One of my favorite things about the Booktown Mystery series is the character development. Main characters grow and learn and never lose their capacity to surprise, even as the supporting cast rotates in and out of their lives in good ways and bad. Poisoned Pages is an especially strong entry… Read more
Criminal Element’s July 2018 Cozy Bookshelf Shopping List! Week of July 1 through July 7 Title Author Series Date The Corpse at the Crystal Palace Carola Dunn Daisy Dalrymple Mystery #23 7/3 Dyeing Up Loose Ends Maggie Sefton Knitting Mystery #16 7/3 Scandal Above Stairs Jennifer Ashley Below Stairs… Read more
We're back in Stoneham, New Hampshire, the fabled Booktown that gives this bestselling mystery series its name. It’s just a few days before the first Wine and Jazz Festival, which has several of our cast of characters in a tizzy of organization. Our heroine, Tricia Miles, is in a different… Read more
This was my first foray into the bestselling Booktown Mystery series, and I was a little worried that I’d be a bit lost, as this is the 10th book in. So it was a great relief to find it highly accessible—most likely because the story itself doesn’t take place in… Read more
Discover (or remember to order) your next cozy with a delightfully convenient shopping list of upcoming soft-boiled mysteries! Last month, we got beautiful weather and great cozies; this month, head into summer with more amazing books! Let us know in the comments how you like it and what you can't… Read more
Discover (or remember to order) your next cozy with a delightfully convenient shopping list of upcoming soft-boiled mysteries! Last month, the books were just as nice as the weather with May's releases; this month it just keeps getting hotter with amazing June reads! Let us know in the comments how… Read more
Discover (or remember to order) your next cozy with a delightfully convenient shopping list of upcoming soft-boiled mysteries! Last month was no April fool's joke, just some great April releases; this month—April showers turn to May flowers with these great new titles! Let us know in the comments how you… Read more
Discover (or remember to order) your next cozy with a delightfully convenient shopping list of upcoming soft-boiled mysteries! We kicked this off last month with April's releases, and now we're setting our sights on May! Let us know in the comments how you like it and what you can't wait… Read more
Readers of mystery fiction may or may not be the most avid fans of their particular genre but they’ve got to be high on the list. Which might go a long way toward explaining why so much mystery fiction takes place in and around bookstores, and particularly mystery bookstores. It… Read more
There are two kinds of mystery fans: those who like mysteries with cats, and those who do not. Being a hardboiled hard ass, I naturally fall into the second camp. I’d rather be mauled by a tiger that read about the feline adventures of Sam Spayed and his girlfriend Kitty… Read more
