Killer in High Heels ★★★½ by Gemma Halliday

Maddie gets a mysterious phone call from someone claiming to be her father and before the call is disconnected she hears what she thinks is a gunshot.

Determined to finally get some answers from her mother about her runaway father, Maddie confronts her Mom who still will only say that he ran away to Las Vegas with Lola.

So Maddie enlists the help and company of her BF Dana and the receptionist at her stepfather's hair salon, Marco (typical gay man stereotype) and they head off to Las Vegas to find Larry.

What they find had me rolling in my chair laughing and crying from sheer enjoyment.  Okay, it wasn't the great American novel, but it was sheer fun!

Series/ Progress: A High Heels Mystery 2/9
DATE READ: April 23 - April 26
NO. OF PAGES: 260
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: Nook

Tea Cups and Carnage ★★★½ by Lynn Cahoon

South Cove is preparing for a summer weekend festival as well as welcoming a new member to their business community. Jill from Coffee,Books & More will be using their mobile facilities for the first time in town by the beach to garner the sales from the festival goers.

The festival seems to have brought some unwholesome people to town including a biker who nearly runs down Aunt Jackie.  Her injuries cause a bit of a snafu for the staffing of the coffee shop as well as the Food truck.  At the same Jill has run into a dilemma due to a missing check which has been cashed and the money is not in her account.

! An unknown visitor's murder seems to be connected to the new Businesswoman, but Jill has promised not to get involved - SURE!

I really love this series - the characters are so realistic and fun.  I'd love to get a chance to go to CB&M and I don't even drink coffee!

Series/ Progress: Tourist Trap Mystery 7/7
DATE READ: April 19 - April 22
NO. OF PAGES: 192
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: NetGalley

The Viper's Nest ★★★ by Peter Lerangis

As Amy and Dan Cahill are leaving, they are informed that the police are after them.  Realizing that Alistair is the fugitive, the kids head to Pretoria to continue their search.

Their adventure in Africa leads them to some disturbing realizations after their discovery of the clue left by Winston Churchill in the Tomas stronghold.

This is a fun series of children exploring the world with puzzles to solve.  Great descriptions of exotic locations as well as historical facts all mixed in with a treasure hunt.

Series/ Progress: 39 Clues 7/39
DATE READ: April 19 - April 21
NO. OF PAGES: 192
Type of Book audiobook
SOURCE: audio stockpile

Clouds in my Coffee] ★★★★ by Julie Mulhern

Ellison Russell has been having a rough few months - finding dead bodies including her husband, she feels a bit put upon when her mother insists that she attend the fundraiser and it doesn't get better when she is nearly killed by a falling statue.   Add in unwanted houseguests (her quirky aunt and selfish sister) and Ellison has her hands full with even more near death encounters.  Detective Jones even takes up residence to protect her since apparently she has become a murderer's target.     I absolutely love this series - the characters are so well thought out, the mysteries enthralling and the setting of the 70's takes me back to my youth.
Series/ Progress: Country Club Murders 3/3 DATE READ: April 17 - April 18 NO. OF PAGES: 256 Type of Book e-book SOURCE: NetGalley

Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue ★★★½ by Stephanie Laurens

Anytime the Cynster family is involved you know that love is being searched for and it's no different when it comes to the Cynster sisters. Heather has decided that since she's nearly on the shelf she has to take love into her own hands and starts out on her own but she is kidnapped by a mysterious Scotsman but Viscount Breckenridge comes to her rescue. Can she still find love or has it already found her?

The Cynster family is one of my favorites so finding hat the sisters are just as love challenged as the brothers is great reading as far as I'm concerned.

Series/ Progress: Cynster Sisters 1/5
DATE READ: April 12 - April 17
NO. OF PAGES: 448
Type of Book audiobook
SOURCE: Public Library

Crime and Poetry ★★★½ by Amanda Flower

Violet Weatherly gets an urgent message from her grandmother saying that she's dying so she jumps in her car, leaves Chicago and rushes to Upstate New York and finds that her grandmother is fine. Grandma Daisy just needed her to be home. Violet  had left home 12 years ago and now she has to face all the demons that she'd left behind.   What she finds on her return is a magical tree that grows within the Bookshop that her grandmother has been running ever since she was a small child now she finds out she's the one who's supposed to take over and continue the magic  but can she?

The human characters were a bit ordinary, but the cat Emerson and the crow Faulkner (in a bookshop, remember) add the necessary variety that will carry this on.

A good first for a series.

Series/ Progress: Magical Bookshop 1/1
DATE READ: April 12 - April 16
NO. OF PAGES: 368
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: NetGalley

Spying in High Heels ★★★½ by Gemma Halliday

Maddie Springer has problems her boyfriend's disappeared she thinks she might be pregnant and she might be losing her job if she doesn't start working at it but she's decided that since the pregnancy might be the main issue she's going to try and track down that wayward boyfriend and what does she find TROUBLE!

She keeps running into a hunk of policeman who makes her start rethinking the boyfriend she has or does she?  

The story didn't have a lot of twists to it, just an ordinary little mystery of what happened to a wayward boyfriend but the characters were so much fun and they made me laugh. I enjoyed it tremendously.

Series/ Progress: High Heels Mystery 1/11
DATE READ: April 4 - April 11
NO. OF PAGES: 246
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: Barnes & Noble  Nook

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl ★★ by Timothy Egan

This book told the tale of several families that headed west for the "free" land and encountered problems caused my weather (a severe drought) and constantly fluctuating prices for the crops they were able to grow.

Sometimes they had mountains of money and other times their crops were worthless.
The book was rather dry, no pun intended, and left lots to be desired, IMHO.

DATE READ: March 25 - April 11
NO. OF PAGES: 340
Type of Book audio book
SOURCE: Public library Overdrive

Breach of Crust ★★★★ by Ellery Adams

Ella Mae, no longer possessing magical powers, makes efforts to adjust to her new lifestyle with Hugh and  her family.  When she receives a request from Opal Gaynor to find  her arch enemy Loralyn, she agrees while at the same time trying to determine exactly how the Camellia Club is related to the magical world especially after its president is found floating dead in he lake.

I really enjoy this series, the characters, the stories, and how good vs. evil is portrayed.  Brand new - how long must I wait for the next one?

Series/ Progress: 5/5
DATE READ: April 1 - April 4
NO. OF PAGES: 304
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: NetGalley

The Murder of Mary Russell ★★★½ by Laurie R. King

Mrs. Hudson returns from her shopping excursion to find no Mary and pools of blood on the floor.  Sending and emergency message to Holmes and Billy, she then contacts the police and Inspector Lestrade comes to help the local constable who destroy valuable clues before Holmes can arrive.

What's behind what's happened?  We are given he details of Mrs. Hudson's early life and how she came to be in the employ of Sherlock Holmes.

As much as I love this series, and I was happy to get some of details about Mrs.. Hudson, I thought that the parts about her early life dragged on but once we got into the current timeline and figuring out what really happened, I loved it.

Series/ Progress: 14/14
DATE READ: March 20 - March 31
NO. OF PAGES: 355
Type of Book ARD
SOURCE: LibraryThing Early Reviewers