Lights Camera Bones: A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery by Carolyn Haines

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. 

Lights Camera Bones
A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery
Carolyn Haines
Minotaur Books
 

Sarah Booth Delaney has gone Hollywood. Well not really, but it looks like Sara Booth and her BFF Tinkie are going to be going back to work without so much as a long weekend off after two straight years of work. If you are not familiar with the Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery series, you will need to channel your inner Steel Magnolia because Sarah Booth is not your typical Southern belle. Just a heads up that this is not a fluffy cozy, there is Southern sass and a little language now and again, these ladies mean business after all. This is book 27 of 28 (yes the next one is already in the works) and I have enjoyed every one that I have read over the last decade. I still need to start at the beginning but it doesn’t hinder my enjoyment for the story or its characters of which there are some definite “characters,” including a ghost/haint of nannies past named Jitty who is forever antagonizing Sarah Booth to have babies and also driving Sarah Booth crazy by making enigmatic statements that are meant to aid in investigations and then disappearing. Jitty says there are rules about being straightforward.  

Jitty isn’t the only one disappearing, a gaffer named Jules is missing, then Marlon Brandon the big star/screen writer, and grandson of former Senator Brandon Brandon (yes that is his name) goes missing. Local loudmouth Lamar Bilbo and bookstore owner Mary Dayle McCormick have been showing up on set and doing their best to shut down the production.  Lamar and Mary Dayle claim that the movie is going to show unpleasantness and blatant racism instead of the heroic rescue of stranded folks by a Brandon ancestor and his boat. Tensions are high and they get even higher when a severed foot is fished out of the water. Now it is really getting interesting isn’t it?  

This plot had me hooked with all of the inter-linking clues such as family history that some felt should remain in the past. There were well placed red herrings, and the tips and hints from the many personas of Jitty who seems to be exceedingly vexing to Sarah Booth, even more so than usual. It is very easy to be caught up in the story as if you were there with Sarah Booth and her friends since emotions are running high.  I was turning page after page eager to learn the truth but unable to figure out the puzzle, which is just how I like my mysteries. I also like it when I learn something new such as the fact that the background of this story is based on actual history; there was a horrific flood in 1927 that devastated Greenville, Mississippi due to the loss of property, livestock, and lives. This is an excellent read and I am looking forward to seeing what Ms. Haines has in store for us in book 28.

Ill-Fated Fortune by Jennifer J. Chow Review

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. 

Ill-Fated Fortune
A Magical Fortune Cookie Novel
Jennifer J. Chow
Minotaur Books

I am not sure which I enjoyed more, this cozy series starter or the fortune cookie recipe at the end of the story. I should also point out that I was craving pastries, good Chinese food, flower arrangements, and scented candles and all while reading this mystery. This story is a hat trick of magic and has all the aspects of a cozy with a strong protagonist who has supportive friends and family, an ability to get people to talk and magic. Felicity comes from a family of magical bakers; the Jin(which means Gold) family ladies can bake happiness into a pastry. Felicity has struggled to be able to figure out her signature bake or how to infuse it with joy, until she comes across a horrible fortune cookie, that certainly she can make better than the factory where it originated. And all of a sudden, Felicity has her signature bake and the ability to tell an accurate fortune. Unfortunately not all fortunes are good and she almost blacks out when the fortune writing magic takes over, which leads to Felicity being the top suspect on Detective Rylan Sun’s suspect list. Can you really blame the detective? It is the self-proclaimed Fortune Cookie King Charlie Gong who ends up dead in a dumpster behind the Gold Bakery, with Felicity’s fortune in his coat pocket. Things go from bad to worse but luck for Felicity she has her buddy Kelvin whom you wonder if Felicity truly appreciates all he does for her. Poor guy is stuck in the friend zone, but I have hope for a slow build-up. Felicity starts her own suspect list and with Kelvin’s help starts tracking down clues while trying to bake joy into her cookies even though she feels anything but joyful as the gossip spreads throughout the town of Pixie and starts to have a very negative effect on the family business and her mom. The suspects are wily and the red herrings are plentiful but Felicity has a little luck on her side, seems that a highly usual candle produced a highly unusual event in the way of a white rabbit that just shows on the Jin family doorstep and hops right in like she belongs there. This is one charmed bunny that winks and helps Felicity to see things clearer.   

December 2023 New Release 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 are of my own doing. 

Deep Fried Death
A Country Store Mystery #12
Maddie Day

 The 12th book in the Country Store Mystery Book series has some new and interesting tidbits such as the phrase “busier than a mosquito in a nudist colony.” There is no way to not chuckle while reading each time Robbie interacts with Buck, who as it turns out Buck has a wife, a doctor, who knew?!?! When you’re not chuckling be prepared to have hunger pains from the amazing food descriptions, but not to worry there are recipes included at the conclusion of the story. I made the apple dumplings and they were enjoyed by many. In addition to a new recipe, the murder site is a new one as well, an outhouse race for the site of the murder, now that is a new and creative cozy mystery event. It was a pity that the victim’s body ended up inside Robbie’s race entry. Evermina was beaten with a cast iron skillet being used as a decoration thus ending the smear campaign she had started against Robbie’s restaurant store, the Pans and Pancakes. Since the murder took place in Nashville instead of South Lick, Robbie is not working with local law enforcement and actually seems to be trying to avoid Sheriff Hailey Harris and state detective Octavia Slade while she looks for clues to remove herself and maybe her brother-in-law Don O’Neil from the top of the suspect list. Usually Robbie is bouncing ideas and info back and forth with Buck, but not this time at least not in the presence of his deputy cousin Wanda or Octavia. 

Robbie hates that once again she was involved in a murder but relishes the exercise of creating a clue crossword to keep things straight. Was Evermina killed by Zeke her husband (we aren’t sure if there was a divorce yet or not). Maybe it was Wendy Corbert, gift shop owner in Nashville, who appears to be Zeke’s new girlfriend.  Robbie is feeling overwhelmed in this one between her “condition,” the restaurant with its soon to be delivered deep fryer, constant questioning by nonlocal law enforcement, and worry for her brother-in-law Don.   As a stand-alone cozy, you do not need to know what happened in the last book or the last 11 for that matter but since it is such a great series you will want to add them to your TBR list.  Robbie is a unique character with adequate skills as a cook and carpenter (this is how she describes herself) and no professional sleuth training but she does have a good heart and desire to help her family and friends. You find yourself empathizing with Robbie but be careful of the well laid red herrings that misdirect and be sure to check out the tasty recipes. 

Public Anchovy #1: A Deep Dish Mystery
Molly Quigley
St. Martin's Paperbacks

What should have been a fun and festive event turns into a dark and stormy night complete with a murder. Delilah and crew have been hired to cater the Friends of the Library’s Roaring 20’s fundraising event. Sounds like fun, right? Well then there is a storm and a request for an all vegan pizza with no gluten and no sugar and no tomatoes which makes it a “free from” pizza (free from anything that makes it a pizza). As the weather turns treacherous so does the situation for the rather unpleasant Edgar Clemmons who was on a mysterious mission regarding a wrong that needed to be righted. Funny thing about Edgar is that the only person who seemed to be able to tolerate and even enjoy his company was Sonya, Delilah’s BFF and business partner.  Among the suspects is an international artist Count Leka Simeon Victor Hohenstaufen Chandon aka Jarka’s ex‑fiancé, the Count’s current fiancé, a pretentious and well off influencer, her trophy husband, and maybe even Capone’s mom, Lola Capone. 

There is nothing like spending the night without power in a dark and slightly spooky house with a possible killer. As the catering crew and the “hoity-toity” guests hunker down, Delilah goes in search of Butterball the stowaway cat who causes some chaos. So she might be looking for clues at the same time, but hey you can’t blame a girl from wanting to clear the name of her beloved cat. 

I do need to point out that this is not how Delilah wanted to meet Capone’s mom. Of course Delilah has a hard time determining if the man has feelings for her or not as he has a tendency to be in cop mode when they are together, which means walls go up and stoic/stone faced Capone comes out. In this instant though, the weather might have been cold but the heat between Delilah and Detective Capone is HOT. This is culinary cozy so it comes with an array of recipes included a very tasty recipe for tiramisu cookie bars that are easy to make and even easier to eat (the entire pan).