I read and review a lot of books. This means I can often get behind on deadlines (that I set for myself).

So, there are times that I write "cozy-sized" reviews.

They're much shorter than I like to write, but I can get them out there quicker for you, and for the authors.

I hope you still get the feel of what I thought of the following books.

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THE DIVA SERVES FORBIDDEN FRUIT

by Krista Davis

Entertaining maven Sophie Winston must cut to the core of another murder investigation when members of an international tour group begin dropping like flies all over Old Town, Virginia...

With Old Town's DIY Home Decorating Festival in full swing, Sophie's swamped, juggling a bumper crop of artisans, antique dealers, and decorators for the busy street fair. Still, when her best friend Nina suddenly needs a ride from the airport, Sophie is happy to help...until she sees Nina disembarking in a state of disarray. It's obvious the trip to Portugal soured somewhere along the way. But after one of Nina's traveling companions turns up murdered the following day, Sophie knows something is truly rotten...

Though the crime scene is staged to look like an accident, Sophie isn't fooled and peels off to conduct her own investigation. Her only clue is a strange image the victim scratched into the soil before dying. Could it point to a cryptic killer in Old Town? A bitter travel adversary? Or a cursed artifact smuggled back from the trip? As the mystery grows, so does the body count, and if Sophie doesn't pluck the murderer soon, her best friend may be the next to fall...

My Review

Author Krista Davis serves up an incredible mystery in, 

THE DIVA SERVES FORBIDDEN FRUIT. 

Like the wonderful installments before, this book is one I couldn't put down. Packed cover to cover with mayhem, menace, and mystery (of course!), I was totally surprised during the reveal. I was way off! That's why I'm always ready to enjoy anything the diva has to serve. 

The most forbidden thing about the Domestic Diva Mysteries

 is not reading them!

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A TRAIL OF LIES

by Kylie Logan

Jazz Ramsey is just getting used to the idea that her on-again-off-again beau, Nick, might actually be a permanent fixture, when she gets an alarming call in the middle of the night from his mother, Kim: there’s a dead man in her backyard. Kim has a long history of drinking and a vivid imagination, so when Jazz’s human remains detection dog, Wally, finds no evidence of a body, Jazz thinks she can breathe easy.

But when the body of a middle-aged man, Dan Mansfield, is discovered in a nearby park, and a photo of Nick and his mom is found in his pocket, Jazz has to admit that something isn’t adding up. Kim claims not to know who Dan is, but the cops find out soon enough: he’s a recently paroled convict who served thirty years for murder. And when Jazz traces his crime back to a bar fight with an antiques dealer, she ends up with more questions than answers.

Meanwhile, no one wants her poking around—not Nick’s mom, nor the Motorcycle-riding ex-con she connects to Dan, nor Nick himself, who seems worried about Jazz’s safety, but also about what she might find. But Jazz has never been one to take no for an answer, and she won’t give up now—even if it means risking her own life.

My Review

Not quite the "cozy" mystery I thought it would be, that I am use to from author Kylie Logan, A TRAIL OF LIES was an intriguing story that left me breathless by the end. The author packed a lot into the 320 pages of this mystery, and had me turning the pages quicker and quicker as I reached the I-never-saw-it-coming conclusion.

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A TALE OF TWO COOKIES

by Eve Calder

It’s nothing but sugar and spice at The Cookie House, but elsewhere on Coral Cay everything isn’t so nice.

Pastry chef Kate McGuire is loving life on the laid-back island of Coral Cay, Florida. As junior partner in a bakery renowned for luscious desserts—especially her cookies—life is pretty sweet. So when an old friend arrives and announces a spur-of-the-moment beach wedding, that’s just the icing on the wedding cake.

But the groom vanishes right as a television crew descends on the town to film a hot, new realty show. Is there a connection? Is her friend Desiree somehow involved? Or did groom Judson simply get cold feet? The bride and groom were paired better than warm cookies and cold milk, so Kate doesn’t buy it.

As the show’s cast runs amok on the island and the investigation into Judson’s disappearance heats up, Kate and her pal Maxi, along with town dog Oliver, will brave the rambunctious world of reality TV and a wedding weekend gone awry, in an all-out effort to find the missing groom.

My Review

Eve Calder bakes up quite a mystery in 

A TALE OF TWO COOKIES. 

This book had a good pace that kept me interested throughout. Likable characters, an interesting plot, and more twists & turns than chocolate chips in a cookie, you won't want to put this delicious  mystery down.

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I hope these cozy-sized reviews helped you to choose a new book or two (or three)!

     

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