Sunday, May 10, 2020

Weekend Book Reviews

Here Comes the Body by Maria DiRico is the first book in the Catering Hall Mystery series.  Mia has returned to New York to help her father with his catering business, Belle View.  Mia moved in with her nonna and is ready to help her dad move on from his previous mob lifestyle.  When a body is found during their first event and more suspicious activity happens, Mia wonders if she can solve the murder before it is pinned on her dad.  Mia is an excellent cozy mystery heroine.  She is smart and manages to investigate without the usual recklessness.  I love the mob aspect of the book and found this to be a great start to a new series!

The fourth book in the Pie Town Mystery series by Kirsten Weiss is Pies Before Guys.  Val and Pie Town are hosting a poetry slam for her employee Abril.  Among those reading poems are several employees of the local college.  When one of the professors is found murdered after leaving Pie Town, Val and Charlene (the Baker Street Bakers) are on the case.  The mystery was interrupted a few times by some personal drama from Val and some hi-jinks from Charlene.  It is a fun series and I enjoyed this book.  The supporting characters add interest to the story.  While this book stands alone, you will enjoy it more if you read the previous book in the series.

A Novel Way to Die by Tamara Baumann is the second book in the Cozy Mystery Bookshop series.  Sawyer has her hands full hosting the first book signing at her inherited bookshop along with parenting 15 year old Brittany, a job she also inherited.  When the diva author's husband is found dead, Sawyer is convinced someone is trying to frame his old girlfriend and Sawyer's best friend, Renee.  With Brittany's help Sawyer is determined to clear Renee's name.  The supporting characters add to the story, and the mystery had plenty of twists and turns to keep me interested until then end!

The first book in the Tory Benning Mystery series by Judith Gonda is Murder in the Secret Maze.  Tory is getting married just two weeks after her father died.  Not long after the ceremony is over, the groom Milo disappears.  It soon becomes obvious that he was the victim of foul play.  I wish I had good things to say about this book, but it was just odd.  A normal (even slightly normal fictional person) would be grief stricken to lose a parent and a spouse in so short a time.  Not Tory.  She carries on stopping for a coffee date with her friend before going to the police station to fill out the missing person report.  Two more weeks pass and she is over it enough to move on by noticing plenty of "cute" guys and flirting.  I wanted to see some emotion other than carefree shallowness from Tory.  Where was the anger and grief?  Fiction or not I like to see a tad of realism in a story. 

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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