Murder in an Irish Garden (Irish Village Mystery Book # 11) by Carlene O'Connor

Everything’s coming up roses for garda Siobhán and the rest of O’Sullivan family in quaint Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland—until a murder investigation blooms out of a deadly gardening competition.

While Siobhán studies for her Detective Sargeant exams, her brother, Eoin, prepares for the grand opening of his new restaurant, The O’Sullivan Six, and concocts a plan to enter Kilbane’s Top Garden Contest to boost business. But trouble brews when Eoin hires a mercurial landscape designer known for her killer designs. His new partner’s unflattering reputation and questionable practices nearly eclipse her talents—and plunge the prestigious competition into chaos.

A lush and intricate winning garden emerges from the controversy, with a spectacular golden statue in the center of the display. But in a devastating twist, the work of art leads to the shocking discovery of a bold and brutal work of murder.

Everyone in town has an opinion about who committed the crime and planted the evidence, from easily bribed sponsors to green-with-envy gardeners. And with another golden statue found in Eoin’s garden display, rumors about his involvement intensify. As local gossip buzzes and a list of suspects grows, it’s up to quick-witted Siobhán and her husband, Macdara, to suss out the guilty culprit’s identity . . . before the competition buries another victim.  (Summary via Goodreads)

Okay I have not read all of the books in the Irish Village Mystery series by Carlene O'Connor, however, the ones that I have read I have loved !!  And if I ever have extra time this will be one series that I will catch up on.

This series follows the O'Sullivan six siblings.  They lost their parents so they have had to grow up quickly and they have done a good job with Siobhan taking the reins and mothering the others.  But now in the eleventh book, Murder in an Irish Garden, Siobhan is married and her and her husband have a murder case that will test them .... personally and professionally.

Siobhan is trying to study for her Detective Sargeant's exam to be like her husband Macdara but they are called into a crazy murder case with a suspect list that is longer than they could ever imagine.  Kilbane's Top Garden Contest is about to begin with a handful of contestants ready to show off their green thumbs.  Unfortunately the contestant who is constructing the garden for Siobhan's brother Eoin's new restaurant is found murdered and the other contestants gardens damaged.  

As Siobhan and Macdara being the investigation, they are unable to cross any names off of the suspect list and as they dive deeper, they seem to add more names......

Readers cannot help but love this series.  O'Connor knows how to draw you in and make you want to stay.  And with this story, you will be at a loss as to who is guilty and who is innocent and when the case is solved, you will sit back and feel exhausted but in a good way !!!  So grab a snack and a cuppa and your copy of Murder in an Irish Garden and sit back and enjoy !!!

Two Weddings and a Murder (A Lady & Lady's Maid Mystery Book # 9) by Alyssa Maxwell

As Lady Phoebe and her betrothed say their vows of holy matrimony, a killer has vowed unholy vengeance on the town’s chief inspector . . .

June 1922: The blessed day has finally arrived. Phoebe Renshaw and Owen Seabright are to be wed, and lady’s maid Eva Huntford could not be more delighted for her lady’s happiness. But she is disturbed by one notable absence from the ceremony—her beau, Police Constable Miles Brannock. When Miles finally does appear, breathlessly running into the reception at Foxwood Hall, he brings grim he’s found Chief Inspector Isaac Perkins murdered, shot in his home in his favorite parlor chair with his own gun.
 
A policeman naturally makes enemies, especially those of questionable character. In charge of finding his former boss’s killer, Miles reviews the details of the crime scene. The murder weapon has been wiped clean and left on the table next to the remnants of the chief inspector’s sausage pasty and coffee reeking of a bit of whiskey. No sign of forced entry. A seemingly peaceful scene—other than the bullet hole in the victim.
 
Before Miles can make much progress in his investigation, a Scotland Yard detective arrives in Little Barlow to take over the case—and promptly focuses his suspicions on the constable himself, who he reasons had motive and opportunity. Coming to their maid’s defense, Phoebe and Owen postpone their honeymoon to join Eva in clearing her beau’s good name and unmasking the identity of the true killer . . .  (Summary via Goodreads)

Two Weddings and a Murder is the ninth and final book in the Lady & Lady's Maid Mystery series written by Alyssa Maxwell .... it is hard for me to wrap my head around that.  When you're a reader and you find an author and/or series that you like, you want to read all of the books out there and it becomes a part of you.  You look forward to the next book to be published so that you can return to the town, time period and people that you have grown to love.

Maxwell is going out with a bang with this final book, Two Weddings and a Murder ....

Main character Phoebe Renshaw gets married and she and Owen couldn't be happier but Phoebe notices her Lady's Maid and friend, more friend than maid really, is unsettled.  Then she realizes that Eva's love interest Constable Miles Brannock missed the wedding.  Sadly they learn why ... Chief Inspector Perkins did not show up to work and when the Constable when calling at his house, he found the Chief Inspector dead.

Unfortunately a detective was sent into town to investigate the murder and he immediately arrests Miles for the murder.  Eva rushes to tell Phoebe and luckily Phoebe convinces her grandfather to go and talk to the detective.  It is decided that Miles be placed on house arrest while the detective looks into the case.  Phoebe and Eva know what that means so Phoebe convinces her new husband to postpone their honeymoon so they can also look into the case.

It is not going to be easy, and maybe that is what Maxwell wanted with this being the last book, because this is the longest suspect list ever !!  There is a houseful of guests staying at Foxwood Hall as they are there for the wedding.  Also Phoebe's grandfather has allowed a caravan of gypsies to camp on some of his property.  Phoebe and Eva also learn that someone that the Chief Inspector sent to jail was recently released and he may feel he has reasons to kill him.

Okay so yes Phoebe will again uncover the truth and the guilty party will be arrested and everyone can breathe a sigh of relief and you will have a blast trying to keep up with everything.

Now let me take a minute to say a few things.  

First I hope that you have been a devoted fan like myself and have fallen in love with the series, and will be a little sad that it must come to an end.  If you aren't a fan and are thinking about it, please go grab copies of all the other books and this one and get cracking. You will completely love them.  

Secondly I want to THANK Alyssa for writing this series and providing me with another town and another family to love.  The times that I spend with one of the books in this series open were very happy times.  I loved traveling back in time and experiences things through your eyes and brilliant mind.

Deadly Reputation (Sam Lawson Mystery Book # 4 ) by David K. Wilson

When an old friend convinces Texas detective Sam Lawson that a woman’s disappearance might be the work of a serial killer, he reluctantly agrees to help…only to find himself being framed for the very crime he’s investigating. Now, it’s a race against time as he struggles to stay one step ahead of a suspicious cop and find the killer before it’s too late.

Sam had settled into a quiet life of filing police reports and spending time with his girlfriend, medical examiner Carla Davenport. But all of that is threatened when Ken Mullen, Sam’s old partner and mentor, pays an unexpected visit to ask Sam to help him hunt down a serial killer.

As the two men try to link the missing woman to the killer, Sam falls back into old bad habits that threaten the peaceful world he’s created. To make matters worse, someone is planting evidence to frame Sam for murder and an overly ambitious detective sets his sights on Sam’s arrest.

With a woman’s life hanging in the balance, Sam resorts to desperate measures to find the killer before time runs out.

Deadly Reputation is the fourth stand-alone installment of the popular Sam Lawson Mystery series. If you like Jack Reacher and Harry Bosch, you’re going to love Sam Lawson in this gripping, page-turning thriller from David K. Wilson.  (Summary via Goodreads)

Deadly Reputation is the fourth book in the Sam Lawson Mystery series by David K. Wilson and all I can say is ...... WHAT THE HECK ?!?!  If you have read the previous books in this series I am sure you are on the same page as me with being in complete shock !!!  Mostly is a good way but some not so much.

The Sam Lawson Mystery series reminds me of two other authors .... Lawrence Block with his Matthew Scudder series and Stuart Woods with his Stone Barrington series.  Both of these series deal with law enforcing individuals that will, at times, cross the line to get the guilty party.  And we know that In the Sam Lawson series, Sam is kind of on the line ....

In Deadly Reputation Sam's old partner, Ken Muller, comes to town with a crazy case of a serial killer on the lose and talks Sam into looking into the case.  And when a local sex worker ends up missing, Ken is positive that the killer is now in Quinton, Texas.

Sam reluctantly agrees to help Ken knowing that he is sure to piss off his captain.  And when Sam's new truck is taken into custody with questionable blood in the back, he has no other choice but to prove his innocence. 

Things do not get better for Sam and he is not making it easy on himself but he is determined to clear his name and do what he can to try to save the abducted woman ..... and when another one goes missing, he is fitting a clock that is running out of time but he doesn't know how long he has.

I honestly hope that you have read the previous books in this series but if you haven't I hope that you begin.  This is a great series to get lost in and you will breeze through them as you will not want to stop reading them.  I, for one, cannot wait to get  my hands on the fifth book, Death on Location, to see what trouble Sam gets into next.

 

Additional Attendee (A Paulwhatshisname Mystery Book # 1) by Josh Harper

Paul, a part-time actor and full-time egoist, just knows that his wife is having an affair with the dog trainer who lives upstairs in their luxury apartment building. But when he tries to catch them in the act, he finds their neighbor’s corpse instead. And now he can’t find his wife anywhere. With only the building’s alluring front desk person to help him, Paul must find the killer before the cops pin the murder on him. Soon, he discovers that his fellow over-privileged tenants aren’t as bland as their jobs in digital marketing suggest, and he is drawn into a hidden world of greed, lust, and misused animal narcotics. But Paul’s biggest obstacle to solving this mystery lies within himself. Can he stop lying, navel-gazing, and indulging in his own depression long enough to do some actual detective work? Or is the pool on the roof too damn enticing?

While serving up a who-done-it in the vein of Anthony Horowitz’s Hawthorne and Horowitz series, Additional Attendee maintains the momentum and contains the grit of an Elmore Leonard novel. Along the way, it offers up a healthy dose of existential comedy in the tradition of Gary Shteyngart and Sam Lipsyte.  (Summary via Goodreads)

Additional Attendee, written by Josh Harper, is his debut book and the first in his Paulwhatshisname Mystery series.  Josh sets the stage nicely with the characters and the setting.  Readers will be drawn in instantly and seeing as it takes place mostly in an upscale apartment building, you are sure to want to rent one so you can stay longer .... just be aware of your surroundings.

Readers are introduced to Paul, one of the tenants, who doesn't seem happy with his life.  He thinks that his wife, Laura, is cheating on him with someone in the building so he sets out to find out.  Unfortunately when he goes to the guys apartment to confront him, he finds him dead.  The one good thing about his going there is that he got  Alina who works the desk in the lobby to go with him.

Paul doesn't want to tell the police the real reason for being in the dead guys apartment so he lies and tries to get  Alina to lie also.  Alina doesn't so now Paul is on the police's radar.  

Things just keep getting worse for Paul .... Laura never returned home from going to the gym and is not answering her cell phone.  Paul never imagined that he would walk into their apartment and find his wife dead in their bed but that is exactly what happens.  Now he is trying to solve both murders because he knows he didn't kill anyone .... even though the detective is hot on is tail to arrest !!!

Harper has a way with words, and sorry that some of them are curse words.  He paints the picture beautifully for readers to want to keep reading.  You will love the setting and you cannot help but love Paul.

It's not often that you get a cozy mystery written by a man so I guess we should give them some slack when we have one .....  You can usually tell when reading a book whether it is written by a male or female and there is nothing wrong with that.  

Medal for Murder (Merry Wrath Mysteries Book # 32) by Leslie Langtry

From USA Today bestselling author Leslie Langtry comes a hilarious new Merry Wrath mystery...

It’s not news that the Iowa towns of Bladdersly (Home of the Raging Bladders) and Who’s There (the Fighting Who-rish) are rivals and have been for more than a century. And as everybody knows—the best way to deal with a rivalry is to exploit it! So Who’s There’s youngest mayor creates The WhoBla Olympics to settle things once and for all!

Everyone is going to compete, including ex-CIA agent turned Girl Scout leader Merry Wrath Ferguson and her troop. The events are a bit strange, with Extreme Hide & Seek and Dodge Archery, but all’s fair in the spirit of competition, right? Sure, there’s a little cheating and sabotage going on, but it’s nothing…until a body turns up with Merry’s arrow in its chest. And what could go wrong when you have two police departments taking the spirit of competition too far in seeing who will solve the crime first?

Will Merry and her teammate, Hilly, medal in Dodge Archery? Will the event heal the rift between these two towns? Can Merry solve the crime before Chief Magnum of the Bladdersly PD locks her up? Get your nachos and take your seat in the stands to see who comes out on top…and who is going down!  (Summary via Goodreads)

When an author has over thirty books in a series, is there any doubt they have a following ?  I mean, come on ..... thirty books !!!

Well Leslie Langtry has that with her Merry Wrath Mystery series and Medal For Murder is her thirty-second book in this series.  If you haven't read any of the books in this series, I highly suggest you do.  This series is so fun !!!

In Medal For Murder main character Merry Wrath and her crazy crew are participating in an Olympic games event between their town, Who's There, and a rival town, Bladdersly.  Who's There mayor, thirteen year old, Ava, has set everything up.  But she didn't plan for the Bladdersly eighteen year old mayor, Barney, to be murdered at one of the game sites .... or that Merry's arrow would be the murder weapon !!

Luckily for both towns the murder occured in the county so neither town is in charge of the investigation.  But that will not stop Merry, her husband Rex, and friends to do a little investigating of their own.

Even without a murder to solve readers will love this series.  You have teenagers in charge of political offices, ex-spies doing crazy things, a young girl who can communicate with animals, and so much more !!!  

I could continue to talk about more with this series but I think if you aren't a fan yet, I have given you enough of a push to go grab a book or two or thirty.  Langtry knows how to entertain readers .... and with thirty-two books, you better believe it !!!

The Incident of the Book in the Nighttime (Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery Book # 10) by Vicki Delany

Bookshop owner Gemma Doyle heads to London for a wedding, but when a body is found in connection with a rare book, Gemma sets out to sleuth the slaying, in bestselling author Vicki Delany’s 10th Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery.

Gemma Doyle and her friends have packed their bags and headed to London for her sister Pippa’s wedding. Waiting for her in the hotel lobby is none other than Gemma’s ex-husband, Paul Erikson. Paul has a rare book he wants her to see–calling it “the real deal”–so Gemma agrees to meet him at their old shop, Trafalgar Fine Books, the following day. But when Gemma arrives, accompanied by Grant, a rare book dealer, they find Paul dead in his office.

Paul had been down on his luck, but Gemma never expected this. Had he borrowed money from people he shouldn’t have? And where is the valuable book he was so anxious for Gemma to see? It’s nowhere to be found in the shop. Because of their previous relationship, Gemma feels she owes something to Paul and vows to find his killer.

As Gemma and her best friend Jayne Wilson follow Paul’s trail of friends, enemies, clients, and ex-lovers through London to Yorkshire, she realizes the puzzle of Paul’s last days is more twisted than she originally thought.  

This mystery is anything but elementary, and Gemma and Jayne have to use all their wit to get to the bottom of it before their time in London–or in life–is over.  (Summary via Goodreads)

Having read all but the first book in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series I can honestly say that I am a huge fan of these books and have fallen in love with the characters.  Author Vicki Delany knows what to write to insure that.  And with having ten books in the series, she has to be creative with the stories so that readers do not get bored and are sure to return.

The Incident of the Book in the Nighttime, the tenth book, sees Gemma and close friends traveling to London to attend Gemma's sister's wedding.  Pippa is actually marrying Grant, a friend of Gemma's from New London, Massachusetts, where Gemma resides now.

Gemma has to leave the wedding reception early, as she was unable to rest when they arrived as she had to try to track down where her luggage ended up, when jet lag caught up to her.  But before she could get through the jotel lobby, she is approached by someone she definitely did not want to see .... her ex-husband Paul.  Paul insists that he has something back at the bookstore that she use to own with him that she needs to see.  Gemma has to agree to stop over the following day just so that she can make her escape.

Unfortunately when Gemma, Jane and Donald arrive at the bookstore at the agreed upon time, the only two people they see are Paul's employees.  But they find Paul in the office and sadly he is dead ... and has been for several hours.  Gemma, being Gemma, quickly looks around and is pretty sure Paul was murdered and tries to determine why someone would want to kill him.

Once the police are involved Gemma should walk away but readers know that she won't even if she hasn't seen Paul in seven years.  It, eventually, becomes clear that Paul's death is bigger than even Gemma can handle and when Pippa gets involved, she knows it is worse than she thought.  However, now that Pippa is involved means that the case is untouchable to Gemma.  

I have to say that I believe that The Incident of the Book in the Nighttime is my favorite in this series so far.  I am a huge fan of everyone and everything inside this series but I am obsessed with Pippa and love her !!!  I love her secrecy, the power that she holds in whatever her job is, her relationship with her sister and everything else about her.  There is no reason that a cozy mystery series cannot have two powerful women in it and this one is it !!! 

 

The Secret of Blackbird Cabin by D. L. Tank

When Tony and Megan, a recently retired couple, buy a long-vacant cabin on a small lake hidden in Wisconsin's Northwoods for a ridiculously low price, they get more than they bargained for. While renovating the cabin and property, they discover an unidentified skeleton. A myriad of connected clues involving bank robbers, bootleggers and crooked cops point to the skeleton's identity. Tony and Megan reluctantly recognize that if the mystery is to be solved, it's up to them to discover what really happened at Blackbird Cabin. A cozy mystery with a Northwoods feel and a surprise ending.  (Summary via Goodreads)

The Secret of Blackbird Cabin by D. L. Tank is a captivating tale that will have readers trying to guess the mysteries that surround the cabin that Tony and Megan have recently purchased.  

Tony and Megan, both retired, have always wanted to have a place they can spend their summers at, a cabin on a lake, being ideal. While on vacation they see an advertisement on a bulletin board in the local grocery store for a cabin with everything they are looking for but they are concerned that the price is too low and it could already be sold.  Luckily for them the cabin is still for sale and they fall in love with it and are very happy to be the new owners.  Unfortunately they soon learn that there are a lot of mysterious things about the property and this sends them down a bunch of rabbit holes....

Tony and Megan decide to play detectives but it becomes clear that there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle they need help with so they decide to trust Fred Jackson, the gentlemen who sold them the cabin.  The cabin has been in the Jackson family for a very long time but no one has used it for many years.  

Tony, Megan, and Jackson are able to solve some of the mysteries regarding Blackbird Cabin but sadly have to be satisfied with that .... until Tony and Megan meet a relative who provides them with a story written by her great grandmother and that fills in all the empty spaces in their cabin on the lake.

The Secret of Blackbird Cabin is quite the tale and Tank draws you in the instant you begin reading it.  You will have so much fun reading and will want to try to help Tony and Megan solve all the mysteries.