Sunday Spotlight – Clea Simon

August 11, 2024

I met author Clea Simon years ago at a mystery conference. It’s been a few years, though, since she’s had a post here. And, every time I think of Clea Simon, I think of my friend, Sandie Herron, who loved Clea’s mysteries about cats. Simon’s...

“The Bookstore Wedding” by Alice Hoffman

August 10, 2024

A week ago, I reviewed the first Once Upon a Time Bookshop story by Alice Hoffman, “The Bookstore Sisters”. It told of Isabel Gibson who fled Brinkley’s Island, Maine, for New York City. She left behind her sister, Sophie, and the bookstore the...

To Err is Cumin by Leslie Budewitz

August 07, 2024

I can repeat what I’ve said before about Leslie Budewitz’ Spice Shop mysteries. They are a treat for the senses. With all the discussion of spices, food, flowers, and the use of all of them, Budewitz challenges readers to absorb her stories through their...

Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor

August 06, 2024

Because I’m such a fan of Sarah Stewart Taylor’s Maggie D’Arcy mysteries set in Ireland, I was a little reluctant to try the first in a new historical mystery series set in small-town Vermont in the mid-1960s. I should have known Taylor...

A Cold, Cold World by Elena Taylor

August 05, 2024

With a brutal winter storm bearing down on the small valley town of Collier, Washington in the Cascade Mountains, Sheriff Bet Rivers struggles with her own insecurities, and her determination to keep the citizens of Collier safe. A Cold, Cold World by Elena Taylor is...

Death in Dark Glasses by George Bellairs

August 04, 2024

Lately, I’ve been picking up one of George Bellairs’ Inspector Littlejohn mysteries when I need a police procedural fix. Death in Dark Glasses was available through Kindle Unlimited, so I read the seventh in the series. There’s a little of everything...