Great Escapes Book Tours Book Review: Whiskers In the Dark

Whiskers in the Dark: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery by Rita Mae Brown

 

About the Book

 

Whiskers in the Dark: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery

Cozy Mystery 28th in Series Bantam (June 4, 2019) 

Hardcover: 288 pages 

ISBN-10: 0425287181 

ISBN-13: 978-0425287187 

Digital ASIN: B07H72MD6Z

Death stalks the Blue Ridge Mountains as a centuries-old mystery resurfaces and murder mars the lead-up to an annual beagle competition, in a thrilling new tale from Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown.

A massive nor’easter has hit northern Virginia, where Mary Minor “Harry” Harristeen joins groundskeeping efforts at the National Beagle Club at Aldie as the date for its springtime Hounds for Heroes veterans’ benefit approaches. Harry’s fellow volunteers, including her oldest friend, Susan Tucker, comprise a spirited group of hunting enthusiasts, some former service members themselves. But things take a sinister turn when, after a routine tree cleanup along the Club’s hunting trails, retired foreign services officer Jason Holzknect is found dead, throat slit from ear to ear. Soon enough, another murder in their midst jolts the preparations, convincing Harry that the killer is familiar with the Club—and must be close by, masked in plain sight.

The intrigue extends to the grounds of Harry’s beloved local church, where the identity of an eighteenth-century skeleton wearing precious pearls remains a mystery. The anonymous woman’s neck had been snapped, and marks on the grave where her body was secreted indicate that someone recently tried to remove it, leading Harry to question how well she really knows those around her.

As always, Harry’s crime-solving cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, and Tee Tucker the Corgi share her determination to sniff out the foes among friends, even those long buried. Harry will need her four-legged companions’ help more than ever: a ghostly beagle only they can see may hold the key to the culprit.

About the Author

Rita Mae Brown is the bestselling author of the Sneaky Pie Brown mysteries; the Sister Jane series; the Runnymede novels, including Six of One and Cakewalk; A Nose for Justice and Murder Unleashed; Rubyfruit Jungle; and In Her Day; as well as many other books. An Emmy-nominated screenwriter and a poet, Brown lives in Afton, Virginia, and is a Master of Foxhounds and the huntsman. Sneaky Pie Brown, a tiger cat born somewhere in Albemarle County, Virginia, was discovered by Rita Mae Brown at her local SPCA. They have collaborated on numerous Mrs. Murphy mysteries—in addition to Sneaky Pie’s Cookbook for Mystery Lovers and Sneaky Pie for President.

Author Links 

Website - http://ritamaebrownbooks.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RitaMaeBrown

Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Kobo - Google Play - IndieBound

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review:  I have read several of the now 28 books in this series over the years. Its hard to believe its already 28 books. Of course, I say that about Stephanie Plum too as her series is pretty high up there too.

This mystery is set in two time periods, which is very cool for a cozy. If you are familiar with this series, the pets are all very much part of the series. They are talking pets. Really! I find it so adorable.

Harry is working to solve a new and an old mystery with the help of her friends.

This was definitely a different spin on the series I've read before, but it was a solid and fun read with a bit of history thrown in the mix as well.

A few things though...

The book opens with a spring snowstorm that's a glaring error. She calls the storm a Nor'Easter but then says the snow has started in New England when Harry and her friends are in VA. That's not how those storms work.

The set up of the story is a bit confusing as well. I understand how you need to get to know the people from the past, but the way the story jumps without any flow between the time periods, made reading a bit confusing at the start.

I felt like there wasn't enough time spent in the present and there was no real sleuthing done. Also..I didn't like a few political things tossed in, because it seems the author missed out on some of her facts there too.

What I did like was the historical aspect, and reading this book made me wonder if Ms Brown doesn't want to venture into that arena at some point with benefit of her cast of cozy characters.

This was an enjoyable read though nonetheless

Rating: 4 flowers

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Book Review: Sugar Queen

Author: Sarah Addison Allen
Title: Sugar Queen
Publisher: Bantam
Publish Date: May 20, 2008
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: In this irresistible novel, Sarah Addison Allen, author of the New York Times bestselling debut, Garden Spells, tells the tale of a young woman whose family secrets—and secret passions—are about to change her life forever.

Josey Cirrini is sure of three things: winter is her favorite season, she’s a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her closet. For while Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother’s house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night…. Until she finds her closet harboring Della Lee Baker, a local waitress who is one part nemesis—and two parts fairy godmother. With Della Lee’s tough love, Josey’s narrow existence quickly expands. She even bonds with Chloe Finley, a young woman who is hounded by books that inexplicably appear when she needs them—and who has a close connection to Josey’s longtime crush. Soon Josey is living in a world where the color red has startling powers, and passion can make eggs fry in their cartons. And that’s just for starters.

Brimming with warmth, wit, and a sprinkling of magic, here is a spellbinding tale of friendship, love—and the enchanting possibilities of every new day.

Review:  I picked up The Sugar Queen because I loved the cover. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down. I totally understand all the love for Sarah Addison Allen. Her characters are a little freaky and flawed but you really come to love them. Well, except maybe Josey's mother, even when you find out her whole story, it is very hard to even feel a bit of pity. She's just a bitter woman.

Della is the woman in the closet who is way more than just that. I loved her. She was so deliciously messed up, but in a way that brings Josey out of her self imposed shell. Her suggestions bring a new friend into her life and even help her with her crush on the mailman. I also loved how she holed up in a closet and threatened to expose Josey's "sweet stash" if she kicked her out.

As Della instigates Josey, she becomes more independent and she starts to defy her mother. (Lord knows she deserves to)

Then there is Chloe. She was fabulous. I loved how books played a special part of her life. When Josey comes into her life she had just thrown her longtime boyfriend out after he had a fling. Her character really helps tie things together with Della and her ex-boyfriend, who Chloe becomes involved with on the rebound in hopes he'll tell her who Jake had a fling with.

I can't omit Adam and Jake, both men in the story are very lovable. Adam has his own secrets and Jake though he screwed up badly is a good man.

These character are people you want good things to happen to. I liked some of the similarities between Jake and Josey's families. It reminds us that even people we admire often have flaws and aren't quite what they seem.

This is a book full of twists and turns and of friendship and finding yourself. This is a book not to be missed

Rating: 5 flowers

Book Review: The Chase

Author: Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg
Title: The Chase
Publisher: Bantam
Publish Date: Feb 25, 2014
Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley
Buy: Amazon

Book Blurb: 

Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg, New York Times bestselling authors of The Heist, return in this action-packed, exciting adventure featuring master con artist Nicolas Fox and die-hard FBI agent Kate O’Hare. And this time around, things go from hot to nuclear when government secrets are on the line. Internationally renowned thief and con artist Nicolas Fox is famous for running elaborate and daring scams. His greatest con of all: convincing the FBI to team him up with the only person who has ever caught him, and the only woman to ever capture his attention, Special Agent Kate O’Hare. Together they’ll go undercover to swindle and catch the world’s most wanted—and untouchable—criminals. Their newest target is Carter Grove, a former White House chief of staff and the ruthless leader of a private security agency. Grove has stolen a rare Chinese artifact from the Smithsonian, a crime that will torpedo U.S. relations with China if it ever becomes public. Nick and Kate must work under the radar—and against the clock—to devise a plan to steal the piece back. Confronting Grove’s elite assassins, Nick and Kate rely on the skills f their ragtag crew, including a flamboyant actor, a Geek Squad techie, and a band of AARP-card-carrying mercenaries led by none other than Kate’s dad. A daring heist and a deadly chase lead Nick and Kate from Washington, D.C., to Shanghai, from the highlands of Scotland to the underbelly of Montreal. But it’ll take more than death threats, trained henchmen, sleepless nights, and the fate of a dynasty’s priceless heirloom to outsmart Fox and O’Hare.

Review:  The Fox & O'Hare series is a bit different from what I'm used to reading by Janet Evanovich, but it does leave me feeling like I'm having a case of deja vu. When you toss Lee Goldberg into the mix, Evanovich's crazy style ends up looking like a cross between several USA Network dramadies (Covert Affairs, Psych and White Collar)

Nick Fox is so much like Neil Caffrey that it is hard to believe I'm not reading a White Collar tie in book (except they don't write those ..at least I think they don't write those)

I think the highlight of the book is Boyd, the actor they hire to help with the cons. He's hysterical. He has that wacky crazy that you get in the Plum novels, kinda like Lula!

The book was full of action and Kate is definitely a kick butt kind of girl. More so, than any of Evanovich's other characters.

There's a lot of chemistry between Kate and Neil, but I can't picture them ever together, which is in a way kind of cool. There are too many love triangles in these books, and the way this series is written, I don't think romance between Kate and Neil would really work.

As for the con? It felt like it was going on and on and on. I knew when they completed the first part quickly that things were going to go wrong, and did they ever.

I'm going to file this series under guilty pleasure reading, even though I have no guilt about it. It was light fluffy fun.

Rating: 4 flowers

Book Review: Explosive Eighteen

Author: Janet Evanovich
Title: Explosive Eighteen
Publisher: Bantam
Publish Date: Nov 22, 2011
Buy: Amazon

Book Blurb: 

Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum’s life is set to blow sky high when international murder hits dangerously close to home, in this dynamite novel by Janet Evanovich.

Before Stephanie can even step foot off Flight 127 Hawaii to Newark, she’s knee deep in trouble. Her dream vacation turned into a nightmare, and she’s flying back to New Jersey solo. Worse still, her seatmate never returned to the plane after the L.A. layover. Now he’s dead—and a ragtag collection of thugs and psychos, not to mention the FBI, are all looking for a photograph he was supposed to be carrying.

Only one person has seen the missing photo: Stephanie Plum. Now she’s the target. An FBI sketch artist helps Stephanie re-create the person in the photo, but Stephanie’s descriptive skills are lacking. Until she can improve them, she’ll need to watch her back.

Over at the bail bonds agency things are going from bad to worse. Vinnie’s temporary HQ has gone up in smoke. Stephanie’s wheelman, Lula, falls for their largest skip yet. Lifetime arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt moves into Stephanie’s apartment. And everyone wants to know what happened in Hawaii?

Morelli, Trenton’s hottest cop, isn’t talking about Hawaii. Ranger, the man of mystery, isn’t talking about Hawaii. And all Stephanie is willing to say about her Hawaiian vacation is . . . It’s complicated.

Review: Every so often I have to visit my old pal Stephanie Plum. I have to admit, 18 books have taken the sparkle off of Steph and the gang, but that doesn't mean I don't smile through the books.

It's been awhile since I visited Trenton, NJ, but I'm glad I took the time to read Explosive Eighteen. It was fun and funny and oddly, I don't think Stephanie had any cars blown up. When did that stop? OK, nothing gets blown up, but one of their skips...who Lula ends up hooking up with, sure likes to steal them, from her!

Not to worry, she still has a hard time doing her job, but what fun would it be if she actually could catch most of her skips? She also still hasn't decided between Morelli and Ranger, and to tell you the truth, I don't think I could decide either. I like the extra tension in this one that is a result of her Hawaiian vacation that went terribly wrong and leaves her with a tan line where a wedding ring used to be.

La La La...no spoilers...but the reason for that tan line is a little less satisfying than I was hoping, especially as things are a bit chilly from one of her two guys.

Then there's the matter of this photo that's getting her chased by lots of thugs and the FBI as well as an issue with Joyce. And of course there's a funeral or two. This book is a little light on Grandma Mazur and the rest of Steph's family, which is a little disappointing, because they really bring on the laughs, but when Grandma appears she always steals the show, especially with her friend Annie who makes love potions. (Lula and the love potion = hilarity!)

There's lots going on in this book, maybe too much, but it was still a good time and it has put me in the mood for more Plum.

Rating: 4 flowers

Book Review: His Majesty's Hope

Author: Susan Elia MacNeal
Title: His Majesty's Hope
Publish Date: May 14, 2013
Publisher: Bantam
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley

Book Blurb:   For fans of Jacqueline Winspear, Laurie R. King, and Anne Perry, whip-smart heroine Maggie Hope returns to embark on a clandestine mission behind enemy lines where no one can be trusted, and even the smallest indiscretion can be deadly.

World War II has finally come home to Britain, but it takes more than nightly air raids to rattle intrepid spy and expert code breaker Maggie Hope. After serving as a secret agent to protect Princess Elizabeth at Windsor Castle, Maggie is now an elite member of the Special Operations Executive—a black ops organization designed to aid the British effort abroad—and her first assignment sends her straight into Nazi-controlled Berlin, the very heart of the German war machine. Relying on her quick wit and keen instincts, Maggie infiltrates the highest level of Berlin society, gathering information to pass on to London headquarters. But the secrets she unveils will expose a darker, more dangerous side of the war—and of her own past.

Review: If you are looking for a great historical spy novel, look no further than Susan Elia MacNeal's Maggie Hope series. His Majesty's Hope is the third book in this series. These books can be read as stand alone novels, but there are some things that would be easier to understand if you've read the previous two books.

In this book, Maggie is being sent to Germany, to help bring down Clara Hess, who just happens to be her mother. There are a lot of twists and turns. She discovers family she didn't know she had and through the family Susan shows us a few things about Nazi Germany that will leave you very cold.

I think most people just remember the genocide of the Jewish people during these years. What isn't taught much in schools is Operation Compassionate Death, where anyone with a hereditary disease was rounded up and killed in order to preserve the race.

If that doesn't send a chill through you, I don't know what will, especially since a lot of the victims in this case were children.

So no, this isn't a book that can be called a cozy. The subject matter is too serious to be a cozy.

Fans of the Maggie Hope series know how much attention is paid to historical accuracy, and this book is no different. It is told from several points of view....Maggie.....Elsie....David and Hugh. Through their eyes you get a good idea of what Britain was like in 1941 as well as Germany.

I loved getting more of David's story now that he's found Freddie, his current partner. Most people think gay rights haven't come very far, but when you read this you'll know a lot of strides have been made in opening minds since the 40s.

Elsie's story involves the resistance in Germany. She's a nurse who starts questioning things when one of her patients ends up dead. I really loved her. She was strong and though she didn't agree with what was happening in Germany, she loved her country.

There's a lot going on in Maggie's love life too and a lot that needs to be resolved. Thankfully book 4 in this series is in the works.

Rating: 5 flowers

TLC Book Tours Book Review: Princess Elizabeth's Spy

Author: Susan Elia MacNeal
Title: Princess Elizabeth's Spy
Publisher: Bantam
Publish Date: Oct 16, 2012
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: TLC Book Tours & the publisher

Book Blurb: Susan Elia MacNeal introduced the remarkable Maggie Hope in her acclaimed debut, Mr. Churchill’s Secretary. Now Maggie returns to protect Britain’s beloved royals against an international plot—one that could change the course of history. As World War II sweeps the continent and England steels itself against German attack, Maggie Hope, former secretary to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, completes her training to become a spy for MI-5. Spirited, strong-willed, and possessing one of the sharpest minds in government for mathematics and code-breaking, she fully expects to be sent abroad to gather intelligence for the British front. Instead, to her great disappointment, she is dispatched to go undercover at Windsor Castle, where she will tutor the young Princess Elizabeth in math. Yet castle life quickly proves more dangerous—and deadly—than Maggie ever expected. The upstairs-downstairs world at Windsor is thrown into disarray by a shocking murder, which draws Maggie into a vast conspiracy that places the entire royal family in peril. And as she races to save England from a most disturbing fate, Maggie realizes that a quick wit is her best defense, and that the smallest clues can unravel the biggest secrets, even within her own family.

Review: I've been reading a lot of pre WWII cozy mysteries. Just a few days ago I posted the review for Elegy For Eddie and now there's Princess Elizabeth's Spy.

This book is fabulous.

I really loved the author's attention to detail in the historical aspect of the story. It was great to get a picture of Queen Elizabeth II in the days when she was just Princess Elizabeth.

It is a historical novel of intrigue that touches on the cozy side, but Maggie Hope is a little more than your typical cozy mystery heroine. She wants to work for the MI-5. She's a brilliant woman. She knows math and  code-breaking.

There are 2 murders fairly quickly on that keep the story flowing as well as the intrigue that surrounds Maggie's father. There's also a little bit of a romance that tries to brew between Maggie and her handler Hugh, once she starts to become acclimated to the fact her fiancee perished in the war, when his plane went down.

When reading this book, I felt like I was with the royal family.  Even though this book is fictional, I feel the author portrayed the family well. I loved the interaction between Elizabeth and Margaret. It can't be easy writing about people that are still alive! It makes me wonder what Queen Elizabeth thinks of this novel!

I can't wait til spring when the next book in the series comes out!

Rating: 5 flowers

Book Review: The Witch Is Back

Author: H.P. Mallory
Title: The Witch Is Back
Publisher: Bantam
Publish Date: July 31, 2012
Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley
Buy: Amazon

Book Blurb: Funny and feisty witch Jolie Wilkins is back—or rather, she’s back to her humble beginnings. Propelled into the past to her old Los Angeles fortune-telling shop, Jolie has no idea she possesses extraordinary powers, and she definitely doesn’t remember becoming Queen of the Underworld. But at least she has two incredibly sexy men vying for her affection: Rand Balfour, who looks very familiar, though Jolie can’t place his gorgeous face, and Sinjin Sinclair, who is tall, dark, and perfect . . . except for the fangs. Yet despite her steamy love life, Jolie can’t shake the sense that something is not quite right—like she’s stuck in a déjà vu gone terribly awry. As both men race against time—and each other—to win Jolie’s heart, the fate of the Underworld hangs in the balance. And Jolie’s decision can either restore order or create an absolute, drop-dead disaster.

Review: H.P. Mallory is one of those authors I loved when she was self-published. Her Dulice O'Neill series is one of my favorites in the paranormal/urban fantasy genre.

Jolie Wilkins however doesn't do anything for me.

I read Witchful Thinking, and while I enjoyed it. It didn't make me say WOW! or anything like that.

This book reminded me there are some books that everyone loves, that just don't work for some people. This is one of those books, and probably one of those series.

Why?

Mallory hit the reset button with this one, allowing herself to rewrite the first book, only with Sinjin Sinclair as the hero that opens Jolie's eyes to her witchy nature, all the while telling her that Rand is the bad one. Not that Sinjin is really bad.

Mallory's reset button comes in the guise of time travel and it just doesn't work for me at all. Having read the previous book and knowing the characters as I do, this plotline felt like a cop out and it didn't move the story along at all. The threat of the Lurkers is still out there.

I doubt I'll follow this series any further than this book.

Rating: 2 flowers

Book Review: H.P. Mallory - Witchful Thinking

Author: H.P. Mallory
Title: Witchful Thinking
Publisher: Bantam
Publish Date: February 28,2012
Buy: Witchful Thinking: A Jolie Wilkins Novel
Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley
Book Blurb: From H. P. Mallory—the exciting author of Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble—comes her new paranormal romance featuring the sassy, self-deprecating witch Jolie Wilkins.

Jolie thinks she’s seen it all, but life continues to spring surprises. The latest shocker? She’s just been crowned Queen of the Underworld. Jolie may possess a rare gift for reanimating the dead, but she doesn’t know the first thing about governing disparate factions of supernatural creatures. She can barely maintain order in her own chaotic personal life, which is heading into a romantic tailspin.

First there’s sexy warlock Rand, the love of her life, from whom Jolie is hiding a devastating secret. Then there’s Sinjin, a darkly seductive vampire and Jolie’s sworn protector—though others suspect he harbors ulterior motives. As the two polar opposite yet magnetic men vie for Jolie’s affection, she must keep her wits about her to balance affairs of state and affairs of her heart. Overwhelmed, under pressure, and longing for love, Jolie decides it’s time to take charge—and show everyone that this queen won’t take jack.

Review: I was part of a book tour for the first two books of H.P. Mallory's Dulcie O'Neill series, which I absolutely loved, so when I saw this book on Net Galley, I had to grab it. I haven't read the first two books, but because this book is published by a major publisher, there's a lot of back story so that new readers can pick things up.

I did just fine there, but I do want to read the first two books.

I'm not sure I'm completely sold on Jolie being the Queen of the Underworld, but I do like that Jolie is smart and insecure at the same time. It makes her more "real," because she's flawed. She loves two men who are very difficult, Rand, a warlock that doesn't really want to admit to his feelings and Sinjin, who she trusts more than she should.

These two guys are really sexy in their own way. I have to say I'm more Team Sinjin, even though he doesn't really have feelings for Jolie, outside of wanting to bed her and well drink her. It really helps give a little oomph to a story that is a little slow. But even though the plot is a lot of getting to know the characters, it still is enough to keep you interested and the ending definitely wants to make you go OMGWTFBBQ!

I can't wait to read book four The Witch Is Back to see what is going to happen next.

Rating: 4 flowers

Book Review: The Peach Keeper

Author: Sarah Addison Allen
Title: The Peach Keeper
Publisher: Bantam
Publish Date: March 22, 2011
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: Walls of Water, North Carolina, where the secrets are thicker than the fog from the town’s famous waterfalls, and the stuff of superstition is just as real as you want it to be.

It’s the dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago. The Blue Ridge Madam—built by Willa’s great-great-grandfather during Walls of Water’s heyday, and once the town’s grandest home—has stood for years as a lonely monument to misfortune and scandal. And Willa herself has long strived to build a life beyond the brooding Jackson family shadow. No easy task in a town shaped by years of tradition and the well-marked boundaries of the haves and have-nots.

But Willa has lately learned that an old classmate—socialite do-gooder Paxton Osgood—of the very prominent Osgood family, has restored the Blue Ridge Madam to her former glory, with plans to open a top-flight inn. Maybe, at last, the troubled past can be laid to rest while something new and wonderful rises from its ashes. But what rises instead is a skeleton, found buried beneath the property’s lone peach tree, and certain to drag up dire consequences along with it.

For the bones—those of charismatic traveling salesman Tucker Devlin, who worked his dark charms on Walls of Water seventy-five years ago—are not all that lay hidden out of sight and mind. Long-kept secrets surrounding the troubling remains have also come to light, seemingly heralded by a spate of sudden strange occurrences throughout the town.

Now, thrust together in an unlikely friendship, united by a full-blooded mystery, Willa and Paxton must confront the dangerous passions and tragic betrayals that once bound their families—and uncover truths of the long-dead that have transcended time and defied the grave to touch the hearts and souls of the living.

Resonant with insight into the deep and lasting power of friendship, love, and tradition, The Peach Keeper is a portrait of the unshakable bonds that—in good times and bad, from one generation to the next—endure forever.

Review: The Peach Keeper is one of the strangest books I've read in a long time. It was a short read, less then 300 pages, and yet I never seemed to find time to read it. I'm not sure why this was, because whenever I picked it up it was engrossing.

I loved Willa and Paxton, and how as different as they both were, their lives were very much entwined, not just because of growing up together, but because of the friendship of their grandmothers.

The body that is found under a peach tree at the Blue Ridge Madam is really what pulls these two together. It gets them looking into the past and asking questions of those still around. Through all the hunting for answers, these two women find love, new friendship and new beginnings.

I loved the mystery in this story, though you couldn't quite classify this as a mystery or a romance for that matter. This book is more than that and you learn that through the friendship of Georgie and Agatha.

It was refreshing to read a story that was about friendship that didn't involve giggling girls, or talks about affairs over coffee or wine. This book felt real and cozy.

Oh and what is up with me reading all these Southern novels, lately?

Rating: 4 flowers

Book Review: Santa Clawed

Author: Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown
Title: Santa Clawed
Publisher: Bantam
Publish Date: Nov 24, 2009
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb:  As Harry well knows, there’s hardly a place on earth cozier than Crozet, Virginia, at Christmastime. Snowflakes, carolers, it’s all picture-perfect until Harry and her husband, Fair, find the tree they’ve chosen grimly decorated with a corpse. The tree farm is run by the Brothers of Love, a semimonastic organization whose members live atop the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains. Now, as the season grows merrier, a murderer is growing bolder. One by one, prominent men of Crozet are being crossed off Christmas shopping lists and added to the morgue. And if Harry and her four-legged helpers aren’t very good–and very careful–this Christmas will be her last.

Review: Santa Clawed is one of the most fun cozy mysteries I've read this holiday season. Harry and her brood of helpful animal sleuths are fabulous. I love Mrs. Murphy, Pewter and Tucker.  These furrballs are some of the most well written animals in fiction.

The mystery involves the murder of two monks from the Brothers Of Love and a prominent doctor. There's a lot more to the Brothers Of Love organization than just spiritual life too, and that's what brings about many of the twists and turns in the story. Most of the monks have a criminal past or something scandalous that they are repenting for.

Harry discovers the first body in the Christmas tree she wants to buy at the lot run by the Brothers, but it isn't until much later when her animals find a large sum of money that she really gets drawn into the thick of it and lands her in the ER.

The whodunit wasn't quite what I expected but as I think about it now, it should have been a little more obvious to me, but hey, you shouldn't be able to pick out the killer easily!

This is the first book from this series that I've read, and I look forward to hunting down some of the others!

Rating: 4 flowers

Book Review: Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral

Author:Kris Radish
Title: Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral
Publisher: Bantam
Publish Date: Jan 2006
Buy: Amazon

Book Blurb: Radish's latest overwrought book (after Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn) tracks five strangers– turned–soul mates over the course of the titular funeral, posthumously organized by their friend Annie, who died from ovarian cancer at age 56. A package arrives at Katherine Givens's front door and in it are the ashes of her free-spirited, altruistic childhood friend, along with instructions for a procession that will take Annie's closest friends on a cross country trip from Sonoma, Calif., to Manhattan, sprinkling her remains as they go. Just nine days later, Annie's former university colleague Jill, women's crisis savior Laura, cantankerous neighbor Rebecca and her hospice aide Marie join Katherine on the journey during which they learn their eccentric friend's deepest secrets and share many of their own. Most importantly, these unorthodox urnbearers understand the greatness Annie saw in them and attain the courage to act on it. Windswept melodrama marks Radish's prose (e.g. "these moments were the ones Marie needed to keep the tears and gashes in her own soul from washing her out to sea"), but that will not deter readers who relish the idea of women forming bonds when their mettle is tested and finding power and self-actualization in grief, sharing and love.

Review: I don't think I've ever been so moved by a book. I realized going in that this was a book that you either love or you hate. I loved it. It is a book that really shows the power of friendship and the bonds that women share between one another. I adored each one of Annie's pallbearers on her traveling funeral.

Each woman was very different and yet through their common bond, their friendship with Annie, they all come to be great friends. Its quite likely that you'll discover a bit of yourself in one of the characters. For me it was Balinda, a daughter that is trapped by taking care of her ailing mother.

There is so much about this book that makes the reader reflect on life and death. The book really seemed to carry a strong message of live life to the fullest. Annie may not have had a perfect life, but through her own trials she shared this belief with the five women she was closest two.

The idea of a traveling funeral was quite odd to me at first but as you learned the reasons Annie chose the places she did for her friends to visit and spread her ashes it makes more and more sense. It also really became a celebration of her life rather than a somber occasion.

The funeral book that they all wrote in is an idea that I came to love as I read. Whenever they had thoughts of Annie they wrote them down, rather than having a book with names of the people that came. It was a memento of their thoughts and feelings of their friend, with some remarks on what she would have said to their thoughts.

The book was so well written. The characters introduced in an orderly fashion. Radish introduced each woman as Katherine called them about the funeral and then shared how Annie became part of each woman's life.

I alternated between tears and laughter as I read this book. It really reached in and touched a part of me. It made me long for friends like Katherine, Laura, Jill, Rebecca, Maria, Balinda and Annie. I don't think I could recommend any book as highly as I do this one.

Rating: 5 flowers