Currently Reading: Gossamer Ghost by Laura Childs

 

Gossamer Ghost by Laura Childs
Publisher: Berkley Hardcover
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 336
Release Date: October 7, 2014 (review will be posted closer to release)
Obtained From: ARC from the author
Date Started:  September 16, 2014

Why I chose this one:

While I will read gruesome mysteries and suspense tales, I do love a cozy, especially settling into fall, and what better than a Halloween cozy involving a woman who owns a scrapbooking store.  I have read Laura Childs in the past and adore her works so this was an easy yes when asked by the author to review.

About Gossamer Ghost:

Carmela Bertrand knows that Halloween in New Orleans means a week of rabble-rousing, costumed craziness—and she can’t wait to get the party started. But when a local antiques dealer turns up dead, Carmela suddenly finds herself in a real-life danse macabre…

An evening’s work deciding on the class schedule for her scrapbooking shop has put Carmela in the mood to kick up her heels. But after some strange noises draw her into Oddities, the neighboring antiques shop, Carmela’s night is abruptly put on hold when a bloody body falls out of a curio cabinet—and into her arms.

While shop owner Marcus Joubert was known for being an eccentric with a penchant for eclectic merchandise, Carmela never thought he was the kind of man who could inspire the passion required to kill. But when Marcus’s assistant—and fiancée—Mavis reveals that a priceless death mask was also stolen, it becomes clear that murder wasn’t the culprit’s sole intention.

Carmela can’t resist the urge to investigate the growing mystery, but as the list of suspects increases, she realizes it’ll take every trick in the book to unmask the killer thief before there’s another night of murderous mischief…

A Killing Notion by Melissa Bourbon: Book Review

A Killing Notion by Melissa Bourbon 
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Penguin Group
Language: English
Pages: 320
Format: Ebook

My Review:

After taking a chapter or two to get into I fell right in with the Harlow, Will and the people of this adorable small town. This was the first book I read in the series and that's why it took just a bit to get to know the characters and understand some of the dynamics.  Readers of this series will be able to pick right up even though A Killing Notion can stand on it's own mystery and story-wise.  New readers will pick up the town life fast and become enthralled by the small-town dynamics and the mystery that ensues.

I really liked Harlow, Will and Gracie.  I also enjoyed Harlow's Meemaw and the mystique behind the gifts that the Cassidy women have.  I loved that Harlow was a dressmaker and the sewing aspect is what made me want to read this one.  While it's in the background, it's still integral to the story and was a fascinating line of work for a main character especially with homecoming nearing.

The mystery was a bit predictable, but it's a cozy so I'm use to that.  There will still surprises and I kept turning the pages to find out what would happen next.  So I would say the plot line more than satisfied me.  In fact I had a hard time putting down the book one evening to get some sleep.

I'm not going into details, but suffice to say A Killing Notion was a great read.  It had interesting characters, an interesting setting and a intriguing plot to keep you turning the pages.  I can't wait to read more of this series and get to know Harlow and the townsfolk even better.

My Rating: 4.5/5.0

Summary

Harlow Jane Cassidy is swamped with homecoming couture requests. If only she didn’t have to help solve a murder, she might get the gowns off the dress forms…. 

Harlow is doing everything she can to expand her dressmaking business, Buttons & Bows—without letting clients know about her secret charm. When she has a chance to create homecoming dresses with a local charity and handmade mums for several high school girls—including Gracie, whose father, Will, has mended Harlow’s heart—she is ready to use her magical talents for a great cause.

But when Gracie’s date for the dance is accused of murder, Harlow knows things won’t be back on course until she helps Gracie clear the football player’s name. If Harlow can’t patch up this mess before the big game, her business and her love life might be permanently benched.

INCLUDES SEWING TIPS

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Author Biography

Melissa Bourbon, who sometimes answers to her Latina-by-marriage name, Misa Ramirez, gave up teaching middle and high school kids in northern California to write full-time amid horses and longhorns in north Texas. She is the author of the Magical Dressmaking Mystery series (A Custom-Fit Crime, Deadly Patterns, A Fitting End).

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***I received this book from the publicist through Netgalley for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***

Book Review and Giveaway Link: Easter Bunny Murder by Leslie Meier

Easter Bunny Murder by Leslie Meier

Publisher: Kensington

Publish Date: January 29, 2013

Hardcover, 256 pages
Fiction, Mystery, Cozy

 ISBN: 9780758229359
A Lucy Stone Mystery #19

My Review:
This was my first Leslie Meier Lucy Stone mystery and it won't be my last.  Even though I started with book #19 I didn't see it as a problem.  Yes I would have known a little more about the characters if I would have read the previous 18 books, but since this is a mystery and the books are focused on the mystery plot it wasn't too much of a problem coming into book #19 and learning the characters on the fly.  I felt like Ms. Meier gives good background into each of the main characters so that I never felt lost in Easter Bunny Murder and that it felt like a stand-alone.  With that being said, after finishing this one, I want to go forward with the series as new books are released and also read from the beginning of te series as well.

The plot starts as the annual Easter Egg hunt seems to be a no-go and a man dies in front of everyone on the lawn of prestigious Pine Point.  Lucy, the main character of this series, is a reporter for the local paper which is just a weekly and she mainly handles features not investigative reporting, but she just can't seem to help herself and she has to get to the bottom of what is going on at the local mansion and what is happening to resident millionaire VV.  This starts the book and her sleuthing. With the help of others in the town, Lucy starts to get to the bottom of things.  I like this book because she doesn't seem to always be in danger like in some books.  This was what I really think of as a cozy mystery.  She's solving the crime, but kind of out-of-the-way.  But as she gets closer and closer things get more and more interesting.

I was drawn in by Lucy and her friends and the other people that populate the town.  I love small town settings, I'm from a small town.  I'm familiar with knowing most everyone and having everyone know your business.  I like how Lucy is proper and nice and tries to go about solving the murders in a way that doesn't hurt anyone.  She's just a nice lady.  I also like the slices of her family life that are shown.  The mystery was interesting and it kept me guessing.  By the end I was able to see the clues that were there, but I missed them when I read, so that was good.  Some may find it predictable but I didn't.  I found it to be a very enjoyable read.

Over the last year I have started to read more and more cozy mysteries and I am glad I got the chance to try out Leslie Meier.  The Lucy Stone series has great promise for me and I look forward to reading more books in the series.  Easter Bunny Murder was a strong entry in the series at least for me, but I have nothing so far to judge it against.  It was an enjoyable read, fit the full bill of a cozy for me and kept me entertained for hours.  I found it hard to put down and it was another book I found easy to read even with life and TV going on around me.  I felt like I was right in the middle of the chaos and mystery that surrounded Lucy.  I also loved the Easter theme, and Lucy's grandson Patrick,  he reminded me of my boys when they were just a little smaller.  Kudos to Ms. Meier on a job well done! 


My Rating: 4.5/5.0


About the Book:

Lucy Stone’s on the hunt for a killer with a deadly case of spring fever…

Spring has sprung in Tinker’s Cove, and Lucy Stone has a mile-long to-do list. From painting eggs with her grandson, to preparing the perfect Easter feast, to reviving her garden after a long, cold winter, she hardly has time to hunt for a killer with a deadly case of spring fever… 

Lucy has always loved covering the annual Easter egg hunt for the Pennysaver. Hosted by elderly socialite Vivian Van Vorst at Pine Point, her luxurious oceanfront estate, it’s a swanky event where the grown-ups sip cocktails while their children search for eggs that are as likely to contain savings bonds as they are jelly beans. But when Lucy arrives with her three-year-old grandson, VV’s normally welcoming gates are locked, and a man dressed as the Easter Bunny emerges only to drop dead moments later…

Lucy discovers that the victim is Van Vorst Duff, VV’s grandson, and soon learns that not all is as it seems at idyllic Pine Point, where the champagne and caviar seem to be running dry. Always a social butterfly, VV has been skipping lunch dates with friends, and her much-needed donations to local charities have stopped with no explanation. Maybe she’s going senile, or maybe her heirs are getting a little too anxious to take over her estate…

As Lucy gathers a basketful of suspects, she’s convinced someone’s been hunting for a lot more than eggs, and she’ll have to chase the truth down a rabbit hole before the killer claims another victim…

About the Author: 

LESLIE MEIER is the acclaimed author of eighteen Lucy Stone mysteries and has also written for Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. She is currently at work on the next Lucy Stone mystery coming in October 2013.

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***I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***