Library Haul (July 6 - 12)

 

Here's the list of books I picked up from the library this week:

Hardcover:

1.  The President's Shadow - James Patterson
2.  It Happened on The Lake - Lisa Jackson
3.  Death Mask - Iris Johansen

Library Haul (Jun 8 - 14)

 

Here's the list of books I picked up from the library this week:

Hardcover:

1.  Lethal Prey - John Sandford
2.  The Big Empty - Robert Crais
3.  Identity Unknown - Patricia Cornwell
4.  23 Alive - James Patterson
5.  Girl Anonymous - Christina Dodd

6.  Booked for Revenge - Karen Rose Smith 

Leah Dobrinska's Death Checked Out Blog Tour with a Spotlight and Giveaway

 

I am so excited to have Leah Dobrinska here at Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews with a Spotlight and Giveaway.

Thanks Leah and Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for allowing me to join your Death Checked Out Blog Tour!

Please take it away, Leah!   

 

 

Death Checked Out: A Larkspur Library Mystery
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Wisconsin
Level Best Books (December 6, 2022)
Number of Pages ~300
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BHJJ1QRT




She’s used to checking out books. A death? Not so much.

Greta Plank, resident librarian in the small, lakeside town of Larkspur, Wisconsin, prefers her rose-tinted glasses extra rosy, thank you very much. Ever since a family tragedy landed her in Larkspur, she’s kept a happy-or-bust outlook. But Greta’s cheery resolve takes a hit when she finds the town recluse dead at the base of the stairs leading from his deck to the lake. What she assumes is a terrible accident Greta soon learns is something more sinister, and to make matters worse, new-to-town Detective Mark McHenry cites her as not only his primary source for the case, but his top suspect.

To clear her name and return to life as she knew it before the murder, Greta decides to do some clue cataloging of her own. After all, she’s got her master’s degree in library science with an emphasis in research methodology…how hard could a criminal investigation be? With the help of her fellow librarians and her lawyer mom, Greta begins checking out the pages of the murder, uncovering details about the recluse’s rare book collection and Larkspur’s real estate market as she tries to understand why anyone would have authored his death.

But with friends and neighbors stacking up as both victims and suspects, Greta must cross-reference the facts and put a hold on her idyllic worldview if she wants to get the full story without paying the fine of her life. 

 

About Leah Dobrinska

Leah Dobrinska is the author of the Larkspur Library Mysteries, a cozy mystery series set in the Wisconsin Northwoods, and the Mapleton novels, a series of standalone small town romances. She earned her degree in English Literature from UW-Madison and has since worked as a freelance writer, editor, and content marketer. As a kid, she hoped to grow up to be either Nancy Drew or Elizabeth Bennet. Now, she fulfills that dream by writing mysteries and love stories. Death Checked Out is her debut cozy mystery.

A sucker for a good sentence, a happy ending, and the smell of books — both old and new — Leah lives out her very own happily ever after in a small Wisconsin town with her husband and their gaggle of kids. When she’s not writing, handing out snacks, or visiting local parks, Leah enjoys reading and running. Find out more about Leah, join her newsletter community, and connect with her through her website, leahdobrinska.com.

Author Links

Website: https://leahdobrinska.com/

Newsletter: https://leahdobrinska.com/newsletter

Amazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3zB9eeg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatleahwrote

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatleahwrote/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@whatleahwrote/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/leah-dobrinska

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/leahdobrinska

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N

Death Checked Out Purchase link (Barnes & Noble): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/death-checked-out-leah-dobrinska

Giveaway

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/028877921455

Please follow the rest of the tour here, thanks:

https://www.escapewithdollycas.com/great-escapes-virtual-book-tours/books-currently-on-tour/death-checked-out-a-larkspur-library-mystery-by-leah-dobrinska

Heather Day Gilbert's Roast Date Blog Tour with a Spotlight and Giveaway

I am so excited to have Heather Day Gilbert here at Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews with a Spotlight and Giveaway.

Thanks Heather and Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for allowing me to join your Roast Date Blog Tour!

Please take it away, Heather!   

 

 

Roast Date (Barks & Beans Cafe Cozy Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
7th in Series
Setting – West Virginia
WoodHaven Press (December 20, 2022)
Number of Pages ~250
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09Z8NYHX9

BOOK SEVEN in the bestselling BARKS & BEANS CAFE cozy mystery series!!

Welcome to the Barks & Beans Cafe, a quaint place where folks pet shelter dogs while enjoying a cup of java…and where murder sometimes pays a visit.

After much cajoling, Macy gives in to her neighbor, Vera, and agrees to come to her book club’s Christmas party so she can share about the cafe. While public speaking isn’t Macy’s thing, she wants to brighten Vera’s lonely holiday season…and she can sell a little house blend on the side.

When a lively book discussion spirals into a public roast of the mayor — who happens to be sitting in their midst — things get uncomfortable. Soon afterward, the mayor shows up dead in Vera’s bathroom, and no amount of gingerbread cookies or eggnog can restore Vera to the club’s good graces. ‘Tis the season for Macy to find the murderer, or else Vera might be taking a long winter’s nap in a jail cell.

Join siblings Macy and Bo Hatfield as they sniff out crimes in their hometown…with plenty of dogs along for the ride! The Barks & Beans Cafe cozy mystery series features a small town, an amateur sleuth, and no swearing or graphic scenes.

The Barks & Beans Cafe cozy mystery series in order:
Book 1: No Filter
Book 2: Iced Over
Book 3: Fair Trade
Book 4: Spilled Milk
Book 5: Trouble Brewing
Book 6: Cold Drip
Book 7: Roast Date
About Heather Day Gilbert

Award-winning novelist Heather Day Gilbert enjoys writing mysteries and Viking historicals. She brings authentic family relationships to the page, and she particularly delights in heroines who take a stand to protect those they love. Avid readers say Heather’s realistic characters — no matter what century — feel like best friends. When she’s not plotting stories, this native West Virginian can often be found hanging out with her husband and four children, playing video games, or reading Agatha Christie novels.

Author Links

Webpage: https://heatherdaygilbert.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherdaygilbert/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/heatherdgilbert

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/heather-day-gilbert

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7232683.Heather_Day_Gilbert

Purchase Link – Amazon 

Giveaway

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/028877921457

Please follow the rest of the tour here, thanks:

https://www.escapewithdollycas.com/great-escapes-virtual-book-tours/upcoming-great-escapes-book-tours/roast-date-barks-beans-cafe-cozy-mystery-by-heather-day-gilbert

Winnie Archer's Bread Over Troubled Water Blog Tour with a Spotlight, Excerpt and Giveaway

 

I am so excited to have Winnie Archer here at Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews with a Spotlight, Excerpt and Giveaway.

Thanks Winnie and Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for allowing me to join your Bread Over Troubled Water Blog Tour!

Please take it away, Winnie!  

Excerpt

Olaya slowed her steps and surveyed Mae and Taylor, and for a second, I thought she might stop to intercede. She didn’t, though. She nodded to Felix, then carried on, almost purposely blind to the inner workings of the kitchen. The fabric of her palazzo pants snapped against her legs as she marched into her office, a space big enough to hold only a small desk and chair, a mounted bookcase, and a mini filing cabinet. She held the door open for me. I slid past her and sat in the single, ladder-backed chair facing her desk. “What’s going on?” I asked, more concerned now that I saw the dark circles around her eyes set into her drawn and pallid face. In the time I’d known Olaya, she’d never raised her voice to anyone. It wasn’t in her nature, except that I’d just witnessed it, and in front of customers no less.

She drew in a slow, shaky breath. She exhaled and said, “Oh, Ivy. Life, it is not always good.”

I’d also never heart Olaya speak so forlornly. It shook me. “What do you mean? Are you okay?”

“Me? Yes, yes. It is my brother, Guillermo, and my cuñada—my sister-in-law, Alessandra.”

I couldn’t help but react. I knew Olaya’s two sisters, Consuelo and Martina, but none of them had ever mentioned having a brother and a sister-in- law.

Her lips quivered unexpectedly, and her eyes glazed. “They . . . they were in an accident a few days ago,” she said. “Both . . . both are dead now.” I’d also never known Olaya to be a particularly religious person, but the moment the words left her lips, she crossed herself, holding together her thumb and forefinger as she pressed them against her forehead, her chest, then from her left shoulder to her right shoulder. She muttered some- thing in Spanish before adding, “God rest their souls.”

Shock and sadness surged through me. An accident. Her brother and sister-in-law, gone in the blink of an eye. I cleared my throat, swallowing my emotions. “I’m so sorry, Olaya. Can I do anything to help?”

“Guillermo and Alessandra, they have . . . had . . . one child. She is my goddaughter, Pilar,” she said, pronouncing the i like a long e, rolling the r at the end. “She is fourteen.”

“Oh no,” I breathed. I knew what it was to lose a parent. And she’d lost two. My heart instantly broke for the girl.

Olaya rubbed the center of her forehead with the tips of her fingers. She let out a deep sigh. “We are her family now. She is coming here. To stay.”

“Do you need to go get her?” I stood up and slung my camera strap over my shoulder. “Where do they live? I can drive you.”

Olaya shook her head. “No, Ivy, pero I thank you. Consuelo and Freddy, they will bring her from San Diego. Soon. Very soon.”

I sat back down, dropping my bag to the floor. “Okay. So what can I do?”

She heaved a heavy sigh. “I am not a mother, Ivy. None of us are. Only Guillo and Alessandra had a child.”

Oh God. She was worried about how she’d be able to parent her niece. “You’re a natural, Olaya. She must already love you —”

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bread Over Troubled Water (A Bread Shop Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
8th in Series
Setting – California
Kensington Cozies (November 29, 2022)
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1496733568
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1496733566
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09TX2QMZY

Rising cozy mystery author Winnie Archer cooks up her latest installment in her delightful and delicious Bread Shop Mystery series.

Photographer Ivy Culpepper is soon to make a home with her husband-to-be in the California beach town of Santa Sofia — but the Yeast of Eden bakery remains her second home. It’s not just a place to work, but a community. And now one member of the community has been murdered . . .

A regular who used Yeast of Eden as a workspace, Josh Prentiss always turned heads with his startlingly good looks and thousand-watt smile. But Ivy can’t help noticing one morning that he seems distracted and off his game. Later, during a visit to the park where she and Miguel plan to hold their engagement party — with plenty of baked goods on the menu — her rescue pug, Agatha, sniffs out Josh lying in a bed of poppies…scone cold dead.

There’s no reason for Ivy to get involved. She’s busy enough holding down the fort as the shop’s owner, Olaya, cares for her recently orphaned niece, not to mention the stress when a new employee is fired and storms out in a rage. Then a band of rabble-rousers starts picketing the bakery, claiming that Olaya’s sourdough roll is what killed Josh — and Ivy hears some salacious gossip about her beloved boss. She doesn’t think there’s a grain of truth to the seedy rumors — but to prove it, she’ll have to start sleuthing. 

 

 
 

 

 

About Winnie Archer

Winnie Archer is the nationally bestselling author of the Bread Shop Mystery series, as well as the Lola Cruz Mysteries and the Magical Dressmaking Mystery series written as Melissa Bourbon. A former middle school English teacher, lives in North Carolina with her educator husband, Carlos, and the youngest of their five children. Visit Winnie Archer online at www.MelissaBourbon.com!

Author Links Website: http://www.melissabourbon.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelissaBourbonWinnieArcherBooks/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookishly_cozy/

Purchase Links: Kensington – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – IndieBound 

 

Giveaway

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/028877921449

Please follow the rest of the tour here, thanks:

https://www.escapewithdollycas.com/great-escapes-virtual-book-tours/books-currently-on-tour/bread-over-troubled-water-a-bread-shop-mystery-by-winnie-archer

Heather Weidner's Film Crews and Rendezvous Blog Tour with a Spotlight and Giveaway

I am so excited to have Heather Weidner here at Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews with a Spotlight and Giveaway.

Thanks Heather and Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for allowing me to join your Film Crews and Rendezvous Blog Tour!

Please take it away, Heather!

 

 

Film Crews and Rendezvous: A Jules Keene Glamping Mystery Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Virginia
Level Best Books (October 25, 2022)
Number of Pages 240
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BHLSYBZ9

Hollywood has come to Fern Valley, and the one stoplight town may never be the same. Everyone wants to get in on the act.

The crew from the wildly popular, fan favorite, Fatal Impressions, takes over Jules Keene’s glamping resort, and they bring a lot of offscreen drama and baggage that doesn’t include the scads of costumes, props, and crowds that descend on the bucolic resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Added security, hundreds of calls from hopeful extras, and some demanding divas keep Jules’s team hopping.

When the show’s prickly head writer ends up dead under the L. Frank Baum tiny house in what looks like a staged murder scene with a kitschy homage to the Wizard of Oz, Jules has to figure out who would want the writer dead. Then while they are still reeling from the first murder, the popular publicist gets lost after a long night at the local honky-tonk and winds up strangled. Jules needs to solve both crimes before filming is canceled, and her business is ruined.

 

 

About Heather Weidner

Through the years, Heather Weidner has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager. Vintage Trailers and Blackmailers is the first in her cozy mystery series, the Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries. She also writes the Delanie Fitzgerald mystery series set in Virginia. Her Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries debut in 2023.

Her short stories appear in the Virginia is for Mysteries series, 50 Shades of Cabernet, Deadly Southern Charm, and Murder by the Glass, and her novellas appear in The Mutt Mysteries series.

Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers.

Author Links Website and Blog: http://www.heatherweidner.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeatherWeidner1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeatherWeidnerAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heather_mystery_writer/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8121854.Heather_Weidner
Amazon Authors: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00HOYR0MQ
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/HeatherBWeidner/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-weidner-0064b233?trk=hp-identity-name
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/heather-weidner-d6430278-c5c9-4b10-b911-340828fc7003

Purchase Link – Amazon – 

Giveaway

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/028877921448

Please follow the rest of the tour here, thanks:

https://www.escapewithdollycas.com/great-escapes-virtual-book-tours/books-currently-on-tour/film-crews-and-rendezvous-a-jules-keene-glamping-mystery-by-heather-weidner

Joyce St. Anthony's Death on a Deadline Blog Tour with a Spotlight and Giveaway

 

I am so excited to have Joyce St. Anthony here at Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews with a Spotlight and Giveaway.

Thanks Joyce and Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for allowing me to join your Death on a Deadline Blog Tour!

Please take it away, Joyce!

 

 

 

Death on a Deadline (A Homefront News Mystery)
Historical Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Pennsylvania
Crooked Lane Books (November 8, 2022)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1639101152
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1639101153
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09S3GBPM4

Editor-in-chief Irene Ingram pencils in her newest mystery in Joyce St. Anthony’s second captivating Homefront News mystery, perfect for fans of Anne Perry and Rhys Bowen.

As World War II rages in Europe and the Pacific, the small town of Progress is doing its part for the soldiers in the field with a war bond drive at the annual county fair. Town gossip Ava Dempsey rumors that Clark Gable will be among the participating stars. Instead of Gable, the headliner is Freddie Harrison, a B-movie star. When Freddie turns up dead in the dunk tank, Irene Ingram, editor-in-chief of The Progress Herald, starts chasing the real headline.

There are plenty of suspects and little evidence. Ava’s sister Angel, who was married to the dead actor, is the most obvious. The couple had argued about his affair with the young starlet Belinda Fox, and Angel was the last person to see Freddie alive.

Irene discovers there’s more than one person who might have wanted Freddie dead. As Irene draws on her well-honed reporter’s instincts to find the killer — nothing is what it seems in Progress, and now her own deadline could be right around the corner. 

About Joyce St. Anthony

 

Joyce St. Anthony was a police secretary for ten years and more than once envisioned the demise of certain co-workers, but settled on writing as a way to keep herself out of jail. In addition to the Homefront News Mysteries, she is the author of the Brewing Trouble Mysteries and the upcoming Cider House Mysteries written under her own name, Joyce Tremel. She lives in the beautiful Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania with her husband.

Author Links – http://www.joycetremel.com https://www.facebook.com/JoyceTremel https://twitter.com/JoyceTremel

Purchase Links – Amazon – B and N – Kobo – Penguin Random House – 

Giveaway

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/028877921441

Please follow the rest of the tour here, thanks:

https://www.escapewithdollycas.com/great-escapes-virtual-book-tours/books-currently-on-tour/death-on-a-deadline-a-homefront-news-mystery-by-joyce-st-anthony 

Dorothy St. James's A Book Club to Die For Blog Tour with a Spotlight and Giveaway

 

I am so excited to have Dorothy St. James here at Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews with a Spotlight and Giveaway.

Thanks Dorothy and Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for allowing me to join your A Book Club to Die For Blog Tour!

Please take it away, Dorothy! 

 

 

A Book Club to Die For (A Beloved Bookroom)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – Cypress, South Carolina
‎Berkley (November 1, 2022)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593098633
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593098639
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09PZSBCVW

When a member of an exclusive book club is checked out, spunky librarian Trudell Becket must sort fact from fiction to solve the murder.

The Cypress Arete Society is one of the town’s oldest and most exclusive clubs. When assistant librarian Trudell Becket is invited to speak to the group about the library, its modernization, and her efforts to bring printed books to the reading public, her friend Flossie invites herself along. Flossie has been on the book club’s waiting list for five years, and she’s determined to find out why she’s never received an invitation to join.

But not long after Tru and Flossie arrive for the meeting, they’re shocked to find the club’s president, Rebecca White, dead in the kitchen. Rebecca was a former TV actress and local celebrity, but was not known for being patient or pleasant. She’d been particularly unkind to the book club’s host for the evening, who also happens to be the mother of Detective Jace Bailey, Tru’s boyfriend. And Rebecca had made it clear that she didn’t think Flossie was book club material.

With her boyfriend and one of her best friends wrapped up in a murder, Tru has to work fast to figure out who cut Rebecca’s story short before the killer takes another victim out of circulation. 

 

 

About Dorothy St. James

Dorothy St. James is a former Folly Beach beach bum. She now lives in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, with her family, slightly (OK, terribly) needy dogs, and the friendliest cat you’ll ever meet. Author of a dozen novels, Dorothy enjoys writing both cozy mysteries and romance.

Follow Dorothy Online:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dorothy.stjames

Twitter: www.twitter.com/dorothywrites

Instagram: www.instagram.com/dorothymcfalls

Website: www.dorothystjames.com

Purchase Links – Amazon – Penguin Random House – B&N – Kobo – IndieBound 

Giveaway

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/028877921440

Please follow the rest of the tour here, thanks:

https://www.escapewithdollycas.com/great-escapes-virtual-book-tours/upcoming-great-escapes-book-tours/a-book-club-to-die-for-a-beloved-bookroom-by-dorothy-st-james