all your Reads in Here

Whatever you do, don't enter Laura Bradford's Amish world in Pennsylvania expecting it to be the same as Linda Castillo's world in Ohio's Amish country.  Just Plain Murder , the sixth in Bradford's Amish mystery series, is a cozy set in a community that usually resembles it's name, Heavenly. Then, there are the troubles that disrupt any community, murder. Romantic moments between Claire Weatherly and Jakob Fisher are infrequent because of his job as a police detective. So, they steal the chance to have a picnic, but that peaceful time is one that Jakob comes to regret. He had ignored a phone call from the man who once mentored him, retired police chief Russ Granger. Granger is in town visiting his widowed daughter. Jakob knew he'd catch up with him later. But, he never had the chance because someone killed Russ outside his daughter's home. Jakob beats himself up because he wasn't there for the man who watched over him, the man Jakob admired enough to...

Before I frustrate blog readers by once again reviewing the second in a mystery series, I wanted to congratulate author Amanda Flower. Like other writer/librarians before her, such as Jenn McKinlay, Amanda is leaving her library job in Ohio to devote herself entirely to her writing career. Congratulations, Amanda. Flower is the author of a number of series.  Death and Daisies  is the second in her Magical Garden series set in Duncreigan, Scotland. When Fiona Knox inherited her godfather's cottage and magic garden in Scotland in Flowers and Foul Play , she thought she'd be welcome in the village where his family, the MacAllisters, had lived for centuries. Instead, the village rector, Quaid MacCullen, refuses her admittance at the church door. He disapproves of the family and the magical garden. Then, on the eve of the opening of her new Climbing Rose Flower Shop, he threatens her. Despite the rector, the opening of the flower shop is a success. At least it's successful until...

Sandie Herron and I both read Diane A.S. Stuckart's new mystery, the first in a series, Fool's Moon . It's not my type of book because I'm not fond of talking animals. However, Sandie had a much better reaction than I did. So, instead of sharing my review, I'm sharing Sandie's today. FOOL’S MOON Written by Diane A. S. Stuckart The Tarot Cats Mystery Series #1 Midnight Ink November 8, 2018 FOOL’S MOON is the charming first entry in the Tarot Cats Mystery series.  The action starts immediately with two sibling black cats being thrown away in a box onto the streets.  While they’d been adopted as kittens by a wealthy, elderly woman and had enjoyed her mansion and grounds, she recently died. The two are split up right away with Ophelia being rescued by a white pit bull on her walk with Ruby Sparks, half sister to the owner of Botanica Santa Rosa, a New Age shop offering tarot card readings.  Brandon is taken in by a pawn shop owner near...

You're used to seeing Sandie Herron's name connected with the audio book reviews here under the topic, "Have You Heard?" Today, she has a review of Kate Carlisle's lastest book,  A Wrench in the Work s. (Thanks, Sandie!) A WRENCH IN THE WORKS Written by Kate Carlisle A Fixer-Upper Mystery, Book 6 Berkley Prime Crime, November 6, 2018 ·          Mass Market Paperback Contractor Shannon Hammer is happy to welcome her contractor sister Chloe back home.   It’s been ten years since she last lived in the family home in Lighthouse Cove.   She left after high school to find her way in Hollywood, and she became one of the stars of the Home Builder’s Network show “Makeover Madness.”   They want to film several episodes in Lighthouse Cove focusing on the Victorian architecture so prevalent in this historic town.   Chloe co-stars with Blake Bennett, an older man with whom she has a terrific stage presenc...

I tried to hold off. I really did. But, it's so hard to wait until after Halloween to read books set at Christmas when they're showing up in the mail. It was impossible to resist the cover of Miranda James' latest Cat in the Stacks mystery,  Six Cats a Slayin' . So, before the book review, kudos to Dan Craig, the artist who did the cover art. Once in a while, I think it's appropriate to recognize the cover artist. It's almost Christmas in Athena, Mississippi. Librarian Charlie Harris doesn't feel in the Christmas spirit, though, when he encounters his new neighbor, Geraldine Albritton. She's a little too enthusiastic and flirtatious for the staid Charlie. Something seems off about her, and Charlie's co-worker Melba Gilley agrees. Geraldine claims to be from Athena, but Melba doesn't recognize her, and Melba knows the history of everyone in town. Although Charlie does his best to ignore Geraldine, he agrees to attend her Christmas get-together, ho...

In 2009, the fifth Haunted Bookshop mystery, The Ghost and the Haunted Mansion , came out. It was written under the name Alice Kimberly, a pseudonym also used by the authors who write as Cleo Coyle. On September 25, nine years later, the latest one in the series,  The Ghost and the Bogus Bestselle r by Cleo Coyle, will be released. Welcome back to Penelope Thornton-McClure and Jack Shepard. After her husband's death, Pen and her son moved to Quindicott, Rhode Island, where she took over her aunt Sadie's bookshop. She also found a ghost in the bookshop, the ghost of a private detective who had been killed there in 1949. As an avid fan of crime fiction, Pen is fascinated by the stories Jack tells, accounts of his cases in the 1940s. Some of those cases resemble current cases that Pen encounters. The hottest selling book in Buy the Book is Jessica Swindell's Shades of Leather . When a woman runs out of the store, after claiming it was her picture on the back of the book, takin...

Congratulations to the winners of the last giveaway. Glen D. of Yuba City, CA won Toucan Keep a Secret . The Man Who Couldn't Miss will go to Karen R. from Katy, TX. The books are going out today. How about some cat cozy mysteries this week? A Tale of Two Kitties is the latest Magical Cats Mystery by Sofie Kelly. Minnesota librarian Kathleen Paulson didn't know about a family feud, but everyone else in town of a certain age remembers the situation between Victor and Leo James, when Victor had an affair with his brother's wife, and then she died in car accident. The brothers are trying to reconcile, but then Kathleen finds Leo dead, and Leo's son tops the suspect list. Kathleen teams up with her cats, Hercules and Owen to prove her friend didn't kill his father. P urrder She Wrote by Cate Conte is a Cat Cafe Mystery. Maddie James is excited over the grand opening of Daybreak Island's cat cafe, her new business venture. Then one of her volunteers gets into an a...

Although I missed a couple in Jenn McKinlay's Library Lover's mystery series, it's always satisfying to return to Briar Creek, Connecticut. It's like meeting up with old friends, Library Director Lindsey Norris, her boyfriend, Sully, Captain Mike Sullivan, her children's librarian, Beth, and all the members of Lindsey's crafternoon group. With developments in Lindsey's personal life,  Hitting the Books  is even more satisfying for those of us who are rooting for her. Lindsey's trying to avoid a baby hand-off, so she's watching out the library window when an out-of-control car hits the local tennis coach, and speeds off. She and two other witnesses have conflicting accounts to give to Police Chief Emma Plewicki, but Lindsey's sure that car aimed at Theresa Huston. When there's a second attempt on Theresa's life, Lindsey wonders if Theresa is the target, or her wealthy fiance. Anyone who knows Lindsey Norris knows she won't be able to k...

There seem to have been an extraordinary number of weddings in mysteries this summer. No, librarian Kathleen Paulson isn't the one getting married in Sofie Kelly's  The Cats Came Back . But, she's part of the wedding party and planning throughout the book. It's not a major plot line, but the characters are important to the series. Kathleen's two magical cats, Hercules and Owen, are essential to the main storyline. There's a music festival going on in Mayville Heights, Minnesota, with a number of performers in town. It's just part of the town's ongoing promotions. Hercules and Owen are part of that, posing for Ruby, a photographer, for a fundraising calendar to promote the town. Hercules has a different focus one night at the marina, though. Ruby finally goes to see what Hercules is focused on, and finds a body. Kathleen and Ruby both assume it's singer Emme Finley. Kathleen's the first to realize it's Emme's lookalike assistant, Miranda. ...

Are you a fan of older sleuths? If you like Rita Lakin's Gladdy Gold mysteries or J.C. Eaton's Sophie Kimball ones, you might want to try  Poppy Harmon Investigates by Lee Hollis. When Poppy Harmon's fourth husband, Chester, dies, the retired actress is stunned to learn he left her penniless. She has no practical skills. Once, though, she did assist a private investigator turned screenwriter with some of his plot ideas. Maybe that qualifies her to be a PI? Poppy gets her California license, and together with her best friends, Iris and Violet, she opens The Desert Flowers Detective Agency. Then they discover no one wants to hire three sixty-year-old women as PIs. But, Poppy's daughter is dating an actor, and she asks him if they can put his face on the website. However, Matt wants to be more than the face of the agency. He becomes "Matt Flowers" detective, which only enrages Poppy's daughter. With Matt's face as the face of the agency, though, business...