Category: Mystery

With A Kiss I Die by J. A. Hennrikus

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With a Kiss I DieBarbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: A Theater Cop Mystery #2
Publication Date: 4/8/19
Number of Pages: 288

This is an engaging and well-told tale! I love the characters and the mystery is excellently presented. We meet and engage with many of the same characters from the first book. If you didn’t read the first book, you can still read this as a stand-alone, but you will be missing some of the character backgrounds that are referred to in this book. I truly hope that my copy was a grossly uncorrected ARC rather one that was nearly ready for release because it was filled with errors in grammar, word repeats, missing words, missing letters, etc. It was really hard to read and I almost gave up on it – had the story not been so entertaining and interesting, I probably would have. I hope all of that is fixed prior to release.

It is February in Massachusetts and very cold. The Cliffside Theater’s season in tiny Trevorton, near Boston, is hibernating until it is time to prepare for the summer season. Edwina, Sully, Sullivan, theater manager, still has work to do in applying for grants, planning for the upcoming season, preparing budgets, etc. but it isn’t something she has to be in her office to do. So, when she’s requested to go to Boston to help out with a disaster at Boston’s Bay Repertory Theater, she agrees to help.

Sully finds a mess at the theater and has her hands filled with trying to help them out. Then, one of the people from whom Sully was applying for a grant is murdered, the theater manager disappears and Sully’s ex-husband disappears. Sully is happy enough to let the police handle the murder investigation and the missing theater manager, but her cop instincts are twitching and she has to find Gus, her ex-husband.

So many things are going on – with so many twists-and-turns – that you won’t be able to stop reading. You have to know what happens next and what is behind all of the murder, blackmail, and disappearances.

I love the stories in this series so far, but it is missing romance. I love mysteries – and these are good ones – but I really need to have romance included in the story. I like them to be a couple – like Roarke and Eve Dallas in the In-Death series – and if they don’t have romance, I soon lose interest in the series – no matter how good the series is. So, I’m hoping that Gus and Sully will get back together in the next book because they are the perfect combination. Her cop skills and his lawyer skills could make for a great set of mysteries. Anyway – I’ll see where the next couple of books go – and hopefully, that will include going toward a romance.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Loch Ness Papers by Paige Shelton

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, MysteryLeave a comment

The Loch Ness Papers (Scottish Bookshop Mystery #4)The Loch Ness Papers by Paige Shelton

Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Scottish Bookshop Mysteries #4
Publication Date: 4/2/19
Number of Pages: 320

Delaney Nichols is one very, very busy young lady. A bit over a year ago, she was laid off from her job at the museum and had decided that what she really needed was an adventure. When she saw the advertisement from Edinburgh, Scotland – someone wanted to hire someone with just her skills – she was ready to pack up and leave Kansas. She’s now been in Edinburgh for a year, she’s acquired a wonderful set of friends she calls her ‘Scottish family’ and she will be getting married in a few days. Her family, mother, father, and brother will even be in Edinburgh in just a few days. On top of all that, the officiant that was to perform the wedding ceremony has died and she has to find another one – with only a week left until the wedding.

It is raining cats and dogs and Delaney is heading into the church to speak to an officiant recommend by her future father-in-law. As she dashes in toward the red door, she smacks into an old man, Norval Fraser. For some reason, she feels drawn to Norval as she helps him right himself. Then, after he departs, she notices something lying on the ground – obviously, it belongs to the old man. He certainly seemed an odd, blatherskite sort of fellow. He’s obsessed with the Loch Ness Monster (Nessie) and wants Delaney to take over his research and prove that Nessie really exists.

A couple of days later Delaney encounters Norval awaiting her outside the bookstore where she works. It is barely 5:30 AM and Norval says he’s been waiting for some time. He’s worried about his nephew who doesn’t answer his phone. Delaney doesn’t understand the fierce worry but agrees to accompany Norval to his nephew’s home – where they find him deceased -stabbed in the back.

The police believe Norval is the murderer because of the knife and fingerprints – but – those can be misleading. Delaney doesn’t believe that Norval is capable of that kind of violence, but then she doesn’t know him that well. At any rate, she’ll do what she can to help find the killer and prove Norval innocent. Now, in addition to all of the other things she has to do, Delaney has to find a killer.

Enter a long, tall Texan dressed in black and you just add another layer to the mystery. Who is he really and why is he trying to return a book that the bookstore never owned? The book is a very, very valuable one about King Arthur and the round table, but there is just something fishy about both the man and his story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I hope you will as well. The characters are wonderful as you’ll know if you have read the series from the beginning. If you haven’t, I’d suggest you read the previous book because you’ll love them. The book is well-written and tightly plotted with multiple mysteries, new characters added to the series and a really lovely romance. What more could you ask for?

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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