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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2398 KP) rated The Brim Reaper in Books

Jul 9, 2020  
The Brim Reaper
The Brim Reaper
Diane Vallere | 2014 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Book Brimming with Clues and Fun
Perpetually unemployed Samantha Kidd has agreed to help her friend Eddie with a fashion exhibit at the local museum featuring vintage Hollywood costumes. However, when the shipments of hats at the center of the exhibit arrive, the boxes are empty. Then Samantha and Eddie find a dead body in the museum. After calling the police, Samantha fully intends to walk away from the case and focus on a job she’s taken working for her boyfriend, Nick, as he launches his own shoe design studio. However, she can’t just walk away. As her attention continues to be divided, will she be able to balance her new job and her relationship with finding a killer?

This is another delightful mystery. The plot is strong, with plenty of suspects, clues, and events to keep us engaged until Samantha finds the killer. I’m really like Samantha and the rest of the regular characters. The suspects aren’t quite as well developed, but that’s more due to lack of page time than anything else, and they are still strong enough to make us care about the outcome. There are a few minor timeline issues and typos; I wish the book had gotten the final edit it needed. While this isn’t a laugh a page mystery, there are some fun scenes and phrases that made me grin if not laugh out loud. Overall, this is another diverting mystery.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2398 KP) rated A Trail of Lies in Books

May 14, 2021  
A Trail of Lies
A Trail of Lies
Kylie Logan | 2021 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Tracking the Truth
With her boyfriend unavailable due to an assignment with the police, Jazz Ramsey has promised to look in on Kim, Nick’s mother, to make sure she is already. While Kim is an alcoholic, Jazz still wasn’t expecting the frantic middle of the night phone call announcing that Kim killed someone in her backyard. Jazz hurries over to find no body in the backyard, and the cadaver dogs she brings in give a split decision about whether someone died there. Then a body does turn up in a park, and Kim clams up. Can Jazz figure out what is really going on?

I came to author Kylie Logan because of her fun cozies. This book has a more serious tone. It deals with Kim’s alcoholism and its effect on Nick pretty realistically, for example. But those moments are lightened by the dogs that Jazz works with, especially her new puppy. The result are characters that are very rich. I love Jazz, and her family and friends do a wonderful job of rounding out her character while also being real themselves. The mystery is strong with plenty of suspects and events to keep us confused until Jazz finally begins to piece things together at the end. All of the books in this series are wonderful. If you’ve missed them, start them today. If you’re already a fan, you’ll enjoy this one.