Dead of Winter:  A Lily Dale Mystery

by Wendi Corsi Staub

Winter in Lily Dale is quiet, peaceful.  The summer crowds have left and business for the local spiritualists has slowed down.  However, the summer like temps have Bella questioning the weather reports of four or more inches of snow.  Misty Starr, on the other hand, is having visions of her son, Jiffy, in a bus traveling through a severe snow storm.  Extremely frustrated, she is unable to decipher the feelings of dread that envelope her regardless of who she is supposed to be reading. Troubles escalate when Bella finds a body in the lake and her son Max and his buddy Jiffy have found a treasure. The snow begins to fly and as it quickly begins to pile up, so too do the troubles and no one seems to know what is going on, even the spiritualists.

My first encounter with Lily Dale and its quirky, colorful community of spiritualists began with Lily Dale: Awakening.  It introduces the reader to Calla and her delightful grandmother, Odelia.  The first three books were published as young adult and follow the teenage Calla.  The next grouping of Lily Dale stories involves widowed Bella Jordan and her son Max.  Bella has reluctantly taken up residence at the Valley View Guesthouse as its innkeeper.  She often questions her decision to remain but Max thinks it’s fantastic since he has a new best friend in Jiffy.  Sweet, free spirit Jiffy is a handful to his mom, Misty and often is on his own which drives overprotective Bella a little crazy.  Previously introduced characters, such as Odelia and Calla, are generously sprinkled throughout these books.  The stories begin light but can take a scary and suspenseful turn.  Story lines are not gratuitously graphic and do not have overt sexual scenes.  Instead, Staub delivers up good storytelling and sprinkles in the colorful and often kooky residents of Lily Dale. These books are a good fit for teens interested in mysteries with a little supernatural twist.  They are entertaining and I hope to see more that showcase some of the more colorful characters.

I wish to thank the publisher for generously providing an Advanced Reader’s Copy through NetGalley for my honest review.

Lily Dale: Awakening                                                      Nine Lives

ISBN:  9780802796547                                                  ISBN:  9781629532486

Available Now                                                                   Available Now

Lily Dale: Believing                                                         Something Buried,  

ISBN:  9780802796561                                                  Something Blue

 Available Now                                                                  ISBN:   9781629537726

                                                                                             Available Now

 

Lily Dale: Connecting                                                      Dead of Winter

ISBN:  9780802797858                                                  ISBN:  9781683313335

Available Now                                                                   Pub Date:  Nov. 17, 2017

                                                                                              Crooked Lane Books

Genre:  Cozy Mystery

Death Overdue

A Haunted Library Mystery

by Allison Brook

It’s time to move on.  Carrie didn’t work her way through library school so she could shelve books.  Besides, she didn’t want to wear out her welcome, staying with her aunt and uncle.  Perhaps coming home to Clover Ridge was a mistake.  When she is offered the head of programs and events she decides to take a chance and remain.  She feels a warm connection from her first program speaker, retired homicide detective Al Buckley, who is there to speak about a local cold case he was working on.  Before his talk can get off the ground, Al collapses and dies. Carrie is devastated and vows to figure out what happened. Little did she know assistance would come from a former librarian. 

This first installment in a new cozy series is peppered with a realistic look into small town politics and library melodrama. Brook’s details of the overall function and maintaining a harmonious work place within a library is spot on and adds to the storyline.  The characters are authentically portrayed including the changes Carrie makes for her new position.  Though I do see her reverting to her former self in future installments, if just for a short period. The characters are fun, devious, and loving. I don’t know if I enjoyed this so much because I felt comfortable within the pages of this book or it was just a good read.  My own experience, working in a library, was very different from Carrie’s and I was blessed to be a part of a staff that managed to work together nicely.  One thing I do know, I am looking forward to the next installment eagerly.

I wish to thank the publisher for generously providing an Advanced Reader’s Copy through NetGalley for my honest review.

ISBN:  9781683313861

Pub: Crooked Lane Books

Pub Date: October 10, 2017

Genre:  Cozy Mystery/Slight Paranormal Twist

Skeleton Paints a Picture

by Leigh Perry

In the fourth offering of the Family Skeleton series, adjunct professor, Georgia Thackery finds herself teaching at Falstone Art and Design University.  Feeling a bit lonely, having left her daughter and her best friend at her parent’s house, she’s surprised and very happy to find her best friend, Sid, shipped himself to her.  Did I mention Sid happens to be a fully articulated skeleton?  He likes being with her in the snowy north since he can run the snow blower and shovel snow while being completely covered in full winter clothing.  While enjoying his outdoor freedom, Sid discovers a car partially covered in snow with a young woman behind the wheel.  Georgia soon discovers the victim was employed by the university and was secretly investigating possible art theft on campus.

I found this review hard to write.  I don’t know why.  This was a highly intriguing read with Sid at its forefront.  Honestly, everyone should have a friend like Sid.  He looks after Georgia like a best friend should.  Plus, the information regarding the theft of the young student’s work was very interesting.  The back biting and false friendly staff of the English department was too enlightening.  I’m sure a lot of that goes on.  It goes on everywhere.  This is a fun, relaxing read and one that didn’t require a lot of concentration.  A good beach read or even an afternoon by the fire with a cup of tea or better yet, a glass of wine.  I don’t believe a lot of teens would pick this up even with a talk up.  Some might say that due to the story involving students in college, struggling with the woes of college life would entice them.  Though the theft of the student’s work is the basis of the story, I just can’t see teen readers being interested.  That’s just my opinion.  I would still offer it up as a realistic look at college life. 

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for approving the Advanced Reader’s Copy for my honest review.

Pub:  Diversion Publishing/Diversion Books

Pub Date:  October 10, 2017

ISBN:  97891635760460

Genre:  Cozy Mystery/Paranormal

Mining for Justice 

by Kathleen Ernst

As a curator for Old World Museum, Chloe Ellefson understands how ‘unstable’ funding is for historical sites.  Her boss reminds her of this every time he sees her. When the opportunity arises to work for a week at the Pendarvis site, she leaps at it.  Unfortunately, the paper runs a story which highlights the lack of funding to keep Pendarvis open spotlighting the major drain of funds as the Old World site.  As the volunteers and some staff realize who she is, Chloe becomes the target for a lot of negative emotions.  She feels it her responsibility to dampen down these emotions while working hard to help put Pendarvis back on stable ground.  When a doctoral candidate, who has been voicing negative comments regarding the running of Pendarvis is found dead at the foot of the stairs in one of the houses, Chloe’s job gets one more item added to her to do list.  Figure out what is really going on at the Pendarvis site.

Once again Ernst lays before us a multi-layered novel enlightening readers with historical details blending them with a contemporary mystery in the middle.  She has a way to bring an unknown thread of the tapestry that makes up our country’s history to the forefront of her story.  The history is thoroughly researched without becoming bogged down in details.  The author’s notes and photos add to the facts she has included in her novel.  Behind the scenes peeks at the trials and woes of museums and working historical sites is solid. The mystery dips its toes into the history storyline but does not overpower it.  Chloe’s ability to ‘sense’ emotions is a nice touch.  Though I don’t believe many teens will be enticed by the basic storylines, I do believe those who enjoy a good historical story mixed in with their mysteries will enjoy them.  Also, fans of Ernst’s younger writings will eagerly pick these up as their reading preference yearns for more meaty storylines.

I wish to thank the publisher and NetGalley for generously providing an Advanced Reader’s copy for my honest review.

ISBN: 9780738753348

Publisher:  Midnight Ink

Pub Date: Oct. 08, 2017

Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid

A series by Deborah Crombie

For a lady that grew up in Texas, author Deborah Crombie has created a wonderful series that is placed in London and surrounding environs.  I discovered this series when I was busy crocheting baby blankets for friends and family.  I enjoy listening to audiobooks while I clean house or crochet and I downloaded the first title, A Share in Death.  I was immediately hooked and found myself listening to a book every two days.

Gemma is a divorced mom working as a sergeant under Detective Superintendent Kincaid of Scotland Yard.  Juggling life worries, as well as their cases, their human flaws, doubts and wonderful personalities come through clearly.  Though the story lines themselves deal with darkness, there is something so uplifting about these two.  It’s a bit refreshing that neither are alcoholics, drug addicts or on the take.  They are as normal as people can be considering what they deal with on a day-to-day basis. 

At the heart of each book is a typical horrible murder.  However, woven within the main story are always a couple of other stories taking place as the murder is investigated.  It could be a back story that gives you history of the area where the murder takes place or possibly about the family.  It could be a back story or even an ongoing story that involves Gemma and Duncan.  Now, some may feel it sounds as if there is too much going on to keep track of all the storylines.  The truth of the matter is that Crombie is a master at making you feel like you are accompanying these two along on their normal day.  As you settle into the story, you realize it’s no different than anyone else’s life.  We have our work, home and family stories and our friendship’s stories. 

Crombie’s descriptions of the British scenery are so three dimensional, it’s amazing she didn’t grow up in Great Britain.   It doesn’t matter if she takes us along on a shopping expedition on Portobello Road or driving through Scotland.  She gives you the full experience through her prose.

So far there are seventeen titles in the series.  I have listened to fourteen.  My one whine about the audios is the inconsistence of the narrators.  My favorite has been Michael Deehy.  He gives Duncan a wonderfully patient sounding voice that I love.  He even performs the female voices excellently.  Jenny Sterlin is another narrator.  Yes, she is female but gives an excellent performance of all the characters. 

I didn’t purchase these through Audible as I’m not a fan of the whole yearly fee and having to pay for each book on top of that.  I’m retired.  I have a fixed income.  I downloaded them from my library’s Overdrive account.  Contact your local library and they can hook you up.  I’m not saying every library has every title of this series.  Libraries pay for each title just as they would for a book.  I actually paid a fee to get a library card for a neighboring county library because they have a better selection of titles that I am interested in downloading.  I believe you can request a title be added just as you would a book.  Again, check with your library. 

If you haven’t discovered this series, I hope you try it and enjoy it as much as I have.  

Weycombe

by  G. M Malliet

Jillian White moved to England from American and is living in the picture-perfect village of Weycombe.  It’s a quaint little place of everyone’s dreams.  She is lucky enough to be living in a gated community with her titled husband and its posh residents.  As we all know, things are not always what they seem when you get behind the closed doors of the houses.  When the real estate agent turns up dead along the river on the jogging path, Jill decides to take it upon herself to uncover who murdered her. 

Malliet’s story realistically portrays the lives of this quiet little group where everyone thinks they know what is really going on. Malliet keeps you guessing as Jill goes about her day to figure out who is embellishing and who is not giving her all the facts.  Each character is colorfully described and each stand out on their own.  Along with the mystery storyline, Malliet has created a story that deals with a young, contemporary woman who is struggling with issues of self-confidence and a failing marriage.  There are several story lines within this novel and Malliet keeps them moving.  A good contemporary mystery.

I wish to thank the publisher for generously providing an Advanced Reader’s Copy through NetGalley for my honest review.

ISBN: 978738754260

Pub: Midnight Ink

Pub Date:  October 8, 2017

Genre:  Contemporary Mystery