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Facials Can Be Fatal (Bad Hair Day Mystery, #13)
Facials Can Be Fatal (Bad Hair Day Mystery, #13)
Nancy J. Cohen | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
When a well-to-do client dies mid-facial, Marla Vail decides to track down a killer to save her salon’s reputation. This cozy has a great cast of characters and suspects galore. It’s a fast moving story that will keep you guessing, and rooting for Marla all the way through. While it is the 13th Bad Hair Day Mystery series, you’ll be able to catch on and not feel lost even if you haven’t read the previous 12 books. You will most likely want to go back and read them when you’re done, however!
  
Charity Penn has been raised to trust no one, so she is immediately suspicious when she receives a letter stating she won a contest for cooking lessons in a chocolate shop in South Carolina – a contest she didn’t enter. When her friend goes down to investigate, he calls her teasing good news and then winds up dead in a vat of chocolate. Determined to figure out what happened to her friend, Penn goes to investigate. But can she trust anyone? What is going on?

This book started out slowly, at least mystery wise, since it had the hard job of setting up the series as well as solving the mystery. However, the second half included some good twists and turns as well as payoff for the set up. Penn is an interesting main character since she is pricklier than we normally see in a cozy mystery, but the reasons for her behavior as fully explained and understandable. I’m looking forward to seeing some growth from her as the series progresses, and we already see some of that here.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/09/book-review-asking-for-truffle-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
Sowing Malice
Sowing Malice
Wendy Tyson | 2020 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Reaping Another Great Mystery
When the von Tresslers moved to town, they didn’t make the residents of Winsome, Pennsylvania, very happy. They’ve mostly kept to themselves except when they were pushing to do things their way. Now, David von Tressler has died, and most of the mourners are from out of town. That includes three women that Megan Sawyer runs into at the local nursery. Shortly after Megan meets them, one of the women disappears. Then a body turns up at Megan’s farm. What is going on?

I was thrilled to see another entry in this great series, and I wasn’t disappointed. The mystery is strong. It starts quickly and there are plenty of twists and turns before we reach the end. The characters continue to be wonderful. We got updates on the series regulars and the new characters were well developed. There’s nothing here that spoils previous books in the series, so you could jump in here, but to fully appreciate the character growth, I do recommend reading the series in order. This series is more of a traditional mystery than a lighter cozy, but as long as you know that going in, you’ll be fine. I definitely recommend this book and the entire series.
  
Sarah Winston, a garage sale expert, knows how to run a successful garage sale and has made a business out of it. As part of a charity event, Sarah volunteers her expertise and agrees to manage an athletic equipment swap. While preparing the event, she is knocked out by a would-be robber and then the day of the event discovers the dead body of the local superintendent.

Sarah becomes an amateur detective and compiles a list of murder suspects that all seem to be other members of the school board. With her quick wit and sleuthing talents, Sarah must find the killer before the killer makes her another item for the dumpster.

This book is more than a charming cozy mystery; the author gives you inside tips into the world of garage sale selling and buying. The mystery, suspense, and moments of comedy keep you interested, while you try to guess who the culprit is.
  
***NOTE: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Krissy Hancock has moved to Pine Hills with her best friend to open a coffee and book shop, Death by Coffee. When business doesn’t pick up right away, Krissy is concerned that it could be due to the death of a man who works in the building across the street – a man who had come in for a cup of coffee just minutes before his death. Determined to find the killer in order to squelch rumors that Death by Coffee may actually be serving tainted coffee, Krissy conducts her own investigation.

This was a well plotted and well written mystery, but I did have trouble believing people would tell Krissy as much as they did, with her confrontational way of interrogating her suspects.

The story was entertaining though, and cozy mystery fans should enjoy it.
  
International intrigue, false identities, and a very clever cat will keep you guessing right up to the last moment of this cozy mystery. While meeting with a museum director to discuss a catering job, Nora finds herself also tasked with finding the director’s long lost niece and heir. When she isn’t running her sandwich shop, Hot Bread, Nora also spends some of her time looking into the disappearance of her cat Nick’s former owner, a detective who has been missing for some time. As cryptic messages come in, she eventually realizes that the two cases may be connected in some way. She just has to find the connection before the killer finds her!

Crime and Catnip is book #3 in the Nick and Nora mystery series, but even without having read the earlier two installments, I had no trouble figuring out who was who or what was going on.
  
Sarah Winston, a garage sale expert, knows how to run a successful garage sale and has made a business out of it. As part of a charity event, Sarah volunteers her expertise and agrees to manage an athletic equipment swap. While preparing the event, she is knocked out by a would-be robber and then the day of the event discovers the dead body of the local superintendent.

Sarah becomes an amateur detective and compiles a list of murder suspects that all seem to be other members of the school board. With her quick wit and sleuthing talents, Sarah must find the killer before the killer makes her another item for the dumpster.

This book is more than a charming cozy mystery; the author gives you inside tips into the world of garage sale selling and buying. The mystery, suspense, and moments of comedy keep you interested, while you try to guess who the culprit is.
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Oct 9, 2020  
Sneak a peek at the culinary cozy mystery novel SAVING IRENE by Judy Alter Author on my blog, and enter the GIVEAWAY to win your own signed copy of the book! (There will be three winners.)

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/10/book-blitz-and-giveaway-saving-irene.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Irene Foxglove wishes she were a French chef. Henrietta James, her assistant, knows she is nothing more than a small-time TV chef on a local Chicago channel. And yet when Irene is threatened, Henny tries desperately to save her, wishing always that “Madame” would tell her the truth—about her marriage, her spoiled daughter, her days in France, the man who threatens her. Henny’s best friend, the gay guy who lives next door, teases her, encourages her—and maybe loves her from afar. Murder, kidnapping, and some French gossip complicate this mystery, set in Chicago and redolent with the aroma of fine food. Recipes included.