Miracle Books bookstore owner Nora Pennington first came to Miracle Springs, North Carolina, to heal from both her physical and mental scars. She has since recovered from the burn scars caused by her poor decision to drive while drunk, but it’s been a longer journey for her to move past the betrayal that led to her drinking in the first place.
This week we have reviews of 4 May mysteries for your reading pleasure-Dedication to Murder: A Beyond the Page Mystery by Lauren Elliott, Mother of the Bride Murder: A Lucy Stone Mystery by Leslie Meier, Murder on Mustang Beach: Outer Banks Bookshop Mystery by Alicia Bessette, and Tell-Tale Bones: Sarah Booth Delaney series by Carolyn Haines.
Buy the Book bookshop in Quindicott, Rhode Island, is preparing for Pet Mystery Week, a promotional event celebrating humans’ worthy animal companions. For the seven days and nights of programming Penelope McClure has partnered with the Pawsome Pals reading group to feature a town pet-adoption day, discount vet care, Pet Blessing, competitive pet show, and even a Pet Parade. One of the highlights for the bookstore owner will be an event by bestselling mystery author Amber Breen, whose Kennel Club Mysteries have even been developed into a streaming series.
Thanks to the mentoring of the aunt who raised her, Kinsley Clark has achieved her dream of owning a landscape design company in Harborside, Maine, at the young age of twenty-eight. Seascapes landscaping was even featured in Coastal Living magazine, and Kinsey is hoping that her Aunt Tilly’s Salty Breeze Inn will achieve similar success with their third participation in the Walk Inns annual parade of homes. So when Kinsley digs up a sequined shoe on The Salty Breeze Inn grounds, she only briefly hesitates before covering it up again.
This week we have reviews of 4 food mysteries for you to enjoy for your Mother's Day celebrations-Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust: A Deep Dish Mystery by Mindy Quigley, Cinnamon Twisted: A Deputy Donut Mystery by Ginger Bolton, Death by Chocolate Marshmallow Pie: A Death by Chocolate Mystery by Sarah Graves, and Death by Iced Coffee: A Bookstore Café Mystery by Alex Erickson.
After thirty years of living in an unhappy and abusive marriage, Mai-Lin Song is ready to place all of her hopes in a vial promising her regained youth and beauty. What pushes her over the edge and desperate enough to take the fortune teller’s potion is an anonymous phone call informing her that her husband was taking an offer from witness protection and leaving her behind at the mercy of his criminal bosses. With Feds, criminals, and then an apartment fire trapping her in, downing the wish-fulfilling potion seems like an easy choice.
After watching the increasingly popular Bootlegging Brothers perform at the Hamilton County Bluegrass Festival, Hattie Hayes gets the brilliant idea to have the bluegrass band record a commercial jingle promoting her family’s Moonshine Shack. After minimal haggling over the fee, the three brothers agree to $1000 which still has Brody Sheridan grumbling over the details.
Boulder, Colorado is having another busy wedding season, and Vino Valentine wine shop owner Parker Valentine is hoping to step into the marriage industry with her specialty wine labels. So, Parker is more than happy to provide the wines for her cousin’s upcoming wedding, even though wedding planner Prynne Pearsall seems to be prioritizing her own goals over the wishes of the bride.
As a favor for her fiancé, Oakland private investigator Jeri Howard is helping to inventory the contents of a Queen Anne home soon to be sold in the high-priced town of Alameda. Dan’s friend Noel Benjamin has been tasked by his Great-Aunt Gloria to have the home ready for the market, even though she claims to already have a buyer and won’t be placing it up for bid.
Never one to not take advantage of a marketing tool, or the ignorance of white people, Vera Wong Zhuzhu operates her beloved, but struggling, Vera Wang’s World-Famous Teahouse in San Francisco’s Chinatown. That her teahouse is neither world renowned nor she herself the iconic designer Vera Wang doesn’t bother Vera in the least, especially now that she is in a one-sided rivalry with the coffeehouse across the street.
