Another Collection of Cozies

These are titles that I finished recently which count toward the Cruisin' Through the Cozies Challenge.

 

Gunpowder Green by Laura Childs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is set in a tea-shop so I am counting it toward the "anything culinary" category. I would have liked a bit more info about the various teas. There was a lot of name dropping, but not a lot of explanation. An entertaining enough mystery though.



The Painted Queen
by Elizabeth Peters and Joan Hess
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the last of the Amelia Peabody books, and it was finished by Joan Hess after the death of Elizabeth Peters. It was well done and stayed true to the series, but I felt like Amelia was a gentler version of herself which was less appealing and the supporting characters were less involved than they are in some of the books. The manuscript H excerpts were very good. Like the other EP novel I read for this challenge this could be either for the mystery set outside the US--Egypt in this case--or the historical category. 



Search the Dark by Charles Todd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A body found in Dorset brings Instpector Ian Rutledge from London to investigate. It is very much a small town story with everyone knowing everyone and immediately suspecting outsiders. Rutledge, and several other characters, struggle with the scars left on them by World War. This is one of the "cozies of my choice."


Fudge Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have read several of the books in this series before and this one was exactly what I expected. Lots of sweets, tons of coffee, and obsessive attention to Moishe, the cat. I am counting this as an "animal related" cozy.

Lemon Meringue Pie Murder

Lemon Meringue Pie Murder 
by Joanne Fluke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“On the one hand, it was nice to have someone who was concerned about you. But on the other hand, you couldn’t ever feel truly independent. Marriage was a trade-off. You gave up some things and you gained others.” ― Joanne Fluke, Lemon Meringue Pie Murder

This is #4 in the Hannah Swensen series. Like the earlier installments it was a charming story about a woman who owns a cookie shop in a small Minnesota town and gets herself mixed up in a murder investigation while juggling 2 romantic interests and a mom who never misses an opportunity to point out that she ought to get married before she gets any older. She also spends a lot of time feeding her cat and drinks more coffee than anyone I have ever seen. These are fun, fluffy, novels with recipes mixed in. The orange cookies sounded delicious. 
I am counting this book toward the What's in a Name Challenge as a book with a fruit in the title. 

Giving Thanks for Mystery Novels

Over Thanksgiving I read a stack of mystery novels. Cross-country airplane trips are good for that. Rather than post about each one I am listing them all here with brief notes.

Murder in the Marais by Cara Black
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm not generally a fan of books about hunting nazi war criminals, which this was to a large extent. I did like the character of Aimee and her partner and the history and scenic detail about Paris was interesting. I will read another of the books in this series, hopefully the next one will have a different focus to the mystery.


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Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A fair with baking contests and a rodeo bring murder to Our intrepid heroine once again. some interesting info about one of the men in H's life. Nothing deep here, but entertaining fluff with cookies and pie mixed in. Several recipes I want to try.
This book counts toward Foodies Read 2014 Challenge.

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Nemesis by Agatha Christie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Good. Not my favorite Miss Marple, but I liked the one this is something of a sequel to and it was nice to revisit that story a bit.


 

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 Black Orchids by Rex Stout
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is actually 2 cases and I found the second mystery more interesting. The first had lots of Archie lines and shenanigans though, which is the best part of NW stories.




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Homicide in Hardcover by Kate Carlisle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A bit more romance than I prefer in my mysteries, but a very appealing romantic interest and a lot of insider book-binding info. The story is set in San Francisco and vicinity. The hippie Mom is quite entertaining and there were some good turns of phrase.
"he was indeed gorgeous as honey-baked sin..." (p. 60)
I will read another book in this series.

Review: Strawberry Shortcake Murder

Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Fluke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There isn't a lot that makes winters in New Hampshire look good, except winters in Minnesota. Our "intrepid amateur sleuth and bakery owner Hannah Swensen" has terrible weather to deal with on top of the fact that she constantly (just ask her mother) finds dead bodies. This is a fun fluffy tale of sisterly sleuthing and LOTS of cookie eating. There are several recipes included in the novel and all the ones that are for cookies sound delicious. They are all for commercial sized batches though so I would need to scale them down -- molasses crackles and cocoa snaps may both be in my future. More Joanne Fluke novels will be too.

This book counts toward the Foodies Read 2014 Challenge.

Review: Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
by Joanne Fluke

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked the character of Hannah Swensen, and her various friends and family, but I found the premise that she was doing all the investigating for her brother-in-law the cop more completely ridiculous. The mystery in this book was reasonable, and the solution was fairly believable, but I found it very difficult to suspend disbelief enough to accept the basic setup. Several of the recipes did sound delicious. The edition that I read also included a novella about a runaway which was less outrageous in its basic set up. I might give another of these a try.


This book counts toward the Foodies Read challenge.