Hope Early is getting her life back together in this second book of the Food Blogger mystery series. Now that she’s settled back in her hometown of Jefferson, Connecticut, she’s focusing on her burgeoning career as a food blogger and looking for ways to maximize revenue. To this end, she’s invested in a photography workshop…
The latest installment of A. L. Herbert’s terrific Mahalia Watkins Soul Food Mystery series not only showcases contemporary life in Prince George’s County, Maryland—as well as some amazing soul food—but also shines a spotlight on a fascinating subject I’ve never known how to ask about before this book: black hair. Our heroine, better known as…
The second in the Mahalia Watkins mystery series sees us back in Prince George’s County, Maryland, as our heroine faces down one of the worst milestones in anyone’s life: the high school reunion. Halia isn’t even interested in going, as she’s only stayed in touch with one person from her old school. But when Raynell…
When I first picked up this series, I did so mainly because I’m greedy for more diverse representation in the culinary cozy mystery genre. I was also attracted to the fact that it’s set in Prince George’s County, Maryland—part of the Washington, D.C., Metro area where I’ve lived most of my life. For some reason,…
Weirdly, I thought that the final novel in the Red Sparrow Trilogy was at once its most realistic as well as its most wildly fanciful. There are details included that feel so authentic as to be absolutely factual, even if they don’t make for the most appetizing reading; I could honestly have done without the…
Joanne Fluke sure knows how to write a cliffhanger! When I read the last sentence of this book, I let out the kind of overly dramatic gasp that you usually only see on TV, complete with pearl clutching. But if there’s any author who can reliably elicit that kind of reaction—especially in a long-running series…
Captain Dominika Egorova—the Red Sparrow of the series title—is back at her Moscow desk in the Russian Intelligence Service (SVR) after conspiring with the CIA to cement her role as their high-level informant. Though, after the final events chronicled in the previous book, she’s not too sure about whether she wants to keep feeding them…
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…
