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Great Mysteries Part 1: Celebrating with Tea with Jam & Dread and Icing on the Murder

30 Jul

Tea with Jam & Dread
Vicki Delany
I was new to Vicki Delany’s Tea by the Sea series of which Tea with Jam & Dread is the sixth book in the series. Most are set in Cape Code where Lily Roberts owns a tea shop next door to her grandmother’s Bed & Breakfast. However, in this novel, Lily along with her grandmother Rose and best friend head to England for a special 100th birthday gala for Rose’s former employer and dear friend Elizabeth, the dowager countess of Frockmorton, whose family’s castle is now running a hotel. Elizabeth’s family are loath to lose their blood blood status which provides plenty of drama. When there is first a murder and then a missing priceless necklace the trip becomes even more exciting than Lily could have ever imagined. I enjoyed the vivid way that Delany brings the setting to life and gives us an interesting postcard view of Yorkshire. I plan to check out other books in the series. If like me you are charmed by this story, Delany has written several other mystery series including The Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mysteries, The Year Round Christmas Mysteries, the Constable Molly Smith Mysteries and the Ashley Grant Series.

Icing on the Murder
Valerie Burns
The protagonist of Valerie Burns’ Icing on the Murder also has plenty to celebrate with her wedding day drawing near. But on top of baking her own cake and one for a bridal expo, Madison is soon drawn into the mystery of a diva of a wedding planner’s demise. This is the fourth in the Baker Street Mystery series, which I’ve been meaning to check out for awhile. Madison is a great and unique mystery protagonist, a young black woman who previously was a social media influencer, but is now running a bakery she had inherited along with a giant bull mastiff named Baby. There is a little something for everyone in this novel, a sweet romance between Madison and her fiancé, a curious crime with plenty of potential culprits, strong family and found family bonds, and even at the end some tempting apple recipes based on dishes mentioned in the book. You can enjoy reading this book without having read the previous in the series, but if you are curious about how it all started I’ll have a review of book 1 in the series in my blog post Great Mysteries Pt 2 out next week.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Sisters Cooking Up Competition: A Catered Bake-Off and The Chicken Sisters

25 Jun

A Catered Bake-Off
by Isis Crawford
A Catered Bake-Off is the latest in Isis Crawford’s long running cozy Mystery with Recipes series. I had read a few in the series in the past and enjoyed them so was curious to give this one a peak since I’m a fan of The Great British Baking Show something that the New York based competition in the story took inspiration from. The Simmons sisters Bernie and Libby run a catering company A Little Taste of Heaven and are excited to participate in the baking competition, but from the start of the first run through in preparations for filming, disasters abound; some like a herd of goats in the tent are funny, but when a judge receives life-threatening injuries from an espresso machine, it becomes much more serious. A creepy anonymous prologue which sets the suspenseful tone for the story, lets the reader in on the fact that these aren’t just horrible accidents. The sisters must solve the mystery before the killer comes for them. The story weaves in some contemporary issues like the real estate crisis which keep it feeling current. It was easy also to jump in to the drama even not having read all of the other novels that came before this one since the novel largely focused on a group of new characters rather than a huge cast of reoccurring ones. The author adds a personal element by including 3 recipes from family and friends at the end of the story. Fans of cozy mysteries like Donna Andrews’s Meg Langslow Mysteries should enjoy this tasty treat.

The Chicken Sisters part of Hoopla’s Hallmark+ BingePass
The Chicken Sisters reminded me of the Gilmore Girls if the family/community dramedy were located in the South rather than in New England its fun quips, but at a slower pace with a southern drawl. The story is about two beloved fried chicken restaurants feuding over a generations old grudge, which was only increased by a Romeo/Juliet romance between two of the younger generations. The TV series is based on the book by K. J. Dell’Antonia. Wendy Malick and Lea Thompson are the stars at the two matriarchs, but the younger generations of children and grandchildren are also charming. When the TV show Kitchen Clash comes to their town it heats up the competition between the two restaurants and forces them to deal with the family drama that has been simmering for so long. It is definitely good that this addictive drama is part of the Hallmark+ BingePass. You can watch as much of the show and other Hallmark Chanel series and movies as you have time for over a 7 day period using just one of your Hoopla checkouts. I also recommend streaming the mystery movie series Curious Cater (based on the books by Diane Mott Davidson) , Murder, She Baked/Hannah Swenson Mysteries (based on the books by Joanne Fluke), and the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries (based on the books by Charlaine Harris).

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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