Friday, August 3, 2018

ROCCO'S AUGUST MYSTERY REVIEWS

Meow, everyone!

It's that time of month again! time for my cozy mystery reviews!
Let's start off with
A DARK AND TWISTING PATH
A Writer's Apprentice Mystery
Julia Buckley
Berkley Prime Crime
July 31, 2018
four and a half stars

This series is written in the style of the old fashioned gothic mystery/romance novels.  Lena London has settled into her job as assistant to a famous novelist n the town of Blue Lake Indiana, and things have settled down considerably since she and her employer cleared her boyfriend, the  mysterious Sam West, of suspicion in the disappearnce of his ex-wife.  Now she finds Sam in trouble again when he's accused of the murder of her mail carrier!  Is someone deliberately framing Sam?  Lena thinks so, and she's out to prove it.    I love the grit and determination of the main character, and the way the author weaves in homages to the gothic mysteries of days past is charming. And, of course, there is a cat! Four and a half paws!

A Tale of Two Kitties
A Magical Cats Mystery
Sofie Kelly
August 7, 2018 (Paperback reprint)
Berkley Prime Crime
Four and a half Paws

Who doesn't love this charming series?  The main character, Kathleen, is as sharp as Nancy Drew when it comes to ferreting out clues, and her two kitties, Owen and Hercules, are no slouches themseves.  Of course, it helps that Owen and Herc have - ahem - magical powers unlike your normal, everyday house cat that come in handy for mystery solving.   This time out Kathleen is trying to find out who killed Leo Janes.  The poor guy was tryng to reconcile with his brother Victor, who had an affair with his wife who was later killed in a car accident.  Kathleen wonders just how much amenable Victor was to a reconciliation with his brother, and sets out to investigate.  Watching Kathleen talk to the cats every step of the way as she investigates the case is half the fun of reading these books!  Definite four and a half paws!

Death in the Stacks
Library Lover Mystery
Jenn McKinlay
Berkley Prime Crime (paperback reprint)
July 31, 2018
four Stars

Lindsey Norris is back, getting into trouble as usual.  This time it's a fundraiser, where the new president of the library board Olive Davidson, seems determined to make Lindsay's life hell.  Lindsay is positive Olive is trying to get her to quit, and is certain of it at the fundraiser when Olive tries to get Lindsay's assistant fired.  You can see where this s going:  Lindsay and Olive have a heated confrontation in front of half the town, then Olive turns up dead, so now Lindsay has to find the real killer to clear her name!  Fans of this series will enjoy watching Lindsey track down clues to expose a killer before she's the one behind bars!  Four stars!

Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding
Rhys Bowen
  • Berkley
  • August 7, 2018
  • Four Stars

Lady Georgiana is back, this time planning her wedding.  and as usual, it's Murphy's Law time.  Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong...including murder.  It all starts out when Georgiana begins hunting for a place for her and Darcy to live.   The grounds are in dissarray, and a gas leak smells like an attempt on her life to Georgie. Who would want to kill her.  Before any wedding bells can ring, that's what she's got to find out.

Like the other books in this series, Four Funerals is great fun and intriguing.  If you haven't tried one of these books I urge you to do so!  Four Paws!

Died in the Wood
Peggy Ehrhart
A Knit and NIbble Mystery
Kensington
August 27, 2018
four Paws

Meet Pamela Patterson, avid knitter and amateur sleuth!  This time out Pamela finds a dead body at a High School charity event where she's selling stuffed aardvarks!  the victim is a very unpopular History teacher, so Pamela now finds herself back at school to track down a killer.  Very cute series. I enjoyed the first one, Murder She Knit, and the second was just as entertaining.  four paws, only becasue I guessed the killer early on - but you'll have fun piecing the clues together along with Pamela.



Win one of ROCCO's review copies?
ROCCO will choose one of the following for one lucky commenter: DEATH IN THE STACKS, FOUR FUNERALS AND MAYBE A WEDDING, OR A DARK AND TWISTED PATH!  Leave a comment to guess which one he'll pick and you could win his review copy!

To enter, leave a comment on this blog post with your name and email address (entries without email will be disqualified). For extra entries, you can do any or all of the below:


* Follow my blog (+ 1 point)
* Follow me on Twitter (+ 1 point) (Link: https://twitter.com/RoccoBlogger)
* Tweet about the contest (+ 1 point)
* Friend me on Facebook (+ 1 point) (Link: https://www.facebook.com/ToniLotempio)#!/
* Mention the contest on Facebook (+ 1 point)
* Mention the contest on your blog (+ 1 point)

Winner will be chosen at random using random.org.  Don’t forget to mention all you’ve done in your comment. Good luck!  Contest ends midnight, August 10!

15 comments:

  1. I'm guessing you'll choose A Dark and Twisting Path, ROCCO, because of the cat on the cover, of course! Marla Bradeen: mbradeen@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is a toss up between A Dark and Twisting Path and Death in the Stacks. All are wonderful authors! I bet on Jenn McK.
    We are friends, I follow, tweeted, and posted on FB

    LaurasReadingBlog AT gmail Dot coM

    ReplyDelete
  3. I would like Death in the Stacks if I end up being the lucky one to win. I will tweet and maybe a few of the others. Thank you so much for this chance. pgenest57@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. DEATH IN THE STACKS I say. All of the books look great though.

    Follow & FB

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rocco, you have a great collection here.
    We are FB friends and I linked this to my page
    I visit regularly
    I don't tweet or have a blog
    libbydodd at comcast dot net

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Rocco, I'm guess you'll pick Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding, because it's just so much fun! Thanks for the giveaway.
    sallycootie@gmail.com
    I follow this blog.
    We are FB friends.
    I don't tweet.
    I don't have a blog.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I would say A Dark and Twisting Path. sable677 at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Rocco, I think you will pick "Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding".
    I follow your blog and on Facebook and on Twitter. Shared on Facebook and Twitter.
    diannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think you'll choose A Tale of Two Kitties because I'm sure that you like those magical cats.
    I follow your blog, I follow on twitter, and I follow in facebook.
    suefarrell.fatell@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lots of god reads this month. I think ROCCO will choose A Dark & Twisted Path.
    Jana - turtle6422(at)gmail(dot)com
    Following your blog
    Following on Twitter
    Tweeted about the contest
    Friends on Facebook
    Mentioned the contest on Facebook

    ReplyDelete
  11. Rocco, I think you'll choose A Dark & Twisting Path.
    Barbara Cameron
    cameronbarbara@ymail.com
    I subscribe to your blog &
    Follow you on twitter.
    Thanks Rocco!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think you will choose Death in the Stacks. I follow your blog and we are FaceBook friends. aut1063(at)gmail(dot)com

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  13. Well Rocco pick a good one for me I am following your blog and friend on fb and also post to fb ! ptclayton2(at)aol(dot)com Died in the Wool

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  14. I really love to see your books. Hope you are enjoying your books. The books are really seems amazing. i would really love to hear about books from you. I love to read books online and also get eBooks Download online.

    ReplyDelete