THE BARK BEFORE CHRISTMAS by Laurien Berenson

HAUNT COUTURE AND GHOSTS GALORE by Rose Pressey

THE BARK BEFORE CHRISTMAS 

Book 18 in the Melanie Travis Canine Mystery series 

by Laurien Berenson

“If you like dogs, you’ll love Laurien Berenson’s Melanie Travis mysteries!” —Joanne Fluke, New York Times bestselling author

Melanie Travis has her hands full with her two young sons, a part-time job, and a half dozen Poodles to her name. But even with the busy holiday season approaching, she still has time to sniff out a Christmastime killer…

There’s nothing lovelier than Christmas in Connecticut, but Melanie can scarcely find a moment to enjoy the festivities. With her youngest son approaching toddlerhood, she’s decided to return to her old job at Howard Academy, a posh private school attended by the children of Greenwich’s well-heeled gentry. Balancing work, motherhood, and the hectic dog show circuit takes some fancy footwork, especially when the headmaster taps her to be the chairman of the school’s Christmas Bazaar.

The Christmas Bazaar is Howard Academy’s biggest and most important fundraiser, so Melanie feels the pressure to make it a huge success. She even enlists her longsuffering sister-in-law Bertie to help with the Santa Claus and Pets Photo Booth. But everything goes awry when a prize show dog goes missing and Santa turns up dead. The dog’s owner is one of the school’s most perfectly pedigreed alums, and she enlists Melanie to help find the purloined pooch. But just as Melanie starts pawing at the truth, she digs up a sleighful of sinister secrets that leaves everyone feeling less than merry…

Avialable for pre-sale

Releases September 29

MY REVIEW

Santa is dead! Well, a Santa is, and A BARK BEFORE CHRISTMAS is where it happened. Author Laurien Berenson kills off Santa and it’s up to Meanie Travis, protagonist of the fun series, to find out why and the real who, (because we all know author LB didn’t really kill him.)

It’s not easy I’m sure to keep series eighteen titles long fresh. But Laurien Berenson, being a wonderful writer, manages to do just that. And I have no doubt it will just continue to get better and better.

A BARK BEFORE MIDNIGHT was well plotted and moved at a good pace. Lots of questions raised, and I didn’t have all the answers until the reveal, which was exciting, if a bit more intense than in most cozies (at least to me).

Dog lovers will be in heaven with not only this title, but the entire series. But I guess the word Canine in the series title already gave you the idea. ;-)

I really enjoyed this book and I’m now going to have to go back and play catch up. But I’m always willing to find a series that’s new to me. If this is one you already follow, you’re going to be happy I’m sure. If you don’t follow this series, pick up a copy and give it a try!

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

HAUNT COUTURE AND GHOSTS GALORE 

Book 3 in the Haunted Vintage Mystery series 

by Rose Pressey

This looks like a job for the fashion police!

A hot-ticket charity fashion show is the perfect chance for Cookie Chanel, proud owner of It's Vintage Y'All, to show off her stylistic savvy for a good cause. But when a famous fashionista is fatally flattened, and the ghost of a former private investigator asks for Cookie's help, she has to scurry to sew up a solution. With clever clues from Wind Song, her psychic cat, and sassy suggestions from Charlotte, her ghost-in-residence, Cookie must unravel the sinister stitches of a deadly design--before she becomes the next fashion victim... 

Don't miss Cookie Chanel's Fashion Tips

MY REVIEW

HAUNT COUTURE AND GHOST GALORE is the second book I’ve read in this delightful para-cozy series, (somehow I haven’t made my way to the first book) and it’s even better than the last.

I simply adore the way author Rose Pressey starts off each chapter with tips from Cookie, the lead character in this series, and in this book tips from deceased PI Sam. It makes getting to the next chapter fun to me.

This mystery started off with a bang….well, with a corpse. Ms. Pressey wasted no time in killing off her victim, doing so in chapter one. The mystery and intrigue just keep building from there. I did guess the killer in this one pretty early on, (Rare for me, so this time I got lucky) but it did nothing to take away from the story.

Ever present ghost, Charlotte, was in rare for in this story. She makes me laugh out loud so much while reading her. However, if she haunted me in real life, I would have to consider finding an exorcist. ;-)

Rose Pressey is a marvelous write with an imagination that I believe knows no bounds. It certainly reflects in her books. Pressey fans will be thrilled with this latest installment in the Haunted Vintage series.

Make sure to take a look in the back of this book for an excerpt from Cookie’s blog, tips for helping a psychic cat, and a sneak peek of book four, HAUNTED IS ALWAYS IN FASHION!

Available for pre-order

Releases October 27

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.