Penned In (Farm-to-Fork Mystery, #4.5) – Lynn Cahoon

Penned In by Lynn Cahoon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A solid tie-in Farm-to-Fork Mystery novella with a spooky Halloween vibe!

For their quarterly out-of-the-office team-building meeting, Angie Turner, boyfriend Ian MacNeal, and the chefs and staff of The County Seat are participating in a special Halloween all-night lock-in at the Old Idaho Penitentiary in Boise. Now a museum and event center with tour guides dressed up as guards, the old building is known to house a ghost or two of former inmates. On this night, in particular, the spirit of Lyda Southard, a female inmate whose baby was taken from her at its birth never to be seen again, is rumored to appear.

The group gets the grand tour, but as they settle into their assigned cells for the night, one of the “guards” is found dead at the entrance to the prison library. With the master door key and the only cellphone in the place missing, no one can summon help. Although the doors will automatically unlock at 6 a.m., Angie, Ian, Dom, and the rest of The County Seat staff are locked in with a murderer.

PENNED IN is a short and fun Halloween-themed novella featuring the recurring characters from author Lynn Cahoon’s Farm-to-Fork Mystery series. With each glimpse, we learn a little bit more about these familiar faces while they're away from their work setting. The action is quick, and the mystery begins almost immediately with plenty of suspects to consider.

I recommend this to readers familiar with the series, but those that want a taste of what The County Seat’s cooking will like what Penned In offers.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from NetGalley.


View all my reviews

Ascending (The Vardeshi Saga, #1) by Meg Pechenick

Ascending by Meg Pechenick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely loved ASCENDING, a top-notch space adventure and series debut!

The Vardeshi, an advanced, human-like alien race, came to Earth 25 years ago, made a brief, peaceful visit and left, saying they’d return one day. Avery Alcott had grown up dreaming of that day and watching innumerable fictionalized television series and movies dramatizing that return.

Now a young woman, she is studying linguistics in graduate school when she is presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Her major professor has been secretly developing a language training system for learning the Vardeshi language based on recordings made during their visit, and he wants Avery to test its capabilities. Avery is thrilled, adjusts her graduate course load, and jumps in. Finding the language far more challenging to learn than the Mandarin she’d previously mastered, Avery digs in and finally achieves proficiency based on the program. She has no way of knowing if what the professor has created and what she’s learned correctly corresponds to the aliens’ actual language.

Then the Vardeshi make contact again. They propose a cultural exchange: 100 of their people to come to Earth and 100 of humanity’s best and brightest to join the Vardeshi in space aboard the many spacecraft or space stations they have in service throughout the galaxy. One human is to go to the Vardeshi home planet itself.

With Avery’s language skill already in place, the Vardeshi select her as the one representative from Earth to travel to Vardesh Prime. She and the other 100 program candidates undergo a quick but intensive training course to prepare them for their upcoming assignments, and she soon finds herself in space aboard the Vardeshi spacecraft, Pinion. However, instead of going as a mere passenger, the captain of the ship offers Avery the unique opportunity to immerse herself in their language, culture, and daily shipboard life as a member of the crew. Avery agrees and is integrated into the small crew of 10 as one of two ‘novi,’ the lowest, introductory rank in the Vardeshi ship’s hierarchy.

The cultural immersion has its drawbacks: the constant thinking of how to act, finding the correct words, always having to be ‘on’ and ‘in the moment,’ but Avery mentally gathers her inner resources and pushes through. Zey, the other novi, serves as her trainer and soon becomes a friend and confidant. Saresh, the ship’s hadazi, the counselor and advisor to all onboard, is steadfast in his support. But not everyone likes having her there or this whole plan of exchange. Some crew members are blatantly mean and vocal about her and humanity’s inferiority, doing anything in their power to make things tough for her. Others are just dismissive and seem irritated by her presence. And on both Earth and Vardesh Prime, the populations are divided on whether the interplanetary interaction is a wise thing at all. But as Avery continues to gain proficiency in her language skills and duties as a member of the crew, someone else seems determined to make sure she fails and never makes it to Vardesh Prime, by any means possible.

Ascending was an engaging and immersive reading experience from the very first page. Avery is a kind, warm, and likable young woman who is presented with the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream, and she goes for it full-tilt. I thought the author did an outstanding job of describing all the mental issues that arise when someone is immersed in a culture and language so different from their own. In addition, there is a heart-wrenching subplot of being an outsider among your own kind.

The author gives us an Earth that has developed somewhat differently than our current reality, as well as the fascinating alien culture of the Vardeshi. The reader gets a tantalizing glimpse of the other crew members’ home planets (there’s more than one!) as they reminisce about going home during after-dinner musings one night. Hopefully, in future books in the series, readers will be treated to a visit to some of these exotic locations.

The relationships and characters aboard the Pinion are what make this story an exciting page-turner, though. I felt like I knew these individuals by the time the story was going full-on; however, the author never lets you or Avery forget that they are not human. And there is an awareness throughout the story that there could be collateral effects from these two foreign species interacting. They don’t even know if each other’s food could cause adverse and disastrous reactions.

ASCENDING is a top-notch space adventure and is an awesome debut for this new series. I loved it. I recommend this story to readers that like character-driven, soft Sci-Fi tales, with a ‘stranger in a strange land’ vibe. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Bright Shards, as soon as I can.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from Book Sirens.

View all my reviews

Vis Major by Edward M. Hochsmann

Vis Major by Edward Hochsmann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A spaceship and its crew in peril is an exciting prequel or side story to the full-length novel Engage the Dawn: First Contact!

While making routine repairs, an unexpected coronal mass ejection from a nearby star, causes a repair drone to collide with its survey ship, killing three crew members, destroying the communication system, and forcing the jettisoning of the ship's endangered core. The damage is extensive and enough to prevent the vessel from traveling to the Confed repair yard. The Ship's Master and crew make the far-from-optimal decision to land on the closest planet and gather the raw materials that will allow them to make temporary repairs and enable their safe journey back for the more permanent work needed.

The planet's population has barely advanced beyond the ability to space travel outside of its own orbit. It was Confed policy that the survey ship must not let the natives discover their advanced spacecraft or even confirm that there were sentient beings and civilization on other planets; the inhabitants were just not ready for that knowledge. So, with the help of some of their own people secretly embedded in the native population, the crew makes plans to settle in a shallow underwater area just off the coast of the Florida Keys.

Originally a subplot in the full-length, soft SciFi novel, Engage at Dawn: First Contact, the author felt this storyline was robust enough to become a standalone novelette. And, boy, was he right! Vis Major has engaging characters and an exciting plot that grabbed me from the opening line – "It was not just a routine solar flare."

The Master and the crew of the stricken survey ship that survive the initial damage from the massive coronal mass ejection from the nearby star are in peril from the get-go. I could feel the tension and concern as they struggle to get their wounded bird to the closest planet to effect the temporary repairs needed to return safely to the Confed shipyard. The author successfully walks that fine line between providing enough technical detail to entertain without sending the less tech-savvy reader scurrying for cover.

I appreciated that once on the planet, the Master and crew took elaborate pains to make sure they remained undetected by the native population, and regretted any harm or damage they inflicted during the process. The Master takes great care to preserve the dignity of two natives that are accidentally killed during their presence on the planet.

The author also nailed the content of the dialogue onboard the survey ship and descriptive passages to move the story forward and still surprise the reader with the slow reveal of what is going on and where the action takes place. I enjoyed the realization when it hit home.

This story can be read as a prequel to Engage at Dawn: First Contact, it certainly piqued my interest, or as a side story to it. The primary work approaches this story from a completely different point-of-view. I recommend Vis Major to readers that like their SciFi to have some tech talk along with emotional interaction between characters. This short novelette has both.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an ARC from Reedsy Discovery.

See my original review on Reedsy Discovery!

The Killing Trail (Timber Creek K-9 Mystery, #1) by Margaret Mizushima, Audible Audiobook narrated by Nancy Wu

Killing Trail by Margaret Mizushima
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Deputy Mattie Lu Cobb is back on the job at the Timber Creek County Sheriff's Department after 12 weeks of advanced training with her new K-9 partner, a German Shepherd named Robo. They are on their way to a meeting at the local high school when they receive a call to investigate "suspicious activity" at the remote cabin in the mountains of the nearby national forest. Arriving the scene, they are met by Sheriff Abraham McCoy himself and the forest ranger that requested their assistance. The suspicious activity is a good-sized pool of blood on the porch of the cabin, and she and Robo are directed to search for its source. Robo successfully follows the trail, and the two discover the body of a teenage girl, half-buried in a shallow grave in the forest. She is being watched over by a large Bernese Mountain Dog that, although shot and bleeding, is faithfully protecting the body.

As her fellow deputies continue to work the scene and wait for the arrival of the assigned homicide detective, Mattie is charged with getting the wounded dog to the nearest vet. Dr. Cole Walker recognizes the dog, Belle, immediately and identifies her owner as 16-year-old, Grace Hartman, the best friend on one of his daughters. Later that evening, Belle gets sick and passes several small balloons filled with a suspicious white powder. Cole contacts Mattie, who returns to the clinic to help with the dog. She also makes arrangements to have Detective Stella LoSasso visit with his daughter the next morning, to hopefully shine some light on why Grace may have been up at the remote cabin. During the subsequent interview, Angela points Mattie and Stella to Mike Chadron, a local dog trainer whom Grace had a crush on. He had been spotted recently at the cabin conducting training exercises with this dogs, however, neither he nor his dogs are anywhere to be found. Mattie continues to ask questions of those that knew Grace fearing that she and Belle had somehow gotten involved with the recent upswing in drug trafficking in the small community.

Mattie, Robo, and Sheriff McCoy finally make their visit with the high school principal to discuss introducing a K-9 inspection program in the upcoming school year. This is the same principal Mattie clashed with during her high school tenure there, and he's not enthusiastic nor supportive of the idea but agrees.

The case moves along little by little, but when Mattie discovers the body of the missing Mike Chadron set up to look like a suicide, the pressure escalates to find the murderer. With a suspicious-looking new health spa that moved into the area at the same time as the uptick in drug trafficking and clues that seem to point at one of Mattie's coworkers, she and Robo have got their hands full tracking down leads and protecting their community.

The Killing Trail is the first book in the Timber Creek K-9 Mysteryseries by Margaret Mizushima. I liked the main character, Deputy Mattie Cobb, and look forward to learning more about her and her past. She grew up in foster care, separated from a much older brother from whom she is estranged in the book, but seems to be nearing a reconciliation. I am hoping that the relationship with the vet progresses positively in subsequent books as well.

The author provides several possible suspects and scenarios throughout the story, which kept me guessing. Still, I got a sneaking suspicion about the real killer early on that had me patting myself on the back at the conclusion. That wasn't a deterrent from enjoying the rest of the story as Mattie follows her instincts and all the clues she uncovers.

The author includes some back story on Robo's training and details regarding how Mattie prepares him to work, such as conducting searches and other exercises. I enjoyed Robo's reactions and reading about K-9 work.

All said I think I would have liked this book much more had I been reading it in book form. The audiobook narrator was competent but quiet and low-key, not a lot of animation in her voice. She has a very polished, soothing voice, and I wouldn't avoid listening to her in the future, but I think this story may have required something perkier to show it to a better advantage. This story has everything for a good reading experience, but for whatever reason, it just seemed to drag on and on until the last hour, where it finally got exciting. Not enough for my husband, though. We were listening to this in the car when we arrived at our destination, with about 45 minutes left. I wanted to finish it inside, and he wasn't interested - he was done with it.

I recommend this book, with the reservation as mentioned above regarding format, to mystery readers, especially those that like animals in the cast of characters. However, Robo remains a dog throughout, and the reader is not privy to his thoughts, feelings, or ideas like in some other series.


View all my reviews

E by Fraser Small

E by Fraser Small
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A great new young adult post-apocalyptic story with a surprising twist!

Alexandria E. Monroe, “E” to her friends and family, woke up that morning expecting a school day like any other. But as she headed downstairs for breakfast, her mother wasn’t in the kitchen or anywhere in the house. Guessing she was making a quick trip to the shops, E settled down to a bowl of cereal and didn’t worry about it. However, as their regular time to leave for school came and still no sign of her mother, she felt the first little niggling of worry begin, especially when she found her mom’s cellphone left behind in the living room. Too far to walk to school, she was left to hang out at home and watch some television, but then the power went out. When her best friend never contacted her to find out why she wasn’t in school, she really began to wonder what was going on. No one had posted to social media since the day before. No one: the friend, the police, nor the fire department answered their phones. E fell asleep that night on the stairs watching the door and waiting for her mother to return.

When she couldn’t stand not knowing what was going on any longer, E ventured out of the house and headed down to the village. For the first time, she noticed how quiet it was. Everywhere. Not a car, a plane, no noise. That’s where she realized she was completely and utterly alone.

E is a great new young adult post-apocalyptic story with a surprising twist. It follows the main character, E, over a three year period starting when she’s a young 13-year-old to just after her 16th birthday. I thought the author did a great job portraying her as a typical but sheltered teen as she goes through so many stages of loss, grief, and other emotions all on her own. Of course, she changes over the course of the book under the weight of this loss and apocalyptic event, and she uses what talents she has to survive when everyone she knows and loves goes missing. I liked how she went to the local library to research how to do whatever she needed to have done. I liked that the author chose for her to have a hearing impairment, which emphasized how London’s ambient sounds changed so drastically with the removal of human activity.

The action is set in London and the surrounding areas, and I enjoyed the incorporation of recognizable places and things in the story. Even small things like the inclusion of the Oyster card for the turnstiles made this more realistic. Seeing what happens to these known places has its own poignancy.

Because there are no people for E to interact with, the author relies on flashbacks and a series of notes from her fun-loving Uncle Robert to skillfully move the story forward. Animals take on a significant role in E’s new reality. As I read, I couldn’t help but compare what was going on with E emotionally to how people are reacting to the current COVID-19 safeguards, many of whom have found themselves in isolated circumstances, or at least with much-reduced contact with friends, family, or coworkers. As E mentions in the book, her ability to deal with her total lack of others may have been her strength, she was singularly prepared to survive this better than anyone she knew due to her isolation from schoolmates as a child with a disability.

I highly recommend E by Fraser Small to readers of young adult post-apocalyptic fiction. It is well-written, easy-to-read, and held my attention until the very last page. Although I didn’t agree with every choice the main character makes, I certainly understood and rooted for her every exciting step of the way. There is a twist to the story, unlike similar stories I’ve read, and it adds to the enormity of the story’s vast unknown.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an ARC from Reedsy Discovery.

See my original review on Reedsy Discovery!

The U.S. Navy’s On-the-Roof Gang: Volume One – Prelude to War by Matt Zullo

The US Navy's On-the-Roof Gang: Volume I - Prelude to War by Matt Zullo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A fascinating look at the beginnings of the U.S. Navy’s radio intercept and cryptological program, and the men that made it happen.

The U.S. Navy’s On-the-Roof Gang: Volume One – Prelude to War, is the fictionalized account of the creation and development of naval radio intercept and cryptoanalysis beginning soon after the close of World War I up until the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is an awesomely told story of the actual people, places, and events; the fiction is the recreated dialogue.

The story begins in 1921 with a break-in at the Japanese embassy in New York City and the copying of secret diplomatic documents in an effort to find out what the Imperial Japanese Navy is building up toward in the Pacific. They had already instigated aggressive actions against Chinese on the China mainland, and this was of grave concern to the U.S. The FBI and agents of the U.S. Navy had been able to retrieve the code to decrypt Japanese radio transmissions in this fashion.

Meanwhile, navy radiomen had been picking up radio traffic from unknown sources that did not adhere to International Morse Code. Skilled operators, such as Petty Officer Harry Kidder stationed in the Philippines, were able to copy the “dits” and “dahs” from these unknown sources in between monitoring scheduled navy transmissions. Eventually, these reports and Kidder ended up in Washington, DC, as part of the Navy’s Code and Signal Section – “the Research Desk.”

Recognizing how critical the ability to listen in on the Japanese would be in the war that many felt was brewing, the Navy created a training facility on the roof of the Main Navy Building in the nation’s capital. Led by new instructor now-Chief Harry Kidder, eight Navy and Marine radiomen at a time were put through the school to learn to intercept the katakana code from the Japanese.

This new book by Matt Zullo was a fascinating and well-told story. The characters and events absolutely came alive – no dry-as-dust history lesson here. He skillfully wove together history with anecdotal recollections from the people that lived it and created an engaging and immersive reading experience. In fact, I was immediately ready to jump into the rest of the story in Volume Two!

I found it exciting seeing the creation of this secret, new unit with the mission of intercepting and analyzing the contents of the Japanese messages. I was amazed at the feat these guys accomplished just in being able to copy, report, and then convert to usable information the code they heard over great distances and under pretty rough conditions (both physically and atmospherically.) They were taking the ‘dits and dahs’ of encrypted Japanese and eventually translating it into English. Their personal stories made me feel a real connection to these men. I wanted them to succeed, and they did. But some of the things that happened along the way to a couple of them were heartbreaking.

I felt the frustration of these men as they struggled to gain support from those in Washington, DC and, sometimes, even at the various places they had established listening stations. I was shocked when Henry Stimson, Secretary of State under President Hoover, shut down the joint code-breaking operation of the U.S. Army and the State Department (leaving only the Navy’s group to carry on) saying “Gentlemen do not read each other’s mail.”

One thing that made the events and history so much more interesting to me were the details that kept anchoring this story to what the world was like during this time. For example, at this time (the 1920s and 30s), telephones were not in every home or office. Households were still using gaslights as not everyone had been able to afford the transition to electric lights as yet. Aircraft carriers were relatively new ships in the fleet. And Hawaii was a territory, not yet a state.

I appreciated the look inside day-to-day naval operations as well. The author provides a helpful key to abbreviations at the end of the book, but there were also little tidbits of information regarding rank, duties, and duty stations worked into the story, too. I learned that there is a universal compartment-marking scheme, a letter-number designation which will tell you where a particular location is on board ship. Also, a major stumbling block to getting candidates for the intercept school and position had to do with the promotion process. Many of the radiomen did not want to train to intercept the Japanese katakana because it would degrade their abilities and speeds in Morse Code, which was a significant factor in getting promoted. And then, as I progressed through the book, I realized what a logistical nightmare and considerations involved in setting up new intercept or direction-finding stations all around the world could be.

I highly recommend this book to readers of non-fiction, historical fiction, World War II buffs, and ham radio enthusiasts. It was engaging, easy-to-read, and totally engrossing. I loved it!

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.

See my original review on Reedsy Discovery!

Night of the Living Well-Read (Bookish Adventures in Witch-Lit, #4) by Rachael Stapleton

Night of the Living Well-Read: A Bohemian Lake Cozy Mystery by Rachael Stapleton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The witchy book club from Bohemian Lake is off again on its next Gas Lamp Literary Tour, and they find themselves ensconced in a castle in the mountains of Romania. The book they’re reading? Bram Stoker's Dracula, of course! The remaining members of the book club are all back with Nelle Story leading the troop and Sera Popescu, her assistant, providing the on-the-ground support as usual. This trip, however, Sera is not wholly on her own. Her relationship with hunky ghost whisperer, Daemon Wraith, has progressed nicely since the trip to Europe, and he is along as back up.

The castle and its owner, Vladimir Elder, are all the group could ask for as far as atmosphere and hospitality. Nelle’s niece, Gabriela (Rhiannon’s sister), who lives on-site, has made arrangements with the resident Sanguinarine nest (a group of humans who crave and consume blood) for the group to observe one of their initiation ceremonies. But when someone tries to kill Vlad, the head of the nest, during the service, Sera begins her search for answers.

Sadly, Night of the Living Well-Read is the final book in the Bohemian Lake spin-off series, Bookish Adventures in Witch-Lit, but it proved to be an exciting and spectacular send-off! There have been so many secrets kept and uncovered during this entire storyline, but I believe author Rachael Stapleton has tied up all the loose ends in grand style. If you’ve enjoyed this spin-off series or the Bohemian Lake series in general. This is a MUST-READ for all the reveals!

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy.

View all my reviews

Better the Devil You Know (Avon Calling!, #16) by Hayley Camille

Better the Devil You Know by Hayley Camille
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

With husband George only home for a short leave and his memories of the night in the basement of the orphanage slowly returning, Betty must decide whether or not to tell him the truth about herself and what really happened that night. But will the truth destroy her marriage? Then, she receives the word that The Tin Man, the shadowy figure behind The Boudoir Butcher, is looking for a new girl for his next assassination. She and her old friend, NYPD Sergeant Jacob Lawrence, head out to finally meet this deadly killer and take him down.

Everyone's favorite Avon Lady, Mrs. Betty Jones, is back, and this episode draws together a couple of plots from the previous stories. Betty is caught between a rock and a hard place on several fronts, and this story is particularly gripping because of the various moral dilemmas coming to a head: what to tell George, what to do about daughter Nancy and her growing rebelliousness and desire to expand her burgeoning skills, and whether or not to play ball with Donald Pinzolo. The author maintains a firm grip on the continuity of this long-running series, and the sights and sounds of WWII New York still come on strong. Peppered throughout, as in previous episodes, are little tidbits of the culture and cant of the time that makes this series so vivid and unique.

I highly recommend this latest installment in the Avon Calling! series to those keeping pace with the story. To readers not familiar with the series, I recommend it in its entirety starting at the beginning. You won’t be sorry.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy.

View all my reviews

Hero Bear: Small Town Romance (Fate Valley Mysteries, #1) by Scarlett Grove

Hero Bear by Scarlett Grove
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Grizzly bear shifter Sunshine Blackthorn arrived in Fate Valley, Missouri, before Christmas to be the maid of honor at the wedding of her good friend from school, Melody Banks. Like Sunshine, Melody is also a shifter, a cougar, and she had discovered her fated mate, a rare shifter-human match, through the matching program, Mate.com. The first order of business is for a memorable bachelorette party, and after a fun night of dancing and not a few drinks, Melody and the other bridesmaids talk Sunshine into signing up on the site to find her own match.

Former Marine, Harrison Cole, came to Fate Valley after his enlistment was complete to work as a firefighter. But after a close call at a fire, he begins to think that maybe there should be more to his life than just service to the community. Also a grizzly bear shifter, he, too, signs up to see if Mate.com can give him a hand in finding his fated mate.

The day of the wedding is gorgeous, but during the ceremony, a fire suspiciously breaks out in the Fate Rock Chapel. Rather than letting it ruin the whole event, though, the wedding is quickly moved to the wine cellar adjacent to the chapel where the reception was to be held. Harrison is one of the responding firefighters, and he and Sunshine are drawn to each other by their grizzly bear instincts over the surrounding chaos. Their realization that they are fated mates in seconded when the Mate.com program matches them up as well. They immediately work to getting to know each other better while they search for the chapel arsonist among the wedding guests, not all of whom are precisely ecstatic about the human groom wedding the shifter bride.

Hero Bear has a nice mystery and investigation going on, but the focus of the story is really the romance of the two grizzly shifters getting together. This is apparently a spin-off story from an earlier series, and although it can be read on its own, I have the feeling it would have been more enjoyable if I’d read the previous series beforehand. There were a few references and cameo appearances from characters from these books. Alert: the book does contain explicit sex scenes.

View all my reviews

From Beer to Eternity (Chloe Jackson, Sea Glass Saloon Mystery, #1) by Sherry Harris

From Beer to Eternity by Sherry Harris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A smart children’s librarian solves this cozy mystery set in paradise!

Before Chloe Jackson’s best friend, Boone, deployed to Afghanistan, he had her promise him that should anything happen to him; she would take care of his grandmother, Vivi. He added the stipulation that she couldn’t tell his grandmother that this was his final wish. So when a sniper’s bullet took his life, Chloe took a leave of absence from her job as a children’s librarian in Chicago, loaded up a few things in her hand-me-down VW beetle, and headed to Emerald Cove, Florida, to keep her promise.

Chloe’s expectation of caring for a sweet, little, gray-haired lady quickly evaporated when she met the actual Vivi who turned out to be the vibrant, independent, feisty, 70-something-year-old, hell-on-heels owner of the Sea Glass Saloon right there on the beach of the Gulf of Mexico. Grandma Vivi certainly didn’t seem to need, and definitely didn’t want any help from Chloe, and in fact, appeared to dislike her on sight! But Chloe persevered and starts waitressing at the bar to help Vivi and her one employee, Joaquin, out, all the while sleeping in her car or aboard Boone’s tiny boat moored at the nearby marina and hunting for a needle in a haystack: an affordable rental at the height of tourist season.

Just as Chloe is getting this waitressing thing down, she discovers the body of one of their regular patrons out back by the dumpster with one of the bar knives stuck in his throat. And when suspicion falls immediately on Vivi and, seemingly, no one else, Chloe begins to question all the suspects that the police are overlooking. She knows she’s on to something when she’s almost run off a bridge one night, and then someone tries to set fire to Boone’s cottage where she ends up staying. But, even though she wants to pack up and return to Chicago, she believes a promise is a promise and becomes more determined than ever to clear Vivi’s name and find the real killer.

From Beer to Eternity is the first book in the new series, Chloe Jackson, Sea Glass Saloon, by author Sherry Harris. While dealing with issues of grief and loss, it is still a fun and exciting start to the series. Chloe is so likable! She’s smart and kind and is quite a sympathetic character as she goes through quite a lot making good on her promise to her best friend (and that’s before she finds the dead body!) I enjoyed the ways she used her skills as a children’s librarian to gain her footing in the unfamiliar bar setting and her comparison of toddlers at the library and the bar patrons. I was ready to sign up for either a course in library science or bartending!

Because she was a total stranger to the community (like a reader is), her investigations really begin at ground zero, and I liked that. We were both discovering clues at the same pace. She had to ferret out all the hidden history in Emerald Cove herself. And speaking of Emerald Cove, I wanted to make a reservation for a vacation there; it sounds ideal.

All in all, the mystery was logical and plausible with bad guys we immediately knew were up to no good and secret villain lurking behind the scenes and a façade of gracious kindness and a smile for Chloe to uncover in the nick of time. I highly recommend this book to cozy mystery readers and those that like the beachy-bar setting in a paradise of a vacation spot, and those that enjoy a smart librarian as the protagonist.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy. #FromBeertoEternity #NetGalley

View all my reviews

Grevy Danger (Kenya Kanga Mysteries, #1.5) by Victoria Tait

Grevy Danger by Victoria Tait
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Along with her friends, Chloe and Thabiti, Mama Rose is participating in a project to document the numbers and locations of the endangered Grevy’s zebra, when she is called upon to render medical aid to another of the volunteers. The young woman had become violently ill during the night, but there was nothing Mama Rose could do, and she tragically succumbed to whatever had caused her reaction. Only days later, the young woman’s older sister, also a volunteer on the project, experiences sudden seizures while at the closing banquet, and she, too, swiftly passes away.

With no signs of violence and the whisper of a possible drug interaction, the deaths are determined to be of natural causes. But when Mama Rose overhears a suspicious conversation between the older sister’s husband and a pal and recalls the man messing around with a deadly Desert Rose plant, she puts herself in the way of the two men getting away with murder.

Grevy Danger is a novella occurring about a month after the events of Fowl Murder, book 1 in the Kenya Kanga Mysteries by Victoria Tait. Mama Rose is still extremely active as a para-vet, and Craig, her disabled husband, has good days and bad. Many of the characters introduced in the previous book make an appearance and seem to have settled into a more established relationship with Rose and Craig. I really liked that Thabiti is doing well and regularly comes to spend time with Craig while Rose is out ministering to her animal patients or helping Dr. Emma at her animal pharmacy in the town of Nanyuki. I’m glad the bad guys get their just desserts.

I recommend Grevy Danger to those that read and enjoyed Fowl Murder, and this novella is currently available for free through the author’s website at www.VictoriaTait.com.

View all my reviews

Broomsticks & Burials (Magic & Mystery, #1) by Lily Webb

Broomsticks and Burials by Lily Webb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Unemployed journalist, Zoe Clarke, had almost given up on ever finding another newspaper job when, out of the blue, the editor of the Moon Grove Messenger, Mitch Harris, phoned and hired her sight unseen. Accepting, she caught the bus to her new town as instructed only to discover on arrival that Moon Grove was a town accessible only to witches, warlocks, vampires, and other supernatural beings. Unknown to Zoe, as her parents had been killed in a car accident when she was a small child, her heritage included witches. And that was not the only surprise greeting her. It turns out, her boss is a werewolf, her new roommate is a fairy, and the reporter she’s replacing was murdered while following a story!

Broomsticks & Burials is the first book in the Magic & Mystery series by author Lily Webb, and it is an impressive start. The characters are delightful, the town of Moon Grove charming, and the plot ticks along like a time bomb. This was a story I didn’t want to put down!

Zoe is a determined and capable young woman from the start. She gets the job done and still has the time and energy to pursue the forbidden story her predecessor was working. Her new roommate, Flora, is a beautiful fairy with a kind heart and a game spirit. I enjoyed their interactions a lot.

Zoe takes her cat, Luna, with her to her new beginning in Moon Grove, and I loved that once they were in town, Luna begins to talk. According to Luna, she was cursed to live life as a cat, and I look forward to finding out about that in the future.

Besides a compelling mystery story with scary vampires and a hard-nosed werewolf police chief and Zoe learning about her witchy powers, I liked the developing relationship with the local Channel 666 news anchor, shifter Beau Duncan. He shifts into a golden retriever, and it was fun seeing that animal’s characteristics represented when he was in his human form.

With its quaint shops and their appropriately supernatural names and offerings, Moon Grove is a charming town to be hidden away out of mortal sight. But I liked that it experiences its own issues with politics and governance like any other small town around.

In all, the story was a fun introduction to the series and an exciting murder mystery. I highly recommend it to cozy mystery readers that enjoy magical and paranormal elements in their stories.


View all my reviews

The Clue of the Twisted Candle by Edgar Wallace

The Clue of the Twisted Candle by Edgar Wallace
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When mystery writer, John Lexman, is convicted of murdering a dangerous moneylender, his best friend, T. X. Meredith of Scotland Yard believes his story that he didn’t do it and searches for the evidence that would free him from prison. But before news of his exoneration can reach him, John is helped to escape from his prison work crew and secretly spirited away by the mysterious Remington Kara, a despised acquaintance of John’s wife from before their marriage. John and his wife, Grace, disappear never to be seen or heard from.

As the years pass and no word comes from John, Kara who returned to London continues to live the high-life under the watchful eye of Scotland Yard. He has an unsavory reputation for blackmail, a shadowy involvement with the underbelly of society, and is in constant fear of death from those he wronged back in his native Albania. T. X. continues to wonder and worry about John and Grace and maintains his vigil for any sign of his old friends.

During his latest check-up on Kara at his home in town, T. X. encounters and is instantly attracted to the man’s new private secretary, Miss Holland. However, just like her boss, she is hiding secrets of her own. When Kara is found stabbed to death inside his locked and impregnable bedroom and both Miss Holland and the manservant go missing, T. X. is compelled to investigate.

Although originally published in 1918, this locked-room mystery was still entertaining after over 100 years. The plot is solid and the dialogue surprisingly crisp and modern. T. X. is charming and capable and quite delightful as he falls for Miss Holland who is a feisty, competent young woman, and probably the most surprising character in the entire story considering the times.

I recommend The Clue of the Twisted Candle to mystery readers that enjoy a vintage feel and the locked-room device, in general.

View all my reviews

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

The Guest List by Lucy Foley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It promised to be the poshest wedding of the season. The bride, Jules Keegan, is the founder of The Download, one of the hottest, most influential, online magazines of the day. The groom, Will Slater, is the handsome and charismatic star of the successful television show, Survive the Night. On a remote island off the coast of Ireland, the nuptials are to be exchanged in front of 200 of their closest and dearest friends…or are they? Someone thinks the bride is making a terrible mistake.

What an enjoyable suspenseful story! Told in short chapters from the alternating viewpoints of different members of the wedding party or those closest to them, the story of the bride and groom and their families and friends is revealed much like a slow-burning fuse. It is an incredibly atmospheric telling with its setting on an abandoned island with a dire history, its luxuriously appointed ‘Folly,’ the crumbling ruins of the old church, treacherous bogs, and a black storm brewing in the near distance.

As each character takes a turn at narrating, the author gives and leaves out just enough information to keep the reader in the dark or guessing but not connecting the dots too soon. I know I missed some clues along the way to the big reveal later on. One thing I experienced is some characters I didn’t care for at the start of the story, and ones I did, flip places in my emotions by the end. That change in attitude was entertaining in itself. But the end does come, and it is a doozy!

I recommend The Guest List for mystery and thriller readers that don’t mind that slow, inexorable burn to the exciting denouement.

View all my reviews

Fowl Murder (Kenya Kanga Mystery, #1) by Victoria Tait

Fowl Murder by Victoria Tait
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rose Hardie, known as "Mama Rose," and her invalid husband, Craig, live a quiet, retiring life in Nanyuki, Kenya, where she serves the surrounding communities as a volunteer para-veterinarian and all-around helping hand. They had lived a frugal, tight existence, but a happy one for the most part, since their early marriage when Rose was accused of killing a poacher and spending a week in the grim local prison.

One day after Craig left the house to work on the farm, leaving young Rose, her best friend, Aisha Onyango, and the house girl alone, a mob of men that had stormed their farm’s inner compound. Rose had discharged a shotgun in their general direction in self-defense, never intending to hit anyone but just to scare them away. However, a week after the incident, she is informed that she killed one of the supposed poachers, was arrested, thrown in prison, and interrogated unmercifully until Aisha, a budding attorney, managed to get the charges dropped. But afterward, their friendship was never the same. Aisha drifted away into a high-profile career in Nairobi, and Rose was left believing for the past 40-plus years that her dear friend was ashamed of her and her reckless actions that day.

But now, out of the blue, Aisha and her family, two adult children, are back in Nanyuki and living nearby in Guinea Fowl Cottage. The two women immediately renew their acquaintance, but Rose can tell that Aisha is afraid of something and is back in Nanyuki because it is safer than staying in Nairobi. On top of that, Aisha is reopening the case against Rose that happened all those years ago. Before Aisha opens up about what is going on and why she is stirring up the old trouble, she is struck down in her home, and the local police are ordered off the case calling it an accidental death. At the urging of the police commissioner, Mama Rose and Aisha’s son, Thabiti, decide to uncover the truth of Aisha’s murder.

FOWL MURDER is the first book in a new cozy mystery series, the Kenya Kanga Mystery series, by author Victoria Tait, and features the amateur sleuthing abilities of 60-something “Mama Rose” Hardie, and her young friend (Aisha’s son), Thabiti Onyango. They are supported by other great characters such as the caught-between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place police commissioner Akida, the mysterious Sam – the barman, and newcomer to Kenya, Chloe. The author has Rose feel her age and describes her aches, pains, and fatigue (she has arthritis), and this made her feel that much more real to me. In addition, like many wives of her age and at this stage of their lives, she’s also dealing with the gradual decline of an aging spouse. Again, this helped bring this character to life for me. I could relate and appreciated this realistic portrayal.

The Kenyan setting with the descriptions of the beauty of Mount Kenya, the dryness of the surrounding area, and the consequences of the lack of rainfall were fascinating, as were the little details of everyday life there. The portrayal had me feeling the heat and dust and grit. I liked the sprinkling of Kiswahili words throughout and often referred to the helpful glossary explaining them at the end of the book.

“Mama Rose” is a keen observer of people and understands human nature. She is a well-known and well-liked member of the community, so people talk to her. She takes the various threads of information she gathers and weaves together the solution to the problems she’s investigating in a logical, straightforward way. There were a couple of good possible suspects to cross off the list, and her investigation took care of some of them while subsequent events eliminated others for her. The book was a gratifying reading experience.

I recommend this book to cozy mystery readers in general but especially to those that have read and enjoyed the Alexander McCall Smith series, The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. I look forward to more in series myself.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy from Reedsy Discovery.

See my original review on Reedsy Discovery!

A Corpse At the Castle (The Highland Horse Whisperer Mysteries, #1) by R.B. Marshall

A Corpse at the Castle by R.B. Marshall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Isobel “Izzy” Paterson takes two of Lady Letham’s mares to the stud at the Queen’s Balmoral Castle, she ends up being one of the last people to see the curmudgeonly stud manager, Hamish Duncan, alive. He is found trampled to death by the Queen’s prize stallion, Eagle, later that night. However, the local police sergeant, hunky Dean Lovell, starts questioning whether Hamish’s death was actually an accident and begins to look at Izzy and Craig MacDonald, Hamish’s assistant, as possible suspects.

Feeling an attraction to Craig, Izzy decides to investigate on her own using her specialized computer skills to clear both their names. But when little inconsistencies pop up, Izzy starts questioning Craig’s motives, and with Sergeant Lovell showing an obvious personal interest in her, she starts working alongside him to figure out what really happened to Hamish and if Craig may have had a hand in his boss’s death.

A CORPSE AT THE CASTLE is a lovely start to the new series, The Highland Horse Whisperer Mysteries, by author R. B. (Roz) Marshall with a fun and homey feel to its equine-themed, Scottish Highlands setting. Izzy and Trinity are smart and charming young women with a lot on the ball, making their way in new jobs, and they play well off each other with their different strengths. I enjoyed Izzy’s internal dialogue and conflicted thoughts as she tries to navigate her way through the relationships with two handsome, eligible bachelors at the same time while trying to do the right thing by both. I enjoyed reading about her dark web computer adventures, too, and hope that there is much more to do with this skill in future books.

I recommend this to cozy mystery readers and those that would like the horsey setting (which offered me quite a number of new tidbits of information about an animal and sport I know nothing about.)

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy.


View all my reviews

Crime Beat Girl by Geri Dreiling

Crime Beat Girl by Geri Dreiling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Plot twists I didn’t see coming!

With her engagement and life in D.C. stuck in neutral, journalist Debbie Bradley returns to her hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, to be there for her mother, who was recently diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. Her mother, Beth Hughes, is a renowned personal injury attorney and is not pleased that her daughter has dropped a promising career in the nation’s capital (and a fiancé), to come home and play nursemaid when she feels she doesn’t need one. But Debbie’s decision to relocate is facilitated by a timely opening for a city/crime beat reporter on a new, upscale magazine focused on the town called River City, which happens to be under the direction of an old friend and former college mentor.

Although not thrilled with the column’s moniker, Crime Beat Girl, Debbie jumps in with both feet, and on her way to her first assignment, she witnesses a joyride gone bad, which ends with one 15-year-old dead and the 13-year-old driver in jail awaiting trial. But as Debbie delves into the deep background of the incident and other stories, she begins to get some traction, both in recognition and in contacts, from her well-written and well-researched pieces. She also attracts some unwanted attention from those that don’t want her asking questions or snooping around.

One contact she’s determined to cultivate is that of the lead detective investigating several of the police calls she’s covered: Daniel Flannery. Detective Flannery, a prickly 20-plus-year veteran of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, seems like a stand-up kind of guy, but his reputation was tarnished years earlier and while his fellow officers respect, appreciate, and support him; the brass, including the mayor, not so much. Mayor Jim Robinson, a former SLMPD officer and, at one time, Daniel’s best friend, is now married to Flannery’s ex-wife and publicly criticizes the detective every chance he gets.

Debbie also meets the defense attorney representing the young teen driver involved in the deadly joyride. Chase Laclede, like Debbie herself, is the child of two lawyers only rather than running from a future with the law; he embraced it and is quickly making a name for himself defending those that can’t afford their own representation.

As Debbie follows her stories and her column strikes gold, she suddenly finds herself targeted by some unknown someone: getting shot at and nearly run down by a car in the park. And when her mother receives some good news regarding her health situation, Debbie begins to wonder if St. Louis is the place for her, or should she go back to her life in D.C.?

Crime Beat Girl is a good story with plot turns that absolutely took me by surprise. I can honestly say, “I didn’t see that coming!” and am smacking my forehead going, “Of course!” Debbie Bradley is a smart, strong-willed young woman who is in the middle of some significant life changes. Her fiancé of several years seems only to have eyes for his career, and she feels the need to progress. She and her strong-willed mother (she comes by it naturally) are trying to navigate their adult relationship while living in her childhood home. And third, she is starting a new job in an (almost) new location. She’s very likable, and while in some circles being a reporter is a bad thing, she is portrayed as having pure and heartfelt motives behind her vocation. I liked the description and details of what this particular reporter’s daily working life was like and her role in the process of “feeding the monster.” The conflicts she encounters are understandable and natural, not contrived. I rooted for her success the entire book.

I enjoyed the setting of St. Louis and that it was somewhere other than New York or L.A. Debbie’s stories are set at various locations in that city’s changing landscape, and she gets involved with people at every level of the community. Some of the oldest families in St. Louis are (fictionally) portrayed, at both extremes of the social strata. The author drops in places and facts that were fun and interesting as well as references to some very current and still emotionally-charged events.

Finally, although there is no mention of this being the start of a new series, it certainly feels like one (and I certainly hope it is.) There are some developing storylines related to possible love interests, not only for Debbie but maybe for Beth as well, and I would like to see how they pan out. Readers will close the book on a couple of other lingering questions; however, they are not life-altering cliffhangers for the readers if this is Debbie’s solo voyage.

I recommend CRIME BEAT GIRL for mystery readers in general, those that would enjoy a reporter as a positive protagonist as the sleuth, and those that like a strong female lead.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.

See my original review on Reedsy Discovery!

The Secret Santa Mystery (Highland Horse Whisperer, #0) by Roz Marshall

The Secret Santa Mystery by Roz Marshall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

At the annual bank Christmas gathering, Izzy Paterson’s Secret Santa gift includes a cryptic riddle hinting that someone at Bleubank is siphoning off vast amounts of cash: enough cash to make a difference in Bleubank’s solvency. The next week at work, Izzy, the lead IT security analyst, gets the assignment to track down the high-tech thief.

What a great introduction to Izzy and other characters that play a significant role in the Highland Horse Whisperer series! The writing was excellent, the story flowed, and the characters came alive for me. The equestrian theme is interesting and maintains just the right balance with the mystery as not to overwhelm the reader. The mystery was solid, and its resolution really sets the stage for why Izzy and her friend, Trinity, are heading to new jobs at the actual start of the series. The series has a great backstory, and this is a very generous background prequel.

View all my reviews

Calliope (Calliope, #1) by Scott Mari

Calliope by Scott Mari
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An exhilarating tech-forward tale of humanity overcoming alien invaders!

Calliope was just a child when the aliens invaded Earth, killing her parents and leaving her on her own to survive in the chaos and the breakdown of society in the aftermath. When she was eventually pulled in to the rebuilding safety after their departure, cleaned up and sent to school, an almost feral loner, she had an insatiable need to learn all she could to defeat the aliens if, and when, they returned.

A genius with at least three degrees under her belt, Calliope makes her way to the old Lunar Colony on the moon, now a remote science station devoted to advancing humanity’s defenses against future alien attack. Her optimism for what she can accomplish there is immediately challenged when she finds the station’s scientific culture laden with suspicion and ruthless dog-eat-dog ambition. The station’s big dog is Mattias, an arrogant and incompetent sycophant of the military representative, Admiral Sinchan, who hasn’t produced a single innovation to further operations in months, immediately sees Calliope as competition to crush and destroy.

Calliope’s determination is unwavering and she establishes her own working lab away from Mattias’ evil intentions, prying eyes, and blatant appropriation of her designs as his own. And once settled, she pulls out all the stops to design an attack spacecraft that is quick, lithe, nimble, and with innovative lasers for weapons while Mattias focuses on encumbering all available resources to produce the largest ship he can utilizing missile weaponry. Trading technology and creating partnerships with the other scientists and engineers sidelined by Mattias’ selfish manipulations, Calliope begins to come out of her lonely shell exercising social skills she’d forgotten she ever had, discovering she has deeper feelings for one man in particular.

While advancing her plans for capturing mineral-rich asteroids from the area around Jupiter, Calliope finds that the aliens are working on their own plans right there in the same asteroid belt. This alarming discovery puts everyone’s activities into overdrive as they desperately work to be ready for their imminent arrival. This time the humans want to surprise the aliens and catch them off-guard by attacking first. Unfortunately, they are betting on Mattias’ larger ships not realizing they are too big, too slow, too cumbersome, and inadequately armed with the same missile technology that failed against the aliens when they attacked Earth.

CALLIOPE is an exciting story of an orphaned underdog that pulls herself up by her bootstraps and powers through to success with sheer determination and strength of character. She’s naturally a loner, and although she starts out as an awkward and socially-stunted young woman, she eventually finds her center when she comes in contact with some decent coworkers that believe in her and her abilities.

She still has setbacks, though; the story has a couple of villains that see to that. Mattias, the lead scientist on the station, is arrogant, self-satisfied, and downright mean. I really wanted her to beat him as his own game.

The science station faces hardships and difficult problems throughout the story, and Calliope and the good people around her work to overcome them while burdened with the red tape and interference from above. But, the story is Calliope’s, and you can’t help but root for her as she meets each challenge head-on and, most of the time, alone. I liked that the character kept going and going – head down and nose to the grindstone. Something we can all relate to on some level: I know I did.

The story is heavily-laced with technical thinking, problem-solving, and activity, making this a great, hardcore SciFi tale. The author’s settings on the moon and asteroids were descriptive, had great variety, and I could easily visualize Calliope’s surroundings. However, my favorite part of the story is Calliope’s journey from her spacecraft to her asteroid command center and her self-talk through the aloneness, the fear, the danger, and the physical stresses. It was absolutely riveting!

And what kind of story would it be without some awesome space battles as well? These were exciting and desperate, very well written, and very fast-paced. I suddenly realized I was holding my breath as I read!

I recommend this book to readers that would like a tech-heavy SciFi tale with evil first-contacts and a strong female protagonist with an indomitable spirit.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.

See my original review on Reedsy Discovery!

Home Sweet Witch (Lily Sweet Mysteries, #1) by Bettina M. Johnson

Home Sweet Witch by Bettina M. Johnson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lily Sweet has lived a difficult life, always on the move from place to place because her mother was afraid “they” would find them. She never could get who “they” were out of her emotionally-distant mother and even broaching the subject would upset her. All alone now, her mother gone after a two year long battle with cancer, Lily is about to find out.

But upon her death, her mother left Lily a surprise legacy. After having done without, living from meager paycheck to paycheck, and hiding in the shadows of rural upstate New York for years, Lily is floored when an attorney approaches her at her mother’s memorial service with a box of mementos and cryptic instructions regarding a home, money, and the existence of family members somewhere in Georgia. All Lily has to do is sneak into the town without any of the relatives knowing she’s there, scope out the place, and find further instructions from her mother hidden somewhere in the house.

Thinking this is doable, Lily sets out in her ancient Ford pickup (named George) for Sweet Briar, Georgia. A budding sculptor, she’s delighted to learn that her destination is an artsy, crafty, tourist town, and has hopes that she can even find a studio to create ‘found art,’ and settle down. Things look even better when she hits the area and meets some of the local guys who are friendly, welcoming, and particularly good-looking. But when she is immediately caught making her first ‘secret’ visit to her new house and unearths the skeleton of a young woman under the front porch floorboards, things don’t feel quite so charming any longer. And when the cute guys try to convince her that they and she are actually witches, Lily wonders what kind of place she’s come home to.

What a fun, entertaining start to this new witchy mystery series! Lily is smart and snarky and funny. I especially liked her great-grandmother, Adriana, and their snappy exchanges. Lily and Adriana are very alike even though they are generations apart and have been separated for most of Lily’s life. I look forward to more interaction between the two in future books, especially as Lily begins to come to grips with her new-found witchy powers.

I liked that the romantic plotline is still at the beginning stages. Lily doesn’t just jump at the first pretty face. (There are choices!) And there is tension from her not knowing who she can trust and who has hidden motives or agendas. This was entertaining in this book, and I think it will be fun to see where this goes in future ones.

The town of Sweet Briar is full of surprises and engaging characters, and it is depicted as Small Town USA. Everyone knows everyone else, their background, and most of their secrets. And there are a lot of secrets to tease out in this story and exciting possibilities for love interests as well. All the mysteries that arise are not resolved in this book, leaving room for future novels in the series.

I recommend this book for cozy mystery readers that enjoy elements of magic, witches, and witchcraft in their stories.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.

See my original review on Reedsy Discovery!