Category Archives: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller

I’ve read and enjoyed all six books in this series. While I think this book could be read stand-alone, I recommend reading the series in order as the character development and relationships are built from book to book.

The series is set in a fictitious town on the shore of Maine. My husband grew up in Camden, Maine and he tells me that Lea Wait is spot on in her descriptions of the types of individuals who live in Maine, the look and feel of the small towns that dot the coast line and also in her history of the state.

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I’ve read many of the Eve Duncan series and, once again, I wish there had been something about Eve as a forensic sculptor. There is a small aside comment but otherwise, the book is really about Jane and Caleb.

Jane has had visions from Cira, a former slave who lived hundreds of years before. Cira has been leading Jane to her family’s treasure of gold coins which are supposedly hidden in Scotland. In this story, not only does Jane have Cira to contend with, suddenly a new individual begins haunting her dreams.

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Brie Hooker is a vegan chef who has come home to visit when one of her twin aunts passes away. She ends up staying to help her remaining Aunt Eva run the goat cheese farm that the two aunts had worked on together.

While she is a vegan, she is okay with fixing non-vegan dishes for family and friends, so the book doesn’t preach too hard about food choices. She is attracted to two different men who are quite carnivorous in their food choices as well. She is just finding her footing, when the family pig makes a gruesome discovery on the farm – one that spells legal problems (and worse) for Aunt Eva.

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I have read each and every book in Julie Mulhern’s The Country Club Murders series. I was astounded with her writing skill in the first book in (“The Deep End”) and each succeeding book has added even more to my delight.

The setting is the early 1970’s in Kansas City and our sleuth, Ellison Russell, is part of the elite country club members. Over the last year (and five prior books), Ellison’s life has been turned upside down. She is trying to breaking free of the privileged mold that she was born into. She wants something different for both herself and for her teenaged daughter, Grace.

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I’ve read most but not all of the TJ Jensen Mystery series. “Fireworks in Paradise” brings us back to the small town where TJ’s family owns a resort.

TJ’s father has been in an accident that claimed the life of an old family friend. It starts looking as if the accident was anything but accidental but the problem is trying to weed down the list of suspects.

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I have read all of the books in the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt series and “The Ninja’s Illusion” is another fun and fast-paced story to enjoy. I’ve thought, from my first reading one of the books in this series, that Jaya Jones was a perfect mash-up between various Elizabeth Peters sleuths and Indiana Jones.

Jaya is an art historian who specializes in Indian history. She’s become somewhat famous for being able to find lost treasures and is often called upon by others in this specialty. In this story, however, she goes to Japan to assist her best friend, Sanjay, when he calls for help. Sanjay is a magician of some renown and is known as The Hindi Houdini. He’s been invited to assist a famous Japanese magician in performing a virtually impossible feat but is very much afraid that someone has nefarious plans which will cause him serious harm if not worse.

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I was quite surprised to find that this author has a very short back list. I was immediately drawn into and became part of the world she created in “Tell Me No Lies”. I will certainly be reading her other books in the near future and waiting for new books in this series.

Ava Logan is the publisher/editor of the local newspaper in her fairly small town in the North Carolina hills. She is also the widow of a law enforcement officer, Tommy, who was killed in the line of duty years before. She is also the mother of two, a pre-teen daughter and a teenage son, so her hands are quite full with both duties at home and at work.

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The Kenni Lowry Mystery series by Tonya Kappe is one of my favorites. In her latest book, “Ax to Grind”, all of my favorite characters are back and are back up to their usual tricks. Kenni Lowry, the sheriff, is back and is once again battling her feelings for her current deputy, Finn, and battling for her job with her former deputy, Lonnie.

Between her Southern Mama (who is trying to get her to settle down and be a proper Southern gal – including getting married) to her grandfather, Poppa, (previous sheriff who also happens to be a ghost) the story takes off and stays at a high note throughout.

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For those who have read the prior books in the Faith Hunter Scrap This Mystery series, this should be a good bridge between this and the next book. For others, it would be a more difficult book to read stand-alone. The relationships in the book have all been built over the previous four books and how the individuals react may seem strange unless you know the background.

For a cozy mystery, there are a lot of evil doings going on on this cruise ship. While there are a couple of instances that refer to scrap booking, on the whole, the book is about the cruise and solving murders. The whole point of the cruise is a wedding between Bob and his long-term boyfriend Garrison, so perhaps not doing scrap booking is appropriate in this case.

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I’ve read a couple of books in this series. It is set in San Antonio, TX (which is a few hundred miles south of where I currently live.) When I lived in Austin, my husband and I would routinely drive down to San Antonio for concerts and some find shopping and dining experiences. The book does a wonderful job of describing the city as it is today and gives a great bit of information about its history.

The book is a entry in a series about Aggie Mundeen. Aggie is a Chicago native who has moved to Texas and is still finding her feet after a few years. She has a would-be boyfriend, Sam, who is a detective and a job has an advice guru on aging and getting fit.

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