by Sunny Frazier
April brings flowers and also new cozies to enjoy…although why spooky ones came out this time of year baffles me. But, here’s a chance to visit your favorite fictional bookstores.
Aspiring witch Mia Malone is doing well at her catering and cooking school, Mia’s Morsels. The town of Magic Springs is fairly accepting of magic. When Mia is asked at the last minute to take over as wedding planner, she finds herself in the middle of two feuding families faced with a Romeo and Juliet situation. She goes over to pick up paperwork from the previous planner only to find her murdered. Armed with a protective amulet from her grandmother, it’s up to Mia to save the star-crossed couple’s wedding. Three Tainted Teas is the third in the Kitchen Witch Mysteries by Lynn Cahoon. Recipes included.
It’s ‘Til Death at another wedding this time in Salem, Massachusetts. Lee Barrett, the program director of the TV station, has married her detective beau. Maine is the honeymoon destination. They’re moving to their own place after the trip, but will stay nearby her aunt, with whom she shares clairvoyant cat O’Ryan. But, the Maine island is near the crash site that killed Lee’s parents. The case was never solved. Pretty soon she’s putting wedding gifts aside and using her psychic gifts to solve the mystery. This is the twelfth book in Carol J. Perry’s Witch City Mysteries.
Brynn Warren is a young witch who works at her family’s B&B in Evenfall. But when the ghost of a candy shop owner shows up, he wants her to investigate his murder. He’s pretty sure his partner’s wife killed him so she can sell the business. Brynn isn’t convinced; after all, the man had health issues. But, in order to bring the ghost some peace, she agrees to take the case. When the Crow’s Away is the second in Auralee Wallace’s Evenfall Witches B&B mysteries.
There’s A Margin for Murder in the eighth Beyond the Page Bookstore mystery. Owner Addie Greyborne is leaving Greyborne Harbor to attend a book sale in Pen Hollow. The closing of the local library is forcing the town to sell their bookmobile. Addie sees it as an opportunity to make it a traveling bookstore to attend summer festivals. But, inside the vehicle are several first edition classics. Before the bus can be delivered, a fatal car crash occurs. The driver was poisoned, and the books are gone. Author Lauren Elliott keeps us in a margin of terror with her latest.
Across the Pond at the Cracked Spine bookshop in Edinburgh, Scotland, Delany Nichols and her co-worker are invited to the traditional Burns Night Dinner. It’s in honor of poet Robert Burns and is held at his home. But her boss and another guest have a long-standing feud fueled by a fire which happened twenty years ago. After the dinner, another fire burns down the Burns house. A body is found in the ashes and Delaney’s co-worker is the suspect. She rushes to clear him but discovers he had a motive. The Burning Pages is the seventh in the Scottish Bookshop Mysteries by Paige Shelton.
BEST OF THE REST
Jennifer S. Alderson—Death by Gondola: A Springtime Murder in Venice: Travel Can Be Murder #8
Lee Hollis:—Poppy Harmon and the Backstabbing Batchelor: A Desert Flowers Mystery #4
Ellery Adams—The Vanishing Type: A Secret, Book, and Scone Society #5
Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. Be sure to check out our new mystery podcast too with mystery short stories, and first chapters read by local actors. A new episode went up this week.
Or click on this link to take you to Mysterious Galaxy’s website where you can purchase any of these books & a portion will go to help support KRL:
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Looks like a great selection of coming attractions!
Sunny, thank you for the reviews.