Books Read January 2014

Adams, Ellery

• Pecan Pies and Homicides 

Fiction.  Ella Mae’s Charmed Pie Shoppe is in a bit of a slump, so Ella Mae cooks up some of her special pies to liven things up.  She had the other women get word that an arsonist has destroyed a grove in Tennessee, so they do what they can to help out the victims, knowing all the while that an arsonist and a murderer might be among the newcomers.

Avey, Sydney

• The Sheep Walker’s Daughter

Fiction.  Three generations of women star in this story of love lost, distanced relationships and finding connections while they two younger women solve the mysteries of their family history in the Basque Country.

Ball, Donna

• Vintage Ladybug Farm 

Fiction.  The ladies struggle through ups and downs of starting their new winery, Noah’s and Lori’s graduations, Lori’s upcoming wedding, and Noah’s surprise decision.  Lindsey and Dominic are drawing closer, and Paul and Derrick find that having a house built isn’t always what it’s cut out to be.

Befeler, Mike

• Living with Your Kids is Murder

Fiction.  2nd in this Geezer-Lit cozy mystery series.  Paul Jacobsen moves from Hawai’i to Boulder, Colorado to live with his son’s family.  Before he even arrives, he’s already embroiled in another murder, and that’s just the beginning of a wide spree of crimes for which he is suspected.  With the help of his precocious granddaughter who aspires to be a lawyer, he begins investigating the crimes.  A reunion with his old love sparks the beginning of a whole new adventure for him.

Bevill, C.L.

• Disembodied Bones

Fiction.  2nd book of the Lake People trilogy.  Intricate, original, very creative and spooky!  Little Leonie Simoneaud finds herself on a mission, one that has lasting consequences into her adult life, as she finds herself, once again, running and fighting for her life.

Charles, Ann

• Optical Delusions in Deadwood 

Fiction.  2nd in the humorous paranormal cozy mystery set in Deadwood, SD.  Realtor Violet is trying desperately to sell a house, any house, when she is approached to sell a house located in Lead next to a defunct mine.  The house is supposedly haunted, and Violet will need the assistance of her sort of beau, Doc, to sniff out the ghosts, if any.  

Chase, Deanna

• Haunted on Bourbon Street 

Fiction.  Jade Calhoun has just relocated to New Orleans to live near her best friend Kat.  The apartment she moves into is attached to a strip club and a cafe, and she fills in at each when the owners need help.  She finds herself drawn to the handsome co-owner of the strip club, but her feelings are complicated by the equally handsome ghost who haunts her dreams. 

Childs, Laura

• Eggs in a Casket

Fiction.  6th in her Cackleberry Club series about the cafe that specializes in eggs run by three women in their 40’s-50’s.  Suzanne and Toni are delivering flowers to the local cemetery when they come across an open grave...but it’s not empty.

Daheim, Mary

• Just Desserts 

Fiction.  1st in her Bed and Breakfast series about a woman who turns her family home into a bed and breakfast and the odd family who descends on her for a night while their home is being fumigated.  Judith might have to have the bed and breakfast fumigated after the weekend is over following  the murder of one of her guests.

Dams, Jeanne M.

• Shadows of Death

Fiction.  14th in the cozy mystery series starring Dorothy Martin, an American woman in her 60’s married to an English ex-policeman, and their adventures in solving mysteries.

Hunter, Maddy

• Bonnie of Evidence

Fiction.  8th in the cozy mystery series about an Iowan tour guide who leads senior on trips around the world, some of whom end up as murder victims.  The group is traveling through Scotland in this book, as the bodies start to stack up.

Jaffarian, Sue Ann

• Gem of A Ghost 

Fiction.  Emma Whitecastle is contacted by an old acquaintance who needs her help in getting rid of the woman’s ex-husband.  The problem is...he’s dead.  Emma’s daughter, Kelly, is good friends with the woman’s daughter, Lainey, and calls Emma one night to tell her that Lainey has attempted suicide and needs her help.  Is her dearly departed father to blame for the girl’s suicide attempt, or is there another force at work?

Linn, Denise

• Altars: Bringing Sacred Shrines into Your Everyday Life

Non-fiction.  Wonderfully inclusive book about the history, creative, uses and care of altars in the home.

Riggs, Ransom

• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Fiction.  Odd and haunting tale of a teenager who struggles with nightmares after the mysterious death of his grandfather, and his journey to a small island off the coast of Wales to fulfill his grandfather’s last wish.