In the second book of the California Wine Country Mystery series, our heroine, Taylor O’Brien, has decided to do a favor for her friend Tim Slade. While Tim is independently wealthy, he’s starting to look for ways to expand the labor of love that is his winery. In order to help, Taylor puts his estate…
I did not watch the recent film based on this book because most popular ballet-related movies make me violently angry. To be fair, I also scoffed at certain of the ballet “details” included here in the novel proper; pop culture in general just has a bad habit of stereotyping ballerinas as hyper-disciplined psychopaths-in-training. That aside,…
Baker Sophia Cummings is happily settling down in her hometown of Rumford, Kentucky, after years spent learning her craft in New York City. As the new owner of the town’s only bakery, the delightfully named For Goodness Cakes, she’s very much looking forward to catering a fundraising event for the town library at the nearby…
I do love me a paranormal culinary cozy, and The Alchemist’s Illusion absolutely lives up to my high expectations! Despite not having read the first three books in the series (something I’m hoping to remedy in the near future, as I enjoyed this so much I just bought them all), I felt quickly comfortable with…
I loved this book so much that it got me to start taking up yarncraft again! Unfortunately, not the crochet that our heroine’s competitive co-worker Adele Abrams Humphries evangelizes for—though, once I’m done with my current project, I absolutely plan on re-learning that skill. Betty Hechtman describes crafting so lovingly that I couldn’t help but…
The Cackleberry Club Mystery series continues to delight with this very smart eighth installment. Suzanne Dietz is gearing up for the holiday season by volunteering as a stagehand for the town of Kindred’s production of A Christmas Carol, alongside one of her business partners, Toni. They’re fumbling their way through their first blocking rehearsal when…
Hurray, I was so pleased to hear that Edith Maxwell, author of one of my favorite historical mystery series, was coming out with a culinary cozy series as well. Written under the pseudonym Maddie Day, this debut novel is quite a treat! Mackenzie “Mac” Almeida is the mixed-race daughter of a Unitarian minister and his…
In the seventh book of the excellent Maine Clambake mystery series, the summer tourist season is in full swing. Our heroine, Julia Snowden, has her hands full running the Snowden Family Clambake and is not thrilled to discover that access to one of the local beaches used by her clam suppliers has been cut off…
Honestly, this is the best culinary cozy series on the market today, and I’m just so thrilled that I’m finally able to catch up with this, the sixth book in the series. Our heroine, Julia Snowden, is hard at work getting Morrow Island ready for the start of clambake season. She’s a little worried that…
This is probably the first culinary cozy murder mystery that I’ve read that makes me want to read the entire series from the beginning primarily to investigate the protagonist’s love life. Said protagonist in this case is Marlee Jacob, owner of a berry-themed shop and bakery located on Oriole Point in the heart of Michigan’s…
