Flying Off the Candle is book two in Sarah E. Burr’s Glenmyre Whim Mysteries featuring candlemaker Hazel Wickbury and her aunt Poppy. I am new to the series and gobbled this one up in audiobook form. This reads well as a standalone, and I have also downloaded books one and two because I’m excited to start from the beginning and learn more of the backstory for these wonderful characters.
This week we are once again playing catchup on our summer cozy mystery reviews and giveaways-Kill or Bee Killed: A Bee Keeping Mystery, Book Two by Jennie Marts, The Stranger in the Library: A Lighthouse Library Mystery by Eva Gates, Dead Tired: An Expectant Mom Mystery by Kat Ailes, and Haunting License: A Haunted Haven Mystery by Carol J. Perry.
A Fatal Reception is book four in Kathleen Marple Kalb’s Ella Shane Mysteries featuring Ella Shane, an opera singer in New York City in the early 1900s. Ella is a mezzo soprano “trouser diva” who sings male roles. She’s a remarkable character for both her vocal skills and fencing skills, as well as for her generosity of spirit.
The last few months have been crazy so we have gotten even more behind than usual on our reviews--so this week we have another fun mystery catch up group-The Diva Goes Overboard: A Domestic Goddess Mystery by Krista Davis, Murder at the Spelling Bee: A Maya and Sandra Mystery by Lee Hollis, A Twinkle of Trouble by Daryl Wood Gerber, and Patchwork Quilt Murder by Leslie Meier.
Set in 1844 in Washington DC around the time of the presidential election that determined whether Texas would enter the Union as a slave state, the mystery opens with 15-year-old Samuel Evans grieving the loss of his mother. Officials tell Samuel that his mother drowned herself.
The Honeymoon Homicides by Jeannette de Beauvoir is the 10th book in the Provincetown mystery series featuring Sydney Riley, part owner of a Provincetown hotel. The book jumps right into the mystery when a dead body drops from the upper floor of the hotel right into the middle of Sydney’s wedding reception to her new husband Ali. Many guests run screaming from the scene, but not Sydney, who is also known as Provincetown’s own Miss Marple.
Nicky Sullivan is the resident manager of a sober living home in Chicago. Previously, she served as homicide detective until alcohol took over her life, and she quit her job after a fatal shooting that also injured a young girl. Nicky works hard to stay sober, take care of her residents, point them in the right direction, and deal with her absolutely awful boss.
Murder Marks the Page is book one in Karen Rose Smith's new Tomes & Tea Mysteries, which is a spin-off from the Daisy’s Tea Garden Mysteries.
Daisy’s daughter Jazzi Swanson has opened her own book and tea shop (Tomes & Tea) with her best friend Dawn Fernsby.
A Nest of Vipers is book three in Harini Nagendra’s Bangalore Detectives Club mystery series and can easily be read as a standalone. (Although I’ll admit that I have already downloaded book one, The Bangalore Detective Club, from the library because I enjoyed this entry so much that I want to get caught up!)
Red Beans and Rituals is book two in The Witches of the French Quarter mystery series by Jen Pitts. While readers can easily devour this delicious mystery on its own, book one (Mardi Gras and Magic) is equally delightful and reveals some excellent back story.
