Tag: murder mystery

Book Review: The Murder Machine, by Heather Graham

Title: The Murder Machine
Author: Heather Graham
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Rating: 3 out of 3

Artificial intelligence meets genuine murderous intent.

This state-of-the-art smart home has a next-generation entertainment system, an ultramodern kitchen where every appliance is online and even a personal AI to control it all. Standing above its owner’s lifeless body, FBI agent Jude Mackenzie is faced with the daunting task of discovering how the woman was killed by her own home. How do you catch a murderer that doesn’t leave any fingerprints?

Enter Special Agent Victoria Tennant, whose familiarity with cybercrime reveals the stark a machine can only do what it’s been directed to. As the number of grisly “accidents” begins to rise, the pair must race to uncover the perpetrator even as they find themselves caught in their digital crosshairs! There’s nowhere to hide when danger may be as close as the very phones in their pockets.

This was…not as good a read as I expect from Heather Graham. I knew who the murderer was about 2/3rds of the way through the book, which was fine, but no one else seemed to suspect them.

My real problem, though, was the “relationship” between Jude and Vicky happened so fast—overnight—and with barely even any hints of attraction to each other before they were both thinking they were in love. All the relationships in the book felt superficial and glossed over, and I almost put the book down halfway through, but decided to keep reading in the hopes it would improve. It didn’t.

Heather Graham is a bestselling author. The Murder Machine is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Bait and Swiss, by Korina Moss

Title: Bait and Swiss
Author: Korina Moss
Genre: Mystery/thriller
Rating: 4 out of 5

t’s been almost two years since Willa Bauer opened Curds & Whey in Yarrow Glen, and both cheesemonger and cheese shop are thriving in the Sonoma Valley. While Willa doesn’t eat chocolate, it’s true that life is like a box of chocolates. Unfortunately, life’s latest curveball is that Willa’s ex fiancé and ex-best friend—the reason for her chocolate aversion—are opening a chocolate pop-up shop across the street. By the end of the shop’s first day, the town’s newest reporter is the victim of death by chocolate. Now Willa’s ex wants her to be Swiss Congeniality, solve the case, and save the day. As much as Willa wants to hit him with the nearest cheese wheel, she can’t stop herself from saying yes. And it’s not long before tourists decide to stay clear of town until the killer is caught. To save Yarrow Glen, Willa and Team Cheese have some work to do.

This series is a solid read, and this entry was no exception. As always, there’s a lot of cheese talk, which makes me hungry, a lot of friendship and having each other’s back, and, of course, a seemingly random murder. Willa and all of Team Cheese are fun to read and taking Mr. Detective mostly out of the game this go around added a bit more trouble to the mix. This would be a fun weekend read.

Korina Moss is an award-winning author. Bait and Swiss is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: A Drop of Corruption, by Robert Jackson Bennett

Title: A Drop of Corruption
Author: Robert Jackson Bennett
Genre: Mystery/Thriller, fantasy
Rating: 4 out of 5

In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empire’s reach, an impossible crime has occurred. A Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air—abducted from his quarters while the door and windows remained locked from the inside, in a building whose entrances and exits are all under constant guard.

To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial investigator, the great Ana Dolabra. At her side, as always, is her bemused assistant Dinios Kol.

Before long, Ana’s discovered that they’re not investigating a disappearance, but a murder—and that the killing was just the first chess move by an adversary who seems to be able to pass through warded doors like a ghost, and who can predict every one of Ana’s moves as though they can see the future.

Worse still, the killer seems to be targeting the high-security compound known as the Shroud. Here, the Empire’s greatest minds dissect fallen Titans to harness the volatile magic found in their blood. Should it fall, the destruction would be terrible indeed—and the Empire itself will grind to a halt, robbed of the magic that allows its wheels of power to turn.

Din has seen Ana solve impossible cases before. But this time, with the stakes higher than ever and Ana seemingly a step behind their adversary at every turn, he fears that his superior has finally met an enemy she can’t defeat.

The world this is set in so strange to me—but its uniqueness makes it a lot of fun to read. Ana’s just as a crazy as can be and you never know what she’s going to do or say next, which adds a whole other level of entertainment to reading. Kol is a great character: sometimes he’s super smart and observant, sometimes, he’s fumbling around in Ana’s shadow like the rest of us. I did figure out who was behind everything before the big reveal, but I think that was sheer luck. If you’re looking for something unique to read, give this a shot.

Robert Jackson Bennett is an award-winning author. A Drop of Corruption is his newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Random House Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: I Would Die for You, by Sandie Jones

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Title: I Would Die for You (audio)
Author: Sandie Jones
Genre: Mystery/thriller
Rating: 4 out of 5

Now: Nicole Forbes lives a quiet life in a small seaside Californian town with her husband and daughter. She is not expecting a writer to knock on her door asking for her personal insight into the downfall of the biggest British band of the 1980s—unveiling the threads of a life she put behind her years ago. The same day, her daughter goes missing and the school claims her aunt picked her up . . . but she doesn’t have an aunt. Convinced of a link between the two, Nicole is forced to revisit long-abandoned memories from her past to protect everything she now holds dear.

1986: Sixteen-year-old Cassie is obsessed with the hottest band in London, Secret Oktober. Harboring an intense crush on the leading man, Ben Edwards, she will do anything she can to capture his attention among the throngs of groupies at the band’s scandalous backstage parties. But when Ben discovers her older sister Nicole singing at a local bar one night, he can’t help but feel drawn to her, setting in motion a collision course that could tear their family apart.

I listened to the audio version for this, and I enjoyed it. The narrator did a good job and kept me engaged. I liked 1980s Nicole more than I liked sort-of-present-day Nicole, and the way her entire life/marriage fell apart in slow motion was hard to watch. I felt horrible for past Nicole, but the misunderstandings back then were next level.

I did not care for Cassie at all. She was delusional, self-absorbed and selfish, manipulative, a pathological liar….AND psychotic. Her behavior was completely off the rails, and she never showed an iota of remorse. She made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, honestly.

Sandie Jones is a bestselling author. I Would Die for You is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Queens of Crime, by Marie Benedict

Title: The Queens of Crime
Author:   Marie Benedict
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 4.0 out of 5

London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society with a single goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second-class citizens by their male counterparts in the legendary Detection Club. Led by the formidable Dorothy L. Sayers, the group includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. They call themselves the Queens of Crime. Their plan? Solve an actual murder, that of a young woman found strangled in a park in France who may have connections leading to the highest levels of the British establishment.

May Daniels, a young English nurse on an excursion to France with her friend, seemed to vanish into thin air as they prepared to board a ferry home. Months later, her body is found in the nearby woods. The murder has all the hallmarks of a locked room mystery for which these authors are famous: how did her killer manage to sneak her body out of a crowded train station without anyone noticing? If, as the police believe, the cause of death is manual strangulation, why is there is an extraordinary amount of blood at the crime scene? What is the meaning of a heartbreaking secret letter seeming to implicate an unnamed paramour? Determined to solve the highly publicized murder, the Queens of Crime embark on their own investigation, discovering they’re stronger together. But soon the killer targets Dorothy Sayers herself, threatening to expose a dark secret in her past that she would do anything to keep hidden.

This started off pretty slowly, and I almost gave up and DNFed it. It ended up being a decent read, although it’s not fast-paced at all. I enjoyed seeing the author’s version of these famous authors on the page, but the POV felt distant to me, dragging the pace down.

Marie Benedict is a bestselling author. The Queens of Crime is her newest novel.

Book Review: See How They Hide, by Allison Brennan

Title: See How They Hide
Author: Allison Brennan
Genre: Mystery/thriller
Rating: 4 out of 5

No matter how far you run, some pasts never let you go…

Two people were murdered—at the exact same time, in the same gruesome manner, bodies covered in the same red poppies…but on opposite sides of the country.

With Detective Kara Quinn investigating in Oregon and Special Agent Matt Costa in Virginia, the Mobile Response Team digs deep to uncover more about each victim. What is the link between the two, and why were they targeted?

Yet their search unearths more questions than answers—until they meet Riley Pierce, the only person still alive who might be able to help them find the killers.

Soon, it becomes clear this case is nothing like they’ve seen before as their investigation leads them to the hallowed grounds of Havenwood—an eerily beautiful place rooted in a terrifying past.

As more bodies turn up, all tied to the same community, Kara and Matt are desperate to piece the puzzle together before Havenwood’s leader sacrifices everything to keep her secrets buried.

I’ve enjoyed all the Quinn & Costa books, and I liked this one, too. Books about cults always creep me out a bit, and this one was no exception. I liked seeing how the team made connections and linked thinks I would never have thought of, but the glimpses of live within Havenwood was creepy and unsettling at best. I thought the ending was a bit abrupt—the part after the resolution with Havenwood—but the rest was a solid read.

Allison Brennan is a bestselling author. See How They Hide is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Booked for Murder, by P. J. Nelson

Title: Booked for Murder
Author: P. J. Nelson
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Madeline Brimley left small town Georgia many years ago to go to college and pursue her dreams on the stage. Her dramatic escapades are many but success has eluded her, leaving her at loose ends. But then she gets word that not only has her beloved, eccentric Aunt Rose passed, but she’s left Madeline her equally eccentric bookstore housed in an old Victorian mansion in the small college town of Enigma. But when she arrives in her beat-up Fiat to claim The Old Juniper Bookstore, and restart her life, Madeline is faced with unexpected challenges. The gazebo in the back yard is set ablaze and a late night caller threatens to burn the whole store down if she doesn’t leave immediately.

But Madeline Brimley, not one to be intimidated, ignores the threats and soldiers on. Until there’s another fire and a murder in the store itself. Now with a cloud of suspicion falling over her, it’s up to Madeline to untangle the skein of secrets and find the killer before she herself is the next victim.

I need the main character of cozy mysteries to be believable and not go running off after every crazy, fleeting thought they have. This one did not deliver. Madeline changed her mind about every 35 seconds. About everything. The insta-friendship between her, her “aunt”, and the reverend did not feel realistic, and the rest of the characters felt like barely-sketched caricatures.

P. J. Nelson lives in Decatur, Georgia. Booked for Murder is his newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Gardener’s Plot, by Deborah J. Benoit

Title: The Gardener’s Plot
Author: Deborah J. Benoit
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 3.8 out of 5

After life threw Maggie Walker a few curveballs, she’s happy to be back in the small, Berkshires town where she spent so much time as a child. Marlowe holds many memories for her, and now it also offers a fresh start. Maggie has always loved gardening, so it’s only natural to sign on to help Violet Bloom set up a community garden.

When opening day arrives, Violet is nowhere to be found, and the gardeners are restless. Things go from bad to worse when Maggie finds a boot buried in one of the plots… and there’s a body attached to it. Suddenly, the police are looking for a killer and they keep asking questions about Violet. Maggie doesn’t believe her friend could do this, and she’s going to dig up the dirt needed to prove it.

This wasn’t a bad read, although Maggie veered over the line to nosiness as opposed to investigating at times. To me, it wasn’t believable that apparently so many people in this town had land lines instead of cell phones, and that no one ever carried their cell phones with them. Not realistic. The small town feel was well-done, and I enjoyed the gardening aspect, but I probably wouldn’t read any more books, if this were a series.

Deborah J. Benoit is from Massachusetts. The Gardener’s Plot is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Website: https://penpaperplant.com/author/djbwriter/ Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CQHLJP9T/ref=x_gr_bb_kindle?caller=Goodreads&tag=x_gr_bb_kindle-20 Title: The Gardener’s Plot Author: Deborah
J. Benoit Genre: Mystery Rating: 3.8 out of 5 After life threw Maggie
Walker a few curveballs, she’s happy to be back in the small, Berkshires town
where she spent so much time as a child. Marlowe holds many memories for her,
and now it also offers a fresh start. Maggie has always loved gardening, so
it’s only natural to sign on to help Violet Bloom set up a community garden. When opening day
arrives, Violet is nowhere to be found, and the gardeners are restless. Things
go from bad to worse when Maggie finds a boot buried in one of the plots… and
there’s a body attached to it. Suddenly, the police are looking for a killer
and they keep asking questions about Violet. Maggie doesn’t believe her friend
could do this, and she’s going to dig up the dirt needed to prove it. This wasn’t a bad read,
although Maggie veered over the line to nosiness as opposed to investigating at
times. To me, it wasn’t believable that apparently so many people in this town
had land lines instead of cell phones, and that no one ever carried their cell
phones with them. Not realistic. The small town feel was well-done, and I enjoyed
the gardening aspect, but I probably wouldn’t read any more books, if this were
a series. Deborah J. Benoit is
from Massachusetts. The Gardener’s Plot is her debut novel. (Galley courtesy of St.
Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.) Book Review: The Gardener’s Plot, by Deborah J. Benoit

Book Review: The Debutantes, by Olivia Worley

Title: The Debutantes
Author: Olivia Worley
Genre: Mystery/thriller, YA
Rating: 4 out of 5

For the New Orleans elite, the Les Masques Ball is sure to be the social event of the season—if they can avoid another dead Queen. When debutante Margot Landry was found dead the morning after her reign at last year’s ball, it was a tragedy, but not a shocking one. Margot was a wild child with a self-destructive streak, nothing like this year’s Queen, Lily LeBlanc. With a perfectly poised debutante on the throne, everything is going according to plan…until the ball is hijacked by a mysterious figure in a Jester costume. That night, Lily sends a text to three of the Maids on her royal court—her best friend, Vivian; her boyfriend’s sister, Piper; and April, her former frenemy—asking them all to meet the next morning. But Lily never shows up.

On the surface, these three debutantes don’t have anything in common except their exclusive private school and their ties to Les Masques. But soon, they realize why Lily brought them together: something dark is lurking beneath the glamorous surface of the debutante world, and it might be the reason she disappeared. And the further the girls dig, the more they begin to suspect that Margot’s death may not have been an accident—and that Lily may be next. When the Jester starts threatening to expose their own secrets, this unlikely trio must team up to uncover the monsters behind the Mardi Gras masks—before they’re left with another dead debutante.

Not going to lie, this creeped me out on several levels. I used to live outside of New Orleans, so this, while fictional, did not seem completely outside the realm of possibility to me. The writing is solid in this and the setting was vividly done and did justice to New Orleans itself. Debutante culture was both creepy and infuriating, but I thought the mystery and the twists and turns were well-done, keeping me guessing until the end.

Olivia Worley was born in New Orleans but now lives in NYC. The Debutantes is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Sleep in Heavenly Pizza, by Mindy Quigley

Title:    Sleep in Heavenly Pizza
Author: Mindy Quigley
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 3.8 out of 5

Pizza chef Delilah O’Leary and her kitty companion, Butterball, get into the holiday spirit as Geneva Bay, Wisconsin hosts the nation’s premier snow sculpting championship. The annual event transforms the charming resort town into a wonderland of snow castles, ice rinks, and cozy cups of cocoa. On the eve of the festival though, a too-good-to-be-true Chrismukkah catering gig brings some frosty tidings and heralds an unexpected visit from Delilah’s high-intensity older sister. Suddenly it seems that the holidays may not be the hap-happiest season of all. And when a missing party guest’s frozen corpse turns up inside one of the town’s snowy sculptures, murder threatens to put the celebrations—and Delilah’s crew—on ice for good.

This was a quick cozy mystery read, but I have to admit, Delilah is just too darned nosy for me. I mean, everybody else’s personal life just isn’t your business, so stay out of it. People like that get on my nerves, so it was really hard for me to forget I was annoyed and just enjoy the story. There were a lot of side plots going on here and I figured out who the killer was about halfway through, but it was a decent enough read.

Mindy Quigley lives in Virginia. Sleep in Heavenly Pizza is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Website: http://mindyquigley.com/ Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250326281?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tmmp_3&storeType=ebooks Title: Sleep in Heavenly PizzaAuthor: Mindy Quigley Genre: Mystery Rating: 3.8 out of 5 Pizza chef Delilah
O’Leary and her kitty companion, Butterball, get into the holiday spirit as
Geneva Bay, Wisconsin hosts the nation’s premier snow sculpting championship.
The annual event transforms the charming resort town into a wonderland of snow
castles, ice rinks, and cozy cups of cocoa. On the eve of the festival though,
a too-good-to-be-true Chrismukkah catering gig brings some frosty tidings and
heralds an unexpected visit from Delilah’s high-intensity older sister.
Suddenly it seems that the holidays may not be the hap-happiest season of all.
And when a missing party guest’s frozen corpse turns up inside one of the
town’s snowy sculptures, murder threatens to put the celebrations—and Delilah’s
crew—on ice for good. This was a quick cozy
mystery read, but I have to admit, Delilah is just too darned nosy for me. I
mean, everybody else’s personal life just isn’t your business, so stay out of
it. People like that get on my nerves, so it was really hard for me to forget I
was annoyed and just enjoy the story. There were a lot of side plots going on
here and I figured out who the killer was about halfway through, but it was a decent
enough read. Mindy Quigley lives in
Virginia. Sleep in Heavenly Pizza is her newest novel. (Galley courtesy of St.
Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.) Book Review: Sleep in
Heavenly Pizza, by Mindy Quigley

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