Hitting the Books

Title: Hitting the Books
Author: Jenn McKinlay
Published: September 11th 2018 by Berkley Books
Format: eBook, Hardcover, 304 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Library Lover's Mystery #9

Life is full of adjustments, but they tend to get more complicated when you move in with your boyfriend, a whistling morning person, and all you want is some peace before your first cup of coffee. Add in the fact that everyone knows everyone else’s business and you have a typical day in the life of Lindsay Norris, the Briar Creek Library director.

Glancing out her office window, Lindsay is stuck dumb when she sees a car careening towards, and hits, her friend Theresa Huston. Before the loved tennis coach can be transported to the hospital, there is a second reported incident, involving the same car, and her friend Charlie Peyton. What is going on in this quiet town? It turns out that furniture magnate, and fiancé of Theresa, has a secret and his college-aged daughter Liza seems to be in the middle of it.

Relationships get a bit twisty here, but Jenn McKinley does an impressive job in keeping each person and their intertwined stories straight even though there are a couple rabbit trails and incidental characters that tend to lead you astray.

Death in the English Countyside

Title: Death in the English Countryside
Author: Sara Rosett
Published: September 11th 2014
Format: Ebook, 250 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Murder on Location #1

Well, that was dull.

This read was one long flat line that lead nowhere with an equally dull cast of characters and a plotline which took too long to get to the point of the matter. It was not until midway when you finally figured out what Sara Rosett was trying to tell the reader, and once there, you realized this story had been told a million times.

What began as a search for a missing co-worker drudged on with a submerged car, a body floating downstream and this preamble was literally a side note since the reason for Kevin’s death turned into nothing more than a tap that went too far and a sense of entitlement.

By the end, I did not care that Kate was a Hollywood location scout or a Jane Austen aficionado, that a romance was blooming, or that this was the first book in a series where there was a possibility that, in time, things could get better. I just wanted this book to answer the questions, so I could tie it up in a neat little bow, put it up on the shelf, and never have to look at or think about again.

Dim Sum of All Fears

Title: Dim Sum of All Fears
Author: Vivien Chien
Published: August 28th 2018 by St. Martin's Paperbacks
Format: eBook, Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Noodle Shop Mystery #2

Do not ask me what it is about this series, but I am enjoying book two as much as I did the first. Actually, I think it might have something to do with the Mahjong Matrons, but since they do not make a huge splash, I have relegated them to “they better show up in each book or I am out of here” status.

Lana Lee is going through her quarter-life-crisis. I know it is a quirky term, but very fitting since Lana seems to be stuck after quitting her job and now working at her parents noodle shop. With a job interview set up and the possibility of getting her life back on track, Lana is conflicted when her parents ask her to manage the restaurant while they head to Taiwan to care for Lana’s grandmother. Family is the one thing that you cannot say no to and Lana resigns herself to family obligation.

When Isabelle Yeoh and her husband Brandon are found dead by an apparent murder/suicide, Lana can’t help but to do her own investigation especially when two of Brandon’s ex-wives show up each wanting ownership of the souvenir shop that the couple had owned.

Warnings go unheeded and soon Lana finds herself the victim of threats and violence. Boyfriend Detective Adam Trudeau warned her, but when you have started to build your own murder book, you cannot just walk away. You cannot let a friend’s death go unanswered. So as the tension builds and more of the story comes out, Lana finds herself in the middle of the darker side of life and realizes that Brandon might have had more going on than he could handle and though he tried to keep the truth from his wife, there are some out there that will get what they want, no matter what.

Against the Claw

Title: Against the Claw
Author: Shari Randall
Published: July 31st 2018 by St. Martin's Press
Format: eBook, Paperback 326 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Lobster Shack Mystery #2

The first third of the book, I had no idea where Shari Randall was going. The body of a 20-something female tangles on the lobster hooks of Bertha’s boat and Allie, who is still healing from a broken ankle, suddenly feels that she is responsible to find out the identity of the girl with the pitchfork tattoo. What she does not know is this will be the epicenter of the Fourth of July that is quickly descending upon Mystic Bay.

From an over the top estate of a modeling agency owner, to an emotional breakup with an on again off again boyfriend, to dressing as mermaids, to another dead body in a raft, to an incognito star appearing in local theater, to abstract paintings, to a kitschy lobster restaurant, to best friends thinking that they are Cagney and Lacey, this book seems to have a mishmash of it all.

If you haven’t given up by the middle, the confusion will only grow deeper with Shari Randall throwing in all sorts of shenanigans and if was not for a total recap at the end, I am not sure that I would have been able to draw all the strings together in this overly convoluted tale.

After Anna

Title: After Anna
Author: Lisa Scottoline
Published: April 10th 2018 by St. Martin's Press
Format: eBook, Hardcover, 388 pages
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

The middle was slow; the last 100 pages were what made the book, but not sure why she threw in the very last part when there was no prepping the reader for it which ending up making it feel like a rushed afterthought. Then again, psychological thrillers tend to throw in bits and parts at the end to give the reader that final sense of closure.

Maggie Ippolitti and Noah Alderman appear to have the perfect life. Having met years after Maggie had given up custody of her daughter to her ex-husband, while she was battling postpartum psychosis, they have built a life with Noah’s son, only to have it shattered when seventeen year old Anna reappears and send the family into a spiraling turmoil.

A second chance is what Maggie wanted, unfortunately Noah is the brunt of this effort and when Anna accuses Noah of the unthinkable, Maggie runs to Anna’s defense only to find out that all things are not what they appear and as Noah is fighting for his life, it is only then that Maggie puts the pieces together and with the help of the local police, puts an end to their misery and able to knit their lives back together.

Told in alternating voices and timelines, the reader can, in a way, see where this is going since Lisa Scottoline loves a happy-ending, but getting there is the challenge. The book holds your interest for the first third, slows to a snail’s pace in the middle, and then the last 100 pages burst with the energy that was missing.

Best Beach Ever

Title: Best Beach Ever
Author: Wendy Wax
Published: May 22nd 2018 by Berkley
Format: eBook, Paperback, 391 pages
Genre: Women's Fiction
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Ten Beach Road #6

It is all about relationships -- those beginning, those ending, and those that are finding their new path.

Midway through the book, I was wondering if this was being set up as the last in the series since each character was reevaluating their life, their partner, and the directions that they wanted to go. It was not until the end, with the discovery of a new property, and a new financial backer, that I realized Wendy Wax was more than likely giving each character a “do-over” (which also happened to be the name of their old home improvement show) and a new jumping off point for their next round of life choices and property renovations.

If you have not read this series from the beginning, the women came together when a financial fiasco brought them to the brink of bankruptcy with only a monstrosity of a property, as recompense, to share amongst them. Using inner strength, and a lot of hard work, they brought the beauty out not only in the home but also in themselves.

As the series has taken shape, they each have told their stories and found their place. Now, with a turning point, they each can decide what their futures will hold and how they will get there. But first, they have one more property and one more chance, to see where this renovation will lead.

A Deadly Brew

Title: A Deadly Brew
Author: Lynn Cahoon
Published: September 4th 2018 by Lyrical Press
Format: eBook
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: A Tourist Trap Mystery #9.2

Surprisingly, a novella that I liked even though the ending was rush.

Jill Garden and boyfriend Greg King, with three other couples, decided that there is nothing like a perfect getaway close to home, so why not spend a couple of nights locked in a supposedly haunted house that has been sitting empty for 15 years, and in a few short weeks will be torn down taking with it any last remnants of Maryann Demerit who had disappeared without a trace. All they have to do is pack up a few supplies, wait on the porch for the caretaker to show up with a key, do not let their imaginations run wild, and their adventure can begin.

Just because Maryann was reported to be a witch did not mean anything. Well, maybe to Esmeralda, but when Jill has a dream about the previous owner, books start moving off shelves, stairways and baby items are discovered, the group goes into overdrive to find the answers before the caretaker can lock them out permanently.