Sort of cozy, more woman sleuth
589481
What an interesting book.  Not really a cozy mystery, more of a woman sleuth/restaurant owner who decides to find a murderer in her town.  Sydney, the woman in question, opens two restaurants the same day and finds herself drawn into a murder mystery, due to her being adopted and not knowing her real parents.  This leads her to hire an attorney for the accused, find herself one and maybe two boyfriends, and happens to mention she was given 15 million dollars from an unknown person.  Several mysteries in this easy reading book.  Just read it already!
2608608
Julia and Phoebe are visiting their cousin, a newly minted heiress who is clearly up to something.  Eva and Julia's new maid, who is also up to something, also come along.  The new maid has serious airs about her and left the service of Lady DIana Manners somewhat strangely to Eva's mind.  Cousin Regina is living with her friend Olive in a newly purchased home after inheriting everything from her recently dead father - at the expense of her brother and mother.  She has big plans for the house but won't say quite what they are.  Her estranged family shows up with the family lawyer in tow.  But alas the next morning she is dead in her bed with a hat pin to the back of her neck.  The family tries to blame Olive for being the killer, the one to lead her astray, and every other ill.  This brings Miles to the house to investigate.  Owen and grandparents are only the rare phone call.  Eva and Phoebe of course help to investigate putting themselves in serious danger repeatedly.  I had most figured but not the big part of the who.  Less fun than others because missing some side characters and their usual charm, but interesting developments on the Julia and PHoebe relationship.
1561109
What I liked most about this book was the dating. There was online dating to speed dating which added some fun to the book. Clare and her daughter both on the speed dating which was held upstairs. That proved very interesting. I also liked the yellow coat. It was an item that made its mark through the book. I was reading this book at the same time as listening to Origin in Death by J.D. Robb which also had a coat as a prominent item in the book. It was fun to see the story circle around this item including humor. Have you come across an interesting prominent item?

What I liked least in this cozy was the blurb from the killer's point of view. In a heavy, deep mystery it would have its place, but in a cozy I just didn't really care for it. At that point it just lost its cozy feeling. I enjoyed the additional history of the Village Blend. The author draws a picture of the area and I can picture the coffee shop on the corner in the hustle and bustle. I wonder if your picture is anything similar to my picture.

Verdict - 2.5 stars. Not the best and almost made me give up on the series, but not quite yet.
Recommendation: Read, but read quickly. Could skim over the killer's insights if you thought they didn't have a place or added too much darkness.
590927
This is a mystery that brings out several women who had been friends for years due to circumstance. The women have numerous secrets that slowly trickle out and start destroying what little is left of their group. The main character is a in a project of a new sort and the story has many things that may in many ways could be real. won on library thing for review
1771759
A nice new series on the rich gentleman crime solver because they care about the little people around them.  Deanna is a freshly out Newport cottager.  Prior to her first season, something went sideways in an arranged marriage with an old friend of her brother's, a big faux pas.  Her maid, Elspeth, is very close friend second only to Cassie Randolph.  Cassie's father is her fathers business partner and her brother is to marry Deanna's sister.  When a maid is found dead at a Randolph party, these two investigate.  Elspeth's brother was the maid's fianc and he is the best suspect.  Meanwhile, the jilter is investigating shenigans in the business of the fathers and Cassie's dad is going off the rails.  The killer and most of the motive seemed obvious from the outset, but details and the getting there were fun.  Deanna also comes into her own as a person as the novel progressed.
3598218
Pleasant new cozy with a fine female character.  There are some nice twists and turns and no gory violence.  It's also a treat to read something from Australia, as we don't see enough of their fine books in this country.  Thanks NETGALLEY for the ARC@
825078
As with "The Writer's club", this book was a cozy, relaxing read.  The characters are charming women and are so easy to relate to.  There was a little less romance in this book than in the first, but there was plenty of mystery and suspense.  I enjoyed it.
4573885
"Suspicion at Seven" is a cozy mystery. It's the fourteenth book in a series. You don't need to read the previous books to understand this story, and this book didn't spoil the previous ones.

This was a clue-based mystery. Whodunit seemed fairly obvious to me, especially as more clues occurred to confirm my idea. My only uncertainty was if the heroine was making a bad assumption or if she knew something I didn't. Turns out she was, indeed, overlooking something critical based on a bad assumption. I didn't like how the heroine felt totally justified in sneaking past the police tape, especially as it was unnecessary and nothing was learned from the law-breaking. (At least, I assume it's breaking the law there.) The characters were varied and interesting, yet some main characters seemed to decide to do certain things simply to move the story forward rather than because this was a natural interest or action.

There was occasional bad language. There was no sex. It's a fun enough story, but it didn't engage or challenge me as much as I most enjoy from a mystery.

I received this book as a review copy from the publisher.
1441837
Interesting mysteries with a little bit of good natured kidding amongst characters
2069647
A Rocky Road is a cozy that mixes Agatha Christie with a little Sharon McCrumb.  Although there's a bit of murder, it's the bloodless sort and the book is very appropriate for people who shy away from anything graphic.

The bus tour aspect of the mystery is fun and our heroine and hero are likeable.  As for the tour passengers, they're a motley crew, funny, annoying, and you can see why some might end up murdered along the way!

Though told from three points of view, the book is not at all complex.

Voracious mystery readers might be a little disappointed as from the first murder, it's obvious exactly who our murderer is.  I continued to read largely to see if I was right.  The clues are slightly heavy handed and there are only so many suspects to choose from.

While I would have appreciated a more deft hand with the clues, it was still an enjoyable book and a one sitting read.

Recommended for very traditional mystery readers.
4827605
Road Kill by CM Spencer is a cozy mystery set in Chinook (a small town in Canada). We follow the life of Anna Nolan, starting with (while out walking her dog) literally stumbling across the body of her estranged ex-husband (Jack)- and then immediately being found my a local cop over said body.

Evidence against her piles up and Anna has real reason to investigate his death. Which is to say, so she can prove her innocence. However- as she puts it- she's more of a liability to the police, bumbling around and damaging her case. Not only that, it puts her on Sergeant Charles Tremaine's (a British investigator brought in for the case) bad side. Constantly getting in his way and on his nerves.

As her life unravels and she struggles to find not only Jack's killer, but also peace after memories best left forgotten resurface. When she had been married to Jack, he had had a string of affairs. Anna's response had been to look the other way. Her reason was simple. She now had a son and no steady job or income. Without Jack to provide either, she would have to live of welfare. So instead she turned a blind eye until, years later, she finally draws the line and ends it. Now four years after that, her determination to find his killer leads her to meeting some of his past affairs. There are suspects galore and she's determined to find the guilty party.

Of course there are obstacles along the way. Meeting some of the women your husband cheated on you with is no small task, let alone trying to surreptitiously question them about his murder. Talk of Jack also brings to light his situation with Ben, Anna and Jack's 19 year old son. Having had no contact with his father for years, he is dealing with abandonment issues, hatred of the man his father had been and also love of the man who was the only father he had.

There are humorous attempts on Anna's part to ferret out the killer and prove herself to the police, especially Charles Tremaine. As a cozy mystery, it's a pretty light-hearted read. Though usually cozy mysteries have two points of interest- the murder and a subject the protagonist is passionate about. Generally, these will be tea rooms, flower shops or similar things to which the murder takes a back-seat. However, in this book the cozy mystery feel comes from the same writing style as with Agatha Christie books. They tell of grisly murders and yet somehow are pleasant to read, hence "cozy" mystery.

The ending is entertainingly Bond-ish. We have a dramatic villain who spouts all the usual cliches, even finishing off with an I'm-going-to-have-to-kill-you-now statement. Enjoyable to read nevertheless. The only criticism I have is that the story can be a little slow moving at times. Cozy mysteries often rely upon a second point of focus to help keep interest as the murder investigation takes place. As I said earlier, that doesn't happen here and the result is a missing second focus point. However, we do have some side-stories and entertaining events, so it's certainly not a reason not to read this book.

If you're looking for a good cozy mystery, a little bit of romance or just a nice read this is great for you.

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the author. This is not a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% my own.
4823118
This Benni Harper installment varied from its usual form of first person Benni by including several short chapters in second person Gabe.  It was interesting to see their marital crisis from his point of view although I wondered why we didn't see it first person.  It would have been a little less jarring, but still it was nice to get in his head a little and see him up close without always going through the Benni lens.  As Benni is preparing for Elvia's and Dove's weddings as the matron of honor for both, a woman from Gabe's past shows up in town and causes a severe rift in their marriage that threatens to split them up permanently on the eve of their second anniversary.  Benni is also thrown together again with Sheriff's Detective Hudson as they work on a very old murder case she becomes interested in as an historian.  Turns out Hud is an historian, too, and they have something else in common which doesn't make Gabe too happy.  This book is much more an exploration of relationships as there is no current dead body for Benni to stumble over, just the historical case, but that is an interesting parallel story.  I figured out the who early on but not the correct why, so that was a surprise at the end.  These cozy mysteries are good reads with interesting, real-life characters that get deeper and richer as the series goes on.
73363
I really liked this first book in this cozy series. The author does a good job of setting up the background and the characters for this series. Busman's Harbor sounds like a great place to armchair travel to in the summer. The mystery is good but Julia the amateur sleuth works more against the police rather than with the police. Enjoy this series.
1624753
This is the fifteenth book in the Dorothy Martin series, and readers who know the protagonists, Dorothy Martin and her husband Alan Nesbitt, will enjoy their close relationship and co-operative sleuthing.  I've read all the books in this series, and I find that I'm beginning to tire a bit of Dorothy's judgmental attitudes and snippy responses.  I suspect the author is trying to portray Dorothy as an aging but independent woman, but I find that her personality lacks warmth.  She claims to have friends, and she and Alan are (for once) at home in Sherebury in this book, but the aged Jane, her neighbor, is the only friend that seems to be there, and Jane is not very likeable either.  Alan seems like the sensible one, but we hear less from him, even though he is certainly highly regarded by the Sherebury residents and the police.  The mystery itself is not especially compelling this time; it mainly revolves around the very political atmosphere that grows up during the choice of a new bishop.

There is some suspense, at least, but given that the victim dies on page 1, it's difficult for readers to gain a full picture of who he was and why Dorothy and Alan should investigate his death.  I would recommend this installment only to readers who follow the series, or perhaps to readers who might enjoy a mystery steeped in church politics.  There is a great deal of that in this mystery, perhaps a little too much for me.  I do enjoy this series in general, though, and I will look forward to the next one, hoping that Dorothy finds it possible to be more likeable.
2332255
This installment of the series has more of the tone and feel of the earlier works, which is a good thing. And while it is a much-enjoyed improvement over the last 3 or 4, it still is quite thin.  Lori does absolutely no sleuthing until the very end, despite numerous opportunities.  Instead, she simply joins the gossip mill to speculate.  This reader wanted her to get off her duff, travel to Upper Deeping, and start asking some questions.  As it is, when she finally does a little investigating, a person shows up and simply supplies the answers.  A saving grace is that those cloying bits with the twins were kept to a minimum. Although touting Aunt Dimity as "The Paranormal Detective," the series is no longer a detective series, but rather provides brief visits to a charming village.  Not a bad thing, which keeps me coming back, but not how the series began.
232465
A little less of Mary and Sherlock but with a geeat support character
3891916
In the second Tricia Miles/Booktown mystery, Tricia's Haven't Got a Clue store in Stoneham, NH, is celebrating its first anniversary by hosting a book signing featuring local historical-mystery author Zoe Carter when Zoe is abruptly found--by Trish--strangled to death in the rest room.  Sheriff Wendy Adams, who has no particular love for Trish, promptly declares the store a crime scene and closes it down.  Forced to move in with her sister Angelica, who has bought the cookbook shop next door, and faced with a loss of income for herself and her two employees, it's natural for Trish to start snooping around.  At first Zoe's niece and assistant, Kimberly Peters, looks like a good bet--she's Zoe's only known relative and might benefit from her death.  But when it proves that she received only a small bequest from her aunt--and then is brutally attacked herself--Trish revises her opinion.  Is it possible that Zoe didn't write her best-selling books herself?  A retired local librarian thinks so.  If she didn't, who did?  Was someone trying to take revenge for the piracy and loss of income?  Tricia's ongoing investigations point that way.

The previous cast of characters--Trish and Angie, Ginny Williams and Mr. Everett, newspaper editor Russ Smith, real-estate magnate Bob Kelly (whom Ange is dating), his super-competent assistant Frannie, senior Grace Harris (with whom Mr. Everett has begun keeping company), and store cat Miss Marple--all return in a nicely convoluted cozy set in a well-realized small town, and the problems of dealing with the ubiquitous "poop" from the visiting Canada geese add a light touch.  The pace is good and the red herrings plentiful, and you may be surprised by the murderer's identity.  And in solving the case Trish also contrives to bring about several other pleasant outcomes.  A good solid entry to a new and promising series.