Abigail Beanblossom is part-owner of Beanblossom’s Tea and Tarot, a teashop that also provides Tarot reading services overseen by her business partner, Hyperion Night. But as this second novel in the series opens, she’s in a different sort of partnership with her former boss turned best friend, Razzzor, who’s enlisted her help in staking out…
I love Tarot, and I love tea, and I love Kirsten Weiss’s witty, whip-smart writing. All these aspects are delightfully combined in her Tea and Tarot Mystery series, beginning with this novel, Steeped in Murder. Our heroine, Abigail Beanblossom, has worked hard to save enough money to be able to open the teashop of her…
Pieshop owner Val Harris is in for a big surprise when her sprightly octogenarian piecrust maker and landlady, Charlene McCree, forgets to tell her that the bluff her minihouse rental stands on is also the site of an annual Goddess Girls gathering. As a giant yurt and other amenities are thrown up right outside Val’s…
With the reputation of Val Harris’s Pie Town bakery restored after the events of the first book in the series, our heroine is looking to expand operations somewhat, especially after hiring more staff. She’s thrilled when Ewan Frith, the wealthy owner of the nearby Bar X, contacts her about supplying pies for an event that…
The first book in this delightfully kooky culinary cozy mystery series finds our heroine, Val Harris, trying to sell off her wedding dress after her engagement implodes. Now she’s stuck in the Northern California small town of San Nicholas, having poured all her savings into opening her beloved pie bakery, Pie Town, back when she…
Ivy Culpepper is initially dismayed to hear that the already hard-working Olaya Solis, her boss at the Yeast of Eden bakery, has accepted a last-minute catering job. But when she hears that she’s been asked to photograph the swanky soiree in addition to helping bake and serve food, she’s much more amenable to the idea.…
The third book of the Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery series starts out with a scene that could have been ripped from the pages of the very book our titular group of readers is currently enjoying (the very excellent Fogged In by one of my all-time favorite cozy writers, Barbara Ross, coincidentally). Our heroine, Mac…
I love the ways in which this series has gone deeper into the psyches and relationships of the Ferrara Family it’s named for as it progresses, culminating in this excellent examination of mothers and daughters and what siblings owe one another, all with a murder mystery woven throughout. Murder at the Mistletoe Ball is almost…
Donut-maker Emily Westhill is looking forward to a white Christmas, especially if it means extra ski time with police detective Brent Nyce at the chalet home he’s just bought a short way outside of their town of Fallingbrook, Wisconsin. Of course, ski time isn’t the only kind of time she’s looking forward to spending with…
Samantha Barnes is hoping that her notoriety as a viral YouTube star for slicing off her now-ex-husband’s fingertip during an ill-advised knife fight has died down so she can concentrate on her life as a restaurant critic and maker of far tamer accompanying food videos. With the holiday season coming up, she’s also preoccupied with…
