by Sandra Murphy & Cynthia Chow

This week we have 4 more fun mysteries for you-A Very Woodsy Murder by Ellen Byron, Murder at an English Séance by Jessica Ellicott, Come Shell or High Water by Molly MacRae, and Trouble is Brewing by Vicki Delany. Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of all 4 books and links to purchase them from Amazon at the end of each review.

A Very Woodsy Murder by Ellen Byron
Review by Sandra Murphy

Dee Stern is a kind of retired sitcom writer. After a few dud shows, it’s hard to get back onto a winning writing team. With the changing interests of the viewing public, picking a winner is hard to do. When she finds an old motel for sale, she makes up her mind, this is her new vocation.

With the help of her first ex-husband turned BFF, Jeff, she buys the motel and starts renovating the rooms and cabins, repairing the pool, and planning an advertising campaign. Things are moving along nicely with only a few surprises, some more expensive than others, when a guest turns out to be a writer from one of the first shows Dee worked on. He’s never been what she’d call a friend and is not to be trusted without proof.

The townspeople are wary at first but warm to the idea of the motel opening again. The next town over isn’t so receptive to the idea. They’ve made themselves into a tourist attraction and do not want to share the money that pours in from tour buses filled with families.

Planning a makeover for the whole town is an undertaking when the general store is the only place to shop and the pastries they sell could double as hockey pucks. Then there’s the matter of the bear…
Nothing brings a town together like a dead body—if only Dee and Jeff can find the killer, finish renovations, bring in the tourists, get rave Yelp reviews, and avoid eating those tooth breaker treats.

Dee and Jeff are people you’d rent a cabin from, would want to hang out with, and would enjoy listening to the tales of a sitcom writer. They’re planning plenty of activities too. The Golden Motel is off the beaten path but isn’t that what a vacation’s all about? Be sure to take a few good books and sunscreen.
Under the pen name Maria DiRico, Byron writes the Catering Hall books (five). As Byron, there are seven Cajun Country titles and three Vintage Cookbook mysteries. A Very Woodsy Murder is the first in the Golden Motel series. I’m particularly fond of the Catering Hall books but the Golden Motel series ties it for first place.

You can click here to purchase the book from Amazon.

Murder at an English Séance by Jessica Ellicott
Review by Sandra Murphy

Well, of course you’d expect to find a dead person at a séance, because I mean, just who is supposed to bring you words of wisdom from The Other Side? Edwina isn’t so sure about the whole thing but agrees to go to a session as long as her friends Beryl goes too.

The reason behind their attendance isn’t just curiosity. They run a private inquiry business and the vicar’s wife has hired them to prove the psychic medium is a fake. The seances have already caused problems at the church. Their organist was hired to provide background music during the séance. The vicar declared it to be in conflict with church beliefs and stated she couldn’t do both. He was shocked when she chose the psychic over the church. Now the vicar’s only backup plan is a woman who is a terrible organist. They want to save the church by proving the psychic is a charlatan and luring the organist back where she belongs.

Miss Dinsdale, the psychic, says her spirit guide is an Egyptian princess with the unlikely name of Rosanna. Despite her misgivings, Edwina has to admit some of the things Rosanna says are spot on, especially the mention of “someone has literary leanings.” Edwina has just mailed a copy of her manuscript to a publisher. She has hope Rosanna is right and the results will be favorable, even while trying to prove the whole thing is a sham.

It’s during their second session that Rosanna and Miss Dinsdale are put to the test. A dead body turns up, seemingly stabbed with a ceremonial knife that had been placed near Rosanna’s sarcophagus. Now the pressure is on to discover the truth behind the seances and a motive for murder.

This is book eight in the series. Set in post World War I England, the world as Edwina, a village spinster, and Beryl, a worldwide wild adventurer, is changing. Previous thoughts of class are cast aside after the gentry and the working class fought side by side and depended on each other for their very lives. Those who remained at home felt the pinch of higher costs and reduced funds which changed the status of employers and employees in the household. Join Edwina and Beryl as they adjust to their new normal. You’ll enjoy the company. Just be careful about going up with Beryl in her new bright red plane. She is a daredevil, you know.

You can click here to purchase the book from Amazon.

Come Shell or High Water by Molly MacRae
Review by Sandra Murphy

Maureen Nash landed on Ocracoke Island after a harrowing (to her) boat ride with a park ranger friend, Patricia. Hurricane Electra had blown through, done some damage, and now it was time to inspect just how much of a mess there was to clean up. Maureen had her own agenda.

That agenda was derailed, or more aptly put, zapped when Maureen, soaking wet from rain and ocean spray, turned on a lamp and was thrown off her feet by an electrical shock. Gladys and Burt, not that she’d met them before the lamp incident, hover over her to see if she still has a pulse. She has a weak pulse and weaker memory.

There was a walk on the beach, a giant seashell, then a body or maybe two, a big knife, a voice from the woods, and a hellbent run to safety, or what she thought was safety but that was before the lamp mishap.
And then the pirate showed up.

In normal circumstances, one would call the police when a body is involved but Gladys and Burt have other ideas about that so the three of them traipse to the beach to retrace her steps. Sure enough, there’s a body (only one). Now the question is, who can she trust? The sheriff seems competent, the deputy iffy, the doctor more than strange, to put it nicely, Gladys and Burt, well it’s too early to tell about them. It could go either way—good friends or part of the plot, whatever that is.

The pirate, who it turns out is the ghost of an 18th-century Welsh pirate, comes and goes but likes the idea of being a detective of sorts. Will he be reliable? Maureen’s life may depend on him and isn’t that a scary thought?

I’ve read several of MacRae’s mystery series and I have to say, I like them all, but this one is my favorite. The mystery is multi-layered, the characters quirky, with a setting that adds to the story seamlessly. This is a “just one more chapter, I have to see what she’s going to do next” book, one you start reading at bedtime at your own risk. It’s worth the lack of sleep.

MacRae also writes the Haunted Yarn Shop mysteries (six) and the Highland Bookshop series (five). And since Burt bakes muffins daily to start his day with calm, he’s shared recipes for toasted almond muffins, a banana chocolate chip walnut variety, and the intriguing fig walnut spice recipe.

You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.

Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch in St. Louis Missouri. She’s the editor for the upcoming Yeet Me in St Louis, an anthology with stories from twelve St. Louis writers. Her own short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Mystery Magazine, and anthologies such as The Perp Wore Pumpkin and I (Almost) Died in Your Arms. ‘Lucy’s Tree’, published in The Eyes of Texas, won a Derringer Award from the Short Mystery Fiction Society. She lives in St. Louis with Ozzie the Westie Impersonator and his sidekick in crime, Louie the Cat.

Trouble is Brewing by Vicki Delany
Review by Cynthia Chow

This should be one of the happiest days of Hannah Hill’s life, as Tea by the Sea is hosting her bridal shower in their Outer Cape tearoom. Instead it’s a Hatfields vs McCoys (or Capulets vs Montagues) situation, with the groom’s family detesting the bride and her mother. Hannah’s Boston Brahmin future mother-in-law Sophia Reynolds is not shy about her disdain for her son’s choice of a “lower class” bride and dislikes Hannah’s own mother Jenny even more. This is ironic considering that Sophia’s mother-in-law seems to hate Sophia as well, ensuring an awkward bridal shower and an even more tense upcoming wedding. After overhearing the groom’s father attempt to bribe his own son into canceling the nuptials, Tea by the Sea owner Lily Roberts is prepared for the worst, but even she was not expecting to find the elder Ralph Reynolds dead. While Sophia is the first to accuse Jenny Hill of murder, Sophia’s mother-in-law Mrs. Regina Reynolds is just as quick to point the finger at her daughter-in-law.

While Lily loves her quiet life running the tearoom and preparing breakfasts for her grandmother’s B&B, Lily’s best friend Bernadette “Bernie” Murphy is more than ready to jump into an investigation of the two rivaling families. The tearoom’s gardener Simon – who also happens to be Lily’s boyfriend – is busy fending off Sophia’s daughter, a predatory Mean Girl who ignores her own musician boyfriend. As Lily and Bernie soon learn, Jenny and the late Ralph Reynolds had a romantic past together, one he never got over and led to his hatred of her entire family. While Lily admirably tolerates McKenzie Reynold’s obnoxious condescension and lechery towards Simon, Lily is less willing to allow a murderer to ruin her young guests promising matrimony.

This third in the series mixes descriptions of Lily’s delicious bakery confections with her compassionate questioning of the bride’s and groom’s families. Bridge-playing guests vicariously witness the shenanigans, especially when Bernie throws herself into the investigation on the pretense of it being fodder for the book she plans on writing. The former forensic accountant may not have settled on just exactly what’s writing, but it wouldn’t be a shock if it eventually becomes a mystery centered around a female detecting duo. The Cape Cod and tearoom settings are charming and especially cozy, and readers will be enticed into planning their next vacation for the coast as soon as possible. A tantalizing tease at the end of novel hints at a trip overseas, promising an intriguing twist on the classic gothic mystery.

You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.

To enter to win a copy of all 4 books, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “September 2024” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen September 21, 2024. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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. Also listen to our new mystery podcast where mystery short stories and first chapters are read by actors! They are also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify.

Cynthia Chow is the branch manager of Kaneohe Public Library on the island of Oahu. She balances a librarian lifestyle of cardigans and hair buns with a passion for motorcycle riding and regrettable tattoos (sorry, Mom).

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.