Ma-Row! Here are the cozies I reviewed for August!
MURDER OF A MAIL-ORDER BRIDE by Mimi Granger (Berkley Mass Market; on sale August 2, 2022) |
Lizzie Hale is getting down to brass tacks in order to catch a killer, in this next Love is Murder mystery.
Lizzie Hale thought mail-order brides existed only between the pages of the historical romances she stocks in her bookstore, Love Under the Covers. But when not one, but two local men introduce her to their respective new wives, she's forced to reevaluate that notion. Lizzie is surprised when Al Little, the owner of the local hardware store, asks Lizzie and her aunt Charmaine to help Svetlana, his new bride straight from Russia, to settle into Tinker's Creek, but they agree.
Everything is going swimmingly—until a wrench gets thrown into their plans when Svetlana is found drowned in the creek.
With Al's suspicious best friend—who has his own mysterious mail-order bride—and the secretive matchmaker who put them together, Lizzie's got more suspects than she knows what to do with. But she'll have to nail down who the killer is fast, before someone else winds up dead.
Definitely an interesting book! Four paws!
THE SECRET OF BOW LANE by Jennifer Ashley (Berkley Trade Paperback; on sale August 2, 2022) |
In Victorian-era London, amateur sleuth and cook Kat Holloway must solve a murder to claim an inheritance she didn’t know she had in a riveting new historical mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Death at the Crystal Palace.
A stranger who appears on Kat's doorstep turns out to be one Charlotte Bristow, legal wife of Joe Bristow, the man Kat once believed herself married to—who she thought died at sea twelve years ago. Kat is jolted by Charlotte’s claims that not only was Joe murdered, but he had amassed a small fortune before he died. Charlotte makes the cook an offer she cannot refuse—if Kat can discover the identity of Joe's murderer, Charlotte will give her a share of the fortune Joe left behind.
With the help of Daniel McAdam, her attractive and charismatic confidante, Kat plunges into her own past to investigate. When it becomes apparent that the case of Joe’s death goes far deeper than simple, opportunistic theft, Kat and Daniel's relationship is put to the test, and Kat herself comes under scrutiny as her connection to Joe is uncovered. She must race to catch the real killer before she loses her job and possibly her life.
A very suspensful entry! Four Paws!
A DARK AND STORMY TEA by Laura Childs (Berkley Hardcover; on sale August 9, 2022) |
A possible serial killer on the loose sends tea maven Theodosia Browning into a whirlwind of investigation in this latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series.
It was a dark and stormy night, but that was the least of Theodosia Browning's troubles. As she approaches St. Philips Graveyard, Theodosia witnesses a brutal murder and sees a dark-hooded figure slip away into the fog. In the throes of alerting police, Theodosia recognizes the victim—it is the daughter of her friend, Lois, who owns the Antiquarian Bookshop next door to her own Indigo Tea Shop.
Against the advice of her boyfriend, Detective Pete Riley, and the sage words of Drayton, her tea sommelier, amateur-sleuth Theodosia launches her own shadow investigation. And quickly discovers that suspects abound with the dead girl’s boyfriend, nefarious real estate developer, private-security man, bumbling reporter, and her own neighbor who is writing a true-crime book and searching for a big ending.
Five paws (See Rocco's review on his Tuesday blog for more details)
Soul of a Killer by Abby Collette (Berkley MMPB on sale August 2, 2022)
In this mouthwatering cozy mystery series, fraternal twins Keaton and Koby are trying to run their combined soul food café and bookstore, but they find themselves searching for a cold-hearted killer.
Keaton and Koby are fraternal twins who were separated as children, but now they’ve found each other and opened Books & Biscuits in the pleasant Pacific Northwest town of Timber Lake. Business is booming, but even so, trouble always seems to find them.
Mama Zola, Koby’s devoted foster mom, has taken up residence in Timber Lake. She and Pete, one of the bookstore’s quirky employees, bring a peach cobbler over to her church’s potluck, and then someone who
sampled the cobbler is found dead. Mama Zola and Pete find themselves suspects in the murder, but luckily Koby and Keaton are ready to sling out a side of justice.
A good entry in an engaging series. Keaton and Koby are certainly up and coming sleuths! Four paws.
