Month: November 2017

Posted in Reading and Reviewing

Familiar Trouble by Carolyn Haines

Posted on by Author Julie Seedorf

I didn’t know if I would like a mystery where the voice of a cat adds to the story. But it fits so well. I realized I put voices in my head from what I think my cats are telling me so it seemed perfectly reasonable after some thought that this author carried a talking cat over to her book. My cats seem to know my moods and what I need before I do, and Trouble, named aptly for the cat in the book, anticipate what his owner, Tammy Lynn, needs before she does.

The visualization in this book is spot on. I felt as if I were climbing to the top of the impact crater. The mystery revolves around a serial killer and I must admit this mystery was crafted and woven so I suspected everyone. I even began hoping one character wasn’t the bad guy they portrayed him to be and would become a love interest for Tammy. And then I would change my mind and put the bad guy back to being the bad guy and stop questioning the good guy. But was I right? You’ll have to read to find out. This was an excellent book and mystery. Five stars from me.

51XydKdpBcL._UY250_Familiar Trouble

BLOOD IS THICKER… Sometimes a unique talent is inherited—and such is the case for Trouble, son of Familiar the black cat detective. Trouble’s rather indolent life in the sleepy town of Wetumpka, Alabama is upended when a serial killer arrives on the scene. Trouble begins to apply the skills he learned from his dad and his hero, Sherlock Holmes.

When local bookseller Tammy Lynn is attacked at the site of an impact crater, Trouble realizes he must protect his human and solve the mystery of the Silk Stocking Killer.

Aiden Waters, a local deputy, has tracked the SSK to Wetumpka. Since his wife’s murder, Aiden won’t risk romance, but when Tammy is endangered, everything changes. Especially their hearts.

About the author

Carolyn Haines is the USA Today bestselling author of over eighty novels in a number of genres, including the acclaimed Sarah Booth Delaney mystery series, the Pluto’s Snitch mystery series, and the Familiar Legacy romantic mystery series.

Sign up for Carolyn Haines’ newsletter and receive a free short story as a welcome gift at http://www.carolynhaines.com/subscribe

Haines was honored with the prestigious 2009 Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence. Haines was also 2010 recipient of the Harper Lee Award for Distinguished Writing. Her novel BONE TO BE WILD was named best suspense for 2014, and the Sarah Booth Delaney series was also named best amateur sleuth. Two of the Sarah Booth books were included in the “Best 5 mysteries of the year” by LIBRARY JOURNAL.

Born and raised in Mississippi, she now lives in Alabama on a farm with more dogs, cats, and horses than she can possibly keep track of! She has been an animal advocate and activist her whole life and urges all pet owners to please spay and neuter.

Visit Carolyn Haines Amazon author page to see her books.
Posted in Reading and Reviewing

A Dewberry Farm Killer Jam Mystery by Karen MacInerney

Posted on by Author Julie Seedorf

51xjdJKSpCLI loved this mystery. I think there could be a little homesteader in all of us and I wanted to move to Dewberry Farm and help Lucy Resnick on her farm even though someone was trying to get the farm away from her and this tiny community apparently isn’t all that safe. I mean who murders someone with a bratwurst skewer? It makes you look around at all the characters you know from your own small town.  I must admit I was hooked from the first page and I did not want to put this book down.

A good book for me has a mystery I can’t figure out, unique quirky characters and an interesting setting. This book had it all. I will look for more books in the series and I give this five stars.

Killer Jam

When Houston reporter Lucy Resnick cashes in her retirement to buy her grandmother’s farm in Buttercup, Texas, she’s looking forward to a simple life as a homesteader. But Lucy has barely finished putting up her first batch of Killer Dewberry Jam when an oil exploration truck rolls up to the farm and announces plans to replace her broccoli patch with an oil derrick. Two days later, Nettie Kocurek, the woman who ordered the drilling, turns up dead at the Founders’ Day Festival with a bratwurst skewer through her heart and one of Lucy’s jam jars beside her…and the sheriff fingers Lucy as the prime suspect.

Horrified, Lucy begins to talk to Nettie’s neighbors, but the more she gets to know the townspeople, the more she realizes she’s not the only one who had a beef with Nettie. Can she clear her name, or will her dream life turn into a nightmare?

A little about the author

Karen is the housework-impaired author of multiple mystery series, and her victims number well into the double digits. She lives in Austin, Texas with two sassy children, her husband, and a menagerie of animals, including twenty-three fish, two rabbits, and a rescue dog named Little Bit. When she’s not chauffeuring children or coming up with creative ways to kill people, you can usually find Karen hiding away with a book, dodging laundry, playing in the kitchen, or attending martial arts classes. She also teaches writing classes.

To join Karen’s Readers’ Circle and download a free book, please visit her at http://www.karenmacinerney.com. Not only will you be first to hear about new releases, but you’ll receive behind-the-scenes tidbits, deleted scenes, recipes, and even short stories! You can also find Karen on Twitter at @karenmacinerney and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AuthorKarenMacInerney or http://www.facebook.com/karenmacinerney (where she spends an inordinate amount of time). You are more than welcome to friend her there — and remind her to get back to work on the next book!

Visit her Amazon Author page where you can find her books.

Posted in Book Reviews

The Frosty Taste of Scandal by CeeCee James

Posted on by Author Julie Seedorf
The Frosty Taste of Scandal
The Frosty Taste of Scandal

The beautiful cover of The Frosty Taste of Scandal drew me to buy and open the book. The first chapter pulled me in instantly and I didn’t look back.

This book has it all, a good mystery, likable characters, a little romance, food, and friendship. One of the highlights for me was the addition of Lucy, a teenager who is going through a rough spot and taken in by our main character, Elise. It reminded me the difference a mentor can make to a young person. I give this book five stars.

About the author:

CeeCee James is a wife, mom of four kids and pet mom to two mini-dachshunds. She’s always loved to read and always had her nose in a book– getting her into trouble at school when she’d sneak it in her textbooks.

Writing has been a lifelong passion. Her first works were published in middle school in a local newspaper, and she won several short story and poetry competitions throughout her life. Her published works include the Angel Lake Cozy Mystery series, nonfiction Ghost No More, and Wrecked and Yours, a sweet romance series.She loves writing about love, humanity’s struggles and the celebration of life. Sometimes there is beauty even in the chaos of a messy moment. For her, writing is about

The Frosty Taste of Scandal

Elise Pepper has had her share of bad dates, but she’s never had a dead body crash one before. Mr. Hamilton, the renowned Ice-man, purveyor of shady mortgages does just that when Elise finds him dead at the ice-rink. The scene of the crime is no coincidence, either. The Ice-man meets an icy end. And a freak power outage is only impeding the police.

When Elise’s coworker, Sue, begs for help, Elise is surprised to discover Sue was related to the man. And her family is fighting over his will and the appearance of an illegitimate son. It doesn’t take long to discover everyone in town had reason to benefit from the banker’s death.

When even the king and queen of the local high school’s Winter Ball come under suspicion, Elise wonders if they’ll ever find out who did it.

This may be the first case where the killer walks away.

You can find out more about CeeCee and her books on her Amazon page.

 

Posted in Reading and Reviewing, Releases

New Release! The Discombobulated Decipherers – November 21

Posted on by Author Julie Seedorf

It’s finally here. My new book, book two in the Brilliant, Minnesota Series, will be released on November 21 and is available for in print on Amazon and soon at BarnesandNoble.com, and for pre-order on Kindle, Kobo, Nook and other venues.

The Discombobulated Decipherers

It’s Christmas in Brilliant, Minnesota, and Brilliant is known for its glitzy Christmas traditions. A world-renowned Christmas pageant, the town square decked out with Santa’s Village and a live nativity scene bring visitors to Brilliant each year. Just as the tourists arrive, Jezabelle Jingle and her mystery writer friend, Miranda, find the body of Ernest the elf dead and wrapped in a bundle of Christmas lights in the town square. Is Ernest part of a new holiday puzzle the Discombobulated Decipherers need to solve? Or is dead Ernest part of a bigger plot? Will Jezabelle decipher the clues so Brilliant can celebrate Christmas in peace? Or will Jezabelle be the next gift-wrapped box under the village tree?

This is what one reader who got a sneak peek at the book had to say about it:

‘(I received an advanced copy from the author. I am voluntarily reviewing it) “Well…where’s your ho, ho,ho now? How can we have a Merry Christmas after all this?” Jezabelle Jingle and her crew of Pendergast Puzzlers are at it again. This time, they stumble upon a live Christmas scene and a dead elf. Whether or not the police have ordered the group to not get in any way involved, they not so quietly (at times) try to fit the pieces of Elfy’s death in place, and it might take more than brains to find out just what happened before Christmas! Jezabelle has bought the Brilliant Bistro and she and best friend Lizzie are making a go of it, especially now that it’s the Holidays. The uniqueness of the design of Brilliant MN has opened up all sorts of possibilities, and a few questions as seemingly unrelated situations come together in a hodgepodge of fragments that make no ordinary sense until the Decipherers figure it out in a lively and fast-paced read that will keep you guessing to the end. Recommended holiday fun! 4 stars” Andrea Stoeckel

Here is a little about me in case you haven’t investigated my website.

As human beings, we are always a work in progress. From birth to death we live, hurt, laugh, cry, feel, and with all of those emotions we grow as people, as family members, and as friends. I am a dreamer and feel blessed to have the opportunity in my writing to pass those dreams on to others. I believe you are never too old to dream and to turn those dreams into a creative endeavor. I live in rural Minnesota and I am a wife, mother, and grandmother.

I have worn many hats throughout my life such as working as a waitress, nursing home activities, office manager and finally computer repair person eventually owning my own computer repair business. I never forgot my love of writing and quit my computer business in 2012 after signing a contract with Cozy Cat Press for Granny Hooks A Crook, the first book in my Fuchsia, Minnesota Series.

Adding four more books to the Fuchsia Series, adding a new Brilliant, Minnesota Series and writing a column for local newspapers feeds my writing creativity.

I also dabble a bit in watercolor painting and hope to eventually add pictures to my children’s book series, Granny’s In Trouble.

Oh, and did I tell you I like to be a little bit silly.

Now if you haven’t read the first book in the series The Penderghast Puzzle Protectors, I would recommend you buy it now so you can get the history of Brilliant and the ever-changing Penderghast Puzzle Protectors who turn into the Discombobulated Decipherers in the second book. It’s only .99 on Kindle, a free read on Kindle Select, or if you prefer the print version it is also available on Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com,  It is also available in Audiobook.

Thank you for your patience and happy reading. Make sure you comment as I will give away a Kindle copy of The Penderghast Puzzle Protectors to prepare you for the Discombobulated Decipherers. And make sure you tell your friends.