Mysteryrat’s Maze

May 2024 11

Bad Boy Beat By Clea Simon: Review/Giveaway/Interview

2024 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze

by Claire A Murray

Emily Kelton is a probationary reporter for the Standard, a scrappy, Boston daily newspaper. The job is a step up from the suburban weekly she’d spent two years writing for, but her success there gave her a strong dose of confidence: she knows how to report. She’s a lone wolf, with ambition to move out of the cop beat to the City Hall bureau, which her friend Roz covers, and then to larger political entities. Just prove it to Saul, her editor, she thinks.

May 2024 4

A Murder Most French By Colleen Cambridge: Review/Giveaway

2024 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze

by Sarah Erwin

I’m no stranger to Colleen Cambridge’s enchanting storytelling, but this is my first time meeting her sleuth, Tabitha Knight. It can be a gamble picking up book two in a series without reading the first, but I am happy to report that the kindhearted, yet fierce Tabitha dazzled me right from page one, and by page two, she felt like an old friend. The warm, inviting way in which Cambridge writes her characters (and the settings they inhabit) has a mesmerizing effect on the reader.

May 2024 4

Mystery Short Story: Who Squawked?

2024 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Pets, Terrific Tales

by Maddi Davidson

“This is Chet Armor. I need to dispose of a parrot.”
“Thanks for your call, Chet,” Jake replied. “I’m sorry, but we don’t––”
“You have to take him. I’ve called every bird and animal adoption place within an hour of Sacramento. No one will take a parrot. Snakes, pot-bellied pigs, and rats are welcome, but not parrots.”

May 2024 4

Three Fudges and a Baby By Nancy Coco: Review/Giveaway

2024 Articles, Cynthia Chow, Food Fun, Mysteryrat's Maze

by Cynthia Chow

It’s April on Mackinac Island, and the Historic McMurphy Hotel and Fudge Shop’s owner Allie McMurphy is preparing for the spring tourist season to resume. Her best friend Jenn Carpenter is also very pregnant and ready to pop, and even though she is two weeks overdue she is relieved to have hired doula Hannah Riversbend to help her give birth. That relief ends when Allie and Jenn find Hannah standing over a body holding a gun, and having her doula suspected of murder sends Jenn into a spiral of panic and hysteria.

May 2024 4

Perilous Waters By Terry Shames: Review/Giveaway/Interview

2024 Articles, Cynthia Chow, Mysteryrat's Maze

by Cynthia Chow

After her father was shot and killed when she was 14 years old, Jessie Madison was forced to step in for her alcoholic mother and raise her troubled younger sister Kayla. It also cemented Jessie’s decision to become an FBI agent in order to solve her father’s murder, but she’s forced to abandon her training when Kayla’s drug addiction forces Jessie to quit.

May 2024 4

Pretty as Poison: The Life, Crimes & Accomplices of California’s First Black Widow Part 1

2024 Articles, Hometown History, Mysteryrat's Maze, Sarah Peterson-Camacho

by Sarah Peterson-Camacho
It took a fiery earthquake—and over 3,000 lost lives—to boot Mrs. Emma Ledoux to page two. Mother Nature had to literally move Heaven and Earth herself to wipe the smirk of the simpering, beautiful murderess from the front of every single newspaper across the Golden State.

Apr 2024 27

Rhythm and Clues By Olivia Blacke: Review/Giveaway

2024 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Sarah Erwin

by Sarah Erwin

In Olivia Blacke’s Rhythm and Clues (the third entry in the Record Shop Mystery Series) readers are once again visiting Cedar River, Texas, but this time in a torrential Texas thunderstorm.

Apr 2024 27

Mystery Coming Attractions: May 2024

2024 Articles, Coming Attractions!, Mysteryrat's Maze

by Shawn Stevens

As May arrives with its blossoming flowers and gentle breezes, it's the perfect time to dive into the world of cozy mysteries. Join us as we embark on a captivating journey through quaint villages, charming bookshops, and intriguing puzzles.

Apr 2024 27

A Game of Lies By Clare Mackintosh: Review/Giveaway

2024 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze

by J.M. Landon

In Game of Lies, Claire Mackintosh takes reality TV to a new level bordering on nightmarish. Seven contestants are chosen from hundreds of applicants, but they are duped into thinking it’s a survival reality show set in the Welsh highlands. At the end of day one, the host announces this is not a survival competition, but an exposure of deep, personal secrets.

Apr 2024 27

Mystery Short Story: The Witness

2024 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Terrific Tales

by Guy Belleranti

Dan O'Leary dropped from Anna Peavey's bedroom window and melted into the darkness of the neighboring alley. He oozed confidence now, was no longer worried about the still form lying on the bedroom floor.