Category Archives: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller

Jane Delight has come back to her Amish hometown. Not because it is so wonderful and she wants to rejoin the Amish but because she is broke after her husband of thirty years left her high and dry. Luckily for Jane, her twin sister Rebecca (who is Amish) has an apartment above her cupcake store.

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I have read every book in this series and the novellas which include Jaya Jones. I have enjoyed every single book and as each new book comes out, I discover that it is even better than the previous ones. That is saying a lot as starting with the first book, it was a wonderful read.

Right from the first, I identified with Jaya as the child that could have happened if Amelia Peabody and Indiana Jones lived in the same time period and had had a baby together.

Apparently, Gigi Pandian was influenced by both characters. I loved that the dedication of this book is for Elizabeth Peters who wrote the Amelia Peabody books. Ms. Pandian also slips references in to Vicky Bliss, another of my favorite Peter’s characters.

Jaya is a art historian who goes hunting for lost treasures to restore them to their rightful owners and to recover the past for future generations.
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I’ve read another series of books by Tonya Kappes, so when I saw this one, I decided to take a chance on it. While I really enjoyed the plot and the characters, I felt that some of the personal relationships were a tad rushed toward the end of the book. Especially as this was the start of a series, the building of relationships can develop a little bit slower over two or more books.

Notwithstanding that, I enjoyed the book. It is the story of a lawyer, Roxanne Bloom (Roxy), who comes back to Honey Springs after her divorce from her rather narcissistic husband.

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This is the second Christmas novella that I have read by Anne Perry. As with the previous one, I really enjoyed the story even though I had not read many of the books in the series it was derived from. In this case, it is an off-shoot of her Thomas Pitt mysteries.

Lady Vespasia and her husband, Victor Narraway, have been married for a few years and are visiting the country house of casual friends for the Christmas season.

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This is a fun mystery series. While its main sleuth is Amish, the focus is on solving the mystery as well as its Amish roots.

Kappy King is a young Amish woman. She is pretty much ignored by the people who live in her small valley. Her aunt was a little crazy and the people figure that Kappy is as well.

When a neighbor, Ruth Peachey, is found murdered, suspicion falls on her special needs son, Jimmy (who has Down’s Syndrome.) Kappy does believe, for one minute that the young man is guilty.

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Amy Lillard is a new author to me. I so enjoyed this mystery, I’ve now finished the first book in her Amish mystery series.

This book is not about the Amish. It is set in a small town where everybody knows everyone else’s business.

Arlo Stanley is co-owner of a bookstore and coffeehouse. She is responsible for the books and her business partner, Chloe is in charge of coffee and food.

Arlo is gearing up for a whirlwind weekend as the local boy who left town and made good as an author is going to do a book signing at her store. Instead, he show up dead on the sidewalk in front of the bookstore. As Chloe has had a relationship with him in the past and had seen and talked to him the morning of his death, suspicion falls on her.

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This is a wonderful series about a woman in her mid-forties, Sophie Kimball, who has moved from Minnesota to Arizona to spend time with her mother, escape the snow, and to work from an old-trusted friend.

Sophie worked in the accounting department at the police station that her new boss worked at as a detective. He has now retired and has opened a private detective agency very close to where her elderly mother lives. Sophie now works as his accountant.

Sophie’s mother, Harriet, assumes that Sophie is able to investigate crimes because all the police expertise must have rubbed off on her.

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This is the second book in this new crafting series by Christina Freeburn. Merry Winters is the sleuth and is the co-owner of a Christmas theme crafting business.

Merry has a problem with tears. So much so, you could do a drinking game when they are mentioned but better to do it with non-alcoholic beverages as I wouldn’t want you to become too inebriated.

Merry also has a little bit of an issue with opposing any form of authority. She can’t seem to take a suggestion from her friendly police force. Instead, she runs headlong into situations that put her or her loved ones into trouble.

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It’s hard to believe that this is the twenty-six Meg Langslow mystery. One would think that such a long-running series might be running a tad low or at least out of bird puns on titles.

Neither of those are true of this series. Each book is funnier than the last. The bird puns continue apace and give a clue as to the story. This is one of my favorite series and I have read it faithfully since the first book was published.

In this story, Meg and family are snowbound at the Caerphilly Inn along with 200 plus ornithologists who are attending a scientific conference about owls that Meg’s grandfather is hosting.

There are many discussions about various owls, which you might be thinking would be kind of dry. However, when people are passionate about their subject, they can come to fisticuffs with those who disagree with them.

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For many readers of this series, I am sure that this book is a fun visit to a bunch of old friends. For me, it was the first book in the series that I have read. It was easy to read stand-alone but, by the end of it, I purchased the first book in the series, so I can read through them all in order.

Lucy Richardson is a librarian at the Lighthouse Library in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The historic lighthouse has developed series issues and is being fixed. During the excavation of the ground around the Lighthouse, a old tin is discovered. What is discovered in the tin sets in motion this whodunnit.

Lucy and her boyfriend, Connor (who just happens to be mayor) come across the body of an annoying member of the historical society. Unfortunately, that body is located in the business office of the Lighthouse and is deemed a murder.

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