A Wytch's Book Review Blog

Disorderly Conduct (A Maggie McDonald Mystery #4) by Mary Feliz

With a devastating wildfire spreading to Silicon Valley, Maggie preps her family for a rapid evacuation. The heat rises when firefighters discover the body of her best friend Tess Olmos’s athletic husband—whose untimely death was anything but accidental. And as Tess agonizes over the whereabouts of her spouse’s drop-dead gorgeous running mate, she becomes the prime suspect in what's shaping up to become a double murder case. Determined to set the record straight, Maggie sorts through clues in an investigation more dangerous than the flames approaching her home. But when her own loved ones are, can she catch the meticulous killer before everything falls apart?

Silicon Valley, the place of tech dreams and wildfires! It is the latter that has Organization Expert Maggie prepping for an emergency evacuation, including a trial run staying at her good friend Tess's house.  When they get there though Tess is rather distraught, her husband, Patrick, hasn't contacted them (Tess, and Teddy their son) and whilst they do have somewhat separate lives (including two places to live as Patrick is a neat freak both at work and home and Tess is rather a slob around the house!) it isn't like him to be incommunicado.  Then Tess gets the call everyone dreads, a body has been found and they think it is Patrick, it turns out to be true and not only that but he was unlawfully killed and now Tess has been arrested for his murder! Now Maggie, her family and close friends, need to find out the truth and get Tess set free before she ends up on Death Row for a killing she didn't do.

A Wedding and a Funeral in Mecklenburg (The Homeswappers #2) by Adriana Licio

Etta and Dora, retired teachers from the South of Italy, arrive with their Basset Hound, the strong willed, loveable Leon, for a home swap holiday in a German mansion, just in time for the celebrations following the wedding of their hosts’ son to a beautiful Parisienne socialite. But the festivities come to an abrupt end when the bride falls face first into the wedding cake, a bullet in her heart.

Although the culprit looks obvious – the groom’s business partner stands in shock, a gun in her hand – indisputable forensic evidence clears her name. Calling on her burgeoning talent as a sleuth, Etta launches her own investigations in parallel with those of the police. But with matters of the heart seeming to play a prominent role, it’s the more sentimental Dora who comes to the fore to fill in the gaps. Still, there’s something elusive, some crucial little detail…

Then the truth strikes. And it is so diabolical that even the pragmatic Etta is left reeling.

Etta and Dora were just about to head home to Italy after their first ever home swap when they were given the chance to stay in Mecklenburg for a couple of weeks, this time not so much a house swap as an exchange of favours, they stay there and then a little later a young man of the family will come and stay with them to immerse himself in Italian for a couple of weeks.  To add to the lure of this the two friends have been invited to the wedding of the eldest son to his Parisian girlfriend.  So far so very nice! Leon the Basset Hound is making himself at home  and the wedding celebration is going well - until the bride ends up face down dead in the wedding cake!

Now Etta and Dora put their thinking caps back on to find out who wanted the bride dead, on her wedding day no less.  With pretty much everyone in the wedding party a suspect the two retired Italian ladies have their work but out to find out the truth.

Dough or Die (A Bread Shop Mystery #5) by Winnie Archer

People come to the beach town of Santa Sofia as much for the healing properties of Yeast of Eden’s breads as for a vacation getaway. And now a cable food channel has selected the bakery as a featured culinary delight for a new show. Baking apprentice Ivy Culpepper is excited as the crew arrives, ready to capture all the ins and outs of the renowned bread shop. But instead they capture something much harder to stomach: the attempted murdered of the show’s cameraman just outside Yeast of Eden . . .
 
With no motive and no clues, and the town craving answers, it will be up to Ivy to sift through the evidence to find the truth. But she’ll have to move quickly before someone else is targeted or the wrong person gets the heat—and the business collapses like a deflated soufflé, right before her eyes.

Winnie Archer has written another book that pulls you into the story until you can feel yourself right there in the midst of the action!

Reality TV has come to Santa Sofia, or more to the point to Yeast of Eden. with a show about America's Best Bakeries, a local presenter is one of the two co-presenters on the show but she seems determined to muscle her way to the top spot which leads to tensions within the filming team.  No one though expects one of the team to be mown down by a hit and run driver!  That would be bad enough but then another member of the team is murdered, now Ivy along with her neighbour Mrs Bamford (and of course Santa Sofia's finest in the form of her best friend Emmeline) before more people end up six feet under!

Absence of Mallets (Fixer-Upper Mystery #9) by Kate Carlisle

Shannon could not be happier that her hunky thriller-writing boyfriend, Mac, has moved in, and it is a good thing they are living together because they are both busier than ever. Mac is hosting writing retreats at his now vacant lighthouse mansion, while Shannon and her crew build Homefront, a quaint Victorian village of tiny homes for veterans in need. Mac’s latest guests are proving to be a handful though, and Shannon has heard some grumbling from the luminaries of Lighthouse Cove about her latest passion project. But nothing can throw a wrench in their plans except a malicious murder.

When one of Shannon’s new friends is found brutally bludgeoned with a mallet near the lighthouse on Mac’s property, the couple hammers out a suspect list and searches for a motive. As they drill deeper for clues, more violence strikes and a new victim winds up in a coma. The pressure is on, and Shannon and Mac will have to move fast to find an unhinged killer dead set on demolishing anyone who gets in their way…

Another excellent episode in the Fixer Upper series, we have Shannon Hammer and Mac happily living together, Shannon's sister Chloe is engaged to Eric (the Chief of Police) and she is in the process of moving back to Lighthouse Cove, and to top this off Hammer Construction is restoring the lighthouse AND building a small settlement of tiny houses for Veterans (a cause close to the hearts of both Mac and Eric).  So everything in the garden is rosy? well sadly not so, as Mac is no longer in his house that has been turned into a writing retreat but the latest group are putting the backs up various people (Mac and Shannon among them), and the other thing that has gone wrong is the death/murder of one of the Veterans with one of the other Veterans being accused of the act.

Now with Eric being too close to the accused, his deputy, Tommy, has to take the lead (the only problem is that Tommy's wife wants the Tiny House project shut down and the Veterans moved on!), so Shannon, Chloe and Mac are determined to find out the truth, before anyone else is killed.

A Fatal Fettuccine (Undercover Dish Mystery #4) by Julia Buckley

Lilah Drake is back in this fourth Undercover Dish mystery. It's summer in Pine Haven, and Lilah is enjoying life: she's in love, she's a popular chef and caterer, she's surrounded by good friends. But her perfect summer has some troubling distractions.

The normally ebullient Angelo Cardelini, Lilah's ex-boyfriend and current boss, has appealed to Lilah for help with a problem in his love life. The always enthusiastic Serafina Drake, Lilah's sister-in-law, has embroiled Lilah in the problems of her friend, a noted historian named Enzo Montanini.

Enzo is researching an Italian serial killer known internationally as The Lake Killer. Enzo's theory is that the Lake Killer is hiding in America--specifically in Pine Haven. Though Lilah thinks this theory unlikely, she is troubled to hear that Enzo's office has been vandalized, and that someone has tried to kill his assistant. Suddenly Lilah and her boyfriend, Detective Jay Parker, investigate many disparate elements which seem to converge in one place: Pine Haven University.

Can a notorious murderer be walking the streets of Pine Haven, Lilah's shady, sleepy town? This question begins to dominate Lilah's life as she and Jay find themselves on a very dangerous trail that might bring them face to face with the Lake Killer.

Summertime and the living is easy, or so Lilah thinks! Things are going well between her and her boyfriend Detective Jay Parker, her Undercover Dish business is going well and she is getting on with her ex Angelo (luckily, as one of Lilah cooking gigs is working with him!), speaking of Angelo though, both Lilah and Jay are a little worried about him, he finally confesses that the lady he cheated on Lilah with had broken up with him (when she realised she was the other woman) and he has realised that he has real feelings for her and would like to win her back.  As well as this a friend of Lilah's sister in law is having problems at the local University and Jay offers to look into this for him, with all the suitable twists and turns that Julia Buckley puts into her mysteries this turned into a humdinger of a read and makes me want to read all her books again!

Boston Scream Murder (Deputy Donut Mystery #4) by Ginger Bolton

October 31st is just around the corner and Emily Westhill’s Boston cream donuts, carved with a scream, have made an indelible impression on local eccentric Rich Royalson. So much so that he’s ordered three dozen, with twice the fudge icing, for his 70th birthday—a special event in more ways than one. It’s to be held on fog-shrouded Lake Fleekom where, twenty years ago, his wife mysteriously drowned.
 
But the next day, when Emily arrives with her scrumptious screamers, she stumbles upon Rich’s corpse. The poor guy wanted a unique birthday bash—just not one to the side of his skull. With a guest list of possible perpetrators, and his last will and testament suspiciously left at the scene, Emily soon discovers that the Royalson closet is rattling with skeletons. As the fog thickens, motives mount, and the tricks outnumber the treats, Emily fears that Rich may not be the last one in Fallowbrook to go out screaming.

A cute cat... check! a feisty heroine... check! a murder... che ...... wait? WHAT!!

Halloween and the Deputy Donut team are gearing up making "scary" donuts, Fritter Critters, Long John Zombies and of course Boston Screams! The latter is picked by a local retired Bank Manager (Rich Royalson) to help celebrate his 70th birthday (although he wats standard Boston Creams, thank you very much) as he loves (and pontificates .... a lot!) Boston. Rich also would like help redecorating a cottage on his land and feels Emily and Nina can help. So far, so good ... Nina and Em check out the cottage and get a few ideas together and plan to run them by Rich in the next day or so, post the party, speaking of which, when Em turns up with the donuts and coffee she is surprised not to find Rich waiting, although she discovers why a few minutes later when she stumbles over his very dead body!

Now if her friends in the local police force are going to make her Halloween bash, Em first needs to discover who bashed Rich!

Pulp Friction (A Cider Shop Mystery #2) by Julie Anne Lindsey

Thanks to Winnie's new cider shop, Smythe Orchards is out of the red and folks can get their fix of the produce and other delectable products they love all year round. The locals are even booking the shop for events, including a June wedding! Winnie couldn’t be happier to see the barn filled to the rafters for the big bash—until her doting ex, Hank, is caught in a heated argument with the groom. Winnie plans to scold Hank after the party, but spots him running off instead. And when the groom turns up dead, apparently hit by the honeymoon getaway car, Hank is the main suspect. Now Hank is on the lam, and it’s up to Winnie to get to the core of the truth—before the real killer puts the squeeze on her . . .

Winona Mae Montgomery and her Granny Smythe have managed to turn the fortunes of the Smythe orchard around with the opening of the Cider House and they are glad to have it when a local family's daughter decides that instead of the huge wedding bash they were planning they want something simple and book the Cider House, the party is going well apart from a couple of things, but before the evening ends there is a corpse under a truck! Now much as Winnie would like to stay out of this (and Sheriff Colton Wise REALLY wants her to stay out of things!) her long time friend (and ex boyfriend) is in the frame for the murder, and as if that wasn't bad enough he has gone missing!

Now Winnie and her intrepid Gran need to find out the truth so that they can keep the Orchard running.

Death in a Budapest Butterfly (Hungarian Tea House Mystery #1) by Julia Buckley

Hana Keller and her family run Maggie's Tea House, an establishment heavily influenced by the family's Hungarian heritage and specializing in a European-style traditional tea service. But one of the shop's largest draws is Hana's eccentric grandmother, Juliana, renowned for her ability to read the future in the leaves at the bottom of customers' cups. Lately, however, her readings have become alarmingly ominous and seemingly related to old Hungarian legends...

When a guest is poisoned at a tea event, Juliana’s dire predictions appear to have come true. Things are brought to a boil when Hana’s beloved  Anna Weatherley butterfly teacup becomes the center of the murder investigation as it carried the poisoned tea. The cup is claimed as evidence by a handsome police detective, and the pretty Tea House is suddenly endangered.  Hana and her family must catch the killer to save their business and bring the beautiful Budapest Butterfly back home where it belongs.

Well Julia Buckley has done it again! This is a great start to a new series with some fun characters.  The main three are a Grandmother, mother and daughter who run a Hungarian tea house (with a fantastic pastry chef from France called François), on this day they are hosting a Hungarian Woman's club and as Hana (the daughter) has just purchased a stunning butterfly cup and saucer they decide to use that as the theme, the cup and saucer themselves will take pride of place on the table where Juliana (the Grandmother) will read tea leaves.  Everything seems to be going smoothly until Hana sees that her precious butterfly cup is missing, the next thing is the death of one of the ladies and the arrival of the police!

Before Hana knows what has hit her she is dragged into the murder investigation, led by the seriously distracting Erik Wolf, can Erik and Hana find out whodunit before the tea shop goes under or someone else is hurt?

The Book of Candlelight (Secret, Book, & Scone Society #3) by Ellery Adams

As the owner of Miracle Books, Nora Pennington figures all the wet weather this spring is at least good for business. The local inns are packed with stranded travelers, and among them Nora finds both new customers and a new friend, the sixtysomething Sheldon, who starts helping out at the store.

Since a little rain never hurt anyone, Nora rides her bike over to the flea market one sodden day and buys a bowl from Danny, a Cherokee potter. It’ll make a great present for Nora’s EMT boyfriend, but the next day, a little rain turns into a lot of rain, and the Miracle River overflows it banks. Amid the wreckage of a collapsed footbridge, a body lies within the churning water.

Nora and the sheriff both doubt the ruling of accidental drowning, and Nora decides it’s time for the Secret, Book, and Scone Society to spring into action. When another body turns up, it becomes clearer that Danny’s death can’t be blamed on a natural disaster. A crucial clue may lie within the stone walls of the Inn of Mist and Roses: a diary, over a century old and spattered with candle wax, that leads Nora and her friends through a maze of intrigue—and onto the trail of a murderer . . .

Miracle Springs are having a top up in the form of rain ... lots of rain, the inns and hotels are full to overflowing (indeed one new inn has taken some people in even though they are still in the thick of renovations!) and for some businesses (Miracle Books owned by Nora Pennington being one) people are spending like there is no tomorrow, sadly for one person this turns out to be true, a local potter known as Cherokee Danny is found in the swollen river and both Nora and Gabe the Sheriff are sure this is no accident.

As well as this there is a strange man hanging around and vandalism to both a house and Miracle Books, although with the latter a new friend come employee has stepped up and used the vandalism to create a show stopping window display! Now the four friends need to put their heads together to solve a murder, the vandalism, another murder and a century old mystery, preferably before anyone else dies.

Murder Is a Must (First Edition Library Mystery #2) by Marty Wingate

Hayley Burke, curator of Lady Fowling's collection of first edition mysteries, is settling into her position at the First Edition Library in Middlebank House. She's even made progress with Lady Fowling's former secretary, the ornery Miss Woolgar. The women are busily preparing for an exhibition that will showcase Lady Fowling's life and letters. Hayley knows the exhibition is a huge undertaking and decides, against her better judgement, to hire Oona Atherton, her former boss from the Jane Austen Centre to help with the planning.

Oona is known for being difficult, but all seems to be going swimmingly until she and Hayley uncover a one-page letter that alludes to a priceless edition of MURDER MUST ADVERTISE signed by several Golden Age of Mystery authors. Oona feels this book could be the focal point of the exhibition and becomes obsessed with finding it.

When they find clues that appear to point to the book being somewhere in the First Edition Library, Oona is certain she's unraveled the mystery and texts Hayley the good news, but upon arriving back at Middlebank, Hayley finds her old boss dead at the bottom of the stairs. Did her discovery of the rare book get her killed or was it some angry shadow from her past? Hayley must read between the lines to catch a malicious murderer.

Hayley Burke is moving on with fundraising ideas for the First Edition Library, starting with a set of literary salons and she hopes to also have an exhibition showcasing the life and work of Lady Fowling,  The latter suddenly is brought into sharp focus when Hayley is allowed to take a cancellation at the best exhibition place in Bath. the problem being that the cancellation is only 3 months away! Luckily Hayley manages to get the board's agreement and also she manages to hire Oona Atherton, a rather irascible and yet brilliant exhibition manager.  The problems start over though when Oona is killed in a life imitating art method aligning with the killing in Murder Must Advertise, now Hayley needs to try and get the replacement manager to commit to a decent plan, help the police find the killer, oh and find a book signed by all the Detection Club members!

The fact that her male friend's twin (24 year old) daughters seem to be anti Hayley is the least of her worries at the moment! Can she keep sane, get the exhibition dealt with and have time to spend with Bunter the cat?