House on Fire

In House on Fire, Leigh and Pete are returning home early from their fifth wedding anniversary trip when they get a call from Leigh’s fourteen-year-old daughter, Chrissy. She is calling from the police station, where her stepbrother, Pete’s eighteen-year-old son Kip, is in custody. Kip was planning on spending theContinue Reading

Beautiful Bad

Beautiful Bad tells the story of Maddie and Ian’s relationship that ended in murder. The story starts with a bang: a female calls 911, a child screams in the background and the call is abruptly cut off.  When police arrive, they find a large bloodstain on the open concept kitchen’sContinue Reading

Drawn and Buttered

The third Lobster Shack mystery, Drawn and Buttered, is another great cozy mystery. It’s Halloween in Mystic Bay Connecticut. A giant Lobzilla goes missing! Houses are broken into but nothing is taken! A witch is afoot! Someone is murdered (of course)! Allie is out of her ankle cast but cannotContinue Reading

Devil Aspect

With insane killers imprisoned in a castle fortress rumored to house the Devil himself and a brutal serial killer terrorizing nearby Prague, the Devil Aspect has plenty of plot and a whole lot of creepy, gothic atmosphere. It is 1935 in a rural village outside Prague. A new psychotherapist arrivesContinue Reading

Murder Pit

The Murder Pit is a witty take on Victorian London with frequent humorous potshots at the Holmes canon that also contains an intriguing mystery. If you ever wanted more humor in, say, the Hounds of the Baskervilles, this book is for you! Arrowood is a consulting detective for the poorerContinue Reading

Chocolate Cream Pie Murder

How many books in this series am I going to read hoping they return to the interesting plots and non-stilted dialogue of the first few? It appears at least one more called the Chocolate Cream Pie Murder. Hannah is once again being harassed by the annoying Ross. Usually I wouldContinue Reading

Judgment

Married Superior Court Judge Juliana fails to use good Judgment and has an one-night stand at an out-of-town conference. Juliana decides to never repeat her mistake and returns to her courtroom. Unfortunately, she then sees the man sit down as a member of the defense counsel. The man blackmails herContinue Reading

After She's Gone

After She’s Gone was named Best Swedish Crime Novel for good reason—realistic characterizations, a compelling mystery, and a haunting setting. Swedish Police Detective Malin is called back to her rural hometown to investigate the murder of a five-year-old girl. Ironically, Malin found the girl’s skeleton eight years earlier when onlyContinue Reading

Death at the Wychbourne Follies

A historical mystery set in 1926, but written in 2018, describes a Death at the Wychbourne Follies. Lady Gertrude Ansley was an actress before landing her Marquess husband and retiring. Wishing to relive her youthful adventures she invites her fellow actors to her country house, Wychbourne Court. She hopes toContinue Reading

Wedding Guest

In the Wedding Guest, Alex Delaware and Milo are back in the 34th police procedural in their series. A scantily clad woman is found garroted and posed on a toilet during a wedding reception. The venue is a seedy former strip club, which fits in with the reception’s theme ofContinue Reading

Death by Committee

Death by Committee is a cozy mystery that emphasizes romance and quilting more than sleuthing. Abby’s recently deceased elderly Aunt Sybil left her a house. Abby hires several goats to eat some overgrown foliage in the backyard. One goat uncovers Dolly, Sybil’s rival, who is buried in the backyard inContinue Reading

Criminally Cocoa

Criminally Cocoa is a chocolate amuse bouche for fans of the Amish Candy Shop series while awaiting the next full-length series entry in June 2019. Bailey takes her Amish cousin, Charlotte, to New York City to tape the pilot for Bailey’s new cable TV show, Bailey’s Amish Sweets. Luckily, CharlotteContinue Reading

Testament to Murder

A terminally ill man calls his family and friends together to compete for his entire fortune in a Testament to Murder. Malcolm invites his ne’er-do-well nephew, Hugh, and Hugh’s gold-digging American wife, Patty, for a weeklong visit to Malcolm’s extensive estate. Malcolm’s ex-wife, Cecily, and his ex-partner, Howard, along withContinue Reading

The Plotters

Reseng is a paid assassin in South Korea. Unfortunately, The Plotters tell him exactly how to carry out each murder. Reseng feels like a paint-by-number killer with no creative outlet. When Reseng’s childhood friend Chu disobeys a plotter, Chu is targeted for murder with a hefty bounty on his head.Continue Reading

Lost Man

The Lost Man is the new excellent standalone thriller by superstar author Jane Harper. Nathan and Bub find their middle brother, Cameron, dead of dehydration in the middle of the Australian desert. What is puzzling is that Cameron walked away from a perfectly running car filled with food, water andContinue Reading