Books Read - May 2019

Baptie, J.V.

• The Departed ***

Fiction.  Second in the Scottish police series.  It’s 30 years later, and Helen now heads up the detective bureau. The case she is on involves the murder of a woman, but it has ties 30 years in the past to a missing woman case.

• The Forgotten ***

Fiction.  First in the Scottish police series.  Helen is just starting out as a new detective in Edinburgh, and her first case involves the deaths of several men who seem to be connected to an old crime.

Berry, Connie

• A Dream of Death *****

Fiction.  First in the Kate Hamilton cozy mystery series.  Kate arrives in Scotland to visit her sister-in-law who needs her help, but before she can tell Kate what the mystery is, she is murdered.

Blake, Heather

• A Witch to Remember *****

Fiction.  Ninth in the Wishcraft paranormal cozy mystery series.  Darcy’s pre-wedding party is to be held at Divinitea, the local tea shop, but when it suddenly catches on fire and they find the body of the owner inside, all eyes point to Dorothy as the culprit.

• To Catch a Witch ****

Fiction.  Eighth in the Wishcraft paranormal cozy mystery series.  Darcy is involved in the planning of a big race in town, but when one of the racers disappears and is found dead, she has to get involved in the investigation.

Bradbury, Laura

• A Vineyard for Two ****

Fiction.  Cerise is recovering from losing her husband, her parents, and her patron all within 6 years, and when she learns that her patron, Maxime, has left her joint ownership of Le Domaine du Cerise with his grandson, Clovis, she is incensed.  She doesn’t want a partner, she wants her independence, but how does she reconcile that with her growing attraction to Clovis?

Cadell, Elizabeth

• My Dear Aunt Flora ***

Fiction.  Three women move to the country and live their lives in a small village.

Chase, Deanna

• Soul of the Witch ****

Fiction.  First in the Witches of Keating Hollow witchy series.  Abby Townsend returns to Keating Hollow to care for her father dealing with cancer.  She hasn’t been back in years and is nervous about returning to the place her magic failed her.  When she runs into her ex-boyfriend, old passions are ignited, but she has a boyfriend back in New Orleans to deal with.

Dane, Lauren

• Triad ***

Fiction.  First in the Witches Knot urban fantasy series.  Amelia meets a man she’s been dreaming of for months, and the connection between the two is immediate.  When she meets his best friend, she realizes that she has a connection with him also.  A demon lord has been called into the realm to destroy her family and claim their power, but she and her two men must combat him.

Garrett, Danielle

• Big Ghosts Don’t Cry ***

Fiction.  Fifth in the Beechwood Harbor Ghost Mysteries series.  Scarlet has new powers, but one of them gets her into trouble when she forcibly sends a ghost to the Otherworld.  Only the ghost ends up in Limbo and is in danger of being used by a demon to travel into our world.

Hamilton, Lyn

• The Magyar Venus ****

Fiction.  Eighth in the Lara McClintoch mystery series.  Lara meets up with her old college buddies at a museum event.  An old boyfriend is the museum curator and has opened an exhibit of an ancient mother Earth goddess figuring, known as the Magyar Venus.  Lara drinks too much and doesn’t remember getting home, but she finds a large dent in her car.  When she finds out one of her friends has died, she worries that she might have been the cause.

Hanna, HY

• Silent Bud Deadly **

Fiction.  Second in the English Cottage Garden cozy mystery series.  Poppy takes a job planting a garden for a wealthy couple, even though she knows nothing about gardening.  But when the nosy neighbor next door comes to teach her how to transplant the roses and suddenly dies, Poppy begins to investigate her poisoning.

• Two Down, Bun to Go ****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Oxford Tearoom cozy mystery series.  One of Oxford’s dons, but when Gemma’s friend is accused of the murder, she jumps to the chance to prove his innocence.

Kimelman, Emily

• Betray the Lie *****

Fiction.  Eleventh in the Sydney Rye thriller series.  Sydney is recuperating at Robert’s Miami mansion.  When Hugh tells her he is about to be married, she offers the mansion as the venue, but when Santiago is kidnapped, Sydney and Blue rush to save him.

Lang, Essie

• Trouble on the Books ****

Fiction.  First in the Castle Bookshop mystery series.  Shelby takes over running the castle bookshop while her aunt is recuperating from knee surgery.  The manager of the castle is an over-bearing woman who tries to tell Shelby how to run the shop, but they end up in an argument overheard by some of the volunteers.  When Shelby finds the woman dead in the grotto, she gets embroiled in the murder mystery.

Lynn, Judi

• The Body in the Attic ***

Fiction.  First in the Jazzi Zanders mystery series.  Jazzi is renovating a house where her missing aunt used to live, but she stumbles upon the skeleton in a trunk in the attic.  Her aunt has been missing for 26 years.  Then another body is found buried in the backyard.  Jazzi assists the detective in his interviews with suspects, and they finally figure out who the murderer, or murderers, were.

Moore, Ann

• Gracelin O’Malley ****

Fiction.  First in the Gracelin O’Malley trilogy set in Ireland in the 1840’s.  Gracelin grows up in a loving, but poor, family.  At fifteen her father gives her hand in marriage to the local squire, son of an English lord, hoping that she’ll have a better life.  But the squire is a cruel man and causes Grace to lose two sons, before he is killed by Irish rebels.  The Great Potato Famine kills off a million of her countrymen, and her brother and her love fight to free Ireland from England’s vicious grip.

Noga, Cari

• The Orphan Daughter ****

Fiction.  Jane runs a small farm in Michigan.  Her son is in the Army, her ex-husband is with his new wife and their daughter, and Jane is just trying to make it day to day.  She still grieves the stillborn daughter she lost and feels like a failure as a mother.  She finds out that her half-sister and her husband have been killed in a car accident, and they’ve appointed her as their daughter’s guardian, a job that she takes unwillingly.  Lucy is unwilling to move to Michigan and leave her life in New York, but when her parents die, she has no choice.

Norton, Graham

• Holding ***

Fiction.  Guarda P.J. lives in Duneen, where he oversees the village.  A new development in town is paused when diggers find a skeleton buried on an old farm.  A 20-year-old mystery might have been solved, but when a second skeleton, this time a baby, is found on the same property, tongues start wagging in town about who the deceased were.

Owens, Delia

• Where the Crawdads Sing *****

Fiction.  Kya lives in the marsh with her family, but one by one they all left her.  Living off grits and mashed mussels, she ekes out a living selling seafood at the local market. Spending her days in wonder at the living marsh around her, she can’t imagine living anywhere else.  One day she meets a boy who teaches her how to read, and a whole new world is opened to her.  But the day a man is found dead at the bottom of a water tower, signs point to her, and she lands in jail.

Perkins, S.C.

• Murder Once Removed ****

Fiction.  First in the Ancestry Detective cozy mystery series.  Lucy is hired by a wealthy Texan to uncover the secrets of his ancestors, one of whom had been murdered.  The mystery deepens when it carries over to the present and Lucy’s life is in danger.

Santiago, Esmeralda

• When I Was Puerto Rican *****

Non-fiction.  Memoir of Esmeralda when she was a child living in Puerto Rico up through when she moved to New York with her mother and siblings.

Vilhauer, Ruvanee Pietersz

• The Mask Collectors ***

Fiction.  Grace and her husband, Duncan, get embroiled in a mystery surrounding a pharmaceutical company and a new drug meant to con people into believing it can cure their problems but is actually a placebo.

Books Read - April 2019

Aspenson, Carolyn Ridder

• Deal Gone Dead *****

Fiction.  First in the Lily Sprayberry Realtor cozy mystery series.  Lily has been contracted to sell an elderly woman’s house, but when she finds the woman dead in the kitchen, she sets out to discover who killed her.

Ayers, Candace

• Mating the Alpha ***

Fiction.  First in the Shifters Overload romance series.  ER doctor meets wolf shifter.

Baker, Blythe

• To Capture a Crime **

Fiction.  First in the Piper Lane mystery series.  Pipe and her sister are vacationing in California when she spies a fishing boat capturing an endangered sea turtle.  After a man on a scooter knocks her off her bicycle, she follows him to a warehouse where sea turtles are being carved up.

• To Drink of Deceit ***

Fiction.  First in the Maddie Morgan mystery series.  Maddie is shopping in Texas with her girlfriends when she is mugged, and a man looking for the Japanese fan she just bought wants to get it back.

Bell, Cindy

• A Tough Cast to Crack ***

Fiction.  First in the Nuts About Nuts cozy mystery series.  Kerri is trying to start a new business in a small town, but when her handyman is found murdered in the shop, she realizes his death might be linked to a previous murder in town.

Berry, Steve

• The Malta Exchange *****

Fiction.  Eighteenth book in the Cotton Malone thriller series.  Cotton is recruited to help Stephanie deal with an issue in Rome, while Luke is sent to Malta to spy on a meeting between a cardinal and a Knight of Malta.

Blake, Camilla

• Wolfpack Security **

Fiction.  Shifter romance set in Colorado.

Brown, Josie

• Hollywood Whore ***

Fiction.  Nina is supporting her husband with two jobs while he tries to get discovered in Hollywood.  When she meets a handsome agent at the gourmet grocery store she works at, she gives him her husbands demo tape.  He becomes a star, but when he cheats on his wife with his co-star, his wife can’t forgive him.

• The Housewife Assassin’s Handbook ****

Fiction.  First in the Housewife Assassin books.  Donna is a suburban mom, but when her husband is killed and she finds out he was an assassin, she signs up with the same company to try to bring down his killers.

• Onesies: Fall ***

Fiction.  First in the Totlandia series.  Mothers and one father of toddlers vie to win the few open slots in the Pacific Heights Mom and Tots preschool group.

Burrell, Teresa

• Deadly Secrets ***

Fiction.  JP meets the woman of his dreams, and he has to keep her safe.

Carr, Robyn

• Virgin River ****

Fiction.  First in the Virgin River series.  Melina accepts a job in the small town of Virgin River.  She needs to escape the stress of her old job and the grief of losing her husband.  When she arrives, she finds the situation is not as it was advertised, and all she can think is that she made a huge mistake and needs to leave.  But the town grows on her.

Castle, Angela

• The Purrfect Predicament **

Fiction.  Third in the Australian Shifters series.  Juniper is hiding as a man when shifters Andy and Hamish spot her at a diner and recognize her as their mate.  They kidnap her and take her home with them and promise to keep her safe from her father, a crime lord out to kill her.

Charles, Ann

- Life at the Coffin Joint *****

Fiction.  First in the Deadwood Undertaker series.  Clementine is Deadwood’s first female undertaker, and the bodies are lining up.  But she has one other job that she keeps secret.  She’s a hunter, a killer, an assassin, a sharfrichter.

Connolly, Sheila

• Relatively Dead ****

Fiction.  First in the Relatively Dead genealogy mystery series.  Abby moves to a new town with her boyfriend and meets Ned, a docent at a historical house she is visiting.  When she has a flash of visions and passes out, Ned helps her and they begin to talk about history and what happened to her.  With him as her tourist guide, they visit several locations in the Boston area, where she learns the history of her family.

Daley, Kathi

• Snowmen in Paradise ***

Fiction.  Second in the paradise cozy mystery series.  TJ gets drawn into a case when a hated professional snowboarder is found dead.

Dane, Lauren

- Triad (reading)

Danley, Kate

• The Woodcutter *****

Fiction.  The Woodcutter travels through the Wood trying to right wrongs and keep the balance in the world, but when the Queen and the Gentleman arrive wreaking havoc, he has to face his fears and give his all to save the kingdoms.

de Blasi, Marlena

• A Thousand Days in Venice ***

Non-fiction.  A food journalist meets a banker in Venice and marries him, moving from America to Italy, where she revels in the customs and traditions of Venice.

DeLima, Jan

• Celtic Moon ****

Fiction.  First in an urban shifter fantasy.  Sophie has spent 16 years running from Dylan, but when their son turns fifteen and begins to show signs that he is truly his father’s son, she takes him back to his father’s forest fortress, where they’ll both face dangers brought by the Guardians.

Fishman, Zoe

• Inheriting Edith *****

Fiction.  Maggie is a housecleaner who inherits a house and a mother from a former client and friend.  Edith is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s, and when Maggie and Lucy, her daughter, move into the house, things are prickly.  These two women learn to live together and support each other in their lives.

Galenorn, Yasmine

• Blood Bonds *****

Fiction.  Final book in the Otherworld urban fantasy series.  The girls are finally facing Shadow Wing.  Once he is defeated, they go on with their new lives.

Garrett, Danielle

• Couture and Curses ****

Fiction.  Third in the Touch of Magic paranormal cozy mystery series.  A bridal gown designer is attacked, and Anastasia is caught in the crossfire.  When she becomes a target, Caleb insists that she hide out at a safe house, but the shadow man finds her there. 

• Wedding Bells and Deadly Spells *****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Touch of Magic paranormal cozy mystery series.  When the groom at the shi-shi wedding dies just before the vows, Ana’s harridan boss rushes to blame Ana, who has finally had enough and quits her job.  While she tries to figure out what to do for work, she ends up helping to solve the murder.

Green, Layton

• The Brothers Three ****

Fiction.  First in the Brothers Three fantasy trilogy.  Three brothers from New Orleans get swept into a quest in an alternative universe where magic and monsters rule.

Harms, Kelly

• The Overdue Life of Amy Byler *****

Fiction.  Amy is a single mother whose husband ran off to Hong Kong three years previously with his girlfriend.  Now he’s back in town and wants to spend a week with their children.  Amy is reluctant to leave them alone with him but is finally talked into going to a conference in New York where she stays with her college friend and becomes the star of a new magazine article about “momspringa”.  She’s anxious to get back to her kids, but when she returns home, her husband asks to take the kids for the summer, and she realizes she does want to spend time for herself.

Harris, Joanne

• The Girl with No Shadow ****

Fiction.  Second in the Viane Rocher series.  Viane and her two daughters have moved to Paris where they run a chocolaterie.  Zozie, a stranger, approaches Viane and asks for a job, but she has nefarious plans for the family.

• Peaches for Monsieur le Cure *****

Fiction.  Third in the Viane Rocher series.  Viane and her daughters return to Lansquenet for a visit and get embroiled in a war between the village and the Muslims, the traditional versus the modern, and men against women.

• The Strawberry Thief *****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Viane Rocher series.  Viane’s daughters are growing up.  Anouk has moved to Paris to live with her boyfriend, and Rosette has become a teenager.  When the local florist dies, he leaves his oak wood to Rosette, but his daughter tries to fight to get it back.  Reynard is fighting his own demon while he learns about the florist’s secret sin.  Viane is facing losing her youngest daughter, which would be what she dreads the most.

Heckart, Kelley

• The Bear Goddess *****

Fiction.  First in the Arcadia fantasy series.  Callisto, a nymph, is on a quest to become the Bear Goddess, but when she meets and falls in love with Kasin, a centaur, it upsets her world in ways she can’t imagine.

Kimelman, Emily

• A Spy is Born ****

Fiction.  First in the Starstruck mystery series.  Angela is an actress well on her way to joining the A-list, but when her director calls her to come out to his house, he has more in mind than just going over the script.  He drugs her, but Angela is able to fight him off, to the death.  And a mysterious man shows up offering her the chance of a lifetime, and she cannot turn him down.

MacInerney, Karen

• Dyeing Season ****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Dewberry Farm cozy mystery series.  A scam involving a retirement home and a realtor results in the death of a home health care worker for Lucy’s neighbor.

Murray, Donna Huston

• The Main Line is Murder ****

Fiction.  Ginger and her family move into a house owned by the private school her husband just became the headmaster of, but when she finds one of the staff murdered in the school, she’s determined to find the killer and hoping it won’t shut down the school.

Neal, Toby

• Wired Truth *****

Fiction.  Ninth in the Sophie Ang series.  Sophie is now the CEO of Security Solutions, but she’s not happy behind the desk.  When a client approaches her about stolen diamonds, she decides to take on the investigation herself with a new partner.  Conner has graduated from his training and has taken his place as number One.  But he longs for Sophie, and she for him.

Nelson, Nova

• The Missing Motive ****

Fiction.  Second in the Eastwind Witches paranormal cozy mystery series.  Ruby goes back in time to tell a story of how she does her job as ghost investigator.

Saint, Nic

• Enemy of the Tates ***

Fiction.  First in the Tate-a-Tate series.  Cleo and Mark Tate are movie stars, but when Cleo finds a Mark look alike dead in her car, she becomes a suspect in his death.  When another Mark look alike kills their agent, Mark becomes a suspect.

Vallere, Diane

• Designer Dirty Laundry ****

Fiction.  first in the Samantha Kidd cozy mystery series.  Samantha takes a new job in her hometown working for Patrick, a fashion icon.  But when she finds him dead on her first day on the job, she becomes the prime suspect.

Books Read - January 2019

Ashford, Lindsay Jayne

• The Snow Gypsy *****

Fiction.  Two women born in different countries are brought together due to a linked past.  Rose is looking for her brother who went off to fight in the Spanish Civil War, and Lola who finds a newborn baby at the same moment she finds her mother and twin brother murdered by the Guardia Civil.

Beaton, M.C.

• The Dead Ringer ****

Fiction.  Thirty-second in the Agatha Raisin cozy mystery series.  Agatha gets involved with another murder, this time involving a group of bell ringers in a nearby town.

Belcamino, Krist

• City of the Dead ***

Fiction.  First in the Gia Santella thriller series.  Gia’s parents and brother were murdered, and now the mob is after her.  She wants to turn to the only person she has left, her godfather, but she’s suddenly unsure if she can trust him or if he is the one responsible for killing her family.

Bradbury, Laura

• My Grape Year *****

Fiction.  First in the Grape memoir series.  Laura travels to France on an exchange program, and she falls in love with the country and the people, not to mention the food and the wine.  She dreams of falling in love and hopes that her time in France will help that dream come true.

Calverley, J.M.

• Lokahi’s Triangle *****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Reef Kahili detective series set on the Big Island.  The bizarre death of a doctor brings Reef and his partner, Kalani, a case that hits close to home and involves the art of lomilomi healing and illicit drugs.

Garrett, Danielle

• Cupid in A Bottle ***

Fiction.  First in the Touch of Magic paranormal cozy mystery series.  Anastasia is working on a wedding, but when the groom declares his love for the maid of honor, the bride calls off the wedding.  This might all have resulted from a love potion created by Anastasia’s little sister.

Green, Cass

• In a Cottage in a Wood ****

Fiction.  A young woman sees someone on a bridge late at night and asks if she is okay.  They speak for a moment, and the second woman jumps off the bridge to her death.  The young woman is shocked to find that she has been left a cottage in a wood and finds herself in the middle of a mystery that has far reaching consequences.

Hanna, H.Y.

• Tea with Milk and Murder ****

Fiction.  Second in the Oxford Tea Room mysteries.  Gemma’s best friend has fallen in love with an art dealer, but Gemma is suspicious of him from the beginning, though she can’t tell why.  When he hosts a showing at his gallery and a woman who claims a previous relationship with him falls dead at Gemma’s feet, she wonders if she suspects him because he’s guilty or if it’s because she just doesn’t trust him.

Krentz, Jayne Ann

• Copper Beach ***

Fiction.  First in the Dark Legacy sci-fi thriller.  A woman is hunted for her psi abilities, and she is hired by a man who is willing to serve as her bodyguard, to find a lab book.

Kuhn, Cynthia

• The Semester of Our Discontent ****

Fiction.  First in the Lila MacLean Literary mysteries.  Lila is teaching her first semester at Stonewood College, and she finds the politics of academia disturbing.  When the head of her department insults her work and is then found murdered, she becomes a suspect.

Lackey, Mercedes

• The Fairy Godmother ****

Fiction.  First in the 500 Kingdoms series.  Elena (Cinderella) seeks to hire herself out when her wicked stepmother and stepsisters run away from their creditors leaving her alone.  But the one who hires her is a Godmother, and Elena’s whole life is changed.

• One Good Knight ****

Fiction.  Second in the 500 Kingdoms series.  Princess Andromeda lives a lonely life, for the most part ignored by her mother, Queen Cassiopeia.  But when the queen devises a plan to have Andie killed by a dragon, Andie and her Champion, Gina, and their rag tag army return with a vengeance.

Larsson, Asa

• Sun Storm ***

Fiction.  First in the Rebecka Martinsson mystery series.  Rebecca returns to her hometown and gets involved in a murder mystery.  She has to protect two young girls from their mother and their uncle’s murderer against the church.

Llewellyn, A.J.

• Uhane Hunter ****

Fiction.  First in the Danny Morales P.I. paranormal mystery series.  Danny sees ghosts.  Ghosts of victims, ghosts of murderers, ghosts of dogs, and ghosts of ancestral spirits.

Neal, TW

• Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up in Hawai’i *****

Non-fiction.  A fascinating tale of a young girl growing up with hippie parents on the island of Kaua’i.

Pandian, Gigi

• The Cambodian Curse and Other Stories *****

Fiction.  Short stories in the Jaya Jones mystery series.

• The Elusive Elixir ****

Fiction.  Third in the Accidental Alchemist series.  Zoe travels to Paris to learn more about backward alchemy and to find another gargoyle who was captured in stone.  When she returns home, others are following her and bring nothing but trouble.

• Michelangelo’s Ghost ****

Fiction. Fourth in the Jaya Jones mystery series.  Jaya travels to Italy to track down the art studio of a centuries’ old artist at the Parco dei Mostri.  Her brother and his new girlfriend accompany her, and Lane shows up with a big surprise.

• The Ninja’s Illusion ****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Jaya Jones mystery series.  Sanjay flies Jaya to Japan to see his new magic show in which the magician he’s working with will be performing a famous illusion.  But when the magician is killed, and the murderer seems to have Sanjay in his sights, Jaya and Tamarind have to help solve the mystery.

Parker, Lehua

• Fractured Beauty ****

Fiction.  Anthology of fractured Beauty and the Beast fairytales.

• One Boy, No Water *****

Fiction.  First in the Niuhi Shark Saga trilogy.  Zader had a mysterious birth, and when Uncle Kahana found him lying on the lava at the beach, he took the baby home and gave him to his sister who raised him as her own son.  Zader is allergic to water, which causes all sorts of problems for him, but he’s a truly talented artist.  Uncle Kahana has not yet told Zader where he came from or who he really is.

Schumann, Katrin

• The Forgotten Hours ***

Fiction.  A woman remembers her best friend as a girl in an idyllic time that ended when the best friend accused the woman’s father of rape.  She doesn’t understand why her friend turned on her family, but the effects of that summer lasted well into her adulthood.

Shaw, Rebecca

• The New Rector ****

Fiction.  First in the Tales from Turnham Malpas series.  Very light mystery about people living in a village going through their lives with the occasional murder.

Books Read - March 2019

Ashmore, Carl

• The Time Hunters ****

Fiction.  First in the Time Hunters adventure series.  Two young children spent the summer with their uncle who turns out to be a time traveler.  They accompany him on his travels back in time to acquire the Golden Fleece, but there are evil men out to stop and capture them.

Cheetham, Ben

• Don’t Look Back ****

Fiction.  A London couple loses one of their twin sons in an accident, and nine months later they enter a contest to win free rent at a Cornish mansion.  They figure the move will help their remaining son and them heal from the loss.  But their idyllic new residence might also be home to others of an undead sort.

Clark, Becky

• Fiction Can Be Murder ***

Fiction.  First in the Mystery Writer’s mysteries.  Charlee is a member of a writing circle, but when her agent is found murdered as copied from her own manuscript, she is the main suspect.

Clifford, V.

• Beyond Cutting ****

Fiction.  First in the Vic Fraser mystery series.  Vic is an anthropologist who earns her living as a hairdresser and part time journalist.  When she is assigned to look into the disappearance of a young gay man, she gets drawn into a mystery that threatens her own life.

Galenorn, Yasmine

• The Hallowed Hunt *****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Wild Hunt urban fantasy series set in Seattle.  The agency has taken on two cases, a missing child and a rogue group of Fae activists who are causing mayhem around the city.  Ember is fast approaching her Cruharach ritual, but she is caught up and injured in an attack by the rogue group.

Hanna, H.Y.

• Blood, Sweets and Tears ****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Bewitched by Chocolate paranormal cozy mystery series.  Viktor isn’t the only vampire about, and when jewels are stolen and a man is found dead, Caitlyn finds herself in the clutches of a blood-sucking vampire.

• Bonbons and Broomsticks ****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Bewitched by Chocolate paranormal cozy mystery series.  A mysterious black dog has been haunting the woods, and when two men are killed along the same path, the Black Shuck becomes the scapegoat, but Caitlyn believes the murderer is human, and with Victor’s help she’s out to find the culprit.

• Deadhead and Buried ***

Fiction.  First in the English Cottage Garden mystery series.  Poppy is working a dead end job when she suddenly inherits a cottage with a garden in Oxfordshire.  The kicker in the will stipulates that she must agree to run the family business, a garden center, but Poppy knows nothing about flowers.  When she visits the cottage, she trips over a corpse, leading her on a quest to find the murderer.

• Witch Chocolate Fudge ****

Fiction.  Second in the Bewitched by Chocolate paranormal cozy mystery series.  When the housekeeper at the big house is killed, Caitlyn is questioned as a suspect.  She can prove her innocence if one of the wicked women in town will tell the truth and admit to seeing Caitlyn on the mountain.  When she refuses, Caitlyn has to try to discover the murderer on her own.

• Witch Summer Night’s Cream ***

Fiction.  Third in the Bewitched by Chocolate paranormal cozy mystery series.  A professor has arrived in town to prove his theory that Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was based on a true story.  When Caitlyn realizes that her grandmother is using a love potion in her chocolates, she tries to keep that news to herself, but the professor is determined to get his hands on it.

Harper, Karen

• Broken Bonds ****

Fiction.  Third in the Cold Creek mystery trilogy.  Char has returned from the West and is busy trying to get mountain children into school.  She meets Matt when his truck has been pushed off the road, and she saves his life.  But when hers is in danger, Matt must gather everyone around to save hers.

• Forbidden Ground ***

Fiction.  Second in the Cold Creek mystery trilogy.  Kate has come home for Tess’ wedding, but she also wants to dig at the Adena Mason Mound that sits on Grant’s land.  Grant is determined not to give her access because of what he saw there when he was a boy.  When his friends who share the secret start dying and getting hurt, Grant realizes a target is on his head as well.

Hayton, Katherine

• Mrs. Pettigrew Saw a Ghost ***

Fiction.  Emily is recovering from a near-fatal car accident that left her with a brain injury that causes her not to be able to read or write.  Her physical body is in bad shape, but she is determined to find work, which she does at a charity shop.  When she visits a home to collect some goods that belonged to the recently departed wife, the wife’s ghost comes along for the ride and claims to have been murdered.

Hunt, Isabella

• Black Bear’s Due ****

Fiction.  Second in the Northbane Shifters series.  Rett is an Alpha, and when a tired and sick refugee collapses at the gate, he takes her home to heal.  Laia has been searching for her cousin but shows up at Wynfire with an Excris weapon in her pack, and Rett is determined to keep an eye on her.

• Dragon’s Oath *****

Fiction.  Fifth in the Northbane Shifters series.  Xander is a man full of many secrets, but he meets his match in Tiana, who reluctantly travels to Winfyre to reunite with Iris.  She knows she can’t stay, she knows that by being there she puts everyone in danger.  But Xander isn’t ready to let her go.

• Ice Bear’s Bid *****

Fiction.  Fourth in the Northbane Shifters series.  The Ice Bear, Kallen, saves Iris from a black market auction, but he has no intention of falling for her.  The inevitable happens, and the thing he most fears is losing her.

Ryker’s Security ****

Fiction.  Wolf shifters and werewolves living in Alaska clash, and the members of Ryker’s Security get involved with local issues and in finding their own loves.

• Tiger’s Prey *****

Fiction.  Third in the Northbane Shifters series.  Tristan has been searching for her for five years, but when he runs into Sierra at a bar far from Winfyre, he can’t believe he’s found her.  She has remembered him all these years but is determined to have her revenge on him.

• Wolf’s Wager ***

Fiction.  First in the Northbane Shifters series.  Luke is an Alpha, and when he meets Reagan, he claims her as his own.  Her Riftborn abilities are just starting to bloom, but the SB and others are on her trail.  Luke tries to keep her safe and realizes that her powers might save the whole community.

Keim, Judith

• Fat Fridays ****

Fiction.  A group of women meet every Friday for lunch and to share the news of their lives.  Sukie is a new member, and she quickly becomes close to each of the women as they support each other through good times and bad.

• Sassy Saturdays *****
• Fiction.  Second in the Fat Fridays series.  Sukie is getting ready for her wedding, and Tiffany is getting ready to give birth.  When her husband dies on a trip, she’s left to bring up her baby alone but for the care of the Fat Fridays women.  Lynetta, a new member of the group, has arrived in town with her two teenage sons who can’t keep out of trouble, and Carol Ann is still looking in the wrong places for love.

• Secret Sundays *****

Fiction.  Third in the Fat Fridays Group series.  The ladies continue their supportive relationships as they deal with their problems.

Moral, Tony Lee

• The Haunting of Alice May ***

Fiction.  First in the Ghost Maven paranormal series.  Alice is new in town, and when she meets a ghost boy, she falls in love.  But in trying to save her life, he takes her to a mysterious island, incurring the wrath of the sailors living there.  When they come for her, the whole town is in danger.

Roethle, Sara C.

• Tree of Ages ***

Fiction.  First in the Tree of Ages fantasy series.  Finn woke up one day to find that she was no longer a tree but has been turned into a human woman.  Aed, an elderly conjurer, finds her and takes her under his wing.  Finn wants only to find out how she can return to being a tree, and the duo sets off on a quest to find the Archtree.

Warren, Nancy

• The Vampire Knitting Club ****

Fiction.  First in the Vampire Knitting Club cozy mystery series set in Oxford.  Lucy arrives in Oxford for a visit with her Gran, only to find out that her grandmother died three weeks earlier, having left Lucy the knitting shop and small apartment above it.  A unique knitting group meets at the shop, and when Lucy finds out they’re all vampires, she doesn’t know who to trust.