Tracy's Tidbits

  Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my  Instagram   feed are of my own doing.   Fondue or Die A Cheese Shop Mystery Korina Moss St. Martin’s Paperbacks   Where in the world is cheesemonger Willa Bauer? In book five of the Cheese Shop Mysteries, Willa has left her shop Curds & Whey located in Yarrow Glen and is taking part in the Dairy Days Festival in Lockwood. In addition to having a booth at the festival she and Archie have volunteered to help with the Miss Dairy pageant.   Being a fan of detective Heath, I am super excited that he and Willa are working together. Since the murder takes place out of his jurisdiction, it isn’t his investigation that Willa and Team Cheese are trying to solve. Willa isn’t stepping on his Detective Heath’s toes, but she is butting heads with Chief Womack who seems to be hiding something and has Mr...

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my  Instagram  feed are of my own doing.   Trouble is Brewing Tea by the Sea Mystery #5 Vicki Delaney Kensington Cozies Book four of the tea by the sea mysteries reads like a stand-alone and set in NCNCN in a tea house with an incredible backdrop that includes a lovely BnB. The tea house is set in the sort of backdrop that would be perfect for outside events, such as weddings and bridal showers.  The bride and groom, Hannah Hill and Greg Reynolds, are a lovely couple and the mother of the bride was a hard working single mom who is doing her best to keep the peace and support her daughter. The same can not be said of the groom's parents and sister.  The Reynolds, Ralph and Sophia are snooty when it comes to Hannah and her mother Jenny. It turns out that Jenny and Ralph Reynold had been involved once upon a time...

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my  Instagram  feed are of my own doing.   Mrs.Claus and the Nightmare Before New Years A Mrs. Claus Mystery Liz Ireland Kensington Cozies Santa aka Nick Claus is on the way to deliver happiness to the children of the world, but April is back in Santaland dealing with three humans who have wandered into the farthest frozen reaches and have to be convinced that they are in northern Canada and not the North Pole. All three are exhausted, one loses a toe and another has a reindeer's antler sticking out of his back. Off to the Santaland Hospital they go with lots of sweet snacks and limited exposure to the locals. This is another adventure into the absurd, with elves wearing clothes from the 80s, walking in shoes without curly tips and talking with a Canadian accent, aye. T he reindeer have been grounded, the snowmen ...

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my  Instagram  feed are of my own doing.   The Incident of the Book at Night A Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery Vicki Delany Crooked Lane Books Book 10 of the Sherlock Homes Bookshop Mystery has Gemma and friends away from the bookshop and back across the pond for sister Pippa's nuptials. Pippa being Gemma's rather secretive and very business-like older sister who supposedly works for the Ministry or Department for Transport...sure she does. Turns out that Pippa isn't the only one with a secret, no one knew that Gemma had been previously married (GASP). The last person Gemma expected to run into at her sister’s reception was Paul Erikson, the ex-husband. The last thing Gemma expected to do while in London was to find Paul dead in the bookstore she once co-owned with him.   Trafalgar Fine Books, the boo...

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my  Instagram  feed are of my own doing.   Snow Time to Die Northwoods Mysteries Book #3 Annie McEwen   This is my favorite of the Northwoods Mysteries thus far. Book three is a cozy character’s nightmare and growth arc all in one. You cannot help but like our sleuth, Emmerlyn “Emmy” Cooper, she is kind, thoughtful, funny, a little sassy, and a bit of a klutz. In other words, she is completely relatable and someone that you could see having as a friend. As with many cozy characters, she didn’t truly realize her self-worth until she needed to either return home or start over somewhere new. In Emmy’s case, she came back home to Lake Covington and sort of started over in the family business, Cooper’s Cover Resort. While all of this is hashed out in the series starter, there are plenty of references in book 3 to keep t...

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my  Instagram  feed are of my own doing.   Gingerbread Danger An Amish Candy Mystery Amanda Flowers Kensington After reading this one I am never going to look at the board game Candyland quite the same again. Margo Rawlings has come up with yet another amazing idea for increasing tourism in the town of Harvest. Bailey King has a successful candy factory business that works hand in hand with the family Amish sweets shop. It is a busy time for Bailey between the grand-opening, wedding plans with Sheriff Aiden, parents coming from out of town, and Amish targeted burglaries. What appeared to be an unfortunate work related accident turns out to be more nefarious. Bailey has come a long way since book one when she moved to Harvest from New York, stepped up to help with her Amish grandparents’ sweet shop, was willing t...

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my  Instagram  feed are of my own doing. You Feta Watch Out Grilled Cheese Mystery Linda Reilly Beyond the Page Publishing   Book five of the Grilled Cheese Mystery series takes place at Christmas time and the Flinthead Opera House is hosting a production of Dickins’ ”A Christmas Carol.” The actor, Prescott Lennon, who was playing Marley is more of a Scrooge than Scrooge making it no surprise when he doesn’t make it to opening night. No one is really sure why Hannah Collier, the director, gave him the part since he wasn’t that good as an actor and he was a menace as a person. There are plenty of suspects to choose from, starting with the widow, Honey, who was referred to as Honey Lemon by various cast members because of her sour personality. The understudy, Malachy Foster, has so much more talent than Lennon and he has bi...

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my  Instagram  feed are of my own doing. Silent Nights Are Murder A Poppy McAllister Mystery Libby Klein Kensington Cozies  This is book of the Poppy McAllister series and it is the best one yet. This cozy is like a Christmas present that is exactly what you wished for but with extras that you weren’t expecting and topped with a perfect bow. While reading this I flashed back to the scene from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when Uncle Vern says “Justice.” I have been waiting for this plot to come to fruition and the crabby baby‑momma Gigi is going to have to rely on Poppy to save her bacon.  Each Poppy mystery is a stand-alone work of cozy goodness complete with gluten free recipes that can be adapted for regular flour. More importantly, there is Poppy, a completely relatable character who would make an...

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my  Instagram  feed are of my own doing. Blue Christmas Bones Sarah Boothe Delaney Mystery Carolyn Haines  Minotaur Books This is number 28 in the Sarah Booth Delaney mystery series. Sarah Booth is half of Delaney Investigations agency, the taller sassier half. Her dedicated daddy’s girl bff Tinkie Richmond is the other half. Together with their family, friends, and loves; they are the best Southern sleuths you may ever encounter. I have been reading these slightly sharp cozies (a little swearing and a little sizzle) for over 15 years and they do not disappoint. Sarah Booth is an amazing character and from the series starter to now, she has undergone such a range of emotions, suffice it to say that she “has come a long way, baby.” Do not worry if you are just now giving this series a try, all of the books offer plen...

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my  Instagram  feed are of my own doing. Gingerbread Dead Man A Hayley Powell Food and Cocktail Mystery Lee Hollis Kensington Cozies  Imagine if your dad took off when you were eight years old and you hadn’t seen or heard from him for all those years. Now imagine that your best friends’ dads have been getting together with your dad for years to do some ice fishing, and you just walked in on them. There are no words for this, right! Talk about family drama for the holidays. The only person who is truly happy to see Dwight back is Hayley’s brother Randy, who was too young to really know what happened when their father left. Thank goodness Hailey knows how to make a great cocktail. Just check out her Island Food & Spirits newspaper column that often includes cocktail and food recipes. In addition to drinks and some co...

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my  Instagram  feed are of my own doing. Murder at the Lemonberry Tea A Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Darci Hannah Kensington Cozies This is the delicious new book number six in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery series. Lindsey Bakewell left the hectic life of Wall Street and has successfully set up her bakeshop and home in a lighthouse so she knows how much a new start can mean to a person. Her BFF Kennedy Kapoor, a well-regarded influencer, has convinced the producer for the new baking show, Nibbles From Across the Pond , hosted by Vivi Lemonberry, British baking diva, to come to Beacon Harbor to film the show’s first episode.   This was supposed to be a fresh start for Vivi, a step away from the scandals and drama. This woman has baggage, scandalous designer baggage. She is described by one of the film crew as “a tyrant, a f...

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my  Instagram  feed are of my own doing. Sleep in Heavenly Pizza A Deep Dish Mysteries Mindy Quigley Minotaur Books   This is book four of the Deep Dish Mystery series that features an amazing chef named Delilah O’Leary and her restaurant family.   This time around it is the holiday season and Delilah has taken a catering job for a Chrismakkah party and unbeknownst to Delilah event the guest list includes her brother-in-law who is attending along with Delilah’s niece from California. This is the same family who can never quite make it for a visit yet here they are, in town (AWKWARD). Not as awkward finding a dead/frozen body of a party guest in the ice sculpture area or as awkward as dating the detective in charge of the murder investigation asking for Delilah’s family members and coworkers for their alibis. A few ...

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my  Instagram  feed are of my own doing. Death at an Irish Wedding An Irish Castle Mystery Ellie Brannigan Crooked Lane Books  This is the second book in the Irish Castle Mystery series and every bit as enjoyable as the series starter. I have read mysteries with wedding drama, or upper crust drama, or Hollywood drama, but this is the first time that I have seen all three wrapped up in a single book. This is book two of the Irish Castle Mysteries and the cousins Rayne and Ciara need to make the wedding venue idea work or lose the family estate, which means the town gets annexed into the next town over. A unique aspect of this story is that Rayne is an amazing wedding dress designer who’s boutique catered to the Rodeo Drive crowd until…(read Murder at an Irish Castle). Suffice it to say that she knows a few things about f...