Cozy

Pies and Prejudice (Charmed Pie Shoppe Mysteries #1) By: Ellery Adams

Pies and Prejudice (Charmed Pie Shoppe Mysteries #1) By: Ellery Adams

Plot:

When the going gets tough, Ella Mae LaFaye bakes pies. So when she catches her husband cheating in New York, she heads back home to Havenwood, Georgia, where she can drown her sorrows in fresh fruit filling and flakey crust. But her pies aren’t just delicious. They’re having magical effects on the people who eat them—and the public is hungry for more.

Discovering her hidden talent for enchantment, Ella Mae makes her own wish come true by opening the Charmed Pie Shoppe. But with her old nemesis Loralyn Gaynor making trouble, and her old crush Hugh Dylan making nice, she has more than pie on her plate. and when Loralyn’s fiancé is found dead—killed with Ella Mae’s rolling pin—it’ll take all her sweet magic to clear her name.

Review:

I’m not a pie fan, I like maybe three kinds of pie, not a huge fan of fruit in deserts. I’m also not good at making the ones I do like, each time I’ve tried I’ve screwed up somehow. I can bake cakes and cookies and I’m a pretty fair cook but pies have so far alluded me. All that to say, after reading this book I desperately wanted a pie. I wanted to make one, I wanted to eat one, I wanted a freaking pie, but I’ve yet to get my hands on one.

Anyway, I’ve been looking for a cozy mystery author that I like as much as Jenn McKinley and while I’m not saying Ellery Adams is there for me yet, she’s got promise. I even used birthday money and paid a full $7.99 for the sequel, that’s a lot for me to spend on an author that I’m unfamiliar with.

I enjoyed the world created, I thought the mystery was intriguing, and I loved all the baking. The characters were good, especially the side characters. This is a kind of paranormal cozy, but the magic system isn’t really defined and Ella Mae didn’t even know she had magic until the very end. She was just able to infuse her pies with feelings. It was very lite paranormal and could be interesting to see how it’s developed.

4/5

The Crepes of Wrath (A Pancake House Mystery #1) By: Sarah Fox

The Crepes of Wrath (A Pancake House Mystery #1) By: Sarah Fox

Plot:

When Marley McKinney’s aging cousin, Jimmy, is hospitalized with pneumonia, she agrees to help run his pancake house while he recovers. With its rustic interior and syrupy scent, the Flip Side Pancake House is just as she pictured it—and the surly chef is a wizard with crêpes. Marley expects to spend a leisurely week or two in Wildwood Cove, the quaint, coastal community where she used to spend her summers, but then Cousin Jimmy is found murdered, sprawled on the rocks beneath a nearby cliff.

After she stumbles across evidence of stolen goods in Jimmy’s workshop, Marley is determined to find out what’s really going on in the not-so-quiet town of Wildwood Cove. With help from her childhood crush and her adopted cat, Flapjack, Marley sinks her teeth into the investigation. But if she’s not careful, she’s going to get burned by a killer who’s only interested in serving up trouble.

Review:

I’m currently on the lookout for a cozy mystery author I love as much as Jenn McKinley so when I saw this I snatched it up. I like restaurants so I figured I wouldn’t have the issue I had with Better Homes and Corpses.

This was a cute story and I didn’t guess who done it for a while, which was nice, however I didn’t think the characters were fleshed out very well. Marley had the most done for her but I felt like it was more facts and not personality created. Also, the little romance that was between the main character and another was boring and I didn’t get any chemistry from it.

The mystery was good, but since the character was going through all kinds of other things because of who was murdered it didn’t feel like the main focus, which is fine with a cozy. Maybe I would have liked it better if Marley had something else to think about.

3/5

Scared Witchless (Bless Your Witch #1) By: Amy Boyles

scared-witchless

Scared Witchless (Bless Your Witch #1) By: Amy Boyles

Plot:

A witch. A murder. A wedding dress?
Dylan Apel is having one heck of a summer. She knows her hand-made clothing is special, but magical? Discovering that she’s a witch is bad enough, but when Dylan realizes there are folks who’ll kill to possess her witchy powers— that’s enough to make a girl want to hide out in the back of her boutique. Only problem is, Queen Witch is in town, itchin’ to make sure Dylan learns to cast spells, and this witch won’t take no for an answer.

Dylan must learn fast—someone just killed her best client with a poisoned gown meant for Dylan. Was it the tall, mysterious hottie in black, who’s suddenly everywhere she goes? After all, the first thing Roman Bane says is he doesn’t like witches. Is he here to save her, or kill her?

Dylan is barely getting a handle on her new powers when she finds herself surrounded by witches bossing her this way and that, local police nosing about, and wary clients—death by clothing is not good for business. And the solstice is coming … a time when witch powers are at their peak. Can Dylan survive the chaos long enough to figure out her new life?

Review:

A while ago I was looking for a paranormal cozy and I kept picking up books that weren’t what I was looking for, this, finally, is exactly what I was trying to find. An interesting magic system and a nice cast of characters. I did think there could have been more development on the character front, there might have been too much focused on magic, but they did just discover they were witches. I found the grandmother to be more annoying than kooky or endearing. I also didn’t like how the romance ended, Dylan was being too insecure on that front and I’m concerned that might dominate too much in future books.

3.5/5

On Borrowed Time (Library Lover’s Mystery #5) By: Jenn McKinlay

on-borrowed-time-jenn-mckinlay

On Borrowed Time (Library Lover’s Mystery #5) By: Jenn McKinlay

Plot:

Loving a good cup of coffee runs in the family for Briar Creek library director Lindsey Norris. But when her brother, Jack, a consultant for a coffee company, goes missing, her favorite beverage becomes a key clue in a dangerous mystery. Between preparing the library for the holidays and juggling the affections of ex-boyfriend, Captain Mike Sullivan, and her new crush, actor Robbie Vine, Lindsey has her hands full. But the mysterious disappearance of her world-traveling playboy brother takes precedence over all. Afraid that involving the police could brew trouble for Jack, Lindsey takes matters into her own hands. But as her quest for her brother embroils her in a strange case involving South American business dealings and an enigmatic and exotic woman, it’ll take the help of both her library book club—the crafternooners—and her eager-to-please suitors to keep Jack from ending up in hot water…

Review:

I’m well on my way to being a Jenn McKinlay superfan. I own ebook and paperback copies, though, I do still check out some from the library.

This book didn’t move Lindsey’s relationships forward as much as I wanted, still hasn’t gotten back with Sully. She was actually a bit stupid in this one, which is one of the things I’ve always liked about McKinlay’s books, the heroines aren’t stupid. Her plan at the end and the way she acted wasn’t the normal smart Lindsey. Of course her brother was involved and people don’t always think clearly when family is involved.

This book was kind of filler character and relationship wise. The mystery was fairly predictable but fine. Overall not my favorite in the series.

3.5/5

Aunt Dimity’s Death (An Aunt Dimity Mystery #1) By: Nancy Atherton

Aunt Dimity's Death

Aunt Dimity’s Death (An Aunt Dimity Mystery #1) By: Nancy Atherton

Plot:

Down-on-her-luck Lori Shepherd thought Aunt Dimity was a pretend character in her mother’s bedtime stories … until the Dickensian law firm of Willis & Willis offers the possibility of large inheritance — if she can discover the secret hidden in letters between Dimity and her mother. Plus 1-pg recipe Beth’s Oatmeal Cookies.

Review:

I didn’t realize just how long ago 1992 was until reading this book. The lead character is early thirties, I believe, maybe younger and she talks about how her mother worked for Eisenhower during WWII. The language is also more dated than I had expected.

Was not a fan of the heroine, Lori, she was destitute barely surviving and gets handed a golden ticket, awesome, but she’s so—ugh. I don’t have a problem with her attitudes toward money and all of a sudden getting to buy stuff, I have a problem with how she treated Bill. He was nice to her and she acted like a bitch to him. She was annoyed he was trying to be some kind of knight in shining armor and seemed to always think he was playing a prank on her, but he wasn’t.

She eventually warmed up to him, and she got better, still not one of my favorite characters, though. She was bossy to Bill, super friendly to everyone else, and went from not being able to cook to being able to pull off meringues without issue.

I picked this up months ago in my search for cozy mysteries. It was billed as one and I thought it sounded interesting enough, but this would not be considered a cozy with todays definitions. There wasn’t much of a mystery, just why did the ghost of Dimity feel unable to cross over. It was easily solved once they actually got around to it, and then that was it. The mystery wasn’t the reason for the story, overcoming grief and moving on with your life was. It was like the publisher really liked the story, wanted to publish it, but had no idea how to bill it so just slapped a mystery label on it.

I ended up crying within the first few pages because like the movie Up it hits the character with one loss after another and it’s super depressing. Honestly I cried throughout the entire thing because I empathize way too easily and all Lori did was come across things that reminded her of her mother or Dimity or someone else that was dead. Super depressing book, for me, and I don’t see myself reading the rest of the series.

3/5