The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie

Tommy and Tuppence 1/5
November 2 - November 6

I am a huge fan of Agatha Christie - both Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot but had never read her Tommy and Tuppence series.

Even though this series is set back in the earlier part of the 20th century, it was still entertaining and the characters were totally what you expect from Dame Agatha Christie.

I am glad that I finally started this classic series and look forward to getting to know these characters as well as Christie's others.

Engaged in Death ★★★½ by Stephanie Blackmoore

Mallory is weeks away from marrying Keith when her future Grandmother-in-law, Sybil, passes away and at the same time she receives a batch of photos showing her fiancée cheating on her with his assistant.  Calling off the wedding and going into "hiding" she is finally rescued by her sister, Rachel, and when they discover that Sybil left her home to Mallory instead of her grandson, things start to take an unusual turn.

Finding a dead body on the lawn, trying to cancel all the wedding arrangements or give them away, Mallory has to find a way to get her life back on track as well as help her sister find her own path.

I loved the characters, they were great to meet or love to hate (Keith and his mother),  Just wish Sybil could have stayed around - she sounded like a nifty lady.

Looking forward to the next one!

Series/ Progress: Wedding Planner Mystery 1/1
DATE READ: October 2 - October 3
NO. OF PAGES: 304
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: NetGalley

Picture Miss Seeton ★★★ by Heron Carvic

The re-release of this 50 year old series was a delight.  The reader is immediately thrown into the arms of Miss Seeton, a retired art teacher who has inherited a cottage in a rural area who in celebration goes to the opera before leaving for her new home.  Little does she know that on leaving she will involve herself in a dangerous situation that will follow her to her new home.

Miss Seeton is a mix of Jane Marple and Emily Pollifax wielding her umbrella as well as D'Artagnan his sword.  The inhabitants of Plummergen village kept this reader laughing throughout. I look forward to her next adventure.

Series/ Progress: Miss Seeton  1/5
DATE READ: Aug 31 - Sept 1
NO. OF PAGES: 170
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: NetGalley

A Story to Kill by Lynn Cahoon

1st Cat Latimer Mystery



I love the books by this author and when a new series appeared on the horizon via NetGalley, I had to grab it!  The central character Cat Latimer received an old house as an inheritance from her ex-husband and she's decided to turn it into a B&B, hosting writers' retreat one week a month while she writes the rest of the time. The first guests start things off with the top writer in attendance failing to appear because he's murdered.  Cat feels that to make sure that her new venture doesn't die also, she needs to find the murderer before the rest of the attendees leave town.  I like the premise and look forward to getting to know these characters better.

Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

First in Tearling Series
I read this book for Book Club and was very pleasantly surprised.  It was kind of a cross between Snow White and Harry Potter but it was fun, well-written, and definitely has me looking for the second in the series.  It was full of magic and the setting no only startled me but my group as well. Not just for kids!

A Most Curious Murder ★★★ by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli

Jenny Weston returns to her home after a messy divorce hoping for some peace bu instead she finds her mother traumatized by the destruction of the Little Library that her father had built before his death.  The next day she discovers a neighbor murdered in his yard and things just keep happening.

There appears to be some possibility for this first in a series,  the characters are a bit odd and the story a bit pat.  Could possibly use an influx of originality.

Series/ Progress: The Little Library Mysteries 1/1
DATE READ: July 7 - July 13
NO. OF PAGES: 336
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: NetGalley

Show Time ★★★ by Suzanne Trauth

This new series' central character Dodie has moved to a small town in NJ after her home and employment are destroyed on the Jersey shore by Hurricane Sandy.  Dodie has made new friends and found a job as a restaurant manager but when a friend asks her to help at the local theater, Dodie jumps in.  The theater staff want her to use her skills keeping rehearsals running on schedule, but finding another friend dead on the loading dock, has her switching priorities to find the killer.

The story started out a little slow and the characters definitely need a bit more individuality. (I had trouble keeping some of them straight mainly because they didn't have full names and backgrounds)  Just a name doesn't give an  idea of where a character fits in the story and if that name isn't frequently used, then you run into trouble.

I can see potential in the series.

Series/ Progress: Dodie O'Dell Mystery  1/1
DATE READ: June 18 - June 22
NO. OF PAGES: 228
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: NetGalley

And Only to Deceive ★★★½ by Tasha Alexander

Lady Ashton is unexpectedly widowed shortly after the wedding when her husband dies on safari. Knowing very little of him, she embraces his interests in antiquities and finds herself caught wondering what really happened.

Combining the Victorian period restrictions for a woman with the mystery was thoroughly gripping, leading the reader along an unexpected path.

Series/ Progress: Lady Emily Ashton Mystery 1/11
DATE READ: May 24 - May 28
NO. OF PAGES: 336
Type of Book e book
SOURCE: Nook

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

Treachery in Bordeaux]★½ by Jean-Pierre Alaux

Series/ Progress:	Winemaker Detective Mysteries  1/10
DATE READ:	February 16 - February 29
NO. OF PAGES:	144
Type of Book	e-book
SOURCE:	NetGalley
	I'm not sure whether it was the writing or the translation but I had a very difficult time getting into the story.  It seemed to move rather slowly and didn't hold my interest.  I will revisit at another time to see if I can get through at a later date.

The Cracked Spine ★★★★ by Paige Shelton

Delaney Nichols is laid off from her job at a museum in Kansas and decides that now is the time for her to take an adventure so when she reads an advertisement for a job at a rare book store in Edinburgh she jumps at the opportunity and applies for the job.  3 weeks later she is in Edinburgh, ready for her adventure but not knowing what she's getting involved with.

Delaney's first few days on the job have her searching for a rare Shakespeare folio after the murder of her boss's sister.  The story moves rapidly, IMO, and suddenly Delaney and the reader are faced with the solution.

Being the first in the series, I can see a great deal of room for the continuation of character growth as well as mysterious possibilities.  Definitely looking forward to another in the series.

Series/ Progress: Scottish bookshop mystery 1/1
DATE READ: February 25 - February 29
NO. OF PAGES: 304
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: NetGalley

The Body Under the Bridge ★★★★ by Paul McCusker

Father Gilbert (FG), a former Scotland Yard detective, is sitting in his office when he is summoned by a staff member because a man is planning to jump off the church tower.  Climbing to the top, FG is met by a young man and try as he might cannot prevent the man's actions but before the man does, he throws a medallion at Father Gilbert, slits his throat and jumps.

When Father Gilbert looks over the edge, there is no body and when he questions the staff member, he is met by quizzical eyes and no knowledge of the man.   Believing he has had a spiritual dream, FG cannot explain the medallion.  But FG is quickly summoned to an excavation on land of his parishioner, Lord Haysham, where they workers have found a buried foot under the bridge and the medallion had been on the body when it was found.

The body was apparently murdered which reignites a feud between the Todds and Hayshams.  During the investigation, including the medallion, Father Gilbert has another "dream" of a man hanging which prophetically brings him to the home of Colin Doyle - the man he saw in his dream of the tower suicide.

Murders abound as Father Gilbert delves deeper into what appears to be an ancient cult which is related to the medallion.  Father Gilbert needs all his spiritual strength to fight the evil and discover the murderer.

I was fascinated by this mystery because I couldn't figure out the ending until it actually happened, there were great characters and the plot was so tightly woven.  Definitely looking forward to another Father Gilbert mystery,

Series/ Progress: Father Gilbert Mystery 1/2
DATE READ: February 8 - February 15
NO. OF PAGES: 320
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: NetGalley

Six Strokes Under ★★½ by Roberta Isleib

My husband is a golfer so I thought why not try a cozy mystery set on the golf course.

Cassie Burdette has decided to take her one shot at making the LPGA tour and heads to Qualifying school but before leaving she unfortunately discovers a dying psychologist in the office next to her psychiatrist. Not exactly a calming event to send her off chasing her dreams and when the police force her to keep in touch through a redneck deputy masquerading as the town sheriff, Cassie's nerves are getting a workout.

The story had its moment but the characters need some personality adjustments - Cassie seems to be an alcoholic whiner and she's supposed to be the good guy.  No wonder her arch enemy/later victim is a pain in the a**.  I may check out the second in the series to see if there is any improvement, but if there isn't, in the golf world, this series won't make the cut.

Series/ Progress: Golf Lover's Mysteries 1/5
DATE READ: January 27 - February 8
NO. OF PAGES: 565
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: Audio Stockpile

The Deep End★★★★½ by Julie Mulhern

My husband and I belong to a local country club and so when I saw this series, I thought What Fun!  As I read the description, I worried because it was set back in the 70's and I didn't know if I could go there after reading books that have incorporated the newest technologies - cell phones, computers, etc.

I needn't have worried.  This a magnificent mystery that doesn't require the newest technology because the characters are so well-written and the mystery so absorbing that it is never missed.

Ellison Russell goes to the Country Club pool at the crack of dawn everyday for the solitude but this morning she finds it occupied by the body of her husband's mistress.  And things don't get any better.  In trying to prove her innocence, Ellison finds herself in several amusing situations that I was forced to laugh out loud.

Loved this story and the writing so I had to go and buy the next one in the series and I will be reading it next month!  A different change of pace I highly recommend.

Series/ Progress: Country Club Murders  1/2
DATE READ: January 12 - January 17
NO. OF PAGES: 245
Type of Book e-book
SOURCE: Nook 2015

A Slice of Murder by Chris Cavender

336 pages on Nook

Eleanor Swift is working with her sister to keep the pizzeria open and so when she's out making a delivery and finds a dead body, she becomes a suspect.

An interesting group of characters and background and good mystery with attention-grabbing clues for a first in a series.

A Chili Death by Jessica Beck

466 pages on Nook

This was a fun start for a new cozy series where  Victoria and Greg Branson run the diner that was started by her grandfather.  When the diner and the family livelihood are threatened by a con artist and then by his murder, the family all band together to find the murderer and save their heritage.

If Fried Chicken Could Fly by Paige Shelton

304 pages on Nook

The first in the Country Cooking School Mystery series was fun but I had a bit of difficulty because one of the principal characters was a ghost and the interaction between Isabelle and her Grandmother and the ghost didn't fit right to the story, IMO.

Murder at the Courthouse by A. H. Gabhart

An unidentified body is found on the courthouse steps and the everyone in Hidden Springs is in an uproar.  Deputy Sheriff Michael Keane has to try to identify the body before he can even start an investigation.  At the same time, Keane is battling with a rebellious teenager. With all the players that are getting the way, the clues to the murder seem a bit out of the ordinary.

I really loved the mystery and the way that the history of the characters were interwoven into the story.  The characters need a bit more fleshing out but for a first in a series it was really good.

★★★½

GENRE: Cozy Mystery
CHARACTERS: Michael Keane, Anthony Blake, Jay Rayburn, Judge Wilson Campbell
Series/ Progress: A Hidden Springs Mystery
DATE READ: November 9 - November 12
NO. OF PAGES: 336
Challenges: 75, Category, ALPHAKIT, TIOLI, 
SOURCE: NetGalley