Tag Archives: Cozy Mystery

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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A Cozy Mystery Series Favorite: Donna Andrew’s Round Up the Usual Peacocks

3 Aug

Donna Andrew’s first book in her Meg Langslow series, Murder with Peacocks, was set during a series of weddings that the main character Meg, a blacksmith, was scheduled to participate in as maid of honor.  Quirky family shenanigans ensued and a romance that has grown throughout the series blossomed.  Murder with Peacocks received an Agatha Award for Best First Novel. This latest entry is a call back to the 1999 original, with the wedding of Meg’s brother and his charming fiancé Delaney. 

Rather than multiple weddings to contend with, an additional plot line is weaved throughout the latest novel of a possible threat to Meg’s nephew, Kevin, and his fellow podcaster who may have gotten too close to solving one of the cold case mysteries they broadcast about.  If you love Only Murders in the Building than this storyline will appeal.   

The main delight of the Meg Langslow series is always the crazy cast of relatives and friends that Meg is surrounded by.  If you ever longed for a loving extended family that go in for huge family gatherings than this will be a delight.  Also in each of the mysteries since the first, some sort of bird has been part of the mystery or at least been featured in a subplot, in this case again we have the peacocks who are as ornery as they are beautiful. 

With Round Up the Usual Peacocks, Donna Andrew’s again proves why she is my favorite cozy mystery author! You can read several of my past blogs about Andrew’s works including Murder Most Fowl and The Twelve Jays of Christmas. I’m looking forward to what comes next in her Christmas release Dashing Through the Snowbirds, which is scheduled to be available in October.

If you are a mystery fan, make sure to check out our library’s Mystery Book Club; you can email for more information: rosary.vaningen @ hoboken.bccls.org.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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