Category Archives: murder mysteries

Currently Reading

Posted on by

On a Bookbub recommendation, I bought the set of Marsh and Daughter mysteries by Amy Marsh.

So far, I have read the first two and begun the third.

Georgia and her father, a retired police detective, research cold cases. Anything that piques their curiosity – a little bit of supernatural here – and then write books solving the mystery.

In the first one, The Wickenham Murders, a young gardener Davy Todd is accused of murdering Ada Proctor, the Doctor’s daughter. But so many parts of the story don’t make sense. The villagers don’t want the Marshs poking around but there is that strange music indicating someone doesn’t believe Davy was guilty. Then Georgia discovers Davy’s old sweetheart, still alive, and convinced of his innocence.

In the second book, Murder in Friday Street, a rock musician, Fanny Star, is murdered when she returns to the village to give a concert. Although her partner is accused of the crime, serves time and is murdered almost immediately upon his release, Georgia and her father don’t believe he was the guilty party. Suspects abound but the investigation into ‘the gang’, the friends of Fanny when they were kids, leads to the solution.

These are darker than Agatha Christie but, like her mysteries, show that murders happen even in cozy villages.

Terrific!

Currently Reading

Posted on by

I’ve been a big fan of Victoria Thompson for many years. Murder on Madison Avenue is book 25 in her popular Gaslight Mysteries.

Malloy is approached by a distraught Mrs. Bing who wants a divorce from her husband but won’t explain why. Mr. Bing is the owner of a automobile company, an EV too – a really interesting part of the book. Curious, Malloy and Sarah attend the car show to get a read on Mr. Bing.

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Bing is found murdered, run over by on of his very own cars.

To complicate matters, Bing’s first wife, who he abandoned but never divorced, shows up. Her story is that when Bing abandoned her, he also took their daughter Pearl, and Nora Bing wants her back.

Now, hired by the second Mrs. Bing to discover the murderer, Malloy and Sarah investigate.

As always, the characters and the setting are fascinating. I knew what was going on, though, from very early in the book. I suspect most modern readers would. But I did not guess the identity of the murderer. B+. Recommended.

Currently Reading

Posted on by

Since I am watching the Summer Olympics, my usual reading has taken a hit. I am about half way through Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead.

The previous book in the series ended with a cliffhanger: Finlay sees a proposed hit on her husband with a bounty of $100,000. She is pretty sure Theresa is not behind it since she is in jail for her connections with the Russian mob.

Since Finlay is nothing if not impulsive, she not only looks at the hit, she responds to it. The coded response comes to both Finlay and ‘EasyClean”, saying whoever murders Steve first will get paid – and she wants it done by Christmas.

Finlay and her nanny/friend begin investigating and are in Steven’s trailer at his business when someone firebombs it. The discovery of a body in a storage unit rented under Theresa’s name further complicates the case.

Like the first in the series, it is funny. But also full of contrivances. Finlay does a lot of foolish things, impulsively and without thought. I would give the series a B to a B+. It’s funny and the story keeps moving but I find Finlay’s thoughtlessness and impulsivity annoying.

Partners in Crime Podcast

Posted on by

I had a wonderful time talking to Gina Hott about both my Bronze Age Crete series and the Will Rees/Shaker series. We discussed, not only the stories, but also my research and some of what I discovered.

One example of a funny story: during President Washington’s first term, John Jay was dispatched to Great Britain to work out a treaty. (Great Britain still did not recognize the new United States as its own country and continued to lay claim to forts and to impress American sailors.) The Jay Treaty was very unpopular. The newspapers of the time pilloried Jay (God damn John Jay and God damn all the people who won’t damn John Jay.) Jay was burned in effigy all through New York and Pennsylvania.

Here is the link if you missed it.  https://youtube.com/live/BAlVQsAe3FM 

Also, keep an eye out for a new Fresh Fiction giveaway. In August I am giving away the first novels in each of my series plus an Amazon gift card.

Currently Reading

Posted on by

I wanted to read something very different and somewhat exotic. I picked up Auntie Lee’s Deadly Delights: a Singaporean mystery.

This was truly exotic, from the strange and unusual food to the Singapore setting. But, as I have said so often, people are always the same. (I frequently feel that the murder victims are so unpleasant it is no surprise when they’re murdered and, in fact, I wonder why it took so long.) If anyone deserved murdering, it is Mabel Sung and her son Leonard. There is no shortage of suspects but suspicion immediately falls on the caterer, Auntie Lee, who prepared traditional foods for the buffet, some of which require soaking to remove cyanide. (Really!)

Auntie Lee, who knows she is innocent, embarks on her own investigation. Fortunately, Inspector Salim has eaten at Auntie Lee’s cafe numerous times and he does not believe Auntie Lee is definitely guilty. The game is afoot!

This is a cozy police procedural with a lot of humor. The unusual setting is certainly a plus but the personality of Auntie Lee is the real charm here. Really fun.Recommended.

Currently Reading

Posted on by

Island of the Mad by Laurie R. King is number fifteen in her long running and popular Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mystery series. In this outing, Mary is asked by a school friend to find her aunt Vivian. Vivian has spent many years in Bedlam. When Mary and her friend pay a visit to Bedlam and visit Vivian, she seems happy and sane. She says, to Mary’s surprise, that she’s ‘safe’ in Bedlam.

But on a visit to her family, she disappears.

Mary, after visiting the family home and meeting the Lord of the Manor, that there is something else going on. Mary writes to her husband, Sherlock. He joins her in her search for Vivian.

To glean what information she can. Mary disguises herself and allows herself to be confined to Bedlam.

Another captivating and complicated mystery. Highly Recommended.

Currently Reading

Posted on by

This week I read two cozies. The first is the third in a series I really enjoy by Mindy Quigley.

Delilah and crew are on their way to a mansion, and a very high-end fundraiser for the Library. Delilah is already stressed out from creating a pizza with no tomato sauce, no gluten, and no cheese.

Then a body rolls down the steps and lands at the bottom. Who would want to kill this annoying, but harmless, member of the Library Board?

Calvin Capone, and his mother, are on scene and begin the investigation as a storm rages outside, trapping everyone, including the killer, in the mansion.

All the usual characters are here, including Butterball the cat.

Lots of fun. The recipes aren’t bad either. I have already ordered the next one.

The second cozy is a book I purchased after seeing a Bookbub deal. My first time ever buying one. Foul Play at Seal Bay by Judy Leigh takes place in Cornwall, England. Morwenna is an older woman, divorced, and working in the small local library and her family’s teashop.

At a party to celebrate Morwenna’s daughter’s engagement, a wealthy transplant from London is murdered. The local detective is completely out of his depth. Morwenna can’t help but begin asking questions. A letter, and a sign painted on the Library wall telling her to back off, fail to discourage her.

I did not see the final twist coming. Light and charming.

Currently Reading

Posted on by

Forty Acres and a Soggy Grave by Frankie Bailey is the fifth of her Lizzie Stuart Mysteries. In this, the last so far, Lizzie accompanies her fiancé, John Quinn to a weekend with some of his old friends. Lizzie is quite nervous about meeting them – will they like her? But she quickly senses undercurrents swirling around the group, from Mitch and his extra young girlfriend, to the rumors that Bree is involved in smuggling undocumented migrants.

When one of the migrants if found hiding in the horse barn, and then Mitch’s girlfriend is shot right in front of Lizzie, she knows she is deep into something she doesn’t fully grasp.

Another wonderful mystery delving into the intersection of race and gender, now complicated by feelings about immigration. Highly recommended.

Forget me Never by Susan Witting Albert is the 29th China Bayles mystery. In this outing, China investigates the death of her friend Olivia Andrews. She hosts a true crime podcast and now she claims she has a bombshell story about an upstanding citizen of Pecan Springs. One morning, while out running, she is hit by a car. At first the death is ruled accidental but as China digs, she quickly realizes it was murder.

Another murder follows and all signs point to the second husband of a wealthy widow who died, it was thought murdered, twenty years previously. Is he the citizen of Pecan Springs? And who is he?

The usual gang appear and as usual the herbs and information about them is front and center.

Currently Reading

Posted on by

Killer in the Kitchen is the second Chesapeake Bay mystery by Judy L. Murray.

Lizzie, Helen’s daughter, is the host of a popular cooking show. Upon hearing that Roberto, the popular chef and main attraction of the show, wishes to sell his house, Helen visits the set to meet him. When she visits the second time, she is just in time to see Roberto collapse, poisoned.

Worse yet, Lizzie had also tasted the food and is slightly affected.

Helen jumps in with both feet to identify who might have murdered Roberto. Now its personal since the shooter clearly considered Lizzie only as collateral damage.

There are suspects aplenty. Besides Roberto’s partner Adrian, Dana is another host who was pushed aside and lost a huge percentage of her ratings. The food stylist, Mariah, is another suspect, this time with an important secret.

The characters shine here. Although I had a suspicion about the murderer’s identity, I kept reading. I felt like I knew the characters personally and I was engaged in their lives.

Highly Recommended.

More about Artemis

Posted on by

Further proof that Artemis is linked with the Minoan Cretan hunting Goddess Britomartis (or Diktynna which means of the nets.) By the 5th century B.C, this goddess had been completely assimilated into Artemis.

Britomartis, whose name means sweet maiden, was said to have invented hunting nets. This is thought to be one reason she was also called Diktynna. And yes, I took Martis from her name as the name of my main character in the Bronze Age Crete series.

In one of the myths, Britomartis jumps into the sea to escape King Minos and his lust. Fishermen hid her in their nets (an alternate reason for the name Diktynna.)

Am I the only one appalled by the constant stories of rape of all the women in the myths? It does make Artemis’s reaction to the men who watched her or pursued her – frequently death – a little more understandable.