I'm currently reading The Scent of Murder by Kylie Logan. This book is the first in the Jazz Ramsey Mystery series and was released yesterday!
It's an ordinary night in Cleveland, Ohio when Jazz Ramsey enters an old building to train a new cadaver dog. Jazz puts Luther through his paces, waiting for him to find the tooth she hid upstairs. But before he even heads to the second floor Luther signals a find. Not a tooth, but the body of a young woman. The soon to be posh condo is now a crime scene. The detective in charge is a former lover, the dead woman is a former student, and Jazz's life just got a lot more complicated.
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
A Deadly Feast - A Review
Review
A DEADLY FEAST by Lucy Burdette
The Ninth Key West Food Critic Mystery
Hayley Snow has a busy week ahead. Not only is Thursday Thanksgiving, but the following day is her wedding to Detective Nathan Bransford! She has one more article to write before she can concentrate on the holiday meal, the arrival of her family, and last minute wedding preparations. For her assignment Hayley joins a seafood tasting tour given by her friend, Analise. At the last stop the loud, somewhat pushy woman from the tour collapses, dying. Was it a tragic accident? Was someone trying to sabotage the tour? Or did someone want Audrey dead? Hayley is persuaded to talk to the grieving husband and ask questions at the restaurants on the tour. But will she be able to figure out what happened before her wedding bells chime?
While I don't eat seafood and don't care for the heat, I always love visiting Key West and spending time with Hayley Snow and her friends and family. This ninth adventure is extra special as it's the wedding book! After trials and tribulations, which continue here, Hayley and her detective are finally tying the knot. Featuring a wedding and Thanksgiving, this book has a focus on family. Not only blood relatives either, as A DEADLY FEAST showcases blended families and friends that become family. It also looks at marriage, and some things that help to make it work. I love how integral, not only Miss Gloria, but Lorenzo is to Hayley's life and the plot!
I really enjoyed the mystery here. We're not even sure if there is a murder, but we know people are lying. Why? I relished the puzzle and really appreciated the solution, the reasons behind how things occurred.
A DEADLY FEAST is a fast paced book centered around family with plenty of culinary treats and a mystery to die for.
Sunday, May 5, 2019
The Jean Harlow Bombshell - A Review
Review
THE JEAN HARLOW BOMBSHELL by Mollie Cox Bryan
The First Classic Star Biography Mystery
Charlotte Donovan has worked for Justine Turner for years, helping her to write biographies of stars, primarily classic film stars. Suffering from Lyme disease, Charlotte is content to remain in the background, researching from her family home on Cloister Island and coming into New York City only when necessary. Justine demands Charlotte meet her immediately complaining about the "Harlow kooks", but before Justine can tell her what's going on she dies. Now Charlotte must step into the limelight to finish the Jean Harlow biography, but will doing so put her in the crosshairs of a murderer?
Do we ever really know someone? This first Classic Star Biography Mystery looks at the things that make people tick. From rabid collectors to the primary characters to Jean Harlow herself, Mollie Cox Bryan uncovers the motivation and psychological makeup that drive people.
Charlotte Donovan is a troubled protagonist. She's unique as she has Lyme disease, which affects her abilities both physically and mentally at times. While I felt this was an interesting trait, it was mentioned almost ad nauseum throughout the entire book. Every single time her actions were impacted, Lyme disease was mentioned as the reason. Readers should have been given more credit for being able to surmise this fact and not be continually told. Charlotte is also influenced by a troubled upbringing, a father who abandoned the family while she was young, an alcoholic mother, and a somewhat controlling grandmother. With an affinity for police officers and one night stands, Charlotte shuns romantic relationships. There's a dark atmosphere to the book, which could almost be described as Noir light. There is an intriguing mystery, a bit of psychological drama, and the lure of research driving the plot. I was fascinated by descriptions of Club Circe, Justine's apartment, and the details about Jean Harlow.
THE JEAN HARLOW BOMBSHELL is a mystery of a different color. Featuring a damaged protagonist, it takes a harsh look at the realities of life while exploring and protecting the past.
Do we ever really know someone? This first Classic Star Biography Mystery looks at the things that make people tick. From rabid collectors to the primary characters to Jean Harlow herself, Mollie Cox Bryan uncovers the motivation and psychological makeup that drive people.
Charlotte Donovan is a troubled protagonist. She's unique as she has Lyme disease, which affects her abilities both physically and mentally at times. While I felt this was an interesting trait, it was mentioned almost ad nauseum throughout the entire book. Every single time her actions were impacted, Lyme disease was mentioned as the reason. Readers should have been given more credit for being able to surmise this fact and not be continually told. Charlotte is also influenced by a troubled upbringing, a father who abandoned the family while she was young, an alcoholic mother, and a somewhat controlling grandmother. With an affinity for police officers and one night stands, Charlotte shuns romantic relationships. There's a dark atmosphere to the book, which could almost be described as Noir light. There is an intriguing mystery, a bit of psychological drama, and the lure of research driving the plot. I was fascinated by descriptions of Club Circe, Justine's apartment, and the details about Jean Harlow.
THE JEAN HARLOW BOMBSHELL is a mystery of a different color. Featuring a damaged protagonist, it takes a harsh look at the realities of life while exploring and protecting the past.
Saturday, May 4, 2019
Hailey Dean Mysteries: Death on Duty - A Spotlight
I spend much more time reading than I do watching television, but one channel always keeps me checking in: the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel. There's a new premiere tomorrow.
Hallmark Movies and Mysteries is pleased to announce that "Hailey Dean Mysteries: Death on Duty" premieres this Sunday, May 5th at 9pm EDT/8C!
Psychologist and former prosecutor Hailey Dean aids her friend Detective Garland Fincher in investigating the murder of his former Marine friend. With a growing list of suspects who each seem to have strong motives, Hailey uses her investigative skills, as well as her uncanny ability to read people, to read and follow the clues that will lead them to the killer. And, when the body of a female Marine shows up in the same park where Fincher’s buddy was found, the case takes a whole new turn as Hailey uncovers a conspiracy that puts her own life in danger as she pursues justice for the victims.
You can find out more information by clicking here.
Hallmark Movies and Mysteries is pleased to announce that "Hailey Dean Mysteries: Death on Duty" premieres this Sunday, May 5th at 9pm EDT/8C!
Psychologist and former prosecutor Hailey Dean aids her friend Detective Garland Fincher in investigating the murder of his former Marine friend. With a growing list of suspects who each seem to have strong motives, Hailey uses her investigative skills, as well as her uncanny ability to read people, to read and follow the clues that will lead them to the killer. And, when the body of a female Marine shows up in the same park where Fincher’s buddy was found, the case takes a whole new turn as Hailey uncovers a conspiracy that puts her own life in danger as she pursues justice for the victims.
I think this duo would agree that tuning in would be a good thing!
Friday, May 3, 2019
A Secret in Thyme - An Interview & Review
I'm happy to welcome Maureen Klovers to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Maureen writes the Rita Calabrese Culinary Mystery series. A SECRET IN THYME is the second book in the series and was released this week.
Kathy: Rita Calabrese is Acorn Hill's best cook and gardener. Do you garden? If so, do you cook from your bounty?
MK: My gardening skills pale in comparison to Rita's, but we do grow tomatoes, basil, and rosemary. I do, however, like to cook with fresh produce from the farmers' market. I test all of my recipes for my books until I get it right, which can take quite a few tries! Some of the recipes are old stand-bys that I've been cooking for years (like chocolate-dipped peanut butter biscotti), and others are ones that I had to learn so I could put them in the book. One is Rita's red sauce. I had to make this four or five times, each times experimenting with different ingredients, until I finally discovered the right secret ingredient: balsamic vinegar!
Kathy: In addition to Rita celebrating her 40th wedding anniversary, the town is celebrating its tercentenary! Have you ever been to a town's anniversary celebration?
MK: No, but some of it is based very loosely on my hometown's annual Fourth of July celebration. We have a big parade, with the police chief cruising down the street, and we used to have a woman who dressed as the Statue of Liberty and roller-skated down the street. I loosely based the stilt walker dressed as Uncle Sam on her.
Kathy: In A SECRET IN TIME the village's time capsule is opened revealing a skeleton! Have you ever participated in either creating or opening a time capsule?
MK: No, but I wish I had!
Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?
MK: I used to read and write only nonfiction. Then, one day, my mother and sister were visiting me and it was one of those sweltering D.C. summer days. We were hunkered down in my air conditioned house, a little bored, and started to talk about writing a book together. We sketched out the plot for a thriller starring a nun charged by the CIA with foiling a Communist plot in 1960s Italy. As strange as it sounds, it was based partly on real life, as my mother really had been a nun before getting married and having me, and she had also lived in Italy in the 1960s! (She was not, however, a spy, at least as far as I know.) We spent a few months working on the book together, but ultimately decided it was too difficult to co-write a book and that my mother should finish it on her own. But during that period, I started reading mysteries to get a sense of the competition and found that I really enjoyed the works of Agatha Christie, Lillian Jackson Braun, and other cozy authors. And then I thought, I should write one!
Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?
MK: I wrote a nonfiction memoir about my year teaching in a shantytown in Quito, Ecuador, as well as two traditional mysteries set in Washington, DC.
Kathy: Tell us about your series.
MK: It's a garden-to-table culinary cozy series set in the bucolic (fictional) hamlet of Acorn Hollow and starring Rita Calabrese, an Italian-American matriarch turned small-town crime reporter.
Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?
MK: It's hard to pick! My characters are like my children. I love Rita, of course, but I'm also partial to her lovably cantankerous (but secretly soft-hearted) husband Sal, her sweet but hapless grown son Vinnie, and her saucy twin sister Rose, who can deflate Rita's bombast with a single word.
Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?
MK: Yes, but she doesn't know she inspired Rita!
Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?
MK: I wanted to share Rita's exploits with the world. It's just too funny to leave it in my head!
Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?
MK: Agatha Christie, of course! In addition to the fact that I love Poirot ("Death on the Nile" was my favorite), her autobiography demonstrates she'd be fascinating to converse with for so many other reasons. I'd love to hear what it was live to accompany her second (much younger!) husband on archaeological digs in Iraq. I'd also love to meet J.K. Rowling, but I wouldn't even ask her about Harry Potter. I think her novel "The Casual Vacancy" was one of the best books ever. I've never seen anyone else pull off over a dozen points of view in a single book. If I were going to teach a class on how to write, I'd make every student read "The Casual Vacancy." To round it out, I'd include Jane Austen, who I'm sure would all keep us laughing with her wit (plus I'd love to get her take on the #metoo movement), and Peter Hessler, who I think is the best travel writer living.
Kathy: What are you currently reading?
MK: "The Story of My Assassins" by Tarun J. Tejpal, a gritty thriller set in India and full of political commentary. It's a window into a totally different world.
Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?
MK: I love to read, travel, write mysteries, cook, and study Italian.
Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.
MK: Milk, flour, sugar, baby carrots. Sorry it's not a more interesting answer!
Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?
MK: In my next installment in the series, Rita's twin sister asks for help drumming up interest in her newest real estate listing—a mothballed old mansion that was once a Prohibition-era speakeasy and FDR hangout. Rita throws herself into planning an over-the-top Jazz Age-themed soirée, dusting off her vintage recipes for lemon cake and oysters Rockefeller, casting her son Vinnie and his best friend Rocco as the G-men who will stage a “raid,” and even enlisting the culinary services of Rocco’s mom, the beautiful but troubled Fran, who has just been released from prison.
But when Vinnie and Rocco stage their “raid”, what they find in the old dairy barn behind the mansion isn’t moonshine…but a dead body.
The citizens of Acorn Hollow are eager to point the finger at Rocco and Fran, but Rita isn’t buying it. Like the multi-tasking mother she is, she’s determined to prove their innocence—all while mentoring a sulky teenaged intern, unmasking the identity of the newspaper’s new male advice columnist, and encouraging her daughter’s fledgling romance with a hunky Italian teacher.
Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?
MK: I love living in this parallel universe and being able to write about it.
****************************************************************************
Author Links:
*****************************************************************************
The town of Acorn Hill is celebrating its tercentenary as Rita Calabrese
contemplates her fortieth wedding anniversary. Sure, she's the best
cook and gardener in town, but does that mean she should be making her
own anniversary dinner? As her husband welcomes his ne'er do well cousin
to stay with them, Rita dons her investigative reporter hat to cover
the town's many festivities, including interviewing her old beau, who is
now a historian, and the viewing the opening of a time capsule, buried fifty years
earlier. While it's a surprise seeing Stefano after so many years,
that's nothing compared to seeing a skeleton inside the capsule! As Rita
works on her latest investigative piece she must dig up the past. Who
was the victim? And who put the body in the town's time capsule?
What would you do to protect yourself? Someone else? Can you escape your past or will it always be there to haunt you? These are just some of the questions tackled in the second Rita Calabrese Culinary Mystery. Rita will hunt for the truth, aided by her chocolate-dipped peanut butter biscotti and unexpected help from her family.
I absolutely loved this book! While there's a great mystery it's the characters here that make A SECRET IN THYME memorable. Rita is not only a smart protagonist, she's a true matriarch; wise yet vulnerable, traditional, yet sassy. She's a ton of fun and I wish she was my neighbor. I'd love to benefit from her cooking and I'd especially like some of that strawberry cake! I enjoyed cringing, yet laughing at Calvino, smiling at the widow Schmalzgruben as she visits the cemetery to talk to her husbands, and gasping at the brash women Rita encounters.
A SECRET IN THYME is a funny mystery with depth wrapped in an Italian flag. Food, Family, and Fun could be the motto for this series. Food can reflect emotions, family can drive you batty while also providing support, and life, even when dealing with murder, should be fun.
Recipes included.
Kathy: Rita Calabrese is Acorn Hill's best cook and gardener. Do you garden? If so, do you cook from your bounty?
MK: My gardening skills pale in comparison to Rita's, but we do grow tomatoes, basil, and rosemary. I do, however, like to cook with fresh produce from the farmers' market. I test all of my recipes for my books until I get it right, which can take quite a few tries! Some of the recipes are old stand-bys that I've been cooking for years (like chocolate-dipped peanut butter biscotti), and others are ones that I had to learn so I could put them in the book. One is Rita's red sauce. I had to make this four or five times, each times experimenting with different ingredients, until I finally discovered the right secret ingredient: balsamic vinegar!
Kathy: In addition to Rita celebrating her 40th wedding anniversary, the town is celebrating its tercentenary! Have you ever been to a town's anniversary celebration?
MK: No, but some of it is based very loosely on my hometown's annual Fourth of July celebration. We have a big parade, with the police chief cruising down the street, and we used to have a woman who dressed as the Statue of Liberty and roller-skated down the street. I loosely based the stilt walker dressed as Uncle Sam on her.
Kathy: In A SECRET IN TIME the village's time capsule is opened revealing a skeleton! Have you ever participated in either creating or opening a time capsule?
MK: No, but I wish I had!
Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?
MK: I used to read and write only nonfiction. Then, one day, my mother and sister were visiting me and it was one of those sweltering D.C. summer days. We were hunkered down in my air conditioned house, a little bored, and started to talk about writing a book together. We sketched out the plot for a thriller starring a nun charged by the CIA with foiling a Communist plot in 1960s Italy. As strange as it sounds, it was based partly on real life, as my mother really had been a nun before getting married and having me, and she had also lived in Italy in the 1960s! (She was not, however, a spy, at least as far as I know.) We spent a few months working on the book together, but ultimately decided it was too difficult to co-write a book and that my mother should finish it on her own. But during that period, I started reading mysteries to get a sense of the competition and found that I really enjoyed the works of Agatha Christie, Lillian Jackson Braun, and other cozy authors. And then I thought, I should write one!
Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?
MK: I wrote a nonfiction memoir about my year teaching in a shantytown in Quito, Ecuador, as well as two traditional mysteries set in Washington, DC.
Kathy: Tell us about your series.
MK: It's a garden-to-table culinary cozy series set in the bucolic (fictional) hamlet of Acorn Hollow and starring Rita Calabrese, an Italian-American matriarch turned small-town crime reporter.
Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?
MK: It's hard to pick! My characters are like my children. I love Rita, of course, but I'm also partial to her lovably cantankerous (but secretly soft-hearted) husband Sal, her sweet but hapless grown son Vinnie, and her saucy twin sister Rose, who can deflate Rita's bombast with a single word.
Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?
MK: Yes, but she doesn't know she inspired Rita!
Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?
MK: I wanted to share Rita's exploits with the world. It's just too funny to leave it in my head!
Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?
MK: Agatha Christie, of course! In addition to the fact that I love Poirot ("Death on the Nile" was my favorite), her autobiography demonstrates she'd be fascinating to converse with for so many other reasons. I'd love to hear what it was live to accompany her second (much younger!) husband on archaeological digs in Iraq. I'd also love to meet J.K. Rowling, but I wouldn't even ask her about Harry Potter. I think her novel "The Casual Vacancy" was one of the best books ever. I've never seen anyone else pull off over a dozen points of view in a single book. If I were going to teach a class on how to write, I'd make every student read "The Casual Vacancy." To round it out, I'd include Jane Austen, who I'm sure would all keep us laughing with her wit (plus I'd love to get her take on the #metoo movement), and Peter Hessler, who I think is the best travel writer living.
Kathy: What are you currently reading?
MK: "The Story of My Assassins" by Tarun J. Tejpal, a gritty thriller set in India and full of political commentary. It's a window into a totally different world.
Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?
MK: I love to read, travel, write mysteries, cook, and study Italian.
Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.
MK: Milk, flour, sugar, baby carrots. Sorry it's not a more interesting answer!
Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?
MK: In my next installment in the series, Rita's twin sister asks for help drumming up interest in her newest real estate listing—a mothballed old mansion that was once a Prohibition-era speakeasy and FDR hangout. Rita throws herself into planning an over-the-top Jazz Age-themed soirée, dusting off her vintage recipes for lemon cake and oysters Rockefeller, casting her son Vinnie and his best friend Rocco as the G-men who will stage a “raid,” and even enlisting the culinary services of Rocco’s mom, the beautiful but troubled Fran, who has just been released from prison.
But when Vinnie and Rocco stage their “raid”, what they find in the old dairy barn behind the mansion isn’t moonshine…but a dead body.
The citizens of Acorn Hollow are eager to point the finger at Rocco and Fran, but Rita isn’t buying it. Like the multi-tasking mother she is, she’s determined to prove their innocence—all while mentoring a sulky teenaged intern, unmasking the identity of the newspaper’s new male advice columnist, and encouraging her daughter’s fledgling romance with a hunky Italian teacher.
Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?
MK: I love living in this parallel universe and being able to write about it.
****************************************************************************
Author Links:
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/
Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/
*****************************************************************************
Review
A SECRET IN THYME by Maureen Klovers
The Second Rita Calabrese Culinary Mystery
What would you do to protect yourself? Someone else? Can you escape your past or will it always be there to haunt you? These are just some of the questions tackled in the second Rita Calabrese Culinary Mystery. Rita will hunt for the truth, aided by her chocolate-dipped peanut butter biscotti and unexpected help from her family.
I absolutely loved this book! While there's a great mystery it's the characters here that make A SECRET IN THYME memorable. Rita is not only a smart protagonist, she's a true matriarch; wise yet vulnerable, traditional, yet sassy. She's a ton of fun and I wish she was my neighbor. I'd love to benefit from her cooking and I'd especially like some of that strawberry cake! I enjoyed cringing, yet laughing at Calvino, smiling at the widow Schmalzgruben as she visits the cemetery to talk to her husbands, and gasping at the brash women Rita encounters.
A SECRET IN THYME is a funny mystery with depth wrapped in an Italian flag. Food, Family, and Fun could be the motto for this series. Food can reflect emotions, family can drive you batty while also providing support, and life, even when dealing with murder, should be fun.
Recipes included.
Thursday, May 2, 2019
Wed, Read and Dead - A Spotlight & Giveaway
I'm pleased to shine a spotlight on Wed, Read and Dead by V. M. Burns. This book is the fourth in the Mystery Bookshop Mystery series and was released this week.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vmburnsbooks/
Twitter: @vmburns
Purchase Links - Amazon - Barnes & Noble - IndieBound - Books-A-Million - Hudson Booksellers
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Wed, Read & Dead (Mystery Bookshop) by V.M. Burns
About the Book
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Kensington (April 30, 2019)
Paperback: 272 pages
Bookstore owner Samantha Washington sells and solves mysteries in North Harbor, Michigan—including the murder of her mother's wedding planner . . .
Sam's mother can't wait to wed her wealthy beau, Harold Robertson. The big mystery is how they're going to pull off a lavish wedding in three weeks. Harold's snobby sister-in-law proposes a solution: engage flamboyant wedding planner Lydia Lighthouse. But their beacon of hope quickly sends everyone into a blind rage, most of all the groom-to-be. So when the maddening micromanager is strangled with her own scarf, it's a shock, but not a surprise.
It’s a case of art imitating life as Sam pens her next historical mystery set in England between the wars. Lady Daphne Marsh insists on marrying Lord James Browning on Christmas Eve, three weeks hence. But when the fop planning their wedding ends up with a knife in his back, she vows to nab the backstabber before she walks down the aisle.
Meanwhile, when she’s not writing, Sam and her beloved and boisterous Nana Jo rush to shine a light on Lydia's killer—so her mother's new husband won't spend his honeymoon behind bars . . .
About the Author
V.M. Burns was born in Northwestern Indiana and spent many years in Southwestern Michigan on the Lake Michigan shoreline. She is a lover of dogs, British historic cozies, and scones with clotted cream. After many years in the Midwest, she went in search of milder winters and currently lives in Eastern Tennessee with her poodles. Her debut novel, The Plot is Murder was nominated for a 2017 Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Valerie is a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and a lifetime member of Sisters in Crime. Readers can learn more by visiting her website at vmburns.com
Author Links:
Website: http://www.vmburns.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vmburnsbooks/
Twitter: @vmburns
Purchase Links - Amazon - Barnes & Noble - IndieBound - Books-A-Million - Hudson Booksellers
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Currently Reading...
I just finished reading A Secret in Thyme by Maureen Klovers. This book is the second in the Rita Calabrese Culinary Mystery series and was released today!
The town of Acorn Hill is celebrating its tercentenary as Rita Calabrese contemplates her fortieth wedding anniversary. Sure, she's the best cook and gardener in town, but does that mean she should be making her own anniversary dinner? As her husband welcomes his ne'er do well cousin to stay with them, Rita dons her investigative reporter hat to cover the many town's festivities, including interviewing her old beau, who is now a historian, and the opening of a time capsule, buried fifty years earlier. While it's a surprise seeing Stefano after so many years, that's nothing compared to seeing a skeleton inside the capsule! As Rita works on her latest investigative piece she must dig up the past. Who was the victim? And who put the body in the town's time capsule?
Recipes included.
The town of Acorn Hill is celebrating its tercentenary as Rita Calabrese contemplates her fortieth wedding anniversary. Sure, she's the best cook and gardener in town, but does that mean she should be making her own anniversary dinner? As her husband welcomes his ne'er do well cousin to stay with them, Rita dons her investigative reporter hat to cover the many town's festivities, including interviewing her old beau, who is now a historian, and the opening of a time capsule, buried fifty years earlier. While it's a surprise seeing Stefano after so many years, that's nothing compared to seeing a skeleton inside the capsule! As Rita works on her latest investigative piece she must dig up the past. Who was the victim? And who put the body in the town's time capsule?
Recipes included.
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