Tuesday, March 30, 2021

A Tourist's Guide to Murder

 In V.M. Burns's A Tourist Guide to Murder, the 6th installment in the Mystery Bookshop cozy mystery series, this enchanting new tale takes us across the pond for chills and some shocking thrills. It all started for Samantha Washington when she planned to go to London to do research for her novel. Her grandmother, Nana Jo and her friends from the Shady Acres Retirement Village from North Harbor, Michigan, came along for a wild ride. Off from celebrating the  good news that her historical cozy  got sold to a publisher, they traveled to London. But the trip got off with a hitch from when they missed  the shuttle to the airport to having their luggage being lost in the shuffle. When they arrived in London and took the mystery tour bus to visit historical sites in England, things aren't what they seem when they meet a new cast of characters, while Sam writes down a historical mystery on her off-time for her series. When the tour guide was found dead, it begin to ask the question who killed him and why--did someone from the tour bus have an ax to grind with him? As Sam and the others look for clues, the Scotland Yard Metro Police were on the scene especially when Lavender Habersham's mother was later found dead in her hotel room too.  As the Metro police arrested one of their friends, it was up to Sam and her friends to discover the true murderer is and stop the culprit before it's too late while they were on tour. 

This was a compelling and interesting cozy mystery to read. I cared for Sam and her hunger for knowledge for research and to own a bookstore while she owned a bookstore. I could see how she missed her husband Leon and how her family was tight-knit who looked over her with tons of love. Irma and her grandma were a hoot and a bundle of laughs. I also loved the historical mystery inside the cozy that Sam wrote and shared with us with an intriguing cast of characters. I loved the dual locations of North Harbor, Indiana, and the various scenic settings throughout England from London to Torquay and beyond, when we learned an interesting piece of history about those famous authors and landmarks. The theme of the story is to never let greed stand in your way. Or it'll ruin everything for you.

If you love a cozy with hints of humor, plenty of non-stop action, lots of drama and intrigue, you'll fall in love with A Tourist's Guide To Murder today. 


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Thursday, March 25, 2021

The Open House

 In Sam Carrington's shocking crime thriller, The Open House, this twisted tale is so thrilling and chilling on every page. All Amber Miller ever wanted was to sell her house and start a new life with her new beau, Richard Lock in Kent. But life wasn't what it cracked up to be when her soon-to-be-ex-mother-in-law Barbara wanted her to stay for some reason. And when she decides to put her house on market and have her estate agent Carl arrange for an open house, things took a dark turn for the worse. Ever since then, Carl have been acting strange, Barb had kept a terrible secret, and people have been watching her and giving her son Finlay a nightmare of two. Why? The more she question who wanted her to stay, she asked her neighbor Davina to help it out in a pinch. But did she have a secret to hide too?  While her husband Nick wanted a second chance with Amber and looking for clues on what happened to his brother Tim who disappeared 30 years ago in a cold case he's now working on.  When a mysterious person had asked for Nick by name, it changed her world upside-down when family secrets and lies have been unleashed from Pandora's Box and the shocking truth behind it will leave you cold all over in the end. 

This crime thriller was explosive with tons of nitty-gritty dark drama that kept me in suspense and hooked on every page.  I cared for Amber who would do anything to start new from scratch with a new love, but she ended up caught in a twisted web of deceit and the cross-hairs of deception. I loved how she protected her two sons and wanted to get to the truth, no matter what. As for Barb, I was torn on how she felt about her and left me neutral. I loved the English locations in Kent and in Stockwood with compelling scenic settings to put me there. The theme of the story is to be careful for what you wish for, or it might come true.

If you love shocking crime thrillers that'll give you goosebumps with non-stop drama, plenty of twisted turns with dollops of suspense and action, you'll be chilled to read The Open House today.

 

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Sunday, March 21, 2021

Twice Kissed

 In Lisa Jackson's Twice Kissed, this reissued classic romantic suspense will send you into a crazy and twisted world of secrets, lies, and deception. When Maggie McCrae receives a cryptic telepathic message from her twin sister, Mary Theresa (aka Marquise), it sent her world into a tizzy. She lived a private remote life in Settler's Ridge, Idaho with her 13-year-old daughter Becca. While her in-laws wanted control of her daughter and Becca acted cold to blame her of her father's death, she tried to keep it altogether. But when Thane Walker, her first love who stole her heart, twenty years ago in Palo Verde, California, needed her help to look for her sister and to help clear his name. It'd brought her back into the past on when she dealt with an alcoholic mother, a demanding father, and twisted secrets her twin had shared with her... and when she first met Thane at the ranch. During the search for her twin in Denver, she learned more devastating truth on her sister's career, her mental state, and what Thane had held back from her. The closer they get to discover if she's dead or alive, it brought them closer together to rekindle their old flame. In the end, it's a matter of life or death with a sobering ending to leave you cold all over.

 This was an astonishing and captivating tale that's filled with twists and turns on every page. I cared for Maggie on what she had been through in her youth, even if she had to look up to her twin sister who was everything she wasn't, and what she had to endure as an adult. But I loved how she kept it together for her composure. Dark, tall, dangerously handsome--those words described Thane the best in my opinion. I did like how Becca changed for spiteful to caring when she learned what her aunt and uncle had been up to and had planned for her. I loved the variety of locations for the scenic descriptions for the settings: California, Idaho, Colorado.  The themes for the stories is that revenge is a deceptive sin while secrets from the past have a way of coming out into the open.

If you love spine-tingling suspense that would give you the shivers with non-stop action, red-hot sparking romance, lots of combustible drama, and heaps of suspense,   Twice Kissed is right up your alley.

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Wednesday, March 17, 2021

A Deadly Edition

 In Victoria Gilbert's A Deadly Edition, the 5th installment in the Blue Ridge Library cozy mystery series, this captivating caper will leave you in suspense.  A few days before Amy Webber's wedding to Richard Muir, she wanted to finalize the rest of her wedding preparations with her friends and family.  But during a wedding party, things got interesting when an art dealer named Oscar Selvaggio made an appearance and asking for a rare edition of a book's location.  Later after a confrontation, he turned up dead at the scene. While Amy deals with library books and her wedding preparations, she looks for answers and meets some unsavory characters along the way including someone named Cynthia Rogers, who wanted one of her late uncle's paintings that wasn't up for sale. Before she can say I do, she became a hostage to the culprit's path and discovers the truth on whodunit and why in the end.

 This was another compelling and gripping newest edition to the cozy series. It had all the right elements to add some drama before Amy's wedding day with Richard.  I did care for Amy on how she did with the drama in her family, her wedding preparations, and how she become entangled with another murder mystery at her doorstep. I also loved how Richard cares for Amy and protected her with his undying love.  I loved the Washington D.C. area location for Amy's wedding and around the murder with picturesque descriptions of the scenic settings. The theme is that the past has a way to catch up to you to right those wrongs.

If you love a great cozy mystery with heartfelt suspense, plenty of drama, lots of non-stop action, and sparks of intrigue, A Deadly Edition is perfect for you. 

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Monday, March 1, 2021

Death, Diamonds, and Deception

 In Rosemary Simpson's Death, Diamonds, and Deception, the 5th installment in the Gilded Age Historical Mystery series, this captivating caper would transport you to a most enchanted time in our history. In Fall 1889 in New York when heiress Prudence Mackenzie's Aunt Gillian arrives in town for London to escort her during her Social Season to find a suitable suitor for marriage. But she wasn't interested on being married to anyone anytime soon. During this time, she received a call for their next case with her investigative partner, Geoffrey Hunter, in their firm. They've been hired to find the missing diamonds that's been stolen from the De Vries Mansion. Right off the start, they talked to the staff and Lena and William DeVries about the missing jewels. As they search for clues, they learn that someone hung themself in the attic of the same home. This was when Prudence and Geoffrey run into the NYPD when it happened in the DeVries household and look behind the story of the footman's suicide. From there, they've became tangled into a web of deception and deceit when they've hit a snag or two  to discover another death, until Lena's own son lost his life due to alcoholism... and later her husband suffered a stroke and later succumbed to it. The closer they look for answers on unraveling the culprit's identity, the more surprised they were to find out it was under their noses right along until the climaxing and twisting ending. 

It's been a long time since I've read a historical mystery. And I loved how had taken place in the Gilded Age when life was simpler and rich in that time period. I loved the 1890s historical feel to old-time New York City and how it transported me to that time in your history. I did care for Prudence--such an old-fashioned and archaic name!--on how she took charge of her life by not being well invested into marriage and focusing on her private investigating career with her ex-Pinkerton partner, Geoffrey Hunter. Little did she know, her partner had designs for her. And I think Hunter is extraordinary to accept Prudence into his firm and letting them work together to save the most complex crime cases for their firm. The theme of the story is not let greed get in the way of happiness and ruining your family.

 If you love the razzmatazz of old-time capers to transport you to the hands of time, Death, Diamonds and Deception has plenty of non-stop gripping action and lots of dramatic suspense to keep you hooked from start to finish. 

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