Tag Archives: amateur sleuths

Review & Giveaway – Star Tangled Murder by Nancy Cohen @nancyjcohen #cozymystery #StarTangledMurder #NetGalley @dollycas

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Star Tangled Murder (Bad Hair Day Mysteries)
Cozy Mystery
18th in Series
Setting – Florida
Orange Grove Press (March 14, 2023)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 284 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1952886252
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1952886256
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BQS68WS7

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I have read a couple of Nancy Cohen’s Bad Hair Day mysteries and really enjoyed them. They are fun and educational. I love the location is set in Florida and we are visiting Pioneer Village, a living history village. There will be a reenactment of a Seminole battle (a massacre really). Nancy Cohen has me surfing the web, checking out all the historical tidbits and locales she shares.

Star Tangled Murder by Nancy Cohen takes place over the Fourth of July weekend. The celebration will be marred by the death of the town marshal with a tomahawk to his head. It’s too obvious for it to be the shaman of the village, but he still has to be checked out.

Marla Vail has a hair salon and day spa…but still manages to be an amateur sleuth, though Star Tangled Murder is her eighteenth mystery to be solved. Be careful when you venture out with her. You never know what might happen. There may even be a treasure involved.

We learn some Indian history, how to make a fire, we learn a little about dolls and hats, how buttons came into being…want to know why men and women button their clothing from opposite sides? I went from reading to surfing the web, back to reading. I was so curious, I couldn’t help myself. Star Tangled Murder by Nancy Cohen deserves a star for that alone.

You never know when inspiration may strike, and Nancy Cohen found her inspiration for Pioneer Village (which is a real place in Florida) from Yesteryear Village. She shares some wonderful recipes at the end of the book, so you may want to whip something up before you start the mystery, because it will keep you reading until you solve the mystery.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Star Tangled Murder by Nancy Cohen.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Hairstylist Marla Vail and her husband get tangled up in murder when their Fourth of July visit to a living history village ends with a bang—and a body.

Salon owner Marla Vail and her detective husband Dalton are having a blast visiting a Florida living history village over Fourth of July weekend. But when a Seminole battle reenactment turns up a real dead body, it sets off fireworks among the villagers. One of the cast members has gone off script to murder the town marshal with a tomahawk in his head.

As Dalton gets involved in the investigation, Marla determines to help him solve the case. Her flare for uncovering secrets reveals that everyone in the village is a suspect. Instead of celebrating the holiday with red, white, and barbecues, she discovers secrets, lies, and false avenues. Did the marshal’s murder have anything to do with a lost Confederate payroll, or did his plans to renovate the park light a fuse that he couldn’t snuff out?

In a place where history comes alive, the dead bodies are piling up. Marla would rather be chilling and grilling, but somebody’s mind is on killing. If she’s not careful, her sleuthing might blow up in her face like a faulty firecracker and she’ll become the next victim. Recipes Included!

“Another delightful installment … Star Tangled Murder finds Marla facing more changes in her life as she investigates a murder that connects to history while she balances motherhood, the salon, and sleuthing.” Readers’ Favorite

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ABOUT NANCY J COHEN

Nancy J. Cohen writes the Bad Hair Day Mysteries featuring South Florida hairstylist Marla Vail. Titles in this series have been named Best Cozy Mystery by Suspense Magazine, won a Readers’ Favorite gold medal, placed first in the Chanticleer International Book Awards and third in the Arizona Literary Awards. Nancy’s instructional guide, Writing the Cozy Mystery, was nominated for an Agatha Award and won a gold medal at the President’s Book Awards from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association. When not busy writing, Nancy enjoys cooking, fine dining, cruising, visiting Disney World, and shopping.

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MY NANCY J COHEN REVIEWS

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New Release – The Woman In The Library by Sulari Gentill #NetGalley @sularigentill

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I would like to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read and review The Woman In The LIbrary by Sulari Gentill.

The Woman in the Library

Amazon / Audiobook / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

“It’s part him, part me, part stuff I made up…The magic formula…”

And that is part of the reason I grabbed Sulari Gentill’s novel, The Woman In The Library. The other reasons, a library mystery, Boston, a town I have visited many times, and a murder. I love mystery/thrillers and I so wanted to love The Woman In The Library…but I found it was not for me.

I was confused about numerous things and the story never grabbed me. I was about a third of the way through and started skimming. I do not like to DNF books. I know authors put their blood, sweat, and tears into their work, so I always want to finish. It was a good thing that at 53% my curiosity arose. I wanted to know, who is the murderer. I thought of skipping to the end to find out, but held back.

Not every book works for me and I am sure that is the same for you and just because The Woman In The Library by Sulari Gentill was not my cup of tea, that doesn’t mean it won’t work for you.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Woman In The Library by Sulari Gentill.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
2 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

In every person’s story, there is something to hide…

The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the tranquility is shattered by a woman’s terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who’d happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning—it just happens that one is a murderer.

Award-winning author Sulari Gentill delivers a sharply thrilling read with The Woman in the Library, an unexpectedly twisty literary adventure that examines the complicated nature of friendship and shows us that words can be the most treacherous weapons of all.

ABOUT SULARI GENTILL

Once upon a time, Sulari Gentill was a corporate lawyer serving as a director on public boards, with only a vague disquiet that there was something else she was meant to do. That feeling did not go away until she began to write. And so Sulari became the author of the Rowland Sinclair Mysteries: thus far, ten historical crime novels chronicling the life and adventures of her 1930s Australian gentleman artist, the Hero Trilogy, based on the myths and epics of the ancient world, and the Ned Kelly Award winning Crossing the Lines (published in the US as After She Wrote Hime). In 2014 she collaborated with National Gallery of Victoria to write a short story which was produced in audio to feature in the Fashion Detective Exhibition, and thereafter published by the NGV. IN 2019 Sulari was part of a 4-member delegation of Australian crime writers sponsored by the Australia Council to tour the US as ambassadors of Australian Crime Writing.

Sulari lives with her husband, Michael, and their boys, Edmund and Atticus, on a small farm in Batlow where she grows French Black Truffles and refers to her writing as “work” so that no one will suggest she get a real job.

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Giveaway – Margaritas, Mayhem & Murder by Mary Cunningham @MaryCunningham @dollycas

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Margaritas, Mayhem & Murder (An Andi Anna Jones Mystery) by Mary Cunningham


Margaritas, Mayhem & Murder (An Andi Anna Jones Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Florida/Cancun/Las Vegas
Wild Rose Press (April 27, 2022)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1509241086
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1509241088
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09QXR7WKX

Andi Anna Jones, so-so travel agent and amateur sleuth, puts aside her resentment of her father’s widow and books a sixtieth birthday cruise to Cancun for Ruby and three friends. Never does Andi imagine the cruise will include the murder of a has-been lounge singer—or that Ruby might be the main suspect.

Flirting with more than danger after arriving in Mexico, Andi connects with charming local sheriff, Manual Gonzales. An embarrassing night involving the sheriff, too many margaritas, and a Mariachi band, can’t quell her determination to clear the name of her ex-stepmother.

While gathering clues and interviewing witnesses, however, she suspects dear old step-mom isn’t the only one in jeopardy.

About Mary Cunningham

Author, Mary Cunningham, grew up on the northern side of the Ohio River in Corydon, Indiana. Her first memories are of her dad’s original bedtime stories that no doubt inspired her imagination and love of a well-spun “yarn.”

Through the author’s horrifying stint as a travel agent, Andi Anna Jones sprang to life. The adult/mystery series gives extra meaning to the phrase, “Write what you know.” Cunningham has several books published, including Cynthia’s Attic, a five-book middle-grade fantasy, women’s lifestyle/humor book, WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty, Ebooks, Christmas With Daisy and Ghost Light. A biography of an army brat, turned UConn and WNBA basketball player, will be published in the spring of 2022.

She is a member of Sisters In Crime, Sisters In Crime-Atlanta Chapter, International Thriller Writers, Inc., and the Carrollton Writers Guild.

When she gives her fingers a break from the keyboard, Mary enjoys golf, swimming, and exploring the mountains of West Georgia where she makes her home with her husband and adopted, four-legged, furry daughter, Lucy.

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Purchase Link – Amazon – B&N

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New Release – When She Disappeared by Steph Mullin & Nicole Mabry @NicoleAMabry @Steph_Mullin

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YEAH! TODAY IS RELEASE DAY FOR WHEN SHE DISAPPEARED BY STEPH MULLING & NICOLE MABRY

I love suspense/thrillers in any way, shape and form, so when I saw Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry’s psychological thriller available on Net Galley, I had to have it. I mean, look at that enticing cover. Makes me wonder what’s inside the pages.

When She Disappeared

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I must confess, every once in a while I scroll through NetGalley to see what’s available. When I saw the cover and title for When She Disappeared by Steph Mullin & Nicole Mabry, I thought OK. Then I read the blurb and I had to have it.

I love small towns, where everyone knows your name…and all the secrets. How can a killer hide in plain sight? I got curious to see if the author(s) could pull off the mystery of the culprit, or, at least, get and keep the suspense to a high level that would keep me flipping the virtual pages. No worries there. These ladies did that very well.

After her failed marriage, Margo put Wilmington in her rearview mirror and headed home, to Lake Moss and her ailing father. Memories flood her, and, as she pulled into the driveway, the radio announced that her best fried, who had been missing for many years, had been found. What a homecoming.

I wish Margo would confide in Austin about her fears. I would, and I fear it may be in her best interests if she does. I feel she is in danger, alone, vulnerable and by hanging her out there by herself, Steph and Nicole had me fretting more and more…every time there was a noise in the house, a light flickered, a dog barked, a bush rustled….

When She Disappeared by Steph Mullin & Nicole Mabry was so much more than I expected. The book was long enough that I had to put it down, unable to finish it in one sitting. I fought the urge to know…to finish the twisty trail to the end.

Well done ladies. I LOVED it.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of When She Disappeared by Steph Mullin & Nicole Mabry.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

‘On May 26, 2004, Jessie Germaine went to school as normal and cheered at the end of year rally. That evening, she rode her bike into the forest and disappeared…into thin air.’

Margo hasn’t been back to Lake Moss since her school friend went missing. But as she returns, running from a failed marriage, the news breaks. Her hometown’s swimming hole has been Jessie’s grave for fifteen years.

Digging out her old diary, and steeling herself to face unfriendly ghosts of the past, Margo sets out to help a documentary crew as they investigate the infamous case the police bungled.

In a town where everyone knows everyone – but they all have secrets – the killer is certain to be close to home…

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry met as co-workers in New York City in 2012, discovering a shared passion for writing and true crime. After Steph relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2018, they continued to collaborate creatively. Separated by 5 states, they spend countless hours scheming via Facetime and editing each other’s typos in real time on live Google docs. The Family Tree is the writing duo’s first co-authored crime novel. Their second novel, When She Disappeared, is set to release in 2022.

ABOUT STEPH MULLIN

Steph Mullin

Steph works by day as Creative Director for a Media, Entertainment and Digital Marketing Solutions company, using early mornings, nights, and weekends to write fiction. Steph’s dream of becoming a writer started at age 6, followed by winning scholastic writing awards and crafting articles for her university’s literary magazine. In her 20’s, she became engrossed in true crime podcasts and literature, which later became the perfect source of inspiration to launch her second career writing dark and twisty thrillers. In 2018, Steph relocated from NYC to Charlotte, North Carolina where she currently resides with her husband and her rescue puppy. Outside of reading, writing, and playing with her dog, you may find her sipping on a soy latte, watching a new movie, or trying out new recipes in the kitchen.

Follow Steph on Website / Twitter / Instagram

ABOUT NICOLE MABRY

Nicole Mabry

Nicole works in television as Senior Manager of Post Production in the photography department. She is the author of Past This Point (2019, Red Adept Publishing), an award winning apocalyptic women’s fiction novel. Past This Point was chosen as Best Book of the Year by Indies Today and won First Place in the Global Thriller division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards. For more information on Past This Point, click here.

Follow Nicole on Website / Twitter / Instagram

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The Book Club Murders by Leslie Nagel @leslie_nagel @dollycas

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BOOK CLUB MURDERS

The Book Club Murders: The Oakwood Mystery Series

Cozy Mystery
New Series
Publisher: Alibi (September 27, 2016)
224 Pages
E-Book ASIN: B01A4ATX9E
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Synopsis

In a charming cozy mystery series debut, Leslie Nagel’s irrepressible small-town heroine finds that her fellow mystery book club members may be taking their Agatha Christie a bit too literally—and murder a bit too lightly.

Charley Carpenter has poured heart and soul into her clothing store, Old Hat Vintage Fashions. She’ll do anything to make it a success—even join the stuffy Agathas Book Club in order to cultivate customers among the wealthy elite of Oakwood, Ohio.

Although mixing with the most influential women in town has its advantages, Charley finds the endless gossip a high price to pay. But after two women with close ties to the Agathas are brutally murdered, everyone falls under threat—and suspicion. When key evidence indicates that both murders are the work of the same hand, Charley realizes that the killer has arranged each corpse in perfect imitation of crime scenes from the Club’s murder mystery reading list. She uses her membership in the Club to convince Detective Marcus Trenault to use her as an inside informant. Not that he could stop her anyway.

Intelligent, fearless, and every bit as stubborn as Marc is, Charley soon learns the Agathas aren’t the only ones with secrets to protect. Passions explode as she and Marc must race against time to prevent another murder. And if Charley’s not careful, she may find herself becoming the killer’s next plot twist.

LESLIE NAGELAbout The Author

Leslie Nagel is a writer and teacher of writing at a local community college. Her debut novel, “The Book Club Murders”, is the first in the Oakwood Mystery Series. Leslie lives in the all too real city of Oakwood, Ohio, where murders are rare but great stories lie thick on the ground. After the written word, her passions include her husband, her son and daughter, hiking, tennis and strong black coffee, not necessarily in that order.

 

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Cozy Mystery Book Blast – Dandelion Dead by Chrystle Fiedler @ChrystleFiedler

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Book Blast – Dandelion Dead by Chrystle Fiedler
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DANDELION DEAD BOOK BLAST large banner640

Dandelion Dead
by Chrystle Fiedler

DANDELION DEAD

Dandelion Dead: A Natural Remedies Mystery
Cozy Mystery
Pocket Books (September 27, 2016)
Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1476748931
E-Book ASIN: B00WRBQP22
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Synopsis

In a cozy mystery filled with natural cures and edible plants that you will love, an organic winery becomes the backdrop for murder! Fortunately, solving crimes comes naturally to charmingly unconventional amateur sleuth and holistic doctor, Willow McQuade, as she looks for clues that will reveal a killer’s true vintage.

Business is blooming at Nature’s Way Market & Café, and shop owner, holistic doctor, and amateur sleuth, Willow McQuade has never been happier. Her new medicinal herb garden is a hit, so is her new book, she’s in love with ex-cop and animal rescuer Jackson Spade, and enjoying teaching seminars about edible plants and natural remedies.

But everything changes when Willow’s old boyfriend and TV producer, Simon Lewis, winemaker David Farmer, and his wife Ivy, ask her to cater a party at Pure, their new organic vineyard, to kick off North Fork’s Uncorked! week and the competition for Wine Lovers magazine’s $200,000 prize. Pure’s entry, Falling Leaves, is the favorite to win, and the wine flows freely until after Simon’s toast when smiles give way to looks of horror. Ivy’s twin sister, Amy has been murdered! Turns out, the poison that killed her was actually meant for David. But who wants him dead? A rival vintner? Or someone closer to home? This time the truth may be a bitter vintage to swallow.

Chrystle-Fiedler-and-Wallander-her-Detective-Dachshund-11

About the Author

CHRYSTLE FIEDLER is a freelance journalist specializing in natural remedies, alternative medicine and holistic health and healing, and is the author of the Natural Remedies Mysteries series. Her many consumer magazine articles have appeared in USA Today’s Green Living, Natural Health, Remedy, Mother Earth Living, Spirituality & Health, and Prevention. She is also the author/co-author of seven non-fiction health titles including the Country Almanac of Home Remedies with herbalist Brigitte Mars, and The Compassionate Chick’s Guide to DIY Beauty with Vegan Beauty Review founder, Sunny Subramanian. Chrystle lives on the East End of Long Island, NY in a cozy cottage by the sea. Visit www.chrystlefiedlerwrites.com.

Author Links

Website link: www.chrystlefiedlerwrites.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dandeliondeadbook/?fref=ts

Twitter: @ChrystleFiedler

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3360187.Chrystle_Fiedler

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/chrystle123/dandelion-dead-a-natural-remedies-mystery/

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