The Wrong Family by Tarryn Fisher

November 17, 2021 By Leave a Comment


The Wrong Family by Tarryn Fisher (Author), Lauren Fortgang (Narrator)
Publisher: Harlequin Audio
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Contemporary
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

Have you ever been wrong about someone?

Juno was wrong about Winnie Crouch.

Before moving in with the Crouch family, Juno thought Winnie and her husband, Nigel, had the perfect marriage, the perfect son—the perfect life. Only now that she’s living in their beautiful house, she sees the cracks in the crumbling facade are too deep to ignore.

Still, she isn’t one to judge. After her grim diagnosis, the retired therapist simply wants a place to live out the rest of her days in peace. But that peace is shattered the day Juno overhears a chilling conversation between Winnie and Nigel…

She shouldn’t get involved.

She really shouldn’t.

But this could be her chance to make a few things right.

Because if you thought Juno didn’t have a secret of her own, then you were wrong about her, too.

The Wrong Family is a psychological thriller that will keep you guessing. It has an interesting cast of characters. Each person has their own secrets, and some of those are dangerous. Juno is an older lady with quite a past, but she doesn’t have a secret as serious as that of Nigel and Winnie Crouch. Juno is surreptitiously hiding in the Crouch home, and she hears and sees things that no one is supposed to know about.

What is she to do with the disturbing information she discovers? A child is involved. Juno is dying, should she just live out the rest of her days in peace? How can she not do something with the information? Her situation is precarious. She is threatened with discovery.

The story takes different directions often, making it hard to predict, and this adds to the suspense. For those who like to be kept guessing and then surprised, why not have a look at this book?

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Death at Little Mound by Eileen Charbonneau

November 11, 2021 By Leave a Comment


Death at Little Mound by Eileen Charbonneau
Linda Tassel Mysteries Book 1
Publisher: BWL Publishing Inc.
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Young archeology dig site supervisor Linda Tassel and assistant Tad Gist explore the artifacts of ancient people of Linda’s Eastern Cherokee homeland. But soon the body of a team member is found, ritually murdered.

A dam building mogul, Cherokee Nation activists, and the owner of a nearby gold panning attraction are suspects.

Linda and Tad uncover another layer — that of the Spanish conquistadors and the timeless greed for gold. Will they become two more victims?

Every speck of dirt must be accounted for in order to solve this mystery.

My favorite portions of this book were the ones that explored the history, traditions, and beliefs of the Cherokee tribe. The author went into detail on these topics as often as the plot allowed her to do so. I didn’t know much about Cherokee culture, so I was grateful for all of the knowledge she shared. It helped me to understand the main character’s perspective in life and gave logical reasons for why Linda made certain decisions.

The limited amount of character development was my only reason for giving this a three star rating. I liked the characters quite a bit, but I didn’t see much personal growth in them at all. My hope is that the later installments in this series will explore these issues in depth. There is certainly a lot of space to do so, and it would make me even more excited to read a sequel if I had reason to believe that the characters were evolving as a result of their earlier experiences.

Archaeology is a topic I’ve been interested in for years. I loved the scenes that described how meticulously Linda and all of the other workers were exploring the dig site and cataloguing everything they found. This is also something that happens to come in handy in a murder investigation, so combining these two things was an excellent idea.

I’d recommend Death at Little Mound to anyone who is interested in mysteries, archeology, or learning more about Cherokee culture.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , ,

Silent Sentinel – A Mini Thriller by Kelli A. Wilkins

November 10, 2021 By Leave a Comment


Silent Sentinel – A Mini Thriller by Kelli A. Wilkins
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

One afternoon, Valerie visits a flea market and meets a peculiar man who tries to sell her an ancient statue of Anubis—the Egyptian god of the dead. Despite her protests, the man insists that she must have the statue. Valerie gives in and brings her new “guardian” home.

Later that night, Valerie awakens to discover an intruder has broken into her house. She’s forced to fight for her life and relies on Anubis to save her.

When the police investigate, they make a shocking discovery about her attacker and his motive. Only then does Valerie realize how lucky she was— the statue was the last thing she wanted, but exactly what she needed.

Sometimes the right home décor can make all the difference in the world in an emergency.

Valerie was an interesting main character. She had strong opinions about certain topics, especially when it came to home décor. I liked the fact that the audience was mostly left to our own devices when it came to figuring out why she was so invested in this topic and a few similar ones. There were enough hints in the storyline to confirm my guess, but they also left room for other interpretations as well.

I would have liked to see more time spent explaining the motive of the person who wanted Valerie to die. The attempt on her life was such a violent one that I was surprised to see the narrator gloss over the reasons for it. She didn’t seem to be the sort of person who had many enemies at all, so this portion of the storyline never quite made sense to me. I would have happily gone with a much higher rating if it had been explained better.

Some of the best scenes were the ones that played around with the various ways in which the Anubis statue could protect Valerie during the most dangerous moments of her entire life. The author did an excellent job of acknowledging the assumptions readers might have made about how this would all work out while also gently pushing the plot forwards. I chuckled as I read these scenes. They were as clever as they were beautifully logical.

Silent Sentinel – a Mini Thriller was an exciting read.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Autumn Breeze – A Tale from Halloween Night by Michael Ahmadi

November 10, 2021 By Leave a Comment


Autumn Breeze – A Tale from Halloween Night by Michael Ahmadi
Publisher: raubdruck
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Paranormal
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Once a year, evil is allowed to return to the earthly world.
And if it is on the prowl for a victim, there is no escape.
It will lurk in the dark. Year after year.
Every Halloween night.

Trick-or-treating has never been so dangerous or so rewarding.

The horror elements were subtle at first but grew much stronger later on in the plot. I appreciated the hints about what was to come that were included in the beginning, especially when they were included in the quotes that were sandwiched between each scene. It was a wonderful way to build anticipation and keep me guessing about how each hint would build on the ones that came before it. Once I’d finished the final scene, I was also impressed with how gradually these moments became slightly more violent or scary over time. They were never gratuitous, but they definitely made this something I’d only recommend to fellow fans of the horror genre.

This story would have benefited from another round of editing. Some sentences were written vaguely, while others switched between the present and past tense. While I understood what most of them were trying to say, I was confused at times and sometimes needed to read them multiple times to figure out what the narrator was communicating. If not for these issues, I would have chosen a much higher rating.

I must admit that it took me a while to figure out the antagonist’s motivation for his actions. There were clues sprinkled along the way, though, and I was pleased when I finally put them all together. This was the sort of tale that does require some effort from the audience, especially since the most important elements of it were not necessarily spelled out directly. Figuring it all out was rewarding, however, and I was pleased with

Autumn Breeze – A Tale from Halloween Night was a deliciously spooky read.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , ,

The After Party by A. C. Arthur

November 9, 2021 By Leave a Comment


The After Party by A. C. Arthur
Publisher: Montlake
Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQ, Romance, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Cholla

Three women form an unbreakable bond in a sexy, suspenseful, and adventurous novel about empowerment and sisterhood through thick and thin.

Venus McGee, Draya Carter, and Jackie Benson are coworkers with a lot in common. They’re smart, independent, driven, and deserving of recognition—certainly more than they’ve been handed by a demoralizing boss. He’s the topic of conversation at their impromptu get-together after the company holiday party, where the threesome fantasizes about a life without him. There has to be an alternative to taking a deep breath and sucking it up. There is. It’s just not the one they expected.

When morning comes, Venus, Draya, and Jackie are blindsided by murder—a twist of fate that brings a startling new challenge to the table and forces them to navigate a hair-raising detour they never saw coming. For better and (unless they can help it) for worse, it’s going to turn their world upside down. What starts as a necessary bond of mutual trust soon morphs into an empowering and galvanizing friendship that Venus, Draya, and Jackie need now more than ever.

It’s said that a harrowing experience can bring people closer. That’s exactly what happens to three co-workers – Venus, Draya, and Jackie – on the night of their company Christmas party. None of them expected what was to come in the morning, but when they’re all implicated in a murder, they decide to band together instead of leaving each woman to herself. Will they be able to find the real killer before one of them goes to jail?

Although coming from very different backgrounds, the three women share a lot of common qualities. They’re hard workers, smart, driven, and loyal to a fault. These things, as well as a mutual dislike of their boss, Rufus, are what bond the women together initially, but as the investigation progresses, they find love and support from each other as well as from surprising sources.

Of the three, Jackie was my favorite. I wanted to take her home and feed her and let her know that she had a safe place to hang out. She also felt to me like the best developed character, although the other two were complete, too. Venus was relatable to me in the way that she felt she always had to act in a way that wouldn’t harm her father’s political careers. Although neither of my parents were ever politicians, I do understand the whole ‘don’t embarrass me’ environment that she grew up in, and felt she had to adhere to as an adult. Draya was the one I had the hardest time relating to; however, I loved her spirit. There wasn’t anything that was going to stop her from getting whatever she wanted, and I can admire that.

At times, the murder mystery took a back seat to the budding friendship between the women, which was okay with me. As much as I love a good mystery, these three were a riot when they were together. The author does a good job of dropping little breadcrumbs here and there about the murder. Watching the girls make the connections, find the information, and figure out the truth was well worth the wait. I would even enjoy a follow up book about the three and where they are a year or two after all this ended, simply because they were so much fun to be around.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Other People’s Things by Kerry Anne King

November 3, 2021 By Leave a Comment


Other People’s Things by Kerry Anne King
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Romance, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

Jailbird. Klepto. Spectacular failure to launch. Nicole Wood’s sticky fingers have earned her many names, but it’s not that she’s stealing—some objects just need to be moved elsewhere, and the universe has chosen her to do it. Still, being a relocator of objects isn’t easy. With her marriage on the rocks, no real-world skills, and the threat of prison hanging over her head, Nicole is determined to change her ways.

Things seem to be looking up, thanks to a godsent job with her sister’s housecleaning business—until she encounters a seemingly harmless paperback that insists on moving from one client’s home to another’s. Nicole hopes no one will notice, but the action stirs up long-hidden secrets and triggers a series of fateful events that threatens to destroy the life she’s creating and hurt those closest to her. She’ll need to embrace her unwieldy gift and take a chance on love in order to unravel the mystery and fix what’s gone wrong.

She relocates things. Sometimes it’s good. Sometimes, it’s not. What’s a girl to do when her good intentions go…sideways?

I’ve not read anything by Kerry Anne King before, so I was happy to pick this one up. The premise is interesting. The heroine, Nicole, has a propensity of moving objects from one place to another because it’s where they belong in the world. I like the idea. It’s unusual. I’m beginning to think she might be at my house moving my keys and phone from time to time.

I wanted to really like this book. I did. The plot is fascinating. The thing that was a bit of a trip up for me was the overall book. I wanted more dimension in the characters. I wanted to know what made them tick more. I wanted to get inside Nicole’s head more. She’s been through some heavy stuff, but it’s sort of glossed over. I did like Nicole and her fortitude, but other readers might like it more. It’s still a good read and one to be picked up.

This is a good afternoon read and great for when you want something cute for an afternoon.

Why not try it?

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

*Mystery Man by Kristen Ashley

October 28, 2021 By Leave a Comment


*Mystery Man by Kristen Ashley
Publisher: Forever
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Larkspur

Night time is the right time…

Gwendolyn Kidd has met the man of her dreams. He’s hot, he’s sexy, and what started as a no-names-exchanged night of passion has blossomed into a year and a half-long pleasure fest. Sure, it’s a little strange that he only appears in her bed at night, but Gwen is so sure he’s the one, she just can’t turn him away…

Hawk Delgado knows more about Gwen than she could ever imagine. She’s gorgeous, headstrong, and skittish about relationships. But Hawk is facing his own demons, demons that keep him from connecting with anyone. Yet when Gwen is drawn into Denver’s lethal underground scene, Hawk’s protective nature comes out full force. The problem is, when Gwen gets a dose of Hawk’s Alpha attitude in the daylight, she’s not so sure he’s the one anymore.

If you have never read a Kristen Ashley book, Mystery Man is the perfect book to start with. This is one of my favorite KA books and I have read it over and over again. Cabe is a hot alpha male and Gwendolyn is a feisty, sweet heroine. Along with a perfect hero and heroine there are a wonderful cast of entertaining secondary characters.

What keeps bringing me back to this book is Cabe (Hawk) Delgado. He owns a security company and he and the commandos he employs, help keep the Denver streets safe. Cabe is a good guy with a white hat but he doesn’t always obey the laws to get results; he isn’t hampered by rules and laws like the police.

The love story between Cabe and Gwen is magnificent. They both have baggage from their past and are afraid to let go and love again. However, they just can’t seem to stop seeing each other, even though it scares the heck out of them.

This story has bad guys after Gwen and Cabe insists he is the only one who should keep her safe. Along the way, there are so many interesting characters included in this story it’s hard to pick my favorite. Although Elvira is at the top of my list; she is hilarious and had me laughing out loud so many times. This is romance at its best and includes hot alpha heroes, bad guys, suspense and many colorful characters.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Oy Vey, Maria!, a Mrs. Kaplan Mystery by Mark Reutlinger

October 27, 2021 By 2 Comments


Oy Vey, Maria!, a Mrs. Kaplan Mystery by Mark Reutlinger
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Rose Kaplan and her sidekick Ida are at it again. It’s the holiday of Purim, and almost everyone at the Julius and Rebecca Cohen Home for Jewish Seniors is in costume for the Purim play. All except one, who will instead have to be fitted for a shroud. Once again, “Mrs. K” and Ida are called upon to solve the puzzle of a mysterious death at the Home. Described by Chanticleer Book Reviews as “at times more Lucy and Ethel than Holmes and Watson, with a soupcon of Miss Jane Marple,” these geriatric amateur sleuths will keep you laughing, guessing, and maybe even learning a bissel Yiddish!

Retirement is anything but restful for these folks.

Rose and Ida were both unapologetically fascinated with the lives of those around them. They were the sort of characters who could be quickly counted on to know all sorts of tidbits of information about their neighbors like who might be sick or planning to do something unusual in the near future. I found a great deal of amusement in seeing how these two women gathered their information and what they did with it.

It would have been nice to have a little more time developing the mystery. As much as I enjoyed seeing the characters banter with each other, sometimes these scenes did overshadow their attempts to solve the murder. If a few more clues had been shared and the plot had pushed forward faster, I would have felt comfortable giving this a full five-star review.

I loved the narrator’s sense of humor. Ida had a firm understanding of what she wanted out of life and was certain she knew the right way to go about seeking it out. When things didn’t turn out how she thought they would, her reactions to those moments often made me chuckle. She had a quick wit and wasn’t afraid to show it off.

This is part of a series, but it can be read as a standalone work.

Oy Vey, Maria!, a Mrs. Kaplan Mystery was a lighthearted read.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

The House on Crow Mountain by Rebecca Lee Smith

October 27, 2021 By 2 Comments


The House on Crow Mountain by Rebecca Lee Smith
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Romance
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Snowdrop

When her aunt suffers a stroke, New York portrait artist Emory Austen returns home to the North Carolina mountains to mend fences and deal with the guilt over her husband’s senseless death. But that won’t be as easy as she hoped.

Someone in the quirky little town doesn’t like Emory. Is it the sexy architect who needs the Austen land to redeem himself? The untrustworthy matriarch? The grudge-bearing local bad boy? Or the teenage bombshell who has raised snooping to an art form? Even the local evangelist has something to hide. Who wrote the cryptic note warning her to “Give it back or you’ll be dead? And what is ‘it’? As the clues pile up and secrets are exposed, Emory must discover what her family has that someone would kill for.

Such an enjoyable book. The kind you can’t put down. The kind that is so good you’re mad when it’s time to do any chore whatsoever. This wasn’t your everyday romantic suspense. It was full of suspense and yet only hinted at romance. My favorite kind of romance story. It also wasn’t the “trick the little old auntie out of her property” book. There were many pieces to the story, and this is what kept me glued to the pages.

This is an author who can make her characters real. I could picture everyone. A sweet helpful old woman in a nursing home, a bratty eighteen-year-old female, another totally grown up but still very bratty female, a widow, and of course a handsome man. A handsome man who seems good and trustworthy, yet a great deal of people in town hate fiercely. There were many other characters that added to this story and yet there was never a moment I had to turn back a page or two to see just exactly who someone was.

There is so much going on in this book. So many underlying subplots. But just like the author’s characters, the subplots seem to add to the story rather than confuse it. It is difficult to write a plot so intricate and yet keep it as clear as this story is.

I intend to see what else Rebecca Lee Smith has written, but I also hope she is currently writing more good stories like this one.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Murder Mountain by Owen Curvelo, illus. Katya Strasburger

October 26, 2021 By 1 Comment


Murder Mountain by Owen Curvelo, Illustrator, Katya Strasburger
Publisher: Yarn Authority
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Snowdrop

Rosefield has moose, a ski resort, and new this season, murder. Come for a visit. Bring your buds.

Looking for an alpine vacation? Or do you long for the rural life where cows number greater than folks? Nestled amongst the Green Mountains of northern Vermont, Rosefield is the perfect setting to escape your problems and enjoy a cozy mystery. Within these borders, you’ll encounter over a hundred color illustrations to enhance your respite.

Maybe you’ll meet one of the locals. You might share a chair with Joey Rogers, skier extraordinaire and self-proclaimed hero of this small town. Or spot Happy Smith slicing through the glades on his snowboard-as long as it isn’t Grandma Day. Enjoy an après ski at the Bent Pole, and you’ll receive impeccable service from the best bartender in town, Jane Reech. And who knows? Maybe you’ll help Sheriff Peggy McStoots figure out whodunit.

You might even meet Rodney Buric II, the man responsible for the resort’s latest rebrand. Because who wants a mountain without an extra thrill? Sure, you’ve been to resorts with their fancy villages and high-speed quads. But have you ever experienced a . . . Murder Mountain?

A somewhat quirky murder mystery with a ski resort and town for it’s setting. This is as humorous as it is a good mystery. It has your small town cop (a lady this time, I might add) as well as some very funny and unconventional characters. Then again, I grew up in a small town and we had our share of eccentric characters too, so maybe that’s not so odd . What is odd though is naming a ski resort Murder Mountain to try and raise its popularity. And boy does it. All of that leads to a funny story full of illustrations that add to it greatly. In fact, the illustrations seem to break up your reading in two perfect places. At certain times when the illustration gives you an entire mental and physical picture making the story even more poignant and also, right when it was time to take a breath and move on to the next chapter. Even if it seems odd for a cozy mystery to have illustrations, these seem to only enhance the story.

If you like small town mysteries, quirky characters, and a fast read, this is for you. Murder Mountain is Book 1 in a series titled “Rosefield”. According to the author, Book 2 titled “Day Trip to Jay Peak” is in the works.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,
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