ARC Review: Burning Ridge by Margaret Mizushima

Burning Ridge
Author: Margaret Mizushima
Series: Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (September 11, 2018)

Description: Featuring Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo, Burning Ridge by critically acclaimed author Margaret Mizushima is just the treat for fans of Alex Kava.

On a rugged Colorado mountain ridge, Mattie Cobb and her police dog partner Robo make a grisly discovery―and become the targets of a ruthless killer.

Colorado’s Redstone Ridge is a place of extraordinary beauty, but this rugged mountain wilderness harbors a horrifying secret. When a charred body is discovered in a shallow grave on the ridge, officer Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo are called in to spearhead the investigation. But this is no ordinary crime―and it soon becomes clear that Mattie has a close personal connection to the dead man.

Joined by local veterinarian Cole Walker, the pair scours the mountaintop for evidence and makes another gruesome discovery: the skeletonized remains of two adults and a child. And then, the unthinkable happens. Could Mattie become the next victim in the murderer’s deadly game?

A deranged killer torments Mattie with a litany of dark secrets that call into question her very identity. As a towering blaze races across the ridge, Cole and Robo search desperately for her―but time is running out in Margaret Mizushima’s fourth spine-tingling Timber Creek K-9 mystery, Burning Ridge.

My Thoughts: Deputy Mattie Cobb's fourth case hits close to home. When Cole Walker and his daughters discover a burned boot with foot still inside, Mattie and her K9 partner Robo are called in to see if Robo can find the rest of the body.

Meanwhile, Mattie is considering meeting with her brother who was raised in a separate foster home after their dad was sent to prison for abusing his wife and kids and their mom disappeared. They haven't seen each other since they were children but Willie called recently to try to make amends as part of is treatment for drug addiction. Talking with her brother brought back repressed memories of her childhood that have sent Mattie to therapy and make her feel like she shouldn't connect to other people. This puts her growing relationship with Cole in jeopardy.

Mattie is also developing a relationship with Riley Flynn. She and her father have recently moved to town and, with her father working two jobs, Riley is lonely. Mattie met her when doing a school safety visit. She wants to find a way to help Riley connect with the community and make friends.

When the body turns out to be Mattie's brother Willie, the investigation gets more complicated. She knows he wouldn't have voluntarily returned to Timber Creek from California because of all the bad memories. Mattie and the rest of law enforcement are looking for California connections and trying to figure out how and why Willie got back. There are quite a few suspects. Among them are Tucker York who works for Colorado Parks and Wildlife and was in the area because a plan is in place to move part of the herd of Bighorn Sheep to a new location. Bret Flynn, Riley's dad, is also a suspect because he is behaving suspiciously.

This story was exciting and suspense filled. I really like how Mattie grows and changes in this story and how she has grown over the course of the four books so far. I like her growing relationship with Cole and his daughters. I really like her relationship with her dog Robo who is clearly her best friend.

Favorite Quote:

Something hit her square in the back, between her shoulders. Pain bit hard, and a burning sensation spread outward. Another dart! She reached over her shoulder, but she couldn't touch it. She tried reaching below, and it glanced off her fingertips. She struggled for another inch, grasped it, and pulled it out.

Her arms grew slack; her hands shook. With a huge effort, she tossed the dart toward the tall grass at the edge of the house.

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

Friday Memes: Burning Ridge by Margaret Mizushima

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:

Saturday Night, Mid-May

If Deputy Mattie Cobb had eaten supper at home with her K-9 partner, Robo, she wouldn't have noticed the rig parked illegally across the street from the Main Street Diner.

Friday 56:

She said that last week, before he disappeared, Willie might have connected with someone from his past, an old friend of the family. Do you know anything about that?"

After several seconds, Carlos answered. "Maybe."

"What do you mean by maybe?"

This week I am featuring Burning Ridge by Margaret Mizushima. This is the fourth mystery in the Timber Creek K9 series. I got this eARC from NetGalley. Here is the description from Amazon:

Featuring Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo, Burning Ridge by critically acclaimed author Margaret Mizushima is just the treat for fans of Alex Kava.

On a rugged Colorado mountain ridge, Mattie Cobb and her police dog partner Robo make a grisly discovery―and become the targets of a ruthless killer.

Colorado’s Redstone Ridge is a place of extraordinary beauty, but this rugged mountain wilderness harbors a horrifying secret. When a charred body is discovered in a shallow grave on the ridge, officer Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo are called in to spearhead the investigation. But this is no ordinary crime―and it soon becomes clear that Mattie has a close personal connection to the dead man.

Joined by local veterinarian Cole Walker, the pair scours the mountaintop for evidence and makes another gruesome discovery: the skeletonized remains of two adults and a child. And then, the unthinkable happens. Could Mattie become the next victim in the murderer’s deadly game?

A deranged killer torments Mattie with a litany of dark secrets that call into question her very identity. As a towering blaze races across the ridge, Cole and Robo search desperately for her―but time is running out in Margaret Mizushima’s fourth spine-tingling Timber Creek K-9 mystery, Burning Ridge.

ARC Review: Read and Gone by Allison Brook

Read and Gone
Author: Allison Brook
Series: A Haunted Library Mystery (Book 2)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (September 11, 2018)

Description: Twenty million dollars’ worth of missing gems bring Carrie Singleton’s long-lost and larcenous dad back into her life and it’s up to Carrie to clear his name.

A devoted dad is as precious as diamonds, but Carrie Singleton wouldn’t know since her dad Jim’s been on the lam most of her life. In an unusual family reunion, she finds Jim breaking into her cottage in the middle of the night. The fun really starts when he begs her to help him recover his half of a twenty-million-dollar gem heist he pulled off with the local jeweler, Benton Parr. When she refuses, Jim takes off again.

Carrie finds her father again behind bars for the recent murder of Benton Parr. Who made the connection? Unbeknownst to her, Carrie’s boyfriend Dylan, an insurance investigator, has been searching for the gems. Determined to find the jewels herself, she starts examining every facet of Parr’s life. She turns up a treasure trove of suspects, one of whom bashes her on the head as she’s searching the victim’s country cabin.

Retreating to the quiet confines of the library where she works, Carrie watches as Smokey Joe, the resident cat, paws at a hole in the wall. Is he after the library’s ghost Evelyn, or something shinier? The second charming Haunted Library mystery by Allison Brook, Read and Gone will be a delight for fans of Jenn McKinlay and Leslie Meier.

My Thoughts: Carrie is settling in as the Programs and Events Coordinator for the public library in the town where her father's family lives. Her current program features Benton Parr - a local jeweler - who is talking about all sorts of precious gems. But Benton has a hidden not-so-legal past. Carrie's long estranged father has come to town to get the jewels that he and Benton stole. Jim has been in and out of Carrie's life since she was a child. His crimes had him spending a lot of time in prison and otherwise away from the family.

Jim has asked Carrie to help him recover his half of the jewels that were stolen. Before that happens though, Benton is killed and Jim is found running from the scene of the crime. Now Carrie has to prove her father innocent and find the jewels too. She intends to return them to her boyfriend Dylan who is an insurance investigator on the track of the missing gems.

Benton Parr's death is only the first. Tom Quincy who had come to town to try to find the jewels for himself is the second victim. The final victim is Mariel Parr who is Benton's wife. Carrie has all sorts of suspects apart from her father. Before his death, Quincy was a great suspect. Paul Darby whose wife was having an affair with Benton is also a good suspect given that he was near where Quincy and Mariel's bodies were found. His wife, who works in the coffee shop in the library, is also behaving in a very suspicious manner. Then there are the Parr's children Richard and Dina and Dina's wannabe boyfriend Chris Crowley.

Along with her investigation, Carrie is very busy at the library since it is almost Christmas and there are all sorts of programs and parties including their Secret Santa celebration where she drew the name of Dorothy who is an very unpleasant person who made things difficult for Carrie when she first got her job at the library. Her aunt Evelyn is a ghost who frequently appears to Carrie and often gives her clues about her investigations.

This was an engaging mystery with a nicely twisty plot.

Favorite Quote:

I drove home, my irritation with Dina simmering like a tomato sauce over a low flame. Had she deliberately sent me off on a wild goose chase while she had other fish to fry? Despite my bad mood, I giggled at my visit to the Land of Mixed Metaphors and Trite Expressions.

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

ARC Review: In Cold Chocolate by Dorothy St. James

In Cold Chocolate
Author: Dorothy St. James
Series: A Southern Chocolate Shop Mystery
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (September 11, 2018)

Description: In Dorothy St. James’s third delectable Southern Chocolate Shop mystery, a new batch of chocolate and troubles of the heart cause a string of disasters for the Chocolate Box’s new owner, Charity Penn.

The vintage seaside town of Camellia Beach, South Carolina seems like the perfect place for romance with its quiet beach and its decadent chocolate shop that serves the world’s richest dark chocolates. The Chocolate Box’s owner, Charity Penn, falls even further under the island’s moonlit spell as she joins Althea Bays and the rest of the turtle watch team to witness a new generation of baby sea turtles hatch and make their way into the wide ocean.

Before the babies arrive, gunshots ring out in the night. Cassidy Jones, the local Casanova, is found dead in the sand with his lover Jody Dalton―the same woman who has vowed to destroy the Chocolate Box―holding the gun. It’s an obvious crime of passion, or so everyone believes. But when Jody’s young son pleads with Penn to bring his mother back to him, she can’t say no. She dives headfirst into a chocolate swirl of truth and lies, and must pick through an assortment of likely (and sometimes unsavory) suspects before it’s too late for Penn and for those she loves in Dorothy St. James’s third rich installment of the Southern Chocolate Shop mysteries, In Cold Chocolate.

My Thoughts: This story is the third of Charity Penn's adventures in Camellia Beach, South Carolina. She has inherited the Chocolate Box - a store making and selling unique chocolates from a rare cocoa bean - from a woman she believes to be her grandmother. However, her aunts and uncles are contesting the will because they don't believe Penn is actually their mother's granddaughter. One of the aunts did confess that she was Penn's mother but only Penn and her lawyer Harley heard the confession and now she's denying it.

Penn has gotten involved with the turtle watch because the island is a prime breeding ground for sea turtles. One of the other volunteers in Jody Dalton who is Harley's ex-wife and an anger-filled person who seems to have a particular grudge for Penn. When Jody loses her temper because a new owner hasn't turned off his house lights and takes out her gun to take care of the lights, an accident happens and the local lothario, and Jody's current lover, is found shot to death with Jody holding the gun. It should be an open-and-shut case but Jody says she's innocent and Jody's 10-year-old son Gavin asks Penn to find out the truth.

Penn begins investigating but she receives threats and discouragement from almost everyone. As she investigates, she finds that many people wanted Cassidy dead since he delighted in gathering secrets about the town people.

Because this is the third book in the series, a lot of Penn's background isn't stated. I did learn that she is not a trusting person who was abandoned by her mother and left on her father's doorstep as an infant. Apparently, he wasn't a loving father and his mother didn't nurture her either. She grew up feeling that she wasn't valued. That seems to be why she is so determined to make a place for herself in Camellia Beach where her mother's mother welcomed her and valued her.

I figured out who the villain was pretty early on in this mystery but that didn't stop me from enjoying this cozy mystery. I liked Penn and feel, from some information at the end, that she has more adventures in store. I don't think the question of her parentage has been resolved yet even though her inheritance seems to be. I liked the setting of this story and the quirky characters, including Penn, who inhabit this story.

Favorite Quote:

Names came flying at me too fast for me to categorize. There was Fletcher Grimbal who lost his job because of Cassidy, the woman in the turquoise muumuu who was found standing over Cassidy's dead body but felt her secrets too dear to stick around and talk to the police, Johnny Pane who'd been terrified by what Cassidy might say about him, and the island's oldest resident, Ethel Crump who could outshoot anyone. Even my own mother, Florence Corners, had been skulking around with Cassidy.

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

First Paragraph/Teaser Tuesday: Read and Gone by Allison Brook

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:

I glanced around my cottage at the thirty or so guests laughing and chatting, and grinned. My party's a success. They're all having a great time! Judging by the bulging plastic bag of discarded paper plates, it was time to serve dessert. I was on my way to the kitchen to instruct Mrs. C to put out coffee and tea, when I felt a tug on my pants leg.

 

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:

"I was telling your uncle and Mr. Talbot the circumstances under which my men caught your father running from the scene of the crime."

I nodded. "Yes, he told me. He also swears that he didn't kill Benton Parr."

This week I am featuring Read and Gone: A Haunted Library Mystery by Allison Brook. I got this eARC from NetGalley. Here is the description from Amazon:

Twenty million dollars’ worth of missing gems bring Carrie Singleton’s long-lost and larcenous dad back into her life and it’s up to Carrie to clear his name.

A devoted dad is as precious as diamonds, but Carrie Singleton wouldn’t know since her dad Jim’s been on the lam most of her life. In an unusual family reunion, she finds Jim breaking into her cottage in the middle of the night. The fun really starts when he begs her to help him recover his half of a twenty-million-dollar gem heist he pulled off with the local jeweler, Benton Parr. When she refuses, Jim takes off again.

Carrie finds her father again behind bars for the recent murder of Benton Parr. Who made the connection? Unbeknownst to her, Carrie’s boyfriend Dylan, an insurance investigator, has been searching for the gems. Determined to find the jewels herself, she starts examining every facet of Parr’s life. She turns up a treasure trove of suspects, one of whom bashes her on the head as she’s searching the victim’s country cabin.

Retreating to the quiet confines of the library where she works, Carrie watches as Smokey Joe, the resident cat, paws at a hole in the wall. Is he after the library’s ghost Evelyn, or something shinier? The second charming Haunted Library mystery by Allison Brook, Read and Gone will be a delight for fans of Jenn McKinlay and Leslie Meier. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Sept. 3, 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...

This was a quiet week filled with reading and blogging. I set up my calendar for October and made the basic blog posts for the month. I still have lots to do even before reading the books before the posts are ready though. I made my State of the Stack post to keep track of my review books.

Since it's a new month, I took a look at last month's totals. I read 33 books with 21 of them coming from my Review stack. I read a total of 11,436 pages. 26 of the books I read were ebooks. I added 22 books to my collection this month and have only read one so far. Nine of the books were for review with 5 from Edelweiss, 3 from NetGalley, and one from an author. 18 of the 22 were Kindle books.

This coming week should also be a quiet one. Hopefully, I'll finish getting posts ready on my October calendar and begin lowering the stack of October review books.

Read Last Week

If you can't wait until the review shows up on my blog, reviews are posted to LibraryThing and Goodreads as soon as I write them (usually right after I finish reading a book.)

• The Grand Escape by Neal Bascomb - YA review, nonfiction. My review will be posted on Sept. 21.
• The Emerald Sea by Richelle Mead - YA Fantasy from TBR mountain. My review will be posted on Sept. 17.
• Chasing Truth by Julie Cross - YA spy/thriller from TBR mountain. My review will be posted on Sept. 19.

• Hiding Lies by Julie Cross - YA spy/thriller/romance from TBR mountain. My review will be posted on Oct. 3.
• Magic Triumphs by Ilona Andrews - urban fantasy from TBR mountain. My review will be posted on Sept. 15.
• Wicked and the Wallflower - historical romance from TBR mountain. My review will be posted on Sept. 20.

• Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas by Katie Ruggle - Review romantic suspense. My review will be posted on Sept. 26.

Currently

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal - science fiction, alternate history from TBR mountain

Next Week

On to October review books!

• Damsel by Elana K. Arnold (Oct. 2)
• Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand (Oct. 2)
• A Knife in the Fog by Bradley Harper (Oct. 2)

• Broken Things by Lauren Oliver (Oct. 2)
• A Murder by Any Name by Suzanne M. Wolfe (Oct. 9)
• Del Toro Moon by Darby Karchut (Oct. 2)

Reviews Posted

On Inside of a Dog:

• Her Majesty's American by Steve White
• Cowboy, Cross My Heart by Donna Grant
• The Plot is Murder by V. M. Burns

On Ms. Martin Teaches Media:

• D-Day: The World War II Invasion That Changed History by Deborah Hopkinson
• Ten After Closing by Jessica Bayliss
• Ignite the Stars by Maura Milan

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

TBR Mountain:

• Behind the Scenes by Jen Turano
• The Wild Dead by Carrie Vaughn - Thanks again, Kathryn!
• Magic Triumphs by Ilona Andrews

Review:

• Sherwood by Meagan Spooner (March 19)
• The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye (Jan. 8)
• The Au Pair by Emma Rous (Jan. 8)

What was your week like?

Book Review: The Plot Is Murder by V. M. Burns

The Plot is Murder
Author: V. M. Burns
Series: Mystery Bookshop
Publication: Kensington (November 28, 2017)

Description: The small town of North Harbor on the shores of Lake Michigan is about to have a new mystery bookstore. But before the first customer can browse its shelves, the store’s owner is suspected of her own murder plot . . .

Samantha Washington has dreamed of owning her own mystery bookstore for as long as she can remember. And as she prepares for the store’s grand opening, she’s also realizing another dream—penning a cozy mystery set in England between the wars. While Samantha hires employees and fills the shelves with the latest mysteries, quick-witted Lady Penelope Marsh, long-overshadowed by her beautiful sister Daphne, refuses to lose the besotted Victor Carlston to her sibling's charms. When one of Daphne's suitors is murdered in a maze, Penelope steps in to solve the labyrinthine puzzle and win Victor.

But as Samantha indulges her imagination, the unimaginable happens in real life. A shady realtor turns up dead in her backyard, and the police suspect her—after all, the owner of a mystery bookstore might know a thing or two about murder. Aided by her feisty grandmother and an enthusiastic ensemble of colorful retirees, Samantha is determined to close the case before she opens her store. But will she live to conclude her own story when the killer has a revised ending in mind for her?

My Thoughts: Sam Washington had changed her life since her husband Leon died. She isn't putting off their dreams anymore. She sold the house they renovated, retired from her job teaching English at the local high school, opened a mystery bookstore and is writing her own cozy British mystery. However, her new life runs into a stumbling block when the sleezy realtor who sold her the building for her bookstore and new loft apartment is found stabbed to death outside her store.

Detective Brad Pitt, known as Stinky in his childhood, thinks he's found a perfect suspect in Sam. Sam has supporters on her side, too, as she tries to clear her name and find out who killed Clayton Parker. She is assisted by her grandmother Nana Jo and some other senior ladies from Nana Jo's retirement home. These ladies have a quite a network of relatives and friends who help build a picture of Clayton and his family.

Meanwhile, Sam is writing her own mystery which takes place at the country home of Lord William March in 1938. When a body is found in the maze and it looks like Victor's almost-fiance Daphne is a suspect, Victor's chivalrous nature makes him step in to protect her. However, Daphne's sister Lady Penelope, who has loved Victor secretly for years, is less eager to let Victor assume the blame.

I really enjoyed this cozy mystery within a mystery, Sam's senior friends provided a bunch of information and lots of humor too. I liked the fast pace and the complexity of they mystery.

Favorite Quote:

"I'm gonna knock your brains out if you make one move, you crazy mother--"

"Irma!" we all shouted.

"Sorry." Irma broke into a coughing fit. "I guess I got carried away."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.