Blue Moon Mystery Saloon

Stay Tuned for Murder

A Talk Radio Mystery, by Mary Kennedy, Obsidian, January 2011

A psychic has come to town and former clinical psychologist Maggie Walsh fears her job at WYME radio may be in jeopardy. Chantel Carrington arrived in Cypress Grove, FL one month ago to promote her latest book I Talk to Dead People - and You Can, Too!  and has since become a ratings bonanza whenever she's a guest on Maggie's show "On the Couch with Maggie Walsh". Once listeners hear Chantel's on the air, the phone lines light up and stay jammed throughout the whole show.  Maggie's show is running neck and neck with a local pig report for last place in the Cypress Grove radio market, so she welcomes the higher ratings. Unfortunately the station's general manager knows the reason for the increase, and Maggie knows he's been in a few closed-door discussions with Ms Carrington.

The muumuu-loving psychic's not the only new person in town. The upcoming unveiling of a time capsule placed when the current courthouse was built has stirred up a lot of local interest and brought in visitors of questionable pedigrees. But it seems someone wants the past to remain buried and will go to any lengths to keep it hidden. First the almost-80-year-old grand dame of the historical society, Althea Somerset, is found dead in the historical society building where she lived, and then Mildred Smoot, another septogenarian, is found murdered at the Cypress Grove Public Library where she worked for most of her life. 

Maggie can't help wondering if the two deaths are related and if they're connected to the time capsule reveal just days away.  And where does Chantel fit into the puzzle? Both Althea and Mildred attended her seance at the historical society in which she predicted doom and gloom for Cypress Grove and it's citizens. Coincidental or not?

This is the third installment of Mary Kennedy's Talk Radio Mysteries, and it works well as a stand-alone read. The author is polished at creating interesting and unusual characters. From a towering-beehive-coiffed producer and a 58-year-old, part-time B-movie star to WYME's hefty, red-faced, sports reporter and the station's hairsprayed-combover-wearing general manager, the characters are larger than life and provide humor and substance to an otherwise lackluster tale.

The hype for the time capsule ceremony drags on too long, and the murders seem incidental to the whole story. The main persons of interest in the deaths aren't introduced until later in the book and only occupy one scene each, preventing the reader from getting to know or care about what happens to them - good or bad.  I also don't feel the parallel storylines are neatly tied up in the end, though to be fair, they may be addressed in a future book in the series.

All in all, if you're looking to while away some time with a lighthearted and entertaining book to read, you may enjoy Stay Tuned for Murder. I would encourage you, though, to start with book one of the Talk Radio Mysteries, so you can properly meet and get to know Maggie's family and friends a little better.

PROTAGONIST: Once a 20-something, clinical psychologist with a profitable Manhattan practice, now a 32-year-old, small-town talk radio host

CRITTERS: Pugsley - Maggie's loving, 3-year-old, rescued pug; Mr. Big - Althea's orange tabby cat; Tweetie Bird - Vera Mae's, always molting, siren-calling parakeet

 ACTION: A seance, fast driving, home and office break-ins

LOVE INTERESTS: A cute dog named Pugsley and a good-looking detective named Rafe

ROMANCE: Maybe, with the detective

QUIRKINESS: Vera Mae and her towering, carrot-colored beehive; Lola and her long blonde extensions; Cyrus and his minimal-strand, heavily hairsprayed combover

INTERESTING TIDBITS: Behind-the-scenes look at a radio station, discussion of developers vs. preservationists

FUN FACTOR: Lighthearted, humorous characters, funny misunderstandings

IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU MAY LIKE: Charlie Swift/Gigi Goldman Mysteries by Laura DiSilverio, Southern Beauty Shop Mysteries by Lila Dare, Charlotte McNally Mysteries by Hank Phillippi Ryan

 

Hurricane Irene & Upcoming Book Reviews

What a busy week! I've been reading, writing, riding out an earthquake and preparing for Hurricane Irene, who is now bearing down on us. Winds are picking up, rain is pouring down and I've purchased all my necessities, the most important of which is chocolate.

Here's a quick update on what I'll be posting next week. Please pop back into Blue Moon Mystery Saloon for info on:

Stay Tuned for Murder, the third book in the Talk Radio Mysteries by Mary Kennedy

Little Black Dress, a paranormal mystery by Susan McBride

Let's Play Dead, the second book in the Museum Mysteries by Sheila Connolly

All three are entertaining stories, so don't miss my reviews next week (if we don't lose power for days because of Irene). Until then, stay dry...and keep reading!

Pleating for Mercy

A Magical Dressmaking Mystery, by Melissa Bourbon, Signet, August 2011

For five generations, the Cassidy women have each had a special gift which they've used to help themselves and others. Harlow Cassidy still hasn't discovered hers, but through the years she's developed her love of sewing and design to become a gifted clothing designer. After honing her talents in New York City, she's back in Bliss, TX and her great-grandmother's house to open her own dressmaking business. She longs to transform silky fabrics and edgy accessories into beautiful clothes of her own creation and despairs that she'll never do more than alter or repair boring polyester pantsuits and slacks for her Bliss customers.

Josie Sandoval yearns to have the beautiful and perfect wedding of her dreams, but the store holding her bridal dresses closes just weeks before her big day. Frantic and without a wedding dress, she asks Harlow to do the impossible...make her wedding gown and all of her bridesmaids' dresses within two short weeks. Josie's relief when Harlow takes the commission turns to horror when, later that evening, she returns to Harlow's shop and finds her maid-of-honor's body sprawled near the gate to Harlow's front yard.

Harlow, Josie and Nate, Josie's fiance, quickly become persons of interest in the murder investigation. When the sheriff singles out Nate as the prime suspect, Josie begs Harlow to help prove her fiance wasn't the killer. Harlow can't say no to her childhood friend, and with a little help from her great-grandmother's spirit, Harlow's about to discover she has more than just dressmaking skills. She's a gifted sleuth too.

This first book in the new Magical Dressmaking Mystery series by Melissa Bourbon is far from formulaic. The story's protagonist is of Hispanic heritage and has a supportive, though unusual, family.  Her love interests, especially the ex-boyfriend, veer away from the typical amateur sleuth and police detective or police chief romance found in most cozies and keeps the story fresh and entertaining. Harlow's mom and grandmother are fun characters with unique supernatural gifts, and their banter lightens each scene in which they appear.

This is a fun, charming and magical story and a wonderful addition to the paranormal mystery subgenre. The story zips along at a good pace, and the parallel storylines are sewn up quite nicely at the end. I hope you'll enjoy the time you spend with Harlow and her friends in Pleating for Mercy and that you'll look forward to visiting them again in the series' second book, A Fitting End, which comes out in February.

* The next book in the series, A Fitting End, will be released in February 2012.

PROTAGONIST: Single, Hispanic, 33-year-old, gifted dress designer supposedly descended from Butch Cassidy

CRITTERS: Thelma Louise, one of her grandmother's favorite goats

ACTION: Shooing a goat away from the crime scene, tailing suspected murderer, fight with actual murderer in a bathroom

LOVE INTERESTS: A reliable and handsome architect/handyman

ROMANCE: Budding relationship, not much romantic interaction

QUIRKINESS: Town photographer and Harlow's new friend-British-born Madelyn Brighton who's interested in all things supernatural, plants showing significant growth in a very short time, and a goat whisperer

INTERESTING TIDBITS: Tips on dressmaking, what styles look best on different body types, the best ways to use particular fabrics, small town preservation planning

FUN FACTOR: Lighthearted situations, witty dialogue, fun characters

IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU MAY LIKE: Fortune Teller Mysteries by Kari Lee Townsend, Haunted Guesthouse Mysteries by E.J. Copperman, Missing Pieces Mysteries by Joyce and Jim Lavene, Witchcraft Mysteries by Juliet Blackwell, Haunted Home Renovation Mysteries by Juliet Blackwell

 

Tempest in the Tea Leaves

A Fortune Teller Mystery, by Kari Lee Townsend, Berkley Prime Crime, August 2011

Sunny Meadows has always been a little different. The only child of a high-powered Manhattan attorney and a world-renowned cardiologist, she shies away from their high society lifestyle where appearance is everything. Sunny likes shopping at secondhand stores, drives a used, slightly-rusted VW Bug and prefers hot chocolate to espresso. Her desire to move away from the Big Apple and support herself as a psychic in upstate New York is just one more failing in her parents' eyes. But Sunny wants to do things her own way and be accepted for who she is. She buys a house with her trust fund money in the little town of Divinity, and despite her parents' protests, she packs up and happily says goodbye to her childhood home.

The minute Sunny steps into her new house, she finally feels welcome and at peace. Rumored to be haunted, the neglected Victorian has been vacant for years and shunned by the community. Sunny senses the house knows how it feels to be unwanted and misunderstood and that they'll be a perfect fit.

Sunny's only spent one week in her house and is whittling down her to-do list, when her first customer barges through the front door. Amanda Robbins is frantic and begs Sunny to read her future. While her client drinks tea and prepares her cup for a reading, a strong feeling of doom overwhelms Sunny. The position of the residual tea leaves  and her accompanying vision indicate Amanda only has a short time to live. Interpreting the tea leaves isn't always easy for Sunny, but her visions and the psychic signs are never wrong. So after Amanda leaves, Sunny calls the police to warn them about the upcoming murder. Her report comes too late to help Amanda, and the police are suspicious about her knowledge of the crime. And if that's not a big enough problem, someone's trying to set her up as Amanda's killer. Now it's up to Sunny to prove her innocence and find the real murderer before she ends up convicted of the crime.

This is the first of what promises to be a delightful new paranormal mystery series by Ms. Townsend. With a cozy attitude and lighthearted dialogue, the author has created a likable protagonist with a lot of spunk. A few sleuthing situations may seem a little far-fetched, but they're fun to read and blend well with the overall tone of the story. The main characters, including the haunted Victorian house and its resident feline, have their own complex histories, and Sunny's potential romantic leads are both good looking and total opposites.

Whether you like paranormal or cozy mysteries, you're sure to love Tempest in the Tea Leaves. Include this book in your future readings, and you'll see why.

 * The next book in the series, Corpse in the Crystal Ball, comes out in June 2012.

 PROTAGONIST: Single, 29-year-old, Tinkerbell-ish psychic

CRITTERS: Morty - a large, almost-glowing white cat with black eyes and unusual abilities

ACTION: Car crashes on snowy roads, karaoke sleuthing, tackling a bad guy

LOVE INTERESTS: Possible future with a grumpy, good-looking detective or a lively, Irish-accented bartender

ROMANCE: Heavy-duty kissing frenzy, vision of heavy-duty kissing frenzy

QUIRKINESS: Non-eating, non-sleeping, big, white, hissing cat; tempermental house; forgetful ex-librarian

INTERESTING TIDBITS: Digoxin details, how dementia affects families, how to position cups to read tea leaves

FUN FACTOR: Lighthearted, fun situations, witty dialogue, some slapstick moments

IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU MAY LIKE: Haunted Guesthouse Mysteries by E.J. Copperman, Missing Pieces Mysteries by Joyce and Jim Lavene, Witchcraft Mysteries by Juliet Blackwell, Haunted Home Renovation Mysteries by Juliet Blackwell

Die Buying

A Mall Cop Mystery, by Laura DiSilverio, Berkley Prime Crime, August 2011

EJ Ferris's day at Fernglen Galleria begins like any other, but it soon becomes more than just the norm. A loud wail guides her to a scared victim of a bearded dragon attack, tipping her off that reptiles from the Herpetology Hut are on the lam. Promising a reward, she enlists the morning mall walkers to help find lizards, snakes and Agatha, the fifteen-foot python, before the Galleria officially opens for the day. While she's helping to round up the missing critters, a piercing scream echos down the hallway from the Dillard's wing. EJ hopes there's been an Agatha sighting and speeds her Segway towards the frightened stroller-pushing mom staring at a window display. Agatha's nowhere in sight, but the beach scene does have a new occupant...a dead man lying on a beach chair, butt-naked and with a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. Suddenly her calm job on the mall security force got a little more interesting.

EJ hasn't seen much action since her medically-forced discharge from the Air Force security detail in Iraq, and finally she has the chance to show she is still a good cop, despite suffering from a debilitating, IED-inflicted, knee injury. However, local Vernonville, VA police detective Anders Helland views her as just another inexperienced mall officer and a hindrance to his investigation. EJ needs to solve the murder, both for her reputation and for her self-confidence, so that she can show she's still an efficient and valuable officer of the law.

DiSilverio, a breath of fresh air in the cozy mystery genre, pens a charming murder mystery filled with unique characters and humorous situations. The sidekicks she gives EJ are far from cliche: Grandpa Atherton-retired CIA, proud owner of umpteen spying gadgets and still involved in secret activities, and Kyra-a software wiz and EJ's best friend, who is by day, manager of a magic store in the Galleria, and by night, a proud member of a roller derby team.  Other diverse players in the story are daily Bible-verse-spraying car vandals, a gun-toting cookie store owner, a stuck-up mall manager and sleezy mall security force employees. The mystery is well-crafted with lots of action, and the parallel storylines converge to a satisfying ending.

I loved this book and can't wait until the second book in the series will be released in 2012. In the meantime, I'll catch DiSilverio's Swift Edge, the next Charlie Swift/Gigi Goldman mystery, another series full of amusing characters and creative situations. It will be out in November 2011.

* The next book in the series, All Sales Fatal, will be released in May 2012.

PROTAGONIST: Single, 31-year-old, IED-injured, Segway-riding, female mall cop

CRITTERS: Fubar-a giant, rust-colored cat with a mangled ear and shortened tail AND lots of escaped lizards, turtles and snakes

ACTION: Mall chases, car chase, spying, prying

LOVE INTERESTS: Potential with good-looking cookie store owner and with handsome, condescending local police detective

ROMANCE: Slim to none for now

QUIRKINESS: Grandpa Atherton in disguises, dead man in window display, python panic, Bible-spouting car vandals, EJ's background

INTERESTING TIDBITS: Mall cop responsibilties, behind-the-scenes glimpse at a mall's daily operation

FUN FACTOR: Lighthearted, funny characters, witty dialogue, some slapstick moments

IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU MAY LIKE: Charlie Swift/Gigi Goldman Mysteries by Laura DiSilverio, Southern Beauty Shop Mysteries by Lila Dare, White House Gardener Mysteries by Dorothy St. James, Museum Mysteries by Sheila Connolly

 

Skirting the Grave

A Vintage Magic Mystery, by Annette Blair, Berkley Prime Crime, July 2011

Murder, mistaken identity, and the need for a political family to succeed at all costs combine to make this story another winner in the Vintage Magic Mystery series. The fourth entry to the series, Skirting the Grave finds psychometry-gifted, Vintage Magic-owner Maddie Cutler handling far too many family responsibilities while trying to ensure the success of her new vintage clothing store. Not only is she planning her sister Sherry's baby shower, but her other sister Brandy left all the preparations for her foundation's fundraiser with Maddie.

Mad's also having a tough time choosing between her two beaus, Nick Jaconetti, her on-and-off boyfriend since junior high, and Lytton Werner, hot detective and her frenemy since third grade. To top it off, she's to pick up her new design intern, Isobel York, whom she's never met and regrets hiring, and her sister Brandy at the train station and make sure they're settled at Maddie's dad's house.

The problems start when Brandy makes a last minute call to say she's missed the train and that Maddie needs to pick up Isobel. Maddie and her dad arrive late and discover Isobel York has died on a bench at the station.

But if the dead girl was Isobel York, then who's the stranger knocking on Maddie's door at 3 am the next morning, looking like the doppelganger of, and claiming to be, the real Isobel York? Maddie's determined to find the answer and overcome the obstacles popping up everywhere. The list of suspects grows as Werner, Maddie, Eve (Mad's BFF), Nick and Isobel unravel the web of lies concealing the political rise of the Kingston and York families and the death of the girl at the train station.

Blair excels at infusing a story with loads of tension (Mad vs Nick and Werner, Nick vs Werner, Mad vs Brandy, Isobel vs her Grand-mere, Brandy vs Everybody) and adds visions of car hopping in the 1950's, intelligent humor, ghost sightings and pompous family matriarchs and patriarchs to heighten the fun and suspense. The author continuously moves the action forward and expertly weaves the various subplots together for a satisfying ending.

Who is the real Isobel York? Why was the first Isobel murdered? Will Brandy finally arrive in Mystic? Will her fundraiser be a success? Which guy will Maddie choose to be her one and only? Hurry to pick up Skirting the Grave at your local bookstore and discover the answers to these questions for yourself. 

* The next book in the series, Cloaked in Malice, will be released in April 2012. 

PROTAGONIST: Wild child, vintage store owner, psychometry-gifted Maddie Cutler

CRITTERS: Chakra, a special kitty who knows just how to soothe Maddie

ACTION: Foot chases, cliff-climbing, roller skating, fist fights

LOVE INTERESTS: Nick Jaconetti-on and off boyfriend and FBI agent, Lytton Werner-hot detective and frenemy since third grade

ROMANCE: Close dancing, deep kisses, lots of chemistry

QUIRKINESS: 104-year-young Dolly Sweet and her ghostly sweetheart Dante Underhill, Maddie and Isobel roller skating in Vintage Magic, the getaway tree

INTERESTING TIDBITS: How to tell Lucite from Bakelite, how to identify a real vintage Ralph Lauren purse, eras of specific clothing styles

FUN FACTOR: Lighthearted, some slapstick moments, intelligent banter, fun situations

IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU MAY LIKE: Missing Pieces Mysteries by Joyce and Jim Lavene, Haunted Home Renovation Mysteries by Juliet Blackwell, Witchcraft Mysteries by Juliet Blackwell, Bewitching Mysteries by Madelyn Alt

 

ON VACATION - YAY!!

If you're wondering where my latest book reviews are, I'm taking a week off for vacation. But never fear...I'm reading three fun books for your review-reading pleasure next week. Here's a peek into those coming attractions:

Skirting the Grave (A Vintage Magic Mystery) by Annette Blair

Die Buying, (A Mall Cop Mystery) by Laura DiSilverio

Tempest in the Tea Leaves (A Fortune Teller Mystery) by Kari Lee Townsend

Die Buying and Tempest in the Tea Leaves are the first books in two brand spanking new series. At first glance, they look pretty fun. I'll give you the full low-down next week. 

Though I'll be reading, writing and relaxing some this week, I'm not forgetting my website. Look for my return on Monday, August 8 with my review of Skirting the Grave.

Have a fun week!