BE MY BANSHEE by Joyce and Jim Lavene

CANDY CORN MURDER by Leslie Meier

BE MY BANSHEE

Book 1 in the Purple Door Detective Agency Mystery series 

by Joyce and Jim Lavene

The Purple Door Detective Agency is hiring. Those without magic need not apply. Salary commensurate with experience. Apply at the agency. No phone calls or psychic links. Sunshine Merryweather is a young witch with a passion for colorful clothes and good food. She is the owner/operator of the Purple Door Detective Agency. Her partner, John, was brutally murdered three days ago, and she won’t stop until she finds his killer. Aine is only interested in one thing when she walks into the building with the purple door–locating the last man alive in the branch of the O’Neill family she haunts as abeane sidhe. She has been asleep for 200 years in a ruined Irish castle and realizes that the world has moved on without her. She needs to find the O’Neill heir and encourage him to start a family or she will pass from existence when he dies. Sunshine sees a potential partner when she looks at the powerful beane sidhe - they could be the next Dynamic Duo! But Aine isn’t interested in Sunshine’s schemes - until the witch agrees to help her locate O’Neill. Even then, it will be a short-term association at best from Aine’s point of view. She has no need of witchcraft. Neither woman is aware of the danger they face as an ancient assassin stalks the old port city of Norfolk, Virginia. It will take more than simple witchcraft or beane sidhe magic to stop the killer. They will have to work together and combine their talents. But can Sunshine and Aine put aside their differences to stop the murders without tearing each other apart? By National Bestselling mystery and urban fantasy authors Joyce and Jim Lavene (Retired Witches and Missing Pieces Mysteries)

MY REVIEW

BE MY BANSHEE is unlike anything I have ever read. This book isn’t just a para-cozy, it has a large paranormal aspect to it. It’s not a story I would normally read or review on my blog, but there was one major deciding factor in me choosing to read it…the authors, Joyce and Jim Lavene. These two brilliant writers turn everything they write into gold.

Well written and very creative, BE MY BANSHEE has an incredible plot. There was action and suspense from the beginning of page one, all the way to the fantastic conclusion. Once again the Lavenes have created a winning new series.

Even if this isn’t your normal reading material, with the Halloween season approaching add a copy of this fun mystery to your reading list. Can you think of a more perfect time of year to read a book about witches, banshees, shape shifters, and more?

If you’ve read books but this beyond talented writing team, then you know you have to get this book. If you haven’t read the writing of Joyce and Jim Lavene…what are you waiting for?! 

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CANDY CORN MURDER

Book 24 in the Lucy Stone Mystery series 

by Leslie Meier

Halloween is coming to Tinker’s Cove, Maine, and local reporter Lucy Stone is covering the town’s annual Giant Pumpkin Fest for the Pennysaver. There’s the pumpkin-boat regatta, the children’s Halloween party, the pumpkin weigh-in…even a contest where home-built catapults hurl pumpkins at an old Dodge! But not everything goes quite as planned…

Lucy’s getting very annoyed that her husband Bill and his friend Evan have been working seemingly nonstop on their potentially prize-winning pumpkin catapult. But when the day of the big contest arrives, Evan is nowhere to be found…until a catapulted pumpkin busts open the trunk of the Dodge. Amid the pumpkin gore is a very deceased Evan, bashed in the head and placed in the trunk by someone long before the contest started.

Bill is on the hook for the Halloween homicide—he was the last one to see Evan—so Lucy knows she’s got some serious sleuthing to do. The crime’s trail seems to always circle back to Country Cousins, the town’s once-quaint general store that’s now become a big Internet player. Though the store’s founder, Old Sam Miller, is long gone, his son Tom and grandson Trey now run the hugely successful company. But whispered rumors say things aren’t going well, and Lucy finds that this case may have something to do with an unsolved, decades-old Miller family mystery…

With each new lead pointing her in a different direction, Lucy sees that time is quickly running out. If she wants to spook the real killer, she’ll have to step into an old ghost story…

MY REVIEW

I haven’t read a Lucy Stone Mystery since the first one. It was when I was first trying out cozies and new to me authors, so I was trying a lot of firsts. I’m happy to have been given the chance to visit with Lucy again. That being said, a lot of things have changed in Lucy’s life since I read about her last, but one thing that hasn’t changed is Lucy’s knack for getting involved in murder cases.

In CANDY CORN MURDER, author Leslie Meier takes us on an amazing ride through not one, but two murders. This book moved at a great pace with lots of twists and turns, and questioning if the two murders were connected. But Ms. Meier brings it altogether with an inspired conclusion.

If you’re a fan of Halloween themed cozies, you are going to love CANDY CORN MURDER. And it goes without saying that Leslie Meier fans are in for a real treat!

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