Mistaken Identity

Title: Mistaken Identity
Author: Lisa Scottoline
Published: July 23rd 2019 by Harper Paperbacks
Format: Paperback, 592 pages
Genre: Legal Procedural
Series: Rosato & Associates #4

Leaping back into the past I thought I would pick up where I left off with this series. Lisa Scottoline has drawn a challenging character with Bennie Rosato -- tough in the courtroom but soft when it comes to her mother’s battle with dementia.

These two sides of Bennie collide when she is called in to handle the case of an assumed cop-killer. There is no denying that Alice Connolly looks like Bennie, but when Alice claims that they are twins separated at birth, there is only one person able to confirm this and she is too far gone to explain.

Since Bennie’s law practice specializes in taking down dirty officer, there are very few places she can turn and when this seems to be getting the best of her, and a “sister”, since the DNA testing is not back yet, Bennie has to pull out all the stops and hope that she has the right client to go after the corruption that is setting them both up for a fall.

This is a tightly wound book that will take some time to unravel, but when it comes to Lisa Scottoline and the Rosato & Associates Law Firm, you are in for a treat and even a smile to two.

A Very Mummy Holiday

Title: A Very Mummy Holiday
Author: Lynn Cahoon
Published: October 29th 2019 by Lyrical Underground
Format: eBook, 81 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Tourist Trap Mysteries #9.5

‘A Very Mummy Holiday’ is an odd title for this Lynn Cahoon novella since it implies a Halloween theme yet is based around Thanksgiving with an unwrapped body found in a sand dune.

A long-needed vacation is what Jill Gardner, Greg King, and friends are looking forward to but which quickly goes astray when an overturned sand buggy literally lands on top of a buried body. There were rumors of a runaway bride and her jilted groom (or was he her killer), but there were more questions than evidence until the body showed up.

Lynn Cahoon does her best to tie all the parts of this short story together, but where some aspects are drawn out, other conclusions are leapt to without enough meat or reasonable supposition to lead the reader there naturally. Unfortunately, this is yet another holiday-themed novella that missed the mark.

The Long Call

Title: The Long Call
Author: Ann Cleeves
Published: September 3rd 2019 by Minotaur Books
Format: eBook, 384 pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Two Rivers #1

Can a book be minimalist and over descriptive at the same time? In the sparseness of this book, you will find the complexity that is DI Matthew Venn, a man raised in a strict religious sect who was shunned when he married Jonathan Church. Opposites in so many ways, Matthew and Jonathan’s worlds collide when young women, each diagnosed with Down syndrome, are missing from an arts center that Jonathan manages.

The story gets twisty and the reader is expected to put a few ragged edges together, but in doing so, you are left with an encompassing story of a group of dedicated people trying to link a body on the beach with the missing girls and how their stories are intertwined.

This is not a quick read. The setting is dark and drab but at the same time all-encompassing. It is an odd collaboration of people, places, and cultures, yet the reader is inexplicably pulled by the snippets of interpersonal relationships which are drawing people apart yet bring them together.

Word to the Wise

Title: Word to the Wise
Author: Jenn McKinlay
Published: September 3rd 2019 by Berkley
Format: eBook, 304 pages
Genre: Cozy
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Library Lover's #10

Word to the Wise, the tenth book in the Library Lover’s mystery series hits on a subject which is not common to cozy mysteries. Stalking is a not a subject to be joked about and Jenn McKinlay takes a delicate, yet strong, hand to the subject and the fear associated with it.

What begins as a normal day for library director Lindsay Norris turns into a frightening experience when a library patron takes a kind gesture and turns it into an open invitation for a relationship that was not offered. The stalking continues until Grady turns up dead on the steps of the library and Lindsay and her fiancé, Mike Sullivan, are named chief suspects. As Grady’s wife makes public accusations, no one is sure what is going on until Lindsay does some reverse photo identification and finds out not everyone is who they claim to be.

In the past, I did not hold this series to a high standard, the characters were created to be simple and naïve. The atmosphere and relationships are on the old-fashioned side, but once you get past that, the core friendships are what rises to the top. This book and its subject matter changed that. Jenn McKinley took a cozy mystery to a different dimension and in doing so opened the eyes of her readers.

The Book Charmer

Title: The Book Charmer
Author: Karen Hawkins
Published: July 30th 2019 by Gallery Books
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
Genre: Women's Ficton
Series: Dove Pond #1

I was drawn to the book by the cover, but it was the town of Dove Pond, North Carolina which kept me turning the pages. The Book Charmer has the ambiance of Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman, but different at the same time. A book where family and community take center stage with a bit of whimsey and magical nudging to get people where they need to be.

A seventh daughter within the Dove family line is a rare occasion but when it happens magic comes with it. The current Dove sisters each have a special talent and if I am jumping to conclusions, this first book in the Dove Pond series will lead to at least six more books where each of the women will be able to tell their stories and share their gifts.

Woven around Sarah Dove, the town librarian who spends her days listening to the murmuring of books, and Grace, who spent her childhood bouncing around foster homes and has now taken on the responsibility of her deceased sister’s child and the one foster parent, Mama G, who never gave up on her and who is now facing her own battle with dementia.

Bringing Mama G back home, to Dove Pond has soothed her mind, but has brought frustration and anxiety to Grace. That is until the community embraces her and she finds a way to bring a dying town back to a semblance of what it had once been.

Karen Hawkins has thrown everything she can into this book and it works. There are fears, anxieties, unknowing desperation, along with friendships, romances, magic, laughter, and most importantly --- love. It is about breaking down barriers and accepting what is out there if only you give yourself a break and a chance.

A Curio Killing

Title: A Curio Killing
Author: Mary Ellen Hughes
Published: September 8th 2019 by Midnight Ink
Format: eBook, 264 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Keepsake Cove #3

Another slow meandering choppy book which reads more like ideas than a finished manuscript. I don’t know what it is with this series, Mary Ellen Hughes has put out great books in the past, but this one, in particular, falls flat.

As the Keepsake Cove Spring Festival is gearing up, Callie Reed soon learns her ex-boyfriend Hank, and his new band, will be performing. Thinking this would be the most traumatic event of the weekend, things suddenly turn sideways when the band’s manager, Bobby Linville, is found dead and Hank is the prime suspect.

With nowhere else to turn, Callie is called to Hank’s aid and with her meandering investigative skills called into use again, since there is no officer in sight, Callie, with the help of her friends have to put the pieces together and in doing so, uncover a couple of other secrets in their quiet little cove.

The most challenging thing about this book is not putting it down to find something else to read. Though short, there is too much filler and not enough side story to keep the burdensome dialogue forefront in your mind.

Fudge Bites

Title: Fudge Bites
Author: Nancy Coco
Published: September 24 2019 by Kensington Books
Format: eBook, 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: Candy Coated Mystery #7

It’s been a busy first year for Allie McMurphy and the McMurphy Hotel on Mackinac Island, but as they are winding downing into the wintery off-season, two bodies are discovered and once again Allie and her cohorts are trying to put together the clues and discover what a sack of hymnals and gold bars has to do with the two gentlemen.

Nancy Coco winds a few different story plots and aspects to keep the reader engaged, yet at the same time, takes a couple of farfetched leaps in hopes of pulling her characters and conclusions together. While there are parts of this series I like – the town, the people, etc., I am beginning to get frustrated with the personification of Allie’s dog. Granted, the Bichon adds a certain cuteness, but being a canine detective is just pushing it too far for me.

A series which should be read from the beginning due to the recurring characters and needing to keep them straight will have you settling in for a cozy mystery with a little romance on the side on a remote island with their own set of royalty and shenanigans.