Month: August 2018

“The Marmalade Murders” A Penny Brannigan Mystery by Elizabeth J. Duncan

The latest Penny Brannigan mystery  is as good as the others in this series and I hated to see it end. The series is set in a countryside market town in Wales which feels timeless and adds a traditional vibe to this effortlessly cozy series. The lead character, Penny, is a spa owner and amateur water colorist and lives alone with her cat Harrison in a refurbished stone cottage. Her circle of friends include her business partner Penelope, an ex-boyfriend, the forceful Mrs. Lloyd and the unassuming pensioner Florence.

Elizabeth Duncan is a clever writer and she builds a story in an entirely natural way intertwining daily town life and different events into each mystery; this one centers on the annual agricultural fair. On the day of the fair a disliked but influential Welsh Ladies Guild member is found dead and as a volunteer Penny is on the scene when the body is found. Penny doesn’t know the victim but gradually becomes involved in the mystery and together with Victoria they contrive to meet with various characters who either knew the victim well or where involved with the agricultural fair or the Welsh Ladies Guild.

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“Claws for Concern” A Cat in the Stacks Mystery by Miranda James

This is the newest Cat in the Stacks mystery and it was comforting to return to the small Mississippi town of Athena and the quiet family life of Charlie Harris and his wonderful Maine Coon cat Diesel. It is eerily possible that this work of fiction could have happened in real life and one of the main characters is a real life crime writer which is very appropriate.

It is high summer in the south and Charlie is just trying to stay cool and hang out with his baby grandson and enjoy his life when his Aunt’s husband’s son appears in Athena. He is a down and out character who looks up Charlie so that he can find out more about his Dad. This is all news to Charlie who knew nothing about his step-cousin’s existence and he dutifully gets involved and tries to help his cousin. Along the way the real life crime writer contacts Charlie and together they embark on unraveling a cold case from 20 years ago in a neighboring town. The common link is the cousin was the chief suspect but the police could not charge him with the crime because his alibi was so strong.

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“Nine Lessons” – A Josephine Tey Mystery by Nicola Upson

This is the first mystery I have read in this series which feature a Scotland Yard Inspector and a fictionalized portrayal of the real mystery author Josephine Tey. It is set in England in the 1930’s in the university town of Cambridge. The novel opens with a very grisly corpse discovered in a churchyard, the victim is the church’s vicar. The method of the murder, he was buried alive, is later linked to a series of ghost stories and a members of a choral group that were together at Cambridge University before World War I.

The story focuses on the theme of rape and the consequences of the crime which is a very timely topic today with all the news coverage of sexual abuse by powerful men but this mystery goes far beyond that. There are many sub-plots and they all come together, I found myself in tears at some points in the story it was that moving. This is not a light, amusing mystery, it has dark overtones, but is not sensationalized or gruesome and is intelligently done.

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“Rasberry Danish Murder” – A Hannah Swensen Mystery by Joanne Fluke

The Hannah Swensen mysteries are set in northern Michigan and feature recipes plus a mystery to be solved in between Hannah baking up a storm and running a combined bakery and coffee shop called The Cookie Jar. This is the 23rd in the series and it’s a pretty tasty treat. The dialogue is homey and everyone is sincere in a mid-western kind of way but there is also a drizzle of sophistication that spices up the characters and plot.

The story interweaves the mystery of Hannah’s missing husband and the death of a co-worker – was the co-worker the intended victim or was it her husband? The time of death is not relevant in this mystery because of the method used to commit the crime and it poses the theory of whom the intended victim was…P.K. the cameraman at KCOW TV was murdered but the intended victim could have been Hannah’s missing husband. Continue reading ““Rasberry Danish Murder” – A Hannah Swensen Mystery by Joanne Fluke”

“The Body in the Casket” – A Faith Fairchild Mystery by Katherine Hall Page

The Faith Fairchild series is a unique mix of New England and the Big Apple in tone and style. Faith is from Manhattan and moved to Massachusetts when she married and she is a blend of Manhattan sophistication and style and New England values. She is a caterer married to a minister with 2 teen age children in this 24th entry in the series delivers another cozy that is a classy and entertaining read.  This mystery is a tribute to Broadway and is all about Revenge served cold on a platter 20 years after the closing of a failed Broadway show.

The story has several sub-plots that underscore the theme of how love and romance shape people’s lives that adds depth to the story and adds to the atmosphere of the novel and keeps it fluidly emotional in contrast to the steely determination of the orchestrator of the birthday weekend, the Broadway producer Max Dane who hires Faith to cater his 70th birthday party in Havencrest a turn of the century arts and craft mansion near Aleford, Mass. It’s pretty gothic in atmosphere in spite of all the modern tasteful comforts and ultra gourmet kitchen and Faith is wary of accepting the job after she learns the details of why Max is hosting the party and why he thinks Faith is perfect for the job.

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“Death in the English Countryside” – Murder on Location by Sara Rosett

This is the first in a new series and is a good read if you like Jane Austen, the English countryside, English country inns and manors, dogs, Hollywood intrigue and a hint of chick lit.

The story starts off with an urgent situation where the main character Kate is introduced as likable, smart and ambitious location scout who in order to save the small company’s potential contract with a famous director jets off to the English countryside to locate her boss Kevin who went missing while scouting locations for ‘Pride and Prejudice’ feature file. Continue reading ““Death in the English Countryside” – Murder on Location by Sara Rosett”