Having cranky neighbors together participating in Bar Harbor’s annual Turkey Shoot was probably not a good idea, even if they are to be aiming at targets only using bean bags and not real ammo. Someone didn’t get the memo though, as Tom Farley is shot with a real bullet but thankfully that only lands him in the hospital.
This week we have another fun group of cozy mysteries, some are even set at Christmas-Five Golden Wings by Donna Andrews, Sugar and Spite by M. C. Beaton with R. W. Green (an Agatha Raisin mystery), Death by Java by Alex Erickson, A Perilous Plot: A Booktown Mystery by Lorna Barrett, and Murder at Holly House by Denzil Meyrick.
Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Detective Eve Ronin is still adjusting to her fame after arresting a movie star and then becoming the inspiration for a television series, to the point where she wonders if she isn’t becoming the fictionalized version of herself. Her shooting out tires to prevent a smash-and-grab robbery at an Ulta Store is exactly what the TV character would do, but it costs the real Eve Ronin her badge and has her captain giving the same reprimanding speech that has become a Hollywood cliché.
Professional actress and former cruise director Sierra Sullivan was most recently seen in Port Townsend Theater’s production of Chicago, but as she approaches 50, roles are hard to come by. That is why she has been booked by her agent as a lady-in-waiting for Spindrift Cove’s Renaissance Faire, which honestly is preferable to a former gig as a knock-off Elsa at a children’s birthday party.
This week we have reviews of more wonderful cozies, some with a Halloween or supernatural touch since many are still celebrating Halloween, and a touch of Christmas-The Tattered Cover: A Secret, Book, and Scone Society by Ellery Adams, Death at the Door: A Ruby and Cordelia Mystery by Olivia Blacke, Sugar and Spite: A Witch City Mystery by Carol J. Perry, and Death on Dickens Island by Allison Brook.
It’s been less than a year since Tabby Quigsly and her twin sister Sage Winslow began exploring their psychic abilities as energetics, as their mother had protected her daughters from Savannah, Georgia’s Paranormal Council and its oppressive rules. One of its most prominent members has just taken a fatal fall down the appropriately named Stone Stairs of Death though, and while the police initially label it an accident, Dr. Willim Rosemont’s niece believes it to have been murder.
Eighteen years ago Dolores Diaz left her home in Little Horton, Wisconsin for Los Angeles, cutting off contact with her family and never intending to return. Not only did she change her last name from Hawthorne back to her mother’s maiden name, she completely cut off contact in the hopes of erasing everything from that past life.
It’s Halloween in Westham, Massachusetts, and the streets are filled with tiny superheroes, princesses, and pirates. Mac’s Bikes bicycle rental store owner Mackenzie “Mac” Almeida is happy to see the influx of new business and businesses, which includes the new costume boutique Cape Costumes.
Halloween should be a night of kids, candy, and fun but it doesn’t always turn out that way. Lucy Stone and friends put on a big party as a fundraiser but she misses having kids come to the door, all dressed up. This year, she has more candy than kids. To make sure there’s not tempting leftover candy she’d eat herself, she empties the bowl for the last kid. Besides, he looked like he needed it.
After a rough year ending her marriage to a scamming and cheating Sergio, Carissa Blackwood is moving to Pelican Point, California to help her aunts run the inn they just inherited from their father. Having expected to find the historical building in a state of disrepair, Carissa is shocked to discover that her Aunt Hazel and Aunt Runa have redecorated and renovated Blackwood Inn into a gothic, black and purple-painted Haunted House themed bed-and-breakfast.
