ARC Review: Lethal in Old Lace by Duffy Brown

Lethal in Old Lace
Author: Duffy Brown
Series: Consignment Shop (Book 5)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (March 13, 2018)

Description: Reagan Summerside returns in national bestselling author Duffy Brown’s fifth Consignment Shop mystery, now for the first time in hardcover.

There are two social functions in Savannah guaranteed to get people talking: weddings and funerals. And just as consignment shop owner Reagan Summerside agrees to marry the hunky Walker Boone, her neighbors, sisters Annie Fritz and Elsie Abbot, step up their business as professional mourners. They are so successful that the Sleepy Pines Retirement Center has hired them as a part of their retirement package. But the celebration over good business is cut short when the residents at Pines suddenly begin dying at an alarming rate. And the sisters are the first suspects.

Reagan has her doubts, however, and begins to look into the strange phenomenon. But then something even stranger happens: a body winds up in the sisters’ pink Caddy. The evidence begins to pile up and the suspicious case of Willie Fishbine, who swindled the sisters out of a fortune and coincidentally died prior to the Pines case, is reopened.

Not wanting Willie to be buried until they can find the killer responsible for the murders, Reagan must catch the culprit in time to walk down the aisle. Witty, fabulous, and full of charm, Lethal in Old Lace is perfect for fans of Ellery Adams and Jenn McKinlay.

My Thoughts: Reagan Summerside should be planning her wedding to hunky lawyer Walker Boone but a plethora of dead bodies get in her way. She and her intrepid Aunt KiKi along with Bruce Willis her wonderful rescue dog are on the case.

It starts at Willie Fishbine's funeral which is poorly attended. Reagan's neighbors Annie Fritz and Elsie are worried about their new business as professional mourners. They need the money because they were sucked into Willie's miracle vitamin scheme which turned out to make money only for Willie.

When a second body - Bonnie Sue's -- is found in their pink Caddy, things look even worse for the sisters. But they aren't the only ones who got sucked into Willie's money-making scheme. Reagan and Aunt KiKi find lots of suspects when they start investigating the Sleepy Pines Retirement Center.

This book was filled with Southern humor from the Southern Belle who is shopping for wedding gowns and booking wedding venues long before her desired fiance has proposed. Given that he is dating a couple of other women and in cahoots with Reagan's ex-husband in attempting to buy Sleepy Pines, he looks like a good suspect for the murders but an unlikely fiance for the Belle. But then there are a number of people at Sleepy Pines who bought into the vitamin scheme and wanted Willie dead.

This book was filled with great characters and was very funny. I loved the way Walker accepted all of Reagan's crazy actions. She and her companions get into all sorts of situations that were played for humor. Who steals a corpse in a coffin and hides it in a car to give themselves time to find the killer? Who keeps moving a corpse around?

I loved this story and am eager to go back and read the previous books in this series.

Favorite Quote:

I spun around, arms spread wide. "And what about me stumbling across all these dead bodies lately? I don't go around looking for them; they just sort of show up on their own. Poof, and there's trouble right in front of me. I think I've acquired some kind of dead body syndrome. Why would anyone want to marry me with all this going on? Heck, I scare myself half the time."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Searcher of the Dead by Nancy Herriman

Searcher of the Dead
Author: Nancy Herriman
Series: A Bess Ellyott Mystery
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (March 13, 2018)

Description: Herbalist and widow Bess Ellyott tries to escape the loss of her husband in Elizabethan London only to find that death is following her, and she may very well be next in Searcher of the Dead, the first in a new historical mystery series by Nancy Herriman.

Living amid the cultural flowering, religious strife, and political storms of Tudor England, Bess Ellyott is an herbalist, a widow, and a hunted woman. She fled London after her husband was brutally murdered, but the bucolic town in the countryside where she lands will offer her no solace. She still doesn’t know who killed her husband, but she knows one thing: The murderer is still out there. This becomes all too clear when Bess’s brother-in-law, a prosperous merchant, is himself found dead―dangling from a tree, an apparent suicide.

But Bess doesn’t believe that for a moment, and nor do her neighbors. Competition is cutthroat in the 17th century, and word around the town holds that the dead man is a victim of rival merchants scheming to corner the wool market. Bess, though, is convinced the killer is out to destroy her family.

Town constable Christopher Harwoode will cross members of his own family to help Bess find the killer―whose next target may very well be Queen Elizabeth I―in this unshakably gripping, devilishly unpredictable series debut that will delight fans of Alison Weir and Philippa Gregory.

My Thoughts: Bess Ellyot is a herbalist and a widow who has fled from London after her husband was poisoned. She is living with her brother in a small town. When her sister's husband is found dead, she doesn't believe that he committed suicide but that is what the crowner decides. A verdict of suicide means that his belongings are forfeited to the crown and the church leaving his widow destitute.

Bess doesn't believe that it was suicide and, along with constable Kit Harwoode, investigates to prove that he was murdered and to find the murderer. Since her brother-in-law was a haughty, quarrelsome man, potential murderers aren't hard to find. He informed on the local Langham family for being closet Catholics and sheltering priests which led to the senior Langham dying in prison and leaving the son Bennett Langham angry with him. He also argued with fellow merchants about the quality of his goods and the major local landowner about selling a property the landowner wanted to expand his mill.

This was a difficult time in England with Elizabeth trying to secure her throne and sending out inquisitors to find and eliminate the remaining Catholics and the Jesuit priest she assumed were trying to foment a revolution. The inquisitors were free to use torture to find the truth and Bess runs afoul of one since she has been to the Langham's home in her role as a healer. Bess's niece also fancies herself in love with Bennett Langham which puts their whole family at risk.

This was an engaging mystery set in a time period I know almost nothing about. It was interesting to learn about the setting. I liked the growing relationship between Kit and Bess. I also thought the mystery was well done.

Favorite Quote:

Truth be told, however, she had her doubts about the constable's willingness to be thorough. After all, his cousin stood to gain from Fulke's suicide. Sir Walter Howe may be displeased to have those goods -- which included a warehouse of fine wool, despite Arthur Stamford's claims otherwise -- snatched away by something so inconvenient as the truth. So, what would Kit Harwoode do -- choose family obligations or the proper execution of justice?

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

First Paragraph/Teaser Tuesday: Lethal in Old Lace by Duffy Brown

Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posted the first paragraph of a book she is reading or planning to read. In 2018, Vicki from I'd Rather Be at the Beach is taking over this meme.

Here's mine:

"You want to marry me?" I asked Walker Boone, who just happened to be the hunkiest guy in all Savannah. "Why in the world would you want to do such a thing?"

 

Link up here. It is very easy to play along:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Here's mine:

Mama gripped the steering wheel, a glint in her eyes. She took a hard right onto Gwinnett, squealed into the sisters' drive, and was out of the car and ringing the bell before I even unbuckled my seat belt. Never underestimate the power of a Conquistador sandwich or the Summerside sweet tooth.

This week I'm spotlighting Lethal in Old Lace by Duffy Brown. This is the 5th in the Consignment Shop mystery series but the first I have read. Here is the description from Amazon:

Reagan Summerside returns in national bestselling author Duffy Brown’s fifth Consignment Shop mystery, now for the first time in hardcover.

There are two social functions in Savannah guaranteed to get people talking: weddings and funerals. And just as consignment shop owner Reagan Summerside agrees to marry the hunky Walker Boone, her neighbors, sisters Annie Fritz and Elsie Abbot, step up their business as professional mourners. They are so successful that the Sleepy Pines Retirement Center has hired them as a part of their retirement package. But the celebration over good business is cut short when the residents at Pines suddenly begin dying at an alarming rate. And the sisters are the first suspects.

Reagan has her doubts, however, and begins to look into the strange phenomenon. But then something even stranger happens: a body winds up in the sisters’ pink Caddy. The evidence begins to pile up and the suspicious case of Willie Fishbine, who swindled the sisters out of a fortune and coincidentally died prior to the Pines case, is reopened.

Not wanting Willie to be buried until they can find the killer responsible for the murders, Reagan must catch the culprit in time to walk down the aisle. Witty, fabulous, and full of charm, Lethal in Old Lace is perfect for fans of Ellery Adams and Jenn McKinlay.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (March 5, 2018)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I will be combining my YA and adult reading and purchases on this one weekly roundup. YA and middle grade reviews will still be posted on  Ms. Martin Teaches Media - my other blog.

Other Than Reading... 

I'm writing this on a sunny Saturday morning. We've had temperatures hovering around 40 and lots of melting snow this past week. The weather dudes tell me some "interesting" weather is coming though. Rain changing to significant amounts of snow will make for a slippery, wintry mess if their forecasts hold true. A trip to the grocery store is in my near future.

Cross your fingers for me. The closing on my townhouse is scheduled for Monday (today) at 3 PM. I hope this one goes through because I called and cancelled all my utilities and my homeowner's insurance effective Monday. I really don't want to have to call and restart all of them.

Also, I scheduled my tax appointment for late this coming week in the hopes that the snow and ice will be gone by then. Otherwise, next week is appointment free. Since I spent most of last week caught up in a binge re-read of The Others series by Anne Bishop, this week will be spent reading review books and getting back on schedule. I'm still a month ahead on my calendar but two of the three review books I got this week jumped to the top of the line and made me rearrange my calendar.

February Report

I read 30 books last month. Ten of them were mine but only one counts as coming off TBR mountain because I've had it more than six months. Four of them were re-reads. (See Anne Bishop above and below.)

I read twenty review books last month - ten from the adult stack and ten from the YA stack - which sounds pretty impressive except I also added nine new review books which added to the 41 review books I got in January. Fourteen I read this month were mystery/thrillers. I marked twelve book as romances though there is probably some overlap between the two categories for romantic suspense titles. Twenty-five of the thirty books were read on my Kindle.

Read Last Week

• A Death of No Importance by Mariah Fredericks is a historical mystery told by a lady's maid recalling events that happened in 1910. I enjoyed this story. My review for this April 10 release will be posted on March 31.
• They Lost Their Heads! by Carlyn Beccia is a middle grade nonfiction book aimed at those who love the gruesome. My review for this April 3 release will be posted on March 30.

After those, I got caught in a rereading binge and read the whole Others series again.

Lake Silence by Anne Bishop

Written in Red by Anne Bishop

Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop

Vision in Silver by Anne Bishop

Marked in Flesh by Anne Bishop

Etched in Bone by Anne Bishop

Currently

A Glimmer of Hope by Steve McHugh is my most recent Kindle First book. I chose this one because it is urban fantasy.

Next Week

• The Stone Girl's Story by Sarah Beth Durst is a middle grade fantasy sent to me by the author. It's April 3 release date moved it to the top of the stack.
• Bad Neighbors by Maia Chance (April 10)

• Lord of the Pies by Nell Hampton (April 10)
• The Shadow of Death by Jane Willan (April 10)

Reviews Posted

On Inside of a Dog:

Lake Silence by Anne Bishop

Hooked on a Phoenix by Ashlyn Chase

The Policeman's Daughter by Trudy Nan Boyce

A Call to Vengeance by David Weber, Timothy Zahn, Thomas Pope

On Ms. Martin Teaches Media:

The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

One for TBR mountain and three for my review stack this week.

Collecting the Dead by Spencer Kope (the second book in this series is on my review stack)

A Glimmer of Hope by Steve McHugh (April 1)

The Stone Girl's Story by Sarah Beth Durst (April 3)

The Lies They Tell by Gillian French (May 1)

What was your week like?

ARC Review: Lake Silence by Anne Bishop

Lake Silence
Author: Anne Bishop
Publication: Ace (March 6, 2018)

Description: In this thrilling and suspenseful fantasy set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Others series, an inn owner and her shape-shifting lodger find themselves enmeshed in danger and dark secrets.

Human laws do not apply in the territory controlled by the Others--vampires, shape-shifters, and even deadlier paranormal beings. And this is a fact that humans should never, ever forget....

After her divorce, Vicki DeVine took over a rustic resort near Lake Silence, in a human town that is not human controlled. Towns such as Vicki's don't have any distance from the Others, the dominant predators who rule most of the land and all of the water throughout the world. And when a place has no boundaries, you never really know what is out there watching you.

Vicki was hoping to find a new career and a new life. But when her lodger, Aggie Crowe--one of the shape-shifting Others--discovers a murdered man, Vicki finds trouble instead. The detectives want to pin the death on her, despite the evidence that nothing human could have killed the victim. As Vicki and her friends search for answers, ancient forces are roused by the disturbance in their domain. They have rules that must not be broken--and all the destructive powers of nature at their command.

My Thoughts: Vicki DeVine got The Jumble as her divorce settlement when her emotionally abusive husband Yorick Dane decided he needed to move up from his starter wife. She has spent months updating the very run down resort on the shore of Lake Silence. The Jumble is near Sproing, the only human village near Lake Silence. When her only renter Aggie Crowe is getting ready to heat an eyeball in the wave-cooker and mentions that the rest of the body is on the path between Vicki's place and the neighbor, Vicki contacts the nearest police station.

Since the troubles that happened when the Others cleaned house leaving many humans missing or dead, Sproing doesn't have a police force of their own. Wayne Grimshaw is the highway patrol officer who is sent to Sproing to check out the body. He is used to patrolling the roads and knows very well that there are many dangerous Others out there. One look tells him that the victim was not killed by a human.

Grimshaw begins an investigation which leads right back to Vicki's ex and a club of unscrupulous businessmen. Apparently, they want The Jumble back so that they can turn it into a high class resort. Luckily, Vicki has made friends including her new lawyer Ilya Sanguinati who is the vampire overseer of the humans in Sproing. She is also befriended by many of the Others and Elementals who call Lake Silence home and who want Vicki to succeed in her new business which provides a way for humans and Others to learn about each other. She also makes friends with some of the humans in Sproing too, including Julian Farrow who was an Intuit and former police officer and is currently the owner of Lettuce Read - the local bookstore.

I liked that the story was told from a number of viewpoints with the chapter titles saying who was telling that part of the story. I like that that humans are not the dominant species in this world. I liked that the Others were so very different than humans in the way they thought. Vicki was a great character who had self-deprecating humor despite suffering from crippling anxiety attacks. I liked the way she treated any of the Others she met with caution, courtesy, and respect. I liked the idea that a bookstore was an essential part of the town and that sharing stories was a way for the Others and the humans to begin understanding each other.

I highly recommend this great fantasy story.

Favorite Quote:

Oh golly. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Less than a month ago, I'd discovered that my lodger was one the Crowgard, and I had a Panther and a Bear as employees. Now I was hobnobbing with the Lady of the Lake and Fire and acting all casual about other Elementals like Water and Winter taking an interest in The Jumble. Look at adaptable me.

I so wanted to sit down before I passed out.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Lake Silence by Anne Bishop

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

Moonsday, Juin 12

I wouldn't have known about the dead man if I hadn't walked into the kitchen at the exact moment my one-and-only lodger was about to warm up an eyeball in the wave-cooker.

Friday 56:

Before I could become more than mildly alarmed, the Lady of the Lake rose out of the water to my left and said, "You shouldn't tease Miss Vicki after she gave you a carrot."

The swirling stopped. I looked to my right. The pony had disappeared.

This week I am featuring Lake Silence by Anne Bishop. This is one of my most highly anticipated books of the year. This story is set in her Others urban fantasy world. Here is the description from Amazon:

In this thrilling and suspenseful fantasy set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Others series, an inn owner and her shape-shifting lodger find themselves enmeshed in danger and dark secrets.

Human laws do not apply in the territory controlled by the Others--vampires, shape-shifters, and even deadlier paranormal beings. And this is a fact that humans should never, ever forget....

After her divorce, Vicki DeVine took over a rustic resort near Lake Silence, in a human town that is not human controlled. Towns such as Vicki's don't have any distance from the Others, the dominant predators who rule most of the land and all of the water throughout the world. And when a place has no boundaries, you never really know what is out there watching you.

Vicki was hoping to find a new career and a new life. But when her lodger, Aggie Crowe--one of the shape-shifting Others--discovers a murdered man, Vicki finds trouble instead. The detectives want to pin the death on her, despite the evidence that nothing human could have killed the victim. As Vicki and her friends search for answers, ancient forces are roused by the disturbance in their domain. They have rules that must not be broken--and all the destructive powers of nature at their command.

ARC Review: Hooked on a Phoenix by Ashlyn Chase

Hooked on a Phoenix
Author: Ashlyn Chase
Series: Phoenix Brothers
Publication: Sourcebooks Casablanca (March 6, 2018)

Description: LOCKED IN A BANK VAULT TOGETHER...
THEY MIGHT REDEFINE THE MEANING OF 'SAFE' SEX

Misty Carlisle works as a bank teller in Boston's financial district. She's had more rotten luck in her life than most, except when her childhood crush shows up to cash his paycheck. Then her heart races and her mouth goes dry.

Gabe Fierro is a firefighter—and a phoenix. Like his brothers, his biggest challenge is finding a woman open-minded enough to accept a shapeshifter into her life. When his boyhood friend asks him to watch over his little sister Misty, he reluctantly agrees. But when the bank where she works gets held up, Gabe does everything he can to protect her. The two of them end up locked in the bank's vault...where things get steamier than either of them ever imagined.

My Thoughts: This is the latest episode in the Phoenix Brothers paranormal romance series. This one focuses on Gabe who is the middle of seven sons. He's the responsible one who is quiet and reluctant to take responsibility for anyone. He has decided that he'll never marry or have children because he fears that he won't be able to care for them.

However, when his best friend asks him to look after his baby sister while he is deployed to Afghanistan, Gabe agrees. After all, he liked her when they were children hanging around the same Boston South End neighborhood. Misty has grown up and is back in Boston after seeing her grandparents through their final days. She's working as a bank teller though her real dream is to be a dancer.

Gabe decides to casually look over her by opening a checking account at the branch where she works only to come in during a bank robbery. He pushes both of them into the safe where they spend hours getting to know each other again. Misty has grown up into a very attractive and engaging young woman who is still in love with the boy who was her hero when she was a child.

Misty is going through some health issues and Gabe accompanies her to a number of doctor's appointments where she is diagnosed with MS. After a birthday party where they celebrate by becoming intimate, she finds herself pregnant. She knows that Gabe will do the "right thing" but she doesn't want to pressure him to do something he doesn't want to do. Gabe is torn between his previous vision of himself and this new vision which includes a family with Misty.

To add more excitement, Misty's boss at the bank is becoming a stalker who is trying to break up her relationship with Gabe. And Gabe is hurt in an explosion and needs to die and be reborn which means he needs to spend some months as a phoenix until he regains his current age.

This was a fun romance with an interesting sort of paranormal being.

Favorite Quote:

"Because every woman I've ever dated wants kids. If I couldn't even look after a dog, how could I trust myself with a baby? A child is even more clueless than a dog."

"Are you saying you'd leave a baby tied to the front door?"

"Probably not."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.