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Reporter Who Knew Too Much

Mark Shaw

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Was What's My Line TV Star, media icon, and crack investigative reporter and journalist Dorothy...

Even If It Kills Her (Bailey Weggins Mystery, #7)

Kate White

8.0 (2 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Kate White returns to her New York Times bestselling Bailey Weggins’ Mystery series, with this...

Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Apr 9, 2021

Cozy mystery fans, sneak a peek at STIFF LIZARD by Lisa Haneberg on my blog. (How amazing is that book cover!?!)

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/04/book-blitz-stiff-lizard-spy-shop.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Rodent Roger, a popular Galveston Island exterminator, goes missing the day after he tells private investigator and spy shop owner Xena Cali about a concerning uptick in green iguana sightings on the island. They’re crapping in people’s boats and falling from trees. Are the lizards swimming over from Florida to escape the pythons, or is it something more nefarious? Can Xena help untangle the mess before the raucous reptiles take over Galveston?

Ultima Penelope Roger is a best-selling writer of romance novels. The Lizard Liquidators have set up shop on Galveston Island. Herpetologist Quintana Flores, PhD, works on a bizarre cruise ship that sails out of the Port of Galveston. Sasha Barlow is a driven junior reporter who’ll do anything to get the story. Ned “The Pelican Man” Quinn writes a column about bird necropsies. Captain Ethan Slaughter is the head of the Major Crimes team at the Galveston Police Department. Xena and her team will have to partner with and/or battle this cast of characters and others to solve what becomes a disturbing murder investigation.

Stiff Lizard is the third full-length book in the Spy Shop Mystery series. If you like fast-paced crime novels, clever satire, and gritty beach towns, then you’ll love Lisa Haneberg’s humorous and contemporary cozy caper.

Kudos Comment

Absolute Power (1997)

7.0 (2 Ratings) Rate It

Movie Watch

Academy Award winner Clint Eastwood directs and stars as a notorious master thief who stumbles upon...

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2200 KP) rated Murder at the Fortune Teller’s Table in Books

Jul 22, 2021

Mystery From the Past; Murder in the Present

When Summer approaches Kelly and the Senior Sentinels asking them for a favor, they are only too willing to agree. Her request seems rather daunting, find two people she hasn’t seen in fifty years. Yet the group of crime solving enthusiasts are able to do so rather quickly. However, before Summer can follow up with the people who wanted found with her real request, she turns up dead. The police view it as a tragic accident, but Kelly thinks something else is going on. Can she figure out what is really happening?

Since it has been a while since I read the previous book in the series, it took me a bit to remember who all the characters are, but it wasn’t too long before I was back up to speed. The series regulars are a charming bunch, and this is especially true for the group of senior citizens that help Kelly figure out what is going on around town. The mystery is great with some creative scenes and strong characters that kept me guessing. Being from Northern California originally, I love the setting, and the talk of food made me drool as I read. I do think the internal timeline of the book is off, mainly because the characters seem younger than they’d have to be, but I didn’t even think about that until I’d finished the book. Overall, I enjoyed this book and am anxious to return to the series soon.

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2200 KP) rated Ditched 4 Murder in Books

Sep 8, 2020

Ditched 4 Murder

J.C. Eaton | 2017 | Mystery

5.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Weddings and Killers

Sophie “Phee” Kimball is settling into her new life in Arizona, but it’s about to get crazier thanks to her aunt’s recent engagement. Phee keeps getting asked to help plan the wedding, and finds herself juggling her job as the accountant for a PI, the wedding, and her mother’s phone calls of outrage about the wedding. Phee’s PI boss is working on a murder that took place near her mother’s house, and as Phee works on the wedding, she begins to wonder if there is a connection. Can she solve the case?

I loved the first book in the series, so I was looking forward to revisiting the characters. Sadly, this one didn’t live up to the first. The mystery was overshadowed by the wedding plans. I expected they would come together at some point, but that point came a little late in the book for my tastes. Meanwhile, the climax to the mystery was a little weak as well. Some of the characters walked a fine line between funny and annoying in the first book, and I found them more annoying than funny here. That’s not all the characters. Phee herself is still a strong and sympathetic main character, and I really like several of the supporting characters. And that isn’t to say I didn’t laugh over the course of the book either. I especially laughed at the climax. Considering how much I enjoyed the first book, I’m definitely going to give Phee another visit.

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2200 KP) rated Death in the Stacks in Books

Sep 17, 2020 (Updated Sep 17, 2020)

Cameos and Murder

It’s time for the annual Dinner in the Stacks fundraiser at the Briar Creek Public Library, but this year, Lindsey Norris is facing an extra challenge in putting it on. Olive Boyle has just become president of the library’s board, and she is determined to make trouble, even threatening Lindsey’s job. Despite all of this, the fundraiser goes well, until Olive’s body is found in the fiction section just after the event ends. Even though Lindsey swore she’d stop investigating murders, she still finds herself drawn into this case. Olive made enemies everywhere she went. With so many suspects, can Lindsey figure out what happened?

While the mystery has some good twists in it, I did feel the pacing was off overall. Instead, the character’s antics take over at times. As a fan of the series, I can’t complain too much about that, especially since I was laughing at those scenes. Plus, we got some character development that fans of the series will love. Fans of Jenn’s other two mystery series will have fun with the cameos those characters make in this book, although you won’t miss much of you aren’t up to date on those series. The usual assortment of extras at the end will give you something to enjoy after you’ve turned the last page. While the plot pacing does bother me, I was smiling so much while I was reading, it is hard to complain. Other fans of the series will love every page as well.