BITE CLUB

Book 23 in the Melanie Travis Canine Mysteries

by Laurien Berenson

Melanie Travis’s new book club caters to readers craving fiction—with bite! But when a real-life murder case bares its fangs, she’ll need to swap dog-eared novels for a lengthy suspect list . . . 
 
Thanks to Aunt Peg and her enthusiastic pedigree dog show pals, Melanie’s aptly named Bite Club reading group has book lovers all over town burying their noses in thrilling murder mysteries. But another pet project surfaces when Melanie reluctantly agrees to train a Bulldog puppy for elusive member Evan Major. Between the unusual bruise on his face and a bizarre run-in with an unknown dog show attendee, introverted Evan can’t dodge trouble. It even sends him to an early grave—while landing Melanie in the hot seat for homicide . . .
 
Caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, Melanie delves into the victim’s shady past to prove her innocence. As she uncovers a juicy scandal that cost Evan his marriage and, possibly, his life, Melanie realizes that booking the real culprit comes down to gathering her pack of suspects together at the next Bite Club meeting. What she doesn't know is Aunt Peg has been hiding some explosive secrets of her own—secrets that, once unleashed, could pit Melanie against an unpredictable killer bent on bringing this story to an abrupt end . . .

MY REVIEW

I’ve been reading the Melanie Travis Canine Mysteries for years. I purchased the first one for my sister long before I had even started reading cozy mysteries myself. Now, at book twenty-three, this series is still sharp, fresh, and as well written as ever.

BITE CLUB is as vastly entertaining as previous installments of this series. With another superb plot, I devoured this book in one sitting. I simply couldn’t put it down!

Protagonist and series namesake, Melanie Travis, has truly grown as a character, but not so much as to take away what attracted me to her and this series to begin with.

Other than the gripping mystery, and of course, the entire story itself, one of the things I enjoyed most was that the murder didn’t occur until well into the book. This allowed for time to get the feel of what’s happening in the story leading up to the discovery of the body.

I have no doubt cozy mystery fans will agree, BITE CLUB is a cover to cover clever read. Not to mention a real must have for dog themed mystery fans!

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

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It's

Cozy Food Friday!

That means it's time to share a recipe from 

another great cozy mystery!

This week's recipes are all are for iced tea!

I can't think of a better summer coll down drink.

Enjoy!

This first recipe is from author Bree Baker's

NO GOOD TEA GOES UNPUNISHED

photo property of teafloor.com

SWEET TEA WITH JASMINE

Looking for a gentle afternoon pick-me-up to enjoy on the back-pouch swing? Try a little sweet tea with jasmine to ease your weary mind.

Ingredients

Prep Time: 20 minuted

Yields: 4 servings

5 cups water, divided

4 heaping tablespoons Chinese jasmine tea leaves

2 tablespoons black tea leaves

2 cups sugar

Directions

    Bring 4 cups water to boil in a large saucepan. Add the tea leaves, reduce heat, simmer for 1 hour.

   In a separate bowl, bring remaining  1 cup water and sugar to a boil. Once mixture boils, remove from heat. 

   Strain the jasmine tea, and pour into a one-gallon pitcher. Add the warm sugar mixture to the tea, then add enough cold water to fill the pitcher, and stir. Serve tea over ice. 

photo from Facebook

That has got to be so refreshing!

What are your favorite summer drinks?

Summer of Giveaways!

Have you heard about 

Kathi Daley Books Summer of Giveaways?

All summer long,

now - the Aug 31 you can head over to

Kathi Daley Books

all summer long for a chance to win books from Kathi and more wonderful authors!

We're already a month 

into the party, and we're having a blast!

I'm co-hosting with Kathi all summer

 long, so I'll be looking to see you there!

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by submitting your email in 

upper right hand corner of this page. (on the side bar).

Reading from your phone? Scroll to the bottom of your page and click"View web version". Then follow the above directions.

BOOK REVIEWS

I'm so honored to be a stop on the blog tour for

STRANGLED EGGS AND HAM

Book 6 in the Country Store Mysteries

by Maddie Day

Robbie Jordan’s rustic country store is growing in popularity. But when a dead body appears, it turns out that Robbie’s home-style cooking attracts hungry customers—and murder!
 While Robbie scrambles through breakfast orders for her expanding clientele at Pans ‘N Pancakes, tempers run as high as the sticky August heat in South Lick, Indiana. Real-estate developer Fiona Closs plans to build a towering luxury resort at one of the most scenic hilltops in Brown County, and not everyone can see the sunny side of the imposing proposition—including Robbie’s furious Aunt Adele, who doesn’t waste a minute concocting protests and road blockades. When tensions boil over and a vocal protester is silenced forever at the resort site, Robbie ditches the griddle to catch the killer. But if slashed tires are any indication, she’ll need to crack this case before her own aunt gets served something deadly next . . .  
 
Includes Recipes for You to Try!

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!!!GIVEAWAY!!!

3 lucky readers will win a print copy of

STRANGLED EGGS AND HAM

Enter using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post.

Winner will be chosen after July 3 at the end of the tour.

This giveaway is through Great Escape Book Tours, not Lisa Ks Book Reviews.

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A Chat with Maddie Day

LKBR:  Thank you for being here today, Maddie!

Maddie: I’m delighted to be back.

LKBR: Please tell us a bit about you, and your Country Store Mysteries.

Maddie: My real name is Edith Maxwell. I’m a fourth-generation Californian and a full-time author writing three-plus books a year as well as a few short stories. I have a long and checkered past including careers in academia, farming, childbirth education, technical writing, and more. Writing crime fiction in my second-floor office north of Boston is my favorite job, though, and I’m living my dream.

Strangled Eggs and Ham is the sixth Country Store Mystery. Southern Indiana, where I placed fictional South Lick and Robbie Jordan’s breakfast and lunch restaurant, can be pretty steamy in August. Robbie’s new bed-and-breakfast rooms are open for business, a power lifter named Fiona wants to develop a resort in town, and tempers are hot.

LKBR: Any hints or spoilers you can give us about your next book?

Maddie: The next Robbie Jordan story is “Christmas Cocoa and a Corpse,” a novella coming out in September in the Christmas Cocoa Murder collection with Carlene O’Connor and Alex Ericsson. It’s my first mystery set during Christmas and I had a lot of fun with it. Robbie sells a Mexican hot chocolate mix in the store, her boyfriend’s son gets a chocolate lab puppy for Christmas, and a man is murdered.

LKBR: Have you ever written a scene that you loved but had to remove it for the sake of the story?

Maddie: That doesn’t really happen for me, because I know every scene has to move the story forward. I’m aware of that requirement as I write. I also write sparse first drafts, unlike some authors who tend to write long and then have to delete their own words. During my revision process I flesh things out, make sure the puzzle works, enrich the language, and so on.

LKBR: Have you ever gotten reader’s block? Just find it hard to get into reading because you are so into your writing?

Maddie: Not really. It’s more finding the time to read mysteries. Oddly, it was when I had days on end while recuperating from several surgeries over the last decade that I madly read through entire series. It was heaven – at least the reading part. I think I need a vacation solely devoted to reading!

LKBR: Are there any magazines/publications that as a writer you subscribe to? Are these or others something readers could also benefit from?

Maddie: We subscribe to two newspapers and the New Yorker. They keep me up on the news – and sometimes lend inspiration for a subplot or short story. For readers, I would recommend Mystery Scene Magazine. It includes essays and reviews, and does not ignore the cozy genre.

LKBR: Is there anything you would give up if you thought it would make you an even better writer?

Maddie: Recently I have drawn back from a couple of volunteer projects (not in the fiction world). I’ve been feeling a bit overloaded with my writing commitments and all the promotion entailed to let readers know about my stories. I don’t want to drop my daily walk, time with family, or my garden, so something had to give.

LKBR: Any new projects in the works?

Maddie: I always have new projects! Nacho Average Murder, Country Store #7, is all turned in and I’m halfway through the eighth in the series, which will also be set at Christmas.

As Maddie I also write the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, with a cozy mystery book club helping bike shop owner Mac Almeida solve crimes. Murder on Cape Cod releases in January to wide distribution, and Murder at the Taffy Shop will be out in April, 2020.

As Edith Maxwell, Charity’s Burden came out in April and Judge Thee Not, #5 in the Quaker Midwife Mysteries, will be out this fall.

LKBR: If you could ask your readers 3 questions, what would they be?

Maddie: Which recipes of mine have you made? Where do you hear about my books? Wouldn’t you like to sign up for my author newsletter? <grin>

LKBR: Where can readers go to learn more about you and your cozy mysteries? 

Maddie:

edithmaxwell.com

Wicked Authors blog

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Killer Characters (on the third of every month)

Amazon

BookBub

Goodreads

LKBR: Thank you so much, Maddie, for letting us get to know you better!

Maddie: Thank you for having me!

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MY REVIEW

Everyone who follows the Country Store Mysteries think that they are the series’ biggest fan. Well everyone, you’re wrong. I am! ;-) Seriously, author Maddie Day has created such a delightful series, it’s no wonder it is so well loved.

I’m very excited each time I read a new book in this series. But also a little nervous at first. I mean, how can author Day pen a story even better than the one before? How can she keep it fresh, and interesting? Because she’s brilliant, that’s how! Every book in this series is better than the last, and STRANGLED EGGS AND HAM is no exception. From page one until the end, I was glued to my seat. I’m telling you, it would have had to have been an emergency of global proportions to drag me away from this book.

The best in the series to date (if you didn’t already get that from everything I said above), STRANGLED EGGS AND HAM is a fabulous mystery within an equally wonderful character-centric tale. I found myself so invested in the story, that when my dog barked, I was startled to find I wasn’t really in South Lick, Indiana within the walls of Pans ‘N Pancakes. I’m honest in saying, I could even smell the food! Speaking of, the recipes included are high on the yummy scale.  

Exciting, fun, engrossing, surprising . . .  I could go one and on with positive adjectives to describe just how much I loved STRANGLED EGGS AND HAM. But instead, I think you should get a copy and see for yourself. You’ll be happy that you did!

About the Author

Maddie Day is a talented amateur chef and holds a Ph.D. in linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-nominated author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and three cats in Massachusetts.

As Edith Maxwell, she writes the Local Foods Mysteries (Kensington Publishing) and the Quaker Midwife Mysteries (Midnight Ink).

You can find all Maddie’s/Edith’s identities at www.edithmaxwell.com. She blogs every weekday with the other Wicked Cozy Authors at wickedcozyauthors.com. 

Look for her as Edith M. Maxwell and Maddie Day on Facebook and @edithmaxwell and @maddiedayauthor on Twitter.

Purchase Links 

  Amazon   B&N   Kobo   Google Play   IndieBound 

GOOD LUCK!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

TOUR PARTICIPANTS

June 24 – Laura's Interests – REVIEW, EXCERPT
June 24 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews - REVIEW
June 24 – ⒾⓃⓉⓇⓄⓈⓅⒺⒸⓉⒾⓋⒺ ⓅⓇⒺⓈⓈ - SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT
June 25 – Baroness' Book Trove – REVIEW
June 25 – Socrates Book Reviews - SPOTLIGHT
June 25 – ❧Defining Ways❧ - SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
June 26 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews - REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 26 – Celticlady's Reviews - SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT
June 26 – Author Teresa Watson – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
June 27 – The Avid Reader - REVIEW, EXCERPT
June 27 – Reading Is My SuperPower - REVIEW
June 27 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW
June 28 – View from the Birdhouse – SPOTLIGHT
June 28 – A Blue Million Books – CHARACTER GUEST POST
June 28 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
June 29 – StoreyBook Reviews - SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
June 29 – 4covert2overt ☼ A Place In The Spotlight ☼ - GUEST POST
June 30 - Carla Loves To Read – REVIEW
June 30 - Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews - SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
July 1 – Sapphyria's Books – REVIEW
July 1 – A Wytch's Book Review Blog – REVIEW
July 1 – I'm All About Books – GUEST POST
July 2 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
July 2 – Brooke Blogs - SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
July 3 – Curling up by the Fire - REVIEW
July 3 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
July 3 – The Cozy Pages - SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by submitting your email in 

upper right hand corner of this page (on the side bar).

Reading from your phone? Scroll to the bottom of your page and click"View web version". Then follow the above directions.

HELLO DEAR READERS!

I want to thank you all so much for making Lisa Ks Book Reviews everything it is. I honestly could not do it without you!

I've been missing a few days here and there on the blog as I work on some things in life. Again, I thank you for hanging in there with me. I'm going to be making that up to you over the next couple of months as I work to make Lisa Ks Book Reviews better and better.

Hugs and love!

Lisa

I just couldn't help myself.

It makes me so happy!

📚📖📚📖📚 

Lisa Ks Book Reviews

is #25!

Best Mystery Blogs on the Planet

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Lisa Ks Book Reviews

made the list!

A Cozy Mystery Experience

📚📖📚📖📚

Thank you to all of you who have hung in with me over the years!

And thank you to those who are newer for choosing to spend your time with me!

BOOK TOUR

I'm so excited to be a stop on the blog tour for

A CRAFTER HOOKS A KILLER

Book 2 in the Handcrafted Mysteries

by Holly Quinn

Sure to delight fans of Betty Hechtman and Maggie Sefton, A Crafter Hooks a Killer is the second installment in Holly Quinn’s Handcrafted mysteries.

Community Craft proprietor Sammy Kane suspects that a tantalizing thread links the deaths of her best friend and a bestselling author. But can she weave together the clues?

Samantha “Sammy” Kane is settling into her new life in idyllic Heartsford, Wisconsin, running her late friend Kate Allen’s craft shop, Community Craft when one early June day, bestselling crochet author Jane Johnson visits Heartsford. Captivated by Community Craft, Jane devotes a chapter in her new book, Behind the Seams, to the store. Sammy is honored, though satisfaction quickly turns to shock when she finds Jane strangled to death—her cold hands clutching a copy of her most recently published book, with the words “THE END” raggedly scratched into the cover.

Heavens to Etsy! Not only must Sammy contend with the author’s inauspicious demise, she has to untie some knotty details from her own past. It turns out Kate’s death was not what it seemed, and instead somehow hooked to Jane Johnson’s demise. Handsome Detective Liam Nash is on the “skein”, more than happy to see the shop owner again, if less than enamored by her sleuthing interventions. But this was Sammy’s best friend—she has to know.

Fortunately, Sammy has a “lace” in the hole. As a child, she formed the S.H.E. detective team with her cousin, Heidi, and her sister, Ellie. Having already reconstituted their partnership, the S.H.E. team searches for a pattern behind the latest death. As the case starts to unravel, will Sammy and team be able to sidestep Liam quick enough to stitch together the clues?

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!!!GIVEAWAY!!!

1 lucky reader will win a print copy of

A CRAFTER HOOKS A KILLER

Enter using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post.

Winner will be chosen after June 24 at the end of the tour

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MY REVIEW

I enjoyed the first book in this series, A CRAFTER KNITS A CLUE, so much that I couldn’t wait to get A CRAFTER HOOKS A KILLER in my hands. It was well worth the wait! Author Holly Quinn is two for two in the win column with me.

Setting aside an interruption free day to read this book was one of my better ideas. Once I started, I didn’t want to put it down. I was immediately transported to Heartsford, Wisconsin and back with the characters I enjoyed so much from book one.

I was pulled into this wonderfully plotted mystery. I suppose I should say two mysteries since author Holly Quinn expertly weaved together a present day murder with one from protagonist Sammy Kane’s not so distant past. With more twists and turns than my current crochet project, I really had no idea how it was all going to come together. When the link between the two cases and all of the motives behind the murders came to light, I was really taken by surprise. Wow.

Oh, did I mention a mouthwatering recipe, and a crochet blanket project are included?

A CRAFTER HOOKS A KILLER is perfect summer reading! It’s perfect anytime reading!

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About the Author

Holly Quinn has published two stand-alone fiction novels in another persona. She graduated from Carroll University in Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science in business and a minor in marketing. This is her second Handcrafted mystery. Visit her @ www.authorhollyquinn.com

Author Links 

Website - www.authorhollyquinn.com 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/HollyQuinnbooks/ 

GoodReads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7940795.Holly_Quinn 

Purchase Links

Amazon - B&N - BAM - IndieBound - Powell's Books - Walmart 

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

TOUR PARTICIPANTS

June 11 – The Book's the Thing – REVIEW
June 11 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW, RECIPE
June 12 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
June 12 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 13 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
June 13 – Brooke Blogs – GUEST POST
June 14 – The Book Diva's Reads – SPOTLIGHT
June 14 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW
June 15 – Baroness' Book Trove – REVIEW
June 16 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
June 16 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 17 – I'm All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
June 17 – A Wytch's Book Review Blog - REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
June 18 – Author Teresa Watson – REVIEW
June 18 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 19 – Brianne's Book Reviews – REVIEW
June 19 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT
June 20 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT
June 21 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
June 21 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 22 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW
June 23 – Laura's Interests – REVIEW
June 24 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
June 24 – Cozy Up With Kathy – CHARACTER GUEST POST

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by submitting your email in 

upper right hand corner of this page (on the side bar).

Reading from your phone? Scroll to the bottom of your page and click"View web version". Then follow the above directions.