Summer is the busy season for the town of Westham, Massachusetts, but a bout of rain has Mackenzie Almeida lulled into a slow period for her Mac’s Bikes shop that sells, repairs, and rents out bicycles. The neighboring Rusty Anchor Pub is not sharing the same slowdown, but it’s certain that their chef does not appreciate finding the first customer of the day dead behind the bar.
If you are familiar with our work here at KRL, and with my mystery novels that are set in the Tower District, you know I spend as much time there as I can. So I was surprised when I found out that not only was there a bookstore in the Tower called Bookish, but that it had opened in November of 2021. To be fair, I haven’t spent as much time there since the pandemic.
The peace and quiet of Taos, New Mexico, population less than 6,000, is shattered by a botched bank robbery that leaves an officer down and an all-law-enforcement search for the robber underway.
The Mummy of Mayfair is book two in Jeri Westerson’s Irregular Detective mystery series, and fans of historical mysteries should be delighted with this latest entry.
This is a series starter that starts off pretty well. Alice Pepper, former chef/restaurant owner turned librarian is someone who likes a good puzzle, literally. Alice and her friends put together several puzzles during the story as they “puzzle” out not only a murder but also a few cold case mysteries.
Recently I learned that my “quozy” mystery series, Domestic Partners in Crime, is on the verge of cancellation by my publisher, Kensington, due to low sales of the second book, Rehearsed to Death. Suffice to say, this has been a sobering experience.
Charlie and his Maine coon cat have a new helper at the library. Tara Martin is an odd person. She rarely makes eye contact and has no tact. She blurts out whatever comes to mind without a thought as to how it sounds to the recipient. For example, she told Charlie’s co-worker, Melba, that the green dress she wore made her look like a cucumber.
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.
Fog City is the perfect noir mystery with a few extra twists and turns. After the Great War (WWI), it is set in San Francisco. You can picture the classic black and white presentation of this story as you eagerly turn the pages. Maggie Laurent is the typical girl next door right down to the Irish heritage with a good Catholic upbringing.
The honeymoon is over, but the romance remains in Anastasia Pollack’s latest outing in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting mystery series. Pollack is the crafts editor for American Woman, a magazine with enough internal politics to keep one guessing who’s in charge.
