Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading A Fatal First Night by Kathleen Marple Kalb. This book is the second in the Ella Shane Mystery series and will be released next week.

Ella Shane and her cousin Tommy are riding high as opening night of their opera company's new production goes off without a hitch. With thunderous applause still resonating Ella welcomes the usual stage door Lotharios, as well as her family and friends. The highs of a successful opening quickly die, however, when shouts lead everyone to the dressing room of the basso playing Richard III. Bloody knife in hand and a dead body at his feet his guilt seems obvious. But is it too obvious? 

 

 

Lady Rosamund and the Horned God - A Review & Giveaway

 Review

LADY ROSAMUND AND THE HORNED GOD by Barbara Monajem
The Second Rosie and McBrae Regency Mystery

After the death of her husband Lady Rosamund has retreated from London and her domineering mother to stay with her father in Westmoreland. The quiet idyll of the countryside gets to be a bit much, especially as Rosamund isn't truly mourning her late husband, so her father accepts an offer to attend a country manor house party. A party filled with playwrights and other people with alleged loose morals may be just what Rosie needs. Thinking of McBrae entirely too much, Lady Rosamund begins to see him everywhere...however, he truly is at the party, disguised as a footman. Although he's there to help solve the mystery of some petty thefts, the duo soon find themselves with a murder to investigate. A thoroughly nasty libertine houseguest is found dead. Everyone is quick to call it an accident, but will doing so allow a killer to go free?

LADY ROSAMUND AND THE HORNED GOD is a story about justice. Filled with moral implications, Lady Rosamund faces several sobering questions. Is it better to let a killer go free than allow an innocent be hanged? Should all criminals be condemned? Do some crimes have merit? Are some people better off dead? Is the aristocracy morally superior?

It's fascinating to see how Lady Rosamund is changing. She's not only becoming more liberal, her feelings for McBrae are starting to rise to the surface. Rosie is a fantastic protagonist. She's a study in opposites; allegedly worldly, but honestly naive, aristocratic, yet beginning to open her mind to the reality that the lower classes are people too, she's strong, but vulnerable. She's smart, loyal, and capable. She also has a very real fear that threatens her. As much as I love Lady Rosamund, I love McBrae even more. I especially love how we bear witness to his thoughts and feelings even though the book is told from Lady Rosamund's point of view, as highlights from his diary start each chapter. 

LADY ROSAMUND AND THE HORNED GOD is a perplexing, morally complicated historical mystery that's also intelligent, humorous, and simply a darned good read. The more I read, the more invested I become in the lives of these characters. I can't wait to meet up with them again and see what happens next!

***********************************************************************

 Lady Rosamund And The Horned God - A Rosie and McBrae Mystery by Barbara Monajem

About Lady Rosamund And The Horned God

Lady Rosamund And The Horned God - A Rosie and McBrae Regency Mystery
Historical Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series
Publisher - Level Best Books Number of Pages – ~300 Pages

Widowed Lady Rosamund spends the first months of her mourning in the Lake District, where it’s safe and peaceful, and murders are exceedingly rare. Luckily, she is rescued from this tedium by a house party comprised of playwrights, poets, and actors—an immoral set of persons with whom no respectable lady should associate. Even so, she hardly expected to wake in the wee hours to find one of the guests lying dead.

As if that wasn’t troublesome enough, Gilroy McBrae is at the same party, masquerading as a footman to investigate a series of thefts. Was the sudden death an accident—or murder? Almost everyone had reason to loathe their unpleasant fellow guest. Rosie must set aside her confused emotions about McBrae and work with him to find the culprit before an innocent person is accused of the crime.

About Barbara Monajem

Winner of the Holt Medallion, Maggie, Daphne du Maurier, Reviewer’s Choice and Epic awards, Barbara Monajem wrote her first story at eight years old about apple tree gnomes. She published a middle-grade fantasy when her children were young. When they grew up, she turned to writing for adults, first the Bayou Gavotte paranormal mysteries and then Regency romances with intrepid heroines and long-suffering heroes (or vice versa). Some of her Regencies have magic in them and some don’t (except for the magic of love, which is in every story she writes).

Barbara loves to cook, especially soups, and is an avid reader. There are only two items on her bucket list: to make asparagus pudding and succeed at knitting socks. She’ll manage the first but doubts she’ll ever accomplish the second. This is not a bid for immortality but merely the dismal truth. She lives near Atlanta, Georgia with an ever-shifting population of relatives, friends, and feline strays.

Author Links: 

Website: http://www.BarbaraMonajem.com  

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/barbara.monajem  

Twitter: http://twitter.com/BarbaraMonajem  

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1chhzpf 

** Sign up for her occasional newsletter here: http://www.barbaramonajem.com/contact.html  

Purchase Link – Amazon  

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Shrimply Dead - A Spotlight & Giveaway

 Shrimply Dead (A Seafood Caper Mystery) by Maggie Toussaint

About Shrimply Dead

Shrimply Dead (A Seafood Caper Mystery)
Cozy Mystery 3rd in Series
Publisher: Muddle House Publishing (April 12, 2021)
Number of Pages 237 PAGES

When veterinarian and amateur naturalist Jasmine Garr is shot in her yard, residents of Shell Island press caterer River Holloway into investigating the homicide. River dons her amateur sleuth cap and sets out to discover who killed her former catering customer. 

Between Jasmine’s estranged cousin, a rival veterinarian, a wild animal trapper, the chicken lady, and a real estate broker, River has plenty of suspects to consider. As she peels back the layers of Jasmine’s life, dangerous secrets come to light.

Jasmine’s orphaned kitty, Iris, along with River’s cat Major, and her husband Pete help River sift through the evidence. At the same time, River recently expanded her catering business. She must service her regular catering clients, plus provide fresh baked goods for Pete’s ice cream shop.

The killer follows River’s every move relishing the thought of another victim. Time is running out. Will River solve the murder before she becomes a cold dish?

About Maggie Toussaint

Southern author Maggie Toussaint writes cozy and paranormal mysteries, romantic suspense, and dystopian fiction, with more than twenty fiction novels published. A multi-year finalist for Georgia Author of the Year, she’s won Silver Falchions, the Readers’ Choice, and the EPIC Awards. She’s past president of Mystery Writers of America-Southeast chapter and an officer of LowCountry Sisters In Crime. She lives in coastal Georgia, where secrets, heritage, and ancient oaks cast long shadows. Visit her at https://maggietoussaint.com/

Author Links: 

Website – https://maggietoussaint.com/  

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MaggieToussaintAuthor  

Twitter – https://www.twitter.com/MaggieToussaint  

GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/MaggieToussaint 

 BookBub – https://www.bookbub.com/authors/maggie-toussaint  

Blog - https://www.mudpiesandmagnolias.blogspot.com/ 

 Linked In - https://www.linkedin.com/pub/maggie-toussaint/30/1a5/572/  

Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/maggietoussaint  

Book Lovers Bench - https://bookloversbench.com/maggie-toussaint/ 

 Purchase Links Kindle Nook Kobo IBooks  

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Changing Light - A Review

 Review

A CHANGING LIGHT by Edith Maxwell
The Seventh Quaker Midwife Mystery

 

It's Spring Opening and carriage makers from all over the world are gathering in Amesbury, Massachusetts. Rose Carroll Dodge has more on her mind than carriages, however. The midwife is now expecting a baby herself. But as new life is preparing to enter the world, Rose's mentor and good friend is preparing to leave it. While Orpha has led a good long life, a Canadian visitor's life is cut short. The carriage maker was found shot in the back. Was another carriage maker to blame? What about his wife, who seems to find business more important than the loss of her husband? Is the green eyed Brazilian to blame, or is the murderer closer to home? Rose can't help but sink her teeth into another mystery, but will doing so put her and her unborn child at risk? 

 

I love the smart and capable Rose Carroll Dodge. A CHANGING LIGHT proves both her intelligence and her ability to ferret out the truth. I absolutely love Dr. Chatigny (a spin-off mystery series, perchance?) and the manner in which she and Rose work together to stop the killer is brilliant and oh so satisfying. Although the novel takes place in the 1890s, I find it wonderful how the women are free thinking, and acting, and are able to take care of themselves. 

As much as I love the characters and setting, I also enjoyed the mystery. Plenty of red herrings led me to question the motive for murder as well as the suspects. I appreciate how Rose works with Kevin, now Acting Police Chief, and delight in his acceptance of her and the fact he values her thoughts and opinions.

Joy, grief, and murder combine to make A CHANGING LIGHT an intriguing and heartfelt mystery. I loved my time with Rose and only wish it was longer.

Currently Reading...

I'm currently reading Death and a Crocodile by Lisa E. Betz. I believe it's a stand alone, but may be the start of a series.

Life is difficult in Ancient Rome, even for respectable young women such as Livia Aemilia. Her father has decided she must marry an aristocrat instead of the handsome family friend she admires. When her brother breaks the news that their father has been murdered, the two soon realize that this was not a robbery gone bad, but murder. Their scheming uncle accuses Curio of patricide and Livia knows she must search for the real killer. If she doesn't succeed she may not only lose her brother, but be married off to someone worse than an inscrutable senator. With her plucky slave and her new faith Livia will search for answers. But will she be stopped before she can reveal the truth?

Fatal Fried Rice - A Spotlight

Today I'd like to shine a spotlight on a book on my TBR pile. I somehow missed the release of Fatal Fried Rice by Vivien Chien. This book is the seventh book in the Noodle Shop Mystery series and was released last month. Due to other commitments I won't be able to review it until the end of May, but wanted to give it a shout out now!

 From the back cover:

Lana Lee runs her family’s Chinese restaurant in Cleveland’s Asia Village like nobody’s business. When it comes to actual cooking, however, she’s known to be about a step up from boiling rice. So Lana decides to go to culinary school on the sly―and prove that she has what it takes in the kitchen after all. But when course instructor Margo Chan turns up dead after class, Lana suddenly finds herself on the case, frying pan in hand.

Since she was the one who discovered the body, Lana must do double duty in finding the killer and clearing her name. Now, with or without the help of her boyfriend Detective Adam Trudeau, Lana launches her own investigation into Margo’s life and mysterious death. Doing so leads her on a wild goose chase to and from the culinary school―and all the way back to the Ho-Lee noodle shop, where the guilty party may be closer than Lana thinks.

Samantha & the Hot Man - A Paws for Alarm Guest Post, Review, & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Samantha Armstrong to Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Samantha on the pages of the Canine Confections Mystery series by Amy Hueston. PAWS FOR ALARM is the second book in the series and was released last month.

Character Guest Post
by Samantha Armstrong
Author of Canine Confections series is Amy Hueston

Hi, everyone. I’m Samantha from Palm Beach. I run Canine Confections, a dog bakery on Worth Avenue. Can we talk for a minute? I want to get your opinion about something.

See, I moved to Palm Beach a couple of months ago because after I found my boyfriend getting snuggly with my best friend, I got out of town…fast. The last thing I wanted was to run into either one of them at the local Starbucks and pretend everything was groovy. But I don’t want you thinking I’m a pushover and ran off like a scared rabbit. That’s not it at all. It’s just that staying in my little hometown hadn’t been my big dream. My big dream was to move someplace else, even if it was another small town, to see what it would be like. Not just move to another town, but to open a dog bakery in my new town. So when Peter cheated on me it was the perfect opportunity to skedaddle.

Well, guess what? He showed up at my dog bakery. Yes, you heard correctly. I found him sitting in Canine Confections one morning, as if I didn’t have enough to worry about with the overturned chairs and tables in the café. Just because he has that whole long blond beach hair thing going on, I was supposed to drop everything and fall into his arms like nothing had happened.

My question to you is... what would you have done if you were in my place? Would you have welcomed him, acted cold, yelled… what?

Thanks in advance for your help. I feel better just knowing I have someone to talk to about all this…

****************************************************************************

Review

PAWS FOR ALARM by Amy Hueston
The Second Canine Confections Mystery

 

Samantha Armstrong is desperate for Canine Confections, her dog bakery, to succeed. It's not so much a matter of pride, but failure means her aunt will lose her home. Business hasn't had a chance to recover from the dead body found in the shop on opening day, and now there's a dead body in the shop two doors down! Unwilling to wait for the police to find the murderer Samantha takes matters into her own hands. Things are complicated by a thief stealing small items from shops on the street and the reappearance of her cheating ex-boyfriend. Will Samantha be able to solve the murder before her business goes bust?

A series with great promise, the second Canine Confections Mystery suffers from some growing pains. Samantha and her fellow shop owners and store managers are young. Unfortunately, they act immature in this second Canine Confections mystery. There's too much cattiness, especially in a dog centered mystery. The friends act more like high schoolers than entrepreneurs; too much day drinking with an inability to hold their liquor, too much wondering who's the better friend with jealousy abounding, and then there's Peter. Samantha knows her ex is a louse, yet she's ready to be taken in by him again. Sadly, this behavior, though sad, is realistic for many women.

I did enjoy the mystery itself and I loved how the culprit was eventually caught. I was caught off guard and ready to complain before I realized the grand scheme. Samantha's relationship with her aunt is special and a grounding factor in the series. My favorite parts of the book are the details of the estate and the high end shops in Palm Beach. I appreciate how Samantha navigates the world of the ultra rich knowing she, and her aunt, could lose it all. I love Sweet Pea and look forward to seeing interactions with the new resident on the estate.

PAWS FOR ALARM provides an interesting mystery with lots of character drama in the toney shops of Palm Beach.

 

*******************************************************************

 Paws for Alarm (A Canine Confections Mystery) by Amy Hueston

About Paws for Alarm

Paws for Alarm (A Canine Confections Mystery)
Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series
Publisher: Donelson Press (March 22, 2021)
Digital - Number of Pages - 196

When Samantha relaxes into her new role as a dog mom, finds a circle of friends in her new hometown, and sees her new dog bakery Canine Confections barking up business, she’s thrilled that things are going so well … until she hears a bloodcurdling scream from the pastry shop two doors down and runs over to find a dead body on the floor.

Suddenly Samantha finds herself in a race against time to find not only the thief who is stealing from the upscale shops, but a murderer, too. Samantha’s Lab-Mix Sweet Pea wags her tail through all of the clues, suspects and shenanigans. Both Samantha and Sweet Pea are aided in their amateur investigation by the other shopkeepers on the elegant Worth Avenue, and Samantha finds the suspect list growing at every turn.

To make matters worse, Samantha’s old boyfriend arrives in town, and mysterious people start showing up at the Sophisticated Pet and New Age stores nearby. Samantha soon finds that things are not what they seem, and she must figure out what’s going on—or become the next dead body on a bakery floor.

Includes an original recipe from the world-famous Three Dog Bakery!

About Amy Hueston

Amy Hueston writes mini-mysteries for Woman’s World magazine when she isn’t writing mystery and suspense novels. The first 3 books in her Canine Confections mystery series have an abundance of dogs and pastries, two of her favorite things, and will be available in 2021. Amy is also a professional singer who has performed nationally and internationally. A sought-after singer in South Florida, Amy draws on these experiences when writing.

Author Links: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amy.hueston.73  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amyhueston/?hl=en  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HuestonAmy  

Website: https://amyhueston.com  

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20626879.Amy_Hueston  

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N  

My CD Download on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Talk-Love-Amy-Hueston/dp/B08C252M8D  

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway