Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: cozy mystery

2018 M&M Book Awards for Mystery & Mayhem – The Short List
The M&M Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Mystery & Mayhem Fiction. The M&M Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions CIBA).

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from Long Listers (Slush Pile Survivors) to the 2018 M&M Book Awards SHORT LIST. These entries are now in competition for the limited 2018 M&M Semi-Finalists from which the First Place Category Positions will be chosen. The M&M Book Awards Semi-Finalists and First Place Positions along with the M&M Grand Prize Award Winner will be announced at the Awards Gala on Saturday, April 27th, 2019.

The M&M Book Awards competition discovers today’s best books featuring “mystery and mayhem,” amateur sleuthing, light suspense, travel mystery, classic mystery, British cozy, hobby sleuths, senior sleuths, or historical mystery, perhaps with a touch of romance or humor, we will put them to the test and choose the best among them. (For suspense, thriller, detective, crime fiction see our Clue Awards)

These titles are in the running for the next round – the SEMI-Finalist positions for the 2018 M&M Book Awards novel competition for Mystery & Mayhem Fiction! Good Luck to All!
- B.L. Smith – Bert Mintenko and the Minor Misdemeanors
- Mary Adler – Shadowed by Death: An Oliver Wright WW2 Mystery Novel
- Charlotte Stuart – Why Me?
- Becky Clark – Fiction Can Be Murder
- Alan Chaput – Savannah Sleuth
- Christine Evelyn Volker – Venetian Blood: Murder in a Sensuous City
- Susan Lynn Solomon – Dead Again
- Michelle Cox – A Promise Given
- Chief John J. Mandeville – Old Dark and Dangerous
- Traci Andrighetti – Campari Crimson
- Mark W Stoub – The Fifth Trumpet: Fire in the Blood
- M. Louisa Locke – Pilfered Promises: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery
- C.A. Larmer – Do Not Go Gentle
- C.A. Larmer – Evil Under The Stars: The Agatha Christie Book Club 3
- James Musgrave – Chinawoman’s Chance
- James Scott Byrnside – Prisoners of the Past
- Kate Vale – Only You
- Nancy J. Cohen – Hair Brained
- Carl and Jane Bock – Death Rattle
- C. C. Harrison – Death by G-String, a Coyote Canyon Ladies Ukulele Club Mystery
- Stone Winkler – Blood on a Blue Moon: A Sheaffer Blue Mystery
- Julie Chase – Cat Got Your Secrets
- Lo Monaco – Lethal Relations
- Donna Huston Murray – For Better or Worse
- Anna Castle – Moriarty Takes His Medicine
- Carl and Jane Bock – Death Rattle
- Deborah Rich – Under the Radar
- Kelly Oliver – FOX: A Jessica James Mystery
- Susan Lynn Solomon – Dead Again
Congratulations to these authors for their works moving up from the 2018 M&M Long List to the Short List. These novels will now compete for the (Semi-Finalists) Positions!

The M&M Short Listers will compete for the SemiFinalists positions that will compete for the M&M First-In-Category Positions. First Place Category Award winners will automatically be entered into the M&M GRAND PRIZE AWARD competition. The CBR Grand Prize Genre Winners will compete for the CIBA Overall Grand Prize for Best Book and its $1,000 purse.

Good Luck to each of you as your work competes in the 2018 Mystery & Mayhem International Book Awards.

The M&M Grand Prize Winner and the Five First Place Category Position award winners will be announced at the April 28th, 2019 Chanticleer Book Awards Annual Awards Gala, which takes place at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that will be held in Bellingham, Wash.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2019 M&M Book Awards writing competition. The deadline for submissions into the 2019 M&M Book Awards is April 30th, 2019. Please click here for more information.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at Info@ChantiReviews.com.
August 11, 2018
MYSTERY & MAYHEM Book Awards for Cozy and Not-So-Cozy Mysteries – 2018 Slush Pile Survivors
The M&M Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Cozy, Classic, & Not-So-Cozy Mystery Novels. The M&M Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBA) and Novel Competitions.

Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring “mystery and mayhem”, amateur sleuthing, light suspense, travel mystery, classic mystery, British cozy, hobby sleuths, senior sleuths, or historical mystery, perhaps with a touch of romance or humor, we will put them to the test and choose the best among them. (For suspense, thriller, detective, crime fiction see our Clue Book Awards).

The 411

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from SLUSH pile to the 2018 M&M Book Awards LONG LIST (aka the Slush Pile Survivors). We incorporate the Long List when the judges request an additional round of judging to accommodate the number and/or quality of entries received. These entries are now in competition for the 2018 M&M SHORT LIST. Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. Semi-Finalists will compete for the coveted First Place Category Winners of the 2018 M&M Book Awards in the final rounds of judging. The First Place Category winners will automatically be entered into the M&M GRAND PRIZE AWARD competition. The 16 CBR Grand Prize Genre Winners will compete for the CBR Overall Grand Prize for Best Book and its $1,000 purse. First Place Category and Grand Prize Awards will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 27th, 2019, Bellingham, Washington.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2018 M&M Book Awards novel competition for Cozy, Classic, and Not-So-Cozy Mystery Novels!
- Michelle Cox – A Promise Given
- Kate Vale – Only You
- Mary Adler – Shadowed by Death: An Oliver Wright WW2 Mystery Novel
- B.L. Smith – Bert Mintenko and the Minor Misdemeanors
- Charlotte Stuart – Why Me?
- Nick Korolev – Flashback
- Becky Clark – Fiction Can Be Murder
- Alan Chaput – Savannah Sleuth
- Elizabeth Crowens – Dear Mr. Hitchcock
- Christine Evelyn Volker – Venetian Blood: Murder in a Sensuous City
- C. C. Harrison – Death by G-String, a Coyote Canyon Ladies Ukulele Club Mystery
- Susan Lynn Solomon – Dead Again
- Mark W Stoub – The Fifth Trumpet: Fire in the Blood
- Traci Andrighetti – Campari Crimson
- Dawn Meredith – Letters From the Dead
- Chief John J. Mandeville – Old Dark and Dangerous
- Bonnie C. Monte – The Sleeping Lady
- C.A. Larmer – Do Not Go Gentle
- Anna Castle – Moriarty Brings Down the House
- C.A. Larmer – Evil Under The Stars: The Agatha Christie Book Club 3
- James Musgrave – Chinawoman’s Chance
- James Scott Byrnside – Prisoners of the Past
- Nancy J. Cohen – Hair Brained
- Stone Winkler – Blood on a Blue Moon: A Sheaffer Blue Mystery
- Roger Newman – What Becomes
- Julie Chase – Cat Got Your Secrets
- Lori Robbins – Lesson Plan for Murder
- Lo Monaco – Lethal Relations
- Linda Hughes – Secrets of the Asylum
- Donna Huston Murray – For Better or Worse
- Anna Castle – Moriarty Takes His Medicine
- Carl and Jane Bock – Death Rattle
- Deborah Rich – Under the Radar
- Kelly Oliver – FOX: A Jessica James Mystery
- Susan Lynn Solomon – Dead Again
All Short Listers and SemiFinalists will receive high visibility along with special badges to wear during the Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Gala.

Grand Prize Ribbons!

Good Luck to each of you as your works compete for the

M&M Awards Short List.

The M&M Grand Prize Winner and the First Place Category Position award winners will be announced at the April 27th, 2019 Chanticleer Book Awards Annual Awards Gala, which takes place at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that will be held in Bellingham, Wash.

Wendy Delaney awarded Mystery & Mayhem Grand Prize for THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARTY

We are now accepting submissions into the 2019 M&M Awards writing competition. The deadline for submissions is April 30th, 2019. Please click here for more information.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at Info@ChantiReviews.com.
June 18, 2018
HOT SCHEMING MESS: MADISON CRUZ, Book 1 by Lucy Carol – Cozy Mystery, Female Sleuth, Humorous Mystery

Madison Cruz wants a breakthrough acting job, money in her purse, and fun with the sexy guys vying for her attention. Instead, she delivers singing telegrams for a living. Then her grandfather gives her mysterious evidence that must be kept sealed and hidden, he disappears, and now, spies are watching her every move. In other words, Madison’s life is a hot scheming mess!

Estranged from her FBI mother, Madison feels her family ties are confusing. Recent attempts by mother and daughter to bond often result in awkwardly hilarious scenes. Also, when her beloved grandfather disappears and Madison begins investigating, her creative problem-solving skills are downright laugh-out-loud funny. As luck would have it, she’s up against some organized bad boys. Fortunately, she’s got some willing and loyal friends she can count on as things begin to heat up. Among those friends is one particularly appealing hot interest nicknamed ExBoy with his dangerously handsome looks. He and Madison become entangled in the mystery and much, much more. But he’s not the only guy interested in knowing Madison better.

Spenser, Madison’s best girlfriend, repeatedly advises her to use more caution – a piece of advice that never lasts for long. The two gals have a relationship where they not only have good times together sharing jokes and stories, they also look out for each other in this wild, Los Angeles life.

This story, the first book in the Madison Cruz Mystery series, is an entertaining whirlwind that will keep readers breathless with plot twists and turns, and roaring with laughter. The funny situations the characters find themselves in are so imaginative, and their innovative solutions will delight and thrill cozy mystery fans. Best of all, at the core of this fun story is a very well plotted, intricate mystery to solve, about cleverly fleshed-out characters who will tug at your heart.

Author Lucy Carol is an entertainer and a storyteller. Her background is in the performing arts as an actress, voiceover artist, choreographer, and even a singing telegram performer. She married the love of her life, enjoys martinis, flowers, dancing, a good lipstick, cake, and of course fun and fast-paced mysteries. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, and has three books in this series, with the next one out soon.

Madison Cruz demonstrates that a sharp mind, a sense of humor, and a full purse can work wonders. Never be caught without them.

March 19, 2018
COMMUNITY AFFAIRS, A JERSEY SHORE MYSTERY by Michele Lynn Seigfried – Cozy Mystery, Female Sleuth
Bonnie Frattori, the heroine of Michele Lynn Seigfried’s latest Jersey Shore installment, has it all: a handsome neurosurgeon husband, two lovely little girls, and a big house right on the beach. Things couldn’t be peachier—until Lemon Face moves in next door.

Lyla (aka Lemon Face) and her husband, Senator Cason Spratt, are the neighbors from hell. Before they even settle in, Bonnie overhears Lyla accusing Cason of dropping his trousers in all the wrong places. It soon becomes apparent that Lyla is consumed with jealousy and sure Cason is after anything in a skirt.

Seeing that her own natural, innocent tendency to flirt bugs Lyla, and having gotten on the wrong side of her new neighbor’s temper without even trying, Bonnie goads Lemon Face on by humorously pretending she’s planning an affair with Cason. It isn’t long before Bonnie’s adoring spouse begins to suspect it’s true and stomps out in a rage. Poor Bonnie is left alone to deal with the increasingly insane, enraged Lemon Face who sends over poop bombs, paints WHORE on Bonnie’s garage door, and makes sure everyone in the community knows what a home-wrecker she is. See how quickly playing games can get you into trouble?

The book begins, though, on a far more sinister note with Bonnie sitting in a dank cell, with no memory of how she got there. She hears another woman’s screams through the walls. As Bonnie scours her memories of the past few weeks before she wound up in this terrifying situation, she recalls how she and her friend Chelsey, a private investigator, tried to find some connection between Lyla, Cason, and a girl named Polly Pitcher whose disappearance has the community in an uproar. Digging ever deeper, even neglecting her new job as a Municipal Clerk to hunt for dirt on Lyla and her philandering senator husband, Bonnie makes herself the target of thugs who will not stop at threats, but plan to murder her and the woman in the next cell. Flashbacks from Bonnie’s captivity to her attempts to ferret out the truth about her neighbors and restore peace on her little piece of the Jersey Shore make for moments both hilarious and harrowing.

Author Michele Seigfried has created Bonnie from a knowledgeable perspective, as she herself has worked as a Municipal Clerk in the State of New Jersey. Her up-close look at life behind the scenes in a local government office rings true. Chelsey, Bonnie, and others are recurring characters in this third of the Shore mystery series.

Seigfried knows how to cook up a multi-flavored stew with lots of surprise ingredients. Despite the imminent threat, her charmingly conceived heroine has more than her fair share of attitude and keeps comedy constantly on the boil.

A whodunit played for laughs as well as suspense, Community Affairs runs the gamut from gossip to greed to gore when neighbors clash on the posh Jersey Shore.

“Bonnie Frattori’s hijinx land her and her marriage in peril as she digs up dirt on her new neighbor. Cozy Mystery fans unite for Michele Seigfried’s 3rd book in The Jersey Shores Series: Community Affairs, a mystery with plenty of twists and turns staring a heroine with a penchant for designer shoes and trouble!” – Chanticleer Reviews
February 19, 2018
MURDER OFF the BEATEN PATH (A Search and Rescue Mystery) by M.L. Rowland – Female Sleuth, Cozy Mystery, Women’s Adventure, Search and Rescue

It’s an uncommon mystery novel that delivers a really good whodunit and yet makes the central character’s passion for her avocation, in this instance the world of mountain search and rescue teams, an equally good reason for reading a book from cover to cover.

M.L. Rowland knows her stuff in the field of S&R and authorship. You’ll never again see a TV news report of someone caught in a mountain disaster—trapped after a rock slide or pinned in their car after plunging off a high-altitude road—without remembering the riveting account of Gracie Kincaid as she and her experienced, professional rescue team make their way down a dangerous cliff at night to recover the body of a crash victim, only to discover that the victim is a dear friend of hers.

It’s a dark portrait.

You’ll know everything Gracie sees, feels, hears. Virtually no detail escapes her, whether it’s the seedy Christian camp where she works in the mountains of Southern California as a rope climbing instructor, on the trail of the suspicious, nasty, even venal brothers who run the camp, or her heartbreaking chores as an experienced senior member of a mountain search and rescue team. But it’s her experiences as a senior member of her team at work, that sets this book apart from other cozy mysteries. It’s possible to get these details from book-learning, but the writer’s personal experience in this field clearly shines through.

While Gracie excels in her public service passion, not the same can be said about the rest of her life. A former advertising exec, she’s wandered from place to place until she has settled into a small cabin in the mountains of Southern California. A rich Brit that she rescued on a previous mission wants to wrap her up with a bow. They have great passionate sex—only hinted at here—but his world is not her world. And then the fellow Searcher, who captures her mind, but, alas, not her heart.

The third man in her life, certainly not by choice, is an utter creep. Her scary encounter with him, richly detailed, is a convincing portrayal of a monster.

The mystery itself is rich and satisfying: the story of a woman, told in the third person as a narrative, who obsesses over the suspicious death of a friend and co-worker at the camp and her search to uncover the terrible secret her friend discovered before she died when her car plunged over a cliff on a tortuous narrow mountain road. What she discovers is a web of drug-dealing, parental abuse, and the dark secret of what is really going on with the children attending the camp. A strange and sorrowful juxtaposition the camp makes against the pristine surrounding landscape.

The portrait that emerges is of a smart, well-trained but hardly invulnerable woman whose occasional forays into her personal life seem less successful than her dedication to her work. Her life may be messy, but, isn’t everyone’s? Murder Off the Beaten Path manages the literary trick of being both a good mystery and a well-drawn portrait of a woman any reader might want nearby if found in dire need of being rescued in the mountains.

Recommended.

January 8, 2018
The BODY NEXT DOOR by Gay Yellen – Cozy Mystery, Female Sleuth, Romantic Thriller

Samantha’s lost practically everyone important in her life, her self-made career now lay in ruins, the romantic dream man she’d found had suddenly disappeared, and then, of course, there’s also The Body Next Door.

As Samantha Newman ponders the steps to put her life back on track, murder and intrigue come knocking close to home. Now she’ll need to follow her instincts and gather clues, like a child tracks a summer ice cream truck, and lick this mystery.

As the girl next door to the body, Samantha’s intelligence, generosity, and engaging humor combine to delight all amateur sleuths reading along. First, she wants to help calm and soothe others living in the condominium. That leads to some interesting clues and suspects begin to surface. But with the police investigation in full swing, will Samantha and her mystery man/love interest be able to coax their relationship into full bloom? That’s a lot to handle when your life is in tatters.

Readers will fall for Yellen’s wonderfully light, conversational writing and fall for Samantha as she tells the story. Of course, she doesn’t always come to the right conclusions, but she’s a very honest spirit who always reaches out to do the right thing. Wherever Samantha goes, she goes with all her heart. While you can certainly dive right in with this second book in the Samantha Newman series, the recommendation is to start at the beginning with The Body Business because you won’t want to miss any of Samantha’s exciting adventures, and romantic entanglements.

Yellen creates dynamic and interesting characters, a skill, no doubt she honed as she gained her start as an actress in theater and film. Later she moved behind the camera as Assistant to the Director of Production at the American Film Institute. Her writing background comes as a former magazine editor and national journalism award winner, now an award-winning novelist. The best news is that she’s currently working on the third book in this series.

A cozy mystery with exceptional heart. A satisfying read to curl up with this Fall.

November 27, 2017
MYSTERY & MAYHEM 2017 Book Awards SHORT LISTERS
The Mystery & Mayhem Writing Competition recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Cozy Mysteries, Not-so-Cozy, and Classic Mysteries. The M&M Awards is a division of Chanticleer International Novel Writing Competitions.

Congratulations to these authors for their works moving up from the 2017 M&M slush pile survivors to the Short List. The novels will now compete for the First Place Category positions!

Each of the titles below have earned the M&M AWARDS SHORT LIST bragging rights!

More than $30,000.00 dollars worth of cash and prizes will be awarded to Chanticleer Book Reviews 2017 writing competition winners!

The M&M Book Awards FIRST IN CATEGORY sub-genres are: Amateur Sleuth, Romance, Animals, Cooking/Knitting/Hobbies, Blended Genre, Medical/Lab, Travel, Humorous, Historical, Classic British, and Y/A.

The following titles will compete for the FIRST IN CATEGORY Positions and Book Awards Packages.

NOTE: This is the Official List of the M&M 2017 SHORT LIST.

The Finalists Authors and Titles of Works that have made it to the highly competitive Short-List (aka The Semi-Finalists) of the M&M 2017 Book Awards are:

This is the Official 2017 Short List for the Mystery & Mayhem Book Awards – Dec. 7, 2017.
- Carl and Jane Bock – Coronado’s Trail: An Arizona Borderlands Mystery
- David Selcer – The Dream Catcher Murders
- Sherrie Todd-Beshore – The Count Of Baldpate
- Cherie O’Boyle – Missing Mom
- Anna Castle – Moriarty Meets His Match
- Jennifer Mueller – Never Turn Your Back on a Wolf
- Cindy Sample – Dying for a Donut
- Nancy G. West – River City Dead
- Kim Hunt Harris – Unsightly Bulges, A Trailer Park Princess Cozy Mystery
- Valerie Tate – Frog Legs
- Betty Jean Craige – Fairfield’s Auction
- Libi Astaire – The Moon Taker
- Lucinda Brant – Deadly Peril: A Georgian Historical Mystery
- J.L. Newton – Oink. A Food for Thought Mystery
- Vee Kumari – DHARMA
- D. J. Adamson – Suppose
- M. K. Graff – The Golden Hour: A Nora Tierney English Mystery
- Kathleen Kaska – Run Dog Run
- Susan Breen – Maggie Dove’s Detective Agency
- Elaine Orr – Demise of a Devious Neighbor
- Michelle Cox – A Ring of Truth
- Amy Boyles – Scared Witchless
- Jeanette Hubbard – Chasing Nathan
- Susan Boles – Cherry Cake and a Cadaver
- Fred Shackelford – The Ticket
- Dennis M. Clausen – The Sins of Rachel Sims
- M. Louisa Locke – Deadly Proof: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery
- Mollie Hunt – Cat’s Paw
- Carol June Stover – Kenmore Square
- Lonna Enox – Striking Blind
- Suzette Hollingsworth – Sherlock Holmes and the Chocolate Menace
- Traci Andrighetti – Amaretto Amber
- Susan Boles – Death Of A Wolfman
- Diane Weiner – Murder is Collegiate
- Amy S. Peele – CUT
- Catherine Bruns – Baked to Death
- Richard T. Ryan – The Vatican Cameos: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure
The M&M Semi-Finalists will compete for the M&M First-In-Category Positions, which consists of Seven Judging Rounds. First Place Category Award winners will automatically be entered into the M&M GRAND PRIZE AWARD competition. The CBR Grand Prize Genre Winners will compete for the CBR Overall Grand Prize for Best Book and its $1,000 purse.

All Short Listers will receive high visibility along with special badges to wear during the Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Gala.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at Info@ChantiReviews.com.

Congratulations to the Short Listers in this fiercely competitive contest!

Good Luck to each of you as your works compete for the M&M Awards First Class Category Positions.

The M&M Grand Prize Winner and the Five First Place Category Position award winners along with all Short Listers in attendance will be announced at the April 21st, 2018 Chanticleer Book Awards Annual Awards Gala, which takes place at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that will be held in Bellingham, Wash.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2018 M&M Awards writing competition. The deadline for submissions is March 31st, 2018. Please click here for more information.
October 20, 2017
The DEEP END by Julie Mulhern – Woman Sleuth, Thriller/Suspense, Cozy Mystery

It’s 1974 and Ellie Walford Russell is doing fine, except for the fact that her husband is missing and his girlfriend is dead.

Ellison Walford Russell is a married housewife and artist living in Kansas City during the early summer of 1974. Following her desire to paint has left her in the midst of an unpleasant marriage, held together for the sake of her young teen daughter, Gracie. Ellison was raised in the upper fringe of society, where expensive designer clothing and tennis games at the club are the usual topics of discussion, the place where her domineering mother Frances and her estranged husband Henry would like her to stay. But when something happens to one of the least-liked women in town, even Ellison’s passion for art won’t be able to protect her from the dark and swirling clouds of gossip and intrigue.

Julie Mulhern’s book is a well-handled whodunit cozy mystery that thoroughly entertains. The main character, Ellison, or “Ellie,” sees colors and patterns and as an artist describes things using a rich and vivid vocabulary. It’s 1974, a time period when many wives struggled to be independent of their husbands and some husbands, like Ellie’s, didn’t like the change. Mulhern does a great job in setting an accurate sense of the historic period, complete with references to drinking a specific diet soda, discussing Watergate at cocktail parties, and women who might wear purple Muumuu dresses. But the era doesn’t become the centerpiece. Rather, it’s more like important background discussion, never distracting from the plot at hand but reminding readers of the changes for women during that time period, changes mirrored in Ellie’s personal growth. Ellie’s mother, Frances, and young daughter, Gracie, serve as other fine and subtle examples of society’s shift across a single generation.

The men in Mulhern’s work also have an interesting time. Ellie’s husband, unable to accept her growing artistic skills and independence, turns his controlling impulses into ones of humiliation and infidelity. Is it any wonder that Ellie’s world begins to spin out of control when her husband’s mistress is murdered and he is nowhere to be found? It seems everyone has something to say and advice to give, as more and more things go wrong.

Two men, in particular, are at odds each certain they know what Ellie should be doing. One is an old friend, a lawyer, a handsome man her mother would like to see her date. His name is Hunter Tafft, a tall and distinguished fellow who is a member of the same club. The other is a police detective, Officer A. Smith, with deep brown eyes and deeper convictions, a man who makes her blush when she’d least like to. Using this trio of characters, Mulhern sets Ellie not only in the middle between two strong-minded men but between two levels of society and two levels of the law. The tension is fruitful.

Overall, The Deep End is a book that will engage the reader in every chapter as they seek to solve the many crimes, both present and implied. Ellie Russell is a colorful person in more ways than one, and the other characters are more than a background to her, adding depth to the story in unusual ways.

Funny, compassionate and endearing “The Deep End” is a well-crafted cozy, with just a touch of the exotic life, murder and mayhem, and the Bundt cake brigade to hook readers into devouring the rest of Julie Mulhern’s series, The Country Club Murders.

October 5, 2017
DEAD SILENT: An ELIZA GORDON MYSTERY by Amy Beth Arkawy – Cozy Mystery, Amateur /Woman Sleuth

Cleverly plotted and well-paced, Amy Beth Arkawy’s Dead Silent: An Eliza Gordon Mystery will satisfy the appetite of cozy mystery readers and gourmets alike, especially those who enjoy an occasional side of gossip with their novel.

The story picks back up in the small town of Goodship, New York, where Eliza Gordon, former soap star, serves up the daily specials at her restaurant dutifully named “Soup Opera.” A popular eatery, she and her sidekick, Midge Sumner, can’t help but overhear the daily drama spilled by the town locals as they argue and bicker about the latest rumors posted on The Goodship Grapevine, the town’s toxic new gossip site.

Eliza’s life outside work is on the up-and-up, as she and her boyfriend, Tom Santini, the town’s police chief, entertain the idea of moving in together. But things get put on hold when ill-received radio jockey Paul Hackett is found strangled to death with his headphone cord wrapped around his neck in the studio of WHSP. The only evidence police have to go on are the initials V.O.S. scrolled on the studio mirror in red lipstick.

Was it Victoria Salinger, Hackett’s third ex-wife, who scrolled her initials at the scene of the crime? Or were they written with the same lipstick worn by his latest fling, the young and alluring studio assistant, Ashley Hoyns? From there the list of possible suspects only grows, and the table is set for a classic whodunit mystery, as Eliza and Midge get back into their usual swing of finding clues.

Hackett’s murder isn’t the only mystery in the story, either. A secretive cult is going around releasing fliers that urge people to join “The Silent.” What’s more, Jonas, the mysterious playboy brother of Eliza’s late husband, is back in town and his motives seem to be beyond the scope of simply collecting the family estate – it doesn’t help that Eliza is beginning to grow feelings for her newly arrived brother-in-law.

Dead Silent makes for a great cozy read, perfect for the beach or any occasion when you have a couple of hours of free time. The plotline and ongoing suspense will keep fans of the genre quickly turning the pages and leave them satisfyingly entertained.

This is the second book in the Eliza Gordon Mystery series, between Killing Time and Murder, She Tweets. Arkawy is also the author of several plays, including Psychic Chicken Soup (McLaren Comedy Award nominee) and Listening to Insomnia: Rage Amongst Yourselves. Her work had been produced in New York City and featured in several anthologies.

Arkawy’s skills as a playwright sit center stage as she effortlessly seams together fast, witty dialogue between the colorful characters who make up the town of Goodship. The culinary delights described throughout the novel are brilliantly provided in a recipe file at the end of the book. A smart move that is sure to leave readers’ mouths watering and clamoring for next book in the Eliza Gordon Mystery series.

“If you’re hungry for a fast, fun and deadly cozy mystery, Amy Beth Arkawy’s Dead Silent, the second book in the Eliza Gordon Mystery series is what’s on the menu.” – Chanticleer Reviews

September 6, 2017
UNDER an ENGLISH HEAVEN by Alice Boatwright – Cozy Mystery, Amateur/Woman Sleuth

Can a Californian College Professor find true love with her English Vicar husband while under suspicion of murder in his small town?

Under an English Heaven – An Ellie Kent Mystery by Alice K Boatwright is a cozy mystery with a very American protagonist set in a very English village. Ellie Kent is said American, newly married to the village Vicar, Reverend Graham Kent. It’s the second marriage for both of them. Ellie is a former University English Classics Professor from California and her husband, Graham oversees St. Michael’s and All Angels’ Church in Little Beecham and is the widowed father of a college-age daughter.

Ellie is also a skeptic about faith, something her new husband seems bemused by. Although she has taken to wearing tweeds and walking the Jack Russell named Hector, Ellie can’t help but feel out of place in the shadow of Graham’s first wife, Louise, whom all the village seemed to hold in the highest esteem. Louise also was the one many of the congregation turned to with their secrets. As Ellie says to her new husband in the very beginning of the novel “No matter what I wear I’ll never be Mrs. Vicar of Little Beecham. People will always think of me as the young wife who snared you on that unfortunate sabbatical in California”.

Ellie is just settling in when she finds a body in the graveyard next to the vicarage after some mischief in the church on Halloween Night. No one in town seems to know the man, but his new British clothes are at odds with his worn Italian underwear (this is important to the plot…I promise).

As with most cozy mysteries, the police suspect Ellie for the simple reason that her first husband was an Italian-American poet and they once lived in Italy, and she is a “foreigner”.

When another death occurs, and Ellie is given a found book of Italian poetry written by the first victim, the mystery deepens and Ellie finds herself trying to figure out who the killer is while also trying to figure out her place in the village, the church and in her marriage, while also trying to stay out of jail.

The events of the novel start the day before Halloween and extend to Remembrance Day (November 11^th) including All Saints Day, All Souls Day, and Bonfire Night-a tribute to the failed gunpowder plot of Guy Fawkes (made famous in the graphic novel and film “V for Vendetta”). Each of these days are unique celebrations for an American experiencing them for the first time.

Twists and turns a plenty, along with great pacing and quirky characters, make Under an English Heaven an entertaining classic cozy mystery. Boatwright adds just the right amount of descriptions of the bucolic village landscape and teas to make any one who loves all things British happy juxtaposed against an adventuresome contemporary American amateur sleuth. A second delectable Ellie Kent Mystery is promised sometime this year.

August 23, 2017