Mini Review: Eggs Benedict Arnold by Laura Childs -- the final cozy

Author: Laura Child
Publisher/Format: Berkley,  Paperback, 336 pages
Year of publication: 2009
Subject: small town amateur sleuths
Setting: Kindred North Carolina
Series: Cackleberry Club #2
Genre: cozy mystery
Source: borrowed from my sister

This past summer, I was engaged in a "cozy-thon" reading several mysteries from various authors that presented the reader with pain-free, enjoyable stories in a variety of settings.  Laura Childs was one of my favorite authors to emerge from that reading stint.  Her Cackleberry Club series delights me, and I intend to continue reading in that series throughout the year.  I actually finished this one in late August, but just never got the chance to close out my records and post a short review.

Like the first one, this story centers around the friendship and crime solving abilities of the three amigas who run the cafe known as the Cackleberry Club.  In this adventure, the local undertaker is found duct taped and embalmed on his own embalming table by Suzanne, who almost ends up in the same situation but who passes out before she can see who is doing the pre-mortem rites.  Sheriff Roy Doogie (don't you just love that name?) gets more "help" than he can use from Suzanne, Toni and Petra as they all have various motives for proving who didn't do it.  Again, we have several suspects, a plot that progresses nicely down several literary dark alleys and an ending that (for me at least) is totally unexpected.  I loved it! 

The books are fun and easy to read; the plots are basically believable, the characters just quirky enough to be fun without being outrageous.  They're brain candy with  some nutritional value in the form of the recipes and menus sprinkled throughout the story. The fact that several of the recipes are actually included is a huge bonus and almost worth the price of the book.  If you've never tried a cozy, these would be a good place to start.  If you're a cozy fan, I probably don't have to tell you about Laura Childs.  It was a relaxing way to end the summer.

Not Quite a Cozy - Review of Artistic License by Julie Hyzy

Author: Julie Hyzy
Publisher/ Format: Smashwords edition, NOOK, 623 pages
Year of publication: 2010
Setting: Chicago
Genre: cozy mystery with romance
Source: Barnes & Noble Nook download


I had been led to believe that Julie Hyzy was a cozy mystery writer, so I wasn't expecting the well written romance blossoming within the rather sophisticated cozy setting that Artistic License presented me.  I got this from one of Barnes and Nobles' free book offers and figured I'd see if Hyzy was an author I wanted to pursue.  She is. 

She starts us right off with Annie Callahan, the protagonist, crying her eyes out because she's just discovered she's pregnant.  Obviously, since her divorce from the baby's father is about to be finalized, she is anything but happy.  Life goes downhill from there.  At 623 pages, this one is much longer than your average cozy, but my interest was cemented so well at the beginning, that I never wanted to put the book down.  I was thrilled that I had this on my NOOK, because toting around a 600+ pager would not have been very convenient.  As it was, I read several hundred pages at the beach, another 200 hundred while chaperoning the g-babe's wild spree through "bracelet day" at the fair, and finished it up that night.

I loved the characters.  Annie, a mural artist, is trying so hard to be self-sufficient, but hasn't quite learned yet how to follow through on resolutions of independence.  The villains are realistic enough to avoid being stereotypes, the lackless husband and his dum-dum buddy are perfectly scripted to be hateful, and the romantic lead Sam is one of those tender-hearted men any woman would love to have in her household.  And then there's Annie's Uncle Lou,  retired journalist, who can provide just enough private eye expertise to help out.

Without spoilers, the plot involves a Durer drawing stolen from the Chicago Museum of Art, a crooked attorney, bratty kids, and an unwitting Annie caught in the mess.  It's a delightful story with a plot that moves forward nicely, and a different setting (Chicago) for me.  I'm definitely going to be reading more of Julie Hyzy's books.  Her style is perfect for me.  I've already downloaded another on my NOOK for later this year.

Cozy Time: Two Series by Charlaine Harris

As the summer cozy-thon continues, I've been catching up on a favorite author: Charlaine Harris. Each of her  series has a  diffferent protagonist, setting, and plot premise that keeps them all separate, and prevents them  from running together. Last week, I reviewed her Lily Bard mystery "Shakespeare's Landlord" and have been looking forward to these two.  Harris has developed some excellent female characters, some interesting side characters in each, and plausible, intriguing plots.  I read both of these earlier last week and look forward to having more of both these series on my nightstand, or my MP3

Title: Grave Sight
Author:  Charlaine Harris
Publisher/Format: Recorded Books, audio 12 hours, 310 page equivalent
Narrator: Alyssa Bresnahan.
Year of publication: 2006
Subject: extra-normal abilities; murders
Setting:  Sarne Arkansas (fictional town)
Series: Harper Connelly mysteries
Genre: cozy mystery,  paranormal detecting
Source: public library


Harper Connelly was struck by lightening as a teen and lived to tell about it.  In fact, as a result of the electric bolt, she now can find others who have died and by being near the bodies, determine how they died, although she can't see the murderers when foul play is involved. With the help of her "brother" Tolliver Lang, they hire out across the country to assist in locating missing persons.  In many cases, they provide information to local law enforcement personnel often giving them a different take on how the victims died.  In Grave Sight, Harper not only finds the body of a murdered missing young lady, but also establishes that her dead boyfriend, originally ruled a suicide, did not in fact kill himself.  She and her brother are held in town until the local sheriff and police can solve the mystery, in spite of Harper's insistence that she can't "see" the identity of the perpetrator.

It's a pleasant read, and the reader has a fairly good inkling about 1/2 way through of who dunnit, but the story is so well written,  it's easy to continue to the end to see if the hunches are correct.  This the first book in the series and I can't wait for the rest.

Title: Three Bedrooms, One Corpse
Author: Charlaine Harris
Publisher/Format: Recorded Books audio, 6hr, 45 min;  310 pages equivalent
Narrator: Thérèse Plummer
Year of publication: 2010
Subject: amateur sleuthing-murder
Setting: Lawrenceton GA (fictional town)
Series: Aurora Teagarden mysteries
Genre: cozy mystery
Source: public library

I was immediately drawn to this series when I saw that the protagonist was a librarian!  Of course, Aurora (Roe) Teagarden is also an heiress, and decides she doesn't need to be a librarian anymore so she is now working on becoming a real estate agent, following her mother's footsteps.  While showing a client a three bedroom house, they discover the body of a fellow agent dead in the master bedroom. The story ramps up from there, another body is found, and Aurora discovers not only that she may be the object of a killer's search, but also the new love in her life (a real hunk who will certainly satisfy the romance readers who pick this up) may in fact be a suspect in the case. 

Great fun, tightly woven plot, interesting and engaging characters make this series one I'm going to continue.  This one is the third I've read, and I expect the next five to be just as much fun.

I can certainly recommend any of these series to those of you who are lovers of the cozy genre.  And if you are a vampire fan, don't forget her Sookie Stackhouse series.

Cozy Time: Repair to her Grave by Sarah Graves

Author: Sarah Graves
Publisher Format: Bantam Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages;
. . . . .also  BBC Audiobooks America - 9 hrs, 24 mine
Narrator: Lindsay Ellison
Year of publication: 2001
Subject: lost treasure; restoring old houses
Setting: Eastport Maine
Series: Home Repair is Homicide
Genre: cozy mystery- amateur detective
Source: public library
Rating: 3.5 of 5

Back in 1999, I read the first in this series "Dead Cat Bounce" and made a note to read more about financial counselor turned innkeeper Jacobia Tiptree and the much-in-need-of-repair Bed and Breakfast Inn she purchased in Eastport Maine.   This one is #4, and I'm definitely going to read several more of these as years go by.  It was one of the first I read for my summer cozy-thon, and I picked a good one for kick-off week.

Notice I said "Good" not "Great".  It was lots of fun, but there were times when the author left the reader dangling trying to figure out where she was going with her story; there were minutes of head-scratching while I tried to fit who went with whom.  Motivation of characters was a bit light at times. In addition, one of the main characters really demanded I check my need to believe literally at the door.

In this one, the searches for missing persons, buried treasure maps, and secret compartments all loosely hinge on finding a "missing" Stradivarius violin that may or may not exist. When no one else seems interested, Jacobia, as all good amateur sleuths are supposed to, leaps into the void to find that which was/is lost. A tad mixed up, but still a pleasant enough read for a lazy summer afternoon.

The home repair parts were actually the most interesting - finding out how the layers of plaster were deployed in old homes was, to me anyway, really fascinating. Who knew the true meaning of the phrase "lathe and plaster?" If you read this one, you definitely will. I'm looking forward to reading at least one more of these to see if Sarah Graves can develop into a more coherent author, but I also look forward to being entertained by the dry DownEast humor. Ayuh.

Winners and a Review - A Deadly Cliche - April 1st

Author: Ellery Adams
Publisher/Format: Berkley (2011), Paperback, 304 pages
Characters: Olivia Limoges, Haviland the poodle, Chief Rawlings, the Bayside Book Writers Group
Subject: murder, missing person
Setting: fictional town of Oyster Bay North Carolina
Series: Books by the Bay mysteries
Genre: cozy mystery
Source: review copy from Berkley Crime


Back a few weeks ago when I posted the contest for this one, I hope I whetted your appetite with my demi-review:

Olivia Limoges, out walking with her beautiful companion Captain Haviland--the poodle on the cover--discovers a dead body on her town's pristine beach.  At the same time, there seems to be a growing crime spree in her small town, giving Police Chief Rawlings more than enough to keep him busy, and the Bayside Book Writers Group lots of fodder for future stories. To complicate the plot even more, Olivia has just been given a clue that her father, thought to have been lost at sea over 30 years ago, may in fact still be alive, and she seems to be developing more than professional feelings for Chief Rawlings (in addition to or instead of her current lover????)

Enough to get you interested? If nothing else, that gorgeous doggie sure beats a bare-chested Lothario for cover art in my book.  And of course it has a lighthouse! I know I'm not going to be doing much else until I finish this one. I'll give you my final review when I announce the winners to our giveaway.

 Well I finished it and it was even better than I imagined it would be.  The double mysteries of the crime spree in Oyster Bay, and the question about Olivia's father are both solved in a well-written, well-crafted plot that leaves plenty of room for more adventures in future volumes.  Haviland shines, Olivia's life is expanding, and we are getting to know a terrific cast of characters, each of whom has lots of room to grow, but is already developed enough to reside permanently in our affections already.

I am so excited to be able to give our lucky reader the chance to jump on the bandwagon.  So

Anita Yancey-it's you.
Congratulations.

I'm sending an email to you, so send me your US mailing address and we'll get the book right out to you.

Mini Review: A Bone to Pick

Author: Charlaine Harris
Format: audio book 6 hr, 15 min, 272 page equivalent
Characters:Aurora Teagarden
Subject: unsolved murder
Setting: Georgia
Series: Aurora Teagarden mysteries
Genre: cozy mystery
Source: public library
 

While I'm not a big fan of the Southern Vampire series featuringSookie Stackhouse,  I have enjoyed Harris' Harper Connelly series, and while looking for one of those to read, came across Aurora Teagarden, another of her cozy series I seem to have overlooked  in the past.  How could I have missed these?  A librarian who helps solve murders?

Well constructed with some interesting characters, this delightful tale has all the standard ingredients of an amateur sleuth cozy murder mystery: intelligent professional woman who suffers from above average curiosity, and below average willingness to let the professionals handle the sleuthing; a cast of characters with enough meat on their bones to offer several different prospects for a culprit; a handsome, mannerly, and eligible suitor;  an endearing pet (in this case a big orange cat named Madeline); a town eccentric in the person of an elderly spinster who leaves her house "and everything in it" to our heroine; a domineering mother--and a totally implausible mystery resulting from the "everything in it"  whose details will not be revealed here. Don't want to spoil the fun!

Perfect  for a snowy evening with a cup of chocolate while others are watching football games.  And fun enough to have me go checking out at least one more to see if the series is worth pursuing.

Review: A Timely Vision

Author: Joyce and Jim Lavene
Format: mass market paperback, 304 pages
Characters: Dae O'Donnell, Kevin Brickman,
Subject: solving current and age old murders
Setting: Duck North Carolina
Series:  Missing Pieces Mysteries 
Genre: amateur sleuth/police procedural mystery
Source: airport bookstore
Challenge: Temptations

I'd never read anything by this duo author, but I'm enchanted.  I was waiting for a flight and finished my 'carry-on' book ahead of schedule, my MP3 needed to be charged, and I was faced with a 4 hour reading void, so I made a quick trip into the airport newstand, pulled the first one that looked interesting but not expensive.  The gods were smiling.  This is the first of a new series for this author, and I'm certainly going to be looking for the next one.

I love the setting. We have actually vacationed in Currituck, the town next to Duck- the setting of the book. The town and its quiet beachside atmosphere are wonderfully portrayed.  I like the main character, Mayor Dae O'Donnell, the owner of "Missing Pieces" antique/junque store.  Her grandfather is the retired police chief of the town who helps run the shop when Dae has to go off and be mayor.  There is an eclectic assortment of loveable characters: a pair of old ladies (sisters) who are rather eccentric and apt to wonder off, see ghosts, and whom everyone in the town loves; several single women including the mayor, the owner of the hair salon, and the leader of the local "Save the Sea Turtles" group;  the new owner of a derelict old Inn he has recently bought and is refurbishing who turns out to be a retired FBI agent;  the current police chief and his assistant Tom (who keeps proposing to Dae); and several people from Duck's past who keep turning up (in various life forms) to keep things interesting.

When one of the old ladies is accused of murder, and tons of circumstantial evidence appears enough to convict her, Dae and Kevin (the retired FBI dude) set out to prove her innocence.  The rest of the story is well-paced, believably written, and keeps the reader turning pages to see if Miss Mildred will in fact be rescued from spending her few remaining years incarcerated.  It's a delightful cozy, with an amateur sleuth who respects and (for the most part) heeds the professionals responsible for the murder investigation.

There's just a hint of romance too....enough to pull the reader to look for the next book in the series to see what happens.  Overall, a fun surprise and an engaging read.