{FauxCast} CHOP IT UP: Mum's the Word by Kate Collins

{FauxCast} CHOP IT UP: Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye by Victoria Laurie

What's in a REBOTCO TBR?

Plain Vanilla BORING by Susan Wittig Albert

"China and Ruby Wilcox are presenting their annual 'Not Just Plain Vanilla Workshop,' always a huge hit with customers at Thyme & Seasons Herb Shop. But someone involved with the workshop is driven by a deadly motive, and China soon finds herself teaming up with the very pregnant Pecan Springs police chief Sheila Dawson to solve a vanilla-flavored murder. 

Sheila, happy to get out from behind the chief’s desk, is investigating the death of a botany professor, a prominent researcher specializing in vanilla orchids. China is trying to help a longtime friend: the dead professor’s ex-wife and a prime suspect in his murder.  

However, there’s no shortage of other suspects: a betrayed lover, a disgruntled graduate student, jealous colleagues, and a gang of orchid smugglers. But the lethal roots of this mystery reach back into the dark tropical jungles of Mexico, where the vanilla vine was first cultivated. At stake: a lucrative plant patent, an orchid that is extinct in the wild, and the life of an innocent little girl."

A. Just. Plain. BORING. Book.

As many who frequent my book blog know, I love and adore Susan Wittig Albert’s China Bayles series. My loyalty for the series' is boundless. I love the mysteries, small town setting and herb shop hook. Most of all, I love the business owner/attorney duality of China Bayles' character. This series has gotten me through some hard times, as well as joyous times. So, in essence, I’m pretty tied and committed. Nothing but excitement comes out of reading a new title in this series.

Yet, here I am reading through the 27th latest entry into the series darn near sleep. A Plain Vanilla Murder was a complete and total bore! There's no way around it. I halfway want to believe Albert was trying to get back into plotting a light murder mystery. Because in the previous two books she veered away from doing so. But man, oh man. She veered Vanilla over a ravine and into a compose heap. Straight-up boredom. Still, let me get into what I found aggravating and boring about A Plain Vanilla Murder.

WEEK ONE: AUGUST BLACK WOMEN MYSTERY AUTHORS SERIES CLEAN UP

Do you ever start a mystery series and it takes you years to complete it? Or, if the series is on-going, it takes you years to catch up with the latest release? Too many books, two little time? Or is it the other way around?

Either way...

I also find myself starting new (usually exciting) mystery series each year. I also find myself juggling too many series each year. Then I find myself losing sight of one or two series each year–in favor of a new love. And, hell, each year I’m spending more money on books instead of reading what I already got! (Or that's speculation and not fact–I'll have to check my wallet.) So with all that in the air, there comes a season of buckling down and finishing what one has started ages ago. And that season is now.

So with that all in mind... here's my latest focus...

I must finish the last two books in Barbara Neely’s Blanche White series. As well, I have to finish the final book in Nora DeLoach's Mama series. Both series written by black women mystery writers. Both carrying respective protagonists sharing her unique crime-stopping traversals through the genre. I began both series years ago, and have been collecting/reading entries in each series off and on for too long. Until now–this week.

2 Popular Cozy Mysteries I'm CANCELLING| #MarchMysteryMadness

Don't cuss me out, Sis.  But life is life, 'cause life is life.  And things of that nature.  LOL.  No, seriously.  I just couldn't get with these books.  Tell me where I went wrong, okay?

1.  The Long Quiche Goodbye (Cheese Shop Mystery Book 1) by Avery Aames

Welcome to the grand opening of Fromagerie Bessette. Or as it's more commonly known by the residents of small-town Providence, Ohio-the Cheese Shop. Proprietor Charlotte Bessette has prepared a delightful sampling of bold Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, delicious tortes of Stilton and Mascarpone, and a taste of Sauvignon Blanc-but someone else has decided to make a little crime of passion the piece de resistance. Right outside the shop Charlotte finds a body, the victim stabbed to death with one of her prized olive-wood handled knives.

2.  Knit One, Kill Two (Knitting Mysteries, No. 1) by Maggie Sefton

Kelly would be the first to admit her life in Washington, D.C., is a little on the dull side. But coming back to Colorado for her beloved aunt’s funeral wasn’t the kind of excitement she was seeking. The police are convinced that her Aunt Helen’s death was the result of a burglary gone bad, but for the accountant in Kelly, things just aren’t adding up. After all, why would her sensible, sixty-eight-year-old aunt borrow $20,000 just days before her death? With the help of the knitting regulars at House of Lambspun, Kelly’s about to get a few lessons in cranking out a sumptuously colored scarf—and in luring a killer out of hiding...

IT IS WHAT IT IS!  BOOOOOMMMMMMM!  GOTTA JET!

3 Popular Cozy Mysteries I'm ADORING | #MarchMysteryMadness

Wellllllll, in keeping with #MarchMysteryMadness, I had to share three cozy mysteries (series, I guess) I recently read (as far as December) that I am ADORING.  These are older series.  I find myself liking series that's been around a while, more than the recent ones.  Following this video, I got three series I'm FENCING.  

FYI.  I'm pulling out of a cold here.  If I happen to sound funny; heck, that's why.  Nevertheless, the trick to stunt a cold: BLACK SEED OIL!  

Anyway.  As always READ WHAT YOU LOVE TO READ AND LOVE WHAT YOU LOVE READING.  BOOM.  Look at all those "READS".

And thanks everyone!

Books mentioned:

1.  Crewel World (A Needlecraft Mystery) by Monica Ferris 

2.  Them Bones (A Sarah Booth Mystery) by Carolyn Haines 

3.  Tea For Three (First Three Tea Shop Mysteries) by Laura Child  

Now I'm off to read!  And probably eat an orange or something.  TAKE CARE!

2019 #MarchMysMadness Announcements & Things

Okay.  #MarchMysteryMadness...

March Mystery Madness Challenges...

1.  Old
2.  Again
3.  New
4.  Borrowed
5.  Blue
6.  Optional: Mystery featuring or themed around a wedding!

What Design For Murder Left Me With ~ By Carolyn G. Hart

"When mystery bookstore owner Annie Laurance is invited to stage a Mystery Night for the annual antebellum house tour of the Historical Preservation Society of Chastain, South Carolina, she instead finds herself the leading lady in a flesh-and-blood drama. The play's the thing wherein the curtain falls on mean-spirited grande dame Corinne Webster. While jeweled fingers point, accusing Annie of murder, the perpetrator lurks within the genteel cast of Murder-Most-Make-Believe . . . and the murder weapon is one of the props. 

In the tight-laced society of Chastain, Annie is guilty until proven innocent. With her fiance, Max Darling, Annie pieces together evidence to clear her name—until her chief witness is murdered. Now it will take all her sleuthing skills to discover the evil in the heart of Chastain's Beautiful People."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The second book in the Death on Demand cozy series came away with a decent four stars from me. I wasn’t bothered by the lengthy coloring of the various characters. Nor was I bothered by the setup before the first murder and whodunit struck almost 100 pages in. Nope. It didn’t bother me because I like the way Hart writes characters–as they feel alive.

Yet, what did bother me was the main character, Anne. She came across as too much of a commanding, reactive know-it-all. And I found myself bothered with how she treated her boyfriend Max. She was rather dismissive of him one too many times.

Nonetheless, hey, I’m ready for the third book in the series. 

Clip Second Book Hesitations ~ Murder is Binding by Lorna Barrett

"The streets of Stoneham, New Hampsire are lined with bookstores...and paved with murder.  

When she moved to Stoneham, city slicker Tricia Miles met nothing but friendly faces. And when she opened her mystery bookstore, she met friendly competition. But when she finds Doris Gleason dead in her own cookbook store, killed by a carving 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."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Sisterhood & Victimhood

I am deeeeep on the fence about going into the second book of this series. I found the main character and bookshop owner, Trisha, to be obnoxious as all get-out. She had this laser, scornful and judgmental attitude that I couldn’t get with. And said attitude came aimed toward her older sister, Angelica. Yet, I got it. I got the reason why Trisha was more or less glad to see the arrival of her sister.

You see, the two have a jealous-geared and acrimonious relationship rooted in their childhood. It came from the individual treatment both ladies received from their parents. To keep it simple, Angelica's personality received much more parental attention than Trisha's. It's a cool way to build character and add backstory–for sure. Still, with over twenty years of Trisha begrudging Angelica's existence and whining about their childhood throughout the book; I grew to dislike Trisha.

It got to be too much. Especially when I didn't find her as pleasant as her sister. Which was kind of ironic considering Trisha is carrying the book. Anyway, I can't count how many times I screamed: “Good god, girl! Get over it!”

However, the twist is that I want to see how their relationship develops. The double-twist, I would read the second book for Angelica alone.

Interesting development, but it may take me a minute to get to the second book.

My added gripe. Trisha got more annoying to me the second she used the word "retarded" to describe another individual. As someone who works with people with certain disabilities, I was fuming. And certainly giving the author the side-eye.

GIRLLLL, YOU TRIED IT!

Anyway, this is what I left the book feeling.  The mystery wasn't exactly glowing.  Standard.  Formulaic.  Traditional.  Commercial.  Not all that exciting.  It was the relationship between the two sisters that made it worth the time.

[2] New Black Cozy Mystery Series ~ Mayhem & Mass by Olivia Matthews

[1] New Black Cozy Mystery Series ~ The Plot is Murder by V. M. Burns

CHOP IT UP: Crewel World by Monica Ferris

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

"When Betsy arrived in Excelsior, Minnesota, all she wanted was to visit her sister Margot and to get her life in order.  She never dreamed her sister would give her a place to stay and a job at her needlecraft shop.  In fact, things had never looked so good–until Margot was murdered... 

In a town this friendly, it's hard to imagine who could have committed such a horrible act.  But Betsy has a few ideas.  There's an ex-employee who wants to start her own needlework store.  And there's the landlord who wanted Margot out.  Now Betsy's putting together a list of motives and suspects to figure out this killer's pattern of crime..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Let me tell you what made this book worth the read. What kept it interesting and kept me glued to the pages with all the cozy mystery components aside. Well, I mean sure I could go into all the cozy mystery loving stuff. It had the traditional charming, small town setting. One that's populated with a host of uniquely illustrated characters. Some of those characters were obnoxious, like the always-around-the-corner-to-be-extra-helpful cop named Jill. As well as the town’s potato sack eccentric (named Irene) looking to secure her own business, while giving off chilling vibes to Betsy. Two helpful shop hands who would’ve been better off as the mystery's murderous villain were present as well. And I wished one of the two to have been the culprit in consideration of how the actual culprit of the crime was pretty damn clear. So, as far as mysteries go, there were no surprises there.

Anyway, the needlework hook delivered. The writing was “cozy” and “light,” per the sub-genre's fashion. And it all came together and sold itself nicely. If not anti-climactic in its resolution.

SNARKY DNF: Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton

"Despite the fact that her aunt was an expert knitter, Kelly Flynn never picked up a pair of knitting needles she liked—until she strolled into House of Lambspun. Now, Kelly is about to learn how to knit one, purl two, and untangle the mystery behind her aunt’s murder... 

Kelly would be the first to admit her life in Washington, D.C., is a little on the dull side. But coming back to Colorado for her beloved aunt’s funeral wasn’t the kind of excitement she was seeking. The police are convinced that her Aunt Helen’s death was the result of a burglary gone bad, but for the accountant in Kelly, things just aren’t adding up. After all, why would her sensible, sixty-eight-year-old aunt borrow $20,000 just days before her death? With the help of the knitting regulars at House of Lambspun, Kelly’s about to get a few lessons in cranking out a sumptuously colored scarf—and in luring a killer out of hiding..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kelly (the main character and somewhat new girl in town). Jennifer (cafe waitress). Lisa (slender blonde with a friendly smile). Mimi (shopkeeper plus mommy aura). Megan (perfect teeth and fair skin). All sitting in a knitting room tittering over knitting, with a potluck combing a taco casserole WITH pizza. All the ladies are as slender and divine in frame and shape. Each are corny as all get out with their jokes–or attempts at humor. All, well, should be at work somewhere making money.

CHOP IT UP: Mayhem & Mass by Olivia Matthews

"A Los Angeles transplant, Sister Louise “Lou” LaSalle feels right at home in Briar Coast, New York. After all, her beloved nephew, Chris, works at the college founded by her congregation. But while Sister Lou has always played by the rules, she’s about to have her faith in herself tested—by murder . . 

Sister Lou expects some pushback when she invites her friend, Maurice Jordan, to be the guest speaker for the St. Hermione of Ephesus Feast Day presentation. The theology professor is known far and wide for his controversial views. What she’s not prepared for is finding him dead in his hotel room, bashed over the head. 

When the local deputies focus on the members of her congregation as suspects, Sister Lou takes matters into her own hands. Against Chris’s wishes, she teams up with a cynical local reporter to delve into Maurice’s life. The unlikely partners in crime-fighting uncover a litany of both devotees and detractors. And though it might take a miracle to find the killer, Sister Lou vows to carry on until justice prevails . . ."

7 HEAD TILTING THINGS I GOT OUT OF MAYHEM & MASS

1. The victim was murdered in a hotel room. Yet, not one time did anyone suggest anything about checking the cameras for who entered his room. This is 2017, right?

“’There wasn’t any sign of a struggle.’  Fran sat back in her seat.  A faraway look entered her eyes as she seemed to recall the scene in Maurice’s room.  ‘He must have let the person into the room.  The perp hit him when his back was turned.’”

2. The culprit was obvious. And it’s all telling in the repeated emphasis on hair color. Only two individuals share the same hair color. This is vague. But my point is that there is little challenge for those diving into this book to beat Sister Lou to the culprit.

(PART 2) Short Days/Cold Nights Cozy Reading TBR

PART ONE OF MY TBR LINK IS HERE

I have been nailing these cozy mystery reads to “close out” 2018–having read 8 books since the 19th of November. And the weather has definitely been instrumental in my success. It has kept me closed off and anti-social (just the way I like it). And the house is warm and too cozy to get out and brave the elements for no good reason other than food and work. Nonetheless, to keep matters going, I'm continuing ONLY to pick the cozies I already own. Pulling them off the shelf to extend my Short Days/Cold Nights Cozy Reading TBR. And here remains the last three I have in mind.

1. The ever-popular Rhys Bowen is finally getting a fair turn. I picked up Her Royal Spyness–book one in her Lady Georgiana series–a few years back. It never got a proper turn until now. I spent a few hours reading Her Royal Spyness by candlelight and reading light alone. Oh, while dealing with a nasty electric meter and switchboard replacement problem. Anyway, fifty pages in and I found myself hooked. When I first bought the book, I didn’t want to go into all the Swing music, banjo sleeves, Grapes of Wrath décor of the 1930s. I knew the series was popular and knew I would get there one day. That has recently changed. I’m loving the voice of this book.

Forget Sleeping.  Let's READ!

2. Gunpowder Green, by Laura Childs, is the second book in her Teashop Mystery. The series features a cozy mystery favorite amateur sleuth, Theodosia Browning. I read the first book (Death by Darjeeling) this past summer. I was looking for a Susan Wittig Albert China Bayle fix at the time. It more or less provided, but was promising enough to come back for more.

3. 1966’s The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman will close this TBR out. And I’m going to keep this list short because I have coffee brewing, while I’m ready to read!

PART ONE OF MY TBR LINK IS HERE

CHOP IT UP: The Plot is Murder by V. M. Burns

"The small town of North Harbor on the shores of Lake Michigan is about to have a new mystery bookstore. But before the first customer can browse its shelves, the store’s owner is suspected of her own murder plot . . .   

Samantha Washington has dreamed of owning her own mystery bookstore for as long as she can remember. And as she prepares for the store’s grand opening, she’s also realizing another dream—penning a cozy mystery set in England between the wars. While Samantha hires employees and fills the shelves with the latest mysteries, quick-witted Lady Penelope Marsh, long-overshadowed by her beautiful sister Daphne, refuses to lose the besotted Victor Carlston to her sibling's charms. When one of Daphne's suitors is murdered in a maze, Penelope steps in to solve the labyrinthine puzzle and win Victor.  

But as Samantha indulges her imagination, the unimaginable happens in real life. A shady realtor turns up dead in her backyard, and the police suspect her—after all, the owner of a mystery bookstore might know a thing or two about murder. Aided by her feisty grandmother and an enthusiastic ensemble of colorful retirees, Samantha is determined to close the case before she opens her store. But will she live to conclude her own story when the killer has a revised ending in mind for her?"

I promise I’m not trying to sound like a book snob when I write what I have to write. Hell, I don’t believe I could write a book any better. So I don’t want to sound ostentatious when I say The Plot is Murder was weak. It's one of those books you wished someone had let you at months before the final edit. Still, my resounding observation is this: the book reads like someone attempting to write a contemporary cozy mystery. While attempting to write a 1930's English mystery. Simple as that.

CHOP IT UP: Them Bones by Carolyn Haines

"No self-respecting lady would allow herself to end up in Sarah Booth's situation. Unwed, unemployed, and over thirty, she's flat broke and about to lose the family plantation. Not to mention being haunted by the ghost of her great-great-grandmother's nanny, who never misses an opportunity to remind her of her sorry state--or to suggest a plan of action, like ransoming her friend's prize pooch to raise some cash.

But soon Sarah Booth's walk on the criminal side leads her deeper into unladylike territory, and she's hired to solve a murder. Did gorgeous, landed Hamilton Garrett V really kill his mother twenty years ago? And if so, what is Sarah Booth doing falling for this possible murderer? When she asks one too many questions and a new corpse turns up, she is suddenly a suspect herself...and Sarah Booth finds that digging up the bones of the past could leave her rolling over in her grave."

This.  Book.  Was.  Hard to put down.  Really, this buster was hard to let go of once I got started.  It was nothing like I'd anticipated when I initially picked it up at my public library used bookstore.  The Mississippi setting, I wanted. A poor and single and interestingly unconventional Southern Belle playing detective, delivered me. Old family murders to uncover, I needed. Good ole boy threats, a plus. But an actual and active ghost communicating with the protagonist in a blase fashion took me completely off guard.  And it was soooo good. 

CHOP IT UP: Fool's Puzzle by Earlene Fowler

"Leaving behind memories of her late husband, Benni Harper is making a fresh start...Moving to the trendy California town of San Celina, she takes an exciting new job as director of a folk-art museum. While setting up an exhibit of handmade quilts, she stumbles upon the body of a brutally stabbed artist. Hoping to conduct an investigation on her own, she crosses paths with the local police chief, who thinks this short and sassy cowgirl should leave detecting to the cops and join him for dinner. But it's hard to keep a country girl down, and soon Benni uncovers an alarming pattern of family secrets, small-town lies--and the shocking truth about the night her husband died..."

The minute I finished the book and marked it as READ (two stars) on Goodreads.  Using my phone, I wrote this about the book just to "get it out".

Started out with a fair amount of promise, but devolved the further it progressed. All the excitement of a cozy mystery with a quilting and folk-art hook was removed and flushed early on. Instead the focus was on a MC who was not only boldly immature, but adolescent-level illogical in her reasoning and investigative prowess. It did not make her cute. It did not make her relatable. It made her unreliable and irritating to be around during the experience. Further frustration with the story arrived when the author kept (and I mean KEPT) insisting on ushering in a romance between her MC and a moody cop. Cliches. Cliches. Cliches. I kept rolling my eyes, as it was all so desperate to the point of nausea. Yes, there was a mystery. Yet, apparently, the mystery wasn't the book's real point.

   

It just so happens I bought the second book in the series for a dollar the other day.  She's getting one more shot, dude.  

One more...

SHOT...

Short Days/Cold Nights Cozy Reading TBR

I don’t know about you, but I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. You know how it can be; daylight savings, long nights, cold nights, all the drain board attention of the holidays. Then I like this time of year for the complete "cozy comfort next to a heater" thing. Cutting all social interactions out for a period of time being the biggest plus. Because if I’m not out of the house before 5pm, I’m not going anywhere unless necessary. Luckily I can read at work which is from 10pm to 6am. That's the roll of the DICE, girl! Who can beat that? Anyway, lots of coffee, comfort, Korean dramas, and reading.

Which is why I decided to pull some cozy mysteries off my shelves to composite a little TBR for the season. Because, for sure, I can also get lazy this time of year and opt to just chill if I’m not careful. As for the books, some I bought years ago and haven’t gotten into. Some newly acquired. Some staple authors/series. And maybe one is the second book in a series I started some time ago.

So my list is... (the book's links are Amazon affiliate)

Of course, I couldn’t get everything. I still have The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman and Gunpowder Green (book 2 in Tea Shop Mysteries) by Laura Child are waiting in the "alternative" wings.

As for The Long Quiche Goodbye by Avery Aames. Yes, I’m tempted to DNF it–having read 50 pages. Yet, instead, I’ll put it on the side for another day. Too many characters too soon. And all which seem forced to exude like and relatability.