Category Archives: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller

This is a fun mystery with lots of death and mayhem. The characters in the story are anthropomorphic cats – they have the thoughts and actions of humans. What is really funny is that the author has “borrowed” a number of real celebrity humans and has created parodies of them. She has also created characters based on traits one associates with individuals from certain geographical areas, complete with accents and mannerisms.

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I always have a laugh out loud, fun time reading a book by Gretchen Archer. This one is no different. Between giggles, chortles, sniggers and out loud laughing, my husband was intrigued enough to try to “borrow” my copy before I was done reading it. No way! I had to keep slapping his hand away like an annoying insect.

I started this series in the middle but, after this book, I went back and purchased the first three books in the series. I have to find out how Davis (not David) made her way from small town to big city casino.

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This is the first mystery I have read by Annette Dashofy. It is also the fourth in her series of Zoe Chambers mysteries. I found it easy to pick up the plot and character line even mid-series. It’s obvious that there have been many twists and turns in prior books and I appreciate that the author hinted at some of those without giving away the plot lines of those books. Even so, I think it might be best to read this series in order so you can see the character development.

In this story, Zoe Chambers is part of an EMT crew. When someone starts targeting emergency responders, everyone goes on the hunt to find the suspect before he/she can kill again.

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“A Death by Any Other Name” is the third in a series of mystery books which follow the “detective” skills of Lady Montfort and her housekeeper, Mrs. Jackson. It is the first of the books that I have read and I found it very easy to pick up the story without having read the first two books. I also appreciate that, while the author made references to the first books, she didn’t give away the plots. That way I can go back and read the series without already knowing whodunnit.

In this book, the focus is on a hybrid tea rose society who meet at Hyde Castle with Mrs. Maud Haldane as their host and the death (or was it murder?) of one of their members. The death occurred months before the action in this book but the intrepid duo are pulled in to assist in order to clear the name of a (potentially) wrongly accused woman. The woman, Mrs. Armitage, has been accused of using tainted food which then killed the man in question. She has been turned off by Mr. Haldane and will never find another job. Lady Montfort and Mrs. Jackson step in to see if they can solve the mystery.

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I’ve read both books in the this series and, while I enjoyed the first, the second, “Bitter Harvest” takes the series storyline and elevates it. The first book spent a lot of time introducing the characters and now that the reader of the series should be familiar with them, the plot is the focus in this book. I kept guessing the whodunnit but the ending was a surprise to me though there were certainly some clues left.

Once again, we are back in Winsome, PA and the town is preparing for their first Oktoberfest celebration. When a death occurs, the authorities aren’t sure if it was an accident or if something more dastardly is afoot.

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I’ve read all of the books in this series and, while I think this book is perhaps a tad weaker than the others, I still found that I enjoyed catching up with Julia’s latest doings. As usual, she is always rushing headlong into situations and suffers the consequences (emotional and physical.)

I found it somewhat weak because I was able to figure out the whodunnit very early on in the book. It was due to the clues that were left a little heavy-handed. Otherwise, the story was engaging and progressed Julia’s relationship with Michael.

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This is the second book in the Lila Maclean Academic Mystery series. What is unusual is that this is not a murder mystery but rather one of finding out why unusual events are happening.

The story is set in Stonedale University which is located in Colorado. Lila Maclean, a literary professor who is in her first year of teaching at the university (and who is concerned about her tenure track), becomes involved in solving the crimes which are occurring. They all revolve around Damon Von Tussel who, as it turns out, has a personal connection to Lila that brings her front and center as the person to keep Von Tussel safe and sound.

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I have read a couple of the Nan Vining mysteries and really enjoyed adding “Lying Blind” to my collection of these novels. I do recommend reading this series in order as there are relationships which have developed over time that would be confusing without the prior stories.

In this story, Nan, a homicide detective with the Pasadena Police department, is called to the scene of a murder in the posh area of town. A young woman has been found floating, nude, face down in a swimming pool. It is up to Nan and her crew to figure out who the woman is and how she ended up where she did.

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I’ve read a number of the Hamish Macbeth books over the years and always enjoy dropping in to see how Hamish is faring. He is still the least ambitious policeman, wanting no more than to stay in his wee apartment at the police station. He is still looking for his soul mate (though he finds an interesting host of reasons why each woman he finds is just not right for him in the end.)

In this story, Hamish is called to the scene of a castle to ferret out the ghostly noises that are scaring the villagers. Of course, he stumbles across a murder scene and the story is off and running.

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This is the second book in the Hayden Kent Mysteries by Kait Carson. It is the first book I have read by this author. I often read books out of order in series to see how well they read stand-alone.

I had some difficulties in the first chapter or two as it seemed to continue from the first book without much explanation as to who the characters were and how they interacted. By around the third or fourth chapter, I had caught up and could enjoy the story. While I think the story can be read stand-alone, I recommend reading the series in order so you can understand the back story on the characters which becomes fairly important by the end of the book.

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