Scent to Kill: A Natural Remedies Mystery (Natural Remedies Mysteries) [Paperback]

I've finished "Scent to Kill" the 2nd book in her Natural Remedies series by Chyrstle Fiedler.

Product Description

A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO SOLVING CRIME? AT THE NATURE’S WAY MARKET AND CAFÉ, A GENTLE TOUCH, A DOSE OF AROMATIC HERBS, FRESH EVIDENCE, AND INSPIRED INVESTIGATING ARE THE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS TO CATCHING A KILLER!

When naturopathic doctor and shop owner Willow McQuade’s ex-boyfriend Simon Lewis invites her to a party for the cast and crew of a new television show at Long Island’s scenic Bixby Estate, she’s most excited to visit the property’s exclusive lavender farm. But a whole field of her favorite stress-reducing herb can’t provide enough soothing support to calm the effects of a murder!

Even the show’s psychic star didn’t predict the demise of Roger Bixby, the estate’s owner and estranged husband of Simon’s new girlfriend. Now Simon, who’s been collared by police, needs Willow’s help to remedy the situation. As Willow snoops about the mansion, offering natural cures to ease the mounting tension, a strange energy — and the discovery of an eerily similar unsolved murder decades earlier — makes her wonder whether the alternative source of the crime might actually be supernatural. Can she find harmony between mind, body, and possibly even spirits before somebody else goes up in smoke?

About the Author

Chrystle Fiedler is a writer who specializes in alternative health topics and the author or coauthor of four nonfiction books: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Natural Remedies, The Country Almanac of Home Remedies, Beat Sugar Addiction Now!, and the Beat Sugar Addiction Now! Cookbook. Chrystle made her fiction debut with Death Drops, first in its series. Visit ChrystleFiedler.com. 

Product Details
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Gallery Books; Original edition (February 26, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1451643616
ISBN-13: 978-1451643619 

My Review:

Willow McQuade a naturopathic doctor and shop owner is invited by her ex-boyfriend Simon Lewis to a party at Long Island's Bixby Estate where the cast and crew of a new television show.  She is excited to visit the estate's lavender farm but then Roger Bixby the owner is murdered.

Simon Lewis Willow's ex-boyfriend is the prime suspect and is dating Carly Roger's soon to be ex-wife and he hires Willow to clear his name.  As she investigates she uncovers a similar murder in the 1930's with the

estate's caretaker drowned in lavender bath water then dragged to the beach.  She researches on the family history of the Bixby family all the way to Prohibition.

Jackson Spade Willow's current boyfriend plays a even bigger role in this one to help her solve the case. 

4/5

Murder Hooks a Mermaid (Haunted Souvenir, Book 2) (A Haunted Souvenir) [Mass Market Paperback]

I've finished "Murder Hooks a Mermaid" the 2nd book in her Haunted Souvenir series by Christy Fifield.

Product Description

Nestled in Keyhole Bay, Florida, Glory Martine’s souvenir shop, Southern Treasures, is supposed to trap tourists — not ghosts. But a possessed parrot may be just what Glory needs to solve a murder.

Inheriting her great-uncle Louis’s bayside souvenir shop should have been a breeze for Glory. Instead it’s been one headache after another — with a lot of them generated by Bluebeard, a parrot with a mouth like a sailor and a personality a lot like her late great-uncle. But Glory’s troubles pale in comparison to those of her best friend Karen, whose ex may still have the personalized key chain to her heart, but whose brother-in-law is about to get locked up.

A diver has been found with a gaff hook in his chest, and Karen turns to Glory to help get her brother-in-law off the hook for his murder. But casting the net for the real killer won’t be easy. Glory and Bluebeard are about to find out that the secrets in Keyhole Bay run deeper than anyone ever imagined.

About the Author

Christy Fifield is a pen name of Christina F. York. Chris lives on the rugged Oregon coast, with her husband and fellow writer, J. Steven York.  

Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Berkley; Reprint edition (December 31, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425251845
ISBN-13: 978-0425251843 

My Review:

Glory Martine owns Southern Treasures a souvenir shop with her cousin Peter in Keyhole Bay, Florida.   She inherited it from her uncle Louis along with a parrot Bluebird with a mouth like a sailor and a personality just like Uncle Louis.  Bluebird is possessed by the spirit of her Uncle Louis and he helps her solve cases.

One morning as Glory first opens her shop her best friend Karen arrives very upset.  Every week Glory and her friends Karen, Felipe and Ernie have a traditional supper.  It's Karen's week to cook but her ex-husband  promised her he would catch some fish for her but has loaned his boat to his delinquent younger brother Bobby.  Bobby is arrested with three other men who he has taken for a dive trip and soon after he has made bail a man is found dead with a gaff hook stuck in his heart.

We see Karen still has strong feelings for her ex-husband and his family and she is determined to prove that Bobby is innocent.  While investigating with Glory's help they question other fisherman about the three men that were with Bobby.

Glory spends more time with Jake the bookstore owner across the street from her.  There is a mutual attraction between them and Bluebird helps Glory once again with his cryptic sayings.

I loved all the characters because they all have a personality and they are fun to read about.  We see more of Sly who owns an auto savage yard and his dog Bobo from the previous book who saved Glory in that one.

This book shows the strong bonds between family (even though you aren't related by blood) and friends.

4/5