Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: leighann-dobbs

SPOTLIGHT on M&Ms – Mystery & Mayhem AWARDS CIBAs – Cozy Mysteries, Amateur Sleuths, and more!
Welcome to our SPOTLIGHT on the CHANTICLEER INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS (the CIBAs): the MYSTERY & MAYHEM Awards Deadline is upon us!

We are seeking the best novels featuring “mystery and mayhem,” amateur sleuthing, romantic suspense, light suspense, travel mystery, classic mystery, British cozy, hobby sleuths, senior sleuths, or historical mystery. We will put them to the test and discover the best among them. (For thrillers, action suspense, detective, crime fiction see our Clue Awards)

The APRIL 30th deadline for the Chanticleer Mystery & Mayhem Awards (aka M&Ms) has been extended until May 31, 2020 due to many requests for an extension due to these unprecedented times of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In just a few short days, we go to work to uncover the hidden secrets, the lost key, the answer to the question, Whodunit?

The 2019 Mystery and Mayhem FINALISTS were posted on April 30, 2020.

Congratulations to these authors whose works have advanced to this new achievement level of the Chanticleer International Book Awards in the Mystery and Mayhem Book Awards division.

Michelle Cox won the 2018 GRAND PRIZE for Murder and Mystery for A Promise Given (A Henrietta and Inspector Howard Series, Book 3)

The First in Category, First Place Winners for 2018 are:
- B.L. Smith – Bert Mintenko and the Minor Misdemeanors
- Becky Clark – Fiction Can be Murder
- Traci Andrighetti – Campari Crimson: Franki Amato Mysteries, Book 4
- C. A. Larmer – Evil Under the Stars: The Agatha Christie Book Club (Book 3)
- Nancy J. Cohen – Hair Brained
- Stone Winkler/Jessica H. Stone – Blood on a Blue Moon: A Sheaffer Blue Mystery
- Anna Castle – A Professor and Mrs. Moriarty Mystery: Moriarty Takes His Medicine, Book 2
Carl & Jane Bock are the M&M Grand Prize winners in 2017 for Coronado’s Trail: An Arizona Borderlands Mystery

The First in Category, First Place Winners for 2017 are:
- Michelle Cox – A Ring of Truth: A Henrietta and Inspector Howard Mystery, Book 2
- Amy Peele – Cut: A Medical Murder Mystery
- D.J. Adamson – Suppose: A Lillian Dove Mystery
- M. Louisa Locke – Deadly Proof: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery
- Betty Jean Craige – Fairfield’s Auction
- Kim Hunt Harris – Unsightly Bulges (A Trailer Park Princess Cozy Mystery, Book 2)
Alice K. Boatwright is the MYSTERY & MAYHEM Grand Prize winner in 2016 for Under an English Heaven!

The First in Category, First Place Winners for 2016 are:
- Lucy Carol – Hot Scheming Mess, Madison Cruz, Book 1
- Kate Vale – Secrets Revealed, Cedar Islands Tales, Book 4
- Barbara Venkataraman – Engaged in Danger: A Jamie Quinn Mystery
- Michelle Cox – A Girl Like You: A Henrietta and Inspector Howard series
- Jennifer Kincheloe – The Secret Life of Anna Blanc
- Gay Yellen – The Body Next Door
Wendy Delaney is the 2015’s M&M Grand Prize Winner for There’s Something About Marty

The First in Category, First Place Winners for 2015 are:
- Leighann Dobbs – Ghostly Paws (Mystic Notch, Book 1)
- Cherie O’Boyle – Iced Tee
- M. L. Rowland – Murder Off the Beaten Path (A Search and Rescue Mystery)
- Lonna Enox – Blood Relations
- Nancy G. West – Fit to be Dead
- Michele Lynn Seigfried – Community Affairs, Jersey Shore Mystery
- Jennifer Mueller – Murder Beside the Salish Sea
- Michael Scheffel – St. Louis Affair: The Adventures of Herbert Falken
- Mark Vilela – The Long December
- Kate Vale – Crossing Paths
Bernadette Pajer of the Professor Bradshaw Series — Fatal Induction took home the 2013 M&M Grand Prize

Pamela Beason won GRAND PRIZE in 2012 for The Only Witness

Is your amateur sleuth suspicious of the little old lady who lives next door? Is there something wrong in Mayberry and your hero is going to find out what it is – no matter the cost? Are the stakes so high for your heroine, she succumbs to the hot, sexy delivery man who happens to be the guy with forty bodies buried in his basement? Is your character’s cat helping him solve the latest crime?

If so, have we got the contest for you!

Mystery & Mayhem

Your book could earn a place in our M&M hall of fame for 2020!

All you have to do is enter.

And due to these unprecedented times, we have extended the deadline from April 30, 2020 to May 31, 2020.

Unpublished Manuscripts and recently Published (Indie, Traditional, Hybrid) Novels (after Jan. 1, 2018) are accepted.

Our Mystery & Mayhem Awards are the Chanticleer International Book Awards search for today’s best cozy mystery fiction books!

Do not hesitate – or stop to solve a crime –

the M&M Awards extended deadline is MAY, 31, 2020!

Click here to enter – and good luck!
May 2, 2020
Ghostly Paws (Mystic Notch #1) by Leighann Dobbs – Cozy Mystery

When murder comes to the sleepy hamlet of Mystic Notch, recently relocated crime journalist Wilhelmina Chance and her grandma’s crime-solving cat jump into the case with two feet and four paws.

Mainly, Willa wants to start over. After her car accident left her with a temperamental leg and a strange ability to see ghosts, she hopes taking over her grandmother’s bookstore in Mystic Notch will offer her needed peace. That is, until, with the help of her grandmother’s cat, Pandora, Willa discovers Lavinia Babbage’s body in the library basement.

When Lavinia’s ghost appears to her, Willa not only finds out that Lavinia’s death was no accident, but that someone in Mystic Notch is to blame. And Lavinia only leaves her with a few clues to determine who might have a motive to kill the local librarian.

What Willa doesn’t know is that her cat, Pandora, is part of an elite species sworn to help humans—and that Pandora is just as intent on finding Lavinia’s killer as she is. With Pandora’s help, Willa starts putting the pieces of the puzzle together. She just has to hope that her investigations don’t get in the way of those actually getting paid to solve the crime—namely, her sheriff sister, Augusta, and the handsome but slightly intimidating sheriff, Eddie Striker (and his steely gray glances).

This is the first in Leighann Dobbs’ “Mystic Notch: series, and the atmosphere Dobbs creates is exquisitely cozy. While there are a few hiccups in this debut novel, they can be forgiven as the series promises to deliver more enjoyable and affably cozy hours of reading–especially with a few of Dobbs’ few magical flourishes thrown in. Mystic Notch is a town that any cozy mystery fan can look forward to hanging out in. The story is enjoyable overall, especially in the last third. The reveals are delightfully unpredictable, and the ending offers a satisfying conclusion.

The role of the cats also adds an intriguing element to the overall story and reveals important parts of the mystery in a way that not only fits with the plot but provides some surprises along the way. The cats also offer a significant source of humor, which is a winning element throughout the story.

This debut novel of the Mystic Notch mystery series is perfect for cozy mystery lovers and looking for a humorous and feel-good escape.

January 30, 2017