Death by a Whisker

 

I've finished "Death by a Whisker" the 2nd book in her Cat Rescue Mystery Series by T.C. LoTempio.

Product Description

Getting used to life back home in Deer Park, North Carolina, Sydney McCall and her right-hand tabby, Toby, are helping her sister Kat run the local animal shelter. Syd and Kat are all excited about the prospect of the shelter's newest fundraiser: shopping channel queen Ulla Townsend. Shelter admin Maggie Shayne vehemently refuses to have anything to do with the woman, but the fundraiser ensues as planned. That is, until Ulla turns up dead in the middle of the event.

The cause of death is determined to be an allergic reaction, but Syd and Toby are sniffing out something fishy. When Syd met Ulla, it was clear she was distasteful and rude. And right before the event, Syd spotted some behind-the-scenes drama between Ulla and her manager. As they begin to investigate, they realize there is no shortage of suspects, and Maggie is at the top of the list.

Now Syd and Toby must claw their way to the truth before everything goes paws up at their animal shelter in Death by a Whisker by national bestselling author T. C. LoTempio.

About the Author

While T. C. LoTempio does not commit - or solve - murders in real life, she has no trouble doing it on paper. Her lifelong love of mysteries began early on when she was introduced to her first Nancy Drew mystery at age ten - The Secret in the Old Attic . She (and her cat Rocco, albeit he's uncredited) pen the Nick and Nora mystery series and make their home in Clifton, New Jersey. This is her second Cat Rescue mystery.


Product details
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books (Feb. 23 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1683314875
ISBN-13: 978-1683314875

My Review:

3.5/5

Kill Me Again (Secrets of Shadow Falls) [Mass Market Paperback]

I've finished "Kill Me Again" the 2nd book in her Secrets of Shadow Falls series by Maggie Shayne.

Product Description


I'm not who they say I am.

Trust me.

But can she?

Reclusive novelist Aaron Westhaven, a man she's admired — and more — for years, has accepted Olivia Dupree's invitation to speak at a local fundraiser. But the day he's due to arrive, she gets a call summoning her to the bedside of a John Doe whose sole possession is her business card.

Can this undeniably compelling man — survivor of an execution-style gunshot wound — really be the novelist the lonely Olivia has grown to think of as a near soul mate? If not, he can be in Shadow Falls for only one reason: to kill her.

Olivia, too, has secrets. And discovering the truth about the man in the hospital bed means dredging up her own past — a past she's been hiding from for sixteen years.

Product Details
Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Mira (July 27, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 077832804X
ISBN-13: 978-0778328049

My Review:

We open the book with Samuel Overton and his friend Kyle Becker finding a wounded man lying in a field.  He is taken to the local hospital but he is suffering from amnesia and doesn't know who he is.  They found Olivia's card in his pocket so they give her a call.

Olivia Dupree is a college professor living in Shadows Falls, Vermont who has admired reclusive author Aaron Westhaven,  She's delighted he has agreed to speak at a charity event taking place at her university.  The day she is expecting him she gets a knock on the door and summoned to the hospital by the cops to identify the John Doe who only had a pocket watch and her card in his pocket.

When Olivia comes home her house is broken into and the intruder threatens her Aaron saves her.  They both come up with the the idea that her burglary and his near death are connected some how.  They decide to work together though they don't trust each other and find out the truth.  Now they are fighting for their very survival.

I really enjoyed the fast paced action and the slow build up of a romance between Olivia and Dupree.  Both are very lonely people and have a hard time letting people get close so it was fun watching them falling in love.

Really loved Freddy Olivia's dog who was a hoot!

4/5

Kiss Me, Kill Me (Secrets of Shadow Falls) [Mass Market Paperback]

I've finished "Kiss Me, Kill Me" the third and last book in her Secrets of Shadow Falls trilogy by Maggie Shayne.

Product Description

A long-ago act of kindness to a desperate woman changed Dr. Carrie Overton's life forever. Before disappearing, the grateful stranger had given Carrie her newborn son. When the woman is murdered, the secret becomes Carrie's alone.

She has kept both it and her son, Sam, safe for sixteen years. But now a friend of Sam's has gone missing. The police believe he's a runaway — until he's found dead. Then another teen disappears, and talk turns to that long-ago murder.

Newcomer Gabriel Cain is asking too many questions, befriending Sam, getting too close. Carrie distrusts him even as she finds herself falling for him. But Gabriel has secrets, too….

Is it time for the lying to end?


Product Details
Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Mira (August 31, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0778328082
ISBN-13: 978-0778328087

My Review:

Carrie isn't able to have children but it was fate that she has met a young women who she assists giving birth to a baby boy along the curbside.  When she goes for help only to find the baby wrapped in a coat with a note saying the young women believes that it was fate that she meet Carrie and for her to take care of the baby.  Soon the young woman is murdered and her murderer was never found.  Now the search for her baby begins.

Sixteen years later Sam has grown up into a mature, smart and responsible young man.  He also has a very mature, smart and responsible cheerleader girlfriend.  Then suddenly sixteen year old teenagers start to disappearing and dead bodies start appearing.

When a stranger Gabriel Cain arrives in town Sam is taken with him, questions begin to take form.  There is a resemblance between Gabe and Sam and a revelation takes place.  Then an attraction takes place between Carrie and Gabe though he's far from her type because he looks like a hippie and she likes professionals, etc.!

Then Sam disappears and now Carrie and Gabe are in a race against time to save Sam before time runs out.

I really enjoyed this book because Carrie was such a great character because you can really see the love she has for her son and to keep him safe from harm.  Gabe was also a great character because he's sexy and he really cares for people and wants to help them.

4/5

Killing Me Softly {Mass Market Paperback]

I've finished "Killing Me Softly" the 1st book in her Secrets of Shadow Falls series by Maggie Shayne.

Product Description

The Nightcap Strangler, who terrorized the town of Shadow Falls sixteen years ago, has finally been executed. Case closed. Until Bryan Kendall's lover is murdered in the notorious killer's unique style and the rookie cop stands accused. Has someone committed the perfect copycat crime…or was the wrong man put to death?

A continent away, Dawn Jones hears that her first love has been accused of murder and knows that only she can help him. But to do so, she'll have to face the very fears that drove them apart.

Together they'll work to uncover secrets someone's willing to kill to keep, and renew a love as dangerous as it is inevitable. And their best lead is the girl found dead in Bryan's bed, reeking of the whiskey poured down her throat before her killer squeezed it shut.

A killer who thinks that Dawn, too, could use one last drink…

Product Details
Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Mira (June 29, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0778327930
ISBN-13: 978-0778327936


My Review:
 
Dawn's father was psychic. When he died five years ago his gifts were passed to Dawn. She began seeing and talking to ghosts, and she couldn't make it stop. So she ran away from Vermont and made a new life for herself in California. She left her teenage sweetheart Bryan. Since then she has been taking tranquilizers and alcohol to stop the ghosts. Bryan became a cop. Nick, another cop, became famous 15 years ago when he caught the Nightcap Strangler, a serial killer. Bryan has been asked to prepare a presentation about Nick for an awards ceremony. It's a secret, and no one is to know that Nick will be honored. So Bryan secretly takes the serial killer police files to study them for his presentation. The serial killer is still out there. An innocent man went to jail. The killer is aware of Bryan taking the files and is worried that he might be caught. So the killer kills Bryan's friend Bette and frames Bryan. Dawn hears about this and comes back to town. She hopes to use her psychic gift to help find the killer.
 
Wow this book was a real page turner and I highly recommend this series if you like well developed characters and storylines (I've only read this one though there is two more).
 
I really enjoyed the relationship between Bryan and Dawn because it was really quite believable when they first meet again to the awkwardness to the confession that they love each other and want to be together no matter what.
 
5/5