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.
SEPTEMBER 27th RELEASES
Gone for Gouda
A Cheeseshop Mystery
Korina Moss
St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Fall and cozies, two of my favorite
things, topped off with a tasty beer cheese dip recipe that goes great with
fresh pretzels (cheese related recipes included with the book). So grab some
soft pretzels, make some beer cheese soup or dip and follow Willa, the Curds
& Whey cheese shop owner, as she solves another mystery. Willa is a cheese
foodie, a fan of the Gouda, the Blue, and the Havarti, who is working hard to
get her business going and thriving. One way to do this is by hosting a fall
event, and while Willa is highly unimpressed by this local who made it big as a
millennial vegetarian social media influencer, she sure hopes that potential
customers will show up for Phoebe Winston‘s cooking demonstration. Given the diva attitude and selfish ways of
the victim, there are many characters to choose from with possible motives,
some from the past and some from the present, but definitely not Willa’s
assistant, Archie. This is a Gouda plot (couldn’t resist the cheese pun) with a
nice amount of misdirects, I thought I had it figured out but then was blown
away by the reveal. I am not a fan of the triangle when it comes to cozies and
hope that more develops between Willa and Detective Heath, Roman gets enough female
attention as it is.
Mrs. Claus and The Evil
Elves
A Mrs. Claus Mystery
Liz Ireland
Kensington
April Claus is one of
the best holiday related cozy characters, completely relatable and has great
taste in baked goods (looking forward to finding a cranberry and cashew cookie
recipe), even if she can’t make them herself, much to the dowager Mrs. Claus’s (her
MIL) chagrin. If you like the Sophie Kimball mysteries by J.C. Eaton you are
going to love the Mrs. Claus mysteries. Each story is a stand-alone but they
certainly show an unprecedented pattern of mayhem in Sanataland. Meet April Claus who has recently married the
embodiment of a mythical legend but that doesn’t mean she is any different as a
person. She still likes good coffee and tasty treats such as the ice cream from
her BFF Claire’s ice cream parlor. Good
thing Claire is spending the holiday with April in Santaland, and just in time
to help with a missing elf issue, the reindeer strike (yes, they are unionized),
Selfy shenanigans, and murder. Even with all of the sleuthing, shindigs, and overall
cold weather, Claire is sure to be back.
Murder in a Cape Cottage
(A Cozy Capers Book Group)
Maddie Day
Kensington
One week before the wedding and control
oriented Mackenzie (Mac) Alameida is helping her soon to be husband, Tim
Brunelle, tear down a wall to create a
master suite in their (new to her) home. The last thing either of them expected
to find was a skeleton bride chained to a wall. This does not bode well for Mac’s
sense of order. Bridey, Mac’s nickname for the corpse bride is a bit of a
mystery and Mac’s mystery book club is good at solving mysteries. Looks like Mac
will not only need to find something old, something new, something borrowed,
something blue, but also a little justice for the star crossed lovers too. The
clues for this very cold case are well laid, and you get some great tips for
conducting family research. This story is very much about family and history. There
are also the some amazing food descriptions. Thankfully, Ms. Day shares the recipes at the
end of the book and I plan to try the Cape Verdean Cachupa, which sounds
perfect for a cold or wet winter’s day..
A Murder on Poet’s Walk
A Book Retreat Mystery
Ellery Adams
Kensington
An opportunity to die for or was it an opportunity
to kill for? Once again, Storyton Hall
has become the site of not one but two Rip Van Winkle incidents, much to
chagrin of Guardian Jane Steward. Jane and the staff of Storyton Hall plays host
to a greeting card company contract contest complete with a signature cocktail,
an amazing cocktail party menu, a literary scavenger hunt and plenty of
suspects. This time life will imitate
art or rather poetry as the murderer takes a bit of poetic licensing with the
subject matter. As if that wasn’t enough, priceless poetry pages from the
secret collection are found scattered in multiple places both secret and odd. Jane makes use of the clues, her many companions,
and the cognitive skills of the Cover Girls book club members to solve this
latest mystery. I am not sure what I enjoyed more, the mystery or the various
meals enjoyed by the characters, such as the crêpes with apple filling.
AUGUST 23nd RELEASES
Berry the Evidence
Peg Cochran
Beyond the Page Publishing
This title is taken quite literally when
a commode ends up in the reeds at the cranberry farm. That is not the strangest
part of this mystery, Monica‘s stepmom Gina ends up in a car with a dead real
estate agent. Are the two connected??? There are more than a few suspects to
choose from and plenty of red herrings to throw you off track and confuse you. Monica
finds herself, once again, on the trail of a mystery. This time she is also
prepping for the new café located atop her husband’s book store, breaking in a
superstitious baker for the Farm, and all while being in her first trimester of
pregnancy which is the sleepiest trimmest of the three. As if the pregnancy
doesn’t wear her out enough, the search for clues, creating cranberry yummies
like the cranberry walnut muffins (recipe at end of story) is more than most
people could shoulder. It does seem like the constant inquiries regarding her
health from the locals might do her in, as she hasn’t told more than her
closest companions that she and her husband, Mark, are expecting. This is a
page turner that should be enjoyed with a nice cup of tea and a little
something sweet, like those muffins.
AUGUST 13th RELEASES
Murder for Good
Measure
Devon Delaney
Beyond the Page
Publishing
This is a story of superstitions,
Irish folklore, a family cooking contest, Ruggery challenges, a mystery, and a
murder. This starts out with an ominous meeting at the Ruggery, Sherry Oliveri’s
(I just love how her name trips off the tongue LOL) family business that has
suffered some weather related damage and costly decisions need to be made. The
next bit of bad luck comes in the form of a blind date that Sherry arranges for
her neighbor’s Irish nanny and her brother Pep’s sous chef, Angel, which does
not end well. So many possible suspects but Angel is at the top of the list since
he was the last to see Nanny Cara, and Sherry is adding sleuthing to her list
of duties in addition to the town newsletter, the family business, and competitive
cook. Speaking of cooking competitions, this story has two, one formal one
informal which provides the reader with some great dinner ideas. Be sure to
check out the Irish enhanced recipes found at the end of the story such as
Colcannon Potatoes with a twist and a nice Irish Pub-Style Roasted Salmon with
whiskey recipe, not to confused with red herring as there are plenty of those, just
enough that I was way off in my armchair deductions.
Gone for Gouda
Mrs. Claus and The Evil
Elves
Murder for Good
Measure
