DEATH AT BISHOP'S KEEP - Robin Paige

First in the Victorian Mystery series by Robin Paige, author of DEATH AT DAISY'S FOLLY and DEATH AT DEVIL'S BRIDGE.

Kathryn Ardleigh is everything the Victorian English gentlewoman is not----outspoken, free-thinking, American.....and a writer of the frowned upon "penny-dreadfuls". When Kate arrives in Essex, England, she shocks the household at Bishop's Keep----and captures the interest of amateur detective Sir Charles Sheridan as they begin there first case together.

A dead body has been uncovered at a nearby archeological dig. The investigation provides the perfect research for Kate's fiction. But the curious writer may be digging too deep---especially when the trail leads her into a secret occult society known as the Order of the Golden Dawn.....

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When I think of cozies, I think of gentle mysteries set in mellow locales with interestingly quirky characters. The Victorian Mystery series fits the bill. It's set in Victorian times where women were expected to behave in a certain fashion, especially in England. Kate is strong-willed and does as she pleases, at least that's what it seems to others. I like Kate, because she has to earn her way to live and she has found a talent at writing 'penny-dreadfuls', those titillating thrillers that people hide, but love to read.

Kate has found success with these, but her imagination has run to the edge of her limits. So when the invitation comes to visit the family estate in England, a family estate she didn't know was there, an archeological dig and a mystery drop in her lap, she is excited to have fodder for her writing.

It's a good thing I enjoyed the two books I've read in the series as I have a whole stack of them waiting for me.

Five Victorian strong-willed beans.....

A FITTING END: A Magical Dressmaking Mystery - Melissa Bourbon

Former Manhatten fashion designer Harlow Jane Cassidy has a gift for creating beautiful dresses. But when Harlow becomes the prime suspect in a murder investigation, she'll need more than her sewing skills to unravel the mystery.....

Business is booming at Harlow's custom-dressmaking boutique, Buttons & Bows, even with her great-grandmother's ghost hanging around the shop. But thanks to the fast-approaching Margaret Moffette Lea Pageant and Ball, Harlow has her work cut out for her when Mrs Zinnia James hires her to make her granddaughter's pageant gown.

With the debutante ball getting the whole town of Bliss, Texas, into a tizzy, Harlow knows her dress has to be perfect. but when a local golf pro is found stabbed to death with dressmaking shears, the new deputy thinks Harlow and Mrs James conspired to commit the crime. Now Harlow has to finish the dress on time and clear her name before the next outfit she designs is a prison jumpsuit.....

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I do enjoy continuing a series, though I rarely immediately get the next in series this quickly. I usually wait for a bit since there are so many other new-to-me series out there to discover. I made an exception here as I really like the characters and the setting of this series. The mystery is well done, the victim got his 'just desserts' and the fun of the chase is enjoyable. I do like the ghostly presence of Harlow's great-grandmother and the varying gifts of Harlow and her family.

Five Texas ghost beans....

BURIED IN A BOOK: A Novel Idea Mystery - Lucy Arlington

"My first day as an intern at the Novel Idea Literary Agency began with a caramel latte, a stack of five hundred query letters, and a dead man. I don't know which was worse: the queries or the corpse."

After receiving her first pink slip at the age of forty-five, former newspaper journalist Lila Wilkins is desperate for work, even if it means taking a pay cut. After combing through the classifieds, Lila accepts an internship at A Novel Idea, a thriving literary agency in the utopian town of Inspiration Valley, North Carolina.

Lila can't imagine anything better than being paid to read, but with a crew of quirky coworkers and a sky-high stack of of query letters, she doesn't exactly have time to discover the next great bestseller---especially when a penniless aspiring author drops dead in the agency's waiting room.

No one else seems too concerned about the man's demise, but when Lila uncovers a series of threatening letters, she's determined to uncover who killed the man's dreams of literary stardom.....

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I have found another favorite mystery series! I loved Lila, her mother and wanted to hug Lila's son. As much as I loved the well-written mystery, I really liked how Lila pulled herself up by the proverbial bootstraps and didn't mope overly much over losing her job, having to move in with her mother and losing communication skills with her teenage son. Lila looked for, and got, a new job that she knew would be hard, but doing something she'd enjoy.

I now have another village I want to live in. Inspiration Valley, North Carolina could easily be too precious for words (sorry), but it works here. It's a town full of creative people making a living doing what they love. I wish there was a sandwich shop nearby like Catcher in the Rye that's in the book. They have fab sounding sammies and customers are assigned book characters upon ordering their fare.

One of my favorite characters, Amazing Althea, is Lila's psychic kind of kooky mom. She helps people solve their problems with psychic advice and chocolate banana bread. She's always there for her daughter and grandson, helping however she can.

Five sparkly I wanna get paid to read too diamonds.....

TRESSED TO KILL: A Southern Beauty Shop Mystery - Lila Dare

St Elizabeth, Georgia, offers charm, Southern hospitality---and, most recently, murder. Now, hairdresser Grace Terhune is ready to crack this case---before things get snarled beyond repair....

Everyone at Violetta's salon----including Grace Terhune and her mother, Violetta---has their scissors at the ready for the influx of St Elizabeth's high-society ladies. Of all the snobs getting their hair done for the town meeting, the worst is Constance DuBois, a woman heartless enough to ruin people's livelihoods on a whim. And after a tinting accident leaves her hair with orange stripes, Constance vows she'll close down Violetta's....

Hours after the threat, Grace and Violetta find Constance dead, and some---including the police---believe the mother-daughter duo did her in. Grace sets out to clear their names, but with an accusing special agent, her lecherous ex on the police force, and the distraught daughter of the deceased all working against them, Grace is up to her perfectly shaped eyebrows in trouble...

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Books set in the South are among my favorites, be they Southern humor a la Mary Kay Andrews or Celia Rivenbark or Southern Gothic by Amanda Stevens or Daniel Hecht or a cozy mystery set in the South like this one.

There's a fab mystery, a good reason for the main characters to get involved in the solving of the mystery, and the unique euphemisms of the South abound throughout.

The story is tight in a good way. No loose ends or what the...moments. I loved the good guy characters and wanted to smack the poopy ones.

I look forward to reading the rest of this series.

There are also some highly nifty organic skin care recipes in the back of the book. I like the exfoliating one a lot.

Five Southern beauty beans.....

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.....

MURDER PAST DUE: A Cat in the Stacks Mystery - Miranda James

Everyone in Athena, Mississippi, knows Charlie Harris, the good-natured librarian with a rescued Maine coon cat named Diesel that he walks on a leash. Charlie's returned to his hometown to immerse himself in books, but soon enough he's entangled in a real-life thriller....

A famous author of gory bestsellers and a former classmate of Charlie's, Godfrey Priest may be the pride of Athena, but Charlie remembers him as an arrogant, manipulative jerk----and he's not the only one. Godfrey's homecoming as a distinguished alumnus couldn't possibly go worse: by lunch, he's put a man in the hospital. And by dinner, Godfrey's dead.

Now it's up to Charlie, with some help from Diesel, to paw through the town's grudges and find the killer before an impatient deputy throws the book at the wrong person. But every last one of Charlie's friends and coworkers had a score to settle with the nasty novelist. As if the murder wasn't already purr-plexing enough.....

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Cats and cozies seem to go together. I like the mixture most of the time. This is one of those times. The cat in question here, Diesel, is pleasantly not too precious for words. He's a man's cat, perfect for Charlie, the main character. And perfect for me, a reader who doesn't dig too precious for words very well.

A darn good mystery even if I did figure out most of the action mid-book. I didn't mind since I was enjoying the dialogue and the scenery and Diesel. All of that goes a long way for me, especially when I have a McCrappeload of books on Mt Git'r'Read and have been known to put a book on the trade pile when I figure out whodunnit and the story isn't gettin' it done for me.

I don't get to see too many male protagonists in cozies, this was refreshing to see. And a male protagonist with a non-precious cat on a leash? Bonus. And he works with books? Extra sweet.

Four bonus extra sweet beans.....

A HOE LOT OF TROUBLE: A Nina Quinn Mystery #1 - Heather Webber

Taken by Surprise, Nina Quinn’s landscaping firm specializing in surprise garden makeovers, is the only thing in her life that seems to be thriving. Her marriage to adulterous police detective Kevin Quinn has wilted. Her antisocial stepson Riley is spreading trouble like pungent manure. Even her gardening tools are disappearing, including a rather valuable set of hoes. Worst of all, the delightful old man who first introduced her to the joys of horticulture is dead—and not by natural causes. Something evil has taken root in Nina’s small Ohio town, and the local police—including dearly unbeloved Kev—are baffled. But it’s amazing what a resourceful gardener can dig up when she puts her mind to it—though, by sticking her hands too deeply into this fetid, fertile soil, Nina might well end up planted beneath her own petunias.

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I already love reading Heather Webber's Lucy Valentine series and I am eagerly looking forward to reading IT TAKES A WITCH: A Wishcraft Mystery she writes as Heather Blake.

If I were to have a landscaping business, it would be like Nina's 'Taken By Surprise'. It's a way cool concept of creating a project in one day and surprising the client. I adore gardening and surprises.

And I adore a well written mystery. And this one fits that profile. It's a mystery that has me very happy to have a Nook so I can read books that are no longer in print except at a used bookstore if you're lucky.

Visit Heather over at the Cozy Chicks: http://www.cozychicksblog.com/

and her website:http://heatherwebber.com/

Five blooming mystery beans.....

TOO BIG TO MISS: An Odelia Grey Mystery - Sue Ann Jaffarian

From the back of the book: Too big to miss—that's Odelia Grey. A never-married, middle-aged, plus-sized woman who makes no excuses for her weight, she's not super woman just a mere mortal standing on the precipice of menopause, trying to cruise in an ill-fitting bra. She struggles with her relationships, her crazy family, and her crazier boss. And then there's her knack for being in close proximity to dead people . . . .
When her close friend Sophie London commits suicide in front of an online web-cam by putting a gun in her mouth and pulling the trigger, Odelia's life is changed forever. Sophie, a plus-sized activist and inspiration to imperfect women, is the last person anyone would ever have expected to end her own life. Suspecting foul play, Odelia is determined to get to the bottom of her friend's death. Odelia's search for the truth takes her from southern California strip malls to the world of live web-cam porn to the ritzy enclave of Corona del Mar.

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Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!! I had no idea what kind of book I was going to read when I started this humdingah!

Best of all, I loved Odelia's moxie, once she found it. Bless her, she's a big girl like me, plenty to love, but has to work on her 'go get 'em 'tude. Thankfully, she has her plus size bud, Sophie. Sophie has helped many other zaftig women in the area with her support group and morning walking group. Sophie is larger than life in more than dress size. So when she commits suicide, Odelia knows something is wrong with that picture. And she begins to investigate.

She learns some astonishing info on someone she thought she knew well. Rather than deter her, it makes Odelia work harder at finding out what happened.

There's a bevy of twists and turns in this fantabulous book and I cannot wait to read more adventures of Odelia. She has a new relationship with a sweetie and a green cat...what's not to want to discover?

Five shiny larger than life diamonds......

A SLICE OF MURDER: A Pizza Lover's Mystery - Chris Cavender

From Publisher's Weekly: Pizza lovers will relish the pseudonymous Cavender's delightful first in a new cozy series, which introduces Eleanor Swift, owner of A Slice of Life, a pizzeria in Timber Ridge, N.C. When late one winter night Eleanor delivers a pizza ("one of my specials decked out with pepperoni, sausage, ham, bacon, hamburger, and little bits of sliced sirloin"), she finds her customer, Richard Olsen, lying dead on the floor with a kitchen knife in his chest. Kevin Hurley, the surly local police chief who pursued her back in high school, responds to her 911 call. Suspecting Eleanor is guilty, Kevin does his best to make her life difficult. Olsen's dotty sister thinks so, too, but once she's convinced of Eleanor's innocence, she asks Eleanor's help in solving the murder. Eleanor's occasionally married sister, Maddy, assists in the sleuthing. A lively pace and a thrilling climax more than compensate for some distracting chatter and not always relevant sibling spats.

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I think PW liked this one better than I did. I'm not sure what it was that put me off. Might have been the waffling between how the pizzeria wouldn't make it after Eleanor is a suspect in the murder of a pizza delivery recipient and then a truckload of customers would arrive, then the waffle would begin again the next hour or the next day. It got a little irritating.

I could understand why Eleanor and Maddie wanted to investigate, since Eleanor is the main suspect. And I liked how they went about gathering the suspects, though I had the murderer figured out about halfway through. I kept reading to see if I was right and to get one more book read in 2011.

I wanted to enjoy this book and series. I have the second one on Mt Git'r'Read and will see how it goes. I like the premise and the setting and mostly like the characters, so I think the series shows promise. And there're recipes in the back of the book..that counts...

Three a pizza that shows promise beans.....

WHO DO, VOODOO?: A Mind for Murder Mystery - Rochelle Staab

From the back of the book: Rochelle Staab's first novel in her thrilling new series features no-nonsense Liz Cooper, a psychologist forced to embrace the occult to clear her best friend of murder...

When Liz Cooper's friend Robin Bloom finds an unusual tarot card tacked to her front door, Liz writes it off as a prank. Robin refuses to ignore the omen---her late husband drew the same card, the Three of Swords, in a reading the night before he was killed in a car accident. As more cards and darker threats appear, Liz realizes someone very dangerous is upping the ante....

Liz turns to her brother's ex-college roommate, occult expert Nick Garfield. As Nick leads her into the voodoo community to locate the origin of the deck, she can't ignore their attraction to each other. Then, a woman is found murdered and Robin becomes the prime suspect. Determined to clear her friend, Liz teams with Nick to unravel otherworldly secrets and seek help from beyond---or risk being outwitted by a cunning killer.....

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A slight lean into the paranormal for this cozy. It made me want to go out for a reading of my future after I finished reading it. It was as informational on the occult as it was excellent a mystery to read.

There's a murder, a missing spell book, evil spellcasters, wannabe voodoo queens and princesses, all kinds of con artists...all set in the music world in Los Angeles.

I liked watching Liz fight her abilities. She's all about logic and rolls her eyes at her mother's beliefs in tarot and her friend's belief in omens.

Liz is single and has a psychology practice with patients that she can reschedule while she goes on the investigative trail to help her prove her friend innocent. That's better than the cozies where the women have families that they can seemingly drop off with neighbors so they can prove the innocents of those found guilty. Or I could just be envious.....

You can visit Rochelle here:http://www.rochellestaab.com/

Five heading out for a tarot reading beans......

PLEATING FOR MERCY: A Magical Dressmaking Mystery - Melissa Bourbon

From the back of the book: All the Cassidy women possess special gifts. Harlow Jane Cassidy's is creating beautiful dresses. But she's about to discover secrets in her own family and another gift-one that can reach beyond the grave....

When her great-grandmother passes away, Harlow leaves her job as a Manhattan fashion designer and moves back to Bliss, Texas. But soon after she opens Buttons & Bows, a custom dressmaking boutique in the old farmhouse she inherited, Harlow begins to feel an inexplicable presence....

One of her first clients is her old friend Josie, who needs a gown for her upcoming wedding. But when Josie's boss turns up dead, it starts to look as if the bride-to-be may be wearing handcuffs instead of a veil. Suddenly, Josie needs a lot more from Harlow than the perfect dress. Can Harlow find the real killer-with a little help from beyond?

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A highly enjoyable paranormal cozy mystery! It would be highly enjoyable no matter the genre label.

I like reading the acknoweldgements for a book from time to time. In PLEATING, Melissa thanks her mother for teaching her to sew for the pride she felt in her newfound ability as a child and that sewing helped her come up with the character of Harlow Cassidy.

Harlow is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Butch Cassidy who threw a coin in an Argentinian fountain and made a wish. So starts the magical abilities of the Cassidy women with their charmed lives. Charmed being what you make of it. Each woman has their own unique ability and Harlow is hard-pressed to figure hers out. She knows she likes dressmaking and hopes to make a go of her dressmaking shop in Bliss, Texas, her hometown.

The mystery solving comes across as natural since Harlow wants to help her friend, Josie, and the police aren't moving in the right direction. The characters are engaging and believable, even the ghost of Meemaw who is a bit of a prankster.

I can't wait for the next in the series, A FITTING END, to come out on 7 Feb 2012. It's pre-ordered with Cynthia at High Crimes Mystery Bookshop ( http://www.highcrimesbooks.com/)

You can visit Melissa:
http://misaramirez.com/misa-ramirez-writing-as-melissa-bourbon-or-visa-versa/

Five Texas ghosts and dresses beans.....

HARK! THE HERALD ANGEL SCREAMED - Mignon F. Ballard

From the back of the book: It’s Christmastime in the seemingly tranquil town of Stone’s Throw, South Carolina, but amid all the caroling, cookies, and cheer, a murderer casts a not-so-jolly pall on the holiday season.

Augusta Goodnight, guardian angel, sometime sleuth, and welcome boarder with longtime resident Lucy Nan Pilgrim, comes to the aid of her friends when, as Lucy Nan is searching for the perfect Christmas tree on her grandmother’s abandoned estate, a mysterious stranger plummets to his death from the mansion’s balcony. Lucy Nan can’t shake off childhood stories of the ghost of a girl who fell from the same spot long ago---has the ghost come back to haunt the living, or is there an all-too-human murderer at work?

Mysterious events are soon heating up faster than spiced punch left on the burner, and it will take Augusta’s help, not to mention some celestial Southern cooking, for peace to be restored and Christmas lights to shine once again in the little town of Stone’s Throw.

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A perfect little cozy to read at this hectic time of year. Didn't have to think too hard and let the enjoyable story flow.

The little town of Stone's Throw is another place that seems pretty neat to live if it weren't for all the murder and mayhem. Everyone has a part to play, either as friend or foe.

Lucy Nan is lucky to have her coffee loving guardian angel, Augusta Goodnight, around for all the help Augusta is able to give. Augusta cooks and bakes magnificent goodies for Lucy Nan and her friends to enjoy. She also helps Lucy Nan solve the murders that crop up.

Had plenty of people to keep track of while I read as well as keeping tally of the suspects and clues. There's a shady character, Melrose, who is courting one of Lucy Nan's dear friend, Idonia, and when he arrives on the scene, there's also the murder of a not very nice man whose body is discovered in Lucy Nan's ancestral home. Idonia is also wearing a locket given her by Melrose and this locket has caused an uproar.

All is solved in a pleasing pattern and makes me wish I had a guardian angel like Augusta Goodnight and friends like Lucy Nan and her buds to spend Christmas with.

A handful of yummy candycanes for this one.....

A SHEETCAKE NAMED DESIRE: A Piece of Cake Mystery - Jacklyn Brady

From the back of the book: Sweet success can be a motive for murder....

There aren't many things pastry chef Rita Lucero hates more than losing. But two years after her marriage to fellow baker Philippe Renier fell apart, she's still trying to get him to sign the divorce papers. Exasperated, Rita visits Philippe's high-end New Orleans shop, Zydeco Cakes, to get his signature---and discovers that her marriage is already over when she finds Philippe dead with a chef's knife in his chest.

Rita is shocked to discover the body, and overwhelmed to learn that since the divorce wasn't final, she now inherits part ownership in Zydeco Cakes. But it's a mixed blessing: the gorgeous shop is actually in financial trouble, and Rita's windfall sets her up as a prime suspect in Philippe's murder. Her former mother-in-law demands that Rita find out who killed her son, and his former employees don't know whether to trust her. The feeling is mutual---especially since the real culprit is still out there, and Rita may be the next victim served....

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I have confessed in the past that I have an addiction to Food Network and the Cooking Channel and I do love a good cozy mystery, especially a foodie cozy mystery. A SHEETCAKE NAMD DESIRE combines a fix for both of these two addictions most spectacularly.

The Food Network/Cooking Channel aspect is covered with cake baking like one of my favorite shows, Ace of Cakes, since the setting of this mystery series is a cake bakery, Zydeco Cakes, where they create extravagantly crazy cakes for those willing to foot the bill.

I loved the setting of this book. I've been to New Orleans several times in the past and am fascinated with this old world feel city. The book shows more than Bourbon Street, thankfully. The whole city has something to offer, not just having a good time drinking a Hurricane in Pat O'Brien's.

The bakery and the employees felt so real, I want to visit this place and order a cake.

The reader doesn't get a chance to meet the victim. He's killed before we are introduced. I learned about him through everyone else's descriptions and experiences. I'm not sure if I'd have liked him, but others did. Others..not so much. Others with agendas.

Rita, the main character, has decisions to make, her life to get on with. I liked watching her emotional roller coaster as she dealt with how she felt with her not-so-ex-husband and his death. And that his death will mean changes to her life.

Her getting involved in solving the murder is done well. She is a suspect since she had something to gain with Philippe's death and she needs to prove that she is innocent. She's good at asking questions and getting involved in a non-irritating way.

I like Rita a lot and I want to see her succeed.

I look forward to reading the rest of this series. It will be on the 'must get' list as soon as each book comes out.

Visit Jacklyn Brady: http://www.jacklynbrady.com/ or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jacklyn-Brady/180151502006968?sk=wall

Five sparkly New Orleans and cake (what's not to love) diamonds...

DEATH BY THE DOZEN: A Cupcake Bakery Mystery - Jenn McKinlay

From the back of the book:
Melanie and Angie are determined to win the Challenge to the Chef to promote their Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery. Mel's mentor from culinary school, Vic Mazzotta, may be one of the judges, but Mel and Angie will have to win fair and square. But, when Vic's dead body is found inside a freezer truck, Mel and Angie will need to use their best judgment to find the cold-blooded killer or they may lose more than the contest- they may lose their lives.

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What is not to love about a mystery series that has a good mystery and cupcake recipes shared at the end of each book?

I love the setting of Scottsdale, Arizona for this series and the idea of a cupcake bakery like Fairy Tale Cupcakes is nifty. And the animosity between Mel and Angie and the rival bakery Olivia Puckett cracks me up. Olivia is truly off her rocker and it's fun to watch her go off.

All of this is in addition to a fab mystery to solve along with Mel and Angie. It's a wee bit like watching Lucy and Ethel solve a mystery, but that's not a bad thing.

Five a lot of fun beans......

THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE CUCUMBER TREE - Susan Wittig Albert

From Publisher's Weekly: A small Southern town blooms into life in Albert's nostalgic first in a new Depression-era mystery series. Darling, Ala., is in the midst of financial upheaval surrounding the Darling Savings and Trust, though the ladies of the Darling Dahlias Garden Club are still excited about their clubhouse, an old estate recently inherited from Mrs. Dahlia Blackstone, whose garden includes a possibly haunted cucumber tree, which might shelter a buried treasure. Also distracting the members--especially widow and probate clerk Verna Tidwell; legal secretary and freelance journalist Elizabeth "Lizzy" Lacy, and Mayor Jed Taylor's wife, Ophelia Snow--are a prison break and the disappearance of drugstore clerk Eva Louise "Bunny" Scott, the town tart. After Bunny turns up dead in a wrecked stolen van, the ladies investigate. Veteran Albert (Holly Blues) combines great period detail with surefooted sleuthing that should satisfy fans and attract new ones.

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I listen to audiobooks on a daily basis since I keep one going in the car at all times for my commute and alone errands. I haven't felt like reviewing most of them for a long while, but DARLING DAHLIAS changes that.

I love Susan Wittig Albert's 'China Bayles' series. I've read or listened to most of the series and always have a good time with the folks in Pecan Springs.

Now I get to look forward to spending time with the folks in Darling, Alabama in the 1930's. The Dahlias are a group of ladies who spend time together as a gardening club. Times are tough, but the ladies still enjoy their time and activities.

There are also mysteries aplenty to be solved. Two convicts have escaped the local prison farm, money has gone missing in the town's bank, a woman has been found dead. All of the mysteries make sense, the ladies getting involved in the mysteries are written well, and I found myself intrigued with each character. There are sweet ladies, nice ladies, peppery ladies, ornery independent ladies....all neat to spend time with. That's a good story. And I can highly recommend it.

Five sparkly looking forward to more Darling Dahlias diamonds....

MORTAR AND MURDER: 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 from behind the walls....

Avery and her boyfriend, Derek, are renovating a magnificent 225-year-old Colonial on Rowanberry Island, just off the coast of Maine. The DIY is going great even if the neighbor, a reclusive thriller writer, seems as strange and mysterious as his fiction. But his reputation seems in perfect keeping with what Derek and Avery discover next....

The body of an unidentified woman with a piece of paper in her pocket bearing the address of Derek and Avery's Realtor is found floating in the sea near the island. then a second woman is retrieved like jetsam from the harbor. But it's not until Avery discovers a secret room in the house, and learns about Rowanberry Island's long tradition of smuggling, that a bizarre link is made between the dead women---and if it foretells anything, it's that things on the island are only going to get deadlier.

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I love learning things as I read. Cozies with recipes or helpful tips in the back of the book are fab and this series is one of those. There are how-to's on creating your own stencils and an authentic canvas floor cloth like they did back in the day when rugs were prohibitively costly for the average Joe.

Add that to a really well done mystery with characters to get into in a location where I'd like to live (if it weren't for all the dead bodies) and you have a swell cozy mystery series.

I've not read the series in order and I'm not sure it's necessary. Not that the books are stand-alones, but they can be enjoyed on their own.

Avery is tenacious in her search for who the dead women are and I like how she keeps searching for their identity as well as who the killer might be. And what is the mystery behind the famous writer in the twin house to the one Avery and Derek are working on? She doesn't let the mystery get in the way of her relationship with Derek nor with their work.

I have another in the series on the nightstand to read and look forward to getting and reading more about Avery and Derek and their DIY-in'.

Visit Jennie Bentley:http://jennabennett.com/

Five DIY in New England beans.....

MIND YOUR OWN BEESWAX: A Queen Bee Mystery #2 - Hannah Reed

From the back of the book: Summer is approaching in the picturesque town of Moraine, Wisconsin, but when a hive of Story Fischer's bees leads her straight into the middle of a murder investigation, the result is anything but sunny....

Story has her hands full with her successful local market; her Queen Bee Honey business; and new maybe boyfriend, Hunter Wallace, but being abandoned by a hive looking for better digs puts the busy beekeeper in a bad mood. While Story looks for the hive, the rest of Moraine is searching for Lauren Krrigan, a woman with a checkered past whose return has the whole town buzzing.

When both Lauren and a gun go missing, everyone assumes the worst. The situation gets sticky when Lauren and another town resident turn up dead in the woods---exactly wehre Story was searching for her bees. When it comes to murder investigations, Story just can't seem to mind her own beeswax. But this time, sticking her nose into the swarm just might get her stung.....

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Sometimes I am leery of liking a first in a new series too much. I worry the same about those as I do about liking a TV show too much. I just know that show will get cancelled if I fall for the story, characters, etc. (if only that worked on all those 'reality' shows).

I fell hard for the first in the Queen Bee series, BUZZ OFF ( http://iyamvixenbooks.blogspot.com/2010/12/buzz-off-queen-bee-mystery-hannah-reed.html), which got me even more into taking care of the bees on our property as well as eating more honey.

There are recipes in the back of the book and a list of flowering plants to add to your garden to coax more bees to your landscape.

Even better was revisiting Story and the group of friendly and not-so-friendly characters in town. Hannah writes the best characters that make me 'grrrrr' when they show up in the mystery. I dig that.

Story gets aggravated at her sister who helps when she wants within reason, has an interestingly *argh* relationship with her mother, loves her sweet odd grandmother to pieces, would love to take a bat to the flat side of the hateful realtor who had the affair with Story's ex and is always interfering with all things Story and the pewp-cranium bully of a police chief who has it in for Story. I feel the aggravation and head-buttin' coming through the pages. That's what keeps me turning the pages in one sitting as much as the fab mystery of who the killer is.

Visit Hannah Reed: http://www.queenbeemystery.com/ and fall in love with the series, too.

Five honey beans......

MIND OVER MURDER: A Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery - Allison Kingsley

From the back of the book: Cousins and best friends Clara and Stephanie Quinn run the Raven's Nest bookstore in quaint Finn's Harbor, Maine. It's where people go to find their most coveted reads, having no idea it's Clara who's reading their minds.....

For some time, all Clara Quinn wanted was to get away from Finn's Harbor---and her inherited abillity to see into the future and read people's thoughts, a trait her family calls the Quinn Sense. But Clara couldn't stay away for long, and soon she's helping her cousin, Stephanie Quinn Dowd, in her bookstore, the Raven's Nest.

The bookstore has made an enemy of the town crier, Ana Jordan, who's outraged by the store's occult collection and how it's poisoning the town's youth. Meanwhile, the store's number one employee, Molly, has made no secret of her anger over Ana's antics. So when Ana is found dead, killed by a bust of Edgar Allen Poe----sculpted by Molly---the evidence is stacked against her. Clara knows Molly and the the store are in trouble. Now she must rely on her gift to make sense of his senseless murder.....

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I mostly liked this cozy mystery. It meets the criteria of interesting characters, set in a town I wouldn't mind visiting, good-versus-whacked-in-the-cranium-mean, with the added bonus a tinge of paranormal.

One issue was that the whacked-in-the-cranium-mean person got whacked before I had a chance to really see why she was so mean and no one liked her.

The story was a little choppy, but I still wanted to find out what was going to happen next and see if it flowed any better as the book continued. It was blurbed by Yasmine Galenorn, one of my favorite authors, so I know it has promise and I will look for the next in the series.

Allison Kingsley is a pseudonym for Kate Kingsbury/Doreen Roberts/Rebecca Kent. http://www.doreenrobertshight.com/

Four voices in the cranium beans....

I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM: A Mystery A La Mode - Wendy Lyn Watson

From the back of the book: Tallulah Jones, proprietor of Dalliance, Texas's old-fashioned ice-cream parlor, dishes up luscious ice cream that is simply to die for.....

Unfortunately, Remember the A-La-Mode's profits are melting faster than a snow cone in July---and Tally's stuck scooping sundaes for her two-timing ex-husband and his bodacious new girlfriend, Brittanie, at his company luau. To make matters worse, twenty years after she dumped him in the Tasty-Swirl parking lot, Tally's high school beau, Finn Harper, comes back to town---looking every bit as delicious as a double-dip raspberry mascarpone waffle cone.

The cherry on top? Brittanie drops dead, and Tally's suddenly the prime suspect in her murder investigation. To catch a killer, Tally will have to churn up Dalliance's darkest secrets and dip deep into the past. But can Tally freeze out the real culprit before a murder charge puts her dreams on ice for good?

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I don't know what it is about mysteries or any of the books I've read set in the South that makes me happy. There can be humor, suspense, thrill, Gothic mystery, what-have-you.

Texas, especially, seems prime for crack-me-up humor and twisted wrong-doin's. I have heard a lot about this series and glad I finally have a couple of them on Mt Git'r'Read. The humorous analogies, colloquialisms, and the names could easily coast and go over the top and take over the mystery. Not this one.

Tally has to solve the mystery of the death of her ex-husband's hottie girlfriend or lose her business. That meets my requirement for how the main character gets involved in the mystery. Tally is sassy and funny and loyal to her friends and family, even her ex gets her loyalty where I'd have smacked him upside the cranium.

I look forward to reading more of this series. Check in with Wendy here: http://www.wendylynwatson.com/

Five Texas ice cream is awesome beans.....

THE DIVA HAUNTS THE HOUSE: A Domestic Diva Mystery - Krista Davis

From the back of the book: This Halloween, a murderer is up to mischief.....

Domestic diva Sophie Winston is getting into the holiday spirit, and her decorations for a community haunted house are so good, it's scary. Not to be outdone, rival domestic diva Natasha is throwing a spooktacular Halloween party at her house. But when Sophie arrives, she discovers one of Natasha's guests dead in a hair-raising Halloween display, and a pale, fanged partygoer fleeing the scene.

The cause of death is not immediately apparent, but the victim does have two puncture wounds on his neck. While Sophie's boyfriend, homicide detective Wolf, investigates, rumors start flying faster than witches on broomsticks. Could the killer be a real vampire---the same one rumored to have lived in Sophie's haunted house back when it was a boardinghouse? Good thing a domestic diva never runs out of garlic......

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I get hungry and amazed each time I read a foodie cozy, but especially this series. There is always an occasion to pull out the themed food or meal or flatware/plate/napkin/table runner. I wonder where Sophie gets the time to prep all of these goodies and where the heck she keeps all of the holiday themed dishware. Sometimes this distracts me from what's going on in the story. I know it's likely that I am the only who notices this or is bothered, but there it is.

It is a fun series and I like watching Sophie and Natasha tangle. I'd kick Natasha to the curb, but she's with Sophie's ex, Mars, who Sophie still likes as a friend and Mars comes over to escape the foo-foo life that is Sophie.

The haunted house that Sophie and the kids are working on is pretty cool, the mystery is decent, the food and recipes are gonzo, so all the way around a pretty good book.

Four haunted house beans......