Murder Takes The Cake by Evelyn David

Murder Takes The Cake by Evelyn David is the second book in the “Sullivan Investigations” mystery series. Publisher: Echelon Press Publishing, May 2009

Evelyn David invites you to attend the wedding of Bridget O’Herlihy and Joshua Lasky. The ceremony will be held at the Willard hotel in Washington D.C. Please R.S.V.P. (In case of murder, the ceremony may be delayed.)

It’s the week before Thanksgiving and all’s not right in Mac Sullivan’s world. His detective agency needs paying clients; his goddaughter needs help staying alive long enough to say her “I do’s;” his best friend needs to find some missing caskets; his Irish wolfhound needs a bath; and he desperately needs a how-to book on modern dating techniques.

It’s the week before Thanksgiving and all’s not right in Rachel Brenner’s world. Her son has ditched her for a ski trip with his new girlfriend; someone is stealing caskets and forging her inventory records; and her romantic life consists of hit-and-miss dates with a private detective who won’t even commit to a car purchase much less a serious relationship. Weddings can be murder!

Mac finds himself involved in so many cases that are someone connected to one person. Who this person is will be discovered as you read this humorous mystery. I enjoyed this story and can’t wait for the next book in this series. My rating: 4 stars

Murder Off the Books by Evelyn David

Murder Off the Books by Evelyn David is the first book in the “Sullivan Investigations” mystery series. Publisher: Echelon Press Publishing, February 2007

A retired Irish Cop and a fast-food loving Irish Wolfhound search for the campus murderer while dealing with a scooter-riding senior citizen with with dreams of trenchcoat adventures, a crazed exterminator looking for his ride, and a makeup artist whose mid-life crisis isn’t any the less stressful because her clients never complain.

A half-million dollars has vanished and a college comptroller is dead. Mackenzie Sullivan, recently retired DC cop and newly-minted private detective, really has no interest in the murder. Mac just needs to find the embezzled money for the university’s insurance company. Finding the killer is a bonus that he’s not sure he wants to earn.

This was a good read with plenty of action, a mystery to be solved and humor between the characters. Very good plot. My rating: 3.5 stars

*new-to-me author
Evelyn David is the pseudonym for Marian Edelman Borden and Rhonda Dossett

Our Lady of Immaculate Deception by Nancy Martin

Our Lady of Immaculate Deception by Nancy Martin is the first book in the new series featuring Roxana Marie Abruzzo (Roxy). Publisher: Minotaur Books, March 2010

Roxy Abruzzo, the grandniece of a Pittsburgh Mafia boss, is trying to go straight–so she can focus on her architectural-salvage business that, for the most part, she runs on the up and up. But old habits die hard, and Roxy’s sticky fingers set off a chain reaction of murder and mayhem…with Roxy right in the middle.

We are introduced to Roxy who is smart, sexy and tough as nails but with a good heart where it matters. While on a salvaging job, Roxy sees a marble statue that could be valuable and since the house was to be blown up, Roxy didn’t see anything wrong in taking the statue. Little did she know that this would lead to murder which inadvertently puts her family in danger. This was a good read and an enjoyable mystery that I couldn’t put down.  I look forward to more adventures with Roxy.  My rating: 4 stars

Weeding Out Trouble by Heather Webber

Weeding Out Trouble by Heather Webber is the fifth and final book in the “Nina Quinn” mystery series. Publisher: Avon, July 2008

Landscaper Nina Quinn would do anything for her employees. After all, Taken by Surprise, her garden makeover business, wouldn’t be blooming if it weren’t for them. So when Kit Pipe, her right-hand handyman, goes missing, Nina immediately starts digging into his disappearance. But all she finds is Daisy Bedinghaus, Kit’s ex—and she’s dead as dirt.

An ex-con who’d been dumped by Daisy not long before her murder, Kit’s the prime suspect. But Nina’s determined to prove his innocence and nip this whole thing in the bud. After all, it’ll get her out of her all-too-crowded house, where her ex-husband the cop is recovering from a gunshot wound on her couch and her thorny new stepson is giving her the evil eye. But as she comes closer to unearthing the truth, Nina will find that facing the frost in her home is nothing compared to confronting the real killer’s ice-cold stare.

When Nina’s handyman is accused of killing his girlfriend, Nina ferret out clues to clear Kit’s name with help from her friends. Meanwhile, Nina gets her personal life on track by resolving the issues with her ex-husband so she can move on with her current boyfriend. This was a very enjoyable and entertaining story with Nina and her family and friends. There was also so much humor throughout the book especially with the turkeys and roosters. My rating: 4.5 stars

*new-to-me author

Elvis and the Grateful Dead by Peggy Webb

Elvis and the Grateful Dead by Peggy Webb is the second book in the “Southern Cousins” cozy mystery series. Publisher: Kensington, October 2009

Every year, a hip-shaking herd of Elvis impersonators descends upon the King’s birthplace of Tupelo, Mississippi, for the annual Elvis festival. Usually the main attractions are lot of sequined jumpsuits and even more off-key singing, but this year something much more deadly has the town all shook up. . .

When the first Elvis impersonator is found slumped over his piano, a heart attack seems the likely suspect. But when a second keels over mid-swagger at Callie Valentine Jones’s party, suspicious minds begin to wonder if something foul is afoot. Because everyone knows two dead Elvis impersonators add up to only one thing: murder.

As it turns out, Callie’s cousin Lovie–a 190-pound bombshell who’s had more lovers than the King had hit records–turns out to be suspect #1. Callie knows she’s innocent but to prove it, she and Lovie will have to find out who the real killer is. Could it be Texas Elvis, who’s sworn to out-swivel his rivals? Maybe the female Elvis from Australia, with the fake sideburns? Or one of the endlessly bickering officers of the fan club?

It’s a mystery fit for a King, and with a little help from Callie’s hunk-a-burnin’ love ex Jack, and her talented hound dog Elvis–who’s convinced he’s the true reincarnation of the King–Callie and Lovie are determined to have the killer singing Jailhouse Rock. But they need to move fast and be ready for the killer’s next move, because their chance may be now. . .or never!

Callie is back and this time she’s protecting Lovie when she becomes the number one suspect when dead bodies are dropping. With Callie, Lovie and her dog Elvis on the trail, the murderer will be caught. In the meantime, Callie is still confused over her ex-Jack, Lovie is not getting what she wants out of Rocky and something is amiss between Ruby Nell and Uncle Charlie. This was a great read and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. My rating: 4 stars

Sex, Murder and a Double Latte by Kyra Davis

Sex, Murder and a Double Latte by Kyra Davis is the first book in the “Sophie Katz” chick-lit mystery series.  Publisher: Red Dress Ink, April 2006

Thriller scribe Sophie Katz is as hard-boiled as a woman who drinks Grande Caramel Brownie Frappuccinos can be. So Sophie knows it’s not paranoia or post-divorce, living-alone-again jitters, when she becomes convinced that a crazed reader is sneaking into her apartment to reenact scenes from her books. The police, however, can’t tell a good plot from an unmarked grave.

When a filmmaker friend is brutally murdered in the manner of a death scene in one of his movies, Sophie becomes convinced that a copycat killer is on the loose — and that she’s the next target. If she doesn’t solve the mystery, her own bestseller will spell out her doom. Cursing her grisly imagination (why, oh, why did she have to pick the ax?), Sophie engages in some real-life gumshoe tactics. The man who swoops in to save her in dark alleys is mysterious new love interest Anatoly Darinsky. Of course, if this were fiction, Anatoly would be her prime suspect.

This is a fun series. Sophie is a thriller novelist and somehow life is imitating her art and she has to find the murderer before it finds her.  My rating: 4 stars

Swan for the Money by Donna Andrews

Swan for the Money by Donna Andrews is the 11th book in the “Meg Langslow” cozy mystery series.  Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, August 2009

Meg Langslow’s eccentric parents have a new hobby: growing roses and entering them in highly competitive shows. Dad’s gardening skill and Mother’s gift for selecting and arranging the blossoms should make them an unbeatable team—and Meg is relieved they’ve taken up such a safe, gentle hobby.

She even volunteers to help when the Caerphilly Garden Club sponsors its first annual rose show. But after a few hours of dealing with her parents’ competitors, Meg is worried. Rose growers are so eccentric that they make Meg’s family seem almost normal, and so competitive that they will do nearly anything to take home the show’s grand prize—making them prime suspects when Meg discovers that someone is attempting to kill the wealthy woman on whose estate the competition is being held.

Of course, the intended victim had other enemies—her treatment of her farm animals had aroused the interest of several animal welfare activists, including Meg’s zoologist grandfather. Meg tries to leave the detecting to the local police and focus on protecting her parents’ chances to win the coveted Black Swan trophy, but she soon finds herself compelled to solve the crime before any more rose growers die.

Meg’s parents have taken up the hobby of rose growing when someone steals his prize rose bush.  Meg’s father asks her to find the culprit and of course instead Meg finds a fatally stabbed rose grower. Are the two incidents connected?  Follow Meg as she gathers the clues.  Another great book featuring Meg and her family.  My rating: 4 stars

No Nest for the Wicket by Donna Andrews

No Nest for the Wicket by Donna Andrews is the seventh book in the “Meg Langslow” cozy mystery series.  Publisher: St. Martin’s Minotaur, March 2005

Croquet is a genteel game, usually played on a summer afternoon on a tranquil green lawn. Extreme Croquet is a whole other story. That’s what Meg Langslow and her new friends (whether she wants to call them friends or not) are playing on the several-acre farm of her new neighbor.  It’s a countryside studded with rocks, steep hills, and placid, seemingly immovable cows.

Extreme Croquet is the current rage in Caerphilly, where Meg and her fiancé, Michael, have bought a house. While this society game can get quite warm, it hasn’t reached the stage of actual homicide—at least not until Meg knocks her ball down a small cliff and encounters the body of a dead woman.  Her head has been bashed in, illustrating, perhaps, one of the many uses of a croquet mallet. It turns out that Michael knew the woman from years before.  Meg finds herself further drawn in when it’s discovered that the woman was seeking to expose the bad dealings of a certain local society lady’s ancestors.

In the meantime, the old house needs many basic improvements and swarms with an entire family of working men, including countless second cousins, sawing and pounding away.  Meg’s father is the overseer but is easily distracted since he has a tendency to become wrapped up in his current animal charges—this time it’s ducks.

One of the beauties of fiction is that you can enjoy reading about someone who has been knocked on the head and killed.  The particular joy that Donna Andrews offers mystery lovers everywhere is the wonderful gift of laughter.  Her novels, filled with crazy relatives, puzzling murders, and the hilarious conquests of Meg, make for a combination found nowhere else. Fine-feathered friends are only one of the treats in this award-winning series from Donna Andrews, an author whose name has become synonymous with lighthearted, knee-slapping fun.

I’m having a blast reading this series.  My rating: 4 stars

Owls Well That Ends Well by Donna Andrews

Owls Well That Ends Well by Donna Andrews is the sixth book in the “Meg Langslow” cozy mystery series.  Publisher: St. Martin’s Minotaur, March 2005

In Owls Well That Ends Well, Meg and Michael have bought a very elderly house from the estate of the uncrowned Queen of the Packrats. She bought everything and kept it all. When the house became overcrowded, she moved the overflow into the barn. When the barn was crammed, she began filling the property’s sheds. When she died, her “holdings” left the various grandnieces and grandnephews with decades of junk. They avoid the job of cleaning it up by selling the place “as is” to Meg and Michael, sticking them with the lot. Their solution: a yard sale.

As always, Meg’s large family flocks in to offer their dubious help. Many even come with junk of their own to add to the sale. Meg’s mother, sure that Meg has taken care of all the “treasures,” turns to drawing up elaborate redecorating plans. Meg’s dad, newly elected president of SPOOR (Stop Poisoning Our Owls and Raptors) shoulders the cause of the endangered baby owls and their mother that live in the barn. His further contribution is the announcement that anyone who arrives in costume earns a ten percent discount.

Meg is coping (barely) with all this until the body of a local antique dealer is discovered in an old trunk. She and her dad have a further shock: the trunk is in the barn, in reckless disregard of Dad’s beloved newborn owls.

The police temporarily close the sale down to investigate. When the professor who can swing the vote in favor of Michael’s tenure becomes a suspect, Meg decides that the only way to prove his innocence, and avoid being stuck with several tons of unsold junk, is to find the killer herself, and quickly.

Andrews’ amusing signature spin on mystery and a new assortment of feathery friends make this a priceless addition to the series.

I’m truly enjoy the antics of the Langslow family and friends.  My rating: 4 stars

We’ll Always Have Parrots by Donna Andrews

We’ll Always Have Parrots by Donna Andrews is the fifth book in the “Meg Langslow” cozy mystery series.  Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, February 2004

In We’ll Always Have Parrots, Meg travels with her fiancé Michael to a fan convention for ‘Porfiria, Queen of the Jungle’ – a cheesy cult TV show on which Michael has a minor r ole. Michael hopes the weekend will give him a chance to talk Miss Wynncliffe-Jones, the show’s temperamental leading lady and executive producer, out of enforcing a certain pro-vision in Michael’s contract.

Of course, Michael’s not the only person whose career the dictatorial star has manipulated. So when the star is found murdered, the police have plenty of suspects. Trouble is, Meg doesn’t believe they’re going to arrest the right one. Soon she finds herself following the murderer’s trail through a hotel filled with egotistical actors, costumed fans, and a motley flock of monkeys and parrots who, rebelling against their role as live scenery, have escaped from their cages to take an active (and noisy) part in the festivities.

This is another fun and entertaining murder mystery, not that murder is fun, in this series.  It’s so much fun to see Meg, Michael and her family enjoy life and handle the circumstances that envelopes their zany family.  My rating: 4 stars