Feb 23, 2020

Sunday Salon: Mysteries and More

It's still cold here in spite of spring toying with us. It will be 50 today! but then will be back in the 20 next week. Go figure!

What are you reading this week?
Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Readingand Sunday Salon

Death on Tuckernuck (A Merry Folger Nantucket Mystery Book 6)
Death on Tuckernuck by Francine Mathews, May 5, 2020, Soho Crime
Genre: mystery set on an island off Nantucket
Source: advance uncopyedited edition
Objective rating: 5

This was my first Merry Folger Mystery and the 6th in the stand alone books in the series. I was fascinated by the setting - an isolated island off Nantucket during a Category 3 hurricane.  Merry is preparing for her imminent wedding to Peter but her boss in the police department insists she do her part in getting people ready for the approaching hurricane and continue to work till the very last minute before her two-week leave.

Dionis and her father Jack are caretakers on Tuckernuck Island and get involved in a murder case while boarding up houses and evacuating island dwellers to safety on the larger island of Nantucket. Merry and Dionis are central to the action of the book, as Dionis deals with a killer on the desolate island and Merry tries to find out the identities of  two people found on a beached yacht on Tuckernuck.

Suspenseful and atmospheric, the mystery novel also takes you into the heart of a hurricane off Cape Cod.

Mimi Lee Gets a Clue (A Sassy Cat Mystery #1)
Mimi Lee Gets a Clue

Mimi Lee Gets a Clue by Jennifer J. Chow, March 10, 2020, Berkley/Penguin
Genre: cozy mystery set in LA
Source: publisher, for review
Objective rating: 4.5/5

This is the first in the Sassy Cat Mystery series, with a likable main character, pet groomer Mimi, and her sidekick, a fluffy white Persian cat named Marshmallow. Mimi wants to expose Russ, a local Chihuahua dog breeder, for inbreeding dogs and for the unsanitary conditions of his facilities, but gets in trouble when she is a suspect for crimes involving Russ.

Written with lots of humor aimed mainly at the dog culture of LA - dog yoga or doga, dog acupuncture, dog gym, overly dressed, pampered, and bejeweled dogs, etc.  - Mimi Lee Gets a Clue is a fun read for dog lovers and mystery lovers alike.

More cozies to be read:


Death with a Dark Red Rose (A Writer's Apprentice Mystery #5)
Death with a Dark Red Rose

Death with a Dark Red Rose by Julia Buckley, February 25, 2020, Berkley Books
Genre: cozy mystery 

This is another mystery series that is new to me. Death with a Dark Rose is the fifth in A Writer's Apprentice Mystery with novelist Lena London, who solves a murder involving a new corporation in town that is buying up real estate in her idyllic hometown. 

Al Dente's Inferno (Tuscan Cooking School Mystery #1)
Al Dente's Inferno 

by Stephanie Cole is another brand new mystery series, Tuscan Cooking School Mystery #1, just published by Berkley.
Genre: cozy mystery set in Tuscany, Italy

Chef Nell Valenti wants to open a cooking school in Tuscany with the help of Chef O. When a filmmaker, an old boyfriend, is murdered and Chef O disappears, Nell hs to solve the murder before she can get her new school going. And there is a recipe for ricotta stuffed peppers at the end of the book!

My next book is a non-cozy read, a thriller!
Without Sanction (Matt Drake #1)
by Don Bentley, March 3, 2020, Berkley
Genre; thriller, suspense set in Syria

Yet another first in a series, the Matt Drake Thriller series begins with this novel set in Syria. DIA operative Matt Drake left people behind when he escaped the country, but now returns to set things right and to help a scientist who wants to defect.

What books have you read or plan on reading?
I was glad to find two fairly light mystery novels to read, and hope to get some more under my belt. 

19 comments:

  1. It's the cold-warm-cold aspect of early spring that always confuses me. No sooner do we start doing some yard work than a cold front pushes through.

    Mimi Lee Gets a Clue looks fun. You certainly gave it a good rating and review.

    Have a lovely week.

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  2. I love the puns that cozies use in titles, these all sound entertaining.

    Wishing you a great reading week

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  3. Without Sanction looks good. I don't think I've ever read a book set in Syria.

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  4. Love the look of your cozies! Enjoy your reading and your week, and here are Weekly Updates

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  5. Some super cute covers there! I especially love the bright colors on Mimi Lee Gets a Clue.

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  6. Looks like some good books :) Without Sanction looks exciting! Enjoy your week.

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  7. It was around 50 here too today! It's not going to last long though I don't think haha.

    Love the sound of the Nantucket mystery.

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  8. I'm very interested by the looks of Death on Tucker Neck, or is it Tuckerneck? Anyway, to my mind, there's nothing like a huge storm afoot to set off a good murder! Will look for it, thanks.

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  9. Death on Tuckernuck, an unusual name but a real one, a small island off Nantucket Island.

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  10. Nice selection of books. Mimi Lee Gets a Clue is on my wishlist. My weekly update

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  11. Al Dente's Inferno sounds like a fun read! I hope you enjoy it!

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  12. The cozies look really good! I love cozies with dogs, cats, and/or food and don't know why I don't read more of them.

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  13. Nice cozies! Some of my favorite escape reading.

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  14. Your cozies make me want to read one - its been a while. Enjoy!

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  15. It feels like it's finally winter here and I am not amused.

    Mimi Lee gets a clue sounds very cute.

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  16. I love cozy mysteries! Have a great reading week! I hope you can stop by:

    https://collettaskitchensink.blogspot.com/2020/02/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-22420.html

    Colletta

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  17. I just love cozy titles and covers. Without Sanction sounds dark.
    Hope you have a good week and happy reading!

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  18. I need to get back into cozies. You have given me some great suggestions. Enjoy your reading.

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  19. Thanks for the kind review! It's my launch week, so if you haven't done so already, please share your paw-some review on both Goodreads & Amazon for the benefit of other readers.

    Thank you again!

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I appreciate your comments and thoughts...

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