Book Review and Giveaway - No Roast for the Weary (A Coffeehouse Mystery) by Cleo Coyle

My Review

Clare Cosi is worried about slow traffic post-pandemic at her beloved Village Blend coffeehouse in Greenwich Village.  When her staff brainstorms and comes up with idea of the Writer's Block Lounge at the coffeehouse, traffic picks up - and so does mystery!  A regular customer is found seriously injured and an old, decades ago, mystery surfaces.  Clare works to solve both mysteries.

I wanted to read No Roast for the Weary because I love the Coffeehouse Mystery series.  I enjoy the Greenwich Village setting and the coffeehouse ambiance.

This is an intriguing mystery!  I especially was interested in the decades old mystery.  Clare uses her amateur detective skills to solve the case after encountering a number of unlikely situations including a pet duck and a writers' gala including some of the most famous names in fiction.

I like the whole cast of characters, including Clare's fiance Mike, her mentor Madame, the baristas and staff, and her cute cats, Java and Frothy.

The mystery is fast paced with lots of short chapters, and readers will travel enjoy spending time in New York City with Clare as she solves this mystery.

I recommend No Roast for the Weary - and the entire Coffeehouse Mystery series - for other cozy mystery fans!

Book Synopsis

When the Village Blend opens a Writer’s Block Lounge, a cold case crime turns up the heat on Clare and her crew in this gripping new entry in the beloved Coffeehouse Mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Cleo Coyle.

As much as master roaster Clare Cosi adores coffee, the landmark shop she manages won’t survive if she doesn’t sell enough of it. So when the Village Blend’s customer traffic grinds to a halt, she turns to her staff for creative ideas, and the Writer’s Block Lounge is born.

Madame, the eccentric octogenarian owner of the shop, is upset by this news. Years ago, a group of accomplished writers used the shop’s second-floor lounge to inspire each other, but the group disbanded when something dark occurred. Though that history is shrouded in mystery, Clare presses forward…

Soon the Village Blend tables are filled with aspiring novelists, playwrights, and poets, all happy to be coaxed, cajoled, and caffeinated by her coffeehouse crew. Clare admires the stamina of these scribes, many of them toiling at night jobs—driving taxis, tending bar, ushering for Broadway—while penning projects during the day.

Then one of their fictions turns fatal when a shocking secret leads to a deadly end. Unless Clare can untangle this mystery, uncover the truth, and stop a desperate killer, she fears more of these weary writers may be marked for eternal rest. ~ Includes a knockout menu of recipes.

Author Bio

CLEO COYLE is a pseudonym for Alice Alfonsi, writing in collaboration with her husband, Marc Cerasini. Both are New York Times bestselling authors of the long-running Coffeehouse Mysteries and Haunted Bookshop Mysteries, now celebrating more than 20 years in print. With more than one million  books sold, their works have been translated into Spanish, Japanese, and Czech; received multiple Best of Year selection honors from reviewers; and have been recommended by Booklist as among the best culinary mysteries for core library mystery collections. Alice and Marc are also bestselling media tie-in writers who have penned properties for Lucasfilm, NBC, Fox, Disney, Imagine, Toho, and MGM. They live and work in New York City, where they write independently and together, wrangle their rescue cats, drink a lot of java, and cook like crazy. Connect with Cleo at CoffeehouseMystery.com

Author Links
Webpage: https://www.coffeehousemystery.com/

Free Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/cleocoylerecipes/newsletter

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CleoCoyle/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CleoCoyle

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/cleo-coyle

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/51488.Cleo_Coyle

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cleocoyle_author/

Purchase Links:
Amazon     Barnes & Noble   Kobo     Google Play     Bookshop.org

Giveaway

Book Review and Giveaway - Murder, She Wrote: Snowy with a Chance of Murder by Jessica Fletcher & Barbara Early

My Review

Jessica Fletcher falls on icy steps and has to stay home to recuperate from her fall, with the help of home aide Alice.  When a short term renter across the street starts building risque snow sculptures, the whole neighborhood is in an uproar ... culminating in a murder.  Of course Jessica works to solve the mystery!

I wanted to read Murder, She Wrote: Snowy with a Chance of Murder because I love the Murder She Wrote TV series and the book series as well.  I try to read all the books in this series as they come out.  I was also intrigued by the description of this book, which mentioned Rear Window - one of my favorite movies.

I think this is my favorite Murder She Wrote book yet!  The thing I love most in the books is Jessica's small town sleuthing in Cabot Cove.  The books with travel are fun, but the Cabot Cove books are particular favorites of mine.  It was interesting to see Jessica overcome the challenge of being homebound for so much of her sleuthing.  I enjoyed following along as she solved the mystery.  I loved seeing all the familiar Cabot Cove folks in this book - Seth, Mort, Maureen, Maeve.  I also liked Jessica's assistant, Alice.  I enjoyed their creative writing sessions together as Jessica mentored Alice.

The mystery aspect of this book was well paced, with several good suspects.  I guessed the right suspect, which makes a mystery read even more fun.

I enthusiastically recommend Murder, She Wrote: Snowy with a Chance of Murder - and of course, the entire Murder She Wrote series - to other cozy mystery fans!

Book Synopsis

In a nod to Rear Window, this newest entry in the USA Today bestselling Murder, She Wrote series finds Jessica Fletcher coping with an injury that leaves her homebound—and a murder just outside her window!

Jessica Fletcher has taken a nasty spill on the ice, leaving her in a wheelchair for several weeks. She tries to work on her latest manuscript but finds herself distracted by a new neighbor moving in across the street. There’s good reason for her to be distracted, because soon after unpacking his sparse belongings, Mr. Rymer is out in the front yard, building somewhat risqué (read: naked) snow sculptures.

While Cabot Cove debates whether the sculptures are a protected form of art or a public display of lewdness, someone starts destroying them at night. Rymer doesn’t seem upset. He just makes new ones. No need to get the police involved over a little snow, he says. Especially when there’s plenty more of it and a blizzard in the forecast.

The morning after the storm, Jessica looks out the window to see a new sculpture across the street—and the body of Mr. Rymer half-buried in the snow. Can Jessica catch a cold-blooded killer from her chair by the window?

Author Bios

Barbara Early earned an engineering degree, but after four years of doing nothing but math, developed a sudden allergy to the subject and decided to choose another occupation.

Before she settled on murdering fictional people, she was a secretary, a schoolteacher, a pastor’s wife, and an amateur puppeteer. She lives in Western New York State (Go Bills!), where she enjoys cooking, crafts, classic movies and campy seventies television, board games, and spending time with her granddaughters.

​Before teaming up with Jessica Fletcher, she previously wrote the Vintage Toyshop Mystery series and the Bridal Bouquet Shop Mysteries (as Beverly Allen).

Author Links

Website https://www.barbaraearly.com/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBarbaraEarly

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Bookshop.org – Penguin Random House 

Giveaway

Book Review and Giveaway - Murder Movie Club: Murder on a Monday (Monthly Murder Movie Club Cozy Mystery) by Marcy Blesy

My Review

Murder Movie Club: Murder on a Monday is the start of a new series.  It is about a disparate group of people (mostly senior citizens and one young single mother) who get together monthly to watch a mystery movie at the local movie theater, stopping it mid-way to solve the mystery.  Then a mystery happens in real life.  A young man working at the movie theater is murdered and they set out to solve the mystery.

I wanted to read this book because I love cozy mysteries.  I also enjoy movies and thought the premise was fun.

This is a very unique mystery - the cast of characters is so quirky and they don't get along at all initially!  They do learn to work together to solve the mystery though.

I enjoyed the movie theater and the setting (a small town in Michigan).  It was fun starting a new series and getting to know all the characters through the first book.

The mystery was straightforward, with a short list of suspects.  The book is short and the writing features some humor and lively dialogue, so this was a very quick read.

I recommend  Murder Movie Club: Murder on a Monday for other fans of cozy mysteries, and especially for anyone who enjoys a quirky, small town story.

Book Synopsis

Murder: best served with popcorn.

That’s the mantra for the members of the Monthly Murder Movie Club at The Northwoods Movie Theater. Every month, this eclectic group of northern Michigan residents gather to watch a murder mystery movie on the big screen. After stopping the projector in the middle of the movie, the members gather to discuss the crime and suspects, each making a whodunit pick before resuming the movie. The hair dresser with the scissors? The jilted lover with poison?

But nothing is normal on this Monday morning when the club members find the ticket-taking popcorn maker John E. Cash in the lobby of the theater, deader than any actor in their beloved movies. Using their unique talents and eccentricities, the Monthly Murder Movie Club members work collectively to solve the crime before the Northwoods Police force does. Members strive to protect the reputation of their beloved theater–and to protect their Monday meetings–because what each member is discovering is that there is so much more to their Monday club than a good old-fashioned murder mystery.

Found family, new friends, and murder investigations!

Author Bio

Marcy Blesy is the author of over thirty  books including the popular cozy mystery series: The Tucson Valley Retirement Community Cozy Mystery Series, a hilarious misadventure in amateur sleuthing. Her adult romance mystery series includes The Secret of Blue Lake and The Secret of Silver Beach, set in Michigan. The Ghost Texter Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series, featuring a sleuthing kindergarten teacher in Michigan was recently released. Children’s books include the best-selling Be the Vet series along with the following early chapter book series: Evie and the Volunteers, Niles and Bradford, Third Grade Outsider, and Hazel, the Clinic Cat.

Marcy enjoys searching for treasures along the shores of Lake Michigan. She’s still waiting for the day when she finds a piece of red beach glass.

Marcy is a believer in love and enjoys nothing more than making her readers feel a book more than simply reading it.

Author Links

Website www.marcyblesy.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550966870826

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/marcy_blesy/

GoodReads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223057736-murder-movie-club?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=9rEZT9BRRK&rank=1

Purchase Link – Amazon

Giveaway 

 

Book Review and Giveaway - High Tea and Misdemeanors (A Tea Shop Mystery) by Laura Childs

My Review

Theodosia Browning is catering a wedding reception with her tea sommelier and friend, Drayton Conneley.  When the greenhouse where the reception will be held collapses, the groom is injured and one of the bridesmaids is killed.   Theo immediately starts investigating the murder as an amateur detective, along with Drayton's help.

I wanted to read High Tea and Misdemeanors because I have enjoyed a number of books in this series.  I love Charleston and tea and that adds to my enjoyment of this series.

This was another engrossing mystery in the Tea Shop Mystery series!  I always enjoy the Indigo Tea Shop (and recipes included!).  I like the atmospheric glimpses of Charleston in this series too.

Theo is a smart amateur detective - often seeing things the police (and her detective boyfriend Riley) haven't caught yet!   I enjoyed her deductive process in this book, and the turns the mystery took.

I recommend High Tea and Misdemeanors - and the Tea Shop Mystery series - to other fans of cozy mysteries.  Readers who love charming southern settings will especially enjoy this series.

Book Synopsis

When a wedding is tragically averted by the death of the bridesmaid, Theodosia is determined to prove that it was murder in the latest entry in this New York Times bestselling series.

Theodosia Browning and her tea sommelier, Drayton Conneley, are tapped to cater the elegant wedding of Bettina and Jamie. Theodosia and Drayton are setting up when they hear a crash from the greenhouse. Shockingly, they discover that part of the roof has collapsed trapping a bridesmaid and the groom. He will pull through but the bridesmaid is no more. Theodosia is convinced it was murder.

INCLUDES DELICIOUS RECIPES AND TEA TIME TIPS!

Author Bio

Laura Childs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries, Scrapbook Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. In her previous life she was CEO/Creative Director of her own marketing firm and authored several screenplays. She is married to a professor of Chinese art history, loves to travel, rides horses, enjoys fundraising for various non-profits, and has two Chinese Shar-Pei dogs.

Laura specializes in cozy mysteries that have the pace of a thriller (a thrillzy!) Her three series are:

The Tea Shop Mysteries – set in the historic district of Charleston and featuring Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop. Theodosia is a savvy entrepreneur, and pet mom to service dog Earl Grey. She’s also an intelligent, focused amateur sleuth who doesn’t rely on coincidences or inept police work to solve crimes. This charming series is highly atmospheric and rife with the history and mystery that is Charleston.

The Scrapbooking Mysteries – a slightly edgier series that takes place in New Orleans. The main character, Carmela, owns Memory Mine scrapbooking shop in the French Quarter and is forever getting into trouble with her friend, Ava, who owns the Juju Voodoo shop. New Orleans’ spooky above-ground cemeteries, jazz clubs, bayous, and Mardi Gras madness make their presence known here!

The Cackleberry Club Mysteries – set in Kindred, a fictional town in the Midwest. In a rehabbed Spur station, Suzanne, Toni, and Petra, three semi-desperate, forty-plus women have launched the Cackleberry Club. Eggs are the morning specialty here and this cozy cafe even offers a  book nook and yarn shop. Business is good but murder could lead to the cafe’s undoing! This series offers recipes, knitting, cake decorating, and a dash of spirituality.

Laura’s Links:   Website –  Facebook 

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Bookshop.org – PenquinRandomHouse 

Giveaway

Book Review and Giveaway - The Case of the Christie Conspiracy: A Detection Club Mystery by Kelly Oliver

My Review

The Case of the Christie Conspiracy is a new historical mystery set in 1926.  Eliza Baker goes to work as assistant to mystery author Dorothy L. Sayers.  Eliza goes to a Detection Club meeting with Dorothy - attended by the most famous mystery authors in 1920's London - and there is a murder!  Eliza works to solve the mystery with the help of aspiring author Theo.  And then Agatha Christie goes missing ...

I wanted to read this book because I love historical fiction, cozy mysteries, and the 1920's time period.  I have some familiarity with Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, and found myself happily googling other famous names mentioned in the book.  (I love when this happens because of a historical novel!)

This is a wonderful start for a new series.  I like Eliza and also like the detection team of Eliza and Theo working together.  I love all their interactions with each other too.

The mystery aspect of this book was well written and there were a number of unexpected clues and twists in the book!

I look forward to the next book in this series, and recommend The Case of the Christie Conspiracy for other cozy mystery fans - especially for anyone who loves historical mysteries and classic 1920's mystery authors.

Book Synopsis

Agatha Christie is about to embark on a new, gripping murder case. But this time, she’s not the author – she’s a suspect…

1926 – Christie is a darling of the literary circuit and the most desired guest in London’s glittering social scene. She can often be found at meetings of the Detection Club – where mystery writers come together to share ideas, swap secrets and drink copiously. But then a fellow author’s initiation ceremony takes a gruesome turn, and one of the group ends up dead. Now, Agatha is no longer just the creator of great mystery plots – she’s a player in one.

And when Agatha disappears the day after the murder, she’s widely assumed to be guilty. Only Eliza Baker, assistant to the Club’s enigmatic secretary, Dorothy Sayers, is interested in investigating the case. But in a world where murder is the ultimate plot device, can Eliza piece together the evidence and find the killer before it’s too late?

Author Bio

Kelly Oliver is the award-winning and bestselling author of four mystery series: The Jessica James Mysteries (7-book contemporary suspense); The Pet Detective Mysteries (3-book middle grade); The Fiona Figg Mysteries (9-book historical cozies).

The Case of the Christie Conspiracy, the first in her new series The Detection Club Mysteries just came out (February 2025).

Kelly is Distinguished Emerita Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University. And currently, she is the Immediate Past President of Sisters in Crime. To learn more about Kelly and her books, go to www.kellyoliverbooks.com.

Author Links

Website   https://www.kellyoliverbooks.com

Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/kellyoliverauthor/

BookBub    https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kelly-oliver

 Twitter/X   @kellyoliverbook

 TikTok  https://www.tiktok.com/@kellyoliverbooks

 Instagram  @kellyoliverbooks

 Purchase Links

Amazon US –   Amazon C

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