Miraz Jordan

Jana DeLeon manages to keep her Miss Fortune series fresh, not just repeating plots. In Swamp Spirits (Miss Fortune Mysteries Book 23) one minor recurring character has been elevated while another doesn’t actually appear. A good read! 📚

A seeming haunted house mystery.

A good and well-written read: The Sheriff’s Wife (The Sheridan County Mysteries) by Erin Lark Maples:

When she stumbles over a body on a favorite hiking trail, the sheriff’s wife becomes the chief sleuth

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Recently read a 2-book freebie with Cooking Up Trouble (The Fun Cruise Mystery Series, A Sweet Romantic Cozy Mystery 1) and Undercover On The Calypso: Book One: The Cozy Cruise Mysteries, both by Lizzie Josephson. 📚

I enjoyed Undercover On The Calypso well enough and may read more in the series:

Adrianne Chrisander inherited a small cruise line from a great uncle she hadn’t seen since she was two. Exciting, huh? But there were problems.

Cooking Up Trouble had a lot of cooking competition detail, plus a romance, neither of which is really my thing:

Veronica thought a cooking competition was a great way to introduce Fun Cruises to the world, but she hadn’t counted on trouble rearing its ugly head.

When they were handing out adjectives to authors this one went back for thirds. I feel like I need a shower to wipe the muck off. Book discarded. 📚

I’m finding I really enjoy this author. The quirky English has come to be a feature. The Season of Killing: (Lost in Alaska Book 5). In particular, Chapter 7 is enormously evocative of the perils of winter travel above the Arctic Circle. 📚

A short, easy read. Shadow Council Book 1: Money Makes it Deadlier by Julie C. Gilbert. Not sure I’ll read more though, given they all seem to be novellas. 📚

Interesting news today — Joffe Books Acquires Two Novels by Māori Writer Renée: 

Otaki-based Renée is a much-loved and prolific writer … in her native New Zealand. She published The Wild Card, her first foray into crime fiction, in 2018 at age 90.

Another enjoyable read in the series: Flame and Fortune (Miss Fortune Mysteries Book 22). Not nearly as many hijinks, but that works. Take a drink at every “We all laughed” though. 📚

Then I moved right along to Close to the Edge (Detective Sarah Burke Book 7) by Elizabeth Gunn because I knew it’d be a good read, and it was. 📚

Why was a kindly man, dedicated to looking after the elderly, gunned down by a team of hoodlums wielding military-grade rifles?

I raced through Close to Home (Detective Sarah Burke Book 6) by Elizabeth Gunn. She’s an excellent author who tells a good story. 📚

The victim has no phone, no Medicare card. His neighbors don’t even know his name.

Why would someone do this to a lonely old man?

Loved @Cheri’s latest book: Death at Dagger Cove (Butterfly Island Mysteries Book 2) by Cheri Baker. I’ll confess I read an advance copy, now I’m rereading and loving it just as much. My comment after first reading was: I really really enjoyed this book. Just fabulous! 📚

Another excellent read from a good author: Closing Ranks (Detective Sarah Burke Book 5) by Elizabeth Gunn. To solve a current crime Sarah has to delve into an older crime or two. 📚

An ex-cop.
An apparent suicide.
Three bizarre deaths.

The first third of Murder on Sea (Rina Martin Murder Mystery Book 1) was a bit annoying and not really my thing. I was considering reading something else instead. Then suddenly it all fell into place and I really got caught up in the story. May well read more in the series. 📚

Two free books I abandoned:

• Ambassador 1: Seeing Red by Patty Jansen. Should have been obvious it’d be all politics but that’s just not my thing. Probably pretty good.
• Hash Browns And Homicide (no link) by Karen McSpade was silly and annoying.

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Some very grim topics in Under Violent Skies (Detective Sara Hirst Book 1) are probably why I started the book months ago but only picked it up again this week. A murder, a criminal gang, violence, racism, sexism, xenophobia. I’ll read more in the series though. 📚

It’s not too surprising that I really enjoyed Old Bones Lie (Detective Clare Mackay Book 6 by Marion Todd, given I’ve enjoyed the previous 5. Another great read. 📚

I wanted to like this writer who lives mainly in Aotearoa New Zealand, but the book simply missed its mark. It just didn’t quite work for me. Death at Grenstead House (Madeleine Brooks Mysteries) by Tannis Laidlaw. I’m unlikely to read more. 📚

I somehow got this free: A Dealer Dead Ahead (Law & Carter Cozy Mysteries Book 1). I read it to the end but didn’t care for it a whole lot. It just wasn’t very good, in any way. I might read another if it were free. Maybe this author gets better as she goes along? 📚

Leigh Mayberry has very quirky language in her books, but still I usually enjoy them. Murderous Profits (Lost in Alaska Book 7). Looks like I skipped 5 & 6 after #4 disappointed. Perhaps I should go back to them… 📚

An OK read: Death by Windmill: A Mother’s Day Murder in Amsterdam (Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mystery Series Book 3) by Jennifer S. Alderson 📚. This was free — I haven’t read the others in the series and probably won’t. Some very unlikely events.

Not great. It all seems very stuffy, old-fashioned and rather unlikely. The Death of Amelia Marsh (Sally Nimitz Mysteries Book 1) by MaryJo Dawson 📚. Just not my thing, I guess and it was a mistake to buy it.

This was an enjoyable read: Death on the Danube: A New Year’s Murder in Budapest (Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) 📚:

Carl, her fellow tour guide, is found floating in the Danube River. Was it murder or accidental death?

I’m surprised I finished reading Murder by the Book (A Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery 1) by Lauren Elliott. It seemed confused and rushed, had basic logic flaws and the romantic elements were annoying. I’m unlikely to read more in this series. 📚

Not too bad to while away a few hours: A Welsh Murder Mystery Box Set Books 1–4 by Cathy Ace 📚:

women of the WISE Enquiries Agency turned their backs on their previous careers to work together to help others.

‘Enquiries’ rather than ‘detecting’ is an interesting notion.

I enjoyed Murder at Sugar Rush Beach (Detectives Preddy & Harris Book 3) by Paula Lennon 📚:

Detective Preddy hoped for a quiet start to the new year. But there’s a murder at Sugar Rush Beach. A man is stabbed through the heart with an antique awl.