁧󠁒󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿πŸ₯ƒπŸ΄σ §σ ’󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿πŸ₯ƒπŸ΄σ §σ ’󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿πŸ₯ƒπŸ΄σ §σ ’󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿πŸ₯ƒπŸ΄σ §σ ’󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿πŸ₯ƒπŸ΄σ §σ ’󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿πŸ₯ƒπŸ΄σ §σ ’󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿πŸ₯ƒπŸ΄σ §σ ’󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿πŸ₯ƒπŸ΄σ §σ ’󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿πŸ₯ƒπŸ΄σ §σ ’󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Murder in the Scottish Highlands is the 1st-book in the all-new Ally McKinley Mystery series.

This series is set in the, you guessed it, Scottish Highlands, and follows recently retired, Ally McKinley, who fell in love with the small village of Locharran while on holiday. Shortly thereafter, she purchased the dilapidated old malthouse to transform it into a B&B.

After an extensive renovation, the B&B has now opened and Ally is slowly adjusting to life in Locharran. It’s quite a change of pace for her in comparison to bustling-Edinburgh.

Her new life is up-ended though when her first paying customer, an American tourist, Wilbur Carrington, is found dead with a dagger in his back in the Malthouse courtyard.

Murder is not good for business. Ally needs to get this mystery cleared up and quickly if she has any hope of actually making the Malthouse B&B a success.

The local police seem baffled, so Ally decides to take matters into her own hands. As a retired television researcher, Ally is used to digging deep to get answers. She doesn’t plan to stop until she figures out the truth behind Carrington’s murder.

This was so cute. IMO, a great start to a new Cozy Mystery series. I loved how quickly MacDonald kicked it off, delivering us a body in the 1st-Chapter, which was great as it left so much time for solving the mystery.

I also really enjoyed Ally as a main character. She’s smart and resourceful. Additionally, I found her reasons for being there and her motivations behind the B&B understandable.

The setting, as well, was really fun. I felt like MacDonald succeeded in bringing all the small village vibes. Even the landscapes were described beautifully. I had no issues picturing where we were and I was loving every minute of it.

It was occasionally wonky in places, but overall, it kept me smiling and engaged throughout.

I feel like, as with many Cozy Mystery series, I will enjoy each consecutive book more and more as I become attached to this quirky cast of characters. There’s a lot of room for this series to grow. I’m looking forward to it!

Thank you to the publisher, Bookouture, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I love getting in on a Cozy Mystery series early, and I def plan to stick with this one!

View all my reviews

Review: The Perfect Cornish Murder (Nosey Parker Mysteries #3) by Fiona Leitch

~ megs14malloy

The Perfect Cornish Murder (The Nosey Parker Mysteries #3)The Perfect Cornish Murder by Fiona Leitch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Perfect Cornish Murder is the 3rd-book in Fiona Leitch’s Nosey Parker Mystery series. I love this series so much.

I read them a little out of order, so even though this is number 3 out of 7, it was actually the last one I had left to read, which makes me sad.

If you are unfamiliar with these books, let me give you a brief breakdown and perhaps inspire you to give them a go.

This is an Adult Cozy Mystery series that follows Jodie Parker, who resigned from the Metropolitan Police Force in London after a close call. She then returned to her native village of Penstowan in Cornwall, with her teen daughter, Daisy, and their Pomeranian, Germaine.

Jodie is now pursuing her love of cooking and has created her own catering company, which is starting to gain some traction in the local area.

Old habits die hard though, so any time a crime occurs in Jodie’s proximity, she’s gonna look into it. This has brought her into contact with charming DCI, Nathan Withers. This is one connection she’s hoping will continue to grow just as much as her catering business.

In this installment, a film crew has come to Penstowan and many regulars are getting involved in the process as extras, including Jodie’s daughter, Mom and best friend, Tony.

Even Jodie begrudgingly participates, swept up in all the hubbub. She’s hates her assigned costume and finds the set rather boring, but when things start going wrong, including the injury of their caterer, Jodie takes over that role and starts to feel much more in her element.

As more and more mysterious incidents occur on set, they delay filming, and rumors of a curse start to circulate. It’s not until someone ends up dead though, that Jodie actually begins to believe that may be true.

DCI Withers, never far away, arrives to investigate, but it’s Jodie’s work behind that scenes that could ultimately end up cracking the case.

Yet again I was absolutely swept up in this mystery and the drama of Penstowan. I have come to love this cast of characters so much over the course of these 7-books. I’m honestly hoping it never ends.

Every time I crack a new one, I can’t wait to see what sort of hi-jinks Jodie and friends and are going to get up to next. She’s such a good Mum and daughter. The relationship dynamics in these stories are one of my favorite elements.

This one was really fun too because of the whole idea of a film crew invading this small town, and all the high level people that were bandying about way outside their natural environments.

The mystery was well plotted and did succeed in keeping me on my toes. I definitely had theories, but it was fun watching all the pieces slot into place.

I also loved getting more with Jodie and Nathan. They were fairly new to each other at this point, so it was fun for me to get to go back and sort of relive how it all began.

If you love Cozy Mysteries, particularly those set in a village, or small town, that have humorous characters and happy vibes, you should definitely check this series out. It’s heart-warming, amusing and a great escape from reality.

I haven’t heard an announcement for an 8th-book yet, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this series continues for many years to come.

I will happily read each and every one!

View all my reviews

Review: Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop (Halloween Bookshop Mystery #1) by Emmeline Duncan

~ megs14malloy

Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop (A Halloween Bookshop Mystery Book 1)Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop by Emmeline Duncan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop is a Cozy Mystery set in a Halloween-themed town, Elyan Hollow, Oregon.

Yes, you read that right, Halloween-themed town. We’re talking 365-Halloween. Sounds like my life, actually.

.

In this story we are following Bailey, the owner of Lazy Bones Bookshop, who has recently organized Elyan Hollow’s first ever Literary Festival. She’s anxious for it to be a hit and has a good line-up of authors at the ready, including a hometown boy, Rex, who is now a popular Horror author.

Coinciding with the Festival, the crew of a ghost-hunting television show, Gone Ghouls, has come to Elyan Hollow and they want to use her shop as one of their filming locations.

After which, chaos ensues…

Just as she thinks things couldn’t get more out of hand, Bailey and her best friend, Colby, discover a dead body in the local hay bale maze. They’re quiet moment of relaxation exploring the maze is over before it ever truly began.

It’s clear the individual died by nefarious means, and unfortunately, Bailey then finds herself as the main suspect.

Bailey, along with her friends, must then try to find out the truth if they want to clear Bailey’s name. She knows she had nothing to do with the murder, but that means the killer is still out there, on the streets of Elyan Hollow and no one will be safe until they’re caught.

I thought this was really cute. I loved the small town setting and how everything felt Halloween-inspired. The names of the businesses, the foods and drinks served, as well as the way the whole town leaned into that vibe, it was fantastic.

The mystery was a little slow to kick off, but I did enjoy getting to know Bailey and what her life was like in Elyan Hollow. Her fabulous canine companion, a Great Pyrenees named Jack, was the icing on the cake of this one for me.

We love a doggo playing a large role in a Cozy story!

Once the dead body appeared, I was hooked. I wanted to know what had happened. I could see some motives, but who would have had the will to do it? Everyone seemed so nice!

I did enjoy following along as Bailey tried to figure it all out. I could have used a bit more substance in that area, but overall, I do feel like it had a fun mystery and that this is a great start to a series.

I feel like this was such a comforting read as well. It def pandered to my tastes and I’ve already recommended it to a few friends. It’s like a love letter to those of us who carry Halloween in our hearts all year round.

In addition to the aspects mentioned above, there’s also a bit involving Bailey’s family and her position within it. That part of the story def tugged at my heartstrings.

Bailey’s relationship with her mother is basically non-existent, for which there are many different reasons. I did really feel for Bailey in the moments that explored that and I appreciated the author including that in the story.

I am hoping as the series continues that we do get to see that whole aspect expanded on some more. I guess this would be a good time to say, if there are more books, I will absolutely be picking them up. I truly hope there are.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Kensington Cozies, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Duncan delivered exactly what I anticipated with this one.

I would recommend this for any Reader who loves Cozy Mysteries, bookshop-based stories, knitting, adorable dogs, and/or Halloween!

View all my reviews