Tag: crime fiction

A city-wide conspiracy. A serial killer on the loose. A detective battling her own demons.

If pain is the price of strength, Grace is one of the strongest people you will ever meet. Five crime scenes connected by a visible pattern. A serial killer terrorizes the citizens of Jacksonville, and the entire police force is focused on cracking the case—but will they be able to stop the murderer before more bodies are found?

Three suspects who all tell a different story. Homicide detective Grace Hartwellʼs knack for reading people has never let her down—until now. Is the killer playing a clever game or is she losing touch with herself? One determined detective with a taste for justice.

Grace’s life is dedicated to her work. But she has a dark secret—a secret that could jeopardize not only her job but her life . . .

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Wendy Church is a Seattle-based author known for fast-paced and sometimes humorous crime fiction novels.

Her latest, Five Things I See, is to-date her darkest, and most psychologically complex book that Kirkus referred to as “A textbook case of how to make a police procedural pulse with energy.ˮ

Wendyʼs debut, Murder on the Spanish Seas, was named a Booklist Top Ten Debut Mystery/Thriller novel of 2023, and introduces Jesse OʼHara, an introverted and often inebriated woman with a million dollar brain and a ten-cent personality who travels to interesting places and solves crimes, sometimes on purpose.

Knife Skills, the first in Wendyʼs Shadows of Chicago series, follows a talented chef who is forced to work for the FBI. Knife Skills received a starred review from Kirkus, “Audiences who wish the TV series The Bear could make room for Russian mobsters are in for a treat.”

Wendyʼs propulsive novels are informed by her international travel and many careers. Sheʼs been a bartender, tennis pro, management consultant, nonprofit CEO, PhD researcher, and dive bar cleaner. When sheʼs not writing, doing research, or reading, Wendy spends time with her partner as full time personal valets to a dog and two cats.

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My thoughts: Grace is an excellent detective, but has a habit of going off on her own and not always communicating with her colleagues. She has a theory about the killer and is determined to follow it, despite being told by her boss to stop digging.

Instead she finds a friend, a man in hiding, a former detective in witness protection, and someone she can test her theories out on, especially as a new colleague on the team is annoying her.

But Grace has secrets, her childhood was brutal and it’s left its marks. Marks she isn’t always totally aware of. Things only her psychiatrist knows. If the sheriffs office found out, she’d lose her job, and she has a killer to catch.

I really liked Grace, she’s complicated and brilliant, a smart and savvy detective, who won’t let anyone stop her from solving her cases, she sees things others miss and puts things together. She doesn’t trust easily and has few friends, which is understandable when you know about her childhood and how much she’s suffered.

Her secrets and how hard she works to keep them could be her downfall, but could also help her in solving cases, depending on how she uses them. I look forward to her next case, I’m intrigued to see where this goes.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

Detective Elinor Saxby thinks she’s found her perfect rural retreat: a crooked little cottage amid the towering pines of the New Forest. But bad things still happen in beautiful places . . .

On a lonely stretch of shingle, where the Solent laps the forest’s edge, something terrible is about to wash ashore.
The bloated body of a young man. Several days dead.
A ragged wound gapes in his chest. Because this was no accident. He’s been
shot at close range, then dumped.

City cop Elinor’s on the case — and utterly out of her depth.
The frosty coastguard tells Elinor the victim is a stranger. From out of town.
But Elinor would swear she knows more than she’s saying . . .

Before long, a second body is discovered deep in the forest.
Same wound. Same cold-blooded MO. Same killer?

It’s up to Elinor to unravel the truth from the lies, before more victims die.
But she’d better watch her back.Because here in the New Forest, secrets run deeper — and darker — than the murky waters of the Solent itself.

Trusting the wrong person might just cost Elinor everything . . .

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Linda Mather is the author of the Jo and Macy Mystery series. The 6th book in this series is THE PERFECT HOUSE FOR MURDER, published in August 2023.

Her Jo and Macy Mystery books are Forecast Murder, A Sign for Murder, Murder as Predicted, The Hanged
Man and A Future Murder, all published by Joffe Books and available on Amazon. They feature Jo Hughes and her private investigator boss David Macy. Jo is an astrologer, who also works as a PI and whose tenacious inquiries lead her to twisty resolutions.

The Jo and Macy Mysteries series is set in the West Midlands and Cotswolds. A sense of place is really important to Linda. She likes to research the places she writes about by visiting when she can to absorb the atmosphere, weaving the details into the stories.

The idea for her latest book came to her during lockdown during many canal walks. The cottages with their flower-filled window boxes and the idyllic pubs along the canal path are so pretty and perfect that it looks as if nothing bad could ever happen there. Linda saw this as a challenge.

Linda has recently landed a contract for 3 books in a police thriller series and is currently writing the first of these, which is set in the New Forest.

She also has plans for the next Jo & Macy Mystery.

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My thoughts: Elinor is still trying to find her feet in this new role, her predecessor casts a long shadow and she feels her team don’t always listen, and neither do her superiors.

When a body washes ashore with a gunshot wound, and the coastguard volunteer claims not to recognise the victim, she’s suspicious. Then when another person is killed in the same manner, but this time on land, she and her team know something strange is going on.

I really like Nancy, the DC, she’s new to the role and still learning but has good instincts and a determination to get to the truth, although this does sometimes lead her to go off on her own and put herself at risk.

Elinor is a good detective, she’s got lots of experience and knowledge, but she doesn’t really understand the place or the people yet. The New Forest is very different from inner city Birmingham, and the people aren’t always keen on incomers.

This case follows the adage that murder is always about money or love, sometimes both. There’s plenty of twists and turns, unreliable witnesses and suspicious goings on. The team will have to separate truth from lies to solve it, and with suspects pointing fingers at each other, work out what really happened.

A really enjoyable second outing for this team of detectives and with more of their personal lives, they feel more rounded and interesting as characters. Very good.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

It’s cozy. It’s culinary. It’s Mardi Gras madness!

Step 1 – join a killer krewe.

Itʼs carnival season in New Orleans, and Ricki James-Diaz and her friends from Bon Vee are dressing up for Mardi Gras. Theyʼve joined the notorious krewe of Chew to support Rickiʼs chef boyfriend, Virgil, who is to be crowned this yearʼs king. Itʼs all fun, throws, and over-the-top outfits until the kreweʼs captain is found strangled with his own medallion.

Step 2 – survive the festivities.

The prime suspect is Rickiʼs friend, the deceasedʼs wife who discovered he was cheating on her. It seems a straightforward case, but Ricki isnʼt so sure. The kreweʼs leader had many enemies including his mistress, his krewe co-founder who he ousted, and his college friend whose girlfriend he stole. One thingʼs clear, Rickiʼs at the center of yet another murder investigation. And if sheʼs not careful, her first Mardi Gras could also be her last . . .

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Ellen Byron is an Anthony Award-nominated bestselling author and recipient of multiple Agatha and Lefty awards for her Cajun Country Mysteries, Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, and Catering Hall Mysteries (as Maria DiRico).

She is also an award-winning playwright and non-award-winning writer of TV hits like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly OddParents. Ellen was the 2023 Left Coast Crime Toastmaster but considers her most impressive achievement working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart.

A native New Yorker, Ellen is a graduate of Tulane University and lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, daughter, and a rotating crew of rescue pups.

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My thoughts: This was a really fun read, New Orleans is high on my list of places I’d like to visit one day, and the period of time leading up to Lent when all the carnival activities take place sounds quite something.

Ricki runs a shop attached to a museum, where she sells pre-loved cookbooks, and all sorts of other things. She enjoys what she does and has made some great friends, as well as having a lovely boyfriend with whom she shares two dogs and a kitten.

A relative newcomer to New Orleans, this is the first time she’s been involved with the Mardi Gras excitement and she’s a bit apprehensive. Then the carnival krewe she’s joined is hit by a shocking tragedy – their captain is murdered in the street outside their kick-off gathering.

The cops immediately decide it was his wife – after all the couple were seen arguing earlier that night. But Ricki’s friendly with the wife, Jessica, in question, and doesn’t agree. So she starts her own investigation. But when other things start happening – including someone literally throwing a bag of rocks at her head, it seems the killer might be more dangerous than she thought.

With the help of her friends, Ricki is determined to solve the case and catch a killer, but is something else going on in the carnival krewe and how far is someone willing to go to get what they want?

A really enjoyable, entertaining book with a fun cast of characters and a clever plot with plenty of twists.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

Paint store owner Laura Meehan must prove her amateur sleuthing skills (again!) when her small townʼs public library starts burning in this installment of the Haunted Paint Store cozy mystery series.

Donʼt mess with a paint store ownerʼs safe haven!

Laura Meehan has her hands full with her paint store, but also with another case (that she will definitely leave to the police to solve)! The Sea Breeze Public Library is burning and itʼs clear from the beginning that it must be arson. Who would want to burn a library down and why? Was it a group of moms protesting what they see as inappropriate book content? Maybe it was someone who didnʼt like a title they lent? Or is there something more alarming going on?

As a library volunteer, Laura simply has to find out, and together with her IT-savvy husband Roy and her ex-detective fatherʼs ghost (real or imagined still yet to be determined), she stumbles upon a lot of obstacles on her quest to find the truth—and maybe even an arsonist who might strike again!

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E.J. Copperman is the nom de plume for Jeff Cohen, writer of intentionally funny murder mysteries. As E.J., he has written the Haunted Guesthouse and Agent to the Paws series, as well as the Jersey Girl Legal Mysteries, the Fran & Ken Stein Mysteries, and the new Haunted Paint Store Mysteries; as Jeff, he has written the Double Feature and Aaron Tucker series; and he collaborated with himself on the Samuel Hoenig Aspergerʼs Mysteries.

A New Jersey native, E.J. worked as a newspaper reporter, teacher, magazine editor, and screenwriter before his first book was published to critical acclaim in 2002. In his spare time, Jeff is an extremely amateur guitar player, a fan of Major League Baseball, a couch potato, and a crossword addict.

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My thoughts: This was a fun mystery caper with the added twist of Laura’s dad haunting the family business and offering her his advice as a former cop.

The local library may not be big and fancy, but to Laura and the other patrons, it’s important, whether they’re locals or holiday makers needing something to read, the library acts as a safe haven and a community hub (I am very pro-library FYI as a former librarian and lifelong reader). Laura volunteers there once a week as a break from running her paint shop.

When someone starts a fire in the teen section, for some reason the main suspect isn’t the crazy woman trying to stop the library stocking “pornography” in the children’s and teens section (bet I can guess what she really means….), but the head librarian. Which for Laura, just doesn’t make sense. Except that Evelyn the librarian has disappeared.

So, armed with absolutely no alternate suspects, or investigative powers, Laura and ever loyal husband Roy are on the case. Her dad provides his two cents from the afterlife, only Laura can see him, and her therapist thinks he’s imaginary, but he does have actual experience and knowledge.

Driving the town’s one detective crazy, and upsetting the arson detective, several residents and the librarian, Laura is determined to get to the bottom of it. But will she do a better job than the actual cops?

Fun, funny and entertaining to read, I really liked Laura, her golden retriever husband and her ghost dad. They make a surprisingly good team. She’s got her heart in the right place, but tends to just charge ahead not really thinking about how her actions affect others or how she might actually be muddying the waters for the police. She does get results, but not in the way you might suspect and if she’s not careful, the four customers she does have might eventually be none, causing too much upset can make you unpopular! But hopefully not as her adventures are enjoyable to read.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

When the mayor turns up dead and a violent ghost haunts her basement, pub owner Wanda Atkins must solve a murder on one leg—literally. Spirits, secrets, and small-town scandal are all on tap in Ales and Alibis.

Wanda Atkins owns and works at her family pub, Pour Decisions, even after inheriting millions from the Prohibition Booze they discovered. Things should be easier now that sheʼs started her counseling practice, but money canʼt stop whatever malevolent entity is in her basement.

After the mayor is found dead in his own office, his wife, Wandaʼs first client, is the main suspect according to Wandaʼs boyfriend and deputy. Then, Wanda breaks her ankle after encountering the evil basement ghost.

Wanda must rely on her found family, her ghostly ancestors, and a little creative sleuthingto find a way to prove her clientʼs innocence and get rid of the whatever nonliving entity is in the basement.

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Tobi Doyle writes meet-cutes and mysteries. With a questionable internet search history, she writes to make mom-time more enjoyable. Margaritas are optional!

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My thoughts: This was a fun read, with a murder to solve, ghosts to wrangle and a puppy to walk, Guy is very cute and I loved the scene where he encounters snow and ice for the first time.

Wanda runs Pour Decisions with her mum and grandma, a bar that serves delicious food popular with the residents of Atkinsville, the town her ancestors founded. However, she and the other Atkins women aren’t exactly embraced by all because of their unusual talents  – Gran reads tarot, mum reads palms and Wanda sees and talks to ghosts. And the town is full of them.

When the mayor is found dead in his office, it’s foul play, and there are plenty of suspects – firstly his wife and daughter. He was well known as an adulterer, and the women in his life all had reason to kill him. But Wanda is pretty sure it wasn’t Alicia, his wife and her new therapy client.

Her boyfriend Jack, a sheriff’s deputy, won’t tell her how the investigation is going, but Wanda is running her own, with a little help from the not-so-recently deceased.

I liked the characters, the town seems very quirky, and the Atkins and their closest are very intriguing, the case was resolved very nicely and I am going to keep an eye out for the next book in the series.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.