Sunday, June 12, 2016


It's
Cozy Food Friday!

Wait...what? 
This is Sunday...


It's
Cozy Food Sunday!

That means it's time to share a recipe from 
another great cozy mystery!
Today I'm featuring
KNOT THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Book 5 in the Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries
by
Molly MacRae


In the latest from the bestselling author of Plagued by Quilt, Kath Rutledge yarn bombs Blue Plum, Tennessee—and gets tangled up in the mystery of a bumped-off bagpiper.

It’s time for Handmade Blue Plum, an annual arts and crafts fair, and Kath and her knitting group TGIF (Thank Goodness It’s Fiber) plan to kick off the festivities with a yarn bombing. But they’re not the only ones needling Blue Plum. Bagpiper and former resident Hugh McPhee had just returned after a long absence, yet his reception is anything but cozy. The morning after his arrival, he’s found dead in full piper’s regalia.

Although shaken, Kath and her knitting group go forward with their yarn installation—only to hit a deadly snag. Now, with the help of Geneva, the ghost who haunts her shop, Kath and TGIF need to unravel the mystery before someone else gets kilt!

About the author


Molly MacRae writes the award-winning Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries published by Penguin Random House. The books star Kath Rutledge, a textile preservation specialist, who inherits her grandmother's yarn and fabric shop in Blue Plum, Tennessee, and ends up with a depressed ghost on her hands. Think of it as the series that puts the woo-woo in the wool.


The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries, published by Penguin/NAL, including the recently released Knot the Usual Suspects. Look for Plaid and Plagiarism, the first book in her new Highland Bookshop Mysteries coming in December 2016. Molly’s short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine since 1990. After twenty years in northeast Tennessee, Molly now lives with her family in Champaign, Illinois. www.mollymacrae.com


On to the recipe!

Mel’s Rhubarb Sourdough Bread Pudding


Ingredients:

12 oz. sourdough bread ripped into pieces ranging ½- to 1-inch
1 ½ cups milk
4 Tablespoon butter
5 eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon fresh orange zest
¼ c. crystallized ginger, chopped
4 cups rhubarb, chopped
½ cup raw sugar (or brown sugar)
¼ cup pecans, chopped


Directions:

1.      Spread bread on a cookie sheet and lightly toast, then place in a greased 3       qt casserole dish
2.      Melt butter with milk, pour over bread in casserole


3.      Mix together eggs, sugar, salt, and zest
4.      Stir in rhubarb and ginger


5.      Stir rhubarb and egg mixture into bread mixture
6.      Top with raw sugar (or brown) and pecans

Bake at 350ยบ 55-60 minutes until set


Hands up if you're planning to 
make one for yourself!


Author Molly MacRae has written another winner in the Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery series. Like a beautiful afghan, every new stich she makes in this series only serves to make it more wonderful.

KNOT THE USUAL SUSPECTS is absolutely delightful. I can’t knit a knot, but I loved reading about the lovely projects this fun loving, sassy group of characters create. It really does inspire me to want to learn the craft.

Kath and crew find themselves in the middle of another murder, and of course they investigate, with the help of resident ghost, Geneva.

Ms. MacRae has a wonderful talent for combining mystery, fun, crafting, and the paranormal. With twists and turns and surprises all the way to the exciting reveal, KNOT THE USUAL SUSPECTS is a must read mystery that will thrill readers and have them begging the author for more.

This is also a great mystery for readers of several mystery sub-genres. Craft-cozies, and para-cozies. There is indeed something for everyone in this one.

Don’t forget to check out the back of the book for recipes and knitting patterns!

**************
Coming December 6, 2016

PLAID AND PLAGARISM
Book 1 in the Highland Book Shop Mysteries 
by Molly MacRae


The Inversgail Literature Festival in Scotland is just about to begin when a shocking murder temporarily turns the owners of the new Highland Bookshop into amateur detectives, in an enthralling new cozy crime novel from the beloved Molly MacRae.
Set in the weeks just before the annual Inversgail Literature Festival in Scotland, Plaid and Plagiarismbegins on a morning shortly after the four new owners have taken possession of their new bookshop in the Highlands.

Unfortunately, Janet Marsh’s move into her house has been delayed due to vandalism; she’s convinced the vandal is Una Graham, an advice columnist for the local paper who’s trying to make a name for herself as an investigative reporter. Then, when the women go to look for clues that might tell them to who is guilty, they find Una Graham's corpse (murder!) in Janet’s garden shed.

Constable Hobbs answers their emergency call. He’s calm and quietly pleased, as he’s never had a murder case. Then the contents of a dozen or so garbage bags are discovered behind the bookshop. The letters inside are nasty. They explain in minute detail how and when each of the recipients has hurt Una. The more the women find out about Una, the more people they discover who detested her and aren’t sad she’s gone. If Janet and her bookshop crew are reading the clues right, they’re about to expose the most sensational story the town of Inversgail has ever heard.

A delightful and deadly novel about recognizing strengths, accepting weaknesses, and finding a way to be true to oneself, Plaid and Plagiarism is the start of an enthralling new Scottish mystery series.

Pre-order your copy today!
Releases: December 6!



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.

Saturday, June 11, 2016

BOOK TOUR


I'm so excited to be a stop on the blog tour for 
author Amy Metz
and her new book
ROGUES & RASCALS IN 
GOOSE PIMPLE JUNCTION
Book 4 in the Goose Pimple Junction Mysteries


Like any good Southern belle, Caledonia Culpepper was raised by her mama to be gracious, charming, witty, and above all, a devoted mother and loving wife, so she's baffled when her marriage falls apart. 

Wynona Baxter is a master of disguise but is often a ditzy airhead. A hit woman wannabe, when she's hired for her first job in Goose Pimple Junction and things don't go as planned, she's forced to resort to Plan B. She'll also need Plan C and D. 

Crooked lawyers, restless husbands, a teenaged hoodlum – it seems there are rogues and rascals everywhere you look in Goose Pimple Junction. 

When Caledonia and Wynona's paths cross, they prove there isn't a rogue or a rascal who can keep a good woman down. Mama always said there would be days like this . . .


*****!!!GIVEAWAY!!!*****
Winners will be chosen after June 22 
at the end of the tour
Check out the great prize and enter using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post. 
This giveaway is through Great Escape Book Tours, not Lisa Ks Book Reviews.


MY REVIEW


Another hysterically funny installment in the Goose Pimple Junction Mysteries!

Not your everyday cozy mystery series, author Amy Metz takes on murder, mayhem, and the south, like no other author I’ve read. I’ve never laughed so hard while reading a mystery. I have read some that are a lot of fun, but this series has been known to make me do the laughing-snort! You know you’re in for laughs with each chapter starting out with Mama always said . . .  One example . . . “Mama always said . . . If it’s got tires or testicles, you’re going to have trouble with it.”  And each chapter has a fun title like . . . If It Walks Like A Duck.

ROGUES & RASCALS IN GOOSE PIMPLE JUNCTION may just be the best book in the Goose Pimple Junction Mysteries so far. Heck, it is THE best book in this series by far! Once I started reading, I was immersed in the very southern, zany town of GPJ. With all the quirky characters in this story, there was a good sized list of who-could-of-dunits in this whodunit. I was kept laughing and guessing until the reveal. And left feeling a little down that the book was done. But the good news is…I’m sure there will be another addition to this series coming soon!  

You’re going to adore the writing of author Amy Metz, and have a blast when you read ROGUES & RASCALS IN GOOSE PIMPLE JUNCTION!


About the author


Amy Metz is the author of the Goose Pimple Junction mystery series. She is a former first grade teacher and the mother of two sons. When not writing, enjoying her family, or surfing Pinterest, Amy can usually be found with a mixing spoon, camera, or book in one hand and a glass of sweet tea in the other. Amy lives in Louisville, Kentucky and loves a good Southern phrase.



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.

GOOD LUCK!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, June 10, 2016

BOOK TOUR


I'm so thrilled to be a stop on the blog tour for 
author Laura Bradford 
and her new book
ร‰CLAIR AND PRESENT DANGER
Book 1 in the Emergency Dessert Squad Mysteries 


The first book in the delicious new Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery series from national bestselling author Laura Bradford.

With her rent rising faster than her pie crust, bakery owner Winnie Johnson had hoped to be rescued by an inheritance from her wealthy friend and neighbor Gertrude Redenbacher. Instead all she inherits is the widow’s hostile hissing tabby, Lovey, and a vintage ambulance, restored by Gertrude’s late husband. As her dream crumbles, Winnie makes her final delivery—a peach pie to an elderly widower. But she finds Bart Wagner lying on his kitchen floor, smothered by a pillow.
 
To comfort her frightened and grieving neighbors, Winnie comes to the rescue with her baked goods—and an idea is born: dessert delivery via her ambulance and a new business called the Emergency Dessert Squad. When she’s not speeding to the scenes of dessert emergencies, Winnie is also racing to track down Bart’s killer—before she needs to call a real ambulance for the next victim...

RECIPES INCLUDED


*****!!!GIVEAWAY!!!*****
Winner will be chosen after June 12
at the end of the tour
Check out the great prize package, and enter using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post. 
This giveaway is through Great Escape Book Tours, not Lisa Ks Book Reviews.


One of the yummy recipes to be found in 
ร‰CLAIR AND PRESENT DANGER

Winnie Johnson’s
Never Give Up-side down chocolate cake
 

From ร‰clair and Present Danger
By Laura Bradford
You need:

(For the cake)

*1 cup of white chocolate chips (if desired)
*3/4 cup sugar
*1 cup flour
*2 teaspoons baking powder
*1/2 teaspoon salt
*4 ounces or 2 squares of unsweetened chocolate
*2 Tablespoons butter
*1/2 cup milk
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract

(For the topping)

*1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
*1/2 cup sugar
*1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
*3/4 cup boiling water


To make the cake:

Generously grease and flour an 8 x 8 inch baking pan.  In a bowl, combine sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a saucepan or in the microwave, melt chocolate with butter. 


Add melted chocolate to bowl and add milk and vanilla, beating until smooth.

Add in white chocolate chips (if desired) and mix by hand. Pour into pan.

To make the topping

Mix both sugars and cocoa and sprinkle evenly over batter. Top with boiling water.

Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 35 to 45 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

Invert chocolate cake onto cake plate. Extra good if served warm and with ice cream!! 

Enjoy!

Oh my goodness! 
I could really do with a piece of that cake right now.
How about you? 


MY REIVEW


A deliciously brilliant start to the yummy new Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery series by national bestselling author Laura Bradford!

I was beyond thrilled when I first heard author Laura Bradford had a new cozy mystery series coming out. Her Amish Mysteries, and her Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries written under her pen name Elizabeth Lynn Casey, are among my very favorite cozy mystery series. But I was unprepared for just how spectacular this new series would be.

ร‰CLAIR AND PRESENT DANGER is the freshest idea for a cozy mystery I have read in a long time. Seriously, how perfect is a dessert truck ambulance that sells tasty treats to fit your mood? I mean, come on…”Don’t-Be-Blue Berry Pie”, and “Hot Flash Fudge Sundae”… Marvelous!

Along with the outstanding concept, Ms. Bradford also introduces a cast of characters that are a pure joy! I totally want to work on the dessert ambulance with protagonist, Winnie Johnson, and her best friend, Renee Ballentine. Each character is beautifully written, and adds just the right layers to the overall story. It amazes me that Laura Bradford has written so many vastly unique characters in her different series, yet always delivers folks who are real, multifaceted, and are purely awesome to read and get to know.

Last, but in no way least, ร‰CLAIR AND PRESENT DANGER is wonderfully well written, with a fast moving, imaginative plot that had me moving from chapter to chapter with growing anticipation, and a hunger for more. Author Bradford filled that hunger with every new page. The action packed reveal was the frosting on the cake of the perfectly penned story.

If you only start one new mystery series this year, make it the Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery series by Laura Bradford, because ร‰CLAIR AND PRESENT DANGER is THE cozy mystery to beat for 2016!

Make sure to check out the back of the book for incredible recipes, and a sneak peek of Book Two in the Emergency Dessert Squad mystery series!

About the author


While spending a rainy afternoon at a friend's house more than thirty years ago, Laura Bradford (a.k.a. Elizabeth Lynn Casey) fell in love with writing over a stack of blank paper, a box of crayons, and a freshly sharpened number two pencil. From that moment forward, she never wanted to do anything else.

Today, Laura is the national bestselling author of the Amish Mysteries, the Jenkins & Burns Mysteries, and the Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries (written as Elizabeth Lynn Casey). A new cozy mystery series will be added to the mix in 2016 with the release of The Emergency Dessert Squad Mysteries. Laura is a former Agatha nominee and the recipient of an RT Reviewer's Choice Award in romance. In her free time, Laura enjoys making memories with her family, traveling, baking, and visiting the sea lions at the Central Park Zoo. For more information and all the latest book news, visit her website at www.laurabradford.com.

**************************

Please keep reading and check out my 
installments of 
Book Beginnings on Fridays
and
The Friday 56

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

My Book Beginnings and Friday 56
 for this week are also from 
ร‰CLAIR AND PRSENT DANGER
Book 1 in the Emergency Dessert Squad Mysteries 


The first book in the delicious new Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery series from national bestselling author Laura Bradford.

Book Beginnings on Fridays is a meme hosted by Rose City Reader
Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading

My Book Beginnings

"I'm sorry, could you, um, read that one more time, please?" Winnie Johnson rested her elbows on the edge of Charles Woodward's desk and willed herself to concentrate. "I've been a little scattered these last few weeks, and I think my mind might be playing tricks on me."  

The Friday 56 is a meme hosted by Freda's Voice
Rules: *Grab a book, any book. *Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that's okay.) *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you. *Post it.

My Friday 56

"Most people find that weird." 

"It's different, I'll give you that, but it's also kind of telling,"....

You didn't really think I was going to tell you what they're talking about in this scene, did you? ;-)


Good Luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway


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.