Book Review - Wreath Between the Lines

Wreath Between the Lines
By:  Daryl Wood Gerber
Beyond the Page Publishing
Publication Date:  November 08, 2018
4 Stars

Christmas is fast approaching in Crystal Cove, California.  Jenna, her aunt Vera, and the rest of the staff at the Cookbook Nook are getting it all set up for Christmas.   Things seems to be going great until Jenna’s older sister, Whitney, shows up in town unexpectedly.  Whitney comes loaded with drama as she is having trouble with her teenage daughter, Lacey, and she is worried that her marriage is in trouble.  Things, however, become tragic when Jenna’s friend and neighbor Jake, comes over to ask for help because he had found his friend Geoffrey murdered.  Jenna not only feels bad for Jake’s loss, but she would also like to help him find out what happened to his friend.  When Jenna realizes though how much Geoffrey and Jake look alike, she is afraid that Geoffrey’s death may the case of mistaken identity.  This makes Jenna even more determined to get to the bottom of things.

Wreath Between the Lines is a great Christmas cozy mystery, and it is the 8th book in The Cookbook Nook mystery series.  This book is filled with all the right ingredients to make it a great Christmas mystery story: the mystery itself, the christmas lights, the plethora of baking, Christmas music and carols, Santas, Elves, and most importantly friendship and love.

As a new reader to the series, I found it easy to jump right in and mingle with the story’s characters.  There was enough background information given that I was able to understand and enjoy the characters and their storylines.

The story is complex, but in such a delicious way.  The author has many different pots simmering with different dishes and is able to bring them altogether at once to serve up a delectable Christmas meal.

On top of a really great story, the reader is also treated to wonderful descriptions of cookbooks.  I have sworn away from cookbooks as I already have too many, but I had to go and look up many of the cookbooks described.  They sounded so wonderful.  If the cookbook recommendations aren’t enough, there are also yummy recipes included at the end of the story.


Thanks to Net Galley and Beyond the Page Publishing for an ARC of this book.  #NetGalley #WreathBetweenTheLines

Book Review - A Christmas Revelation

A Christmas Revelation
By:  Anne Perry
Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine
Publication Date:  November 6, 2018
3 Stars

A Christmas Revelation is a Victorian Era mystery.  The plot revolves around a poverty-stricken population.  Worm, an orphan boy, sees a woman who appears to be forcibly taken away by two men.  Even after his hard years on the streets, he has a remarkably big heart and is immediately concerned about her.  At once, he sets out following the trio with the hopes of rescuing the woman.  He soon realizes he will need help, and sets back off to the clinic where he lives.  There he finds Squeaky, the clinic’s accounts’ keeper, and enlists his help.  Squeaky is reluctant to assist, but ultimately agrees.

The two set out to try and find the woman.  When they find her, she informs them that she doesn’t want to be rescued.  The men she is with are responsible for the death of her father, and she wants to keep them close so she can find a way to bring them to justice.  Worm and Squeaky volunteer to help her.

Although this is a mystery that revolves around a murder, it is easy to forget that.  It seems like it is a story about the heart.  We have Worm who sets out to help a complete stranger simply because of the kindness in his heart.  He doesn’t think twice about his own safety, but only that of the woman and Squeaky.  Squeaky agrees to help because he feels protective of Worm, and that relationship deepens as the novel progresses.  Squeaky also sets out to plan a Christmas celebration at the clinic in the truest meaning of the season.  The benefactor heartily agrees to fund the Christmas celebration.  Then we are left with the “kidnapped” woman who must decide what the right (moral) thing to do is.

This is a great Christmas story with facets that truly speak of the Christmas spirit.  It will leave you with feelings of goodness and warmth.

Book Review for a Shot in the Dark

A Shot in the Dark
By:  Lynne Truss
Bloomsbury USA
3 Stars

At the beginning of the story the author vowed to “play fair with readers, Making no use of divine revelation, feminine intuition, mumbo jumbo, jiggery-pokery, coincidence, or acts of God.”  And the author follows through with her promises, and plays fair with the readers.  She sets out a very methodical plot, and does so in a very clever way.  She introduces us to the three main police characters Captain Stein, Sargent Brunswick, and Constable Twitter.  All three have very different personalities.  When a loathsome theater critic, A. S. Crystal is killed during the production of A Shilling in the Meter, they all set out to try and solve the case.  Each, however, does so on their own path.  Stein would rather the whole incident just go away so he can concentrate on his radio show.  Sargent Brunswick seems to want to prove himself, but isn’t exactly sure where to begin.  Constable Twitter, a self-proclaimed genius, is new the station, and he knows exactly how he wants to solve this case.

The investigation felt like they were on three separate mine cars with no individual steering controls.  At times it even felt like they were jumping tracks.  I kept waiting for the cars to crash and have the investigation end up in shambles.  However, the author was carefully able to control these mine cars behind the scenes.  She leads them down twisting and turning paths, and even paths that the reader doesn’t expect (though not far fetched).  She is able to slow these cars down so they stop right before the point of collision. None of the paths hav led down the wrong track, and in fact all three seem to intertwine.  The ending is surprising, but still within the author’s own words of “…play(ing) fair with the readers.”

This book felt like an old time mystery, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys that genre.

Thanks to Net Galley and Bloomsbury USA for the opportunity to receive an arc of this book.  #NetGalley #AShotInTheDark

Book Review for Santa Puppy

Santa Puppy
By:  Lynn Cahoon
Kensington Books – Lyrical Press
4 Stars

Jill Gardner and her friends are back in this holiday story of the Tourist Trap Mysteries series.  This time they are getting ready for their Christmas party which will include animals for adoption from the local animal shelter.  The gang goes to the shelter ahead of time to help wash the pets to get them all cleaned up for adoption.  While there, Jill falls in love with a dog named Baby.  His owner was found dead on the beach with Baby sitting by his side.  Jill seeks to find out more information about the owner in hopes of placing Baby into the right hands.

This book is a novella, and it is a quick, fun read.  It can easily be read in one setting.  There is not really any new character development of the main players in this series.  That works for this novella though, because the story centers around Baby, his owner, their story, and of course the true meaning of Christmas. There is a small, mystical element to the story that I found unnecessary but not distracting.  I can wholeheartedly recommend this book to those who love holiday stories and cozy mysteries.

Book Review for Deadly News

Deadly News
By:  Jody Holford
Kensington Books – Lyrical Underground
4 Stars

Molly Owns moves to Britton Bay, Oregon to start a new life after a cheating boyfriend.  She is hired as editor of the Britton Bay Bulletin.  Her job is to help return the paper to its former glory.  The paper has two writers on staff, Elizabeth and Vernon.  While Elizabeth seems willing to accept Molly, Vernon takes an instant dislike to her.  Molly butts heads with Vernon when she tells him to write a piece on a well-known local family.  Two days after she orders him to finish his story, he fails to returns to work.  Molly goes to his home and finds him dead.  She feels guilty about his death because she is certain his death has something to do with the story he was supposed to be writing.  The problem is that Vernon was simply not a nice person and so the list of possible suspects is long.  Molly finds, though, that she can’t keep out of the investigation until she has some answers.  Molly’s interference, however, leads to trouble for her.  Maybe too much trouble.

Deadly News is a great start to the Britton Bay mystery series.  The story takes place in a small, quiet town in coastal Oregon.  I immediately like Molly’s character and liked that she wasn’t portrayed as a shrinking violet.  She knows the steps that need to be taken to improve the paper and she immediately enacts changes even though she faces some opposition.  The rest of the book is flushed out with a great cast of characters that I look forward to getting to know better.  One person in particular catches Molly’s eye, Sam Aldrich.  Although Molly has avowed herself of men, she can’t seem to suppress her attraction to Sam.  Their budding romance provides a great subplot.  The main plot is unpredictable and refreshing.  I was kept guessing until the end.  Cozy mystery readers should definitely add this series to their TBR pile.  I know that I plan on following and reading this series.

Thanks to Net Galley and Kensington Press – Lyrical Underground for an ARC of this book.  #NetGalley #DeadlyNews

Book Review for Yule Log Murder

Yule Log Murder
By:  Leslie Meier; Lee Hollis; Barbara Ross
Kensington Books
4 Stars

What a great set of Christmas cozy mysteries to start off the holiday season.  Although each of the stories is part of a series, they are very much stand alone stories.  In fact, I’ve never read a book from the Hayley Powell series or the Maine Clambake series, and I immensely liked them.  I plan on reading more books from all three authors.

Each of the stories provide a unique and interesting mystery.  The plots include the death of an assistant on a movie set, the death of the town bad boy, and the mysterious acts of a cantankerous old lady.  All have great plots and well developed characters. The endings were all very surprising.  And of course, each has a tie to Yule Logs.  At the end of each story you will find recipes for Christmas treats.  Yum!!! So light a fire in your fireplace, make a cup of hot chocolate, cuddle up on your couch with your favorite blanket, and grab your book and settle in for a great read.  When you are done, you will probably be in the mood to try your hand at one of the holiday recipes included in the book.

Anyone who enjoys holiday stories and cozy mysteries will enjoy this book.

Thanks to Net Galley and Kensington Books for an ARC of the book.  #NetGalley #TheYuleLog

Book Review for The Lady in the Cellar

The Lady in the Cellar
By:  Sinclair McGay
Quarto Publishing Group -  White Lion Publishing
4 Stars

By 1879 in London there were 14,000 homes that were licensed to rent rooms to lodgers.  The house at 4 Easton Square was one of those homes.  From the outside it looked like a reputable boarding house.  Inside, however, it was teeming with secrets.  One of those secrets was revealed on May 8th, 1879 when the family’s errand boy went down to the cellar to make room for a coal drop.  There he discovered a foot bone, and eventually a whole body was discovered.  The bones were found to be those of a former boarder, Matilda Hacker.  Scotland Yard was called in to try and solve the mystery.

This true crime mystery book was very captivating.  We are led through the murder mystery facts that were uncovered during research, and to a certain extent the author’s interpretations of them.  It was interesting to read about the techniques that the Victorian Era Scotland Yard detectives used to solve crimes.

I found myself absorbed in the plot and connected to the main participants.  The two main “sides” seemed to provide convincing arguments that the other committed the crime.  This isn’t a happy tale, and it was sad to see how the different real life people suffered because of this murder.  I found myself constantly pondering who committed the crime.  A crime the author does a superior job of telling.  This story will keep you entranced all the way to the end.  I think anyone who enjoys true crime mysteries will enjoy this book.

Thanks to Net Galley & Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion Publishing for an ARC of this book.  #NetGalley #TheLadyInTheCellar