book review

From the publisher of Pharoah’s Forgery

After some of Karina Cardinal’s recent adventures—her lover Mike Finnegan would call them scrapes, jams, or pickles—she’s more than ready to blow this D.C. pop stand for a short girls’ trip to Mexico. Until Jillian’s roller skate wreck blows their plan out of the water. With Jilly injured and Mike working, her fellow lobbyist Rodrigo volunteers to share some sun, sand, and margaritas in Cancun. It’s tough to relax, though, knowing what’s in her suitcase. A package she promised to hand off to Mrs. Thundermuffin in Mexico. Mrs. T’s evasive maneuvers around Karina’s questions wave more red flags than a bullfighter, leaving Karina no choice but to take a peek. Okay, so it’s not a kilo of something illegal. It’s an Egyptian death mask that turns out to be a magnet for crooks, conmen, kidnappers, and outright killers. When the situation explodes into chaos, Karina and Rodrigo are lucky to have friends in the right place—at their backs. But they’re in one hell of a jam. And they could be going home in something tackier than a souvenir t-shirt—more like a body bag.

My review

I love it when a story begins with the main character doing something nice and it later comes back to bite them. In this case, the something nice was delivering a package for Karina’s neighbor. That favor kicked off a wild ride an adventure from beginning to (almost) the end. Unfortunately, the main story seemed to culminate about 3/4 of the way through. While this was really just a twist in the story and there was still some tension, it took a while for the pacing to ramp up again. With that one exception, this was a joy to read with mystery and mayhem at every turn. This one’s a clear winner for anyone who likes well-written action scenes, crisp dialogue, and plenty of twists.

Learn more about Ellen Butler at ellenbutler.net.

FTC Full Disclosure: A review copy of this book was provided by its publisher.

From the publisher of Dash Away All

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…Merry Winters is excited for her dream-come-true moment: Being an on-site crafter for a Christmas movie. The tidings of joy are short-lived as she finds herself becoming a referee, dealing with a raging Ebenezer, participating in a bucket brigade, and finding evidence in a “murder.”

Is someone trying to stop the production or is it tied to a secret someone has on Luna Carmichael, the star of the movie and the queen of Christmas?

When Marie, Luna’s assistant, stumbles away from a car accident and dies, Merry believes the accident wasn’t quite so accidental. Was Luna or Marie the target? Merry finds more questions than answers, but one thing is certain: Everyone has an ulterior motive for being part of the production—including Marie.

After another murder, Merry wonders if the deaths are tied to a baby born long ago and abandoned. And more importantly, will Merry live long enough to find out?

My review

Merry Winters is a likable protagonist with a very interesting job, a professional crafter. A crafting mystery centered around the set of a movie intrigued me. There was plenty of both in this well-plotted cozy. The storyline was logically laid out, beginning with Merry being hired to handle the Christmas crafts on the movie to her involvement in the investigation of her friends’ murder to the inevitable story resolution.

Dialogue flowed naturally between characters, even at those points where the author needed to provide backstory to move the things forward. Overall, I felt entertained from beginning to end with one exception based on a personal preference of mine. I’m not a fan of rhetorical questions in exposition, which is a popular tool used by many authors. Consequently, I sometimes skimmed through those sections to get to the next bit of action or dialogue.

From the publisher of Snowed Under

When professional organizer Maggie McDonald finds a body in a snowdrift outside her friend’s ski cabin, she must plow through the clues to find a cold-blooded killer . . .

Lake Tahoe in February is beautiful, but Maggie can’t see a thing as she drives through a blinding blizzard with her friend Tess Olmos and their dogs, golden retriever Belle and German shepherd Mozart. Maggie has offered her professional decluttering skills to help Tess tidy up her late husband’s cabin in preparation to sell. She also plans to get in some skiing when her husband Max and their boys join them later in the week.

What she doesn’t plan on is finding a boot in a snowdrift attached to a corpse. The frozen stiff turns out to be Tess’s neighbor, Dev Bailey, who disappeared two months ago. His widow Leslie expresses grief, but Maggie can’t help but wonder if it’s a snow job. As more suspects start to pile up, things go downhill fast, and Maggie must keep her cool to solve the murder before the killer takes a powder . . .

My review of Snowed Under

There were plenty of things to like about Snowed Under. It’s chock full of good tidbits about dealing with winter in snow country. There’s plenty of action to offset the feeling that this is, in a sense, a type of locked room mystery.

Unfortunately, something about the story didn’t quite mesh for me. I didn’t connecte with Maggie. She’s a likable character, and I felt like I knew what was in her head, but never what was in her heart.

As for why the police would accept an amateur sleuth into a police investigation—well, that’s just part of the territory for cozy mysteries. And, true admissions time, the story held my interest until the killer was exposed. Partially because I never figured out who the killer was until Maggie put the pieces together.

Learn more about Snowed Under or Mary Feliz at maryfeliz.com

From the publisher

LUCKY IN LOVE AND LUCKY TO BE ALIVE. UNTIL NOW.

Maizie’s mixing with international stars, spies, and her mother’s dark past in her sixth case in The Wall Street Journal bestselling series.

“Hollywood glitz meets backwoods grit in this fast-paced ride on D-list celeb Maizie Albright’s waning star. Sassy, Sexy, and Fun.” — Phoebe Fox, author of the Breakup Doctor series.

#WannabeDetectiving While ex-celebrity Maizie Albright’s dreams of becoming a for-real private investigator have not exactly been dashed, they have been slightly thwarted. Her ex-manager and still-mother, Vicki Albright, has taken the helm of Nash Security Services while rebuilding her entertainment management company. Sometimes with the same clients. Like Chinese action star, Lili Liang, who’s making the film Unlucky 18 in Georgia.

Thus far, Lili’s living up to her movie title. Her kung fu coach is missing. Her boyfriend’s disappeared. And her director, who gambled on her with the part, might be gambling with her life.

Maizie’s luck is also running out. Maizie and Nash find themselves struggling to balance a new partnership and new relationship between missing persons’ cases, wild goose chases, and tracking a bullet into dangerous places. Sometimes it’s enough to make a girl NOT want to put a ring on it. When it comes to facing an 18-caliber killer, what will Maizie put up as the target? Her heart or her life?

Review of 18 Caliber

18 Caliber was my first Maizie Albright Star Detective Mystery—I’m hoping it won’t be my last. I loved this former child star who’s trying to make a new life for herself as a detective. She’s spunky, but broken; beautiful, but insecure; and comes with an A-list cast of supporting characters. 

The dialogue is snappy with a nice blend of introspection, so the plot keeps moving. And speaking of plot, there are plenty of twists to keep the reader guessing who’s who and whodunwhat. I did find Maizie’s mother’s narcissism a bit over the top at times. But while I ranked her high on my dislikable character scale, I sadly found her behavior believable. After all, mothers come in all flavors and I could definitely see such a parent in a real-life setting. 

This was a fun read—a fast-paced caper that kept me entertained until the end.

FTC Full Disclosure: A review copy of this book was provided by its publisher.

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