Category Archives: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller

“Death With an Ocean View” is the first in a series of mysteries about Kate Kennedy. Kate is a new widow; her husband passed away six months prior and right after the couple has moved to Florida for their retirement years. Kate is having a time trying to fit in as a single instead of a couple after so many years of marriage.

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This is the first book I have read by Wendy Tyson. It is also the start of a new Greenhouse Mystery series.

In the book, Megan has returned home to the family farm after a stint as a high powered lawyer. She is there to get back to her roots and to take care of her grandmother, Bibi.

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This is the first book this author has written under this name (JP Delaney). I would certainly like to know the author’s other names as I so enjoyed this book, I would certainly seek out and read his/her other works.

The story is an alternating point of view between two youngish women. What they have in common is the unusual modern house that they rent (at different times.) The story is told in tandem of events rather than in time. Each woman’s personality unfolds as the story moves along.

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This is the second book in this series. I have read both and found that Marked Masters as an excellent second in series. I liked that the pace picked up, which makes sense as we now have the background on these characters so more writing to given over to action.

The story picks up where the last one left off. I do suggest reading these books in order as there is a cross over of plot lines that makes more sense if you have the background of the first book.

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This is the first book I have read by Noreen Wald and it is also the first book in her Jake O’Hara murder mystery series.

In the book, Jake O’Hara is a ghostwriter who is just finishing up her last gig. When she is invited to ghostwrite the next book by the renowned cozy murder mystery writer, she is shocked to find out the author has not written her own books while at the same time happy to be picking up such a lucrative deal.

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This is the second book in the A Lady and Lady’s Maid Mystery by Alyssa Maxwell. I have read both books and suggest reading them in order. While there is nothing in this book which works as a spoiler for the first one, there is a growth of the characters that will be enhanced by reading the books in order starting with “Murder Most Malicious”.

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“The Semester of Our Discontent” is the debut mystery in a new series set in academia. It was so well-written, I went looking for more books by this author and that is when I realized it must be her first one. I will certainly be looking for new books in this series in the future.

Lila Maclean is the new literature professor at Stonedale, a private university in lush Colorado surroundings. It is also her first job and she is trying to find her way and fit into the “political” hierarchy of the teaching staff. There are many who are friendly and there are a select few who simply don’t like Lila although they know little to nothing about her.

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This is a fun and fairly quick read of mystery short stories by some of my favorite authors, including the late Charlotte MacLeod. There are stories by Sharyn McCrumb, Issac Asimov, Aaron Elkins and Mary Higgins Clark among others.

The stories are quite fun and run the gamut of whodunnit to the planning of a murder or two. I found that I could read each story during my lunch break, so the book provided a great break read for more than a week.

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“Christmas Stalkings” is a reprint of a collection of Christmas mysteries which was first published in 1991. The authors were some of my favorites then and still remain so today, even though a few of them have since passed away. I had not read these before (back when, I preferred full length mysteries to short stories) but it is possible that others may have read it when it was published previously.

The 12 stories are a wide variety of mysteries collected from various authors, with the sleuths solving everything from whodunnit to the background of a mystery guest. My favorite story was by the late Elizabeth Peters. I’ve been a huge fan of hers for many decades under all of her various pseudonyms. That this story featured herself in the story made it all the more humorous.

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I enjoy reading both mysteries and regency historical novels, so in Catherine Lloyd’s Kurland St. Mary Mystery series, I get both in a single book. This is the fourth book in the series and I recommend reading them in order. While they can be read stand-alone, I think that the character development and the events which build to this story are important to read first.

The rector’s daughter, Lucy Harrington and the local magistrate, (Major) Sir Robert Kurland are engaged and are busy with planning a London wedding that neither of them really want.

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