Cozy Mystery

Town in a Wild Moose Chase (A Candy Holliday Murder Mystery #3) by B.B. Haywood

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wild moose chase

Pages: 322

Publisher: Berkley

Published: February 7, 2012

Cape Willington, Maine in the middle of winter is as interesting as it is in the summer. Candy finds herself in the middle of another mystery in the first 20 pages of the book.

Candy is working at home when the local hermit stumbles onto Blueberry Acres with a head injury claiming there is a body in the woods. As she tries to get him help, he vanishes without a trace and so does the body. Can Candy find the hermit and the body and solve the case or will she be too busy trying to solve her relationship status with Ben, her boss and boyfriend? Does his mysterious actions have anything to do with the missing body or is he involved in something he shouldn’t be?

The Candy Holliday Murder Mystery series has captured my attention from the beginning because there is something different about it. I cannot quite put my finger on it except that it works. There is romance but only a subtle hint which I like. If I want a lot of romance I will read a romance novel. Candy is not an overly strong female protagonist. She is your hometown sweetheart that goes the extra mile to help others out.

I am very interested to see how this series will grow especially after the last few pages of this book. The cliffhanger is very intriguing.

Uniformly Dead (A Stitch in Time Mystery) by Greta McKennan

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uniformly dead

Pages: 206

Publisher: Kensington Books

Published: May 16, 2017

A wonderful page-turning debut cozy mystery by Grate McKennan.
The book starts with Daria dealing with a difficult Civil War reenactor who turns her already topsy-turvy life into more chaos. At the same she is dealing with a horrid mother of the bride on an antique wedding dress and the return of her long-lost brother. An innocent trip to the local Civil War museum turns into a theft and eventual murder. Will Daria survive long enough to clear her brother’s name?
I was hooked from the first sentence. Ms. McKennan uses imagery very well without getting bogged down by to using too many words to describe what is happening in the scene. I even learned what a Farb was in the historical reenacting world.
Daria is a well-rounded likeable character with gumption. She felt very real to me. A little gun-shy in the love department after a disastrous four relationship with a jerk. I think most of us know how that feels. Her renter, Aileen, is a hoot. We all need an Aileen in our corner.
Uniformly Dead is full of action from page one to the end. I could not flip my Kindle pages fast enough. I am already looking forward to the second book in the Stitch in Time series. I can’t wait to see where we go next.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an ARC of the book for my own. honest opinion in the form of a review.

Killer Characters (A Books by the Bay Mystery by Ellery Adams

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killer characters
Pages: 282 (Kindle Edition)
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Published: May 2, 2017
As we join Olivia, Chief Rawlings and the rest of the Bayside Book Writers for their final murder to solve it turns personal. Laurel has been arrested for the murder of her husband’s lover. Did she do it? Can Laurel’s marriage be fixed? Will it destroy the Bayside Book Writers? For these answers you need to stop what you are doing and read this book immediately.
Tissue warning: my emotions were everywhere during this book and I found myself reaching for the tissues several times but none more so than the ending. Ellery Adams did a perfect job in making you feel the character’s emotions deep in your soul. I am still reeling from the ending but it was the perfect way to end the series.
If you have not read the series I suggest getting them all for vacation and spending the entire vacation in Oyster Bay, you will not be disappointed. The growth of Olivia as a caring individual who learns to open her own heart up to the impossible is hope for all mankind. Tragedy and grief affects us, some when we are little, some not until we are old, and some more times than it should but we can pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and learn to live a good life.

Brew or Die by Caroline Fardig

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brew or die
Pages: 352
Publisher: Alibi (Random House)
Published: April 25, 2017
We join Juliet as she works on her first case after she has earned her PI license. Maya, her PI boss, has asked her to investigate a company called Wonder-Gen after one of the owners hired them to figure out if his partner is swindling money from the company. At the same time, her boss at the coffee shop Java Jive has asked her to look into the death of one of the employees fiancé. Did she really die of an apparent drug overdose or was she murder by a jealous co-worker. Both cases take Juliet on a wild ride. Will she survive both emotionally and physically?
Even though I started this series in the middle it did not affect being able to follow along. Sometimes when you start in the middle of the series you are lost in trying to figure out who is who and the connections. Caroline Fardig did a great job in introducing everyone and their connections very early on and without overdoing so.
I like the spunkiness of Juliet as she is a sleuth that is not afraid to get out there and get in the middle of a case to solve it. My biggest let down was her waffling on who she was in love with. Is it Stafford, Hamilton or Pete? Do all female sleuths have to have a love triangle or quadrangle to make them successful? I think not. Maybe in the future we will see Juliet take a break from trying to fall in love.
This was my first introduction to the Java Jive series and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It will definitely be a series I add to my reading list.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing a free copy for my honest review.