Allie McMurphy is looking forward to becoming an official year-round resident of Michigan’s charming Mackinac Island. With the tourist season drawing to a close, she’s planning on building a roof deck for the Historic McMurphy Hotel and Fudge Shop that she runs in anticipation of an even busier season in the year to come. But…
Sarah Blair is in a good place, literally and figuratively. Happily settled in a cozy carriage house with her Siamese cat, RahRah, she’s gotten into the groove of working as a law firm receptionist/secretary for Harlan Endicott and volunteering for the local animal shelter. She even has the time and funds to consider going back…
This was my first of the seasonally themed collections these three talented writers have been putting together for a while, and I’m so glad I finally got around to reading it. Barbara Ross is my favorite culinary cozy author, so it’s a bit ridiculous that I’ve barely even glanced at this series before this. I…
I’ve read quite a few books from Jenn McKinlay’s Cupcake Bakery mystery series for this column, but this has been my first of her Library Lover’s, and I have to say that I was completely blown away. Perhaps it’s just the subject matter, or perhaps it’s the slightly more serious tone of this series, but…
The third Deputy Donut Mystery finds us back in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin, as the town gears up to celebrate the Fourth of July. Donut shop owner Emily Westhill is pleased that both her store and vintage donut-mobile will be featured in the festivities, with the latter set to carry the Fallingbrook King and Queen during the…
I’ve read several books each from Laura Childs’s Tea Shop and Cackleberry Club mystery series, but Mumbo Gumbo Murder, written with Terrie Farley Moran, is my first exposure to her New Orleans Scrapbooking mysteries. Set in the Big Easy, this 16th book in the series follows our heroine, craft store owner Carmela Bertrand, and her…
Sharon Farrow’s Berry Basket Mysteries is one of the most consistently well-put-together culinary cozy series out there, with some really solid mystery writing to underpin the charming small-town proceedings. Set in Oriole Point, a popular (but, alas, fictional) tourist destination on the banks of Lake Michigan, the series stars Marlee Jacobs, the proprietor of the…
Maggie Crozat is pretty jazzed at her beloved grandmère’s idea for encouraging tourism during the slow season of their small Louisiana town. Hoping to take advantage of business on its way to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Charlotte Crozat proposes that Pelican should hold its own music festival on the Sunday to Thursday…
The Maryland town of Bayport’s newest bookstore is having an invigorating effect on every member of Val Deniston’s household. She herself is excited to be catering the bookstore’s Halloween event, while her housemate grandfather is exploring his tender feelings for bookstore owner, Dorothy Muir. Meanwhile, Granddad’s lodger, Suzette Cripps, is working hard on her entry…
Hana Keller is the third generation of her Hungarian-American family to run Maggie’s Tea House, the popular Illinois establishment that serves European-style teas. Proud as she is of her Magyar heritage, she doesn’t necessarily buy into all their superstitions—until a strong sense of foreboding before a tea service one day literally stops her in her…
