Tattered Cover: The Secret, Scone, and Book Society by Ellery Adams

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairings found on my Instagram feed are of my own doing.

The Tattered Cover
The Secret, Book, and Scone Society
Ellery Adams
Kensington Cozies

If you enjoy slightly edgy cozies with lots of emotion the this is not only a great Halloween read for you but also an awesome series. The Tattered Cover can be read as a stand-alone, but you might enjoy it more if you started at least two books before with Papercuts, just to get the complete book buildup and character arc.

This series is all about second chances, starting with our main character, Nora Pennington. Nora has quite a back story and it is completely fleshed out in Papercuts, but you don't need to know her whole story up front because Ms. Adams does a great job of sharing just enough backstory to keep the reader from being lost but to also make you want to have read the story from the start. But that is not this story, this story starts with a book signing in Nora's bookshop, Miracle Books, located in Miracle Springs, North Carolina. Like any good Halloween themed story, there is also a mystical aspect and a dark and stormy night. There is also a witch, not the usual kind, no, this one comes with a dog since she is a K9 handler for the Sheriff's department. I am not the only one who isn't a fan of Deputy Paula Hollowell, she elicits some serious emotions. Actually, this series is very good at making you feel all the feelings from happy to indignant and everything in-between. Nora's friends Hester, June, and Estella make up the Secret, Book, and Scone Society with her coworker Sheldon, rounding out the merry band of sleuthers.

It is spooky season, Halloween, and this time around there is a murder in the bookstore under unusual circumstances with an interesting group of suspects to keep Nora and her friends busy. In addition to trying to solve the mystery, the group is also planning for Magnolia Salon and Spa owner Estella and Pink Lady Grill owner Jack's new bundle of joy due to arrive any time.  Estella and Jack aren't the only ones with changes on the horizon. Nora is looking at making changes regarding the bookstore, and maybe even her living arrangements since her little home is in the process of being rebuilt. Nora is staying with her guy, Sheriff Grant McCabe. McCabe (as Nora often calls him) is a fine man who tries to see the best in people, sometimes he and Nora don't see eye to eye which causes contention and a little bit of reader anxiety.    

The story is well laid out, but that is to be expected because Ms. Adams is a master of storytelling with an amazing ability to lay a firm foundation within in story/book that highlights different characters and their stories. Nora's amazing friends, the members of the Secret, Book, and Scone Society, each have a story to tell within the pages of the different books. You will not be able to put a single book down and this latest story is no different. This is a great book for armchair sleuthing because the clues are freely given as are suggestions for other great books. Not to worry when it comes to keeping track of Nora's suggestions because you can find them all at the conclusion of the novel. The only thing missing is a few of Hester's recipes from the Gingerbread House Bakery.

 

For Duck's Sake: A Meg Langslow Mystery by Donna Andrews

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairings found on my Instagram feed are of my own doing.

 

 

For Duck’s Sake
A Meg Langslow Mystery #37
Donna Andrews
Minotaur Books 

What started out as a future duck pond has become ground zero for a cold case that the police didn’t even know they had. As if that wasn’t quackers enough, Meg and CJCJ’s home has gone to the dogs, literally. What started out as a good deed has become a great endeavor, the Mutt March. I cannot even begin to comprehend what this would look like in the real, nonfictional world. The manpower alone is staggering. This event takes a village or rather the cozy town of Caerphilly, Virginia. No fear, the Hollingsworth family, namely Meg’s mom, is here, to organize and keep the plates spinning so that Meg can search for clues.

 

As always, Meg relies on her impressive logic, her wit, and her notebook that “tells her when to breathe”, to keep track of clues and suspects. Her network of family and friends coupled with her impressive research skills prove to be as helpful as always to Police Chief Burke, who seems to be more accepting of the help with each new mystery.

 

This is a standalone mystery, so you won’t feel lost when you read. Meg has some great and even humorous methods for helping the reader to identify strangers. Her nicknaming method is used in multiple books, and it makes me laugh out loud every time. The skeleton identification procedures are very interesting as is the history about fallout shelters. With all that is going on, you can’t help but to be engrossed in the story, turning page after page until the big reveal. There was one big whale-of-a-red herring and also some smaller ones. The combination of the dead body, the bomb shelter, possible dog nappers, and a missing octogenarian made this a true test for Meg’s skills. I would give this a five out of five ducks, but they would need to be Cayugas.

 

Death at an Irish Village: An Irish Castle Mystery by Ellie Brannigan

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and/or NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any recipe review and food pairings found on my Instagram feed are of my own doing. 

Death at an Irish Village
An Irish Castle Mystery
Ellie Brannigan
Crooked Lane Books

This is the third book in the Irish Castle Mystery series, and it does a great job of furthering the overall story arc as Irish revolutionary history overlaps with Rayne and Ciara’s family history at a forgotten grave site in the overgrown cemetery. Perfect place for a body drop, right? 

As a reader you don’t have to know the history of the series because there is plenty of backstory. Rayne McGrath, couture wedding dress maker to the likes of the rich and Rodeo Drive famous, and her salt of the earth Irish cousin Ciara Smith have one year to bring the finances of McGrath Castle and the surrounding lands into the black or sell. Wills can be tricky things, it seems as though Nevin McGrath’s written will was to unite his illegitimate daughter Ciara and her brash American cousin Rayne, into a partnership to save them all following his demise (see the series starter, Murder at an Irish Castle).  A pink Hermes bag, one of Rayne’s treasured items, may need to be sacrificed for the sake of the estate if the wedding venue venture does not get off the ground in conjunction with an increase in next year’s lambing.  

There are so many struggles between renovating the village to bring it into this century while not losing the cozy historic village look. I was intrigued by the way Rayne and Ciara were brainstorming to come up with a list of potential jobs to be filled by a slightly younger group of people. You can’t help but to feel empathy for the cousins as they seem to take two steps forward and one and a half steps back, but at least they are in lockstep. Well except for when it comes to romance. The cousin’s romantic lives are see-sawing. While one cousin seems to be going up with butterflies in her stomach, the other cousin is going down with a feeling of dread. Oh and then there is Landon, the crazy ex business partner/boyfriend. The last thing needed is a dead body in the newly cleared cemetery, that wasn’t there before the clearing. With a wedding scheduled, Rayne knows that she needs to do what she can to help Garda Williams get to the bottom of this unfortunate and reputation-ruining mystery. 

The plot of this story has sprinkles of Irish history, cozy town characters (many of which are over 60 and fit as proverbial fiddles), a loyal castle staff that is more like family than anything else, a handsome Viking, and more than enough suspects. With all these suspects, it is easy to be taken in by the red herrings. I knew who the killer wasn’t, but I did not figure out who was responsible. I cannot wait to see what will happen next in this highly entertaining cozy series.

Scone Cold Dead: A Country Store Mystery by Maddie Day

Thank you to the authors, publishers, and/or NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairings found on my Instagram feed are of my own doing.

Scone Cold Dead
A Country Store Mystery
Maddie Day

Book 13 of the Country Store Mysteries comes with many changes looming on the horizon for more than one of the residents of South Lick, Indiana. If this is your first time picking up a Maddie Day cozy mystery you are in for a treat with both the mystery and the sweet and savory recipes found at the conclusion of the story.  Don't worry if you "met" Robbie Jordan before now, she is easy to like and makes some great meals in her Pans and Pancakes, breakfast and lunch country store. Each book can be read as a stand-alone mystery with plenty of descriptions and back story to keep the reader from getting lost amidst the characters or clues. 

Robbie is usually elbow deep in pancake prep or up to her neck in a murder mystery, but things have changed in the last eight or so months. In the previous book, Deep Friend Death, Robbie learned that she and her husband, Abe were going to be parents, and it changed Robbie's perspective on sleuthing. She became much more careful, thinking of her welfare or rather her baby's welfare, not that she has ever been one of those folks who are "too dumb to live." This time around we continue to see this same cautious attitude. Robbie steers away from the dark alleys but not from asking the hard and sometimes intrusive questions or brainstorming scenarios with local law enforcement. 

Speaking of local law enforcement, Chief Buck Bird, has quite a way with words. This time around, I think that my favorite Buck saying was "you musta been scareder than a sinner in a cyclone." It is the characters who really add the flavor to this series. There is a unique blend of people of different ages such as Robbie's aunt Adele, who finds a dead body of a man she once knew, in the goat pasture. There are young people too, like Robbie's coworkers, Danna Beedle and Turner Rao. Danna, Mayor Corrine's daughter, has red dreadlocks and a flair for colorful clothes. Turner literally adds Southeast Asian flavor to the dishes he cooks. Even the "guest stars" bring interesting aspects to the stories. This time around, a man comes to town, a man who, to Buck, looks like he has been in the criminal justice system. And not on the side of the law."  A man who is asking for Adele, who seems to be known by several of the regulars, someone who incites strong emotions. Obviously, this man is going to be the victim and there are plenty of good suspects and some not so good. Adele is not a good suspect but because she has history with Ivan, and he was found in her pasture, Robbie will need to start asking questions. 

Robbie asks great questions, the kind of questions that kept me turning pages to find out what the answers were going to be. The clues are so well placed and the herrings so red that I was completely caught off guard by the solution. I was coming up with scenarios like Robbie that sometimes seemed a little more over the top than the one before it. My attention was held all the way to the end and then I got to enjoy some delicious Pecan Scones which I have pictured below. I also made the fajitas, because who doesn't like fajitas. I am looking forward to trying the Apple Cider Muffins, and just maybe, all of these great recipes will help to hold me over until the next Country Store Mystery.