MURDER ON THE ROCKS: A Gray Whale Inn Mystery - Karen MacInerney

Trading in Texas heat for Maine's tangy salt air, Natalie Barnes risked it all to buy the Gray Whale Inn, a quaint bed and breakfast on Cranberry Island. She adores whipping up buttery muffins and other rich breakfast treats for her guests until Bernard Katz checks in. The overbearing land developer plans to build a resort next door where an endangered colony of black-chinned terns is nesting. Worried about the birds, the inevitable transformation of the sleepy fishing community, and her livelihood, Natalie takes a public stand against the project. But the town board sides with Katz. Just when it seems like things can't get any worse, Natalie finds Katz dead. Now the police and much of the town think she's guilty. Can Natalie track down the true killer before she's hauled off to jail...or becomes the next victim?

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I have a distinct fondness for cozy/amateur sleuth mysteries set along the East Coast. It might be my love of my guilty pleasure TV show "Murder She Wrote" or whatever, but it is a favorite setting.

Nat has an inn to run and that is threatened by the promise of a development deal of a hewgah resort right next door. The owner of the development company winds up dead and fingers are pointing at Nat. There are other likely suspects, but she's the likeliest.

The mystery is handled wonderfully and I cannot wait to read the rest of the series. I also liked yummy recipes in the back of the book. Karen MacInerney did a fab job of showing Nat running the inn, making the breakfast goodies each morning and getting involved in solving the murder in a realistic manner as possible. That makes for a pleasant reading experience for me and doesn't feed into my pet peeve of 'How does she/he do dat?' when the food is always in the freezer for just such an emergency, running a business, volunteering, perfect dishes for each occasion, solving the murder and always well groomed....you know....

Five atmospheric mystery beans.....

DO UNTO OTHERS: A Jordan Poteet Mystery - Jeff Abbott

From the back of the book:

Jordan Poteet has left the big city to work as a librarian in his hometown of Mirabeau, Texas. But his dream of the quiet life is shattered when he locks horns with Miss Beta Harcher, the town's prize religious fanatic, in a battle over censorship.

When Jordan finds her murdered body in the library, he becomes the prime suspect. And when the police find a cryptic list stashed next to her fanatical heart, it seems as if Beta Harcher has the whole town in a death grip . . .

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What I learned from this fine amateur sleuth mystery:

1. Be careful what you pick up on your walks

2. Beware of sweet smiles.

3. Being a librarian can be more exciting than one might think.

4. Those little Texas towns can be full of mystery and murder.

This is Jeff Abbott's first book published and first in this series. I've been on the hunt for it since reading and highly diggin' THE ONLY GOOD YANKEE a few years back (apparently before I started blogging, so no review link).

I like Jordan Poteet's style. I feel for him. His mother has Alzheimer's, his sister is a single mom to a sullen teen and Jordy has moved back to help as well as he can. He's been accused of murder and he sets out to prove he didn't do it.

I will continue to search out this series and this author. He has several stand-alones and another fab series, Whit Mosley. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/a/jeff-abbott/

Five mysterious Texas beans.....

DEAD DANCING WOMEN: An Emily Kincaid Mystery - Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli

From the back of the book: "Most days are all the same here in Leetsville. No better, no worse. It was just another garbage day, fighting off the scavenger crows. Then things got worse----a lot worse.

A severed head tumbled out of my garbage can."

With a co-ed chasing ex-husband and a string of failed mystery novels haunting her, part-time journalist Emily Kincaid is convinced she's destined for tragedy. So it figures that just when Emily finds peace---a cozy cabin nestled in the northern Michigan woods---that severed head would turn up and ruin it all.

Emily soon learns that the victim belonged to the Women of the Moon, a group of old ladies who sing and dance around a bonfire in the woods at night. Someone in town has a serious problem with their earth-praising rituals. Now, one by one, they're turning up dead, and Emily finds herself pulled into a righteous murderer's mad machinations.

By forming an uneasy alliance with the fractious Deputy Dolly, can Emily manage to stop the killings---and somehow devise a happy ending?

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A mystery about a mystery writer trying to write a mystery. Excellent!

Emily has moved to a small town to try and write a mystery, one that will actually be published this time.

Only she finds herself in the middle of one. Women are being killed and the only thing connecting them is that they belong to a group who respect and worship, in their own way, the Earth.

I loved the characters in the book. Emily can make friends with the oddest of characters. There's the reclusive ornery neighbor, Harry, who helps Emily around her place and brings her the occasional possum stew. Harry is my favorite I think.

I know the next books will be just as excellent. I need to see how Emily gets on with her ex-husband who has decided that her little slice of heaven could be just what he needs to work on his book about Chaucer...and moves close by.

The mystery is well done, the characters are fully fleshed out and I want to move to this area of Michigan. All my criteria met.

Five all my criteria met beans....

MAMA RIDES SHOTGUN: A Mace Bauer Mystery - Deborah Sharp

From the back of the book:Trouble on the Trail.....

Mama's fixin' to get hitched to Husband #5. But first, she coerces her daughter, Mace, to saddle up for some country-gal bonding on the Florida Cracker Trail. The trek takes a deadly turn when Lawton Bramble---wealthy rancher and one-time beau of Mama's---keels over in his Cow Hunter Chil.

Lawton had a horde of enemies and a famously bad ticker. Could a grudge-wielding rival have "spiced" the cattleman's chow? With (or maybe despite) the help of her sisters and her sexy ex-beau, Detective Martinez, Mace sets out to corral a low-down varmint who's determined to kill again.

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What a GORGEOUS cover!! I want a fast convertible Thunderbird in this shade of turquoise! Or a silk blouse....which is probably more what I can actually afford...or cowboy boots....oooooh.....
Love love love this series!! Mama just cracks me up and Mace does the best she can with what's given her, especially where Mama is concerned. Mama means well and only wants Mace to be happy...but what she thinks will make Mace happy is pretty much different from what Mace thinks.
Mama and Mace go on the annual Florida Cracker Trail for some bonding time before Mama marries hubby #5 and stumble onto what looks like the murder of a prominent landowner.
Plenty of suspects to be had and Mace's not quite boyfriend, Carlos the yumma-rooney Miami detective, is along for the ride to help stir Mace's emotions and assist in the detecting.
Along the way the reader learns some neat Florida history, why a Cracker is called a Cracker, and get to see the Florida that doesn't get as much attention as it should.
Five turquoise sparkly diamonds!!!

FATAL FIXER-UPPER: A DIY Mystery - Jennie Bentley

From the back of the book: Avery Baker was once a New York textile designer, but inheriting her aunt's old Maine cottage has led her down a new career path----home renovation. Finding a property's hidden potential has rewards and challenges---especially when a mystery surfaces behind the walls....

To Avery, the idea of preparing her aunt's crumbling and cluttered home for sale is overwhelming. So when someone offers to buy the place as is, Avery's relieved. Until she learns it's worth more than she thought--that is with a few repairs here and there.....

With help from hunky handyman Derek Ellis, Avery starts learning the ABC's of DIY. But when the designer-turned-renovator finds clues that lead to a missing local professor and then her own life is threatened, Avery wonders if she can finish the house---without getting finished off in the process....

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When Avery finds her boyfriend making whoopie with the receptionist, she decides to take her aunt up on house ownership of the house in Maine. It needs work and she thinks of it as therapy to mend her heart and make some money and move on. Events intrude and her plans change. She makes friends, finds a mystery and a new life.

I highly enjoyed this start of a series I already like thanks to starting with the second in the series, SPACKLED AND SPOOKED. I look forward to the rest of the series, most definitely. Some superb DIY hints in the back of each book, too. My favorite in this one is Mosaic your tabletop or backsplash, something I definitely want to try. Thanks Jennie!!

Five DIY fab beans....

A DEADLY CLICHE: A Books by the Bay Mystery - Ellery Adams

From the back of the book: While walking her poodle, Olivia Limoges discovers a dead body buried in the sand. Could it be connected to the bizarre burglaries plaguing Oyster Bay, North Carolina? The Bayside Book Writers prick up ther ears and pick up their pens to get the story...

The thieves have a distinct MO. At every crime scene, they set up odd tabeleaus: a stick of butter with a knife through it, dolls with silver spoons in their mouths, a deck of cards with a missing queen. Olivia realizes each setup represents a cliche.

Who better to decode the cliche clues than the Bayside Book Writers group, especially since their newest memer is Police Chief Rawlings? As the investigation proceeds, Olivia is surprised to find herself falling for the widowed policeman. But an even greater surprise is in store. Her father ---lost at sea thirty years ago---may still be alive....

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Nothing against any of the other cozy/amateur sleuth mysteries I've read this year (or even last year), but this is the best one I've read in a really long while. I have my favorites, yes, but I was completely taken by surprise at how much I enjoyed reading this second in the Books by the Bay series. I started reading it when I saw a post on Cozy Chicks blog on 3 Mar by Ellery Adams about rewarding readers/reviewers of cozies, especially the Cozy Chick author cozies. The first ten would win some DEADLY CLICHE schtuff and I immediately set KING OF PLAGUES: Joe Ledger #3 - Jonathan Maberry aside as my bedside book (I know, not typical bedtime reading, but that's me) and picked up DEADLY CLICHE from the stack on the nightstand.

I knew I didn't stand a chance to get in on the prezzies, but once I got into the story of Olivia Limoges, both her present and past stories, I didn't care about missing out on the treat bag....I just cared about this tight, well written mystery.

Two main stories going on: the mystery of the break-ins and murders and the mystery of Olivia's father, along with how Olivia handled both mysteries.

Olivia has been used to being removed from people, handling things from behind the scenes and now she finds herself cautiously making friends as well as helping bring Oyster Bay new life with renovations and jobs.

Nothing seemed forced or made to happen. The mystery was well done, the scenes and dialogue not even relating to the two mysteries were smooth and a nice interlude. I cried at times towards the end of the book, sad and happy. I love when I care about the characters.

And I want a dog like Captain Haviland. He and Olivia are a good team and good for each other.

I can't wait to read the third in the series, THE LAST WORD, whenever it comes out. Thankfully, I have the first in the series, A KILLER PLOT, on the nightstand to keep me until then.

Five I want to live in Oyster Bay sparkling diamonds....

ARSENIC AND OLD PAINT: Art Lover's Mystery - Hailey Lind

From the back of the book: Both sides of the art world....

Former art forger Annie Kincaid has been operating a legitimate decorative painting business for quite, but memories are long in the art world. Now, with the blessing of the FBI Art Squad, Annie's using her underworld connections to boost her new art investigation business, where she's partnered with none other than ex-art thief/love interest Michael X. Johnson. At first it's strictly business, but when she stumbles across a body in an exclusive Nob Hill men's club, and an insurance adjuster asks her to find a stolen (and forged) erotic painting, and then her Uncle Anton is attacked, Annie's on the trail of more than just art. This time, she's looking for justice.

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Oh, how I love this series. I would love to be an artist like Annie, I'd love to live in San Francisco and work in a place like her studio. I love my life, but it's fun to imagine what it would be like to know how to faux finish a room to look like a medieval dungeon and know a real Monet from a forged one.

What's not to love about a book that features a posh men's club, a dead body, an artist is found poisoned from paint, secret tunnels, and a sex club? And the sex club part of the story had to be my favorite for the.....

Five faux finish beans.....

A NIGHT AT THE OPERATION: A Double Feature Mystery - Jeffrey Cohen

From the back of the book: Murder is No Joke

Most men wouldn't be terribly upset if their ex-wives suddenly vanished. But then, most men aren't Elliot Freed. So when his ex----Dr. Sharon Simon-Freed----goes missing, Elliot finds it hard to focus on running Comedy Tonight, his all-comedy movie theatre. Especially when it's rumored that Sharon might be somehow connected to a patient's death----a death that looks like murder.

While his theatre starts to fall apart and his most trusted employee threatens to quit, Elliot embarks on a frantic search for his ex with help from her second (and thankfully soon-to-also-be-ex) husband, his passive-aggressive mother and desperate-to-please father, and his good friend Detective Vidal. Because murder is now laughing matter.....

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Elliot is such a sweetie. I enjoy watching his mind work out problems that occur, how he manages to get rides to places that are too far for him to ride his bike to get to, taking care of his people and his people taking care of him: at the theater, at the bike shop, at his ex-wife's medical practice. Even how he gets involved in the murder solving that keep happening around him.

He has extra reason this time since it's Sharon, Elliot's ex, who is accused of causing the death of one of her patients. Sharon disappears, not answering her phone, and it makes her look all the more guilty. Elliot to the rescue.

Would that I had a movie theatre around here in our neck of Colorado so I could see these classic comedies. Heck I'd want to work there. I hope he's working on another Double Feature Mystery, but at least I have the Haunted Guesthouse series to keep me happy, since he writes that one as E J Copperman...YAY!

Five let's go to the movies beans....

HOOKED ON MURDER: A Crochet Mystery - Betty Hechtman

From the back of the book: Molly Pink is about to discover the joys of crochet. It's a relaxing escape from her hectic life as a bookstore event coordinator....and from the stress of being the latest murder suspect in Tarzana, California.

For Molly, the weekly crochet group at Shedd & Royal Books and More was just another event to manage. Then she stumbled across the body of group leader Ellen Sheridan. Molly's complicated past with Ellen has made her a prime suspect, and after being cuffed and questioned, she could use a diversion. Never mind that she doesn't know how to crochet. Granny squares don't look that hard to make.....

But while Molly's fending off a detective with a grudge and navigating crochet-group politics, the real killer is at large. And it's up to Molly to catch the culprit---before she winds up in a tight knot....

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It took me a couple of chapters to really enjoy hanging with Molly and the crochet peeps, but once I got to chapter 3, I was in there. Molly has a legitimate reason for gettng involved in the murder solving. She was found over the dead body, the victim bought out Molly's business after the death of Molly's husband, the victim's partner, and the detective in charge of the case has the hots for Molly's boyfriend, another police detective.....keeping up? Yeah, that was my problem at first. A whole bunch of backstory with a whole bunch of characters to learn. Once I got the hang of everyone and everything, it was all good and I highly enjoyed the rest of the book.

Molly learning to crochet was fun to watch and I admired her backbone sticking up for herself against her bossy oldest son and the take charge boyfriend.

Nice characters to enjoy and some well written characters with some issues that I wanted to pop upside the cranium.

I started the book not sure I wanted to finish it and by the end of the story, I had the second in the series, DEAD MEN DON'T CROCHET, on the WWBL.

Four crocheting is the next big thing beans.....

HOMICIDE IN HARDCOVER: A Bibliophile Mystery - Kate Carlisle

From the back of the book: A new chapter begins.....

Brooklyn Wainwright is a skilled surgeon. Sure, her patients might smell like mold and have spines made of leather, but no ailing book is going to die on her watch. The same can't be said of Abraham Karastovsky, Brooklyn's friend and former employer.

On the eve of a celebration for his latest book restoration, Brooklyn finds her mento lying in a pool of his own blood. With his final breath, Abraham leaves Brooklyn a cryptic meassage, "Remember the devil," and smiles as she takes possession of his priceless--and supposedly cursed--copy of Goethe's FAUST.

Brooklyn suddenly finds herself accused of murder and theft, thanks to Derek Stone, the humorless--and annoyingly attractive--British security officer who found her kneeling over the body. Now she has to make sense of the clues left behind by her mentor if she hopes to restore justice.....

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I made this my purse book as it meets the requirements, a story I wouldn't be hard-pressed to try to keep up between reading time and it must fit in my purse and not take up too much space. Cozies/Amateur sleuth books fit this bill nicely. Only this one, I wanted to spend more time with than I was getting. The characters are funny and smart or really slap the face mean. The career/artistry of the main character, Brooklyn, is a first for me. I am pretty sure I haven't read a book with bookbinding as the path any of the characters have wandered and this was a real treat. Seeing the love of the craft, the tools required, the people involved, all that jazz...but that never felt forced or overwhelmed the story. It was nicely in the background and moved the story and mystery along.

Brooklyn getting involved as the amateur sleuth was nicely done, too. Her friend, Abraham, was murdered and she was accused of the murder and she wanted to clear her name and find who actually killed her mentor and friend.

I loved Brooklyn's family and her background of commune living and Grateful Dead memories of her mother and father. I want to visit Dharma, the commune, and the winery that Brooklyn's dad operates with love and wisdom. And her mom is priceless and very spiritual and funny and warm.

Five fab peace out book beans......

IT HAPPENED ONE KNIFE: A Double Feature Mystery #2 - Jeffrey Cohen

From the back of the book: Comedy can be dead funny....

Elliot Freed couldn't be happier. His all-comedy movie theater, Comedy Tonight, is newly refurbished; things with his ex-wife are looking up; he's even willing to screen his projectionist's film debut. But what really has Elliot walking on air is hosting the legendary duo, Lillis & Townes, at a special showing of their classic comedy 'Cracked Ice'

Nothing can bring Elliot down---not a missing film, a bomb scare, or even a surly teenage girl. But when insinuations arise that one of his boyhood heros may have been involved in a Hollywood murder decades earlier, Elliot crashes to earth. He sets out to discover the truth--but he finds that he may beon the killer's hit list.....

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I loved SOME LIKE IT HOT-BUTTERED (review in link) when I read it in April. It's a fab title (and it's how I like my popcorn), so it immediately drew my attention when I saw it somewhere. Now for the author to grab me to keep reading the series, there has to be more than a pretty title. Jeffrey Cohen did it in spades with IT HAPPENED ONE KNIFE.

Poor Elliot...he's doing his projectionist a favor and shows Anthony's debut film...then is accused of stealing the film project. Elliot then invites his two heroes of comedy filmdom, Lillis & Townes, to a special showing of one of their hit films at his theater...and finds out that one of them may have committed a murder in the past.

Elliot decides he has to investigate both crimes and gets in all kinds of trouble around town, someone sends him an unpleasant gift, demolishes his bike, he might be dating his ex-wife...poor poor Elliot. I just want to reach in and give him a hug.

But he carries on and forges ahead, no matter that everyone tells otherwise..some a little more strongly than others and more forcefully.

And now I cannot wait to read number 3 in the series, A NIGHT AT THE OPERATION. It's in the B&N shopping cart and my next order to Cynthia at High Crimes...whichever gets sent first...now what's this that only three have been written..

Five please say it's only three books in the series so far beans....

I GAVE YOU MY HEART, BUT YOU SOLD IT ONLINE: Domestic Equalizers #3 - Dixie Cash, narr Peggity Price

From the back of the BOCD: Dixie Cash novels score critical accolades while slaying readers with witty mysteries starring the Domestic Equalizers, aka Debbie Sue Overstreet and her best friend Edwina. In their third outing, the gals from Salt Lick, Texas, wrangl with a mystery involving a handsome bull-riding champeen.

It's apparent to 12-year-old Jill that her I'm-just-fine-without-a-man mom Allison has grown jaded and needs to get back on the dating scene. So she goes on the Internet and lands a catch Allison would be crazy to throw back: strapping rodeo star Quint Matthews. It seems like the perfect match, but Quint comes to town with a heap o' trouble in tow. Now Quint must turn to the spunky Domestic Equalizers to find out who's tailing him before somebody ends up dead as armadillo roadkill.

Peggity Price captures all the West Texas flavor with a narration that adds spice and sizzle to this side-splitting tale.

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Oh, how I love this series. I did have to suffer through DH's chatter about some 'anomalies' in the logic, but I know to go with the flow...anomalies schanomalies....Debbie Sue and Ed crac me the hell up!

The mystery kind of meanders and really doesn't make a show until later in the book and that's okay, too. It's also secondary to the sort of romance between Allison and Quint, then later really heats up between Allison and Tag, the best friend of Quint. Allison meets Quint via her daughter's good intentions of the online dating service. She thinks Quint is easy on the eyes, but a little full of himself. Quint takes her to a restaurant that his best friend owns and Allison meets Tag...owner of the restaurant. And they keep meeting up and falling more for each other, but unwilling to do more about it because of Quint.

Quint is in his own world of trouble and hires Debbie Sue and Edwina to help him out. Debbie Sue still thinks of Quint as a good friend and everyone else thinks Quint is an egotistical ex-boyfriend of Debbie Sue, in particular Debbie Sue's husband.

Favorite scene in the book is the 'toy' party...O..M..G!!! It has to be read or listened to, I really cannot do it justice here....but...O..M..G funny!

Please do yourself a favor, if you like a funny mystery, please get this book, this series!

Five funny funny Texas diamonds.....

MAID FOR MURDER: A Squeaky Clean Charlotte LaRue Mystery - Barbara Colley

From the back of the book: In New Orleans' historic Garden District, life is all about attending the right parties, impressing the right people, and making the right amount of money (a lot!). It's an attitude fifty-nine-year-old Charlotte LaRue has never really understood. She leads a quiet, simple, practical life. Business is booming at her housecleaning service, Maid - for -a - Day. Everything's perfect. Well, almost everything...

Charlotte doesn't mind polishing silver, scrubbing toilets, or dusting bookcases--but she can't stand dealing with her rich clients' dirty laundry. And when it comes to the much-talked-about Dubuisson family, there's an awful lot of it--especially since Jackson Dubuisson waas found murdered in his study.

Surrounded by possible suspects and hounded by a tenacious police detective, Charlotte wishes she could stick to her own policy of staying out of clients' personal business. Problem is, she's never been able to walk away from a mess. And this is the biggest one she's ever seen....

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I do love when I find a new-to-me series that I love. And this amateur sleuth series definitely fits that bill.

I like the stories that take place in New Orleans as they seem to always have that Gothic feel, even this cozy has that tinge of dark edge to it.

The main character, Charlotte, is an intelligent person, has her own business, wants grandchildren from her son, ties on her walking shoes each morning before it gets too hot for her 30 minute walk....and she wants to find out who killed the husband of one of her clients. This part of an amateur sleuth book can come off as forced at times, but this one didn't at all. She wants to help her client and friend by using the information she knows from the behind the scenes look she gets as a housecleaner for the rich. Information that the police can't discover, but she can to hopefully solve the mystery.

The edge of Gothic is in all of the excellently surprising dark twists that occur as the book continues. Shivery good all the way to the end. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series.

Five shivery Gothic beans......

CORPSE POSE: A Mantra For Murder Mystery - Diana Killian

From the back of the book: A. J. Alexander wasn't on a quest for self-realization. But as the new owner of Sacred Balance yoga studio, she's going to have to turn up her inner voice or wind up in a corpse pose---for good....

Ever since her husband ditched her--for another man--A.J. hasn't exactly been on the road to inner peace. Then her yoga-guru aunt is found dead, and A.J. is named the sole heir to her lucrative yoga studio--making her a multi-millionaire, a prime suspect, and the killer's next target.

Now, her mother, who considers herself a qualified sleuth because she once played one on British television, wants to help A.J. find the killer. And an overbearing--yet handsome--detective is determined to pump her for information. With their help A.J. must limber up and find the real killer, before he strikes another deadly pose....

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I do love finding a new-to-me author and series, especially when it's a good series that is going to have me looking for the next book and the next after that...I already have DIAL OM FOR MURDER on the WWBL.

I liked how well the character appealed to me, even the poopy ones. By appeal, I mean I either wanted to join A J learning to get back into yoga, give A J's mom an hug with her lovably aggravating ways, and/or smack the crap out of bitchy Lily who isn't nice to anyone and she's lead yoga instructor!

The amateur sleuth angle was well played. A J wanted to find out who killed her much loved and aunt and she felt compelled to rein her mother, the self-proclaimed pro sleuth since she'd played one on BBC back in the day.

Yoga is a neat premise for the series. It helped mellow A J after being dumped by her husband for another man (yikes!) and helped ease her aching back that she'd needed medical help prior to revisiting. It helped calm the nerves of several of the characters. And I learned that there's such a thing as Doga, dog yoga...yep, how cool is that?

Five stretchy beans.....

BONES TO PICK: Book 6 Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery - Carolyn Haines, narr Kate Forbes

From the back of the BOCD: Mississippi native Carolyn Haines writes spicy mysteries teeming with all the eccentricities of Southern society. BONES TO PICK continues the adventures of sassy PI Sarah Booth Delaney.

Quentin McGee, author of a sensational expose, has been murdered, and her lover Allison has been charged with the crime. Sarah is hired to find the real culprit, but the investigation won't be easy. Quentin has so many enemies, including her own family and all those rich, powerful people mentioned in her book. As scandal brews, the suspect list continues to grow, and Sarah fears that the killer isn't finished yet.

Haines' Southern Belle mystery, together with a spirited narration frm Kate Forbes, draws listeners right into the heart of the Mississippi Delta. Haines' CROSSED BONES is also available from RecordedBooks.

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Hawt Dayum! This is such a good series. And I've only read two of them! Now there's a whole lot that's happened between book one, THEM BONES (my review), and book 6, so I will be going back to catch up. I meant to read the series in order, but this one popped up on my wishlist on RecordedBooks and I couldn't wait to spend time with Sarah Booth and her buddy Tinkie and the rest of the crowd.

I adore Sarah Booth. She calls it as she sees it, recognizes a bitch when she sees one and is ready to help a friend whether the friend realizes she needs help or not.

Sarah Booth and Tinkie are hired to find the killer of a local girl who wrote a scathing tell-all book about her community of wealthy high society folk. Everyone is a suspect and it's up to Sarah Booth and Tinkie to find the real killer. Things start to accelerate and my jaw dropped when the killer was revealed.

I do love Sarah Booth, but my favorite character in this book was Tinkie. She has some emotional turmoil of her own to get through and wants to get through it on her own, but she still is out there with Sarah Booth investigating. And she is so funny and I kept wanting to reach in the book and hug her. She and Sarah Booth are women I admire, tough and sweet and I always imagine them wearing a strand or two of pearls. And are willing to call a bitch a bitch.

Five Southern sweet tea diamonds.....and a big ol' string of pearls.....

MURDER IS BINDING: A Booktown Mystery - Lorna Barrett

From the back of the book: Stoneham, New Hampshire, was a dying town until community leaders invited booksellers to open up shop. Now, its streets are lined with booksellers--and paved with murder...

When she moved to Stoneham, city-slicker Tricia Miles was met with friendly faces. And when she opened her mystery bookstore, she was met with friendly competition. But when she finds Doris Gleason dead in her own cookbook store, killed with a kitchen knife, the atmosphere seems more cutthroat than cordial. Someone wanted to get their hands on the rare cookbook that Doris had recently purchased--and the locals think that someone is Tricia. To clear her name, Tricia will have to take a page out of one of her own mysteries---and hunt down someone who isn't killing by the book....

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What is not to love about a well written amateur sleuth mystery set in a town that centers around bookshops? There is a neatly crafted mystery with a good reason for the amateur sleuth, Tricia, to get involved in solving the murder. She makes for a really good suspect and she wants it known to the sheriff (who is acting like Tricia is the only suspect) that she didn't have anything to do with the victim except to discover her dead body.

And there's her seemingly irritating sister who looks like she is ready to move to Stoneham and be in Tricia's life forever, something Tricia isn't overly pleased about.

She just wants to have her shop and her life back and she is going to have to take matters in her own mystery loving hands.

I had a lot of fun reading this. I had it as my bedside book and it kept me up at night to read 'just one more page...' and up earlier in the AM and on the recumbent bike for a little while longer to find what Tricia was going to do or what Angelica was going to do lovingly irritate her sister again.

Oooooh! And there are super yummy recipes in the back!!

Five highly excellent just one more page beans....

SOME LIKE IT HOT-BUTTERED: A Double Feature Mystery - Jeffrey Cohen

From the back of the book: All Elliott Freed wanted to do was to make people die laughing. But not literally.

The dead guy in row S, seat 18, is no joke. Elliot Freed, recovering writer, socked all his savings--and the alimony from his ex-wife--into the Comedy Tonight movie theater, never suspecting it would become a crime scene. And murder cant' be good for ticket sales.

Death by popcorn was the cause. Poisoned popcorn. To the chagrin of the local police, Elliot takes to his bike to start his own invesigation. A growing attraction to a beautiful detective, the discovery of a DVD pirating operation, and one missing employee later, Elliot's still waiting for the punch line. But this one might knock his theater--and Elliot--out for good....

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Ahhhhhh....this was such a good book to read as a bedside book! I always went to sleep smiling. I have to find more of Jeffrey Cohen's books, really anything he writes.

Elliot is my kind of guy, the people I like to surround myself with. People who want to make others happy through laughter and what a way to do so with a movie theater that only plays comedies. One classic comedy and one newer (less funny comparatively) to bring in the crowds. But the crowds don't show up until the dead guy is found in Row S seat 18. So now the cops are thinking that Elliot makes a good suspect, especially once the boxes of pirated DVDs of movies being shown at Elliot's theater are found in the basement of said theater.

Elliot gets on his bike and rides to each investigative clue or hitches a ride with his dad (who gladly drives to escape the house for a bit). Or he gets a ride with his ex-wife who he's still friends with even after she left him for her anesthesiologist.....

See why I went to sleep smiling each night?

So do yourself a favor and get this book! It's a wonderfully funny amateur sleuth mystery, excellent characters and fab story.

Five die laughing beans....

SINK TRAP: A Georgiana Neverall Mystery - Christy Evans

From the back of the book: Clues can be found in themost unlikely places.....

When Georgiana Neverall's fast-paced, corporate lifestyle goes down the drain, she moves back home to Pine Ridge, Oregon, and makes an unconventional choice--to apprentice herself to Barry the Plumber. Her uptight, super-successful raltor mother, Sandra, is disgusted. She never dreamed she'd see a Neverall in coveralls toiling under someone else's sink.

Georgiana loves her new occupation, but is a bit surprised when she finds the favorite brooch of Martha Tepper, the town's former librarian, clogging a sink. Martha suppposedly retired to Arizona, but everyone who knew her says she never would have left without that brooch. Georgiana has a sinking feeling that Martha may have been retired permanently--and suddenly t's up to a plumber's apprentice to flush out a killer.

(Includes fun plumbing tricks and tips!)

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I just love finding new to me authors who write a super fun book and this one fit the fun bill perfectly. I was entertained and informed and didn't even mind that I figured out whodunnit towards the middle of the book. Sometimes that bugs the McCrappe out of me, but when the rest of the book is superb, I don't mind.

I really admire Georgiana's intestinal fortitude, coming back home to change her life after her computer security company she started gets taken over by someone she trusted. She could have easily let it crush her, but she put on her big girl panties and went home to start over as a plumber's apprentice.

She is back in her hometown with her mother, best friend and old boyfriend and a mystery. Sometimes (most times) the amateur sleuth looking into the mystery can feel forced. This one didn't really feel that way. Georgiana knew something was wrong and she needed to figure out what it was and show others she wasn't crackers.

Best of all, I loved the plumber tips. Common sense tips that helped me and proved my dad right when he gave my first need to have tool kit...tape measure, hacksaw, rubber mallet, adjustable wrench aka crescent, slip-joint pliers, locking jaw pliers, plumber's snake, toilet plunger, and sink plunger, screwdrivers (both common and Philips head)....and the tip about baking soda and vinegar unplugging a sink instead of using the commercial drain cleaners.

And the lovely funny Airdales, Daisy and Buddha! I want an Airdale now.

Multi fun plumber's tips and dogs mystery chocolate bunnies......