Thursday, August 20, 2015


MURDER OF AN OPEN BOOK by Denise Swanson 
CINDERELLA SIX FEET UNDER by Maia Chance 

MURDER OF AN OPEN BOOK
Book 18 in the Scumble River Mystery series 
by Denise Swanson


New York Times Bestselling Scumble River Series

A nasty faculty feud leaves one Scumble River teacher belly-up. . . .

Her honeymoon may have been less than relaxing, but Skye Boyd née Denison is still high on marital bliss with her new husband, Wally. The fact that their family is about to get bigger is even more exciting, even if Skye is dealing with morning sickness—and trying to hide the news from her ever-meddling mother, May.

But Skye quickly comes crashing down from cloud nine when the body of one of her coworkers, science teacher and volleyball coach Blair Hucksford, is found in the school swimming pool. The troublesome trainer was on the bad side of almost everyone on staff and many of the girls on her team, leaving Skye to sort through a huge roster of suspects. Now she must figure out which wronged party was mad enough to kill, and quickly—before someone else in town gets bumped off. . . 

MY REVIEW


Do you read the acknowledgements and dedications in books? I do. I love to know who inspired the authors I read. In this book author Denise Swanson thank her street team, the Swanson Sleuths. These are fans and friends who help promote books by handout bookmarks and other items, and by talking about the author’s book. Very cool of you, Ms. Swanson to remember your street team!

You would think after so many books in the same series, an author would run out of ideas. Not so for author Denise Swanson. MURDER OF AN OPEN BOOK was fresh and well written, while holding to the integrity of this long running series. After reading this book, any reader will see why the Scumble River Mystery series has enjoyed such longevity.

Skye is married, pregnant, and starting a whole chapter of her life, but some things never change, like finding a dead body and searching for a murder. As I mentioned above, this was an extremely well written story. It held my attention with every page turned. Ms. Swanson has a way with words and a plot that always leaves the readers coming back for more. I for one will return to Scumble River.

I have to mention the named chapters. I love it when an author does that! Reminds me of my Nancy Drew books. And with chapters entitled…AWHFY - Are We Having Fun Yet, and :-( - Frownie Face, I had as much fun reading the chapters titles as I did enjoying this wonderful mystery!

Get a sneak peek of BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE, book 5 in the Devereaux’s Dime Store Mystery series! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CINDERELLA SIX FEET UNDER
Book 2 in the Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery series 
by Maia Chance 


This Cinderella goes from ashes to ashes in the new Victorian-era Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery by the author of Snow White Red-Handed . . .

Variety hall actress Ophelia Flax’s plan to reunite her friend Prue with her estranged—and allegedly wealthy—mother, Henrietta, is met with a grim surprise. Not only is the marquise’s Paris mansion a mouse-infested ruin, but Henrietta has inexplicably vanished, leaving behind an evasive husband, two sinister stepsisters, and a bullet-riddled corpse in the pumpkin patch decked out in a ball gown and one glass slipper—a corpse that also happens to be a dead ringer for Prue. 

Strangely, no one at 15 rue Garenne seems concerned about who plugged this luckless Cinderella or why, so the investigation is left to Ophelia and Prue. It takes them through the labyrinthine maze of the Paris Opera, down the trail of a legendary fairy tale relic, into the confidence of a wily prince charmless, and makes them vulnerable to the secrets of a mysterious couturière with designs of her own on Prue’s ever-twisting family history.

MY REVIEW


I’ve mentioned this in several reviews…cozy mysteries are starting to add more and more historicals to the genre. Hmmm…a new subgenre, historical-cozies. But none of the others are quite like the Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery series.

Author Maia Chance is breathing new life not only into cozies, but into fairy tales as well. CINDERELLA SIX FEET UNDER is a delightfully murderous take on the well-loved story of Cinderella. This story starts off early into the book with the discovery of the victim’s body. What follows is a well plotted, wonderfully written mystery that kept me guessing.

Ms. Chance really did her research and captured the feel of her Victorian setting. Through her use of language and descriptions, I was transported back to Victorian times and found myself in the mystery/fairy tale and part of the investigation myself.

If you’ve read the first book in this series, SNOW WHITE RED-HANDED, I have no doubt you’ll enjoy this next installment. But, if like myself, you haven’t read the first book, no worries, you won’t feel lost in CINDERELLA SIX FEET UNDER at all.

Keep reading after the story is over for a sneak peek of BEAUTY, BEAST, AND BELLADONNA, book 3 in this great series!

Both of these great titles are available 
Tuesday, September 1! 

Pre-order now!


As always, please leave a comment and 
let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by 
clicking on the link in the 
upper right hand corner of this page.

9 comments:

  1. Thanks, Lisa! There's just no way I will ever read all the great books you do. I'm going to give it my best shot, though! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I guess I really need to check out Denise Swanson's series. I don't know why I haven't.
    I have had that Snow White Red-Handed on my list to buy for awhile now. It sounded original & intriguing. This Cinderella one sounds great, too! Now there's two books, so I better get to it. Thanks for the reviews. ツ

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is great news! I have been waiting for the second book and it is almost her:) Thanks Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  4. Another blog of wonderful reviews and information Lisa. Have been trying very hard to read your blog daily but we have had so much medical stuff that my computer and reading time has been slowed down significantly. But I try to comment as often as I can.
    Cynthia.

    ReplyDelete
  5. These sound great! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  6. The books sound great. Lisa, thank you for the awesome reviews.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your blog gets better with each new addition. You show and tell us about new books in an informative and unbiased manner and that is great. This post was exceptionally good and I have added another new author to my list. Thanks for the entertainment and information. Looking forward to the next one.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am looking forward to both of these! I'm a longtime fan of Scumble River and I just read Snow White Red Handed!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lisa, I liked the personal comments/take you made in your reviews, not just reviewing the cozies. Both of these books sound unique.

    Susan

    ReplyDelete