Review: Killer Jam by Karen MacInerney (#1 Dewberry Farm Mysteries)

 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley.  This is the first in a brand new series. I had never read anything else by this author before reading this book, but I certainly will now! 

It did not take me long at all to become completely engrossed in this novel. There is a perfect balance with enough detail to make you feel like you are truly right there beside the characters, living the mystery along with them, but not giving so much detail that it becomes droll or overshadows the mystery. 

The main character is Lucy Resnick, who has recently realized her life's dream of purchasing the farm that her grandparents owned when Lucy was little. She's trying to make a living off of the land and just as she begins to feel like it could work, she's informed that the woman she bought the land from, Nettie Kocurek, has retained the mineral rights to the land (which Lucy was not made aware of) and has ordered a company to start drilling for oil! Things are made even worse when Nettie is found murdered at the Founder's Day Parade and Lucy becomes the prime suspect. Determined to clear her name, she begins her own investigation and ends up solving more than one mystery in the process.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story from beginning to end. There were multiple suspects who all had good motives to want Nettie dead. Figuring out whodunnit was no piece of cake, but there were certainly enough clues sprinkled along the way that it was very doable to solve before Lucy did. There were a couple of sub-plots that added to the suspense and danger as well. 

All of the characters had very clearly defined personalities, learning about the town of Buttercup was interesting, and the book was also very well edited. Oh and if that's not enough, there are some delicious sounding recipes in the back of the book too ;)

I'm pleased to give this book 5 stars; it truly deserves every one of them. I cannot wait to be back in Buttercup with Lucy and her friends again for the next mystery! 

To learn more about the author and/or her books, you can visit her website. Killer Jam goes on sale tomorrow, July 28th, on Amazon. It's available for Kindle, in paperback, and as an audiobook.

Review: Fatal Reservations by Lucy Burdette (Key West Food Critic Mystery #6)

 

I received an advanced review copy of this book via a really cool Facebook group called Cozy Mystery Review Crew.  If you enjoy cozy mysteries and would like the opportunity to be a reviewer, I'd definitely suggest joining! There are a good number of books that have been distributed to reviewers already with more to come. You don't have to have a blog or anything either, just posting a review to Goodreads, B&N, or Amazon will fulfill your agreement :) 

Fatal Reservations is the 6th book in the Key West Food Critic Mysteries. I admit I have not read any of the previous books in this series, although I'd really like to. This book can function as a stand-alone mystery, although I did feel like I was probably missing some small details about the characters by having not read any of the previous books. I did not feel that there was anything major missing and it didn't inhibit my enjoyment of this book in any way though. 

Haley Snow is the main character and food critic and she lives in Key West, FL. I've never been there (and it'd probably be way too hot for me) but from the descriptions in this book it sounds like an amazing place! Haley's roommate is Miss Gloria, who is an older woman but is still very feisty and humorous. I absolutely love Miss Gloria and her relationship and the dynamic between her and Haley. I generally do not like massive amounts of detail, but I feel like this book struck a good balance of providing enough detail to make you really feel like you are in the story, while not going too overboard with it. I did feel that the beginning was a bit slow and it took me about 40 pages to really get into it. A little longer than I'd like but within reason considering how many characters were introduced in that time. 

There are some really great characters in this book, as well as plenty of mouth-watering descriptions of all kinds of food! I was very pleased to discover that there are recipes included in the back of the book :) Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I'd say it's a perfect read if you're looking to escape reality for a while and fully immerse yourself into the book, its scenery, and its characters. Just looking at the beautiful sunrise on the cover makes me feel relaxed. I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars and would absolutely recommend it! 

Fatal Reservations goes on sale tomorrow, July 7th, and you can pre-order it today for $5.45. If you'd like to learn more about Lucy Burdette and/or her books, you can visit her website or her Facebook page.

My Favorite Mystery Authors and/or series

First of all, welcome to my new blog and thanks for checking it out! I thought I'd start off the first post by sharing a few of my favorite mystery authors and the series they write. Most of these are cozies, because that's my favorite sub-genre. I personally am a big fan of series and much prefer them to standalone books. This is mainly because once I have found characters, settings, etc. that I really like, I don't want to have to say goodbye after just one book. It's especially nice when a series already has 10+ books out by the time I start reading it and I can read a bunch in a row to catch up. Anyway here are some of my faves (in no particular order, btw). Obviously, this is just a VERY SMALL PORTION of the mystery authors that I love! If I tried to list all my favorites, this would be a 500 page post! These just happen to be the top 5 that I recently read or are freshest in my mind for whatever reason:

1. Sheila Connolly - The Orchard Mysteries and the Museum Mysteries

I started off reading the Orchard Mysteries and liked her writing so much I checked for other books by her that the library had (I get 90% of my books from my library's digital collection i.e. eBook library) I was pleased to see that her Museum Mysteries were available as well and I promptly read that series also. I personally like the Museum Mysteries slightly better than the Orchard Mysteries. It could be because I grew up in Philadelphia, which is where the Museum Mysteries take place ;) Regardless, both series and Sheila Connolly are now among my favorites! Her characters feel like friends and the plots are always top notch. I'd love to read her County Cork Mysteries as well, but alas, the library doesn't have them yet.
Details, buy links, etc. for all of her books can be found at http://www.sheilaconnolly.com/books.php.

2. Kate Carlisle - The Bibliophile Mysteries

These mysteries feature Brooklyn Wainwright, a bookbinder, and various members of her friends and family. I find it extremely interesting reading about her bookbinding techniques and the antics of her family are usually humorous and heartwarming. The personality of all the characters and the description of the town that Brooklyn's parents live in really make these books come alive for me and I have loved every one of them! I'd also love to read her Fixer-Upper Mysteries, but have not yet had the pleasure to do so (and yes, the library doesn't have 'em yet), but they are on my wishlist! One other cool thing I'd like to mention about this author is that her website has something called the "Secret Room" where she lists giveaways, contests, and all sorts of other cool stuff, which is one of the coolest things I've seen on an author's site. Also if you follow her on Facebook, she does a good amount of giveaways there too!
Details, buy links, and all that jazz can be found at http://www.katecarlisle.com/books.php and don't forget to check out the secret room ;)

3. Maddy Hunter - The Passport to Peril Mysteries

Maddy Hunter is probably the most recently discovered author in my "favorites" category. It was just a few weeks ago that I read "Alpine for You," the first Passport to Peril Mystery. It is very rare that an author will have me completely hooked basically from the get-go, but this series did it for me. I can't say it was from page 1, but I know it was very early on that I went holy crap, this is totally my kinda book! For one thing, the humor in these books is the exact type of deadpan, sarcastic, literally laugh out loud humor that I love. Emily Andrew, the main character, is always managing to get herself into the most ridiculous situations and you'll find yourself laughing through all of them. Some of the situations seem a bit over the top and not completely realistic, but I think that just adds to the fun! Also, speaking from someone who has been very accident prone since the day I was born, some of the situations that Emily gets into that some may think seem a bit over the top are scenarios that I could very well picture myself getting into. Overall, I just adore this series!
Details and all that other good stuff can be found at http://www.maddyhunter.com/books.html.

4. Julie Hyzy - The White House Chef Mysteries

This was another series that I got hooked on pretty quickly. For one thing, it's definitely different. Olivia Paras, the main character, is a chef at the White House, which is a job title I've never seen before in a sleuth. I find it really interesting to read about all of the regulations etc. that she has to follow and just feeling like I'm getting an inside peek at the goings on of the Secret Service and White House employees. I don't know how accurate any of it is, but it's fun nonetheless. These books are also very fast paced and action packed, from beginning to end. It's very hard to put down once you start reading. The suspense building is great and it's fun to try and figure out whodunnit before Olivia does. This author also has another series, the Manor House Mysteries, which I'd love to read as well! (Grumble grumble, library, grumble, grumble)
Details and whatnot can be found at http://www.juliehyzy.com/chef.html. 

5. Darynda Jones - The Charley Davidson Mysteries

These books are technically in the mystery category (at least that's where I found them) but they could also easily be categorized in multiple other categories, such as paranormal, romance, and humor. To be honest, these books do have a bit more romance than I generally care for, however, the rest of the plots, humor, characters, etc. is more than enough to make up for it and keep me hooked!
Charley Davidson is a grim reaper who uses her gifts to help the deceased get closure so that they can move on and also helps them get messages to their loved ones and sometimes helps solve their murders. There are plenty of paranormal elements in these books, as well as lots of suspense, humor, lovable characters, and so much more! You'll laugh, cry, and everything in between.
Details etc. can be found at http://www.daryndajones.com/category/books/.