Book Review: A Fatal Groove (Record Shop Mystery #2) by Olivia Blacke

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Genre: Cozy mystery
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Publication Date: July 25th, 2023
Pages: 304, mass market paperback
Source: NetGalley

CATCHING A KILLER WITHOUT SKIPPING A BEAT.

It’s springtime in Cedar River, Texas. The annual Bluebonnet Festival is brewing and the whole town is in harmony. Juni Jessup and her sisters Tansy and Maggie thought opening Sip & Spin Records was going to be their biggest hurdle, but the Frappuccino hits the fan when the mayor drops dead―poisoned by their delicious coffee.

Since Tansy was the one to brew the coffee, and Juni was the unfortunate citizen who stumbled upon the mayor’s body, the sisters find themselves in hot water. Family is everything to the Jessups, so with Tansy under suspicion, the sisters spring into action.

Between the town festivities, a good old-fashioned treasure hunt, and an accidental cow in the mix, Juni will have to pull out all the stops to find the mayor’s killer.

Juni and her sisters think they’ll be able to grow their business by having a booth at the annual Bluebonnet Festival. When the mayor dies after drinking their coffee, though, they have to investigate before they lose the record/coffee shop they’ve worked so hard to get going.

Years ago, there was a bank robbery during the festival. The thieves were killed, and the money was never recovered. The mayor collected memorabilia from the robbery, and Juni wonders if that was the motive. People are still looking for the money, and Juni and Tansy’s house gets broken into.

Juni also still can’t decide between thoughtful, dependable Teddy, and fickle, manipulative Beau. (I’m pro-Teddy, in case you couldn’t tell.)

I’m rooting for Juni and her sisters to succeed in their shop. They have a great relationship, and each has a well-defined personality. The town of Cedar River and its inhabitants feels real, and readers will want to visit.

There are enough possible motives and murder suspects to keep you guessing, and a good amount of clues to help you solve this. There’s also a random cow, because Juni didn’t have enough on her plate already.

Book Review: Murder at a London Finishing School (Beryl and Edwina Mystery #7) by Jessica Ellicott

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Genre: Cozy mystery
Publisher: Kensington
Publication Date: July 25th, 2023
Pages: 304, Kindle
Source: NetGalley

American adventuress Beryl Halliwell and prim and proper Brit Edwina Davenport team up once again as enquiry agents to solve a mystery at their alma mater in this historical English village mystery set just after World War I.

Neither Beryl nor Edwina are the least bit interested in attending events at their alma mater, Miss Dupont’s Finishing School. Their lives are very full indeed in the village of Walmsley Parva. However, when a letter arrives from Miss Dupont herself requesting their help in a professional capacity, they reluctantly pack their bags for London.

Upon arrival, they learn from Miss Dupont that her business has seen a steep decline since the days before World War I and that now she is concerned a saboteur is attempting to damage the school’s reputation. Students have reported items missing, damaged possessions, and strange noises in the night. Some of the girls even insist ghostly forces are at play.

Then a former classmate of theirs and mother of a prospective student is found dead on the school grounds. The roll call of suspects is long, and if Beryl and Edwina are to have a ghost of a chance of solving the murder, they can’t rule out the possibility that Miss Dupont herself may have finished off the victim…

The series is so much fun, it’s hard to believe we’re seven books in already. This time, Beryl and Edwina are called to their alma mater to investigate strange noises and thefts. While they are there, an old classmate of theirs is killed.

Beryl and Edwina’s styles complement each other well, and each has been “polished” by the other, to the benefit of both. Beryl is no longer as brash as she was, and Edwina is a bit more adventurous and less classist. They are assisted once again, by Simpkins, their former gardener, now (sometimes) silent partner in their private enquiry agency. Charles also makes an appearance, to Edwina’s surprise and pleasure. Theirs is a very slow potential romance, but Edwina seems more open to the idea than in previous books.

There are clues and suspects galore. Edwina understands people and their motivations, and her skill in relating to others gleans information that Beryl couldn’t have gotten. Beryl, though, takes risks that Edwina doesn’t. I enjoyed the look back to their school-age friendship, especially the glimpse into how Edwina quietly handled the class bully.

It’s a satisfying story, I love spending time with the characters, and I’m looking forward to book eight!

Book Review: The Lady from Burma (Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery #5) by Allison Montclair

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Genre: Historical fiction mystery
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: July 25th, 2023
Pages: 336, hardcover
Source: NetGalley

In the immediate post-war days of London, two unlikely partners have undertaken an even more unlikely, if necessary, business venture – The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. The two partners are Miss Iris Sparks, a woman with a dangerous – and never discussed – past in British intelligence and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, a war widow with a young son entangled in a complicated aristocratic family. Mostly their clients are people trying to start (or restart) their lives in this much-changed world, but their new client is something different. A happily married woman has come to them to find a new wife for her husband. Dying of cancer, she wants the two to make sure her entomologist, academic husband finds someone new once she passes.

Shortly thereafter, she’s found dead in Epping Forest, in what appears to be a suicide. But that doesn’t make sense to either Sparks or Bainbridge. At the same time, Bainbridge is attempting to regain legal control of her life, opposed by the conservator who has been managing her assets – perhaps not always in her best interest. When that conservator is found dead, Bainbridge herself is one of the prime suspects. Attempting to make sense of two deaths at once, to protect themselves and their clients, the redoubtable owners of the Right Sort Marriage Bureau are once again on the case.

Gwen may finally be able to regain her son and her independence. Iris may finally be able to lay some of her ghosts to rest. But then, a new client for their marriage bureau dies, and they must figure out why, and whether it is related to the death of the conservator for Gwen’s case. Investigating could lose Gwen everything she’s been working for, but so could leaving it to the police.

This series is incredible. I love stories written in WWII/Austerity England, and I’m highly invested in Gwen and Iris and their success. Each has grown since the first book, and it’s fascinating how they’ve carved out their places in a time that was not easy or welcoming to businesswomen. To make things even harder, Gwen has the stigma of having been formerly committed to a mental institution. Iris is haunted b the things she did during the war. They are from completely different walks of life, but their friendship is so strong.

You might figure out the who and the why before the end of the book, but that doesn’t matter. Sometimes, a mystery overwhelms the story and the characters, or the backstory of the characters makes the mystery more of an afterthought. That’s never the case in one of Montclair’s books. The story is so deftly woven, with threads from past and present combining to make a solid work, yet leaving room for future growth.

This is some of the finest mystery writing out there, and I hope the series continues at least until Gwen and Iris retire.

Book Review: Mrs. Porter Calling (The Emmy Lake Chronicles #3) by A.J. Pearce

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Genre: Historical fiction
Publisher: Scribner
Publication Date: May 25th, 2023
Pages: August 8th, 2023
Source: NetGalley

London, April 1943. A little over a year since she married Captain Charles Mayhew and he went away to war, Emmy Lake is now in charge of “Yours Cheerfully,” the hugely popular advice column in Woman’s Friend magazine. Cheered on by her best friend Bunty, Emmy is dedicated to helping readers face the increasing challenges brought about by over three years of war. The postbags are full and Woman’s Friend is thriving.

But Emmy’s world is turned upside down when glamorous socialite, the Honorable Mrs. Cressida Porter, becomes the new publisher of the magazine, and wants to change everything the readers love. Aided by Mrs. Pye, a Paris-obsessed fashion editor with delusions of grandeur, and Small Winston, the grumpiest dog in London, Mrs. Porter fills the pages with expensive clothes and frivolous articles about her friends. Worst of all, she announces that she is cutting the “Yours Cheerfully” column and her vision for the publication’s future seems dire. With the stakes higher than ever, Emmy and her friends must find a way to save the magazine that they love.

I like stories set in WWII Britain in general, so I’m predisposed to liking the Emmy Lake series by AJ Pearce. Even were I not, the series is so well-written that I’d read it, anyway. I genuinely enjoy spending time with the characters. We’ve seen Emmy grow over the last three years from an unsure young woman with dreams of being a war correspondent who is “doing her bit” to a professional writer (still doing her bit, though). She’s also married and dealing with her husband fighting on the frontlines.

Woman’s Friend, the magazine for which Emmy writes an advice column, is taken over by a relative of the now-deceased publisher. Mrs. Porter, or “Egg,” as she wishes to be called, seems charming enough at first, but soon reveals her plans for the magazine, to the dismay of the staff. Egg is a typical, but not stereotypical, example of the upper class with no understanding of how the majority live. She has no desire to understand, either, as it’s just “too mis.”

While Emmy fights to keep the magazine ‘friendly’ to its devoted readers, she’s also working for the Auxiliary Fire Services, and rearranging the home she shares with her best friend, Bunty, to take in another friend and her three children, and some livestock.

The potential closure of the magazine, on top of the death of a close friend, throws Emmy for a loop for a bit, and she loses her way. But, with the encouragement of her friends and family, she rallies (I would expect nothing less.) and fights to save the magazine for herself and her coworkers.

The letters the magazine receives reflect actual issues, such as domestic abuse and pregnancies, and it’s interesting to see the differences and similarities in how they are viewed then and now. There are everyday issues, too, such as rationing, and the magazine also provides tips on how to “make do and mend” and stretch supplies.

Everything in this book worked for me – everything. The characters, the setting, and the story all seem so real that it’s hard to believe this is fictional. It’s everyday people doing everyday things in an extraordinary time. Even Egg, as narcissistic as she is, has one redeeming quality in her love for her (long-suffering) dog, Small Winston. Poor Small Winston – hopefully he’ll have his own V-E Day (Victory over Egg).

Book Review: Nonna Maria and the Case of the Stolen Necklace (Nonna Maria #2) by Lorenzo Carcaterra

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Genre: Cozy mystery
Publisher: Bantam
Publication Date: May 2nd, 2023
Pages: 256, hardcover
Source: ARC

Nonna Maria has a lot on her plate—and it’s not just fresh pasta. Two crimes have rocked the sun-drenched island of Ischia, and once again, the island’s denizens have called upon the espresso-brewing, sage counsel-giving sleuth.

A wealthy woman alleges a valuable necklace was stolen from her hotel room. The necklace, she claims, has been in her family for decades. She blames one of the young women working on the cleaning crew as the most likely suspect—a young woman who turns out to be Nonna Maria’s goddaughter. She takes the heat, but privately, she proclaims her innocence.

Nearby, the body of a woman found on a curved road near the borough of Barano. The woman is not known to anyone on the island. She has no purse, no identification. The one potential suspect is a young friend of Nonna Maria’s who drove by the area that very night and thinks that he may have hit something—a pothole; an animal; or maybe, the woman in question.

It turns out, this woman has a history on the island, having left it decades ago. But why did she return, and more importantly, why did she turn up dead? And what really happened to the missing necklace? Nonna Maria needs to find the answers.

Nonna Maria’s friends and family span the length and breadth of the island of Ischia, and beyond. Maria always helps her friends, and in this second book, Maria has to clear her goddaughter’s name after she has been accused of stealing a necklace from a guest at the hotel where she works. At the same time, an old friend who disappeared decades ago may or may not have turned up again, and an old sin casts a long shadow.

Nonna Maria is a character, but never a caricature. She only drinks espresso and wine, to the despair of her doctor, and doesn’t eat anything in restaurants. She has the respect of the local police, and the admiration of her community. Her friends also help her, though, by providing information, and, when need arises, protection, as she investigates.

While you don’t have to have read the first book to enjoy this one, you’ll want to. You’ll also want to visit Ischia, although maybe in the off-season, as tourists do seem to cause a bit of trouble for Nonna Maria’s friends.

Book Review: The Blighted Stars (The Devoured Worlds #1) by Megan E. O’Keefe

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Genre: Sci-Fi
Publisher: Orbit
Publication Date: May 23rd, 2023
Pages: 544, paperback
Source: NetGalley

When a spy is stranded on a dead planet with her mortal enemy, she must first figure out how to survive before she can uncover the conspiracy that landed them both there in the first place.

She’s a revolutionary. Humanity is running out of options. Habitable planets are being destroyed as quickly as they’re found and Naira Sharp knows the reason why. The all-powerful Mercator family has been controlling the exploration of the universe for decades, and exploiting any materials they find along the way under the guise of helping humanity’s expansion. But Naira knows the truth, and she plans to bring the whole family down from the inside.

He’s the heir to the dynasty. Tarquin Mercator never wanted to run a galaxy-spanning business empire. He just wanted to study rocks and read books. But Tarquin’s father has tasked him with monitoring the mining of a new planet, and he doesn’t really have a choice in the matter.

Disguised as Tarquin’s new bodyguard, Naira plans to destroy his ship before it lands. But neither of them expects to end up stranded on a dead planet. To survive and keep her secret, Naira will have to join forces with the man she’s sworn to hate. And together they will uncover a plot that’s bigger than both of them.

The Blighted Stars is an enemies-to-lovers light space opera, but there are some heavier concepts in this book as well. Tarquin, whose family is one of five powerful families that control technology, has felt out of place his whole life. He wants his father’s approval, but as he learns what his family has done to secure their power, he has to decide whether to break away or toe the line.

Planets can be terraformed, but there is a blight that grows on some, killing most life and rendering the planets unusable. Humans can be printed into new bodies, but this is only available to the elite families and their chosen employees, as most others cannot afford it.

The relationship between Tarquin and Naira moved fairly quickly, and there were hints that this was due to entanglement from the printing process. The story focused more on the romance than on the science, I thought and, while it was a good story, I wanted more of the technology explained. Hopefully, this happens in the next book in the series.

Book Review: The Innocent Sleep (October Daye #18) by Seanan McGuire

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Genre: Urban fantasy
Publisher: DAW Books
Publication Date: October 24th, 2023
Pages: 368, hardcover
Source: NetGalley

For one bright, shining moment, Tybalt, King of Cats, had everything he had ever wanted. He was soon to set his crown aside; he had married the woman he loved; he was going to be a father. After centuries of searching for a family of his own, he had finally found a way to construct the life of his dreams, and was looking forward to a period of peace—or at least as much peace as is ever in the offing for the husband of a hero.

Alas for Tybalt and his domestic aspirations, fate—and Titania—had other ideas. His perfect world had been complete for only a moment when it was ripped away, to be replaced by hers. Titania, Faerie’s Summer Queen, Mother of Illusions and enemy of so many he holds dear, has seized control of the Kingdom, remaking it in her own image. An image which does not include meddlesome shapeshifters getting in her way. Tybalt quickly finds himself banished from her reality, along with the Undersea and the rest of the Court of Cats.

To protect his people and his future, Tybalt must find the woman he loves in a world designed to keep her from him, convince her that he’s not a stranger trying to ruin her life for no apparent reason, and get her to unmake the illusion she’s been firmly enmeshed in. And he’ll have to do it all while she doesn’t know him, and every unrecognizing look is a knife to his heart.

For Tybalt, King of Cats, the happily ever after was just the beginning.

I thought Seanan McGuire couldn’t break my heart any more than she did in Sleep No More.
I thought I wouldn’t enjoy a novel from Tybalt’s POV as much as I have the ones from Toby’s.
I was very, very wrong.

It’s an ambitious concept. Sleep No More and The Innocent Sleep tell about the same timeframe, and most of the same events, as each other, but from the points-of-view of two of the main characters in the series. Toby’s POV is a heartbreaking tale of our favorite hero reduced to being a servant to her bloodkin, with no knowledge of the life she’s led. It’s even more heartbreaking when you remember that Toby spent fifteen years as a fish, losing her mortal family. Faerie has taken more from Toby than it’s ever given her, and this latest loss of agency is especially cruel.

Luckily, Toby has acquired friends and made a new family, who are determined to stop Titania and reverse the spell. Tybalt, Toby’s husband, is the King of Cats. The Cait Sidhe have been made extinct in Titania’s “reality,” and this, for me, was the worst part of both books. The poor cats, trapped and starving, not knowing what happened or why, and relying on the few who can travel the Shadow Roads. (I don’t do spoilers, normally, but it all works out okay.)

There are tie-ins from many of the previous books, and some characters who died are alive, well, and in some cases, unfortunately thriving in Titania’s pocket universe.

Why you should read it: because it’s amazing piece of work, even if we hadn’t previously had the story through Toby’s eyes. Toby’s such a presence that I thought it would be weird to have a story where it’s really everyone else who is taking action. It isn’t weird at all; it’s wonderful, and I really enjoyed minor characters getting some page-time.

Why you might not want to read it: McGuire has put novellas at the end of the Toby books for the last however-many, and Sleep No More and The Innocent Sleep each have one. Might The Innocent Sleep have worked just as well as a novella at the end of Sleep No More? I don’t think so. Having a full-fledge novel gave more insight into the characters who would normally have been working behind the scenes or gotten short shrift, storywise, and we got to feel the full horror of what Titania had done to the Fae. It also gave more dimension to the characters whose lives were actually improved under the spell, and the quandary this caused in which reality should be kept. This is also not the book with which to jump into the series; you need the background of all that came before to fully appreciate this book.

Book Review: The Fatal Folio (The Cambridge Bookshop Series #3) by Elizabeth Penney

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Genre: Cozy mystery
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 24th, 2023
Pages: 288, mass market paperback
Source: NetGalley

In the third in Elizabeth Penney’s delightful Cambridge Bookshop series, The Fatal Folio, Molly Kimball is learning that every killer has a story…
After moving to Cambridge, England, Molly Kimball has found a lot to love, including—of course—her family’s ancestral bookshop, Thomas Marlowe-Manuscripts and Folios. And though she’s not quite ready to use the “L” word when it comes to her boyfriend Kieran, she’s definitely fallen for his intimidating family’s library.

His family is paying her handsomely for an updated catalog when Molly discovers the original manuscript of a Gothic novel, A Fatal Folio by the pseudonymous Selwyn Scott. Kieran’s cousin Oliver, a professor specializing in Gothic literature, is eager to publish a paper on the mystery—especially because a troublesome student, Thad, is threatening to file a complaint against him and prevent his long-awaited promotion.

On Guy Fawkes Night, Molly, Kieran, and her friends set out to enjoy the costumes, fireworks, and fun—at least until a stray firework starts a panic, and the group stumbles upon a prone body, their face covered by a mask. It’s Thad, and he’s been stabbed to death.

It soon becomes clear Oliver isn’t the only one with a motive, and Molly must once again put on a few masks of her own to sleuth out Thad’s killer, prove Oliver’s innocence, and discover what Selwyn’s novel might have to do with this most atmospheric mystery…

A masked murderer, Gothic ambiance, and a long-lost manuscript add up to a great puzzle in the third Cambridge Bookshop mystery. There’s also the theft of a valuable folio which may be tied in to the murder of a Cambridge don on a misty Guy Fawkes night. Molly Kimble juggles solving both crimes between selling books and cataloging her aristocratic boyfriend’s family library.

Why you should read it: Great Gothic touches, a search for a long-lost manuscript that is as interesting as the main crimes being solved, characters you want to spend time with, and it’s set in Cambridge, with all its wonderful history. It’s well-plotted and well-written, and there are enough suspects and clues to keep you guessing. There are bookstores and cats, two things that make a good mystery even better!

Why you might not want to: if you’re not a fan of Gothics, there may be a few too many references and settings here for you.

Book Review: Murder Off the Books (By the Books Mysteries #3) by Tamara Berry

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Genre: Cozy mystery
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: May 30th, 2023
Pages: 336, mass market paperback
Source: NetGalley

Author Tess Harrow and her daughter, Gertrude, are starting to get a bad reputation due to their involvement in recent murder cases, so Tess has come up with the perfect plan to drum up some positive press. She’ll combine her new book release and her bookstore opening into one big event, giving her a chance to wine and dine the locals and some big press contacts. But the night before the party, Tess is greeted by a surprise: her mother has come for a visit, with her much-younger new boyfriend in tow…a boyfriend Gertrude recognizes as the notorious Levi Parker, a man recently connected to the deaths of three elderly widows.

Tess immediately alerts Sheriff Boyd about the visitor, but it’s already too late. Levi Parker is found dead and Tess’s mother is starting to look like the prime suspect. Bernadette swears she didn’t murder Levi, and Tess is doing her best to maintain her mother’s innocence, but too many coincidences keep stacking up. With the whole town seemingly against her family, it’s up to Tess to get to the bottom of the story before it’s too late.

Tess is finally ready to open her bookstore, but her mother and murder intrude in the third book in the By the Book series.

Tess’s mother drops in with a new beau Levi Parker in tow. The twist is, he’s under suspicion in the deaths of other elderly widows. Tess is understandably worried for, and also exasperated by, her mother, but when the beau is murdered, she once again dives in to solve the crime.

Her investigation puts even more distance between her and the sheriff with whom she’s been hoping to have a relationship. He seems to have friendzoned her in favor of an attractive podcaster who has followed Levi Parker to Winthrop. Tess may save her mother, but it may end her relationship with Sheriff Boyd forever.

Tess isn’t perfect. She jumps to conclusions and doesn’t seem to understand boundaries. BUT, the series is a lot of fun, and the secondary characters are delightful. Tess’s teen daughter Gertrude is undoubtedly smarter than her mom, and also funnier. Tess’s FBI bestie Nicki is still trying to break the smuggling ring, but takes time out to help Tess investigate (and provides a buffer).

The series is fun and there are enough red herrings to keep the reader guessing.

Book Review: Grave Suspicions (The Lavington Windsor Mysteries #3) by Alice James

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Genre: Urban fantasy
Publisher: Solaris
Publication Date: August 15th, 2023
Pages: 298, paperback
Source: ARC from author

She’s back. She’s hungover. She’s got no idea.

Estate agent by day, necromancer by night, reluctant amateur sleuth when bullied into it… Toni Windsor is already juggling life and now she has to find out who clubbed a Cornish cheese millionaire to death while he was alone in a locked room.

And her diary was already full. She’s trying to keep the peace between vampire courts, a fistful of demonic contracts have just landed on her lap and – no surprise – her love life still isn’t looking great even though she’s finally dating someone who isn’t dead.

Can’t a girl catch a break?

Third time is somewhat the charm for Toni in Grave Suspicions. It’s been six months since she was in “grave danger,” and things seem to be going well. She has a reliable, respectful boyfriend, her ward Paul is getting ready for university, and no one has tried to kill her lately.

Of course, it’s too good to last. Her brother, Wills, pulls her in to raise the zombie of a lecherous cheese millionaire who was murdered in a locked room. There are plenty of suspects, but seemingly, no opportunity.

Toni, who had been successfully avoiding the vampires in the area, is then ordered by master vampire Benedict to help a fledging vampire who has had several members of his coterie vanish. The last member of his coterie is jealous, and threatens Toni.

She’s not the only one. Two men have been watching Toni’s house, and they break in and attack her, saying that she’s stolen from them. Benedict’s assistant, Aidan, is just in time to prevent Toni’s rape and murder.

Toni sets out to investigate, but she’s also gotta eat, and feed her housemate/ward, Paul. Work hasn’t been that lucrative lately, so she throws herself into generating some customers, thinking that at least there, she won’t get into any trouble.

But we know better, don’t we? Poor Toni doesn’t have an easy time of it. Sometimes she gets into predicaments through no fault of her own, but sometimes it’s honestly her questionable choices that cause her grief. She’s such an engaging heroine, though, that you cheer for her even as you want to sit her down and give her a stern talking to. One of her best qualities is that she wants to help people, She raises an old zombie regularly, not just because they’ve become friends, and because he gives good advice, but because he wants to be raised. She took in Paul when he was still a student under suspicion of being a murderer. She visits the elderly.

She’s also trying to find out more about her past and her powers. She finds some papers left behind by her grandfather, and works with Paul to decipher them. Her parents had stopped paying attention to her when she was very young, and she never knew why, but she suspects it had something to do with either their powers or hers.

The various mysteries are great, and the solution to the locked room mystery will probably surprise you, but the best part of the book for me was when Toni finally figured out why her childhood was the way it was. No spoilers, but it’s going to fill in a lot of the blanks we’ve had for the last two books.

Naturally, there’s plenty of shagging and food alongside the mysteries and occasionally gory death. Toni may or may not be ready to settle down, but she’s in no short supply of potential partners.

I never would have thought cozy horror mysteries could be a thing until I picked up the first book, Grave Secrets, and I certainly wouldn’t have believed that the premise could sustain a series. I was so very wrong, and I’m glad of it. The books are fun and frothy and I’m looking forward to book four.

I received an advance copy directly from the author, as there was an issue with the files on NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.