September 2022 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. 

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.