August 2022 New Cozies

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing these ARCs in exchange for honest reviews. The recipe reviews and food pairing found on my Instagram feed (Cooking_With_My_Cozies) are of my own doing. 

AUGUST 30th RELEASES 

Mischief, Murder, and Merlot
A Wine Trail Mystery
J.C. Eaton
Beyond the Page

Halloween hijinks gone awry or is it more than just mischief that led to murder while everyone was sipping merlot…Norrie is back vineyard sitting at the Two Witches Winery while her sister and brother‑ in-law are off on another bug tracking expedition. The Seneca Lake wineries have produced an impressive Merlot this year and   from are in town to try them out. This could be huge for the small vineyard owners and Norrie knows that her job as winery-sitter is to nod and wave. Alas, something wicked this way comes and the critic wines up in the cauldron. On the bright side it means more time with her boyfriend, the winery staff, and the Wine Trail Lake folks. On the dark side, Norrie will need to rope in her friends around the Lake to help to talk up the possible suspects and going on reconnaissance ride‑alongs.   Norrie is an extremely likeable character whom you would want to sip wine with while she tells you about her latest screenplay. The plot flows nicely (like the bottles of wine in the tasting room), and backstory is added in such a way that you are never lost or in a fog. Another great Wine Trail Mystery and the ending that leaves us hanging for the next one! 

AUGUST 23nd RELEASES 

Mrs. Morris and the Pot of Gold
A Salem B&B Mystery
Traci Wilton
Kensington Publishing

This is a mystery as juicy as a corned beef and cabbage dinner and as fast paced as an Irish jig. Charlene Morris is going to need more than just the luck of the Irish to solve this one.  Charlene’s B&B is THE idyllic place to stay when visiting Salem, Mass because you are made to feel like a member of the family, not just a guest and the social hour is amazing. After so many other misadventures (no you don’t have to be familiar with them), Charlene had no intentions of getting involved in this latest murder mystery, how was she to know that she was going to be at the wrong place at the right time just by retrieving a coat for a guest. With all the suspects saying they didn’t do it, she and her spirited housemate must figure out who is and who isn’t full of malarkey. This story has a very good cast of characters, red herrings, and an unlikely partnership.  I am thinking that this story pairs well with a chicken, spinach and mushroom quiche followed by a dessert of lacy cookies with orange zest and pecans, as both are made by Minnie, the amazing B&B cook. 

Peanut Butter Panic
An Amish Candy Shop Mystery
Amanda Flowers
Kensington

You think you know someone and then you meet their mother, and it explains quite a bit. Thanksgiving time in Harvest, Ohio and Margot has organized a community feast for both Amish and English (non-Amish) to celebrate the holiday.  The unflappable Margot has become quite flapped with the news that her mother (Zara) a retired and no longer local judge will be returning to Harvest for a visit. Margo isn’t the only one who is less than pleased with the news, as Bailey learns that Zara was unusually harsh with her judicial treatment of the Amish, making her persona-non-grata. This is a twisty plot; there is an unexpected engagement, a death at the dinner table, a secret past, and multiple suspects including Margot and her husband. Zara asks Bailey to do what she does (second) best (she is an amazing chocolatier so sleuthing is her second skill) and prove that Margot is innocent. Plenty of red herring to keep you, Bailey and Aiden guessing and a sweet treat – Maami’s Buckeye recipe at the end of the story, although I am thinking of making some Amish spread to keep around for when I want to sweeten up a biscuit or bagel.  

Six Feet Deep Dish
Mindy Quigley
St. Marten’s Press

What a fun new cozy!  Meet Delilah and Sonya of Delilah and Son’s Chicago style pizza, where chaos is prohibited and fresh flavors are the real deal.  Starting a new restaurant is no easy endeavor, even if you’re a skilled chef with a talented and supportive staff. Unfortunately, opening night is overshadowed by a not so mysterious death with Delilah’s somewhat frail great-aunt Elizabeth (Biz) as the main suspect, however unlikely, that might be. Naturally, Delilah and her crew are not going to let Biz stay at the top of Detective Calvin Capone’s list. The characters are extremely engaging, the story moved at a good pace with plenty of clues and red herrings, PLUS there are recipes for food and drink at the end of the story courtesy of Delilah, Sonya, Aunt Biz and Daniel. 

A Treacherous Tale
The Cambridge Bookshop Mysteries
Elizabeth Penny
St. Martin’s Paperbacks

A slight continuation from the series starter but you don’t need to have read the first to know what is happening in A Treacherous Tale, but I think that you’re going to want to. This is a case of tragic déjà vu, a fairy crown, and a missing Strawberry girl. Molly begins to wonder just how much of The Strawberry Girls story is fiction and how much of it is based in fact. Everyone seems to be a suspect or they are at least very suspicious which means that there are plenty of strawberry red herrings to keep you intrigued and turning pages. A well rounded story that includes a little romance with a bike shop owner, some tasty sounding pastries such as strawberry scones from Daisy‘s café and a most importantly, a well thought out mystery. 

AUGUST 18th RELEASES 

A Cornish Recipe for Murder 
A Nosey Parker Cozy Mystery
Fiona Leitch
One More Chapter

This story takes my two favorite things, British Bake Offs and cozy mysteries and creates a jolly good time. Talk about multitasking, Jodie is executing excellent bakes while looking for clues and questioning suspects. No she is not a cop who bakes, she is a former cop who caterers, and no she did not sign up for the contest but it looks like she will be taking her nosey skills and her baking skills on the road-show. Was it a case of mistaken identity or had the new assistant made an enemy, he certainly wasn’t a friendly fellow. Past history is not needed when reading a Nosey Parker book, you are given tidbits of back story to keep you in the loop. Could you imagine how incredible it would be to win the roadshow and solve the crime? Jodie works to eliminate suspects while not being eliminated from the show. When she isn’t being “Nosey” (who are we kidding, she is always looking into things that need to be looked into), she is involved in so many roles that it can make your head spin. Another fun and cheeky read that includes the recipe for Jodie’s Show Stopper, a proper fruit cake, not that nonsense that we yanks have over here in the US. So fingers crossed that I can reproduce her recipe!

AUGUST 9th RELEASES

A Dish to Die For
Key West Food Critic Mystery
Lucy Burdette
Crooked Lane Books

I really like how recipe books and restaurant reviews are woven into the Key West Food Critic mysteries, as each chapter is started with an interesting food related quote. Hayley Snow was just going along, minding her own business taking care of her husband’s pup Ziggy when they stumble upon a dead body in the sand. Actually, Ziggy and Davis Jager, local bird watcher, literally uncover a man in a shallow grave on the beach. GG Garcia, land developer and a man with more enemies than scruples who had a father who wasn’t much better and a son who could do better. Ah but tracking down clues with the help of her active adult sidekick Miss Gloria, to assist the bird watcher is not all that occupies Hayley’s time. Nathan’s out of touch Dad, who is also a cop, is in town wanting to visit. Nathan and his Dad do not have the best of relationships, not like Hayley and her folks. On top of the impromptu visitor, Hayley volunteers to help with the memorial service repast being catered by her Mom. While helping with cleanup Hayley happens upon a box with papers possibly related to the earliest version of the Woman’s Club cookbook, and pages from a diary. A diary with illustrations and recipes and the secret thoughts penned on loosely bound pages which lead to uncovering a dark secret from the past. This story takes note that while times change but some people stay the same, trapped in a perpetual cycle of discourse. Ms. Layton does an excellent job of entertaining us with a mystery and enticing us with some amazing foods, that she graciously provides recipes for at the back of the book.  

In Too Steep
A Misty Bay Tea Room Mystery
Kate Kingsbury
Crooked Lane 

Interesting story format, two person views one is the tearoom owner, Vivian Wainwright and the other is police investigator, a bit of a “she said, he said”. Now before you start thinking that Vivian and Detective Lieutenant Tony Messina are going to be an item, you need to know that she isn’t into younger men and he is into Vivian’s assistant, Jenna Ramsey. Vivian, Jenna, Gracie Jackson and are more than just coworkers, they are supportive friends and a trio of sleuths. Vivian is unable to let the mysterious death of a homeless vet found with one the not so pretty Big Ben clocks from her tea room go without trying to do him justice and find his killer. This is the second in this new series and it was not necessary to have read the starter to know what was going on with the regulars. The story has a good amount of suspects, red herrings, and clues which help to keep the story flowing and enjoyable. The only thing I could think to suggest would be to add a few English tea house recipes to go with the wonderful food items mentioned in the story.  

 

AUGUST 2nd RELEASES

Round up the Usual Peacocks 
A Meg Langslow Mystery
Donna Andrews
Minotaur Books

Cozy mystery or a how-to-book for multi-tasking while avoiding wedding prep chores, you decide. Meg Langslow is a witty and completely personable cozy main character who has a knack for solving mysteries. You find yourself chuckling and nodding your head while you read about her most unusual and delightful family, which seems to make up a good part of the town (it helps to have connections). The story takes two old and one case and sends us on a merry chase full of college collusion, mistaken identity, a mysterious disappearance, and the hunt for perfectly plumed peacocks. Be sure to grab your notebook if you are taking notes about the characters, their motives or alibis be sure to grab your  notebook or in Meg’s case, her “tells me when to breath” notebook. I might just start keeping one myself; she sure does seem to get a lot accomplished by using her notebook. I did notice that this seemed to be one of the only books where she wasn’t working in her shop (her blacksmith shop). To top it all off there is a slew of Norwegian goodies with completely unpronounceable names for everyone to enjoy when they visit Ragnar the retired rock star at his goth-like mansion Ragnarsholm. I for one am looking up recipes for Krumkaker and Trollkrem, as well as the proper pronunciation. I enjoyed this one so much I went back and read A Murder of Peacocks, the series starter, which also involved Meg in wedding plans and hunting down peacocks as well as a murderer.