Weekend Book Reviews

Death by Pumpkin Spice by Alex Erickson is book three in the Bookstore Cafe Mystery series.  Krissy and her best friend, Vickie, are co-owners of Death by Coffee, a coffee shop and bookstore.  This particular book takes place primarily over the course of one night at a Halloween party.  With Krissy, Vickie, along with Officer Dalton and a pile of other guests stuck at the party with a dead body, the race is on to find the killer.  I enjoyed the Halloween setting and the characters.  I would like to see Krissy be more self-assured in future books, but that was the only downfall.

Mary McHugh's latest book in the Happy Hoofers Mystery series is High Kicks, Hot Chocolate, Homicides.  The Happy Hoofers are a five member dance troupe, and they have been invited to join the Rockettes in their Christmas show.  It sounds like the chance of lifetime until the bodies start piling up.  Mary Louise gets drawn a little too deep into the mystery while helping one of the Rockettes.  This is a fun book but definitely on the lighter side even as far as cozy mysteries go.

Unlucky Charms by Linda O. Johnson is book three in the Superstition Mystery series.  I had not read the first two books but was not at all lost.  The book is set in the town of Destiny which is completely focused on superstitions of all kinds.  I am not a superstitious person and after a few chapters, I found it to be annoying.  I understand that is the point of the book so the dislike is purely a personal one.  The characters were interesting, and I enjoyed the mystery aspect.  If you love superstitions, this is an excellent book to read.  If they irk you, steer clear.

Paula Paul's book, A Killer Closet, started off good.  Irene moves back home to help care for her mother and opens a high end consignment shop to support the two of them  On the day her new store is to open, a body is found in the store.  She soon finds herself in the middle of a growing murder mystery that includes quite a few skeletons in the closet.  The first half was good, but the second half dissolved into foul language.  I generally consider curse words as a waste of space.  They add nothing to the story and are often a sign of lack of wit or skill.  Without that the book would have been great.

disclosure:  I received these e-books from NetGalley but was not otherwise compensated for these reviews.  All opinions are my own!