Miraz Jordan

I really enjoyed After Hours at Dooryard Books by Cat Sebastian. 📚

when [Patrick] takes in a drifter who seems to be hiding something, and his best friend and her newborn move into the apartment upstairs, his life gets turned on its head.

Thanks to @KimberlyHirsh for the recommendation.

In this rather picaresque novel Blue takes a couple of decades to find herself — Finding the Grain by Wynn Malone. 📚

The tornado that ripped through Blue Riley’s family farm tore her teenage life apart, killing her parents in her last month of high school, forcing her to abandon her home in Alabama and face an uncertain future.

Not my usual genre, I found it a bit long but enjoyed it well enough.

Kimberly Hirsh wrote:

After Hours at Dooryard Books by Cat Sebastian 📚

Cat Sebastian’s work unfailingly delights me …

I found the book on Amazon.com on my iPad where I'm not logged in. OK, $6.99 …

I switched to my Mac, where I am logged in, and now it costs $8.11. What the heck!

The paperback is the same cost in both cases. If it was an exchange rate thing between US$ and NZ$ the higher price would be around $12.

Update: Ohhh, wait a minute — Amazon collect 15% GST (Goods and Services Tax). That would bring it to $8.04. Close to $8.11. So maybe that's it! 💡

It's been a while since the last Jana DeLeon book but Coeds and Cattails didn't disappoint. 📚

The team have to track down who killed a very unpopular snitch before the daughter of a friend is unjustly accused.

Some gripping and funny scenes, as always in these books, but less OTT than recently.

Cat Caliban delves into the events and culture of the 60s in this cold case — Eleven Hours to Murder (The Cat Caliban Mysteries Book 11): by D.B. Borton. 📚

Back in the summer of ’69, rebellious teen Leila Perle secretly boarded a bus to Woodstock, and never came home.

What really happened at the legendary music festival — if the missing girl even made it there at all?

Another good read.

I've enjoyed this author's murder mysteries, but this time there's no murder. The hunt is on for a book and a family member. An unusual read, with a tinge of My Fair Lady about it in the friendship between Griff and Lina. The Mystery of the Missing Book (The Antique Shop Mysteries Book 1) by Judith Cutler. 📚

Lina is finding her feet in the antiques trade, working alongside her eccentric mentor Griff. Attending a bustling local fair, Lina makes a thrilling discovery: a single page from a rare medieval manuscript.

I found Sappho Farms by Alex Washoe interesting and a positive read, with a view into aspects of life (trans and ADHD) I'm not very familiar with. 📚

MC Molina is a rising star in PR, living in a sleek Seattle townhouse with her brilliant, comic-obsessed wife, Elsa. But when MC’s career crashes and she inherits her grandfather’s crumbling farm … she’s ready to trade deadlines for dirt.

Another good read in a series I enjoy — Murder at Miners Bluff (An Elk Ridge Murder Mystery Book 6) by Anne Shillolo. 📚

The remote location has no road access and the terrain is so extreme that a helicopter can’t land. … Can they apprehend a killer and escape the confines of the canyon before rains and flash floods threaten the bluff, destroying precious evidence and trapping the team?

Another from a series I quite like: 4th Silence (Schock Sisters Mystery Series) by Misty Evans and Adrienne Giordano. 📚

Thirty years ago, eight-year-old Tiffany was found murdered … Now, as the anniversary of her death looms, sisters Charlie and Meg Schock are pulled into their most chilling investigation yet. When their mother launches a campaign to reopen the case, it ignites a media storm and political backlash.

I really enjoyed the lesbian romance, Under the Witness Tree by Marianne K. Martin. 📚

After inheriting an old plantation house, Dhari Weston heads south to settle the estate and meets intriguing Dr. Erin Hughes, a local history professor with in interest in old houses and the new girl in town.

It didn't follow the usual pattern, the characters were interesting, and the author taught us some new (to me) historical truths.

I'd read more by this author.

Ten Clues to Murder (The Cat Caliban Mysteries Book 10) by D.B. Borton. 📚

Cat Caliban thought her biggest challenge this holiday season would be surviving her annual family Monopoly game. But when a member of her local writers’ group calls in a murder, the stakes suddenly skyrocket.

This book took some very unexpected turns revealing Borton's skill as a writer. I don't want to risk giving anything away, but I found this book very satisfying.

Another good (and mouthwatering) read — The Mumbai School for Murder (A Temple Hill Mystery Book 3) by Meeti Shroff-Shah. 📚

When fiery teacher Ms Venus is found slumped across her desk, the school insist she died of natural causes.

But Radhi’s not convinced. The Ms Venus she knew was in rude health, quite literally, stirring up drama and discord at every turn.

Another lesbian romance: Fire Fall by JD Glass. 📚

Bennie Grego, an EMT by day and comic book artist by night is forced to make a near impossible decision.

I guess romance books, of any ilk, just don't sit that well with me (though I keep hoping). This left me a bit uneasy. I may have liked it better as an action-focused novel with a side of finding that special someone.

I'm a little mixed about the lesbian love story Beowulf for Cretins: A Love Story by Ann McMan. 📚

A burned-out English professor toiling away at a small college in Vermont’s Champlain Islands finds love and ensuing complications that very well may spoil her last shot at tenure and happiness.

With a cast of brilliant academics and a university as the setting the book wandered off into highfalutin topics and verbal exchanges that were too stratospheric for my simple tastes.

It was a decent story though.

Author D. L. Keur has several series I enjoy, and Toxic Deceit (The King & Midnight K-9 Mysteries Book 3) was no exception: 📚

When a young woman exhibiting signs of psychosis is killed, it seems like a drug-induced frenzy… Then, another woman dies after falling into a seizure-induced coma and, hours later, a family of four is admitted to the hospital, all of them showing signs of poisoning …

Most of Knight Shadow (Jorja Knight Mystery Series Book 8) by Alice Bienia was interesting and enjoyable. 📚

When her boss sends her to check on an old army buddy displaced by a fire, Jorja leaps at the chance—only to find him dead in a downtown alley.

Several chapters at the end though, after things were more or less resolved, were confusing and felt like a rushed afterthought.

I enjoyed The Sydney Mysteries — three gripping crime thrillers by Jean Bedford. 📚

Anna Southwood never meant to become a private investigator. But after her charming, corrupt ex-husband turns up dead in a locked car on a remote mountain track — and leaves her a small fortune of dirty money — Anna figures she might as well put it to use doing some good.

It's also enjoyable to read books set in the southern hemisphere.

The murders continue in Malvern, but Jude Gray notices the things the murderer wants to keep hidden and provides invaluable clues for the detectives. A Very Merry Murder by Kate Wells. 📚

a beloved national TV show is coming to film their Christmas special on [Jude's] land, celebrating the charm of rural living.

At least, that’s the plan… until one of the crew is found dead in suspicious circumstances.

A very satisfying story with pleasing characters and a delightful location. Killer in the New Forest (The DI Callum MacLean mysteries Book 3) by Carol Cole. 📚

Detective Inspector Callum MacLean should be unpacking boxes in his new home. But when a man is run over and killed outside Godshill Village Hall, his week’s leave is cut short. …

The post-mortem reveals Stafford was already dead before the car wheels struck him.

Another good read in this series, though rather gruesome. A Murderous Mind (Naomi Blake Mysteries Book 11) by Jane Adams. 📚

When the mutilated body of a student is found in her university room, the scene is horrific.

I’d already read book 1 of The Maybridge Mysteries — three gripping cozy murder mysteries by Liz Fielding and enjoyed the next two as well. 📚

Welcome to Maybridge, a picture-perfect Cotswold town where the roses bloom, gossip runs rife — and murder is never far from the flowerbeds.

Cat's new career as a detective is developing nicely as she solves a decades old murder with almost no clues to work with. Nine Burned Lives (The Cat Caliban Mysteries Book 9) by D.B. Borton also has a very nice twist or two. 📚

Cat Caliban never expected her golden years to be quite so eventful. She races into a burning house to rescue a litter of kittens, only to stumble across a charred human skull.

The concept of Death Of A Ghostwriter (Wye Valley Widows Book 1) by Gaynor Torrance was interesting: a chap dies and it turns out 3 current wives are notified … 📚

The execution though wasn't satisfying. I think the book needed a really good editor to bring it into line. Some parts were repetitive, some read like a book for kids. There was a strong narrator voice that felt like telling about the story rather than being engaged.

I eventually realised that Ellie's infuriating inability to stand up for herself in Book One was because the author left plenty of scope for character development. Ellie Quicke Mysteries Books 1–7 by Veronica Heley. 📚

Meet Ellie Quicke. Devoted cat lady, tea addict, recent widow — and now amateur sleuth!

Over the course of the 7 books I came to really enjoy the series and have happily discovered there are more to read.

I smiled as I picked up Eight Miles to Death (The Cat Caliban Mysteries Book 8) by D.B. Borton because I know I can rely on this series to be entertaining and enjoyable. 📚

Meet Cat. Retired housewife. Budding private investigator. Reluctant parachutist.

Cat investigates the present day WASP who flew huge, big and little planes for the US in WWII while suffering sexism, sabotage and lack of recognition.

A good read.