Category: Mystery

Book Review: Deadly Secrets by Robert Brynzda

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

DEADLY SECRETS (Detective Erika Foster, #6) by Robert Brynzda is another highly addictive addition to the series. I wait anxiously for each of these books to come out so that I can be completely engrossed in a new crime mystery and catch up on all of the characters that I have come to love.

DCI Erika Foster is still recovering from her last case and is finding this Christmas season especially difficult emotionally. Rather than deal with what is sure to be an emotion packed Christmas lunch with the Marsh family, she takes the lead in a horrific murder of a young burlesque dancer. As Erika and her team start to work the case, they find that their murder case may overlap with a separate series of attacks in the same neighborhood. All of the victims have been attacked by a frightening specter in black wearing an old fashioned gas mask.

As the case progresses, Erika receives a call from up north that her father-in-law has had a medical emergency. DI Kate Moss is promoted to handle the case. As the clues come together and the case heats up, Moss finds herself stumbling into a dangerous situation with a soulless madman who will do anything not to be caught.

This book has Erika facing some very difficult personal problems and decisions. Mr. Brynzda humanizes Erika in this story more than in any other. Putting Moss in charge shows her vulnerabilities and strengths in her work and home life. Peterson is back to work and brings a new personal twist to his story. The whole team is facing dynamic personal changes in future storylines.

What appears to be one plot, turns into two diverging plotlines. Each has twists and surprises that had me guessing until the end. It is a fast paced read that kept me turning the pages and hating to set the book down. These books can be read as standalone crime fiction mysteries, but the continued growth and interactions between all of the main characters makes me glad that I read them in order. This is a series that continues to engage, surprise and be on my “Must Read” list!

Thanks very much to Bookouture and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: The Butterfly Conspiracy by Vivian Conroy

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE BUTTERFLY CONSPIRACY (A Merriweather and Royston Mystery #1) by Vivian Conroy is an entertaining historical cozy mystery that pulled me in from the start. I love mysteries set in Victorian times, with all the new discoveries and inventions and the societal conventions that are still in place, but on the verge of change. This is a great start to a new historical cozy mystery series that is both fast paced and easy to read.

Miss Merula Merriweather would much rather be in her conservatory hatching exotic butterflies and studying all things zoological than worrying about the latest fashions and balls. Left as a toddler to be raised by her mother’s sister and husband, Merula has been encouraged in her interests by her uncle. Because of the times in which they live, her uncle Rupert must take credit for her discoveries and accomplishments.

When she releases her latest hatchling at a meeting of the Zoological Society to prove it is real, it lands on Lady Sophia’s arm and she immediately falls over dead. Uncle Rupert, who everyone believes is the true butterfly expert, is immediately accused of her murder and arrested. Merula believes that her butterfly had nothing to do with Lady Sophia’s death, but how to prove it?

Lord Raven Royston feels responsible for the arrest of Merula’s uncle and believes the authorities will come after her when they find out she is the true butterfly expert. It was because of his belief the butterfly was fake that Merula released it at the meeting. Lord Raven helps Merula to escape the police and they both start to try to piece together the real cause and reason for Lady Sophia’s death.

I love Merula and Raven! The author has brought the main characters to life in description and dialogue. Each has a partial backstory revealed during the book that added depth and I am sure will lead to future adventures. Throughout the book their friendship grows and I hope it will turn into more in future books. The secondary characters of Galileo, Bowsprit and Lamb add to the realism of this time period and its class system. This is a great cast of characters that I am looking forward to following into future mysteries. The plot was full of red herrings and I felt the execution of the murder was ingenious. I cannot wait for the next book in this series!

Thank you so much to Crooked Lane Books and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Better Dead by Pamela Kopfler

RATING: 3 out of 5 Stars

BETTER DEAD (A B&B Spirits Mystery #1) by Pamela Kopfler is the first book in a new cozy mystery series set in a Louisiana B&B. The spirit in this book adds a touch of the paranormal and I can only assume that since this series is called a B&B Spirits Mystery there will be others in future books.

Holly Davis owns Holly Grove plantation turned B&B. It has been in her family for several generations and she especially needs to make it a success and profitable now that her cheating husband is dead. Killed in a plane wreck before Holly could divorce him, Burl nearly bankrupt the B&B and was involved with drug smuggling on the property.

As Holly drinks to celebrate her untimely freedom, Burl shows up as a spirit with unfinished business. Burl needs Holly’s help to move on. Holly needs Burl’s help to make Holly Grove a truly haunted plantation that will draw in guests to pay the bills.

Jake McCann, Holly’s former high school sweetheart, returns to town to help with the town’s paper while the owner is on vacation. He works out an agreement with Holly to stay at the B&B, but is that the only reason he has returned?

This was a fast read and had some laugh out loud scenes especially when you read about Gold Member and some of Holly’s disasters. The interaction between Holly, her ex’s spirit and Jake was also well written.

I was disappointed that Holly made so many bad decisions that placed her in jeopardy. One or two is fine, but I prefer a smarter heroine. I am not sure if it was done for screwball comedy sake, but it was just too many times. For me, Holly’s long-time housekeeper and cook was more of a caricature than I was comfortable with. I also would have preferred Jake to become more romantically involved further into future books. It felt rushed at the end of this book.

Overall, this is an entertaining cozy, but not sure if I will continue with the series.

Book Review: Broken Bones by Angela Marsons

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

BROKEN BONES (D.I. Kim Stone, #7) by Angela Marsons is an intricately woven web of clues under investigation by Kim and her team that brings together international sex slavery, illegal immigrant exploitation and prostitution into a realistic and brutally honest story. Once again, I can highly recommend this book and series!

It is Christmas and as D.I. Kim Stone is leaving the station, she finds a baby abandoned on the steps. As the team comes together to watch Kim deal with a baby, a call comes through for Kim and her team of a murdered prostitute. As Kim and Bryant follow the trail of clues, they get pulled into a world of not only prostitution, but also the grooming and entrapment of young girls into modern day slavery and gangs.

At the same time, Stacey and Dawson investigate to find the mother of the abandoned baby. Their investigation leads to a factory of Romanian workers that just does not seem quite right and a dead Romanian man, who appears to be a vagrant. As they work the clues, they are introduced to a world of illegal immigrants forced into indebtedness that will never be overcome and is therefore just a form of slavery.

At first, there appear to be too many threads to follow and I was not sure of how all of the plotlines would come together, but under the deft plotting of Ms. Marsons everything all tied together beautifully with a very surprising ending. I believe all of the issues covered throughout this book were handled with truth and empathy, including the revelations in the main characters lives. Kim, Bryant, Stacey and Dawson are a realistic group of investigators/characters that have all grown in various ways throughout this series. Another great addition to the series that can be read as a standalone, but I believe if you give it a try, you will become as hooked as I am and read the whole series.

Thanks very much to Bookouture and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review. I hope this series continues on for many years to come!

Book Review: Cold Blood by Robert Brynzda

RATING 5 out of 5 Stars:

COLD BLOOD (Detective Erika Foster, #5) by Robert Brynzda had me turning the pages as fast as I could read them. This installment not only gave me my usual intense detective story, but more character development involving Erika, her personal life decisions and the contrasting study of the downward spiral of personal life decisions of an average young woman. This book alternates between the present investigation and the past evolution of the evil responsible for all of this violence.

Erika and her team begin working a gruesome case of dismembered bodies being found washed up on shore in suitcases in the present. Erika works the case with Moss at her side, while still dealing with guilt over Peterson, who is still on medical leave. The whole force must also, at the same time, deal with a major betrayal by one of their own which can have major ramifications far into the future.

As you follow the case in the present, you alternately follow Nina in the recent past. Every decision in her life moves her along a path of no return. Our lives change with every decision or fork in the road, every person we meet or fall in love with and this author has written a character that you cannot stop wishing for her to get a break or have someone intervene even with all the death and violence she participates in.

Mr. Brynzda has added more character development, moral and ethical decisions and depth to each main character in book #5 besides an interesting and fast moving investigation. This book is fast paced and engaging, but it is also more graphic in its violence than previous books in the series. He will definitely have me coming back for more.

Another great addition to this series!

Thanks very much to Bookouture and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Rubies In the Roses by Vivian Conroy

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

RUBIES IN THE ROSES (Cornish Castle Mystery, Book 2) by Vivian Conroy is the second cozy mystery in the murderous adventures on Cornisea Island. I fell in love with Guinevere and Dolly in the locked room mystery in the first book, “Death Plays a Part”. In this second book, you become more intimately involved with Guinevere’s personal life and emotions as she works to solve the new mystery and murder on the tidal island.

As in the first book, Guinevere and her Dachshund Dolly are on Cornisea Island on a working summer break from the theater in London were she is a costume maker. She is helping Lord Bolingbrooke catalogue his vast library in the castle.

Usually Lord Bolingbrooke hides from anyone trying to visit the castle, but he surprises Guinevere by actually greeting Gregory Wadencourt, historian and artifact hunter, when he arrives with his own photographer, Max DeBurgh in tow. Wadencourt has a history with Lord Bolingbrooke, but it is not necessarily friendly. Wadencourt is on the island to find the bejeweled wedding goblet called The Rose and Stars which he believes is hidden on the castle grounds, but he is not the only person claiming rights to the goblet if found.

Several players, new and old, race to figure out the clues to the goblet’s location and claim it as their own. When a body is found floating under the small private pier by the castle, the islanders are devastated. Once again Guinevere and Dolly search for clues to bring a murderer to justice, but Oliver is not always by her side on this adventure. Oliver does not like or trust Max, but Max makes Guinevere feel beautiful and needed. She does not know if these feelings are real or if she can trust Max, but she wants to.

I really enjoyed this second trip to Cornisea Island and the visit with Guinevere and Dolly. This cozy mystery draws you in with an intricate plot, interesting characters, emotional motives and red herrings. The goblet mystery and the murder mystery both keep you turning the pages. You get to read more of Guinevere’s history as she reveals emotional pain from her past which makes her more realistic and dear to my heart. The secondary characters, whether returning from book one or new to this story, are all fully fleshed and not just caricatures.

This book is a wonderful addition to the series!

Thanks so much to HQ Digital, Net Galley and Vivian Conroy for allowing me to read this eARC for free in exchange for an honest review.

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