Tag Cosy Mystery

The World Cup Mystery by Peter Bartram @PeterFBartram @RandomTTours #mystery #bookreview

yvonnembee 2 Comments

I am delighted to share my review today for The World Cup Mystery by Peter Bartram. I have read and thoroughly enjoyed several of this author’s books and I always look forward to catching up with Crampton and Shirley in this mystery series.

My thanks to the author for sending me a copy of his latest book and to Anne at Random Things Tours for my spot on the Blog Tour.

A KILLING BEFORE KICK-OFF…

It’s July 1966 – and England is football crazy as fans cheer their team on to win the World Cup.


There are millions who’d kill for a ticket to the final in London’s Wembley Stadium. Then café owner Sergio Parisi is found murdered in his own kitchen – and his World Cup Final ticket missing.


As Evening Chronicle crime reporter Colin Crampton chases down the story, he discovers the ticket theft could be part of an even deadlier crime.


There are laughs alongside the thrills as England closes in on victory – and Colin, with his feisty girlfriend Shirley Goldsmith, close in on the killer.

PURCHASE LINKS – AMAZON UK

MY REVIEW

Trouble follows Colin Crampton of the Chronicle newspaper no matter where he goes. Even when he and his girlfriend Shirley are on holiday trouble finds him. This leads to a shortened holiday and a rush back home to the UK.

Colin is an investigative journalist for a Brighton newspaper, Shirley is a model and together they are a great pair of characters. As much as I adore Colin, Shirleys ability to keep, well almost keep Colin in check, makes her another brilliant character.

This is a cosy mystery series and this story is set in 1966, the year of the World Cup. The author really does make it obvious of the football-mad time. As we have recently had a world cup, you are always aware of it in the news, in conversations and so it makes sense to have a good amount of references to it in the story, I will add that it is not overly done.

The story is a mix of murder, theft, cons and a certain rather famous Sicilian family. How the author has twisted all these threads together is great. Mentions of the theft of the World Cup trophy, the discovery of it have all been brilliantly woven together with the fictional to create an addictive murder mystery.

How Colin has not got into more scrapes than he has is beyond me, he definitely lives life by the edge of his pants, sometimes a little too close for comfort. Again Shirley has a part to play, after all, she is a model, and Australian so the author has given her the gift of the gab and she isn’t afraid to use her feminine wiles.

While this is firmly a murder mystery, it is also historical fiction but one that is almost light-hearted. Several times I find myself chuckling and this makes for such an enjoyable read. There are several twists, various threads and a nice array of characters that are not necessarily what they appear.

These books can be read as stand-alone books, but as with all series, they are better if read in order as you do get to build a relationship with the main or recurring characters. I do always enjoy catching up with Colin and Shirl, and this latest mystery is a fabulous one. It mixes fact and fiction giving an exciting and manic read, it is one I would definitely recommend.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Peter Bartram brings years of experience as a journalist to his Crampton of the Chronicle crime mystery series. His novels are fast-paced and humorous – the action is matched by the laughs. The books feature a host of colourful characters as befits stories set in Brighton, one of Britain’s most trend-setting towns.

You can download Murder in Capital Letters, a free book in the series, for your Kindle from http://www.colincrampton.com.

Peter began his career as a reporter on a local weekly newspaper before editing newspapers and magazines in London, England and, finally, becoming freelance. He has done most things in journalism from door-stepping for quotes to writing serious editorials. He’s pursued stories in locations as diverse as 700-feet down a coal mine and a courtier’s chambers at Buckingham Palace. Peter is a member of the Society of Authors and the Crime Writers’ Association.

Follow Peter on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/peterbartramauthor.

Check out the other stops on the Blog Tour

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx

What Lies Beneath by Adam Croft @adamcroft #WhatLiesBeneath #crime #publicationday #bookreview

yvonnembee 4 Comments

I am delighted to share my review today for a new series by Adam Croft. The first book is called What Lies Beneath and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would also like to thank Joanne for my advance copy and to also wish Adam a very Happy Publication Day xx

Let me show you what it is all about…

A peaceful Sunday morning in Rutland is shattered when a dead body is discovered on the rocks at Normanton Church.  

The victim has been laid out in a crucifixion pose, facing the altar. DI Caroline Hills is certain there’s a religious connection — one which threatens the tranquility of life in the area. 

The killer has gone to extraordinary lengths to make the symbolism clear. And the deaths will continue until Caroline and DS Dexter Antoine uncover the truth behind the dark secret — and what lies beneath.

Purchase Link – Amazon UK (this is an affiliate link)

Also available on – Kobo – Apple – Nook – Google – Paperback

This is the first book in the Ruland series and I thoroughly enjoyed it a lot. Given that Rutland is a small area to police, the police force is also small, and fictional. When a body is found, its position and placement lead DI Caroline Hills to start looking into the history of the county she has recently moved to.

I did like Caroline a lot, her move from a city into a rural location has been done well and I am looking forward to her starting to find her feet with the squad she works with. Her main sidekick is Dexter and there is already a good working relationship and some good banter going on.

The case causes problems and involves stepping on a few toes, this doesn’t make Caroline popular, but her job is to catch a killer not be polite to people. Her city ways are soon commented on!

I liked the way the author mixed in the local history with the crime, it is an area that has a lot of history when a valley was flooded to create Rutland Water. A police procedural at its heart, but given the smaller scale of the police force it made it feel more like a cosy mystery and this I did really like.

This is a book that is easily one you can sit and read in an afternoon, it is a police procedural so one for the crime fans, but also one that I really do think cosy mystery readers would really enjoy. I liked it a lot and I would definitely recommend it.

With more than half a million books sold to date, Adam Croft is one of the most successful independently published authors in the world, and one of the biggest selling authors of the past year.

Following his 2015 worldwide bestseller Her Last Tomorrow, his psychological thrillers were bought by Thomas & Mercer, an imprint of Amazon Publishing. Prior to the Amazon deal, Her Last Tomorrow sold more than 150,000 copies across all platforms and became one of the bestselling books of the year, reaching the top 10 in the overall Amazon Kindle chart and peaking at number 12 in the combined paperback fiction and non-fiction chart.

His Knight & Culverhouse crime thriller series has sold more than 250,000 copies worldwide, with his Kempston Hardwick mystery books being adapted as audio plays starring some of the biggest names in British TV.

In 2016, the Knight & Culverhouse Box Set reached number 1 in Canada, knocking J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child off the top spot only weeks after Her Last Tomorrow was also number 1 in Canada.

During the summer of 2016, two of Adam’s books hit the USA Today bestseller list only weeks apart, making them two of the most-purchased books in the United States over the summer.

Before writing full time, Adam had previously worked as an internet marketing consultant, delivery driver and professional actor.

Adam has been featured on BBC Radio, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, The Bookseller and a number of other news and media outlets.

Follow Adam on – Twitter – Website

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx

Murder on a Mississippi Steamboat by Leighann Dobbs @leighanndobbs @bookouture #BooksOnTour @BOTBSPublicity #cosymystery #Bookreview

yvonnembee 3 Comments

I am delighted to be one of the Book Bloggers to open the Blog Tour today and share my review today for Murder on a Mississippi Steamboat by Leighann Dobbs. This is the first time I have read anything by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be reading more. My huge thanks to Sarah at Book On The Bright Side Publicity for my spot on the Blog Tour and for arranging my e-copy of this book.

Let me show you what it is all about…

FROM A NINE-TIMES USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR COMES A LIVELY AND FUN 1920s COZY MYSTERY WITH A BRAND-NEW DETECTIVE DUO. 

Nora elbowed her way up to the railing and looked down. The paddle wheel was making its last turn, dredging up a mass of turquoise chiffon made almost transparent by the water. A hand, its red lacquered fingernails a contrast to the pale white skin, stuck up from a bejeweled cuff… 

A relaxing cruise down the Mississippi on the Miss Delta Belle steamboat turns to tragedy when celebrity Delilah Dove falls from the deck and is swallowed by the river faster than you can say ‘man overboard!’

It’s touted as a tragic accident, but guests Miss Nora Marsh and her wily great-aunt Julia know a murder when they see one. Can they get justice for Delilah and crack the case without alerting the murderer to their suspicions?

As Nora and Julia hunt for clues it emerges that nearly everyone had a reason to want Delilah dead. And that’s bad news for the two sleuths—who want to solve the case pronto, before Mississippi police chief and Aunt Julia’s nemesis Artemis Leonard comes on board at the next port to launch the official investigation. She’s not letting him get the credit if she can help it.

With multiple suspects and a series of mysterious thefts onboard—not to mention the distractingly handsome Max Lawton turning Nora’s head—this is shaping up to be one tough case to crack. What started as a gentle river voyage is far from plain sailing.

A gripping and witty 1920s murder mystery from bestselling author Leighann Dobbs, perfect for fans of T E Kinsey and Lee Strauss. 

This is the first book I have read by this author and I am delighted to see that there are plenty more for me to read that have already been published.

This is a cosy murder mystery that is set in the 1920’s on a Steamboat, it is the maiden voyage of the boat and the lead singer Delihla Dove is found murdered. It is a good job Aunt Julia and her Niece Nora are aboard they like murders and it gives them a chance to solve one.

This was in some ways very similar to Murder on the Orient Express as it seemed that the main character or should I say suspects all seemed to have something to hide. It takes a while for all the secrets to come out, but not all of them are necessarily bad or evil.

I liked the setting of the steamboat as this gives the story that isolated backdrop, so that it had to be someone on the boat that committed the crime. Aunt Julia is wily in her working out and doesn’t let much slip, while Nora does have a good inquisitive nature she is just a couple of steps behind. It is not until the grand unveiling that all the questions are finally answered. I do like a grand unveiling by the way.

This is a good cosy mystery that had a compelling story-line, I was constantly curious and was quite an eager reader with this book. Ideal for fans who like a lighter whodunnit style murder mystery read and one I would recommend.

USA Today bestselling author, Leighann Dobbs, discovered her passion for writing after a twenty year career as a software engineer. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband Bruce, their trusty Chihuahua mix Mojo and beautiful rescue cat, Kitty.

Her book “Dead Wrong” won the “Best Mystery Romance” award at the 2014 Indie Romance Convention.

Her book “Ghostly Paws” was the 2015 Chanticleer Mystery & Mayhem First Place category winner in the Animal Mystery category.

Follow Leighann on Twitter – Website – Facebook

Check out the other stops on the Blog Tour…

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx

The Cornish Connection by Amanda James @amandajames61 #mystery #Bookreview

yvonnembee 2 Comments

I am absolutely delighted to share my review for The Cornish Connection by Amanda James. Regular visitors to my Blog will know that Mandy is an author who regularly features whenever she has a new book out, she is one of the authors who I will automatically read with out reading any synopsis. Yes she is that good!

So, let me show you what The Cornish Connection is all about…

Where extraordinary things happen…you’ll find Nancy Cornish

Nancy and Charlie Cornish are happily married and live in Padstow, Cornwall. Nancy works in the Whistling Kettle Cafe and Charlie is a DS in the Truro police. Charlie’s a down to earth Cornishman, while Nancy, seemingly an ordinary member of her community, has an extraordinary gift. She is able to make psychic connections with those who have passed, and objects belonging to those still living. 

Charlie mostly tries to ignore that aspect of his wife’s personality, he can’t abide all that ‘mumbo jumbo’ as he calls it. Then, out of the blue, Nancy leaves her job and decides her mission in life is to use her gift to help others. This is not what Charlie signed up for, and he lets Nancy know about his feelings in no uncertain terms. That is, until he realises she might be a very useful detective…

Helping Charlie find a missing teenager boost Nancy’s confidence, and makes her determined to continue her work. People come to see her because they want her to find a long-lost friend or relative, an object that is dear to them, or a pet who’s gone missing. Helping people find happiness is Nancy’s main aim. Charlie, however, wants her to help him solve crimes.
Will the couple find some common ground? Or will their connection be broken? 

The Cornish Connection – a beautifully told, thought-provoking and uplifting story. The perfect feel-good summer read!

Buy your copy HERE

What a wonderful read this was. This is a cosy mystery that has a psychic twist, now before you roll you eyes and go “this isn’t really my thing” let me tell you that even though it may not be “your thing”, it is however definitely worth making it “your thing” as this adds such a great twist to this highly addictive mystery read.

What this author has created is a story that is heartwarming as Nancy Cornish uses her psychic abilities to help people. Nancy is such a wonderful character and I loved that her husband is a sceptical copper. These two characters have been so well developed and I like that Nancy does seem to wrap him around her little finger just a little bit.

Nancy takes the plunge and opens her own business as a PI – Psychic Investigator, and she has some interesting success. There are a couple of cases that do have a more serious element and these have been done well. The cases that Nancy deals with are definitely human interest, well no they are more heartwarming as she delves into the mysteries that are laid out before her. They come in a variety of different guises and test her abilities.

The author uses the stunning Cornish scenery to great effect and I have said this before about her writing, and that is that the scenery she describes always transports me, yes I do have the advantage that I live in Cornwall but I haven’t been to all the places that are mentioned. I do however get a great sense of being able to see them and hear the sounds that she uses in her vivid and wonderful choice of words.

This is a stunning read and I think I have just read my favourite Mandy James book, I love the character of Nancy Cornish and just the whole feel of the book. There is a cosy mystery feel to the story but also a wonderfully heartwarming aspect, a touch of humour, basically all the right ingredients that make for a scrumptious read, oh and while I seem to have strayed into food, make sure you have plenty of cake close by as Nancy is also a fabulous baker and cakes are mentioned often!

The Cornish Connection is a book I would definitely recommend. And it gets better as this is the first book in a planned series 😍

Amanda James has written since she was a child, but never imagined that her words would be published. Then in 2010, after many twists and turns, the dream of becoming a writer came true.

Amanda has written many short stories and has ten novels currently published. Her time travelling debut – A Stitch in Time was published in April of 2013 and has met with great success.

Amanda lives in Cornwall and is inspired every day by the beautiful coastline near her home. Five suspense/mystery novels are set there, Somewhere Beyond the Sea, Summer in Tintagel and the Behind the Lie – April 2017 pub – HQUK ( HarperCollins) 2018 Another Mother, and Rip Current – Bloodhound Books. The Calico Cat – family drama/coming-of-age out now with Bombshell/Bloodhound.

Amanda can usually be found playing on the beach with her family, or walking the cliff paths planning her next book.

Follow Mandy on Twitter – Blog

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx

The Tapestry Bag by Isabella Muir @SussexMysteries #Audible #AudioReview

yvonnembee

I am delighted to be sharing my review for the Audiobook version of The Tapestry Bag by Isabella Muir. I was the lucky recipient of this from Isabell after she ran a Giveaway as part of her Blog Tour with Rachel’s Random Resources.

Let’s have a look and see what it is all about…

A young woman named Zara goes missing, one year to the day that her boyfriend, Joel, was killed in a hit-and-run. Is Zara in danger? Is she still alive? What really happened to Joel, and who is to blame?

In the quiet seaside town of Tamarisk Bay, the police appear to be doing little to find Zara. Her friend Janie decides to make it her mission to track her down. It’s the “swinging sixties”, and Janie fears that Zara may be mixed up with drugs, alcohol, or worse. As Janie explores the strange circumstances of Zara’s disappearance, she starts to question the truth about Joel’s death.

Janie runs the mobile library and has a passion for crime fiction, especially Agatha Christie. Can Poirot help Janie solve the mystery of Zara’s disappearance? 

As she looks for clues she comes across some unsavory characters who each have a reason for wanting Joel dead. Can Janie untangle the web of lies and find out the truth?

Local librarian and mystery reader Janie Juke felt like just the right person to look into the death of Joel and the disappearance of Zara. Her love of Agatha Christie and Poirot gave her the push to use her ‘little grey cells’ and do some sleuthing of her own!

The narrator, Penny Scott-Andrews had just the right tone for me. I was easily able to imagine a young woman who was very excited to be searching for clues.

The story itself is set in the 1960s and I felt that able to remain in the time as the book progressed. It had mentions of music and bands as well as news items of the day.

While it is not what I would call fast paced I found the story to be quite addictive to listen to. It is a cosy mystery and also has Janie’s family involved. They voice their concerns as she investigates and they are also her sounding blocks.

This is the first in the Sussex Murder series and I am very interested in reading/listening to more. A good cosy murder/mystery with references to Poirot and Christie that kept me entertained.

It is an audiobook that I would Recommend.

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be great 🙂 xx

The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah @HarperCollinsUK #NetGalley #review

yvonnembee 4 Comments

Today I am delighted to be sharing my review for The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah. My thanks to the publisher Harper Collins for accepting my request to review this book.

Let’s see what it is all about…

The world’s most beloved detective, Hercule Poirot – the legendary star of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and most recently The Monogram Murders and Closed Casket—returns in a stylish, diabolically clever mystery set in 1930’s London.

Returning home after lunch one day, Hercule Poirot finds an angry woman waiting outside his front door. She demands to know why Poirot has sent her a letter accusing her of the murder of Barnabas Pandy, a man she has neither heard of nor ever met.

Poirot has also never heard of a Barnabas Pandy, and has accused nobody of murder. Shaken, he goes inside, only to find that he has a visitor waiting for him — a man who also claims also to have received a letter from Poirot that morning, accusing him of the murder of Barnabas Pandy…

Poirot wonders how many more letters of this sort have been sent in his name. Who sent them, and why? More importantly, who is Barnabas Pandy, is he dead, and, if so, was he murdered? And can Poirot find out the answers without putting more lives in danger?

Hercule Poirot is accused by four different people of writing letters that accuse them of murder. The problem is that Poirot did not send the letters, he has no idea how sent them, but he does think that something more sinister and dangerous could be afoot…

I have not read the previous two books in this series and to be honest this one reads very well as a stand-alone. I think this mirrors the way Christie herself wrote, each of her books could be picked up and read in any order.

So did this mysterious tale feel right? Actually yes it did, there was a lot of misdirection, clues that only came clear at the end, a series of possible characters who could have dunnit and who had the motive and of course there is a body.

I enjoyed the slower pace of this mystery novel and felt that the author did a really good job of creating a story with the infamous Poirot. Various mannerisms, quirks, and phrases felt right.

The plot is one that I was happy to sit back and watch (so to speak) as it worked its way through to the grand unveiling of the guilty party and the reasons why.

I have read all of Agatha Christie’s books, though it was several years ago now, and I found there were some good similarities between Sophie Hannah’s Poirot and the original. It was an enjoyable read and ones that I think would appeal to fans of cosy mystery and also of Christie fans as well.

Sophie Hannah
Photo taken from the authors Goodreads Page.

Sophie Hannah is an internationally bestselling writer of psychological crime fiction, published in 27 countries. In 2013, her latest novel, The Carrier, won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the Specsavers National Book Awards. Two of Sophie’s crime novels, The Point of Rescue and The Other Half Lives, have been adapted for television and appeared on ITV1 under the series title Case Sensitive in 2011 and 2012. In 2004, Sophie won first prize in the Daphne Du Maurier Festival Short Story Competition for her suspense story The Octopus Nest, which is now published in her first collection of short stories, The Fantastic Book of Everybody’s Secrets. 

Sophie has also published five collections of poetry. Her fifth, Pessimism for Beginners, was shortlisted for the 2007 T S Eliot Award. Her poetry is studied at GCSE, A-level and degree level across the UK. From 1997 to 1999 she was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge, and between 1999 and 2001 she was a fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. She is forty-one and lives with her husband and children in Cambridge, where she is a Fellow Commoner at Lucy Cavendish College. She is currently working on a new challenge for the little grey cells of Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s famous detective.

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or sharing would be great 🙂 xx

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley @lucyfoleytweets @HarperCollinsUK #NetGalley

yvonnembee 5 Comments

Today I am delighted to be sharing my review for The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley. It is hard to miss a cover this bright and also there has been a lot of publicity for this book on social media. These two things are what attracted me to read the synopsis and then to request a review e-copy from the publisher Harper Collins via NetGalley.

For fans of Ruth Ware and Tana French, a shivery, atmospheric, page-turning novel of psychological suspense in the tradition of Agatha Christie, in which a group of old college friends are snowed in at a hunting lodge . . . and murder and mayhem ensue.

All of them are friends. One of them is a killer.

During the languid days of the Christmas break, a group of thirtysomething friends from Oxford meet to welcome in the New Year together, a tradition they began as students ten years ago. For this vacation, they’ve chosen an idyllic and isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands—the perfect place to get away and unwind by themselves.

They arrive on December 30th, just before a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world.

Two days later, on New Year’s Day, one of them is dead.

The trip began innocently enough: admiring the stunning if foreboding scenery, champagne in front of a crackling fire, and reminiscences about the past. But after a decade, the weight of secret resentments has grown too heavy for the group’s tenuous nostalgia to bear. Amid the boisterous revelry of New Year’s Eve, the cord holding them together snaps.

Now one of them is dead . . . and another of them did it.

Keep your friends close, the old adage goes. But just how close is too close? 

The synopsis for this book does a really great job. A story of friendship that once held these people together through their younger days but now appears to be heading towards its best by date.

I really enjoyed the style this book has been laid out in. It has quick chapters that flit back and forth between the groups’ arrival at a Scottish Lodge, there pasts and then forward to the day that a body is discovered.

Another alternating factor is that of the characters, as their chapters also change as sections are told from them and fro their own perspective. The gave additional insights into each character, so I got to see them as they think they are seen and also how they are actually seen. The characters give memories, events, relationships and also interactions that gradually builds up a picture of how this group came together and what keeps them in touch with each other.

With all the toing and froing, you would think it would get a little bit confusing, but this is really not the case. I soon discovered that I was able to easily keep up with this and the reading was understandable.

I really liked the way the author kept the ID of the victim secret all the way through the story. This gave me a chance to try and work out who the victim was. I could say that I worked out who it was, but the truth of the matter is that there were several people who I guessed, so in actual fact, I didn’t really guess at all. Oh and the perpetrator, well I didn’t guess that one either.

This is a story that had a feel of Agatha Christie about it, I say this because of its isolated setting and that it was closed off to outsiders which meant it had to be one of the group. Also, there were the pieces of the puzzle being brought together at the end.

I really enjoyed this story, the style in which it was written and it worked really well for me. It is a murder/ mystery/ whodunit/ who was the victim style that I think would appeal to a variety of readers. It isn’t a hard crime book but more towards a cosy mystery. It is one I would definitely recommend.

Lucy Foley
Picture Credit
From the Authors Goodreads Page

I live in London, but love traveling – both in real life and on the page (hence the appearance of some far flung locations in my writing). 

My latest novel is The Invitation – set in the film world of the 1950s, along the Italian Riviera. 

My debut novel, The Book of Lost & Found, published in early 2015.

You can find me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or a share would be amazing 🙂 xx 

A Brush With Death by Ali Carter #MeAndMyBooks #NetGalley #review

yvonnembee 7 Comments

Today I have my review of A Brush With Death by Ali Carter. This book has been on my TBR for a little while now. I would like to thank Oneworld Publications for approving my request to read this ebook via NetGalley.

Agatha Christie meets Downton Abbey in this delightful new series introducing pet portraitist and amateur super-sleuth, Susie Mahl

In the village of Spire, murder is afoot. Rich landowner Alexander, 9th Earl of Greengrass is caught with his trousers down in the village graveyard before meeting a gruesome end.

Luckily Susie Mahl happens to be on hand. With her artist’s eye for detail and her curious nature she is soon on the scent of the murderer…

Susie Mahl paints portraits of peoples pets. Her latest commission is of a Deerhound called Situp…I love this as a name for a dog. During a weekend stay at pet owners home in the village of Spire, one of Sophie’s friends is murdered.

This is a cosy mystery and the first in the Susie Mahl Mystery series. From the very outset, was quickly engaged as I discovered the main characters. It was found numerous mentions and references to art, painting and the processes and while I did find them interesting I felt it slowed the telling of the main story down a bit. Once the painting sections started to diminish the story itself started to come to the forefront again and the pace quickened. Susie was able to embark on her own truth-finding mission.

While reading I found myself surprised when mentions of mobile phones, internet etc were mentioned. I think this is due to having comparisons with Downton Abbey and Agatha Christie who I associate with 1920’s/30’s. I think this is my own assumption, but as there were only the occasional technology mentions it didn’t really matter that much.

Susie paints for those who have money and status, they are Lords, Ladies, Earls and Countesses. She stays for weekends to get to know the pet she is going to paint, it gives her a chance to explore and try to discover various truths. The plot itself is nicely laid out as Susie’s investigations are being delved into. It has a gentle pace rather than a full pelt race to the end.

If you like cosy mysteries then I think this is one readers of the genre will enjoy. I am looking forward to reading more about Susie in this series and will be buying more as they are available. This is one I would recommend.

Image from the Author Page on Amazon UK

Ali Carter was born in Scotland and read art history at St Andrews. There followed an eclectic career in investment management, retail and technology; then in 2011 she had a catastrophic bicycling accident. After major brain surgery and a long recovery, Ali set herself a challenge to walk alone from Canterbury to Rome, a three-month pilgrimage she wrote about in her book, An Accidental Jubilee by Alice Warrender. From then she decided to follow her passion and become a fine artist, specialising in oil paintings from life with an emphasis on colour. Ali works from her studio in East Sussex and also draws pet portraits to commission. A Brush with Death is her first novel.

Visit Ali on her Amazon Author Page

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be great 🙂 xx

Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping by Cheryl Denise Bannerman @damppebbles #BookReview

yvonnembee

Cats, Cannolis...cover

I am delighted to be sharing y thoughts on Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping by Cheryl Denise Bannerman as part of the Blog Tour with Emma at damppebbles blog tours. My thanks to Emma for the invite and to Denise for my ecopy of this book, my thoughts are my own. You can get your own copy of this book from AMAZON UK

Synopsis:

Cats, Cannolis and a Curious Kidnapping” is the first novel in the Anna Romano Mystery Series. It is a funny, whimsical, murder mystery series that appeals to ‘mystery readers’ of all ages.

Anna Romano is a middle-aged, Italian woman who is also a successful published author, a lover of cats, and an excellent cook with a hankering for Italian cuisine. She lives by herself in her quaint house, in a quiet community, with a white picket fence in Central New Jersey.

When she is not writing her next book or hosting book-signing events with her publicist, she is cleaning litter boxes and baking Cannolis…but never at the same time, of course!

In this first installment, on a typical day in Anna’s somewhat-perfect life, a book-signing event turns her world upside down. Is it a case of mistaken identity or was she just being paranoid?

My Thoughts:

Anna has just stolen and ice-cream bike and is peddling furiously. Why would anyone want to steal and ice-cream bike as their mode of transport? Where do the cats and the cannolis fit in with a kidnapping? This novella revealed all…and an enjoyable time was had as I read about how everything slotted together.

Anna is an author, is single but doesn’t live alone. She lives with six…yep…six feline furbabies. She is such a fun character to read about as she flits through this story. She is energetic, bubbly and seems to have bad luck perched on her shoulder occasionally.

An incident occurs, well actually a few incidents occur. But one in particular means she has to call the police and walk in the local detective. He does listen to her slightly mad sounding story, but he does feel some concern, just as well really. As she will require him more than she realises.

This is such a fun read and very fast paced as I followed Anna. I am going to say that she is a little quirky and this is meant in a positive way. It means she has bundles of energy, can talk or actually babble away incessantly and is a really great character.

This is the first in the Anna Romano Mystery Series. It is a fun and quick read with a bit of serious stuff as well, but no blood and guts. A great read that would appeal to cosy mystery readers. A series that I am definitely going to return to and also recommend.

About the Author:

Cheryl Denise Bannerman author photo

Writing under pen name, Cheryl Denise Bannerman, Ms. Powell is an author of two self-published books, and an owner of a 22-year-old Training and Development company, specializing in eLearning, called Learn2Engage.

In her personal life and relationships, Ms. Powell has learned how to turn tragedies into triumphs through her strong will, faith, tenacity and most importantly, her quirky sense of humor. She now turns that keen knowledge of relationships and people, along with her various degrees and experience in Training and Development, into fun, engaging online courses for ‘Corporate America’, and, of course, in her works of fiction.

Within each of her works of fiction, a topic of social concern is addressed. From addictions to domestic violence, and suicide to molestation.

Her writings inspire people to live, laugh, love, learn and grow. She believes that when the world laughs at you, laugh harder. In Ms. Powell’s real and fictional world, she has learned how to create her own ‘happy ending’…one day at a time.

Social Media: Twitter – – Facebook – Website – Instagram – Amazon Author Page

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Haircuts, Hens and Homicide by Stephanie Dagg @llamamum @rararesources #BookReview

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I am delighted to be sharing my thoughts today on Haircuts, Hens and Homicide by Stephanie Dagg as part of the Blog Tour with Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources. My thanks to Rachel for the invite and Stephanie for the copy of her book. You can buy your own copy HERE.

Synopsis:

Megan finds mayhem when she arrives in France to bury her Gran and sort out her affairs. She expected difficult encounters with civil servants and red tape but not with wandering chickens, an imperious policeman and a dead body. Together with her unlikely new friend, the elderly and grumpy Alphonse and his canine equivalent, Monsieur Moustache, Megan becomes involved in investigating the fowl-related foul play that’s at work in this sleepy part of rural France.
She’s helped but mainly hindered by the people she comes across. These include the local mayor, who wants Megan to stay and set up a hair salon in his village to help keep it alive. There are the cousins Romain, the gendarme, and Nico, the clumsy but hunky farmer. They have always clashed, but do so constantly now that Megan is on the scene. Michelle, Romain’s terrifying ex who wants him back, appears along the way, as does Claudette, a wheelchair-bound old lady, and Kayla, Megan’s best friend, who is hugely pregnant but not above taking on the forces of French law and order when Megan finds herself the prime suspect after Alphonse is stabbed.
There’s excitement, humour and lots of ruffled feathers in this rom-com slash cosy mystery, the first in a projected series.

My Thoughts:

When Megan’s Gran dies, it’s up to Megan to travel to France to sort out her Gran’s things, the farm, the legal stuff, the chickens and duck. Oh and the body…

When I read the synopsis for this book it was one that sounded fun and one I definitely wanted to read, it came across as a wacky and fun story-line. As Megan makes her way around this rural area of France she meets a real mix of characters. As word gets out that Megan is a hairdresser, her services are called in and she chops and trims as she goes. A great way to meet and get to know people.

From a visit to the vet with a hen on the back of a scooter and discovering her Gran’s business dealings, Megan had me smirking and chuckling as I read. The characters are fabulous Romaine and his clumsy cousin Nico, Alphonse and Monsieur Moustache are just the tip of the iceberg.

The idyllic setting belies a slightly more sinister side that Megan found herself caught up in. As I got to know Megan I also got to learn some of her own story, as well as her family. The story of the family is one that I am looking forward to knowing more about and it has been wonderfully wrapped in and around the hair cutting, hens and the homicide…

This is a book that I could have easily devoured in one sitting as I was taken by scooter and tractor and police car around rural France.

This is ideal for readers who like a Rom-com, cosy mystery, and a dash of drama. A great first book in the series and left me wanting to know more. One I would definitely recommend.

About the Author:

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I’m an English expat living in France, having moved here with my family in 2006 after fourteen years as an expat in Ireland. I now consider myself a European rather than ‘belonging’ to any particular country. The last ten years have been interesting, to put it mildly. Taking on seventy-five acres with three lakes, two hovels and one cathedral-sized barn, not to mention an ever increasing menagerie, makes for exciting times. The current array of animals includes alpacas, llamas, huarizos (alpaca-llama crossbreds, unintended in our case and all of them thanks to one very determined alpaca male), sheep, goats, pigs, ducks, geese, chickens and turkeys, not forgetting our pets of dogs, cats, zebra finches, budgies , canaries, lovebirds and Chinese quail. Before we came to France all we had was a dog and two chickens, so it’s been a steep learning curve. I recount these experiences in my book Heads Above Water: Staying Afloat in France and the sequel to that, Total Immersion: Ten Years in France. I also blog regularly at http://www.bloginfrance.com.

I’m married to Chris and we have three bilingual TCKs (third culture kids) who are resilient and resourceful and generally wonderful.

I’m a traditionally-published author of many children’s books, and am now self-publishing too. I have worked part-time as a freelance editor for thirty years after starting out as a desk editor for Hodder & Stoughton. Find me at http://www.editing.zone. The rest of the time I’m running carp fishing lakes with Chris and inevitably cleaning up some or other animal’s poop.

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