Category: Mystery

Crops and Robbers: A Farmers’ Market Mystery – Paige Shelton

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crops and robbers

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This is #3 in the ‘A Farmers’ Market Mystery’ Series

Book 1 Farm Fresh Murder: A Farmers’ Market Mystery – Paige Shelton

Book 2 Fruit of All Evil: A Farmers’ Market Mystery – Paige Shelton

As I read more of these, I like them more and more. I know the first book in any series is a little iffy, as not only is the author setting up characters for a book, but the secondary characters have to be set up  in more depth to make a series work.

This time someone actually dies in Becca’s work kitchen and her momma is accused of the murder! So, she can’t be considered a nosey busybody when she’s trying to clear her momma’s name!

Plus, I’ve always thought Becca and Sam would have something going on! And they do!!!! Not that I don’t like Ian, but I love me some Sam! But she’s still with Ian! And Oh shit, her daddy knows whats going on! It’s some drama heating up. Not that I condone cheating, but I was a little excited! I can’t wait to see what happens.  A little drama other than murder to watch out for!

From Garden to Grave: The Leafy Hollow Mysteries – Rickie Blair

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From Garden to Grave

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And right this minute as I type this,  the kindle ebook is free, so go get it! (Make sure you double check!) I found it at my library!

This book was really cute. It’s the first in a series of nosey busybody mysteries- hahaha. Which, is my go-to genre, obviously!

Verity is a recluse who is estranged from her aunt, and hides out in mourning of her husband. When her aunt goes missing, she leaves her apartment to travel to her aunts home to look for her! She stumbles into taking over Aunt Adeline’s landscaping business, and trying to make her cottage habitable. She makes some new friends and solves a few murders along the way…. and then, is Aunt Adeline really a landscaper? dum dum dum…

It almost has a lighthearted ‘Grimm’ feeling. Remember when the show first started and Nick found out his aunt wasn’t some eccentric woman who pulled her trailer around the country, that she was fighting Wesen (did I spell that right?)? It was sorta like that. Since I liked Grimm, I’m curious to see where this series takes us.

 

To Helvetica and Back: A Dangerous Type Mystery – Paige Shelton

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To Helvetica and Back

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I found it at the Library, of course!

 

I am a fan of Paige Shelton. I’m reading her Farm Fresh Mystery Series (The first one here) and I’m really enjoying them. I liked this book more! There is something about Chester and Clare that I really enjoy. Also, the idea of working with ink press, stationary, and old books appeals to me. I love the smell of paper. I wonder if that’s part of the reason I like paperbacks so much is the smell of them – as well as the feel, obviously! It made me want to get my typewriter out of the garage and see if it still works. But, what would I do with it? I need a pen-pal. hahaha

The mystery surrounding an old typewriter and why someone was trying to steal it and wound up dead was so well written and intriguing. Weave in family dynamics and the whole book is really something worth reading. Could you imagine holding the key to a treasure?! This is the first book of the new series, and I’m excited about reading more!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Wilderness of Ruin: A Tale of Madness, Fire, and the Hunt for America’s Youngest Serial Killer – Roseanne Montillo

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The Wilderness of Ruin

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Once again, I was roaming the “True Crime” section of my library.

This book really irritated the shit out of me. Mostly because the title is so misleading. There was no “hunt” for Jesse Pomeroy. Not really. Everyone seemed to know it was him who was guilty, and he was working in his momma’s store. Wasn’t like he was on the run. He was an evil kid. No arguing that. He is billed as America’s “youngest serial killer” because he killed more than one person. It was rough reading about the kids he killed. It reminded me a lot of the case of James Bulger 120 years later in England. What makes some kids evil? And can they help it? Can they stop themselves? Seems questions asked by people who are much smarter than me!

The book spent a lot of pages on others other than Pomeroy and what he had done. I feel like it told more of Herman Melville’s life than it did of  Jesse Pomeroy. As someone who has read ‘Moby Dick’ and hated it, I don’t really care for Herman Melville, honestly. I don’t understand how the book became a classic – which was how I was duped into reading it. I found it bloody and unnecessary. I do want to read ‘Billy Budd’ now that I’ve read about more about Melville and I’m curious how his mental illness affected the book. I have added it to my TBR.

I did like the questions and new perspectives about mental illnesses. Especially the way they were perceived in the past.  Also the differences of how people with mental illnesses were/are treated based upon their station in life. Some things don’t change.

 

Fruit of All Evil: A Farmers’ Market Mystery – Paige Shelton

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Fruit of all evil

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This is the 2nd book in the Farmers’ Market Mystery Series. The first one is:  Farm Fresh Murder: A Farmers’ Market Mystery – Paige Shelton I enjoyed this one more than the 1st one! Mainly because once you get to know all the characters in the first one, it’s like catching up with friends.

When Becca is asked to be maid of honor in a friends wedding, and the mother of the groom ends up dead, nobody knows what is going on!

I like the way that Paige Shelton puts together a story. Though Busy-Body Becca is gonna get herself killed one day cause she won’t mind her own business! But, isn’t that all the cozy mysteries? (This may not be a “cozy mystery”, and I’m not exactly sure what constitutes a cozy mystery, but I think of it as one)

Once again, there are recipes in the back. I’ve tried some of the ones from the first book, and I can’t wait to try these as well!

 

Pretty Little Killers – Rita Herron

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Pretty Little Killers

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Another Library book! We’ve been hitting up the library quite a bit lately, and I really like paper books a lot more than reading on my phone, so I’ve been grabbing more and more library books for me.

I’m really iffy about this book. I really liked parts of it, and other parts not so much. The whole book reminded me a lot of the plot of The Blacklist, really. Even though it was nothing like the show. It had that same feel to it.

The vigilante killing of people who deserved to die. I liked it. I liked the fact that it was happening. And I was really kind of irritated that Korine and whiny Hatcher were trying to stop/solve these murders. Ha.

Whiny Hatcher…. that’s what I want to call him. He lied to Korine about being married (albeit separated) , but then seems to take it out on her that he didn’t answer the wives phone call when she needed him. He’s really an ass, I think.

I didn’t realize this had a romance(ish) substory line when I grabbed it off the shelf. And, I would have liked the book a whole lot better as a whole if it hadn’t. I liked the mystery part, and I was totally shocked at how/why Korine’s dad died. But, trying to put Korine and Hatcher into some sort of relationship irritated me. They are attracted to each other, but he’s an ass, why would she put up with that? I don’t know. It just rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe that was the point of it? I’m not sure.

I really like Rita’s writing, and though this is the first book of hers, it won’t be the last. In fact, getting the link to the amazon product page I saw that this was the first book in a series. I will definitely read the next book!

 

The Dead Key – D.M. Pulley

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The Dead Key

Find it on Amazon – It’s even on Kindle Unlimited!

Of course, this cover caught my eye at the library. I’m so into covers, I mean really. I know it shouldn’t be a factor, but a well done cover just makes me happy and more into wanting to read the book!

 

I really liked this book! This is the first book that I’ve read by D.M. Pulley, and as I was finding the picture for the post, I saw that there are 2 other books in KU! The stories of Beatrice and Iris and their experiences was so well thought out and executed! How things were connected over a period of 20 years and how they were working together, was so well done!

Poor Beatrice! I mean, at 16 years old I didn’t handle anything well, and she was so smart she did what the police and the FBI could never do!  And, as Iris felt like she was losing her mind, I felt the same way! D.M. really pulled me in and I could feel the emotions that Iris was feeling and the paranoia that kicked in.  – You’re not being paranoid if someone is really fucking with you!

I was surprised exactly how the ending worked itself out, and I had mixed emotions about how things went!

I worked at a few banks years ago, and maybe that is why I was drawn into the story so much too. It has really made me wonder what for real happens to safe-deposit boxes when they are defaulted on!

I’m looking forward to reading the other books that D.M. has written. They are going on my TBR!

 

Farm Fresh Murder: A Farmers’ Market Mystery – Paige Shelton

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Farm Fresh Murder

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This series caught my eye at the library! I know, not a romance novel or a true crime?! It’s a miracle… Not really, I do love a mystery.

I didn’t know Farmers’ Markets were so exciting! In fact, murder aside, I never even thought what must go in to running or having a booth at a market. Having to haul all your stuff back and forth. Being out in the elements. I don’t think that having a stall at a farmers’ market would be for me. But, I know next time I go, I’ll be thinking more about what goes into getting the fresh foods and goodies.

Poor Becca, she just can’t help herself. I understand the wanting to help a friend, but who wants to be shot at while doing so!? Not me. Ha. I did appreciate Becca though. The fact that she’s been married and is a little cynical. The fact that she finds a love interest in a younger man. I think she’s fabulous and someone I’d like to be friends with. — Maybe, as most series’ go along, bad things always happen to the protagonists friends and family, and I don’t want that shit. – 🙂 It makes me want a greenhouse full of beautiful flowers. But, sadly I don’t have a green thumb and everything would be dead. A greenhouse graveyard. eek

I will say that I can usually figure out who the killer is and why, but with this book, I really didn’t know until it was revealed!

There are recipes in the back of the book. I have tried one of them, and I’m going to try the other’s and do a post. I thought that was cute to include the vendors recipes!