Reviews

Three star bake

I so wanted to love The Usual Family Mayhem, which teases hijinks, girl power, hilarity and revenge served with one of Grandma’s “special” pies.

But, alas, award-winning author HelenKay Dimon’s rom com/mystery only rose to a three-star bake for me.
The story seemed to be on preheat way too long for my taste and I lost interest in the characters. While the premise was good, a few twists and turns and some amusing scenes, I’m sorry to say, weren’t enough to save it for me.

I received this advanced reader copy of The Usual Family Mayhem from Avon and Harper Voyager courtesy of NetGalley.

Review by Di Prokop

Bravo!

Bravo!

In A Long Time Gone, author Joshua Moehling delivers a beautifully written thriller full of mystery, emotion and suspense that leaves the reader sitting back in their chair saying, “Wow.”

Life hasn’t been easy of late for my favorite sexy detective. In this third book in the Ben Packard mystery series, we find our protagonist pulling court-security detail when a shooting puts him on leave and under investigation with too much time to think – not only about recent events and his future but his older brother’s decades earlier disappearance from the family’s lake house, as well.

After more details of that tragedy had come to light, a visit with his mother to visit the owner of his grandparent’s former home brings back memories. It also sends Packard on another investigation with life-threatening consequences.

Moehling should teach a master class on creating rich, fictional characters as real as they come. From Ben to his mother, his friends/coworkers and romantic interests, it’s all there with depth and easy, subtle strokes.

I highly recommend A Long Time Gone for mystery, thriller and LGBTQ fiction fans. I received this advanced reader copy of A Long Time Gone from Poisoned Pen Press, courtesy of NetGalley.

Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

Review by Di Prokop, More Mystery Please

Royally Intriguing: The King’s Court Murders

From his brilliant series debut to the fourth novel, my excitement still hasn’t waned for Ellis Blackwood’s Samuel Pepys Mysteries.

In my favorite to date, The King’s Court Murders finds the famed diarist’s inquisitors -Pepys’ former housemaid, Abigail Harcourt, and Jacob Standish – paying a visit, as honored guests of Charles II at his court at Whitehall Palace, where Jacob’s younger sister Anne resides as one of the king’s mistresses.

After one of the mistresses is murdered and Pepys is implicated, the king gives Jacob and Abigail an emotionally fraught 24 hours to find the truth and exonerate their esteemed employer.

With his incredible gift for seamlessly weaving setting, history and a most compelling mystery, Blackwood brings readers on a thrilling adventure through 17th century London and the royal court.

I highly recommend The King’s Court Murders for anyone interested in historical cozy mysteries and 17th century London. I received this advanced reader copy of The Brampton Witch Murders from Vintage Mystery Press, courtesy of the author.

Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

If you’d like a peek into the world of Samuel Pepys inquisitors and a free novella, visit https://ellisblackwood.com/

For more on Samuel Pepys, Abigail, Jacob and bringing 17th Century London to life, check out my interview with Ellis Blackwood below.

Review by Di Prokop, More Mystery Please

It’s not nice to use Santa as a weapon

Bestselling author Geri Krotow had me hooked from Ralph the watch parrot’s first squawk on the first page of her A Santa Stabbing, the first installment of her Shop ‘Round the World mystery series.

After traveling the globe, retired Navy pilot, Angel Warren, is excited to start the next chapter of her life in Stonebridge, Pennsylvania, close to family and reconnect with old friends. The widow and recent empty nester with twin girls off at college in opposite ends of the state is just weeks away from opening her Shop ‘Round the World, travel-themed gift shop when she discovers the body of an old classmate in her storeroom, stabbed with a broken Santa figurine from her shop. Despite the fact another old friend is now her hometown’s chief of police, Angel is the prime suspect.

She’s been away from Stonebridge for a long time. So even when she’s eliminated from suspicion, the town’s gossip mill continues to spread rumors she killed the cut-throat real estate agent. With her reputation and the success of her shop on the line, Angel sets out to find the real killer before she becomes the next victim.

I love Krotow’s easy style and humor, getting to know her rich characters, with plenty of suspects and plot twists and a possible romance with Nate the handsome and artistic barista — that is if he’s not the murderer. I look forward to reading future installments.

I ho-ho-highly recommend A Santa Stabbing to lovers of traditional mysteries, cozy mysteries, and Christmas cozies and look forward to reading future installments of the series.
Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

Review by Di Prokop, More Mystery Please

A Dickensian Delight

I absolutely loved Heather Redmond’s Mary Shelley series, so when I learned about her A Christmas Carol Murder, I had to read it and am so glad I did. My hopes for a glorious Dickens murder mystery were not dashed.

In this, her third installment of A Dickens of a Crime series, Redmond re-imagines Charles Dickens, his fiancée and friends caroling in the winter of 1835 when a body falls from a window wrapped in chains, ala Scrooge’s partner Marley.

In this instance, however, it is Jacob Harley, who fell, partner to Emmanuel Screws. Of course, Dickens the journalist sets out to not only find the murderer but also the father of an infant named Timothy, of whom he’s been accused of begetting.

I highly recommend this Dickensian delight to fans of Dickens, historical fiction and Christmas cozies. Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

Mistletoe and Murder Most Cozy

In Mistletoe and Murder, A Kate Hamilton Mystery novella, we find my newest favorite crime solving duo — Kate, an American antiques dealer and her almost-husband, DI Tom Mallory in the days leading up to Christmas and their wedding in Suffolk, UK.

Despite the picturesque village winter scene, which she beautifully paints, USA Today bestselling author Connie Berry immediately sets the tone, with Kate having jinxed herself aloud by pronouncing her wedding would be perfect. It shows up in small ways at first throwing a wrench in timing for the big day in a Mercury retrograde kind of way. But the biggest jinx of all begins when Kate’s friend, Sheila — another bride-to-be, needs her help. Before long, a little help turns into a life and death situation when Sheila goes missing, that could not only nix the Christmas Eve wedding but their lives, as well.

I highly recommend Mistletoe and Murder, to fans of Christmas cozies, traditional cozy mysteries, British mysteries, and partners in crime-solving duos.

Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

Review by Di Prokop, More Mystery Please

You Feta Watch Out

It doesn’t get much cozier than Linda Reilly’s You Feta Watch Out, the fifth installment of her Grilled Cheese Mystery series.

Carly Hale, proprietor of Carly’s Grilled Cheese Eatery and amateur sleuth has front row seats in the Flinthead Opera House, to watch her best friend Gina’s dress rehearsal of A Christmas Carol. However, before the day is done, Dickens’ beloved work has a fourth ghost or rather the actor, who had been playing Marley, was found dead with Scrooge’s boss’ chains around his neck and Carly’s bestie is a prime suspect.

With the help of a local journalist, the winking knowledge of the local police chief and a cast of characters as rich as her cheeses, Carly is committed to finding the real killer, proving Gina’s innocence – not an easy task, even a dangerous one when questioning actors, not knowing if they are telling the truth or plying their trade.

There will be no pouting if you read You Feta Watch Out and I highly recommend it for cozy mystery fans looking for a festive read. I received this advanced reader copy from Beyond the Book Publishing, courtesy of NetGalley. Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

Review by Di Prokop, More Mystery Please

*If you enjoy holiday mysteries as much as I do, be sure to check out the Second Annual More Mystery Please Santa Advent calendar, beginning December 1 as I share my new holiday favorite reads, giveaways and more.

Juniper Blume is back

What’s not to love in Daphne Silver’s The Tell-Tale Homicide? A rare books librarian/amateur sleuth, who loves to dress in vintage chic, a murder that could be somehow connected to Edgar Allan Poe, not to mention she drives a blue roadster just like my favorite girl detective.

The follow-up to Silver’s Agatha Award-winning Crime and Parchment, this second installment in the Rare Books Mystery series finds Juniper Blume back in Rose Mallow on the first day of her dream job at the Calverton Foundation, overseeing the town’s much disliked founding family’s private collection for a new museum.

Having left her post at the Library of Congress, it isn’t long before Juniper begins to question her move that she hoped would also bring her even closer with her sister, Azalea, who owns a local inn, as well as Leo Calverton, grandson to the historic family matriarch.

After discovering the body of a man clutching a rare copy of Poe, stolen from the Calverton collection, Juniper is certain the book has something to do with his death and can’t help but set out to find the murderer, even if it puts herself in jeopardy.

Silver brings readers a can’t-put-it-down mystery, with the perfect seasoning of romance, an interesting array of suspects that will keep you guessing and a rich cast of characters that makes it hard to wait for the next addition to the Rare Book Mystery Series.

I highly recommend The Tell-Tale Homicide for Poe-natics and cozy mystery fans alike. I received this advanced reader copy courtesy of the author. Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

Review by Di Prokop, More Mystery Please

Coastal Christmas cozy

If you’re looking for a coastal Christmas cozy, look no further than Amelia Pine’s Killer Fruitcake.
In the second installment of her Sea Glass Beach mysteries, you’ll find surfing pups dressed in festive costumes, fruitcake, and of course, murder.

Milliner Paige Andrews and her friends in the Beachside Dining Club work to prove the innocence of the mother of a club member accused of killing her brother – the Avocado King, while keeping on the good side of the police chief/Paige’s mother’s boyfriend.

It’s a cute cozy with interesting characters, plenty of suspects and a few red herrings. You’ll also find a little romance in the air to go along with the holiday spirit, not to mention the spirit in Paige’s soon-to-open hat shop.

I recommend Killer Fruitcake for fans of beach cozy mysteries with a little romance. I received this advanced reader copy courtesy of the author. Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

Review by Di Prokop, More Mystery Please

*If you enjoy holiday mysteries as much as I do, be sure to check out the Second Annual More Mystery Please Santa Advent calendar, beginning December 1 as I share my new holiday favorite reads, giveaways and more.

Can’t-put-it down holiday whodunit


Leave it to an author with a name like Noelle Albright to pen a can’t-put-it down holiday whodunit with just the right amount of lightness and dark, humor and suspense, colorful characters, red herrings and a ghost in The Christmas Eve Murders.

I read it in one sitting and absolutely loved it!

Picture the bucolic glacier valleys of the Yorkshire Dales on Christmas Eve. Then imagine breaking down there in a snowstorm en route to Edinburgh to spend the holidays with the family. You realize you don’t have a cell signal when a strange man knocks on your window. That’s how journalist Maddie Marlow finds herself spending Christmas Eve with the locals at the Merry Monarch, just in time for the annual scavenger hunt.

Despite not knowing anyone, for Maddie, choosing teams for the evening’s festivities was easy. Choosing allegiances after a murder takes place in the snowbound pub is a whole other story. Who can she trust?

I highly recommend The Christmas Eve Murders to readers who enjoy humor and suspense in equal measures. I received this advanced reader copy from Quercus, courtesy of NetGalley. Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

Review by Di Prokop, More Mystery Please

*If you enjoy holiday mysteries as much as I do, be sure to check out the Second Annual More Mystery Please Santa Advent calendar, beginning December 1 as I share my new holiday favorite reads, giveaways and more.

Powered by WordPress.com.

Up ↑