Romance & Mystery

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Personally, I'm not a fan of this particular holiday...although I do appreciate the sale on Valentine's candy that will start on the 15th! That being said, I do like some romance in my mysteries. I guess that's not too surprizing in that I like romance novels as well.

When it comes to mysteries, cozies in particular, romance comes in several forms. One form has our protagonist meet her romantic partner at the start of the series, but circumstances (or their own opinions) keep them apart. This "will they or won't they" is probably my favorite form of mystery romance. Sometimes, this form changes. As the series progresses the couples sometime finally get together, sometimes they even get married. The romance between upper class hotel owner Cecily Sinclair and her butler, Baxter in Edwardian England is my favorite example of this sort of romance and can be found in the Penneyfoot Hotel Mystery series by Kate Kingsbury. Kate Carlisle also gives us a memorable couple with Brooklyn Wainwright and Derek Stone in her Bibliophile series. And I certainly cannot leave out Amelia Peabody and Radcliffe Emerson from Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody Mystery series.

As in life, not all romantic couples in books last. Some series start with one romantic liaison which ends and our heroine finds a new love...or she keeps looking. Carole Nelson Douglas deftly handles this switch in the Midnight Louie Mystery series. Krista Davis explores this form in her Domestic Diva series.

Sometimes our authors give us a variety of possible romantic partners. Juliet Blackwell gives my favorite version of this romantic form in her Witchcraft series...although now I think Lily has found "the one". (He certainly is my pick!) Sometimes, the author has her heroine keep more than one romantic interest at the same time, specifically Joanne Fluke and the Hannah Swensen Mystery series.

While several of these romantic styles eventually lead to marriage, much more rare is the mystery series that starts with our romantic couple already wed. Cate Price has tackled this form in the Deadly Notions Mystery series. Peg Marberg also started her Interior Design Mystery series with a married couple.

What about you? Do you like some romance with your mystery? Do you have a preference as to romantic form? Who are some of your favorite couples?

Currently Reading...

I'm just about to finish Lie of the Needle by Cate Price, the book I was just starting last week. Actually, I'll have finished it before this post is published-but, I'm not done yet. I must say, I'm enjoying this series even more as it progresses. I appreciate the characters more and, I'm almost near the end, major culminating facts have been illuminated-and I'm still not 100% sure who the murderer is. How wonderful to have all these characters with the motivation and capability to do bad things... So I'm going to stop writing and start reading. Look for my review of this book in the near future.

Recipes and Needlework tips included.

Currently Reading...

I just started reading Lie of the Needle by Cate Price. This book is the third in the Deadly Notions Mystery series and will be released next week!

It's autumn in Buck's County, Pennsylvania and Daisy and friends are helping the Millbury Historical Society raise money to stop a developer from razing a historical home and putting up cookie cutter housing. Their latest method? Making a Men of Millbury calendar...yup, the good looking guys of town are bearing all, well almost all since certain bits are strategically covered.

That's as far as I've read. I'm sure there will be a murder, but at the moment I'm just wanting to read about Detective (hot stuff) Serrano's  photo session.

Recipes and Needlework tips included.

Review - A Dollhouse to Die For

Review

A Dollhouse to Die For by Cate Price
The Second Deadly Notions Mystery

Daisy Buchanan discovers a dollhouse that will be a perfect gift for a young friend, after a little restoration. But Daisy gets more than she bargained for with this purchase. There must be something more than meets the eye to this dollhouse. A dollhouse fanatic tries to buy it from her at a price much higher than its value, then someone tries to steal it! When Daisy finds the fanatic dead, electrocuted by one of her own dollhouses, she can't help but look into the crime. Unfortunately, she also has to look for a new location for her store, Sometimes a Great Notion, as she has a new landlord who wants to raise her rent threefold.

I admit that I had some issues with Daisy Buchanan in the first book of the series. I didn't really like her. In her second outing, however, I find that the behavior that bothered me in Going Through the Notions wasn't noticeable in A Dollhouse to Die For. Perhaps Daisy has grown, or possibly, the simple fact that she wasn't interacting with her daughter meant she hadn't the opportunity to bother me. Whatever the case, Cate made me like Daisy in this book and I enjoyed reading it.

Cate Price showcases the world of dollhouses and their collectors in the second book of the Deadly Notions Mystery series. We see the interest and the fanaticism, and how easily one can lead to the other. By the end of the book even I wanted to fix up my own dollhouse!

Household tips and recipes included.

Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading A Dollhouse to Die For by Cate Price. This book is the second in the Deadly Notions Mystery series and will be released May 6, 2014.

Daisy Buchanan discovers a dollhouse that will be a perfect gift for a young friend, after a little restoration. BUt Daisy gets more than she bargained for with this purchase. There must be something more than meets the eye to this dollhouse. A dollhouse fanatic tries to buy it from her at a price much higher than its value, then someone tries to steal it! When Daisy finds the fanatic dead, electrocuted by one of her own dollhouses, she can't help but look into the crime. Unfortunately, she also has to look for a new location for her store, Sometimes a Great Notion, as she has a new landlord who wants to raise her rent threefold!

Household tips and recipes included.

Going Through the Notions-Interview/Review/AND Giveaway!

I'd like to welcome Cate Price to the blog today. Cate is the author of Going Through the Notions, first of the new Deadly Notions Mystery series.

Kathy: Daisy Buchanan's mom was a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Is he a favorite of yours as well? CP: Actually, I’m afraid not. I remember reading The Great Gatsby when I was young and finding it vaguely depressing. I couldn’t seem to relate to the characters. Perhaps I should take another look now as an adult and see if I have a different opinion.

Kathy: Daisy enjoys searching for items for her shop, Sometimes a Great Notion, at auctions, estate sales, and other picker venues. Are you a garage saler?
CP: Absolutely! My mom is an avid antiquer, too, so that’s one of our favorite things to do together. If my daughter is in the car with us, she groans if she sees a yard sale sign, because she knows it means we’ll have to stop. Like Daisy, I have a passion for preserving the past, and my house is an eclectic mix of yard sale finds, hand-me-downs and other quirky treasures.

Kathy: I'm somewhat intimidated by auctions. Do you enjoy them? Do you have any tips for auction novices?
CP: I like to bid on what they call the “box lots” where they start the bidding at only a dollar or two. It’s typically items that are too small or inexpensive to be auctioned off individually, so they are grouped together, and literally in cardboard boxes. I’ve found some great kitchen utensils, books, vintage tea towels, etc. You can experience the fun of bidding, but for five bucks, not five hundred. If you do venture out onto the main floor, set a budget in your head before you start. It’s too easy to get caught up in the excitement.

Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?
CP: You know, recently someone asked me about the books I loved as a child and I remember reading several series by authors like Enid Blyton and Malcolm Saville which revolved around a group of children who solved mysteries. As an adult, I mainly read romances or historicals until my mom introduced me to Diane Mott Davidson and her culinary mystery series. From then on, I was hooked, but now it’s struck me that I’ve actually come full circle.

Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?
CP: I belong to Romance Writers of America, as well as Sisters in Crime, and I also write women’s fiction.

Kathy: Tell us about your series. 
CP:  It’s about a retired schoolteacher, Daisy Buchanan, who runs a vintage sewing notions and antiques store in a quaint village in Bucks County, PA.

Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?
CP: I’m fond of Daisy, because she’s not perfect and she has her insecurities, like the rest of us. She always tries to do the right thing, but sometimes she takes on too much.

Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?
CP: An editor at Penguin came up with the idea for a series based on a sewing notions store. I had submitted a query to my dream agent around the same time. They liked my writing style and recommended me for the job.

Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?
CP: I submitted a proposal for the series, which consisted of the first three chapters and synopsis for GOING THROUGH THE NOTIONS. Berkley Prime Crime offered a three-book deal, based solely on the proposal. It was a fantastic opportunity for me, and thankfully my editor is delighted with how her vision for the series and my interpretation have turned out to be so in line. She tells me she thinks we were separated at birth!

Kathy:  If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?
CP: Elizabeth George, Diane Mott Davidson, Peter Mayle, and Janet Evanovich.

Kathy: What are you currently reading?
CP: The Lavender Garden by Lucinda Riley. It’s terrific.

Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?
CP: Going to flea markets, gardening, walking my dogs, and cooking with friends. It’s fun to drink wine and try out new recipes with good friends with the understanding that it may or may not work out, without the pressure of a formal dinner party.

One of my interests in breast cancer awareness. I’ve done the 3-Day Breast Cancer walk four times. It’s a 60-mile walk over three days, and quite a challenge, but one of the most empowering and satisfying experiences of my life. My mother is a breast cancer survivor, so it’s a cause that’s near and dear to my heart. Another interest would be animal rescue. I have two rescue dogs, and they’re such good boys and great ambassadors when we meet people on our walks who ask me about getting a dog. I always encourage them to adopt.

Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.
CP: Brown eggs, gluten-free bread, salad fixings, and Chardonnay.

Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?
CP: I’ve turned in Book 2 in the Deadly Notions mystery series, A DOLLHOUSE TO DIE FOR, and am currently working on Book 3. I’m having a lot of fun with this series, and have more books planned, so I hope I have the opportunity to write them.

Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?
CP: Interesting question! It’s very cool when people tell me how much they loved the characters in the book. How they felt like they knew them, and hated for it to end because they’d have to leave them behind. It’s a wonderful feeling to hear that someone enjoyed your story that much. That means the world to me.

Review 

Going Through the Notions By Cate Price
The 1st Deadly Notions Mystery

In Going Through the Notions we meet Daisy Buchanan (her mother loved F. Scott Fitzgerald and she couldn't bear to become Daily Daly when she married). She and her husband, Joe, sold their NYC condo to their adult daughter and moved to the small town of Millbury, Pennsylvania. Daisy, a retired school teacher, has opened her own store, Sometimes a Good Notion, where she sells sewing notions, antiques, and various odds and ends while her husband enjoys doing projects around the house. In this book a day at an auction is curtailed when their good friend and auctioneer, Angus, is arrested for murder. Daisy vows to stand by him and prove his innocence.

The book started slowly for me, but gained momentum and finished strong. The author's use of incomplete sentences created a cadence which I found distracting. Either this style diminished or I became acclimated to it as I didn't notice it at the end of the book and was simply swept away by the story. The mystery itself was very good, but, while I didn't dislike Daisy, I found it hard to warm to her. I have a feeling the series will grow stronger as it progresses and I encourage readers to give this book a try.

Going Through the Notions  * * *
A Deadly Notions Mystery  Too early to rate.

My rating system:

To me a 5 star book is an amazing read that swept me away and left me changed. A 4 star review is a great book that I really loved. 3 stars is still a solid good read, positive and enjoyable. Reviews will cease to be that positive at the 2 star rating-an OK book with serious flaws. And a 1 star-don't bother.

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Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading Going Through the Notions by Cate Price. This book is the first of the Deadly Notions Mysteries and will be released September 3rd.

Daisy and her husband have left New York City and moved to the small village of Millbury, Pennsylvania. Daisy has opened her own store, Sometimes a Great Notion, which sells antique notions-sewing bits, vintage fabric, some antiques, and odds and ends. When they arrive at an auction they discover their friend, the auctioneer, has been arrested for murder.

I am enjoying the book, though I had difficulty at the start with author Cate Price's writing style. Too many incomplete sentences made reading stilted for me. In addition, while I don't dislike Daisy, I'm having difficulty really relating to her. As I've continued reading, either I've gotten used to the writing, or the style's changed as I don't find it as distracting as I did before. The story is good and I am enjoying it despite these setbacks.