Ok friends, now that I’ve finally had my surgery and on the upward swing, I need to get busy reviewing some great books I have been reading.  The first on I want to review is Cleo Coyle’s Roast Mortem.  Here is a synopsis:

After local firefighters pull Clare out of a blazing café, she happily comes to their rescue by teaching them the finer points of operating their newly donated espresso machine. But matters really heat up when somebody is torching cafes around the city and firefighters begin to die in suspicious ways…

Believing the two events are related, Clare investigates, staking out a five-borough bake sale and sniffing out clues in the pizza ovens of Brooklyn. When her detective boyfriend, Mike Quinn, is pulled into the fire of a false accusation, Clare is desperate to put out the flames. But will she be able to come to Mike’s rescue before someone tries to extinguish her?

My Review: Of course, I loved this book.  I missed some of my favorite characters though as they weren’t involved quite as much as usual – Clare’s ex-husband Matt and Mike Quinn.  Some more information was given as to the rough relationship  between Mike Quinn and his cousin Michael however, which was good.  The book concentrated on the FDNY which was an educational topic for me.  Growing up in New Jersey, I knew next to nothing about the NYPD or the FDNY and it had to take September 11th to show the country how great these workers are!  Ok, so to summarize – this is a great book, different character emphasis than previous books so can definite be a read on it’s own book, coffee, coffee-making, and other food that is yummy with coffee are included, lifts up our firefighter heroes without making them perfect, funny, serious, suspenseful – all the qualities of a light cozy mystery!

www.coffeehousemystery.com – GREAT WEB SITE

About the book:

Watch the tangled mess a Kansas hairdresser gets herself into when she reports to the funeral home that the body she is to work on is not the same as in her reference photo. Is she being punished when the director accuses her of stealing a diamond ring? Will Hilde Higgins’s former boyfriend help her unravel the issue or only bring more trouble to her life?

“The perfect cup of coffee is a mystifying thing. To many of my customers, the entire process seems like some sort of alchemy they dare not try at home….” Ten years ago, Clare Cosi left an unhappy marriage along with a job she loved: managing the historic Village Blend coffeehouse in New York’s Greenwich Village. For a decade, she was happy raising her daughter in the quiet suburbs of New Jersey; but now that Joy is grown and gone, life has gotten way too quiet for Clare. With a little cajoling from Madame, the Blend’s flamboyant, elderly owner, Clare agrees to return to her old job, and right from the start she gets one heck of a jolt. On her first morning back as Village Blend manager, Clare unlocks the front door to find her beautiful, young assistant manager unconscious in the back of the store, coffee grounds strewn everywhere. As Anabelle is rushed to the hospital, police arrive to investigate, but Detective Mike Quinn finds no sign of forced entry or foul play, and he deems it an accident. Clare disagrees; and after Quinn leaves, there are a few questions she just can’t get out of her mind, like why was the trash bin in the wrong place? If this wasn’t an accident, are her other baristas in danger? And are all NYPD detectives this attractive?

My Review: This is my new favorite series.  I love the setting –  a coffeehouse in Greenwich Village, New York City –  I can relate to the main character – Clare Cosi, and the mystery keeps me engaged.  It is difficult to figure out “who did it.”  There is usually a twist in the end, so I THINK I know, but I really don’t – I like that!  In the end it all comes together and makes perfect sense.  Again, this author has added recipes and hints for making great coffee!  I haven’t exactly read these in order but I’m on my fifth story, Murder Most Frothy, I have downloaded two of them to my Nook, and have bought the ones which aren’t available to download on my Nook.  I look forward to reading the rest.  A new one is available for pre-order titled Roast Mortem will be I believe book 9 in the series.  I plan to read them all.

H

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder introduces cozy mystery heroine, Hannah Swenson.

From back cover: In this story, Hannah already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother’s attempts to marry her off while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden’s most popular bakery.  But once Ron LaSalle the beloved delivery man from the Cozy Cow Dairy is found murdered behind her bakery with Hannah’s famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him, her life just can’t get any worse.  Determined not to let her cookies get a bad reputation, she sets out to track down a killer.  But if she doesn’t watch her back, Hannah’s sweet life may get burned to a crisp.

Strawberry Shortcake Murder is the second book in this series.

From Back Cover:  When the president of Hartland Flour chooses cozy Lake Eden, Minnesota, as the spot for their first annual Dessert Bake-Off, Hannah is thrilled to serve as the head judge.  But when a fellow judge, Coach Boyd Watson, is found stone-cold dead, facedown in Hannah’s celebrated strawberry shortcake, Lake Eden’s sweet ride to fame turns very sour indeed.

My Review:  I love these books and have ordered three more in the series.  Both of these stories are engaging and kind of folksy – enjoyable reads for Spring Break!  I feel good when I read these books – because they are about people I could really know.  People who have real problems with lots of mystery thrown in.  Small town Minnesota is a great setting.  I enjoy the setting because I lived in Iowa for eight years.  Hannah is a single woman near or at about 30 years old.  Everyone is trying to marry her off, and she has two semi-serious boyfriends as different as night and day.  One of the main characters is her cat Moishe – a finicky feline.

 The pet, the home, the humor, and the cooking (including mouth-watering recipes) give Fluke’s books charm and create a high level of interest.  Hannah’s relationship with her mother and sister, Andrea, are easy to identify with.  Her mixed feelings about men and her curiousity and impatience with the system to solve murders ring familiar bells with me.

While there is not a super amount of psychological suspense in these stories – there is SOME suspense, definitely enough to keep turning the pages.  I love these books and am reading the third – Blueberry Muffin Murder right now and plan to read all the books in this series.  They are refreshing and lots of fun!  

Strawberry Shortcake Murder (from back

From back cover: It’s back to school time in the peaceful Maine town of Tinker’s Cover, and for mother-of-four Lucy Stone it isn’t a moment too soon.  But trouble at the local elementary school soon has the sometime crime-solver juggling family, job, and night classes with another mystery to solve.  And it starts with a bang.

A bomb goes off with the noon lunch bell, but not before all the kids are safely evacuated, and Carol Crane, the new assistant principal, is hailed as a hero.  But days later, Carol is found murdered and everyone is stunned when the most popular teacher at the school is arrested for the crime.  However, not everyone is buying the open-and-shut case, including Lucy Stone, who senses there’s more to things than meet the eye.

It soon becomes clear that Lucy is flirting with danger, as sizzling secrets and explosive surprises provide a primer for the most diabolical of motives.  Hot on the trail of a clever killer, the dedicated mom and seasoned sleuth must harness the courage and cool aplomb to uncover a crime that just might give her an education in the fine art of murder.

My Review: Love these books – I guess because the main character is a female, mom, wife, and works full time.  There is humor and a little suspense.  The characters are real to life although some are not developed very deeply (ok with me in these books).  Any more cozy mystery fans out there in blog land?  Let me hear from you and tell me your favorite books.  I want to know about more of these books.  I love books by Leslie Meier and I love Joann Flute’s books.  Any more out there along these lines?  Please let me know.

From the back cover: I seem to be gathering quite a collection of murder victims: first my husband, then my contractor. And now my ex-husband’s fiancée has turned up dead. But I, Gracie Lee Harris, am on the job – much to the dismay of my boyfriend, homicide detective Ray Fernandez. I’ve enlisted the ladies of the Christian Friends to help me figure out who killed my ex’s sweetie not long before their wedding. My ex is the prime suspect, but his fiancée kept secrets that might have been deadly. I just pray that her secrets don’t get me killed!

No Love Lost by Lynn Bulock was one of my beach reads and it fit the bill perfectly! It is described on the front cover as a cozy mystery. I’m not sure how a book earns that title, especially when the plot of the book involves a dead person! But it was a fun book to read and as far as mysteries go, not too graphic or morbid.

Overall I enjoyed the book. The characters are likeable, the plot kept me hooked, and there was a touch of humor that I appreciated. I had not read one of Lynn Bulock’s books previously, but apparently she has written a few other Gracie Lee mysteries that would be fun to check out.

This book was published by Steeple Hill Books in 2007.

About the Book: Samantha “Ivy” Towers returns to Winter Break, Kansas, where she spent her summers as a child, to make funeral arrangements for her Aunt Bitty. While there, she begins to suspect her aunt’s death, which resulted from a fall in her bookshop, wasn’t an accident after all. Childhood friend, Amos Parker, now sheriff of Winter Break, seems anxious to get Ivy out of town. A missing book, a message scrawled by an unknown person, and an extra coffee cup leaves Ivy with more questions than answers.

My Review: I had just finished The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, and while I loved it, I was ready for a bit lighter fare. I love a good cozy mystery and have enjoyed the books I’ve read so far in the new Heartsong Presents Mysteries collection.

This book was no exception! Nancy Mehl has created a wonderful and fun town in Winter Break and a very likeable character in Ivy Towers. (what a great name, huh?) What I appreciated so much about this book is that it was both zany and fun (I laughed out loud a few times!) and also there’s some depth as Ivy realizes her Aunt Bitty’s life was fully lived even if it didn’t look like the typical picture of success. In fact, I really thought the contrast of Ivy’s parents who went to China (and she always knew she was the mistake that kept them from going earlier) and her aunt who loved everyone God brought in her path was brilliant and subtle while also extremely effective in allowing Ivy to make some decisions about her own future.

Oh and the mystery was fun and certainly kept me guessing right up to the last minute. And you know I loved the setting of the bookstore!

I greatly enjoyed this book and look forward to the next three in the series. Nancy Mehl is a new writer to me, but I love her style! If you are interested in reading this book, it is available through the Heartsong Presents Mysteries club or all four mysteries will be available in an omnibus version later this year in stores.

This past weekend I went away with my husband for a four day trip. It was the first time in three years that I had travelled without kids. Can you guess what I was looking forward to? Oh, yeah. Bringing a book to read on the plane!!!! And it wouldn’t be Dr. Seuss (although he is great) or Frog and Toad are Friends or Bear Snores On. This time it would be something for me. Imagine my great distress when I realized I had NOTHING new to read! And it is not easy for me to find something new. I’m in Costa Rica where there are no public libraries, I’ve read all of my friend’s books, and I have a limited budget. Well, I thought to myself, maybe I can find something at the airport. We arrive at the airport and I check out the bestsellers. Yup, twelve dollars a book. Guess I’ll have to content myself to reading the safety manual and browsing through the latest Sky Mall catalog (which, by the way has some pretty awesome stuff, but still – how often can you read it?). So I had nothing to read on the way there. On the way back, I discovered something wonderful at one of the little airport shops – 1/2 priced used books! I was so excited. I ended up choosing this Carol Higgins Clark book and read practically the entire thing on the way back. It was a fun read. Nothing serious. Funny villians, charming investigators. It is set in Ireland, so as I’m reading I’m imagining all the beautiful scenery. I don’t think I’ve read a Carol Higgins Clark novel before except maybe one or two that she wrote with her mother. This is one of her Regan Reilly mysteries, but Regan isn’t even in it all that much (though she does have a crucial role to play). But you have to excuse her; she is on her honeymoon after all! Some of the scenes are a bit contrived and none of the characters are all that complex. It is a light and easy read – perfect, really, for airplane reading or waiting room reading or that type of thing. It involves a rumor of ghosts, jewel thieves, and bad dental work. If you want to see how that all fits together, check it out!

About the book:  Cici Wilde, owner of Cici’s Vintage Clothing in Grace Gulch, Oklahoma, is delighted when the centennial of Oklahoma statehood brings additional business to her store. Events take a tragic turn when an actor dies in the reenactment of the town’s most famous gunfight. Cici’s sister Dina and her childhood friend Cordell Grace are among the suspects. Will Cici and Audie Howe, director of the town theater, solve the mystery in time to prevent further tragedy?

 My Review: This is such a fun book.  I personally found it to be very original, I have never read a mystery quite like this one before so that made it all the more enjoyable.  Cici runs a vintage clothing shop and so there are fun descriptions of the clothes throughout, a bit of a love triangle, and current mystery alongside an older mystery.  Franklin’s prose is solid as well, which as you know for me is very important!  I highly recommend this book for lovers of cozy mysteries, westerns, and fans of a good story.  This novel is available through the Heartsong Mysteries book club.  You can find out more information about the Heartsong Mysteries book club by visiting Heartsong Mysteries.

Come back tomorrow for my exclusive interview with author Darlene Franklin!