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 are of my own doing.
Caught in the Traminette
The Wine Trail Mysteries
J.C. Eaton
Beyond the Book Publishing
It seems that once again Norrie has
agreed to help out her sister and brother-in-law by overseeing things at the
family winery, Two Witches Winery while they are off searching for some sort of
bug. Norrie doesn’t really know or care about the world of etymology, not even
when she is gifted with cockroach DNA, a highly valuable sample of cockroach DNA
(double eww).
A developer is looking to build a high rise complex on the lake and no one wants it. In fact, MaMadeline owners and of Winery had put an offer in on the same land to be able to plant grapes to produce a traminette wine. Naturally is high on the suspect list when the developer is found dead behind their winery. Norrie was warned by Zenora the psychic librarian, that both Norrie and the winery were surrounded by dark spirits. Was it the dark spirits that raided her fridge, yet nothing was taken. As with all Wine Trail mysteries, these are read alone but you really should go back to the beginning to really appreciate all the (mis)adventures that Norrie and her fellow wine trail friends experience. Norrie’s day job is screenwriter and often for Hallmark style movies. The characters are engaging and the plot does a great job of building up. There are plenty of clues and just as many distractions. This one in particular had a subplot that kept me guessing until the crazy and climatic end. I was giggling as I read.
Murder In a Cup
A Crystals & CuriosiTEAS Mystery #2
Lauren Elliott
Kensington Cozies
Suffice it to say, this cozy will have
you trying to make sense of the patterns as the plot takes shape, much like the
tea leaves that Shay deciphers. There are at least two subplots plus the murder
and the story arc involving Shay’s biological father, whom no one wants to meet
in a dark alley to be sure. We learn about the Early family history and its magic
from Liam’s Gran who is quite the character with her fanciful talk of the
Seelie and Unseelie Court. Don’t take Gran for granted or discount her because
she is person of great knowledge, and still has a few tricks up her sleeves or
rather, in her crystals’ case. Useful tricks and abilities that Shay is going
to need if she is to help her young friend Tassi. Between the removal of the
poisonous plants, murder by tea, a restraining order, accusations of
witchcraft, a conniving cousin, heart palpations, and a large number of suppositions,
you will not be bored or able to put the book down. I suggest you find a recipe
for Scottish scones; I would suggest the Scottish Scran website, make a few and
hunker down for a great read. After the
great family history lesson, I can see why Shay was drawn to gemology, and I
wonder if maybe she’ll be drawn to the other Madigan.
