Tag: Cozy myster

Cozy Mystery, Fiction

Dying to Dance (Cha-Cha-Ahhh) by Marcy Blesy

CozyRomBooksandCoffee
  • Title: Dying to Dance
  • Author: Marcy Blesy
  • Series: A Tucson Valley Retirement Community Cozy Mystery #5
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place:  Tuscon Valley
  • Main Character: Rosy,
  • Other Characters: Keaton, Stacy, Renee, Richard, Karen, Frank, Brenda, George, Amos, Jan, Alan, Officer Lona, Officr Dan, Zak, Lanie, Safia, Waylon, Mario, Celia, Lois, Tracy, Leo, Bob
  • Pets: Dog name Barley
  • Stars: 5

The residents’ shenanigans in this fifth episode of The Tuscon Valley Retirement Center will make you laugh out loud.

Everyone in the retirement community is giddy with anticipation as Rosi and Tracy prepare for a dance competition that will give residents the chance to perform alongside professional dancers. When the professional dancers arrive in the community, the locals are selected and matched with a dancer. Everything was going great until—you guessed it—an unexpected crime occurred. There’s always a mystery to solve when Rosy is around, and she has to apply her sleuthing skills to solve it. Will Rosy once again put herself in danger to find the culprit?

This book is funny and features an eccentric group of characters. Rosy is a fantastic protagonist and I am excited to see where her and Keaton’s relationship goes. I love Rosi’s parents and her relationship with them. You will be guessing until the very last page as the author skillfully crafts a compelling mystery.

Happy Reading!

Cozy Mystery, Fiction

Murder at the Villa by Penny Brooke

CozyRomBooksandCoffee
  • Title: Murder at the Villa
  • Author: Penny Brooke
  • Series: A Word travels Mobile Workshop #6
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: Greenwood, VT
  • Main Character: Claudia
  • Other Characters: Aunt Daisy Mae, Arden, Grace, Eris, Logan, Melanie, Lucas, Detective Sterlings, Noah
  • Pets: Jasper the black cat
  • Stars: 5

A Word Travels Mobile Book Shop’s sixth book transports us to an Italian-style property approximately half an hour’s drive from Greenwood.

Claudia’s favorite novelist has asked her to a murder mystery dinner at her Italian-style villa. Claudia is ecstatic to get this invitation, and she plans to attend with her Aunt Daisy May. The hostess, Ardin Billings, greets them as soon as they enter. Claudia is a little star-struck because she is a huge fan of Ardin’s & her novels. lArdin introduces her to the other guests, each of whom has a quirky side. Their Murder Mystery Fun ended abruptly by one of the guests actually being murdered. Although all the evidence points to Arden as the murderer, Claudia is certain she couldn’t have done it. Claudia learns that Arden is keeping some secrets but was she willing to kill to keep them hidden.

Once again, the author pulls off a gripping story of mystery in the hunt for a murderer. The plot was exciting, and every character was interesting and well-thought-out. This narrative will appeal to readers who love a good cozy mystery with unexpected turns with a surprise ending.

Happy Reading!

Cozy Mystery, Fiction

Murder Mystery at the Castle

CozyRomBooksandCoffee
  • Title: Murder Mystery at the Castle
  • Author: Avery Kent
  • Series: A Kitty McCray Cozy Mystery #1
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place:  Frobisher Castle
  • Main Character: Kitty McCray
  • Other Characters: Nan, Richard, Morag, Miss Hagerty, Dorthea, Will, Ava, Emitt, Emmitt, Agnes, Wayne, Carla, Vincent, Madalyn, Zach, Major Daniels, Raymond, Gwendoline, Nigel, Brian, Inspector Haddock, Dr Tyne, Helen
  • Pets: Black Lab named Flint & a Cat named Mitten
  • Stars: 2

This is the first book in the Kitty McCray Cozy Mystery series . Since I like the Bishop’s Landing series, I was eager to get started on this new one. Unfortunately, I wasn’t captivated by this book. .

Kitty is at Forbisher Castle to visit her Nan, who oversees all of the castle’s events. Growing up Kitty was often at the castle so she knows a lot about it and lends a hand when needed. Richard, the owner’s son, took over the Castle after his parents, Lord and Lady Forbisher, were killed in an aomobile accident. Richard and Kitty used to hang out when they were younger, so Kitty knows him.

Kitty is going to assist Nan with her murder mystery night at the castle. The murder mystery is about to begin, and the guests have shown up. With their costumes on, the cast is prepared to start the murder mystery. They had no idea that this evening would become a true murder mystery. As soon as the lights go on, one of the guests is found dead, apparently stabbed, lying over his table. Who could have wanted Raymond Haynes dead? As it happens, he wasn’t well-liked, so the suspect list is long.

This book seemed very familiar to me like I have seen a movie or read another book with similar plot. It reminded me of the game Clue. “Who killed Mr Haynes in the theater with the knife!” Despite the lengthy number of suspects. It was very obvious who the killer was, before they were even revealed. I was hoping for a twist at the end, but there was none. This book had so many characters that I felt like I needed a score card to keep track of them all. I really wanted to enjoy this series as much as I enjoyed Bishop’s Landing, the author’s previous work, but unfortunatly I didn’t. While I enjoyed Kitty and Richard, I found it difficult to distinguish between the others at times as they all seemed to blend together.

“I received this book as part of an ARC and this review is my own opinion”

Happy Reading!

Cozy Mystery, Fiction

Killer Chardonnay by Kate Lansing

CozyRomBooksandCoffee
  • Title: Killer Chardonnay
  • Author: Kate Lansing
  • Series: A Colorado Wine Mystery #1
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place:  Boulder, CO
  • Main Character: Parker Valentine
  • Other Characters: Sage, Eli, Anita, Liam, Reid, Max, Moira, Cannick, Libby, Brennan, Jason, Gaskel
  • Pets: A can named Zin
  • Stars: 5

This is definitely a wine-centered series that I could easily immerse myself in while sipping a glass of wine. If this first book is anything to go by, it’s gonna be a really good series.

From the first moment I met Parker, I fell in love with her. She had one goal: to open her very own winery. Her dream was about to come true when she opened the doors to her very first wine tasting. Everything is going smoothly until a local food & wine critic shows up and doesn’t like Parker’s chardonnay. after tasting her wine, he stumbles back into the bathroom, clearly ill, and dies right there on the floor in the bathroom. Parker’s dream of running a winery might not happen. Did her wine kill the critic? As soon as she started scrolling through social media and started seeing “killer chardonnay” all the time, she knew her days as a winemaker were numbered. This is a cozy mystery so you already know that Parker has to do some investigating on her own to find how why someone wanted the critic dead. When someone else dies, Parker is determined to see if there is a connection between the 2 deaths.

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed this book. This book has a fantastic protagonist that you’ll fall in love with from the get-go. I loved every single one of the characters. The supporting characters are great and well-developed as well. The main character has a best friend that she would do anything for, including being 100% honest, even if the truth sometimes hurts. The setting is stunning and I’d love to visit Parker’s Winery. She named cat’s name is ZIN (shorf for Zinfandel). Since White Zinfandel is my favorite wine, I love that her Cats name is ZIN. The

I seriously could not put this book down as the hunt for a killer will take you on a journey full of surprises until the end.

Happy Reading!