Blog Tour and Review: Chef Maurice and the Wrath of Grapes by J.A. Lang

I'm honored and thrilled to be participating in this blog tour. Chef Maurice and the Wrath of Grapes is the second book in the Chef Maurice series. My review of the first book, Chef Maurice and a Spot of Truffle, was one of my first posts on this blog and the only book to receive a 5 star review from me thus far!

The cozy mystery series that started it all for me was the Agatha Raisin series by M.C. Beaton, which also happens to be set in the Cotswolds. If you are a lover of M.C. Beaton, I believe you'll love J.A. Lang as well. Even though this was only the second book, it already felt like reconnecting with old friends, which is how a great read should feel, especially when it's a cozy.

In Wrath, Chef Maurice and his good friend Arthur are members of a newly formed Wine Appreciation Club and are invited to a wine tasting/dinner at the home of Sir William Burton-Trent. Much to everyone's surprise, before dinner can be served Sir William is found dead in his basement. As in the first book, PC Lucy is called in to investigate, but Chef Maurice, with the reluctant help of Arthur, end up doing some sleuthing of their own and ultimately Chef Maurice solves the mystery. 

There were two minor cons to this book; one was that, though it is a short read at 169 pages, it took about 30 pages to really get going. For a book of its length, I expected it to get into the action quickly and maintain that pace throughout the entire book. Secondly, the first book was really jam packed with laugh out loud humor. There was absolutely the same sense of humor in this book too, but not nearly as much of it. Obviously when you are writing or reading a series, not every book is going to be absolute perfection, plus every person has their own unique tastes and what I find less enjoyable, others may find more enjoyable.

I will say, once the investigation got going, the pace and the humor did pick up considerably and the last half of the book was noticeably better than the first half and I had trouble putting it down. There was a cute sub-plot involving Patrick and PC Lucy that added enjoyment without taking over the mystery. There were also some really fun elements to this particular plot, including hidden staircases, family secrets, and of course, lots of wine!

I admit, I guessed wrong as to who the murderer was. There were plenty of clues, but also a lot of red herrings! The red herrings definitely threw me off, but I did not mind. I enjoyed being surprised at who the culprit was at the end and I thought the ending was extremely well done.

 I give this book a 4 out of 5 and would definitely recommend it. If you'd like to learn more about J.A. Lang and/or her books, you can visit her website at http://www.jalang.net. Also, from now through July 30th, you can join her newsletter for a chance to win a signed copy of Chef Maurice and the Wrath of Grapes ;)

Review: Needled to Death by Maggie Sefton

Hi everyone,

I'm so sorry that it's been so long between posts! Life got super crazy there for a while. I'll explain a bit more about that in a bit, but first I wanted to go ahead and get another review posted :) I recently started Maggie Sefton's Knitting series and to be honest, I wasn't at all sure it'd be something I could get into at first because I know nothing about and have never had any interest in knitting. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that while knitting does play a part in the books, it doesn't overshadow the plot, characters, or any of the major elements. Needled to Death is the second book in the series. I enjoyed it immensely! The first book was really good, but this one, in my opinion, was even better. I was sucked in from very early on and could hardly put the book down until I was finished!

One of the things I liked was that there were a few new characters introduced in this book and there were also multiple locations that the characters traveled to which was fun for me. One character in particular, Jayleen, I am really hoping becomes a regular character because even though she had her flaws, I really love her character and am hoping to see more of her!

The biggest downside to this book for me was the fact that the murderer was, at least for me, highly predictable. I basically figured out that this person was the killer from very early on in the book, so while the rest of the book was certainly engrossing and enjoyable regardless, I was disappointed when I got to the end and found out that yes, my guess was right the entire time.

Still, that alone is not enough for me to subtract much from the score, so I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 and would highly recommend it and the entire series :)

To learn more about Maggie Sefton and/or her books, you can visit her website. Needled to Death can be purchased from Amazon, B&N, BAM!, and IndieBound. It's available both in paperback and eBook form.

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/.