Sunday, December 31, 2017

Weekend Book Reviews

The Plot is Murder by V.M. Burns is the first book in the Mystery Bookshop series.  Recently widowed Samantha is opening a mystery bookstore.  When the crooked realtor who sold her the property winds up dead in her yard, Sam finds herself in a real murder mystery.  She sets out to solve it with help from her grandmother and other senior women from a nearby retirement village.  Sam is also an aspiring writer, and her British cozy mystery is sprinkled throughout.  This did not bother me but some may find it annoying.  The book is a wonderful start to a new series, and I look forward to seeing how the characters develop as the series progresses.

Very rarely do I give up on a book, but I did just that with Full Bodied Murder by Christine E. Blum.  This is the first book in the Rose Avenue Wine Club Mystery series.  Due to the foul language in this book, I never got past chapter two.  I can overlook a bit of language, but I do not want it to overtake the book especially when I am reading a cozy mystery.  This one was simply not for me.

Mayhem and Mass by Olivia Matthews is the first book in the Sister Lou Mystery series.  Sister Lou (short for Louise) invites her friend, Maurice, to be the guest speaker at a special presentation.  While Maurice is popular, he has just as many people who do not agree with his views.  When he is found dead in his hotel room, the suspects are many.  The police do not seem to be taking the case seriously.  That leads Sister Lou to team up with her nephew and a local reporter to solve the death of her dear friend.  This is a religious themed mystery of sorts but religion is not the focal point.  I enjoyed the characters and would definitely read another book in this series.

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

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