Tag: cozy mystery

Mystery Reads: Marlow Murder Club series by Robert Thorogood

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“She couldn’t help noticing everything about her existence seemed to be defined by someone who wasn’t her.”
― Robert Thorogood, The Marlow Murder Club

The Marlow Murder Club is the first book in the series of the same name by Robert Thorogood. The tag line really sets up the whole book: ‘To solve an impossible murder, you need an impossible hero…’. This book has a whole cast of impossible heroes: the main one being Judith Potts, a seventy-seven year old woman who lives on her own in a mansion, drinking whiskey and setting crosswords for The Times newspaper. She recruits a mismatched group of women to help her solve a mystery.

One evening, Judith is out swimming in the Thames when she witnesses a murder. Well, she hears yelling and a gunshot. Desperate for answers, Judith talks to the police. They don’t believe her story however, so she decides to investigate for herself. In the midst of her digging, Judith recruits Suzie, a local dog walker, and Becks, the prim and proper wife of the local Vicar. The three women form the Marlow Murder Club. Unsure of what their sleuthing will bring about, they are shocked when another person dies. Thinking that there may be a serial killer running around Marlow, they realize that this puzzle they are trying to solve may instead be a trap with deadly implications for the Marlow Murder Club.

This book is also available in the following format:

Marlow Murder Club series

  1. The Marlow Murder Club (2021)
  2. Death Comes to Marlow (2023)

Mystery Reads: Secret, Book and Scone Society series by Ellery Adams

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“Stories are just like people. If you don’t approach them with an open mind and a healthy dose of respect, they won’t reveal their hidden selves to you. In that event, you’ll miss out on what they have to offer. You’ll walk through life an empty husk instead of a vibrant kaleidoscope of passion, wisdom, and experience.”
― Ellery Adams, The Secret, Book, & Scone Society

The Secret, Book & Scone Society is the first book in the series of the same name by Ellery Adams. (Look further down in this blog for a list of the series titles.) I fell in love with the first book in the series as soon as I was introduced to the main character, bookstore owner Nora Pennington, and her love of all things literature. Nora shared so many pearls of wisdom that I felt like I was writing down a quote from almost every single page.

People flock to Miracle Springs, North Carolina, for healing. This small town is know for its five-star cuisine, natural hot springs, and renowned spa. If healing can’t be found at any of those places, then they head to the Gingerbread House bakery for a ‘comfort’ scone that they can then enjoy in Miracle Books, the bookstore owned by Nora. In Miracle Books, Nora talks with people and prescribes books to help lighten and ease their burdens. She’s become the town’s informal bibliotherapist.

While sitting in town, Nora meets a visiting businessman who asks for help. Inviting him to visit the Gingerbread House and then Miracle Books, Nora is anxious to help him begin his healing journey. Before their appointment though, the man is found dead on the train tracks.

At a loss over his death, Nora, along with other local damaged souls, seek justice for the dead man. They form the Secret, Book, and Scone Society, a group set on earning redemption for the misfortunate, yet also a place where they can learn to trust again. Everyone in Miracle Springs has secrets, so the four decide that in order to join the Society, they must share their darkest secret, the reason why they came to Miracle Springs.

As the four investigate, they also meet in Nora’s bookstore to share their stories and provide support for the others. The more they investigate, the messier the web of corruption becomes. The four must learn to truly trust each other. Through that trust, they can make it past whatever challenges pop up in their paths.

This book is also available in the following format:

“Stories don’t change much across continents and centuries. Hearts are broken. Pride is wounded. Souls wander too far from home and become lost. The wrong roads are taken. The incorrect choice is made. Stories echo with loneliness. Grief. Longing. Redemption. Forgiveness. Hope. And love.”
― Ellery Adams, The Secret, Book, & Scone Society

Secret, Book & Scone Society series

  1. The Secret, Book & Scone Society (2017)
  2. The Whispered Word (2018)
  3. The Book of Candlelight (2020)
  4. Ink and Shadows (2021)
  5. The Vanishing Type (2022)
  6. Paper Cuts (2023)

“Books are everywhere; and always the same sense of adventure fills us. Second-hand books are wild books, homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack. Besides, in this random miscellaneous company we may rub against some complete stranger who will, with luck, turn into the best friend we have in the world.”
― Ellery Adams, The Secret, Book, & Scone Society

Cozy Mystery Reads: The Secret Staircase Mysteries series by Gigi Pandian

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An impossible crime. A family legacy. The intrigue of hidden rooms and secret staircases.

Under Lock & Skeleton Key is the first book in the new Secret Staircase Mystery series by Gigi Pandian. This series combines two of my favorite cozy mystery elements: a locked room mystery and delicious food! Plus there’s an adorable rabbit named Abracadabra running through the story.

Tempest Raj is a talented stage magician. After a disastrous stage accident ruins Tempest’s career, she returns to her childhood home in California to try to rebuild her life. With her grandparents living in the tree house our back, Tempest is able to turn to them for advice and to drown her feelings in her grandfather’s home-cooked Indian meals. Trying to figure out who was behind that horrible accident may consume Tempest, but she has more pressing concerns. She may have to art working for her father’s company, Secret Staircase Construction. Started by both of her parents, Secret Staircase Construction specializes in combining magic, stories, and construction. They strive to bring childhood magic alive in each of their projects, whether it be a hidden reading nook, complicated and intricate locks, sliding bookcases, and a treehouse in the backyard.

Tempest is called to visit her dad at his latest renovation project. They have found a discrepancy in the blueprints that Tempest’s dad believes she can help them solve using her background in magic and illusions. What Tempest finds instead is the body of her former stage double inside a wall that has been sealed for more than a century. Tempest’s first thought is that she was the intended victim. Second thought: how did the body get into the wall? As she works to solve this mystery, the Raj family curse haunts her thoughts, as it has haunted her family for generations. Although she hopes the curse isn’t true, her recent accident plus her stage double’s death has her believing that the curse may be coming to call.

Secret Staircase Mystery series:

  1. Under Lock & Skeleton Key (2022)
  2. The Raven Thief (2023)

The Christmas Caper: A Secret Staircase Mystery Short Story (2022)

 

Cozy Mystery Series: Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

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“Many years ago, everybody here would wake early because there was much to do and only so many hours in the day. Now they wake early because there is much to do and only so many days left.”
― Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club

The Thursday Murder Club is the first book in the series of the same name written by Richard Osman. This book has been recommended to me many many times by other librarians since it was published in 2020. I finally listened to this book earlier this month and oh, I wish I would have started it sooner.

The Thursday Murder Club meets every Thursday to solve crime. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron are four unlikely friends brought together by circumstance. They all live in a peaceful retirement village, but all feel like they need more. They meet weekly in the Jigsaw room to discuss unsolved crimes. Ron used to be known as Red Ron, the infamous former socialist who still causes trouble. Joyce is a gentle widow who is pining for another resident, but she seems to be hiding something darker. Ibrahim is a former therapist whose grasp of the darker side of human nature helps the four truly understand the unsolved crimes they discuss each week. Elizabeth has a dark past that is kept deliberately hidden. No one is quite certain of her past, but they all know that one should never underestimate her.

As the four get together as the Thursday Murder Club, they work to solve unsolved crimes kept by a former police officer. When a local developer is brutally murdered, the four decide its time for them to start investigating their first live case. They may be older, but their skill sets mean that they are more well-equipped to solve this case than most people. As they dig into the crime, they inadvertently put themselves in danger, but still hope that they can find the killer before they kill again.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Thursday Murder Club series

  1. The Thursday Murder Club (2020)
  2. The Man Who Died Twice (2021)
  3. The Bullet That Missed (2022)
  4. The Thursday Murder Club 4 (2023)

“You always know when it’s your first time, don’t you? But you rarely know when it’s your final time.”
― Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club

Cozy Mystery Reads: Pies Before Guys Mystery series by Misha Popp

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“Like there are these things that matter on a large grand scale, the kind of things Melly cares about, like stopping fascism and curing climate change, and that’s obviously super important, but then there are the little individual things, like a woman who’s getting hit at home or a girl whose rapist gets a free pass for being popular. Do you go for the big sweeping save-the-world changes that will help the most people, or do you chip away at the little problems, fixing one and another and another until you have this huge snowball of good deeds built up?”
― Misha Popp, Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies

Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies is the first book in the Pies Before Guys Mystery series. The description drew me in and I knew I needed to read it: a woman seeks vengeance on men who have wronged women by baking pies laced with deadly magic. Best part: there are recipes listed at the end of the book!

Daisy Ellery comes from a long line of magic women. Each woman’s magic manifests in different ways though: her grandmother sewed her magic into beautiful dresses, her mother opened a beauty salon where she used her magic to help cut women’s hair, and Daisy bakes her magic into pies. For years Daisy has believed that the family’s magic twisted and changed for the worse when it came to her. After all, her mother and grandmother used their magic for good, while Daisy’s magic mostly manifests for revenge.

Daisy’s first murder by pie was an accident. She has been on the move ever since, but has still found ways to deliver magic through baking. Daisy travels with her dog Zoe around the country in her refurbished RV baking vengeance into her pastries. Daisy delivers them to men who have done wrong to women in the towns wherever she chooses to stop.

Daisy currently parks her Pies Before Guys van outside a local diner, where she bakes pies for Frank, the diner owner. One day, Frank tells Daisy that someone has been prowling around her van. Daisy later discovers a letter stuck to her door. Her prowler knows about her secret murder pie business and is threatening to out her unless Daisy bakes pies for his own list of targets.

Daisy feels violated. Who dares blackmail her? This person obviously has no idea who or what they are dealing with, but without identifying who has it out for her, Daisy is left floundering. She decides to take whatever action she can: using her databases to research past abusive men, investing in security equipment, and staying aware of her surroundings.

When Daisy learns of a statewide pie contest that has the ability to help her promote Pies Before Guys everywhere, she decides to take the leap and enter. This contest, and the prize money, could change her life for the better as long as her blackmailer doesn’t get to her first.

Pies Before Guys Mystery series

  1. Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies (2022)
  2. A Good Day to Pie (2023)

Cozy Mystery Reads: Island Sisters Mystery series by Hannah Dennison

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It’s been a while since I have found a new cozy mystery series to read. After talking to some other book lovers, I decided to start Hannah Dennison’s newest series: the Island Sisters Mystery series (I’ll admit that the cover is what pulled me in first – lucky for me, the plot was thoroughly engaging too).

Death at High Tide is the first book in the Island Sisters Mystery series. Evie Mead is devastated. Her husband Robert has suddenly died of a heart attack. During a meeting with his accountant after his death, Evie and her sister Margot learn that Evie may own the rights to an old hotel on Tregarrick Rock, one of the Scilly Islands. At a loss of what to do, Evie wants to leave all the arrangements in the hands of her accountant. Margot has other plans. Having left her glamorous career and fancy life behind in Los Angeles to come help Evie, Margot is determined to help Evie relax. She suggests a weekend getaway to Tregarrick Rock so the two can scope out the hotel and the area.

Once at the Scilly Islands, Evie and Margot realize that the area is not what they thought it would be. When they eventually arrive at the hotel, the two are fascinated by the history. Famous detective novelists used to visit the hotel in its prime, but now the hotel is definitely more of a fixer upper than either of them expected. When Evie starts asking questions, the answers she receives are off. The cranky hotel owner say that he has never met Robert, as do many other island inhabitants. Evie finds evidence to contradict them though, specifically framed photos of Robert with various people she meets over the weekend. She can’t be sure what they are all hiding and why.

When a two murders happen at the hotel in quick succession, Evie and Margot are desperate to escape Tregarrick Rock and forget this place and its weird inhabitants ever existed. Their escape is thwarted by the local police when both are named suspects. With all eyes on them, the sisters start searching for answers and find multiple secrets hidden for years, including their own.

Island Sisters Mystery series

  1. Death at High Tide (2020)
  2. Danger at the Cove (2021)

Cozy Mystery Reads: Grilled Cheese Mystery series by Linda Reilly

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With a degree in Criminal Justice, Linda Reilly fully expected to work in law enforcement. Life led her down a different path and Reilly instead switched to working in real estate. She writes a number of cozy mysteries where her background in law enforcement comes in handy. Reilly is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and Cat Writers’ Association. The series she writes are as follows: Apple Mariani Mystery, Deep Fried Mysteries, Cat Lady Mysteries, and the Grilled Cheese Mysteries. Reilly currently lives in southern New Hampshire with her husband and cats, where she can be found hanging around the local library and bookstores.

The Grilled Cheese Mystery series came highly recommended to me by another librarian. (If you listen to Checked In: A Davenport Library Podcast, you have heard us talk about it before.) Let’s discuss the first book!

Up to No Gouda is the first title in the Grilled Cheese Mystery series. This is a delightful culinary cozy series that will also leave readers hungry for grilled cheese (don’t worry though – there is a list of recipes at the end of the book).

Carly Hale is finally making her culinary dreams come true. Back in her hometown of Balsam Dell after the tragic death of her husband, Carly has opened the restaurant of her dreams: Carly’s Grilled Cheese Eatery. After only five months of being open, locals and tourists alike have flocked to her restaurant and business has never been better. The only caveat: her lease. When Carly took over this building, she knew she had a limited time left in the building. Now she has learned that her old high school boyfriend has bought the building and he has decided to push her out. Carly has to relocate her restaurant and find a way to keep her business alive.

This is absolutely devastating news – until something even more life-altering ahppens. Lyle is discovered dead behind Carly’s shop and one of Carly’s employees is the prime suspect. Carly doesn’t believe her employee would ever hurt anyone, so in order to prove her innocence and to save the restaurant, Carly embarks on a mission to find the killer before it’s too late.

Grilled Cheese Mystery series

  1. Up to No Gouda (2022)
  2. No Parm No Foul (2022)
  3. Cheddar Late Than Dead (2023)

Cozy Mystery Reads: Ice Cream Parlor Mystery series by Abby Collette

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Abby ColletteAbby Collette is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author. She was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Abby can be found writing, facilitating writing workshops at libraries, and spending time with her grandchildren.  Abby Collette is a pseudonym used by Abby L. Vandiver.  Under both names, the author writes cozy mysteries.

As Abby L Vandiver, she has written the following series: Mars Origin, Logan Dickerson Cozy Mystery, Normal Junction, Tiny House Cozy Mystery, and the Romaine Wilder Mystery series. The Logan Dickerson series features a second-generation archaeologist and a nonagenarian. The Romaine Wilder series tells the story of an East Texas medical examiner and her funeral-home-owning aunt.

As Abby Collette, the author writes two cozy mystery series: Ice Cream Parlor Mystery series and Books & Biscuit Mystery series. The Books & Biscuits mystery series is about a set of fraternal twins who reunite and open a bookstore and soul food cafe.

The cozy mystery series that first introduced me to this author was the Ice Cream Parlor Mystery series. I adore cozy mysteries set in restaurants and especially those that involve many generations of family.

The first book in this series is A Deadly Inside Scoop. This book tells the story of a millennial granddaughter who is now in charge of running the family-owned ice cream shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Bronwyn Crewse is an MBA grad recently moved back home to Chagrin Falls. Once her grandfather gives her the family’s ice cream shop to run, Win decides that it’s her time to restore the shop to its former glory. Win plans to do some major construction in the shop, as well as crafting homemade ice cream flavors based on her grandmother’s original recipes and on her own new recipes.

Win’s plans are waylaid by construction delays. She misses the summer season and instead opens it later in the year. The day she opens the shop, an early first snow hits the town and keeps customers away from purchasing ice cream. Desperate to improve the day, Win decides to make ice cream from snow, a treat her grandma used to make, and heads out into the storm searching for fresh snow. Her innocent exploration takes a turn when she finds a dead body in the snow. Win soon learns that the body belongs to a man who had a feud with the Crewse family, amongst others in Chagrin Falls. Win’s father is soon implicated in the murder. On top of running the ice-cream shop, Win also needs to find time to clear her father’s name. Win’s friends and family jump in to help her though, lightening her load as she works to find answers.

Ice Cream Parlor Mystery Series

  1. A Deadly Inside Scoop (2020)
  2. A Game of Cones (2021)
  3. A Killer Sundae (2022)

Cozy Mystery Reads: Magic Garden Mystery series by Amanda Flower

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Amanda Flower has a clear grip on the cozy mystery genre, having published many different cozy series covering Amish mysteries, magical mysteries, and contemporary mysteries. She is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author with over thirty-five mystery novels published. Besides being a writer, Amanda was a librarian for fifteen years. She currently lives with her husband and their cats in Ohio where they own a farm and recording studio.

(Also of note, Michelle wrote a blog post about Farm to Trouble, the first book in the Farm to Table Mystery series by this same author that you should check out!)

Today I am going to be talking about a cozy mysteries series by Amanda Flower called the Magic Garden Mystery series. The first book in the Magic Garden Mystery series is Flowers and Foul Play. This book introduces readers to the beautiful Scottish countryside and the people who call it home.

Fiona Knox has lost everything. Her fiance left her for their cake decorator and not far after that, her flower shop closed. When she found out that her godfather Ian MacCallister had died and left her his cottage in Scotland, Fiona jumped on the first flight out of Nashville to restart her life. When Fiona arrives at the cottage, she is greeted by Hamish MacGregor, the cottage’s elderly caretaker. He walks her to the property’s garden and they find that it is almost completely dead with the exception of a lone blooming rose and ivy that seems to come to life in front of their eyes. As they are walking around the garden however, the two find a dead body splayed on the ground.

Police are called. Fiona finds herself being questions by Chief Inspector Neil Craig who also seizes her passport. Craig is convinced that Hamish is the killer, which worries Fiona. The more Fiona explores the town, the more she realizes just how many enemies the victim actually had. Hamish isn’t the only one who had reason to want the victim dead, but it’s up to Fiona to prove he couldn’t have done it.

Magic Garden Mystery series

  1. Flowers and Foul Play (2018)
  2. Death and Daisies (2018)
  3. Mums and Mayhem (2020)

Cozy Mystery Reads: Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series by Raquel V Reyes

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Raquel V. Reyes is an accomplished writer who has had many short stories published in various anthologies. Latina characters are the main subjects of her stories. Her own Cuban-American heritage features strongly in her writing, as do the locations of Miami and the Caribbean. Reyes is also the co-chair for SleuthFest, a writing craft conference. Her debut novel is Mango, Mambo, and Murder, the first book in the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series.

Mango, Mambo, and Murder is a delight, not just because of the recipes that are featured at the end of the book! In this kickoff to a new series, food anthropologist Miriam Quinones-Smith and her family have moved from New York to Coral Shores, Miami, Florida. It isn’t exactly the move that she wanted. She was promised actual Miami, not a rich elite subdivision with her opinionated (and honestly racist) mother-in-law living just a couple houses down. Her husband was offered a very good, well-paying job and with her in-laws helping to buy them a house, moving out of their cramped New York apartment seemed like a good idea at the time. Only now, Miriam is forced to put her academic career on hold to stay at home with her young son while her mother-in-law pops in whenever she feels and her husband stays out all day and night rekindling a friendship (and maybe a romance?) with his ex.

The bright spot? Miriam’s best friend, Alma, a local realtor who knows all the best spots to go and has all the connections Miriam could need. Soon enough Alma has hooked Miriam up with a job as a Caribbean cooking expert on a Spanish-language mornng show. Despite her reservations, the job ends up being something she enjoys.

When Miriam and Alma attend a Women’s Club luncheon as a way to network, things go astray. A socialite sitting at their table falls face-first into her lunch. She’s dead. Rumors start flying, especially when a second woman dies soon after. Suspicions swirl around town that maybe the deaths are connected. Cuban herbalist, Dr. Fuentes, is thrust into the spotlight when the morning show’s host collapses while interviewing him live on air. His methods are controversial after all.

When detectives learn that the first woman died as a result of a drug overdose though, Alma finds herself a suspect when an anonymous tip points to her. Detective Pullman turns to Miriam to help him solve the crime since she has an in with the Coral Shores community. She starts poking around to find the killer and to clear Alma’s name. The closer she get to the truth, the more Miriam learns that Coral Shores is full of secrets. People are not what they seem.

This book is also available in the following format:

Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series

  1. Mango, Mambo, and Murder (2021)
  2. Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking (set to be published in November 2022)